tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409244659582452242024-03-10T00:44:52.039-05:00This & ThatSusannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.comBlogger1268125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-5281830004255165152024-02-29T08:13:00.004-05:002024-02-29T08:13:37.971-05:00February Books<p> </p><div><i>The Heiress</i> by Rachel Hawkins -- When Camden gets an email
from his cousin, he realizes he needs to return to the home he departed
ten years ago when he fled all the baggage of family. His wife Jules is
enthusiastic about her trip to see the famous (or infamous) Ashby House
in the mountains of North Carolina. In between their sides of the story,
we read publications about the McTavish family as well as letters
written by Ruby McTavish, the heiress who adopted Cam when he was three.
Pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Mystery Guest </i>by
Nita Prose -- Once again, a story about a maid and a murder featuring
the lovable, quirky Molly. When a popular author reserves the hotel tea
room for an important announcement - a secret he's kept - but falls over
dead before he can spit it out, the police get involved. This book
deals with that plus Molly's own childhood memories of working with her
Gran in Mr.Grimthorpe's house. Cute story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Beach at Summerly</i>
by Beatriz Williams -- Emilia Withrop, one of the locals with a long
family history in the area, is the help to the wealthy summer crowd.
Story of her and her friends Shep and Amory, and also nowadays as she
lives with her sister Susana. This is during the era when the US and
Soviet Union were at odds. Pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Fiction Writer</i>
by Jillian Cantor -- Olivia's book sales are struggling so when her
agent approaches her about someone well-known wanting her to write a
book for him, she takes a trip to Los Angeles to meet him. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Riding Rockets</i>
by Mike Mullane -- "the outrageous tales of a space shuttle
astronaut." This book was referenced in one of my favorite books last
year about the first six women who were chosen to be astronauts in the
US. They were in Mike's class, and the author of that book mentioned
this one which I got for Christmas. Pretty interesting. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Wicked Redhead</i>
by Beatriz Williams -- I believe I would have enjoyed this one much
more if I'd read the earlier book about Wicked City instead of starting
with this one. Alas, I had this one on hand with no other library books,
and decided to give it a go. Ginger is a redhead during the time of
Prohibition. She likes two brothers, one more than the other. In more
current times, there is Ella who recently left her cheating husband.
Meh... this one was OK.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Outcast Girls</i>
by Shirley Dickson -- I remember reading a book or two by this author
and adding a few of her other stories to my Amazon Wishlist. This is one
I got for Christmas, and it's about Frieda, a German Jew who was
brought to England during World War II. She meets an English girl,
Sandra, who has lived a life of service. The two of them wind up on a
farm helping the war effort. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Lost Children</i>
by Shirley Dickson -- Twins Jacob and Molly are eight years old when
their mom decides to send them to the countryside where they will be
safe from Hitler's bombs. They are sent to the area I read about in the
book before, and this book has some of the same characters so I'm glad
to read these stories back-to-back. Another pretty good tale.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Orphan's Secret </i>by
Shirley Dickson -- Lily leaves home to become a Lumberjill during World
War II. Her husband is serving in the war, and Lily wants to do her
part. She meets Ethel, who grew up an orphan, and the two eventually
become friends. When both of them realize they are expecting babies at
the same time, and Ethel has nowhere to live, Lily invites Ethel to live
with her until something can be decided. Pretty good story.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Five Bad Deeds</i>
by Caz Frear -- I'm back to reading library books. This one is about
sisters Ellen and Kristy, and mostly Ellen's hectic household and group
of friends/acquaintances.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Black Out</i>
by Lisa Unger -- Annie keeps having flashbacks to when she was a
teenager who moved with her mother from New York City to Florida so her
mom could pursue a relationship with a man behind bars. Although this
stuff is in her past, it keeps rearing its head and life is quite
frightening! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Random in Death</i>
by J.D. Robb -- If I'm so inclined I see that I have about sixty other
"futuristic thrillers" available to read in this In Death series
featuring Lt. Eve Dallas and her fellow officers. In this book a couple
of teenaged girls are jabbed with a needle full of a blend made to kill
them within minutes. Lt. Dallas is in charge of identifying the suspect.
Decent book, but I would know more about these characters if I'd read
the other sixty books, no doubt. But, whew! I did not like the teenage
lingo throughout the book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Therapist</i>
by B.A. Paris -- When Leo suggests he and Alice move in together, he
finds a house in London behind a gate where Alice believes she will be
able to make quick friends. When she learns from a private investigator
that something terrible happened at the house where she now lives, she
decides to ask the neighbors in order to learn more about the therapist
who lived at house #6 in The Circle. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>One Wrong Word</i>
by Hank Phillippi Ryan -- When your reputation is in ruins, Arden Ward
is who you want working for you. Only, now she's been falsely accused
and given the sack yet her boss wants her to do one last job for him.
Cordelia hires Arden to clean up the image of her husband who was
acquitted of running over someone yet the moms at school still give
Cordelia the cold shoulder. Pretty good story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Disappearing Act</i>
by Catherine Steadman -- A British actor comes to Los Angeles to
audition for several roles. At one casting, she meets Emily who gives
her her wallet and keys to top off the car meter, then disappears. While
juggling reading scripts and auditioning, Mia wonders what happened to
Emily and decides to search for her. Pretty good. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Eden Test</i>
by Adam Sternbergh -- It's their third anniversary, and Craig is ready
to leave his wife after a quick meal. He's got plans with another woman,
yet Daisy surprises him by not being at home and instead giving him
instructions to meet her at a cabin in upstate New York. He does, and
instead of a quick meal and goodbye, Daisy tells him she's booked the
place for a week and it's some kind of couples retreat... so weird. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Bones of the Story</i>
by Carol Goodman -- Nell is a dean of the college she attended, and
she's busy preparing for a big event complete with most of her friends
from back then. When a snowstorm traps most of her peers together,
strange things happen including a murder or two. An OK book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Keep Your Friends Close</i>
by Leah Konen -- While going through a separation from her husband,
Mary is looking for housing, a preschool for her son Alex, and a job in a
new area. One day she happens upon Willa, a friend she'd made who
ghosted her. Only when she confronts Willa, she acts like Mary is a
stranger. What is going on? Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Woman from Lydia</i>
by Angela Hunt -- Book one in The Emissaries this told the story of
Euodia, a supporter of Paul's ministry as he told the good news of Jesus
Christ. In this book she and a couple servants travel to various cities
along the Via Egnatia in search of a girl, Sabina. I rather like this
quote at the front of the book: <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>"If a man
gets lost in the mountains, hundreds will search and often two or three
searchers are killed. But the next time somebody gets lost just as many
volunteers turn out. Poor arithmetic, but very human. It runs through
all our folklore, all human religions, all our literature - a racial
conviction that when one human needs rescue, others should not count the
price." -- Robert A. Heinlein <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><i>Two Dead Wives</i>
by Adele Parks -- This was a sequel to an earlier book: I knew some of
this sounded familiar, but I really didn't remember what all transpired
in the first book. Still, in this book Kylie is missing presumed dead by
her former BFF who pushed her over the cliff. What? Yeah, and Daan and
Mark are out a wife since Kylie was married to them both. Kind of. Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-3190624407418715162024-02-22T08:12:00.005-05:002024-02-22T08:12:46.610-05:00Itchy Boots Season 6 Notes Finished (Mexico to Alaska)<p> </p><div>See the first part of Season 6, <a href="http://susanne430.blogspot.com/2023/08/itchy-boots-season-6-notes-so-far.html">here</a> <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>August 12, 2023<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 84-86 which take place in Mexico</div><div><br /></div><div>Pretty mountain roads, tunnels under the streets and cool temples.</div><div><br /></div><div>August 26</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 87-88 which take place in Mexico</div><div><br /></div><div>Red dunes, the gorge, and mountains<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>September 4<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 89-90 which take place in Mexico</div><div><br /></div><div>I love her reference to being too Dutch re: time when the parking lot is supposed to open at 8 in the morning, and she's still waiting several minutes later. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>September 5<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 91-92 which take place in Mexico</div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly visited people who lived in a cave, I laughed at the escape dog when she was trying to leave the guesthouse, and enjoyed learning about the zone of silence. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>September 8<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 93-94 which take place in Mexico</div><div><br /></div><div>Riding through Copper Canyon, cartel area, which had some lovely mountain views and friendly people in the towns. <br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>
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<div>September 23<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 95-97 which take place in Mexico</div><div><br /></div><div>Ferry ride to Baja California and riding in the desert<br /></div>
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<div>October 7<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 98-99 which take place in Mexico</div>
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<div>October 8<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 100-101 which take place in Mexico and USA</div><div><br /></div><div>Border crossing and riding through the desert in California; I like that one of the border guards recognized her; he said his father in law watches [her] all the time! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>October 20</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 102-104 which take place in USA (California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah)</div><div><br /></div><div>It was funny seeing her riding with the train; she comments on the long trains, big cars and roads and portions; Noraly rode through Las Vegas; Later she was hurt on a steep hill so Ed from C90 adventures picked her and Alaska up and took them to his house in Moab, Utah, so she could recover for a few days.</div><div><br /></div><div>November 7 <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episode 105-107 which take place in USA (Utah and Colorado)</div><div><br /></div><div>She went in a side by side with Ed mostly in Moab while her ankle healed</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>November 16<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 108-110 which take place in USA (Colorado)<br /></div>
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<div>November 27 <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 111-113 which take place in USA (Colorado and Wyoming)</div><div><br /></div><div>She visited a town called Nederland where she found out about the Frozen Dead Guy Festival and told that story; she was surprised by a snow storm. In Wyoming, she loved seeing bison.<br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>December 5</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 114-116 which take place in the US (Wyoming and Montana)</div><div><br /></div><div>Great look at the Tetons and part of Yellowstone</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>December 8<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 117-119 which take place in the US (Montana and Idaho)</div><div><br /></div><div>Here Noraly met Roger with his chain saw<br /></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>December 11<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 120-122 which take place in the US (Idaho) and Canada</div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly crosses from the US into Canada (Creston) and sees the glaciers<br /></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>December 12<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 123-124 which take place in Canada</div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly visited some indigenous people and saw buildings dealing with the fur trade. She was also part of chicken and duck races - ha.</div><div><br /></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>December 14<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 125-127 which take place in Canada</div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly visited Haida Gwaii islands and did some beach hiking</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>December 18<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 128-129 which take place in Canada</div><div><br /></div><div>Boat tour of Haida Gwaii islands: totems, sea creatures, hot springs. <br /></div>
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<div>December 19<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 130-131 which take place in Canada and the US (Alaska)</div><div><br /></div><div>First Nations; Hyderized; ice sea and glacier<br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>2024<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>January 1</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 132-133 which take place in Canada</div><div><br /></div><div>She went to a remote area of British Columbia with pretty views</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>January 5<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 134-136 which take place in Canada and the United States (Alaska)</div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly visited the Red Onion brothel, took a ferry to Haines (I've read books from a lady who lives there), and she commented on motorhomes she saw along the way. <br /></div>
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<div>January 16</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 137-139 which take place in Canada</div><div><br /></div><div>I enjoyed the silver trail museum, learning about the gold trail, Klondike River and Bonanza Creek. Meeting some of the people who work in that area including a family and a twenty-year old miner; even Noraly panned for gold. Whew, there are some huge mosquitos there! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>January 19</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 140-141 which take place in Canada and the US</div><div><br /></div><div>She followed a tradition of blowing up her panties, and found a British motorcycle gang who helped with a fork seal.</div><div><br /></div><div>February 9</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 142-144 which take place in the US (Alaska)</div><div><br /></div><div>Great tour of an abandoned copper mine and walk on a glacier. Met Bill the mechanic.</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>February 12<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 145-147 which take place in the US (Alaska)</div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly stayed with Bill and wife, toured Cabela's and was amazed by all the stuffed animals and guns<br /></div>
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<div>February 20<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 148 and the first part of The Movie which take place in the US (Alaska) and recap her adventure<br /></div>
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<div>February 21<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched the rest of The Movie which is a recap of her adventure plus her plunge into Prudhoe Bay, Alaska ; great season! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>A reminder about this journey to Alaska:<br /><br />
At the end of the movie, Noraly mentions that she started her journey on
October 1, 2019 and ended it on August 11, 2022 when she reached the
Arctic Ocean. (Remember that her journey was interrupted due to the
covid-19 pandemic). She traveled 65,000 kilometers and went through 18
countries. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>See more about my <a href="http://susanne430.blogspot.com/search/label/Itchy%20Boots">Itchy Boots watching, here</a>. </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-16122737511094740562024-02-01T18:47:00.001-05:002024-02-01T18:47:21.372-05:00Itchy Boots Season 7: Benin to the Central African Republic <p> </p><div>Not terribly long after Noraly's <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://susanne430.blogspot.com/2023/11/itchy-boots-andorra-croatia-india.html&source=gmail&ust=1706916572060000&usg=AOvVaw1aENuRKq4tmjIXbONt2Yrb" href="http://susanne430.blogspot.com/2023/11/itchy-boots-andorra-croatia-india.html" target="_blank">break from Africa</a> in which she traveled a bit more and managed to break a bone in her hand, she was back posting her twice-weekly videos. She started in Benin where her motorcycle Alaska had been waiting all these weeks. Noraly acknowledged that she'd left Alaska longer than she had wanted, and it wasn't a good idea to leave a bike that long. She showed where rust had formed on Alaska because the bike had been left in a humid climate. Thankfully she was able to get most of that off, and told us Alaska started immediately! That bike took her through parts of South and Central America, and from Mexico up to Alaska before Noraly shipped her to Spain for this adventure in Africa. So, Alaska has been through a lot. In her recent (January 2024) newsletter/email Noraly said she was looking for a new bike for when she starts a new trip later this year. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime, <b>Morocco and West Africa</b> has morphed to <b>Return to Africa</b> on her YouTube channel. Here's the last couple of months!<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>December 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27, 31</div><div><br /></div><div>
We watched episodes 61-69 which were in Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In these videos, she got a huge stack of money when she traded in her dollars and CFAs as the Nigerian money "is not doing well." She started this return with a Live Chat with other subscribers (our first time joining a live chat). She noted few helmets were used in the part of Nigeria she was in which was strange since they had been required in Benin. Nigeria had so many checkpoints, many of which were sketchy so she didn't stop for them unless they seemed official, or it was just not possible to continue. The locals used tree branches to block parts of the road. In one episode she crossed the Niger River in a ferry. Nigerians on YouTube and Facebook said they use a bridge and didn't know you could ferry across. Also, some Nigerians wondered why she used these terrible roads instead of the main roads. (She likes backroads usually so she might have chosen them instead of ones she thought were busier. Then again, her GPS might have taken her along these routes.) One interesting thing to me (ep. 63) was seeing the locals dry the grain by placing it on the streets.</div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly went to the capital Abuja to sort her visa to Cameroon. She seemed to really like this capital as she said it was laid-back, and not like those she's typically encountered. She also seemed to enjoy having running water and electricity. I think she stayed there a few days to do some work and rest up as she seemed better-rested when the videos resumed. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Episodes 65 and 66 were my favorite in Nigeria as the mountains were so pretty, the locals were friendly and she interacted with them more (or showed it more than some past videos where she just struggled to ride the bike on muddy roads.) (Note: my mom grew up in Nigeria and her youngest brother was born there so my mom would point out things that were familiar to her. She said this mountainous region was similar to where she attended boarding school at Kent Academy.) <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In episode 67 Noraly made it into Cameroon. She noted that she used this particular border crossing because other crossings were closed to foreigners due to rebel activity. In Cameroon she has done more sightseeing which I enjoy. She admitted skipping this in Nigeria because of security issues in that country. She visited a snake and spider museum and got instructed on how they make bronze statues. She also visited a waterfall that was gushing water after many recent rains. We got tickled at the local who said the lake area directions. Something like "take this bad road, and the next bad road and then..." And, yeah, there were some bad roads, but that lake area was gorgeous! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>2024</div><div><br /></div><div>January 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28, 31<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>We watched episodes 70-78 which were in Cameroon and the Central African Republic<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Such muddy, horribly rutted roads! Noraly dropped her bike, lost a mirror and half her windshield in Cameroon, but met kind people who helped her along the way. I enjoyed seeing the sunset at the beach and her night-time turtle patrol (ep. 72.)</div><div><br /></div><div>In episode 73, I loved the church ladies singing in the road and Noraly's time in the capital. Yay for <i>pizza</i>! Also notable was her search for petrol and those huge rain drops!</div><div><br /></div><div>Loved her riding with the cattle and something notable were those toll detours (ep. 74). <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I loved the military guys taking pictures with Alaska at the border of Cameroon and CAR. Yikes, a broken start button and quickly approaching nightfall: thank goodness she stopped and found shelter with the villagers. Really great episodes in CAR! (see #75-76)</div><div><br /></div><div>Forest elephants at their mineral-rich watering hole. Noraly counted over 100 of them! So pretty! Then in the next video, we see western lowland gorillas in the wild - fascinating! I love the people. (ep. 77-78).</div><div><br /></div><div>One of my favorites (paraphrased)... When Noraly was walking down the path to see the elephants, she noted footprints several times. </div><div><br /></div><div>She asked her guides: <i>Do you ever see elephants when you are on the paths.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Uh, yeaaah...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>What do you do?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Hide behind a tree.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Love that.</div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-54829166147676296782024-01-31T08:33:00.000-05:002024-01-31T08:33:00.963-05:00January Books <p> </p><div><i>A Circle of Wives </i>by Alice LaPlante -- I started this last week when Zach and Sophie were visiting a few days after Christmas, but we were so busy that I didn't take much time for reading. Thus I finished it this first day of 2024. When Dr. John Taylor turns up dead in a hotel room, Samantha is assigned to the case involving John's legal wife plus two other wives who knew nothing about being part of this bigamous (or trigamous) case. Wild! Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Tumbleweed: Six Months Living on Mir</i> by Shannon Lucid -- One of the best books I read last year was about the first six women astronauts in the U.S.'s space program. In the back of the book the author mentioned some books she read to learn more about these women. This book was one of them, and I got it for Christmas. I enjoyed learning about the author's year living in Russia as she trained for her voyage with the two Yuris. It was interesting reading about the mission as well - how she talked to folks back home, the food they ate, their exercising, how they got along with each other. Neat book! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space</i> by Lynn Sherr -- Interesting biography written after Sally's death from cancer. The author was not only a journalist, but a friend. Still, a few things she learned only after Sally died. This covers some of her childhood, college years, her playing tennis, her lovers and brief marriage, her applying to NASA, some training and years later when she taught physics in California and wrote books with her partner Tam O'Shaughnessy whom she'd met years ago when they both played tennis. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Engagement Party </i>by Darby Kane -- A library book came in so I'm back to reading mystery/thrillers. This one is the reunion of college friends who really don't want to be together yet meet up for Will and Ruthie's engagement party at a hard-to-access beach house. When a body is discovered and other strange things happen, the couples wonder if this has more to do with their past, when a friend was killed on graduation day.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Mother-Daughter Murder Night</i> by Nina Simon -- Three generations of females - Lana, Beth, and Jack - come together to help solve a mystery after Jack finds a dead person while on a kayaking tour (her job.) Pretty cute story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord</i> by Celeste Connally -- A mystery featuring Lady Petra who is disbelieving when she finds a friend died and was buried without her knowledge. Then when a footman tells her that he saw her friend - after she was supposed to be dead and gone - Petra investigates to see what in the world is going on in her privileged world. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Turn of Mind</i> by Alice LaPlante -- Told from the point of view of Dr. Jennifer White as she struggles with early-onset Alzheimer's. Well, she's 65 so that's not early-early since some folks get it in their forties, but it seemed young-ish to me. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Golden Spoon </i>by Jessa Maxwell -- Cute book about a baking competition that turns ugly. Six contestants meet at a manor in the woods of Vermont, but weird stuff happens and someone ends up dead. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Frozen River</i> by Ariel Lawhon -- Great story inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a midwife in Maine, 1789. Enjoyed this one! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Necessary People </i>by Anna Pitoniak -- Stella and Violet meet in college. Stella who has had an easy life, and Violet who has not. When Violet finally starts making her way in the TV news world, Stella's jealousy leads her to get a job at the same station. Can these best friends handle this new complexity? They already share an apartment in New York City. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Lie Beside Me</i> by Glytha Lodge -- I'm continuing the series featuring London police officers, Jonah, Juliette, Ben, Domnall, and the gang. In this book Lousie wakes up after being so drunk that she can't remember the night before. The trouble is there is a dead man in her bed. She has no idea who he is and why he is there. What a mystery for the police to solve! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Stranger Inside</i> by Lisa Unger -- Rain Winter is a journalist currently staying at home with her young daughter. When a crime is committed, Rain is immediately wanting to investigate because it's a story she covered. This is told in the voices of Rain and her childhood friend Hank, both of whom were in a terrible situation that left them scarred for life. Decent story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Resemblance </i>by Lauren Nossett -- Last year I read book two in this series featuring Marlitt Kaplan, a detective in Athens, Georgia, and I wanted to read this book to find out her backstory which was hinted at in book two. While visiting her mom on the UGA campus, Marlitt is one of the first upon a hit-and-run involving a student who is part of a Greek society. She and her partner Teddy investigate Kap-O, and find out more about this society. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Breakdown </i>by B. A. Paris -- Cass is out for the summer holiday, and on her way home from a teachers' night out when she takes the shortcut through the woods and sees a lady sitting in her car. The next morning she hears about a woman being murdered and realizes that was the woman she saw! Struggling with this situation and the fact she keeps forgetting - does she have early-onset dementia as her mom did? - Cass reaches out to her husband Matthew and her best friend Rachel for help. But her problems get worse. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Something in the Water</i> by Catherine Steadman -- Erin and Mark are British newlyweds on a trip to Bora Bora when they discover something on a diving trip that could change their lives. Do they turn it in or keep it for themselves?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Legacy of Longdale Manor </i>by Carrie Turansky -- Catherine and her mom and sister are horrified when they lose their home after the untimely death of their father and husband. While Catherine's mom tries to mend fences with her father so they'll have a place to live, the family lives with her mom's childhood friend on a sheep farm. Meanwhile, in more current times, Gwen is tasked with pricing art and other pieces for an auction at Longdale Manor. Pretty good story. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Little Sister</i> by Gytha Lodge -- I started reading this series around book five so I decided to start at the beginning and I've finally read all of the Jonah Sheens and Company series. This one is Keely telling her story of abuse at the hands of foster care parents and workers. The team isn't quite sure what to believe, and they are trying to locate Keely's younger sister, Nina, whom they think Keely has harmed. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Good Company </i>by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney -- Flora and Julian are both actors as well as Flora's best friend Margot. One day while looking for a favorite photo, Flora happens upon the wedding ring her husband claimed to lose while swimming in a pond many years ago. What's up with that? As Flora learns more about the past, she has to come to terms with secrets and forgive - if she chooses to. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Berry Pickers </i>by Amanda Peters -- Great story about a Mi'kmaq family from Nova Scotia who traveled each summer to Maine in order to pick blueberries. One summer the littlest child went missing. This book is told from the perspectives of Joe, the next-oldest child who was the last to see his little sister, and Norma, the young woman who grew up in an overly-protective family. Really enjoyed this one more than I expected, and I think the cover is pretty. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>On Moonberry Lake</i> by Holly Varni -- After her mother's death, Cora returns to Moonberry Lake where she inherits her grandparents' lodge - a place she loved to live until she was seven years old when suddenly and inexplicably her mother took her away from her extended family. A stipulation to inheriting the property is that she has to live there a year so Cora sets about to restore the lodge to its former glory. With the help of longtime friend Sam, and Widgy, the repairwoman who never washes her coffee pot because each layer of old coffee "seasons" the pot, Cora follows her dream of restoring her grandparents' home. A bit predictable, yes, but a cute story with interesting and lovable characters. </div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-26099063231387791622023-12-31T19:48:00.004-05:002023-12-31T19:48:39.203-05:00December Books <p>Happy last day of the year! Hope next year is a good one for you! <br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><div><i>In the Blood</i> by Lisa Unger -- Lana comes from a troubled family to put it mildly. Her dad is on death row after being convicted of murdering his wife. Lana has spells where she can't remember what happened. As her college studies wind down she takes a job helping a single mother care for her eleven year old son who has ... issues. He's part of a school that specializes in helping troubled children. Pretty good story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>From a Far and Lovely Country</i> by Alexander McCall Smith -- another adventure featuring Precious Ramotswe and the loveable cast of characters that make this series worth reading - even if the plots are rather bland compared to other books. I enjoy these trips to Botswana through these characters! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The End of Her</i> by Shari Lapena -- Stephanie and Patrick are exhausted parents of twin girls with colic. One day a beautiful woman from Patrick's past comes into his workplace under the pretense of applying for a job. Patrick is stunned at the request and claim Erica has, and Erica seeks to tell Stephanie about her husband's past. Is Patrick telling Stephanie the truth? Should she be wary of him? <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>A Killer in the Family</i> by Gytha Lodge -- I feel like this is part of a series that I walked into, but it was stand-alone enough to be pretty interesting. It takes place in England with a lot of Irish names thrown in. News of the Bonfire Killer spreads and unfortunately the DNA matches someone in Aisling's family. Her dad left the family when she was a child - could he be the killer setting women (and a mare) on fire? <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Nineteen Steps</i> by Millie Bobby Brown -- Nellie lives with her close knit family in the East End of London where they use their tube station at Bethnal Green as a shelter when the Nazis bomb their area. The mayor wants to improve the entrance to the station because someone reported how dangerous it could be based on the steep stairs, very low lighting, and other things. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>A Twisted Love Story </i>by Samantha Downing -- Ivy and Wes have the weirdest on-and-off relationship, but they seem to thrive in it. Things are ok until Detective Karen decides to look into both of their pasts. OK book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>American Princess</i> by Stephanie Marie Thornton -- an interesting story about Alice Roosevelt, the oldest child of President Theodore Roosevelt <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>She Lies In Wait</i> by Gytha Lodge -- I had walked into the midst of a series (see book above by same author) so I decided to start with book one in order to properly "meet" these English detectives, Jonah, Juliette, Ben, and the gang. When bones are found at a campground Jonah remembers three decades ago when Aurora, a fourteen year old, went missing. Soon the team is trying to solve the mystery of her disappearance that night. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Someone We Know</i> by Shari Lapena -- Olivia is worried about her son who has been a good kid up until he confesses to breaking into houses to look at people's computers. Meanwhile something more troubling happens in the neighborhood when a missing lady is found in a car that was driven into a lake. Fast-paced mystery!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Night Before</i> by Wendy Walker -- Laura has had a tough time meeting the right guy, and when she finds a promising match on a dating app, her sister is excited for her - but wary, too. When Laura doesn't return from her date, Rosie and her husband Joe and their best friend Greg help retrace Laura's steps. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died</i> by Amanda Flower -- This is "an Emily Dickinson mystery" featuring Emily and her family, friends, and peers, but told from the perspective of Willa, the family's maid and a sort of companion to Emily. Pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Other Mothers</i> by Katherine Faulkner -- Tash's son has struggled fitting into playgroup so Tash is happy when Laura and the gang of "perfect" moms invites her to join them. Meanwhile Tash is also investigating the death of a nanny who had ties to the playgroup her son attends. Pretty good. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Good Girls Lie</i> by J.T. Ellison -- After her parents are killed, Ash moves from Oxford, England, to attend a private all-girls school in Virginia where bad things still happen to those close to her. Is she part of the problem or does she just have really bad luck?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Couple Next Door </i>by Shari Lapena -- Anne and Marco are at a birthday dinner next door when their daughter disappears. What happened to baby Cora between the time Marco checked on her and they came home for the evening? <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Greenwich Park</i> by Katherine Faulkner -- Helen is attending her prenatal class alone - husband out of town again - when she meets Rachel, a vivacious young lady who drinks and smokes and laughs just a little too loudly. Rachel keeps popping up everywhere so she and Helen hang out. Things are ok, but not great. Then Rachel vanishes. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Professor </i>by Lauren Nossett -- Now that she's lost her job as a detective, Marlitt has all the time in the world to help her mother's friend, a professor who is being investigated because her student died under suspicious circumstances. Meanwhile we learn some of the background of the professor, a German-Turkish lady who is teaching German at the University of Georgia.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Watching From the Dark </i>by Gytha Lodge -- Another in the series I started earlier this month. When Aidan is waiting for his Skype call with Zoe, he believes he witnesses her murder. Though he can't see anything, he hears things. Yet he's reluctant to call the police due to things he wants to keep secret. A lovely book to read on Christmas Eve, right? <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>An Unwanted Guest </i>by Shari Lapena -- Guests are looking forward to a wonderful stay at a quaint hotel, but when a storm turns into an icy mess leaving them without power, they are dismayed. Especially when someone winds up dead - a murder? Maybe! Another good one to read at Christmas! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Strange Sally Diamond </i>by Liz Nugent -- When Sally's father dies and she quite literally follows his instructions about taking him out to the trash, the town realizes "weird" Sally Diamond is as strange as they thought. This book explores Sally's bluntness, her inability to fit into "normal" life, her past, and the story of Peter and his father, a dentist in Ireland, who fled with his son to New Zealand when a burglar made quite a discovery. Interesting story and characters! </div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-7431808456935197382023-11-30T18:36:00.002-05:002023-11-30T18:39:16.429-05:00November Books <p> </p><div><i>The Leftover Woman </i>by Jean Kwok -- I was ready to put this book aside as it took a bit to get into, but it ended up being pretty good. Jasmine left her family in China to come to the Beautiful Country where she found a job working in an Asian strip club. She doesn't want to work there, but has an enormous sum to repay. Additionally, she seeks to avoid the husband she fled. Meanwhile Rebecca is trying to land an author for her publishing job while balancing life as a mom and wife. Their live-in nanny from China is there to make their adopted daughter Fifi more in touch with her native culture.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>A Million Little Choices </i>by Tamera Alexander -- When Claire's big-wig lawyer husband accepts a partnership in another state, she's angry that their lives will be uprooted without much input from her. Their marriage is already shaky because of a friendship he had that turned a little too chummy. After they relocate to Atlanta, Claire discovers something in her big, new house that makes her popular among the historical society. She reads about the former owners of this house which was quite interesting. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Guest Room</i> by Tasha Sylva -- This book was OK. After her sister Rosie was found dead, Tess moves into her flat, and rents out a room as an AirBnB. She has a bad habit of going through her guests' belongings, and when a longer-term guest Arran comes to stay, she starts reading his diary. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Gone Tonight </i>by Sarah Pekkanen -- Ruth has been on the run since she was a pregnant teenager full of secrets as she ran away from home. Catherine is a few weeks away from her move to the Baltimore area to begin a new job and classes when her mom's diagnosis causes her to put her plans on hold. But then Catherine is puzzled when she realizes her mom's deception: about her possible disease, her upbringing, so many things. Why is her mom lying to her? <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Traitor Beside Her</i> by Mary Anna Evans -- This is one of those books that I think I'd like better if I read the previous books because even though it doesn't say it's part of a series, I noticed another book that seemed like it would explain Justine Byrne and her friends Georgette, Paul, and Jerry. More of the backstory. Instead I was plopped into this event with them all working as spies to varying degrees. Justine is trying to figure out who in her department is selling information to the Axis powers. Decent book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Stay Awake</i> by Megan Goldin -- Everytime Liv wakes up she forgets things. The last thing she recalls, she was at work when she got a phone call. After that...nothing. Her best friend and boyfriend aren't at their apartments or answering their phones, apparently she doesn't even live at the apartment she remembers. What happened? <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Caretaker </i>by Ron Rash -- Blackburn Gant is the caretaker of a cemetery near Blowing Rock, NC. When his best friend Jacob gets drafted and heads to Korea, Jacob asks Blackburn to look after his wife Naomi as she's expecting their first child. Jacob's parents refused since Jacob and Naomi eloped and they were angry about it. Good story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>A Small Affair </i>by Flora Collins -- Vera meets a super-rich guy on a dating app only to ditch him after three dates. Then something terrible happens and many blame her. She loses her job and reputation. Later she tries to figure out what exactly happened. An OK book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Against the Wind</i> by Amanda Cabot -- book two in the Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing series; Josh is on a quest to improve his grandfather's store based in New York, but he finds himself laid up in Texas for several weeks after his horse throws him. Meanwhile Louisa is back in her home community with hopes of being the next midwife and doctor. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Year of Jubilee</i> by Cindy Morgan -- Grace is a young teenager who struggles to fit in school. When her brother Isaac goes away for treatment, her Aunt June stays with Grace and her sister. Good story.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Book Spy</i> by Alan Hlad -- Maria Alves is a "microfilm expert" working in New York, but she wants to be part of the team sent to Europe to gather Axis publications, microfilm those to be sent back for scrutiny. Meanwhile Tiago is a Portuguese bookseller who is doing his part to help Jewish refugees. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Other Princess</i> by Denny S. Bryce -- A novel of Queen Victoria's goddaughter, Aina who was given the name Sarah Forbes Bonnetta. She was a kidnapped African princess given to Captain Forbes as a gift for Queen Victoria. Interesting story! <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DH5RwGSEDZTU&source=gmail&ust=1701349454480000&usg=AOvVaw1-NPbBL5Ef5x6nyI4dEiXF" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5RwGSEDZTU" target="_blank">Here is a YouTube video</a> about her. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Christmas Presents</i> by Lisa Unger -- A novella that I read in an afternoon as I sat outside enjoying the sun. Madeline runs a bookstore and as she wraps a book for someone's Christmas gift, she learns a rather-famous true crimes podcaster is standing at her counter. Only, he's looking for her, and more specifically her side of the story of what happened in high school when Madeline's best friend died, two girls disappeared, and Madeline was left for dead. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Walking With Sam </i>by Andrew McCarthy -- "A father, a son, and five hundred miles across Spain;" a travel memoir documenting the author and his nineteen year old son as they walk the Camino de Santiago. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Everyone Here Is Lying</i> by Shari Lapena -- When nine-year-old Avery goes missing, the detectives interview neighbors, parents, schoolmates and friends. It seems so many people have things to hide. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>A Novel Proposal</i> by Denise Hunter -- Sadie visits South Carolina one summer in order to write a romance novel. Her western series got nixed by her publisher and now she has to write romance -- but she has never had a long-term relationship and is unsure how to write about love. Meanwhile her grumpy neighbor Sam.... well, he is less-than-welcoming at first. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing</i> by Matthew Perry -- I didn't watch Friends when it was a super-popular TV show, but I was alive then so I knew of the characters to varying degrees. I was saddened when Matthew Perry died a few weeks ago at age 54, and decided to check out his memoir and put it on hold at the library. It was my turn a few days ago, and I read most of it around Thanksgiving. It's a bit strange reading a memoir of someone who recently died suddenly, especially as he admits time and again of his struggles with alcohol and drugs, and how often he almost died from his addiction. He admits to checking out of a rehab place in Switzerland "needing" 1,800 milligrams of Oxy every single day...just to stay level, not to get a high, but so he wouldn't be in agony! When he flew back to LA and told his doctor, she was like, Um no...cancer patients only get 100 milligrams; here's 30. He immediately flew back to Switzerland on a $175,000 private jet ride so he could get his 1,800 milligrams. (see pg. 86). One thing Matthew struggled with a lot was being accepted and being lonely. He told how he often broke up with someone because the relationship was going so well, and he knew it was too good to be true. So he wanted to break up first, before the other person could break up with him. (He did this to Julia Roberts and others.) Throughout the book, he was that lost, lonely kid who at five years old was an Unaccompanied Minor flying from his mom's house in Canada to his father's place in Los Angeles. He hated that feeling. He was five years old. Someone pick up this child and take him with them, don't send him by himself. (Matthew's thoughts on the subject.) He wrote in one place that he'd spent around $7 million on rehabs, and mentioned, "I've detoxed over sixty-five times in my life - but the first was when I was twenty-six." He said during the Friends years that he ranged from a weight of 128 pounds to 225 pounds. "When I'm carrying weight, it's alcohol; when I'm skinny, it's pills. When I have a <i>goatee</i>, it's<i> lots</i> of pills," he stated. "By the end of season three, I was spending most of my time figuring out how to get fifty-five Vicodin a day - I had to have fifty-five every day, otherwise I'd get so sick. It was a full-time job: making calls, seeing doctors, faking migraines, finding crooked nurses who would give me what I needed." (see pg. 121) As he stated in the book and which I'd read online before I read his memoir, when he died people would be shocked by the news, but not surprised. Overall this was such a sad read for me, and I pray that he is at peace now. </div><div><br /></div><div>I found out my sister read this memoir a few weeks before Matthew Perry died, and I, of course, read it a few weeks after. Steph and I talked about it some while looking around Barnes & Noble the other day (Nov. 28, 2023).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Dirty Laundry </i>by Disha Bose -- When Ciara, the Instagram influencer, is found dead, this book takes us back a few days to see what led up to her murder. Featuring Lauren and her longtime boyfriend whom she decides to ask to marry, Ciara and her family, Mishti and her husband who are Indians living in Ireland. This book was OK. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Saved</i> by Benjamin Hall -- "a war reporter's mission to make it home;" Andrew saw this one at the library and read it. He often said, "You'd probably like this one," especially since the author went to Syria at one point, and later Ukraine. I decided to read it before returning it to the library. Interesting story, especially the mission to get him out of Ukraine after the car he was in was hit by a bomb.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>It Ends at Midnight</i> by Harriet Tyce -- Sylvie is up for a big promotion when her best friend Tess decides they need to come clean about a lie they told twenty years ago that sent a classmate to prison. Sylvie doesn't want a black mark to hold her back from a coveted position, but eventually agrees to try to set things right with the woman they harmed. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Six</i> by Loren Grush -- This book tells the stories of the first six women who were selected by NASA to become astronauts. They include Sally Ride who was the first American woman in space, and Judy Resnik most known to me as one of the astronauts who lost her life in the Challenger explosion. Plus I learned about four other women who made space history. Really enjoyed this one!</div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-56551086035552985272023-11-27T17:35:00.002-05:002023-11-27T17:35:09.166-05:00Itchy Boots: Andorra, Croatia, India (Season 7 Break from Africa) <p> </p><div>Three months ago, Itchy Boots informed viewers that she was leaving West Africa. If you are interested in her reasons, see the bottom of <a href="http://susanne430.blogspot.com/2023/08/itchy-boots-season-7-sierra-leone-to.html">this post</a>. She also left her motorcycle, Alaska. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime, she used some other motorcycles and visited a few places in order to improve her riding skills. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In the episodes we watched on September 3 and 10th, she rode with Charly, Killian, and Roel in Spain and Andorra; they took us through some towns among the Pyrenees.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Later that month on the 17th and 24th, Noraly was in the Dinaric Rally in Croatia. Unfortunately her rally came to an end when she got off course among tall grasses, flipped in a ditch, and broke her hand.</div><div><br /></div><div>In October, she started a mini-series called Return to India. She was testing a new pre-production Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle. We watched October 11, 15, 18, 23, 26, and 29 as well as November 1, 5, 8, 13, 16, 19, 22, and 26 as she showed us many interesting sights in India! She loves India and has been there several times, but had never done a proper series there. She only did a fraction of this lovely country, high in the Himalayas near the borders of Pakistan and China; along a lake which is partly in China; she attended a wedding; rode quite a while in a military convoy; stayed in a houseboat; showed us the floating market; went to a temple where they worship rats (I really hated this place); visited the blue city; went to a temple where a motorcycle is a deity of sorts; I loved the tour guide Kuki and the people she met while with him; I enjoyed the people she met along the way and the animals she saw. It was really cool seeing elephants and camels and buffalo along the road. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In the final episode she rode back to Delhi to return the bike after giving a review. Her first season she had a Royal Enfield named Basanti so she compared the two.</div><div><br /></div><div>She said after a short break, we should soon see videos from Africa again! </div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-4386248515506351572023-10-31T06:49:00.004-05:002023-10-31T06:49:28.158-05:00October Books <p> </p><div><i>The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club </i>by Julia Bryan Thomas --
College friends and roommates Tess, Caroline, Merritt, and Evie join a
reading club hosted by Alice, the town's bookshop owner. Pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Last Breath </i>by
Kimberly Belle -- After living abroad for sixteen years, Gia returns to
Appalachia to care for her father who is dying from cancer. He was
convicted of her stepmother's murder, but is coming home to die - or
await another trial. An OK book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Only One Left</i>
by Riley Sager -- Kit takes a job caring for a lady rumored to have
killed her parents and sister over fifty years ago. While caring for
Lenora Hope, she learns more of the story of what happened back then.
Pretty good one.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Hello Stranger</i>
by Katherine Center -- Sadie is excited when she's chosen as a finalist
in an art competition, but when a medical situation leaves her with
face blindness, she struggles with what to do. Because the competition
is in her speciality: portraiture. Meanwhile she meets Joe and the nice
veterinarian Oliver Addison, and deals with a father who doesn't care
about her very much and her evil stepsister Parker. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Save What's Left</i>
by Elizabeth Castellano -- A rather humorous look at one woman's life
after she moves from Kansas to a beach town in New Jersey. Pretty cute. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>A Traitor in Whitehall </i>by
Julia Kelly -- Days after she begins a new job in the war effort,
Evelyne discovers a murdered coworker. She teams up with David Poole to
investigate who could have killed Jean, and also the two work to uncover
a mole. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>How Can I Help You</i>
by Laura Sims -- Margo is a former nurse who changed her name and
started working in a library. Patricia is a trained librarian stuck in a
rinky dink library where her work at the reference desk includes people
calling to ask her the number for the car part store and how far one
town is from another. Yet Patricia finds Margo intriguing...especially
since Margo let it slip that she left her nursing job mid-shift due to
hospital politics. Who does that?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Ladies of the Lake</i>
by Cathy Gohlke -- A good story about four friends who met at a ladies'
school in Connecticut around the time of the first world war. Adelaide,
Dot, Susannah, and Ruth promised to be there for each other through
thick and thin. Alternating between their days at school and then as
adults, this book was an enjoyable read. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Good Bad Girl</i>
by Alice Feeney -- Patience is a young care worker in a home for old
people, and she sneaks Edith's dog up to her every once in a while. She
lives above the art gallery of a guy who wants her to spy for him.
Meanwhile Clio is trying to afford the fees for her mother's care while
Frankie is looking for her runaway daughter. This book was a bit
confusing to get into, but got better as more of the story unfolded. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Confessions on the 7:45</i>
by Lisa Unger -- Selena and her family are dealing with the
disappearance of the children's nanny, meanwhile Anna aka Martha aka
____ is perfecting her con. The women meet on the 7:45 train. Pretty
good if you like these types of books! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Grandmother Plot</i>
by Caroline B. Cooney -- Freddy is a twenty-six year old who likes
making things with glass. He also is the one selected to care for his
grandmother who has dementia so he moves to Connecticut for that. He
visits her in her memory care home, and meets interesting characters.
Oh, someone is murdered. This was an ok book.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Blood Will Tell</i>
by Heather Chavez -- Frankie is a single mom who balances life with her
son Julian, being a math teacher, and trying to keep track of her
younger sister, Izzy. Izzy has issues with drugs and drinking too much,
and Frankie often bails her out of her troubles. In this book Frankie
investigates what happened five years ago when Rachel died, and also why
was her truck involved in an AMBER alert? <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Air Raid Book Club</i>
by Annie Lyons -- Gertie is a widow thinking of selling the bookshop
she ran with her beloved husband, but then the war happened and her
friend Charles approaches her about taking in a German Jewish child.
Which she does. Hedy is fifteen and things are rough for a while as the
two come to terms with living together. Pretty good story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Paris Agent</i>
by Kelly Rimmer -- This book is told from the perspectives of Eloise
and Josie who were SOE agents in the war. Also, Charlotte is the
daughter to an agent, Noah, who in the 1970s tells his daughter about
his wartime activities. Whereas she always thought he was a mechanic in
the war, she found out he was a spy. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Favor</i>
by Nicci French -- When Jude is contacted by a highschool boyfriend
eleven years later, she agrees to Liam's request to meet and do a favor
for him. But when he never shows up at their meeting place, Jude
questions her agreement to help him. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Neighbor's Secret </i>by
L. Alison Heller -- These book club members are dealing with a lot and
more than one neighbor has a secret. Annie has a relationship she wants
to keep hidden, and her daughter Laurel is acting out. Jen is scared
that she's raising a sociopath, and wants answers for - and a school
that will accept - her son Abe. Lena has her own long-held secret about
the night a young man died. Whewie! This book was pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Wings of Poppy Pendleton </i>by
Melanie Dobson -- This book alternates between the voices of Chloe in
present times, and Amelia, Birdie and a few other characters in the
past. Chloe runs a candy shop on one of the Thousand Islands where Poppy
Pendleton disappeared decades ago. She and a reporter named Logan try
to solve the mystery. Meanwhile Chloe is watching a young girl who
showed up, but refuses to say where she's from. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Dark Corners</i>
by Megan Goldin -- Rachel Krall is a podcaster invited to Florida by
the FBI because a prisoner they suspect of several murders is getting
ready to be released. Using an old Instagram account, Rachel goes
undercover at a local convention for social media influencers in order
to learn more about a popular influencer Maddison who has gone missing.
Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>She Started It</i>
by Sian Gilbert -- Anabel, Tanya, Chloe, and Esther were shocked when
someone from their past invited them to her hen weekend, an all-expenses
paid trip to a private island in the Bahamas. Why is Poppy wanting
these particular women to be part of her wedding? They bullied her in
school! Granted, that was ten-plus years ago, but still. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Swindler's Daughter</i>
by Stephenia H. McGee -- This book was ok, nothing special. Lillian is
stunned when her father dies and leaves her his property. Why is she
stunned? Well, all her life her mom claimed to be a widow, but it turns
out, her parents were never married and Liliian's dad was alive until
just recently. She travels to the place her father lives to settle the
estate, and meets a family living in her dad's house.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><i>Just Another Missing Person</i>
by Gillian McAllister -- Julia is a detective in England investigating
another missing person. When someone breaks into her car and forces her
to plant evidence or else her big secret will be revealed, Julia
struggles. As she should! Pretty good story. Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-83892107331073115912023-09-29T05:57:00.004-05:002023-09-29T05:57:31.291-05:00September Books <p> </p><div><i>The White Lady</i> by Jacqueline Winspear -- Following her roles in two world wars, Elinor knows a bit about survival and taking care of business. When she realizes her neighbors are trying to get away from a well-known crime family in London, she makes it her business to learn about what's going on. This book alternates between present (the crime family story) and two world wars that impacted Elinor in her place of birth, Belgium, and in her mom's home country, England. Pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Canary Girls</i> by Jennifer Chiaverini -- Did you know that during World War I, women in England made ammunition for the troops, and some of them turned yellow because of their work with TNT? This book follows the lives of Lucy, April, Helen, and their friends, families and coworkers during this time. These women also played on football teams in order to raise funds for the war effort and those impacted by it. Pretty interesting novel. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Secrets of a Charmed Life</i> by Susan Meissner -- Emmy is fifteen years old with big dreams of designing bridal gowns. Among her problems is she's a bit too young to have a job, her mum relies on her for watching her little sister, plus there is a war on. When Emmy gets a job at a bridal shop, she's disheartened when her mum insists she and Julia be evacuated to the country.... because the Germans are probably going to bomb London. And thus it goes. Pretty good book, and my third in a row dealing with one of the world wars and taking place in England, huh. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Is This Normal? </i>by Dr. Jolene Brighten -- I didn't read every bit of this 450+ page book, but I read most of it as some subjects interested me more than others. This is "judgment-free straight talk about your body," with lots of good information.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>An American Beauty</i> by Shana Abé -- "a novel of the Gilded Age," this book follows the story of Arabella Yarrington who is the mistress of Collis Huntington, a super-wealthy man. Pretty interesting. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>I Didn't Do It</i> by Jaime Lynn Hendricks -- Thriller novelists are meeting in New York City for Murderpalooza, "the premier thrill writers conference," but when a star writer is murdered and Twitter accusations are off the charts, Vicky, Davis, Mike, and Suzanne become allies of sorts as each feel they might be killed next. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>What Harms You</i> by Lisa Black -- This seems to be part of a series because there is mention of these people involved in other cases, but in this one Dr. Ellie Carr is starting a new job at the Locard Institute, where they train people in ways forensic science is useful in solving crimes. Then the scientist Ellie is replacing is found dead and other bizarre things are happening. Could a serial killer be taking classes at the institute? <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>What Never Happened</i> by Rachel Howzell Hall -- Colette aka Coco returns to Catalina Island years after the tragic murders of her parents and brother because her Aunt Gwen has gotten a bit forgetful and needs care. While writing obituaries for the tiny newspaper, she becomes involved in an investigation into why so many older women are dying. Plus, there are threats against her. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Mrs. Porter Calling</i> by AJ Pearce -- This book is better if you read the two previous books and even better if you remember what all happened in those two books. Alas, I've read them both, but couldn't recall everything about them. Still! Emmy Lake continues writing her popular column in <i>Woman's Friend</i> magazine, but when the owner dies and leaves this magazine to his niece, well, Mrs. Porter has a few changes she wants to make in order to make the magazine less "mis" and more glamorous. Pretty good story.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Paris Assignment </i>by Rhys Bowen -- Madeleine goes to Paris to study abroad for a semester and ends up marrying Giles and having a child named Olivier. When Hitler comes to power, Giles wants his wife and child to go to England where Madeleine is from. Later Madeleine comes back to France to help with the war effort. Meanwhile Olivier somehow ends up in Australia! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Red Flags</i> by Lisa Black -- I read this author earlier this month and was curious about the first book in this Locard Institute series and the introduction of Dr. Rachael Davies and Dr. Ellie Carr. In this book Ellie is on the scene of an infant abduction and realizes it's her cousin Becca's child. There's talk of online games, addiction algorithms and such. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Delicate Condition </i>by Danielle Valentine -- Now that she's nearly forty, Anna is desperate to have a child! By weird coincidence her acting career is taking off right at a time she's bound to home more due to IVF. When weird things start happening, she and her husband Dex escape to a friend's home in the Hamptons where .. weird things still happen. A bit strange, but a rather-interesting book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Paris Daughter</i> by Kristin Harmel -- Juliette and Elise are American women married to French men who meet in Paris around the time Hitler is on the march across Europe. When Elise has to flee the area due to things her Communist husband did, she gives her young daughter to Juliette to care for until she returns. After the war Elise returns to look for her daughter, but Juliette has moved without leaving a message for Elise.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Last Heir to Blackwood Library </i>by Hester Fox -- Ivy inherits an abbey rumored to be haunted. Soon she believes it because weird things happen. Also, her memory is failing. This seems to happen with all the heirs of Blackwood. What's the deal? Different! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>In the Shadow of the River</i> by Ann Gabhart -- Jacci grew up on a showboat and after her mom's death when she was five, her grandpa taught her to dance and sing so she could be part of the show. There's some mystery as to why her mom was stabbed and Jacci learns more about that. An OK book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Breakaway </i>by Jennifer Weiner -- Abby has mostly come to appreciate her larger size even though she lives in a world that values thinness, and agrees to lead a bicycling tour where she meets a few interesting characters. Unbelievably, she comes face to face with a guy she hooked up with one night two years ago while in NYC at a bachelorette party. Sebastian often wondered about the lady who left his bed before he woke up that morning. Despite being a serial dater with no long term relationships to his name, he felt different with Abby. Meanwhile Abby's group includes her fat-shaming mother (surprise!) and a daughter trying to keep a secret from her mom. Interesting story! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Trade Off </i>by Sandie Jones -- This book explores "toxic" tabloid media through the stories of Jess who went to work for <i>The Globe</i> and her immediate boss Stella. Jess found she didn't have the drive to ruin lives whereas Stella wanted a story at all costs. Pretty interesting.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Hurricane Blonde </i>by Halley Sutton -- Salma Lowe is the daughter of actors, but she left her own brief stint in show business years ago, and is currently running a tour through Los Angeles related to her own sister's fate. Tawney's murder was never solved, but Salma has long suspected Tawney's ex-fiancé, Cal, who is now directing a movie about Tawney. An OK book.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Still Life</i> by Joy Fielding -- After Casey has an enjoyable outing with her friends, she finds herself hit by a speeding vehicle and left in a coma. Eventually Casey realizes she can hear everything, and friends and family and medical folks reveal her condition, what they really think about her and others, and they wonder why Casey was hit and left for dead. Was it on purpose or an accident?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The First Ladies</i> by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray -- These authors explore the relationship and hard work of Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Since I'm posting today: H2ndBD, JDF! <3<br /></div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-11352147423799857852023-08-30T16:50:00.007-05:002023-11-30T18:41:01.804-05:00August Books<p> </p><div><i>Between Two Strangers </i>by Kate White -- Skyler is a struggling artist who gets a life-changing phone call one Friday afternoon. Someone died and left her an amazing inheritance. But who is this guy and why did he select her for this windfall? Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<span><i>The Wartime Sisters</i>
by Lynda Cohen Loigman </span>-- I thought this was a new book since it was on the library catalog, but I quickly realized it wasn't, and it seemed very familiar. Sure enough I read it a few years ago, but since I didn't have another library book on hand, I went ahead and read it since it was an easy read. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Talk of Champions</i> by Kenny Smith -- I heard a short interview with the author on an NPR program so when I saw this book at the library, I read it quickly. Andrew actually checked it out so I read it while he was working. I remember Kenny Smith from his days playing under Coach Dean Smith at UNC-Chapel Hill. He has various chapters about people who shaped him. Fast read.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Beware the Woman</i> by Megan Abbott -- Jacy traveled to visit her father in law and while there has some complications that mean she may have to stay awhile. But this place is increasingly giving her the creeps so she'd really like to go! An OK book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The House Guest </i>by Hank Phillippi Ryan -- Alyssa's husband left her so she's in a bar when she meets a woman who looks a bit down on her luck. She buys Bree a drink or two and gives her her phone number. Eventually Bree moves into the guest house, and, honestly, this book was a bit too hard for me to understand sometimes because I am sooo not one to have someone move into my life that easily. Online, perhaps, yes, but physically...no. An OK book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Spectacular </i>by Fiona Davis -- I always enjoy her books about some iconic building or place and event in New York City. This one focused on Radio City Hall during the time a man left pipe bombs around the city for several years. It's told through the eyes of Marion who becomes a Rockette. She meets Dr. Peter Griggs who is based on a person the FBI hired as a criminal profiler. Interesting, easy-to-read book!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>A Bridge Across the Ocean </i>by Susan Meissner -- This book alternates between present day Brette who has the Sight (passed down to females in her family though it skips generations sometimes) and Simone from her time in Paris during World War II and later on a war brides' ship the <i>Queen Mary</i>. Also, it deals with Annaliese who is trying to escape an abusive past. Interesting story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Before She Finds Me</i> by Heather Chavez -- Julia is standing in line to check her daughter Cora into her freshman dorm when the unthinkable happens: shots ring out and Cora's stepmother who was standing nearby is killed! Meanwhile Ren recognizes this as being her husband's work, but he never ran this hired hit by her - and they plan their hits together. Why this rush? This story alternates between Julia's and Ren's perspectives. Fast-paced book.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Messy Lives of Book People</i> by Phaedra Patrick -- Really enjoyed this story about a cleaner, Liv Green, who is employed by the novelist Essie Starling. When Essie passes away unexpectedly, Liv is tasked with something besides cleaning the lady's house! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Pretty Things</i> by Janelle Brown -- Nina is a con artist who works with Lachlan. She wants to get out of the business, but her mom's cancer treatments make it necessary for lots of cash. When Nina is eager to get out of LA (because the police have come around), she heads for Lake Tahoe where she and her mom spent a year when Nina was a sophomore in high school. There she singles out Vanessa, of the fabulously wealthy Liebling family. Pretty interesting, entertaining book! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Vanishing at Castle Moreau</i> by Jaime Jo Wright -- DNF; I really tried with this one, but after 158 pages, I cannot get into this story nor keep the characters straight. It's just not that appealing to me. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Summer Secrets </i>by Jane Green -- Cat is an English journalist who struggles with sobriety. Well, first she struggled with realizing her alcohol problem, but once she faces that, she struggles with staying on the wagon. When her American mom tells her a story about her trip to Nantucket before Cat was born, Cat decides to visit for herself. Pretty good story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Block Party</i> by Jamie Day -- Every year on Memorial Day, the folks of Alton Street have a block party. Here you are introduced to these rich, complicated people such as Alex who might have a drinking problem; Ken who has been forgiven for an affair years ago, but his wife Emily suspects things; the new neighbors Samir and Mandy with their troubled son, Jay. There are Lettie and Riley and Dylan, and more. Pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Senator's Wife</i> by Liv Constantine -- After Sloane's husband is killed, she marries her husband's friend Whit, and things are going pretty well until her hip replacement surgery. This causes her lupus to flare and suddenly she's taking a turn for the worse. Does this have anything to do with her new assistant Athena? What has she been putting into Sloane's food and drinks? Fast read. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Prom Mom</i> by Laura Lippman -- Amber went to her high school prom with the rich boy she was tutoring in French. They weren't a couple that anyone could tell, but he agreed to take her to prom. When she left early due to a terrible stomach ache, well, who knew that she really was having a baby? Years have past, and Amber has distanced herself from her hometown and the "prom mom" label that described her back then. But when she's back in Baltimore to settle her stepfather's estate, she decides perhaps it is time to move home - and see if she has shed that label once and for all. OK to pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper </i>by Phaedra Patrick -- I read another of her books recently and decided to try another. I enjoyed this story of Arthur Pepper who is coming upon the one year mark of when his wife of forty years died after a sudden illness. Arthur is finally cleaning out her things when he comes upon a charm bracelet placed in a boot. He never saw his wife wear this bracelet, and wonders about the history of these charms. Thus, his finally leaving the house for more than a trip to the store and finding out more about his wife - and himself. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Secretary </i>by Renée Knight -- Christine Butcher is the long-time secretary for the supermarket heiress Mina Appleton. Christine's role isn't just her sorting Mina's worklife, but doing much much more. And Mina requires loyalty and time like you wouldn't believe. When Mina is written about in a newspaper and sues due to the unflattering portrayal, Christine finds herself on trial. Pretty good story.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Blood Done Sign My Name</i> by Timothy B.Tyson -- I found this in a Little Free Library awhile back and had it on a shelf. Recently I was between library books, and decided to start this one. The subject is tough so I didn't read it quickly as I alternated between it and light fiction instead. The author speaks of his upbringing in eastern North Carolina with an emphasis on the murder of a young black man in Oxford - what led up to it, who did it, and what happened to those who killed this man. This book started off as a thesis for university work, and ended up being fleshed out into this book. It helped me realize the necessity of sometimes destroying property, the reasons behind it, and such. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>No Bad Deed </i>by Heather Chavez -- Cassie is driving home from her clinic one night when she stops to help a lady who is being abused by a man. This leads to a host of issues like her husband going missing while trick or treating with her daughter the next night! What gives? Pretty good if you like suspenseful mystery types. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Her Perfect Life</i> by Hank Phillippi Ryan -- When Lily was 7 years old, her college-aged sister disappeared. Later Lily is a celebrity journalist with the "perfect life," and she's confronted with what happened to her sister all those years ago. With the help of her producer, Greer, and a mysterious informant, Smith, Lily has to make a decision about what to do about Cassie.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>None of This Is True</i> by Lisa Jewell -- While eating out for her 45th birthday, Josie notices another lady celebrating her 45th birthday: what are the odds that they are birthday twins at the same restaurant? After looking up this lady - she'd heard her name mentioned - she realizes Alix Summer is a podcaster telling stories of women brave enough to make changes in their lives. Josie contacts Alix about her own story: one where she plans to make big changes. Pretty good story.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>It.Goes.So.Fast.</i> by Mary Louise Kelly -- I've been listening to this author on NPR for several years now, and this book explored "The Year of No Do-Overs" as Mary Louise wanted to make time to see more of her sons' soccer games since the oldest one was getting ready to leave for college soon. The news program she co-hosts begins at 4, the same time her sons' games begin...it's a problem. This book touches on her struggle to hear (a big problem when you work in radio), aging as she wrote much of it the year she turned fifty, her parents, her children, some stories from Ukraine and about her interview with Mike Pompeo, even a curveball towards the end that saddened me. I read this book quickly - within a half day - as it was relatively short, but also fast-paced and interesting.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>In A Far-Off Land</i> by Stephanie Landsem -- A good story about Minerva aka Minnie or Mina who travels from South Dakota to Hollywood where she hopes to make enough money to save the family farm! She stole the rent money in order to make the trip, but she has every intention of paying it back - and then some - once she lands a part in a movie. Meanwhile Oscar and Max, Lupita, Roman, and Angel play their parts in this Depression-era story. Pretty interesting!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><i>Tom Lake</i> by Ann Patchett -- During the global lockdown in 2020, Joe and Lara's three daughters return to Northern Michigan in order to hang out at the family's cherry orchard. While working the fruit, the girls ask their mom about her time as an actress, and her relationship with a famous actor one summer at Tom Lake. I enjoyed this one! <br /></div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-31390510737298103032023-08-28T06:52:00.001-05:002023-08-28T06:52:03.249-05:00Itchy Boots Season 7: Sierra Leone to Benin; Time to leave West Africa for now<p> </p><div>Yesterday, August 27, Itchy Boots announced that she was finishing her West Africa adventure - for now - due to three reasons so I wanted to record the episodes from Season 7 <a href="http://susanne430.blogspot.com/2023/06/itchy-boots-season-7-beginning-through.html">since I last wrote</a> about them. In my last post about this season, I went from February 15 through June 21 videos. Here are the rest.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>June 28 <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>We watched episode 43 which was in Sierra Leone</div><div><br /></div><div>July 2, 7, 9, 13, 17, 21, 23, 26, 30</div><div><br /></div><div>We watched episodes 44-52 which were in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Ivory Coast <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In Sierra Leone, I enjoyed the episode on blood diamonds. When Noraly got to Liberia, the main road was so deep in mud that huge trucks were stuck there for weeks. A local guy rode Alaska through some of the mud, but the process was so tough that it burned her clutch plates so she was unable to change gears. She tried to make it to a new town, but Alaska was having none of it so a nice guy named Prince towed her bike with his own smaller bike (ep. 50). Soon after Noraly had her bike towed to the border with Ivory Coast, and then loaded her motorcycle on a truck to be taken to Abidjan where mechanics worked on Alaska's issues. Riding in Africa was tough on her bike! Sadly, Noraly didn't explore Ivory Coast much due to these issues so I was a bit disappointed in that. Also, she had a bad experience with an official there demanding bribes.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>August 3, 7, 10, 13, 18, 20, 23, 27 <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>We watched episodes 53-60 which were in the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Benin <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I really enjoyed seeing Ghana as I have friends who have lived in this country. There we saw a stilt village, tree bridges, gold mines, a lake, and lovely mountain views! In creepier news, she was called Sweet Angel by a boat captain who then talked about his wife. She did an episode about scarification, meeting a king in Benin (she took him some whiskey and had to bow many many times). The final episode included a local showing her their palm oil production and a lady making pots to sell at the market. Then, of course, she told us why she was taking a break from West Africa.</div><div><br /></div><div>1. She needs to get her visa for Nigeria, the next country, which is tougher to get for some reason. She thought she would have an easier time in Europe.</div><div><br /></div><div>2. The rains had become heavier and she needed to wait until some of that was over as the roads were tough when they became muddy.</div><div><br /></div><div>3. Health reasons: she is taking anti-malaria medicine that isn't good to take for long periods of time.</div><div><br /></div><div>She said she had some other adventures planned so the channel should have some content so we'll see about that.</div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-47342892079791826742023-08-03T14:54:00.004-05:002023-08-03T14:55:05.046-05:00Itchy Boots Season 6 Notes So Far (Ecuador to Mexico)<p> </p><div>I decided to post these notes even though we are still watching Season 6.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I was first introduced to Itchy Boots when she was well into Season 6. Andrew started watching Noraly's adventures a few weeks before I started getting interested, but I didn't see her until she was already in the United States.</div><div><br /></div><div>After Season 6 wrapped up, we started watching past seasons which I've blogged about in recent months. Eventually we got to Season 6 which is where Noraly attempts to complete her journey from Season 2 which was interrupted by the pandemic.</div><div><br /></div><div>When last we saw her in the Americas, she was stuck in Peru and finally repatriated to the Netherlands. Unfortunately when she started this new adventure, Peru was still closed (though it opened about the time she came back to South America), so she made plans to begin her Season 6 adventure in Ecuador. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>April 30, 2023</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 1-4 which take place in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Ecuador</div><div><br /></div><div>Itchy Boots shows us her buying Alaska (her new Honda motorcycle), a tour of the Revit place, how her helmet was designed in the Netherlands. She went to the UK to ship her bike, and then she's in Ecuador on her way to pick up Alaska from customs. Getting her bike out of customs took seven hours <i>with</i> a helper. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>May 11 <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 5-7 which take place in Ecuador</div><div><br /></div><div>May 13</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 8-11 which take place in Ecuador</div><div><br /></div><div>I enjoyed seeing the people in the small towns, markets, and the Inca ruins.</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>May 14</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 12-13 which take place in Ecuador</div>
</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>May 19</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 14-17 which take place in Ecuador</div><div><br /></div><div>She stayed with an Amazonian family and crossed a cable car over the Amazon River</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>May 26<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 18-21 which take place in Ecuador and Colombia</div><div><br /></div><div>More great adventures</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>May 30<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 22-24 which take place in Colombia</div><div><br /></div><div>June 2</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 25-27 which take place in Colombia and Panama</div><div><br /></div><div>Due to the season of rough-water crossing, Noraly decides to leave Colombia though she has much more she could explore there. Instead she takes a three-day border crossing which includes a long boat ride around the Darien Gap. She said she hiked through this region about ten years ago, but the interior doesn't have roads for Alaska so she chose to take herself and Alaska around much of this region by boat. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>June 4 <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 28-29 which take place in Panama</div><div><br /></div><div>After Noraly just makes it in time to get her temporary import permit in a city she doesn't want to stay in overnight, she arrives in Panama City where she does want to stay. I really enjoyed watching a couple of ships go through the Panama Canal plus learning some of the history about the place and seeing the Old Town and the modern side.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 6<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 30-32 which take place in Panama</div><div><br /></div><div>I have loved the views and people while Noraly travels through Panama!<br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 7<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 33-34 which take place in Panama</div><div><br /></div><div>Mountains and beach views!<br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 9<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 35-37 which take place in Panama and Costa Rica</div><div><br /></div><div>I really enjoyed the river travel and visit with the Naso people. I love the humor of the people in these Central American countries. Noraly gets a tour of a local "milking farm" in such a beautiful volcanic region! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 11<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episode 38 which takes place in Costa Rica</div><div><br /></div><div>Lovely view of a crater with toxic water.</div><br /><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 12<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 39-40 which take place in Costa Rica</div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly broke one of her cameras and laptop during a fall.<br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 15<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 41-42 which take place in Costa Rica and Nicaragua <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Lots of travel by boat!<br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 16<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 43-45 which take place in Nicaragua <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I enjoyed her showing us the variety of fruit growing on the property of the guest house. Her travels on the river were great. We were amazed how the men caught supper (iguanas from high in the tree!) and laughed when Noraly mentioned someone walking their pig "as one does." Also it was funny when she was waiting to load Alaska on a boat, and a couple of pigs laid down under the motorcycle to enjoy the shade. <br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 18<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 46-47 which take place in Nicaragua <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I enjoyed her visit with the native people and their hike in the jungle.<br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 19<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 48-50 which take place in Nicaragua <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>An interesting tour of a gold mine and a fun trip with Noraly who went boarding down a volcano -- wheeeee!</div><div><br /></div><div>June 20</div><div><br /></div><div>watched her Live from Central America video which was from March 23, 2022<br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 21<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 51-52 which take place in Nicaragua and Honduras</div><div><br /></div><div>Beautiful scenery! <br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>June 24</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 53-54 which take place in Honduras</div><div><br /></div><div>cave exploration<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 27</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 55-56 which take place in Honduras</div><div><br /></div><div>snorkeling and visiting small islands <br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>June 30<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 57-59 which take place in Honduras and El Salvador <br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>July 1<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 60-63 which take place in El Salvador and Guatemala <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Her friend Charly Sinewan joins her and they ride through a lava field. <br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>July 2<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 64-65 which take place in Guatemala</div><div><br /></div><div>I enjoyed seeing places in Antigua (churches and ruins). Noraly had a police escort her through one area that is prone to bandit attacks. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>
<div>July 14<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 66-68 which take place in Guatemala</div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly stayed with an Ixil family and the cute children were following her everywhere. She found the school she attended ten years ago when she was learning Spanish. She tried to find her host family from then, but found out that they had moved to the US.<br /></div></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>
<div>July 15<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 69-71 which take place in Guatemala</div><div><br /></div><div>She went through a really muddy jungle and also went to a thermal waterfall.<br /></div></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>
<div>July 18<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 72-73 which take place in Guatemala and Belize</div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly told about Mennonite communities in Belize; she visited some Mayan temples and pyramids. <br /></div></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>
<div>July 22<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 74-76 which take place in Belize and Mexico</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>July 23<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 77-78 which take place in Mexico</div><div><br /></div><div>Lovely waterfalls and she met modern-day Mayans<br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>July 29<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 79-80 which take place in Mexico</div>
</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>July 30<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 81-83 which take place in Mexico</div><div><br /></div><div>Details about a group trying to save sea turtles along the Pacific coast; Noraly trying some interesting native dishes, and a long detour to avoid men on the road with guns.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-9993097156745310092023-07-30T06:03:00.003-05:002023-07-30T17:48:24.317-05:00July Books <p> </p><div><i>All We Ever Wanted Was Everything</i> by Janelle Brown -- Janice
is excited when her husband's new pill is a Wall Street success and
their fortune is made! She's less thrilled, understandably, when she
can't get him on the phone and later gets a message that he's filing for
divorce. Meanwhile older daughter Margaret is running from credit card
companies wanting to get paid plus younger daughter Lizzie is dealing
with her own issues at school. Pretty good story.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Spare</i>
by Prince Harry -- I saw this available online at our local library so I
put it on hold and started reading it on July 1 (Princess Diana's
birthday). In it, Harry tells his point of view on several things. Part 1
is more of his growing up, schooling and such. Part 2 talks a lot about
his military life. Part 3 is more about Meghan. I would enjoy reading
Prince William's take on all of this if he ever wrote a memoir...ha.
(Andrew is reading this book now.)<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Lindbergh Nanny</i>
by Mariah Fredericks -- A book told from the perspective of Betty Gow,
the young Scottish woman who cared for Charlie Lindbergh until his
disappearance. Interesting perspective! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress </i>by
Ariel Lawhon -- I wasn't familiar with this story, but since I've read
other books by this author, I decided to read this one as well. It
delves into the story of what happened to New York Supreme Court Judge
Joseph Crater who disappeared in August 1930. This is told from the
viewpoints of Stella the wife, Maria the maid, and Ritzi the mistress. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Last Ride of the Pony Express</i>
by Will Grant -- "My 2,000-mile horseback journey into the Old West;"
the author and his two horses, Badger and Chicken Fry, travel the Pony
Express from western Missouri to Old Sacramento, California. Pretty
good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>A Most Intriguing Lady </i>by
Sarah Ferguson -- This definitely wasn't the most intriguing story, but
it was OK. Lady Mary met Colonel Walter Trefusis who quickly became Tre
to her. While many women of her era desire to be wives and mothers,
Mary wants more. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Friday Night Knitting Club</i>
by Kate Jacobs -- Georgia Walker is a single mom raising a preteen
named Dakota. When her ex, Dakota's father, returns from France out of
the blue, he adds a huge wrinkle to their lives. Also, this book deals
with others in this Manhattan-based knitting club. Pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Housemaid</i>
by Freida McFadden -- I was first introduced to Millie last month, and
then I realized the library has another book about her which is where
she works for Nina and Andrew who is drop-dead gorgeous. Really, Andrew
could have had any woman he wanted as Nina is just...not as pretty and
put together as she could be. This alternates between Millie's first
months on the job, and later when Nina tells how this situation came to
be. Fast-paced book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Education of Dixie Dupree </i>by
Donna Everhart -- I don't think I read the jacket to see what this book
was about, but having read this author before, I decided to read it
when I was at the library recently looking for a few books to check out.
This book made me cry more than once. Dixie is eleven years old, and
had to recently hand over her diary because it contained some evidence.
This story tells some of what Dixie experienced as her mom and dad's
marriage faltered, and as her mom became more distant and wanted to
leave in order to go home to New Hampshire. Meanwhile Dixie is concerned
about her father and their lives in Alabama. Then when something
happens to her father, Uncle Ed joins the family from New Hampshire.
Though this book made me cry, it also made me laugh a bit. First when
Dixie calls her grandma, "Granny Ham" as in Hampshire. Secondly when the
family is driving to visit NH, and they are driving on the Appalachian
Trail! (see page 216) Hahahahaha....even more funny is when an
18-wheeler is riding their bumper up and down the mountains. Right. On
the Appalachian Trail? Too bad the book's fact checker didn't realize
that it is a <i>hiking</i> trail that reaches from Georgia to Maine.
Can't imagine seeing a car on it, much less an eighteen wheeler! Haha!
(Also, cool fact since this book dealt with diaries somewhat...this
month I was rereading some diaries I kept when I was young, and some
things are quite funny while the details pertaining to my senior year in
high school are quite embarrassing at times. Ha!) <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Stars Over Sunset Boulevard</i>
by Susan Meissner -- This is the second book in a row with a main
character from Alabama. Unlike the previous book, this book takes place
in California as Violet has left her hometown in Alabama in order to be
in the secretarial pool for the movie industry. She meets Audrey Duvall
who is trying to be rediscovered for parts in movies, and the two
roommates have some interesting adventures. This takes place during the
filming of <i>Gone With the Wind</i> and thereabouts. Pretty interesting story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Girls in the Garden </i>by
Lisa Jewell -- Grace and Pip are the new kids in an area in central
London. Their flat opens into a three acre private park where they meet
new families and make new friends, of sorts. There is the girl named
Tyler along with the Howes - who homeschool their three girls: Catkin,
Fern, and Willow. When something happens to one of the girls on the
night of her thirteenth birthday, the police ask questions about what is
going on in this private park. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>A Little Ray of Sunshine </i>by
Kristan Higgins -- Nearly 18 years ago, Harlow was a pregnant college
freshman who gave her baby to a loving couple. Today she runs her
family's bookstore on Cape Cod when she recognizes a man who walks into
her store, and - oh my! - the teenager with him. It's her son whom she
had named Matthew. Unbeknownst to his family, Matthew found his birth
mother and decided the family's summer-long vacation would be to Cape
Cod so he could meet his birth mother..and maybe hang out with her. How
complicated is that? <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>A Tender Hope </i>by
Amanda Cabot -- The last book in the Cimarron Creek Trilogy; I just
figured I'd read this one since I've read the other two. In it Thea
leaves her home to be the new midwife in Cimarron Creek. Her friend
Aimee joins her for the adventure. There they meet Texas Ranger Jackon
Guthrie who is looking for the Gang of Four. Decent, in a low-key way.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Locked Door</i>
by Freida McFadden -- Nora Davis has created a good life for herself.
After being removed from her family as an eleven year old - well, her
parents were jailed so perhaps they removed themselves in a way. Now she
is a surgeon who enjoys an Old Fashioned at her local bar, and
reconnects with an old friend. When some bizarre things happen that
parallel her serial-killer dad's MO, she finds herself a suspect simply
because of her dad. A fast-paced thriller.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Yesterday's Tides</i>
by Roseanna M. White -- I know I would have enjoyed this so much more
if I'd remembered all the characters from past books - plus maybe I've
missed a few books in her various series?? She mentions in the Author's
Note how she had interwoven so many people from different books, and,
well, I had a tough time recalling the details. That detracted from this
book for me, but otherwise the story was fine enough. It takes place
with two timelines - during the first World War and then the second.
Most of the story takes place on North Carolina's Ocracoke Island though
parts take place in Maryland and Europe. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>How I'll Kill You</i>
by Ren DeStefano -- Have I ever mentioned how Andrew often makes fun of
books that I read? I mean, the titles? He often makes a sentence about
it, and this title: whoa! So, yeah, these triplets have this pact where
they make men fall in love with them, and then take turns murdering
them. Nice book, eh? At least it was a fast read. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p><i>Zero Days</i>
by Ruth Ware -- When Jacintha "Jack" Cross gets home in the wee morning
hours from her penetration security mission and finds her husband
murdered, she is alarmed to realize the police suspect her. Instead of
sticking around for the interview, she does what she does best: escapes
and runs from the law. She has to find answers about who is framing her.
Fast read. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Since it's only the 30th, I might finish one more book, but I can add that here if I do. For now, I'll go ahead and post this list! Can't believe it's almost the eighth month of 2023! </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Aha! here's another one to add:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><i>No One Ever Asked</i> by Katie Ganshert -- My mom read this and said it started a little slowly, but that she liked it so I decided to read it as well. An interesting look at integrating schools in a more modern day. When one inner-city school district receives a failing grade, parents are allowed to transfer their children to schools outside their districts. Schools that are richer and much whiter. This book explores this happening in one Missouri school. Good story.<br /></p>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-51265763307204486702023-06-30T09:45:00.003-05:002023-06-30T09:45:15.532-05:00June Books <p> </p><div><i>Loyalty</i> by Lisa Scottoline -- While I appreciated learning
some Sicilian history, the fast pace due to short-ish chapters, and bits
of humor, this book was chaotic and not a favorite. I wasn't sure how
all these storylines tied in, and they did in the end somewhat, but I
much prefer this author's contemporary books. Eventually I'd like to
watch<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.scottoline.com/loyalty-behind-the-book-videos/&source=gmail&ust=1688161811031000&usg=AOvVaw1xx37GY3XKKA44BtSPtgmP" href="https://www.scottoline.com/loyalty-behind-the-book-videos/" target="_blank"> these videos from the author's trip to Sicily</a>. I find the history kind of interesting, but the book just wasn't as great.<br /></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>The Rooster Bar </i>by
John Grisham -- I got this from a Little Free Library at Southport over
a year ago, and started reading it recently when I had finished all my
library books and it was closed for Memorial Day. Three law school
students realize they are so far in debt and their degrees from a
bottom-tier school hold no guarantees of lucrative jobs - shoot, just
over half of Foggy Bottom Law School students even pass the bar! So
Mark, Todd, and Zola decide to just practice law without finishing all
that. Bizarre!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>With My Little Eye</i>
by Joshilyn Jackson -- In order to avoid a stalker who has been
harassing her, Meribel Mills and her daughter Honor move from Los
Angeles to Atlanta where Meribel can continue her acting career in her
home state. She broke up with her boyfriend before leaving LA, but finds
out he is open to moving to Georgia to be with her. Meanwhile, she
meets her neighbor Cooper, and Honor makes her first friends in Georgia,
Sheila and Xena. Pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Code Name Edelweiss </i>by
Stephanie Landsem -- This book follows Liesl Weiss who loses her job
with MGM. In desperation to provide for her mother and children, she
takes a job with the Jewish lawyer Leon Lewis who has watched Adolph
Hitler's rise to power and influence spread to the California German
community. Pretty interesting story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Only the Beautiful </i>by
Susan Meissner -- An interesting look at eugenics in the United States,
specifically California. Rosie is left orphaned and later finds she is
pregnant which means she is sent to live in an institution where women
are sterilized. Meanwhile Helen is in Austria as a nanny to a little
girl born with deformities. Yet the Nazis don't want crippled people to
be a burden on society. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Where Coyotes Howl</i>
by Sandra Dallas -- I really enjoyed this story of Ellen who answered
an ad for a needed teacher so she left Iowa for Wyoming. She was
thinking lovely mountain views would greet her, but instead she arrived
in the prairie part of the state. Nevertheless, she's determined to
stick it out, and meets Charlie, a cowboy who is infatuated with Ellen
from the get go. This book follows their life together as they marry and
seek to become ranchers. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Weird Sisters</i>
by Eleanor Brown -- I liked this in some ways. Rose, Bean, and Cordy
(ok, ok, Rosalind, Bianca, and Cordelia) grew up in a small college town
where their father taught ... something Shakespearean. The family
constantly quotes lines from Shakespeare to each other. Anyway, the
girls are adults who find themselves back home, living together once
again. Rose is trying to decide what to do about her wedding and where
to live afterward; Bianca is wondering how her life in New York City led
her back to this place, and Cordelia is wondering whether her days of
living on the road are over. An OK book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>A Borrowed Dream </i>by
Amanda Cabot --
book two in the Cimarron Creek Trilogy; until last month, I'd last read a
book by this author in 2017 and when the book last month mentioned
Cimarron Creek and some backstory, I realized I had only read book one
of this trilogy - and that was nearly 6 years ago. Because of this, I
had forgotten most of the characters' stories, but this was still an
easy read and a decent book. Catherine is a school teacher trying to
help the new girl Hannah who arrived in town recently with her father
Austin. Meanwhile Austin is trying to keep his past a secret as he and
his little girl flee from some unsavory characters.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>I'll Be You</i>
by Janelle Brown -- Sam and Elli are twins who acted in a few shows as
teenagers, but have struggled some post-stardom. Sam wanted to keep
acting, but found being an adult twin actor without the twin, a
difficult transition. Elli never enjoyed acting and wanted to go her own
way. The girls each tell her side of the story. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Two Wars and a Wedding</i>
by Lauren Willig -- Betsy is such a great character. I love how she
stands up for herself in a world that thinks women should be librarians
rather than out on an archaeological dig. Why not both? This book is
based on two women during the time of the Spanish-American War. You'll
find Betsy in Greece, Cuba, and on a ship en route to New York. Pretty
good story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Housemaid's Secret</i>
by Freida McFadden -- A fast-paced story about Millie who was hired by
the Garrick family - the husband actually since his wife is always
locked inside the guest bedroom supposedly because she's got a chronic
illness. When Millie believes Wendy is being hurt by her husband, she
tries to help. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>One Last Secret</i>
by Adele Parks -- A pretty interesting mystery-type book told from the
perspective of Dora, an escort/sex worker in London. When one of her
clients asks her to pose as his girlfriend during a trip to southern
France, Dora feels she can do this one final job before she quits the
business to marry her best friend, Evan. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>I Was Anastasia </i>by
Ariel Lawhon -- Anna Anderson reveals her current status and tells her
story - flashbacks to when her family was taken as prisoners in Russia
and later when she made her way out of her country. Oh, and yeah, she's
trying to prove that she truly is Anastasia Romanov. Is she?<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Red Letter Days </i>by
Sarah-Jane Stratford -- After Phoebe is subpoenaed for her
supposed-Communist ties, she travels to London where she meets Hannah
and writes scripts for a new television show written and produced by
people blacklisted in Hollywood. A pretty interesting look at this
shameful time in US history. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Hang the Moon</i>
by Jeannette Walls -- After her involvement in a coaster wagon accident
that knocked out her little half-brother, eight year old Sallie Kincaid
is sent to live with an aunt "for a little while" that turned out to be
until her stepmother died nine years later. Then the Duke (her father)
sends for Sallie to take care of her younger brother Eddie. What follows
is a host of complicated family things alongside the era of Prohibition
in the US. Decent story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Blackberry Winter</i>
by Sarah Jio -- When Seattle gets a rare May snow, Claire, a features
reporter, is assigned a story based on an old May snow which she finds
involved the case of a missing three year old. Alternating between Vera
and Daniel of 1933 and Claire of today, this book was a fast, easy read.
<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Saints of Swallow Hill </i>by
Donna Everhart -- I learned a bit about turpentine farms in this book
featuring Del who has a harrowing time with a bunch of corn and Rae Lynn
who leaves her home after her husband's untimely death. Pretty good
book. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Don't Wake Up </i>by
Liz Lawler -- Dr. Alex Taylor had a horrible thing happen to her at her
own hospital, but when she makes her claim, no one believes her! And
why would they? The things she says happen: there is no physical proof
on her body. Is it all in her head? Pretty good thriller/mystery type
book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><i>The Lost English Girl</i>
by Julia Kelly -- Really enjoyed this book about Viv Byrne, single mom
to a little girl, who has to be evacuated during World War II and her
struggles due to unforgiving and often cruel parents. Also Joshua is the
husband who abandoned his pregnant wife soon after they married because
he wanted to pursue his career opportunities as a musician. After a few
years of living in New York, he returns to England to fight for his
country. Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-54047495385962235272023-06-22T09:46:00.003-05:002023-06-22T09:57:47.722-05:00Itchy Boots Season 7 - The Beginning through her UK Trip<p> Although this season hasn't ended, I decided to post about it. <br /></p><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Season
7 is the first Itchy Boots season that I've watched from the beginning
as she posted videos to her YouTube channel. For that reason, this is
not like past seasons where we were able to watch more than one video
each time - unless, of course, we saved up videos which we did not do.</div><div><br /></div><div>Between
the time Noraly finished her journey to Alaska and the start of Season
7, her bike was being upgraded and later shipped to an unknown
destination. Finally on February 15, she posted her first video of
Season 7. She was at a port city in Spain where she left on a ferry for
Morocco. Thus, her season in Morocco and West Africa began.</div><div><br /></div><div>February 15, 2023 <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Episode 1 was in Spain and Morocco</div><div><br /></div><div>February 17, 20, 23, 24, 27</div><div><br /></div><div>We watched episodes 2-6 which were in Morocco</div><div><br /></div><div>She rode through the Rif Mountains, the Blue Pearl city, through Saharan dunes, and met some lovely people.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>March 1, 3, 6, 9, 10, 14, 16, 17, 20, 22, 24, 27, 29, 31</div><div><br /></div><div>We watched episodes 7-20 which were in Morocco, Western Sahara, and Mauritania <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>We
saw water in the oasis, the high Atlas mountains, incredible, desolate
desert views; a mechanic in Morocco fixed the chain guard and two holes
in Alaska's airbox. Some of these rides through Mauritania (episodes
18-23) were with Ahmed who drove a supply truck because her journey was
just too remote for her to carry enough fuel and food. He was able to
carry her luggage which lightened her bike in order to make it through
thick sand. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>April 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17</div><div><br /></div><div>We watched episodes 21-27 which were in Mauritania and Senegal <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>A
few more rides with Ahmed in the desert with some incredible views. The
drone footage looked like another planet at times. Noraly was headed
towards Dakar to have some maintenance done on her motorcycle and she
needed a logistics break to plan her next moves, get visas, and so
forth. She announced this was the end of Leg 1 and took a couple of
weeks off posting videos in order to accomplish these things.</div><div><br /></div><div>------------------------------<wbr></wbr>------------------------------<wbr></wbr>-----------------<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>LEG 2
-- Noraly mentioned in an email that her new posting schedule would be
Wednesday and Sundays instead of her usual Monday, Wednesday and
Fridays. She said it was just too difficult to post three times a week
in this part of the world. Not only did she often not have good
internet, many places still don't have electricity. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>May 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 22, 24, 28</div><div><br /></div><div>We watched episodes 28-35 which were in Senegal and The Gambia <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>She showed what maintenance had been done on Alaska, took us to shell island and the delta. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>June 1, 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>We watched episodes 36-42 which were in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, and Sierra Leone <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I
really enjoyed her ride through the Highlands of Guinea which she said
was the water tower of West Africa. I loved seeing the people react to
seeing their town on Noraly's GPS and her interaction with the children
and other locals. She announced that she had wanted to do more in
Guinea but due to issues with Alaska, she was headed to Freetown in
Sierra Leone rather quickly. She was hoping to find a Honda mechanic who
could diagnose why Alaska was making a strange noise. Unfortunately the
mechanic didn't show up for work, his coworkers didn't know why, and
she never received a phone call of his arrival back there. . . . <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly
has mentioned the coming rainy season which started early and how that
might impact her travel especially since so many countries have dirt
roads. She loves riding on dirt, but knows with layers of mud and roads
turning into rivers in some cases, it will be more difficult. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>On June 22, 2023, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=830122278482859&set=a.214560556705704">Noraly announced</a>
that she was in the UK for an Adventure Bike Rider event, and would be
back with Alaska in Africa soon. The Adventure Bike Rider Festival had
just announced her as their Mystery Guest earlier in the day which a
couple people on the Itchy Boots fan page had noted. So, no Sunday video
this week. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Also, I saw in the comments of episode 42 (posted to her channel on June 21) that <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Tree_(Sierra_Leone)&source=gmail&ust=1687529961912000&usg=AOvVaw3Pk6xm6v2RAhkdK8gcGI_L" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Tree_(Sierra_Leone)" target="_blank">the famous Cotton Tree in Freetown</a>
which Noraly featured had been destroyed by a storm in late May. We
know Noraly has a built-in delay of when she visits a place and when she
posts a video, so we know she was in Freetown sometime before May 24th.
<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>About the tree, <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Google says:<br /><br />
<div><div lang="en-US" style="clear: none;"><div><div><div><span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/search?client%3Dfirefox-b-1-d%26sxsrf%3DAPwXEddOyE1kbsLafb19H5eqL3Q2S1Gn-A:1687443410962%26q%3Dcotton%2Btree%2Bsierra%2Bleone%2Bdate%2Bfelled%26sa%3DX%26ved%3D2ahUKEwiPx9jIiNf_AhWdFFkFHZqpD3sQ6BMoAHoECHUQAg&source=gmail&ust=1687529961912000&usg=AOvVaw21K2IgN6ZaRQ8EJBbjj2KH" href="https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=APwXEddOyE1kbsLafb19H5eqL3Q2S1Gn-A:1687443410962&q=cotton+tree+sierra+leone+date+felled&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPx9jIiNf_AhWdFFkFHZqpD3sQ6BMoAHoECHUQAg" target="_blank">Date felled</a><span>:</span> </span><span><span>May 24, 2023 (aged 231 years, 2 months and 2 weeks)</span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div></div><div></div><div><div lang="en-US" style="clear: none;"><div><div><div><span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/search?client%3Dfirefox-b-1-d%26sxsrf%3DAPwXEddOyE1kbsLafb19H5eqL3Q2S1Gn-A:1687443410962%26q%3Dcotton%2Btree%2Bsierra%2Bleone%2Bdate%2Bseeded%26sa%3DX%26ved%3D2ahUKEwiPx9jIiNf_AhWdFFkFHZqpD3sQ6BMoAHoECHoQAg&source=gmail&ust=1687529961912000&usg=AOvVaw0hAGNCuSN5T4dVnigPBJKN" href="https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=APwXEddOyE1kbsLafb19H5eqL3Q2S1Gn-A:1687443410962&q=cotton+tree+sierra+leone+date+seeded&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPx9jIiNf_AhWdFFkFHZqpD3sQ6BMoAHoECHoQAg" target="_blank">Date seeded</a><span>:</span> </span><span><span>March 10, 1792</span></span></div><div><span><span> </span></span></div><div><span><span> </span></span></div><div><span><span> </span></span></div><div><span><span> </span></span></div><div><span><span>Season 7 Morocco and West Africa: to be continued... <br /></span></span></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-84622984711530157772023-05-31T07:35:00.006-05:002023-05-31T10:49:12.206-05:00May Books <p> </p><div><i>The Blackout Book Club</i> by Amy Lynn Green -- I found this while picking up a book the library had on hold for me. When I got home, I noticed it was the same book my mom had recommended to me via text a few days prior. This book followed Avis as she ran the town's private library while her brother shipped out to fight the Germans. Additionally we read the perspectives of Martina, Ginny, and Louise, and how the four women came together in a small town in Maine. A pleasant book after some of those I've read lately. Easy read, too.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>After the Shadows</i> by Amanda Cabot -- First in the Sweetwater Crossing trilogy, this book focused on Emily's return to the small town she left when she married the handsome, dashing George. She's greeted harshly by one sister, Louisa, while the other, Joanna, is with her grandmother in Europe. Emily comes back to Sweetwater Crossing only to lose her father in an apparent suicide. Only Emily is not convinced, and seeks to prove this wasn't true. Meanwhile Craig moves to town with his two-year old son who recently lost his mother in an accident. Craig wanted a new start for Noah, and was hired as the town's teacher. A pretty good, clean, easy read. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Best Strangers in the World</i> by Ari Shapiro -- NPR is probably where I have gotten most of my news for the last several years, and I've often enjoyed Ari Shapiro's stories and interviews. When I saw he'd written a book, I put it on hold at the library and got it the other day. I enjoyed learning a few stories about his younger years - how he and his brother were the only Jewish kids at their school in Fargo,North Dakota, so they got to share with others about dreidels and menorahs. Later the family moved to Oregon, and I loved the parts about nature hikes - identifying wildflowers and birds, finding mushrooms, and looking in tidepools. I learned how he got started with Pink Martini as well as how he began working with NPR (he was Nina Totenberg's intern first.) He spoke a bit about his time at Yale and meeting his husband Michael, their weddings (yes, plural), and his time with a faerie community in rural Tennessee. I enjoyed reading about his work husband/best friend when he was based out of London, and stories from Ukraine and Turkey. Probably my favorite chapter is the one that is also the title of this book: it dealt with Syrian refugees and especially three men whose lives Ari and his colleagues followed for a few years. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Rose and the Thistle </i>by Laura Frantz -- This book took a bit too long to get into as Lady Blythe Hedley went to live at a Scottish "laird's" (Everard Hume) residence while hiding from those against the Jacobite sympathies. Overall it was a decent book in giving some information about this time (1715) in history. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Librarian of Burned Books</i> by Brianna Labuskes -- This book follows three timelines, but not many years apart. Althea travels to Germany as guests of the Nazis where she meets Hannah and Dev. Later we see Hannah as she is living in Paris, and then there is Viv who is trying to reverse a book ban so she can send books of all types to soldiers serving in World War II. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Wild Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the Natural World </i>by Mike Higgins and Manuel Bortoletti (illustrator) -- A quick read due to it being filled with 100 maps with little text. I enjoyed this!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Homecoming</i> by Kate Morton -- Her books are always long (540+ pages in this one), but I like them! I enjoyed this look from Jess as she flew from her home in London back home to Australia when her grandmother, Nora, fell as she was attempting the attic stairs. This story is also told from the perspective of Percy Summers who along with his wife Meg, ran the store in 1959. Percy being the one who happened upon Isabel Turner and her three oldest children who looked as if they were asleep, yet all four were dead. The baby - a few weeks old - was missing. Anyway Jess pieces together what happened back then, and thankfully in books, you often get a complete story which often allude you in real life. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Orphan Sisters</i> by Shirley Dickson -- The library had one of her books, but none of the others so I put one on my Amazon Wishlist and got it for my birthday. Sisters Esther and Dorothy were dropped off at an orphanage when they were young, and their mom never came back for them. Eventually the girls age out of the orphanage, get jobs, marry and so forth. Pretty good story set against the backdrop of England at war with Germany during World War II. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Where Are the Children Now? </i>by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke -- I saw several weeks ago that this book was On Order at the library so I read the original book (from the 1970s) in anticipation of this one. In it Melissa (Missy) and Mike are grown, and Melissa is getting married to Charlie who has a stepdaughter Riley who is three. Melissa still has nightmares about what happened to her, and one afternoon when her sleepless nights catch up with her, Riley is taken! It's like her own life revisited, but with some twists. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>It's One of Us</i> by J.T. Ellison -- Olivia and Park are desperate for children, but IVF isn't working. Breaking news: a local lady who had been missing is found dead, and the police are knocking on Olivia and Park's door because the DNA matches Park's - well, it's enough to be Park's son. Huh? Turns out Park was a sperm donor back in graduate school. Anyway, Scarlett is founding member of The Halves - a growing group of young adults and teens who have matched to Park as their donor. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Only Survivors </i>by Megan Miranda -- Cassidy is one of a few who survived when two van loads of teenagers crashed into a ravine ten years ago. Every year this group of survivors meets for a week-long trip to the Outer Banks, but it's getting weirder and Cassidy isn't sure she wants to continue this tradition. Especially since it seems this group is being targeted as they lost Ian to suicide earlier in the year. I had a bit of a hard time getting into this book as I read it as we were preparing for, traveling to, enjoying a party for Zach's twelfth birthday. But I did find a pretty afternoon in which I read the bulk of it, and it was OK in the end. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Golden Doves</i> by Martha Hall Kelly -- Josie and Arlette were friends back during the war and later taken to a concentration camp for a brief time before liberation. In 1952 Josie is working out of Fort Bliss where Nazis have been brought to the US because the United States wants their scientific expertise. Gotta get them or else the Russians will... no justice for these criminals, ya know?! Meanwhile Arlette is on the hunt for the child who was lost to her and she winds up in French Guiana. Over five hundred pages, but a fast, interesting read!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Coronation Year</i> by Jennifer Robson -- It's a few months before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, and Edie is hoping her struggling hotel will earn enough money so she can keep it in the family. Meanwhile Jamie is commissioned to paint the procession, and Stella is a photographer from Italy, both of whom take a room at the Blue Lion Hotel. Quick, interesting read! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy</i> by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin Hill -- I really enjoyed this look at Jacqueline Kennedy from the perspective of her secret service agent who co-wrote this book in his latter 80s. Lots of great pictures about these interesting years. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Are you there God? It's me, Margaret </i>by Judy Blume -- For some reason there wasn't a comma used any time Margaret addressed God although I thought it was a basic grammar rule. Besides that, this was a super-quick read. Like maybe an hour or two after I finished the Mrs. Kennedy book above. I've heard some interviews on various NPR shows about this book due to the movie of the same name. I can't remember if I read this book as a youngster though I recognize many of the other books. Pretty cute.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Soulmate</i> by Sally Hepworth -- Pippa and Gabe live in a place with lovely views. Unfortunately their house is where The Drop, a place people come to end their lives, is located. Gabe has had the opportunity to save many lives, but one night Gabe is not able to save a lady. When it comes out that the person is someone Gabe and Pippa know, a former boss's wife, things take a tricky turn. This book is told from the perspectives of Pippa then and now as well as Amanda (the one who died at The Drop) then and now. Pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Boy from Block 66 </i>by Limor Regev -- While attending her son's best friend's bar mitzvah, the author meets his grandfather who was just thirteen years old when the Jews of his city were rounded up and sent to a camp. The Allies were winning, but the Germans with the help of Hungarians were ruthless in their desire to get rid of Jews. Moshe Kessler's family was part of this, and the author recorded his story here. He was born in Czechoslovakia in a region that was annexed by Hungary. Now it's part of Ukraine. This book tells his story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Here is a bit I shared with some folks (we met in a baby name group about 20 years ago) about Moshe's names: <br /></div><div> </div><div><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto"><div class="x1e56ztr"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u">He was born in <span><span class="xt0psk2"><span>Czechoslavakia</span></span></span>
in a region called Carpathia-Russia. It was located near the border
with Hungary, Romania, and Poland, and until the end of World War I in
1919, this region had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He said
"in less than thirty years our city was part of four different
countries and its name was changed several times." (pg. 17)<br /><br /></span></div><div class="x1e56ztr"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u"></span></div><div class="x1e56ztr"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u">About
his own name ... At home he was called "Moishi," which he said was his
favorite, but at school they called him Ludwig which was his "secular
name. Every Jewish child has both a Hebrew and a secular name, which we
use in school and in non-Jewish public life." He said his Czech
passport had Ludwig written on it so when he arrived in Israel, "the
Aliyah people who picked us up wrote that name," so in his official
papers, "in addition to my Hebrew name Moshe, the name Ludwig appears,
just as it had accompanied me in younger days." (pg. 32)<br /><br /></span></div><div class="x1e56ztr"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u"></span></div><div class="x1e56ztr"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u">BUT
WAIT... in 1939 Hungary annexed his region so the new Hungarian
government required all the children who had attended Czech schools to
learn Hungarian. Moshe/Ludwig was given a Hungarian name at school:
Leyush. He dropped that name as quickly as he could after the war. (pg.
48)</span></div></span> <br /></div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-51596470930496640852023-04-30T12:36:00.002-05:002023-04-30T12:36:31.677-05:00Itchy Boots Season 5 Notes <p> </p><div>Season 7 started earlier this year, but since those videos only come out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Andrew and I have continued to catch up on past seasons.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Season 5 starts off with Noraly in the Netherlands as she prepares to relocate due to covid keeping things restricted in Europe. Instead of taking her bike, Rhonin, which she bought at home, she decides to buy a second-hand motorcycle once she gets to Johannesburg, South Africa. Although the official name of this series is Destination Unknown, I believe many refer to it as the Southern Africa season since that's where she went. (started these notes here on March 12, 2023)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>March 2, 2023</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 1-6 which take place in the Netherlands and South Africa</div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly bike shops at a place she already researched online, and buys a Honda which she names Savannah</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>March 3</div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 7-9 which take place in South Africa <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>March 5<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 10-13 which take place in South Africa <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Of special interest, she went to a wild cats reserve, a place special to Nelson Mandela's life, and went horse riding<br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>March 7<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 14-16 which take place in South Africa <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The Sani Pass ride is just - wow!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>March 9<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 17-18 which take place in South Africa </div></div>
</div><div><br /><div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly spends quite a bit of time with the Xhosa people, and we meet an herbalist/healer.<br /></div></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>March 10<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 19-21 which take place in South Africa <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>After these were posted, she took a couple weeks break with a friend who lives in S.A. whom she met in India many years ago.<br /></div></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>
<div><br /></div><div>March 12<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 22-24 which take place in South Africa <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>We enjoy seeing ostriches and meerkats. Also, Noraly shops and buys an ostrich egg which amuses us as she attempts to cook it. She was told 1 ostrich egg is equivalent to 24 chicken eggs!</div><div><br /></div><div>The caves she explored were really cool!</div><div><br /></div><div>Later in the day</div><div><br /></div><div>March 12</div><div><br /></div><div>
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watched episodes 25-27 which take place in South Africa <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Cape Town (right on the water) is beautiful! <br /></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>March 14<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 28-29 which take place in South Africa <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Her visit to the place with fossils was pretty neat. <br /></div></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>March 16<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 30-31 which take place in South Africa <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><div><div><div>March 17<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 32-35 which take place in South Africa <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Noraly was in Diamond Territory, and spoke of fracking in one video. Also, she tried to visit an active diamond mine near the border of SA and Namibia. Cool video of her tagging along with the security team - wow. <br /></div></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>March 18<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 36-38 which take place in South Africa and Namibia <br /></div></div>
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<div><div><div><div>March 24<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 39-41 which take place in Namibia <br /></div></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>March 25<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 42-44 which take place in Namibia <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I enjoyed seeing Noraly herding cattle - and seeing the farm there. Also, there was a neat geological day trip.<br /></div></div>
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<div><div><div><div>March 26<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 45-47 which take place in Namibia <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The Namib Desert is so pretty, and I loved seeing the wildlife! How cool to see an ostrich running by, giraffes eating by the side of the road, and a few other animals - wow! <br /></div></div>
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<div><br /></div><div>March 28<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 48-49 which take place in Namibia <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Those dunes!!</div><br /></div>
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</div><div><br /></div><div>March 31</div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 50-52 which take place in Namibia <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Really enjoyed Noraly tagging along with the guys from the Ocean Conservation group, freeing seals from plastics. Also, I really enjoyed the minerals market and seeing topaz, aquamarine, and so forth.</div><div><br /></div><div>April 1</div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 53-55 which take place in Namibia <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Lots of cool geological stuff like rock paintings and engravings.</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>April 6<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched the Live Chat from Africa as well as episodes 56-57 which take place in Namibia <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>What is neat about watching these videos now is that I just started a book from Susan Bauer who worked at a Lutheran Seminary in Namibia with her husband back in the 1990s and early 2000s. She speaks of cities and the desert and even the seal colony and nature preserves that I've seen in Noraly's videos. I really enjoy the timing of reading this book - which my mom read and recommended to me months ago - now while watching Season 5.<br /></div>
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<div>April 7<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 58; 60-64 which take place in Namibia <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It's a super-rainy Good Friday so Andrew and I started watching some more videos. We saw the Namibia and Angola border as well as some tribal ladies on the road that I'd just looked up the night before based on the book I mentioned above. We hadn't planned to watch so many episodes, but she went to a nature preserve and got to ride along with Esso whose job it is to ride his motorbike to check the level of the watering holes and the fences. So we were able to see zebras, elephants, lions, antelope, giraffes, and black and white rhinos - fascinating!!</div><div><br /></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>April 8<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
watched episodes 59; 65-67 which take place in Namibia and Botswana</div><div><br /></div><div>Somehow we skipped episode 59 yesterday so I'm glad that one showed up as Noraly took some food and visited the Himba tribe. They showed her how to get the red ochre that they put on their skin, and she gave it a try.</div><div><br /></div><div>I enjoyed seeing her cross into Botswana because the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency takes place in this country so I keep thinking I might eventually see Mma Ramotswe and her family and friends! Wouldn't that be awesome? ;) <br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>Later that day because it was a dreary couple of days ...</div><div><br /></div><div>April 8 </div>
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watched episodes 68-70 which take place in Botswana <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Loved seeing hippos, elephants, giraffes, and zebra; and a giraffe darted across the street not too far in front of her in the same way deer do here! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div><div><div>April 13</div>
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watched episode 71 which take place in Botswana <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>She rode with James Alexander and some of his friends. He, of Dakar racing fame so ... <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
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<div><div><div>April 14<br /></div>
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watched episodes 72-74 which take place in Botswana <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I loved her chat with the two ladies selling traditional food on the side of the road. I love their fencing around their pots of food.<br /></div></div>
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<div><div><div>April 15</div>
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watched episodes 75-78 which take place in Botswana and Zimbabwe</div><div><br /></div><div>Really enjoyed the kind man who went ahead to get petrol for Noraly when she was running low in her last kilometers in Botswana.</div><div><br /></div><div>Loved seeing Victoria Falls, the warthogs, and Noraly buying, cooking, and trying mopane worms in Zimbabwe!</div><div><br /></div><br /></div>
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<div><div><div>April 16<br /></div>
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watched episodes 79-81 which take place in Zimbabwe</div><div><br /></div><div>Saw caves and blue water, mountains. Noraly was in the capital looking for US dollars.<br /></div></div>
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<div><div><div>April 21<br /></div>
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watched episodes 82-84 which take place in Zimbabwe</div><div><br /></div><div>Extremely muddy roads, a lovely waterfall, banana and tea plants. The Zimbabweans were so friendly, and we saw many of them along the road as she traveled.</div><div><br /></div><div>April 27 <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 86-87 which take place in Zimbabwe and South Africa <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Saw some impressive ruins in Zimbabwe and then Noraly headed back to South Africa as she ran out of countries she could visit aside from Mozambique which had ISIS activity in the north of the country. After meeting with James Alexander a few weeks back, she looked into rally racing, and decided to be part of that although not the formal racing part. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So, she headed back into South Africa, had her friend Mandy help drive her and Savannah (her motorcycle) to the starting point.</div><div><br /></div><div>We watched the video where she recapped her ride through southern Africa, and then the first three videos of that Kalahari Rally series (there are 9 of those). We saw her getting ready for it (driving there with Mandy; getting her bike inspected; she showed us other bikes and some cars racing there). Then we saw the Super Special and Stage 1 legs of the race which are across a part of South Africa that borders Namibia and Botswana. I liked seeing people along the route watching the race. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>April 28</div><div><br /></div><div>watched Stages 2 and 3 of her Kalahari Rally series which take place in South Africa <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>April 29</div><div><br /></div><div>watched Stages 4-6 of her Kalahari Rally series plus her Season Finale which take place in South Africa and the Netherlands</div><div><br /></div><div>In real life, this series ended in October 2021, I believe, and I noticed Noraly started posting videos from Season 6 a few weeks later. Season 6 is where I was first introduced to Noraly so I've watched most of her videos from her times in the US and Canada, but there are many I missed from where she started Season 6 in South America and traveled towards the US. I look forward to seeing those soon.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime, as I type this on April 30, 2023, Noraly has been absent from her YouTube channel for nearly two weeks as she was taking a break, getting work done on Alaska, figuring logistics and so forth for the next leg of her Africa adventure. In Season 7 so far, she's taken us through parts of Morocco, the Western Sahara/Morocco, Mauritania, and over the border into Senegal. Last we heard from her, she was in Dakar.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-91429539170281421252023-04-30T12:20:00.002-05:002023-04-30T12:20:14.090-05:00April Books <p> </p><div><i>The Perfect Daughter</i> by DJ Palmer -- Grace is stunned when her teenage daughter is arrested for murdering her birth mother. Penny is hospitalized due to her dissociative identity disorder (DID), and Dr. Mitch does his best to figure out if Penny - or one of her alters - is guilty. Pretty interesting and informative since I wasn't very familiar with DID. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Where are the Children? </i>by Mary Higgins Clark -- I saw on the online catalog that the library would soon be getting a book with a similar title and it mentioned this book which I decided to read. It was kind of interesting reading a book where those leaving the US for Canada in order to avoid the Vietnam war was a current event. Nancy's children are missing and the Cape Cod town that she fled is finding out that this happened to her before. Did she create a new family only to murder her children again?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Survive the Night </i>by Riley Sager -- After the murder of her best friend, Charlie is ready to go home mid-semester, and amazingly (stupidly??) accepts a ride through a university ride-share option with a strange man. Because she quickly sized him up and thought he looked trustworthy and not like a murderer. While on their trip from New Jersey to Ohio, Charlie finds out things about Josh that make her suspect he's lying about his connection to the university, and makes her suspect she won't get out of this alive - unless she can kill him first. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Maybe In Another Life </i>by Taylor Jenkins Reid -- This book starts with Hannah Martin on her way from New York City to Los Angeles where she grew up and is returning because all the other places she lived so far just haven't felt quite right. Early on Hannah has the choice of staying with Ethan, her long, lost love, or going back to her best friend Gabby's house. Then the book has alternate chapters about her choosing Ethan over Gabby and vice versa. I've read another book or two that had this design and it is pretty entertaining and different. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Any Other Family</i> by Eleanor Brown -- Imagine a couple who had four children - a single girl, boy-and-girl twins, another single girl, and because this couple can't keep their children, they have kept the children together by having the three families who adopted their children get together regularly as if they are one big extended family. Did you follow that?! Tabitha (mom to the twins) hopes to create what she didn't have growing up - a family who do adventures together, sisters to enjoy while Ginger (mom to the oldest girl and an introvert) finds it oh so overwhelming at times. Elizabeth (mom to the youngest) who struggles with her infertility, realizes she's not really loving being a mother after all. Maybe the universe was trying to tell her something all those times IVF failed and she miscarried! A different book, but pretty interesting. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Choosing Africa: A Midlife Journey From Mission to Meaning</i> by B. Susan Bauer -- After serving in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for eleven years, the author and her husband, a Lutheran pastor, decide to take a sabbatical and serve at a Lutheran seminary in Africa. They are sent to Namibia which has a high concentration of Lutherans due to past German and Finnish missionaries. The Bauers enjoyed their three months there, and later decide to do a longer-term stint. My mom read this awhile back (November 2021) and enjoyed it so I had it on my "to read" list. I love when I saw that they were in Namibia because Andrew and I are currently watching Season 5 of Itchy Boots when she went to southern Africa after the covid lockdowns were lifted in some of those countries. Anyway, she is currently in Namibia - and has been for several episodes - so as I read about the Bauers' adventures, I was like, "yeah, I've heard of this city or this feature of the desert, or that animal" or "I can totally picture that desolation that you mention because I saw it in Noraly's videos just last week!" <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Three Days Missing</i> by Kimberly Belle -- Kat's son is on an overnight camping trip with his classmates when a police officer shows up at her door informing her that Ethan is missing! Meanwhile Stef, the mayor's wife, gets a phone call about her son, the intended kidnapping victim. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Tuscan Child</i> by Rhys Bowen -- After her father dies, Joanna is cleaning out his home when she finds some curious things from, she suspects, his time in Italy during the war. She knew he'd been a pilot who was shot down, but didn't know the details. While in Italy, she meets people whom she hopes have answers for her. This book alternates between Joanna's story and her father, Hugo's, time in Italy and back in England. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Stranger Inside</i> by Laura Benedict -- When Kimber returns home from a lake retreat, she is stunned to find that all of her locks have been replaced and someone is living in her house. He says she signed a lease for him to rent it for six months, and has a copy to show the police. As Kimber tries to figure out what has happened, she enlists the help of her ex boyfriend who is a lawyer, Gabriel, as well as some other people in her life. Pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Plot</i> by Jean Hanff Korelitz -- Jacob Finch Bonner had one successful novel, but when he finds writing another good book is, well, difficult, he takes a job where he meets aspiring writers. In comes Evan Parker who has a fantastic plot twist, and years later Jacob looks for Evan's book, but instead finds that his former student died a couple of months after they met. Jacob decides to use Evan's plot for his own novel and it is a runaway success! But...then he starts getting messages about knowing this story was stolen. I rather liked this book.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Little Paula </i>by V.C. Andrews -- Faith and Trevor were adopted from foster care. Though they weren't biological siblings, they became a family and were raised as siblings. Their Mama was very influential in controlling them while she was alive, and even after she was dead because Trevor thought Mama talked to him. Anyway...this book was different. Little Paula is their daughter who was sold to a rich couple in town. Faith and Trevor make plans to get her back.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Think of Me</i> by Frances Liardet -- I read this book while alternating with a bigger Bill Bryson book so this took longer to read than it should have. James is a vicar who served as a pilot in World War II. While in Egypt, he met Yvette, an Alexandrian, whom he later married. This book alternates between Yvette's story - that which she journaled before her death from leukemia when she was in her late thirties - and James in current times (actually the mid-1970s.) Pretty good story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Made In America </i>by Bill Bryson -- This is dubbed "an informal history of the English language in the United States" and was a nice mixture of U.S. history and how different aspects like our founding, place names, military, sports, radio, TV and such contributed to the language we speak today. This book was amusing in spots because it was published in 1994 and a few things have changed since then. Like the author concludes the book with something about how much the average American household has now. Included were two telephones (landlines, no doubt) and a VCR! Also he discusses shopping malls in a way that malls were back then: as in, still existing with anchor stores. I don't know about you, but in my experience, most of those malls are not thriving. And something not mentioned: online shopping which is likely one reason malls and even stand-alone department stores have faltered in the last decade or so. I enjoyed much of this book and even shared some of it with Andrew. Also I took a picture of one paragraph to send to an American friend who lives in the Netherlands. She had recently commented on a Facebook post about her getting marked down for using "tidbit" instead of "titbit." She (and I) had never heard of titbit, but this book mentioned that, and Sarah said it was "fascinating" to learn.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Hidden Man</i> by David Ellis -- Jason is a lawyer asked to defend a childhood friend who is up for murder. One problem is, Sammy's trial is in a few short weeks, and the person who hired Jason said he couldn't ask for a delay of trial. This person - who goes by Smith - also has very strict instructions and how everything should go down. Decent book. Not a favorite, but not terrible. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society</i> by Beth Patillo -- When Eugenie, the head librarian, finds Hannah has torn out pages from a book, she punishes her by having her help clean the library and join the handful of town ladies who meet monthly for their knitting/book club. Esther, Ruthie, Merry, and Camille aren't quite sure about this troubled teen being part of their group. This was a sweet, easy read. One my mom recommended.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Welcome to Lagos </i>by Chibundu Onuzo -- A couple of Army guys along with a runaway wife, a teenager who lost her family, and a militia man somehow come together and make their way to Lagos where adventure awaits as they try to survive in this Nigerian city. A bit confusing at times, but interesting in learning a bit more about this African country.</div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Writing Retreat </i>by Julia Bartz -- Alex is thrilled when she earns the opportunity to go to a four week retreat hosted by her favorite author, Roza Vallo. Unfortunately her former best friend is also there, but Alex is determined to enjoy the retreat anyway. She enjoys getting to know the other ladies, but then it gets weird when one of them goes missing and the others find her identification - and she's not who she says she is.What is going on? <br /></div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-47969966391649301132023-04-01T07:32:00.005-05:002023-04-01T07:32:39.222-05:00March Books<p> </p><div><i>The Retreat</i> by Sarah Pearse -- I read about this English detective, Elin, in this author's debut novel. This time Elin is called to an island that the locals avoid due to its sketchy past. Elin is investigating a murder, but while she's there another murder takes place. Meanwhile travel influencer Jo is traveling to this retreat with her sister, cousin, and a couple of their boyfriends. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights</i> by Kitty Zeldis -- Bea uproots her life to move from New Orleans to Brooklyn, New York, after a detective is certain that he's traced the daughter she gave up for adoption over twenty years before. Alice, the girl she's raised for years, is puzzled why they have to move so suddenly. Meanwhile Catherine and Stephen are hoping for a baby, but that dream eludes them. Pretty good story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Sisters of Sea View</i> by Julie Klassen -- The first in the "On Devonshire Shores" series. When their father dies without a male heir - and you know how those entailed estates go with hereditary requirements - Mrs. Summers and her four daughters have little choice but to open their house as a guesthouse for those wishing to visit Sidmouth. This alternates between the sisters, mostly Sarah, Emily and Viola and their houseguests. I like these types of books if I can keep all the characters straight so I enjoyed this book.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Shadow Creek </i>by Joy Fielding -- Val is ready to spend some time with her friends in New York City while her teenage daughter Brianne heads to the Adirondack mountains for a camping trip with her father and his fiancée, Jennifer. Only Evan doesn't show up on time and somehow Val and her friends end up in the mountains with Brianne and Jennifer. Weird, I know. Well, then some folks are murdered and people go missing and, yeah, it was quite a mystery. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Run Time</i> by Catherine Ryan Howard -- Adele is a former Irish soap star who escaped her country due to some humiliating work-related things. She is in Los Angeles auditioning for commercials when someone from Ireland calls asking her to have a lead role in a horror film. This book alternates between the set in a heavily-wooded area, and the script... why are there so many similarities between the two anyway? <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Code Name Sapphire</i> by Pam Jenoff -- After Hannah flees Germany for Cuba, but is denied entry, she makes her way to Belgium where her cousin Lily takes her in. Eventually Hannah helps the Resistance despite the risk of involving her cousin and her small family. This book also is about Micheline and her brother Matteo. Pretty good. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Couple at the Table</i> by Sophie Hannah -- A whodunit mystery surrounding a lovely, couples-only resort in England. Lucy is there with her fiancé Peter, but also in attendance is her ex-husband and his new wife, the latter couple being on their honeymoon. Awkward! But when the new wife winds up dead, yet everyone seems to have an alibi or are excused due to forensics ... what in the world happened to Jane?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Family Game</i> by Catherine Steadman -- Harriet Reed is an English novelist engaged to an American from a super-rich family in New York. When she's finally invited to meet the Holbeck family, Harry (as she's called) is dismayed at her soon-to-be father in law giving her a cassette tape that sounds like a confession of murders. Pretty interesting story.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Curator's Daughter</i> by Melanie Dobson -- Hanna is a museum curator tasked by the Nazis to record what has been collected so that it can be hidden and protected before the Allies bomb Germany. Years later her daughter, Lilly, is up in years, living in Massachusetts, and wondering about these flashbacks and nightmares she has from her childhood. Ember is on a quest of her own, and travels to Nuremberg to hopefully find some answers. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>You Will Never Know</i> by S.A. Prentiss -- Jessica wants to improve her chances for advancement, but is the worst bank teller at up-sells. Meanwhile her husband Ted's real estate business is struggling. What else could go wrong? How about her former sister in law having her investigated in her first husband's death plus...oh yeah, her daughter Emma and stepson Craig disappeared for a few hours the night one of their classmates was murdered. Huh.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Transformation of Things</i> by Jillian Cantor -- I usually don't care for books that have a lot of dreams, but this one was pretty good. Jennifer is at the salon getting her hair washed when news breaks that her husband, a judge, was indicted for bribery. She had no idea he was in trouble, and thus begins a book about how her country club friends react to her new status, especially when she refuses to leave her husband. Meanwhile she visits her herbalist and, whew, those new herbs are relaxing, but sure do cause vivid dreams - that seem to predict the future.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Our Last Goodbye</i> by Shirley Dickson -- May Robinson lost her mom in a tragic accident while they were out in the dark one night during World War II. I could relate to some of the pangs of grief throughout this book, especially perhaps in chapter two. Even the part about someone being gone just about five months and how you avoid people offering compassion sometimes and all. Well, I just related to some of that. Anyway, May decided to train as a nurse, and I enjoyed her time with the other nurses and the patients. A few times I lost the train of thought, but overall, I enjoyed this book. I was even <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3D0C1jbnBB6nc&source=gmail&ust=1680438704093000&usg=AOvVaw1u-8VWACs2c6CwwBDu-p9_" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C1jbnBB6nc" target="_blank">looking up the Geordie accent</a> because of it. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Picture Bride </i>by Lee Geum-yi -- this book was translated from Korean by An Seonjae, and the note at the end of the book explained the translation and something I puzzled about for a page or two.I was trying to keep characters straight and it started talking about Willow, the main character, meeting Julie's mom. So I thought maybe I daydreamed during the part about Julie and missed who that was. Looked back. Nothing about Julie, But then I realized it was one of those things people did in some cultures. Kind of like Arabs who are Abu Samer and so forth, I guess. Though it was translated as "Julie's mom" or "Dusun's dad" occasionally. This book was about a few Korean teenagers who became picture brides for Korean men who had moved to Hawaii around the early 1900s. The book focused on Willow and her new husband though a couple other picture brides made multiple appearances. Pretty good book overall. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>An Elegant Woman </i>by Martha McPhee -- A pretty good book though at times I lost <i>who</i> was telling the story. Isadora is with her sisters looking through her grandma Katherine's (also known as Thelma (her real name) or Tommy (her childhood nickname)) belongings after her grandma's death. Tommy and her sister's upbringing was difficult with a mother who went to teach in remote areas, but left her little girls to fend for themselves. Tommy did her best raising her sister Katherine. Oh, yeah, when The Original Katherine graduated from school, she changed her name to Pat and went to Hollywood while Thelma (better known as Tommy) used Katherine's school records to win a spot in New York to begin nursing school. So that's how Thelma/Tommy became Katherine. Whew. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Widow</i> by Kaira Rouda -- Jody is a Congressman's wife who loves all the happenings in D.C. and the perks related to her position. Yet when her husband doesn't toe the line, she's not totally sad about his demise. Meanwhile Mimi, their mutual friend from law school, has her own say in things. Quick read, and pretty good read on a lovely day! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Personal Assistant</i> by Kimberly Belle -- Alex is a social media influencer, but when one awful post goes viral, she's trying to control the damage to her image. Except her assistant AC is missing. Is the lady in trouble or is she behind this damaging post? Pretty good book from a new-to-me author. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>East Winds</i> by Rachel Rueckert -- "A Global Quest to Reckon With Marriage" ; I saw this book on Myrna's blog last year, and decided to put it on my Amazon Wishlist. The author grew up in a Mormon household where her parents were divorced. I used to think divorced Mormons were rare, but she claims it's not that much below the national average so I guess there are more of them than I expected. Possibly due to her upbringing in a split household with a mom who badmouthed her when she decided to live with her father due to his home being closer to her work (and she was fifteen and unable to drive at the time), Rachel has major issues with the thought of marriage (especially since Mormons believe marriages that have been sealed are <i>forever</i>) and what will be expected of her (homemaking, babies, no traveling on a whim.) But when she meets a guy, Austin, who seems okay with her thinking and her fears - and who loves her, they marry and take a trip that she'd saved for. And this is no ordinary trip: it's practically a year of honeymooning while traveling to a bit of South America, parts of Asia, and along one path of the Camino de Santiago. While in these places, she talks to people about marriage in their cultures and constantly questions her own thoughts of marriage and if she'll change her mind about being married to Austin (which that part was a bit tiresome to me after about 200 pages.) Otherwise, this was a pretty interesting story.
I especially enjoyed reading about the people she met on the European pilgrimage and her experiences - like wearing sandals while hiking in the snow! Also, <i>jeans</i>. On a thirty-something day hike. Maybe I'm just weird, but I rarely see people hike in jeans, but maybe this is a southern oddity. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>What Lies in the Woods</i> by Kate Alice Marshall -- Naomi returns to her hometown where as an eleven year old, she was attacked in the woods. Pretty good.</div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-77191951291458662082023-02-28T18:34:00.002-05:002023-02-28T18:34:53.436-05:00February Books<p> </p><div><i>Wrong Place Wrong Time</i> by Gillian McAllister -- While waiting up for her son to get home one night, Jen witnesses a murder: her son knifes a guy in their yard! What a nightmare. Somehow Jen sleeps that night, and wakes up upstairs in her bed though she doesn't recall going up there. (She remembers last sitting on the couch.) Turns out, she wakes up the day before she saw her son knife a guy to death. Then, it happens again. Each day she gets to relive what happened before, though this time, she pays closer attention to details that she was too busy to see before. Pretty interesting and different. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>When the Lights Go Out</i> by Mary Kubica -- Jessie is waiting for her mom, Eden, to die from cancer and the insomnia has her mind playing tricks on her. After her mom dies, Jessie is still unable to sleep so she tracks down clues to her identity and why her social security number belongs to a child who died when she was three. Parts of this book were annoying and I skimmed a page or two towards the end because the insomnia-induced hallucinations were getting old, but overall this was an OK book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Villa</i> by Rachel Hawkins -- When Emily reconnects with her childhood friend, she agrees to spend the summer with Chess in Italy! Chess is a best-selling author of self-help books while Emily writes cozy murders for a decent living. While in the villa, Emily reads about a murder that took place in the mid-1970s and is inspired to write about it and solve a mystery. Pretty good story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>My Name is Selma </i>by Selma van de Perre -- this is "The remarkable memoir of a Jewish resistance fighter and
<span>Ravensbrück</span> survivor." Andrew got this book at the library and thought I'd like it so I read it. Interesting story by this Dutch lady.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Light We Carry</i> by Michelle Obama -- a pretty fast read with some encouraging words about how to go higher and such. I enjoyed reading about her parents and daughters (the latter of whom were living together in Los Angeles when the book was written.)</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This next bit is long so I'll note where the next book starts in case you want to skip all this China talk. <br /></div><div>
<div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China </i>by Jung Chang<i> </i>-- This is one of the longest books I've read in quite a while and it has so many interesting things. I just decided to jot down a few things that stood out to me so far. A blogger friend Danielle mentioned that this was a book she and her mom enjoyed reading and discussing. <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://eclecticexile.com/2022/05/08/the-gift/&source=gmail&ust=1677713429235000&usg=AOvVaw08dvcSxmUVcdddMIJpbMI-" href="https://eclecticexile.com/2022/05/08/the-gift/" target="_blank">Her post about that is rather touching</a>. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Sorry these notes are in such a disjointed way...I am doing them mainly to remind myself of things that were fairly shocking. I suppose since Danielle and her mom enjoyed this book so much, I wanted to make a special effort to record some things. Note: I started this on February 8th and finished on the 12th. I alternated with the Obama book while reading this one since that one is a library book.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Part of this book takes place as Japan is in control of China and World War II is in the background. In fact, the Chinese of her region cheered when the American bombs were dropped on the Japanese. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Greatgrandma -- Wu "Er-ya-tou" (born 1888)<br /></div><div>Grandma -- Yu-fang (born 1909)<br /></div><div>Mom -- Bao Qin/De-hong (born 1931)</div><div>Dad -- Wang Yu (born 1921)<br /></div><div>Author -- Er-hong/Jung (born 1952)<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So many interesting cultural things to me: <br /></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>The author's grandma -- feet broken and bound which was extremely painful for her her whole life; married as a concubine to a general who left her soon after the wedding and didn't return for six years; she was threatened with having her child taken from her to be raised as the official wife's child, but she escaped. Married a Manchu doctor who was much older; his children strongly rejected to this marriage as they were older than she was and thought she was after his money; they didn't want to honor her as their new mother. In protest, the eldest son shot himself to make a point, and instead killed himself. Re: her great-grandfather who was fourteen and married to a 20 year old: the author made the comment that "it was considered one of the duties of the wife to help bring up her husband." (pg. 22) <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Author's great-grandma was named Er-ya-tou, basically "Number Two Girl." (pg. 22)</div><div><br /></div><div>There was a lot of other rather-interesting things, but then I started jotting down notes of the author's mom as she related them. She was against Japanese rule, and initially was fine with the Kuomintang officials, but later she was enamored by what she'd learned about Communism. In its more ideal form, it does sound pretty good when you are thinking you can get rid of some of these ridiculous and harmful traditions. So the author's mom ended up marrying a Communist with a pretty high position. Her husband wasn't the loving caring person she hoped for and some of that struggle is outlined. Such as when they were leaving her hometown for his (which was actually not done much), he was able to ride in a vehicle whereas she had to walk and carry her bedroll. She saw another woman being carried across rivers by her husband, yet her own husband wouldn't even take her bedroll in his jeep. He said he had earned this position and she had not, and for him to ease her burden would be unfair to the others. Later, when she had stabbing pains in her abdomen and asked her husband to take her home, he saw the driver was enjoying the movie or music and didn't want to disturb him. (Which is actually kind of thoughtful except for the fact that the lady was having a miscarriage and had to have a blood transfusion and hospital stay so... legit abdominal pain there. She hobbled home by herself since her husband wouldn't leave.) At times she was criticized for crying. People said she had "behaved like 'a precious lady from the exploiting classes.'" (pg. 144) Side note: I cry a lot so I suppose I'm a "precious lady," too??<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>When her mom traveled two months to see her daughter in her new home, word got around that she was cooking (not allowed) and making clothes for the upcoming baby (how dare the baby need new clothes? just use old ones). So the mother who'd traveled two months to get to her daughter's new home was forced to leave after only staying a month. The husband wouldn't make an exception for his family. Oh, also the author's mom was criticized<i> for putting family first</i> (pg. 164).</div><div><br /></div><div>She was also criticized for wanting to wash too much (peasants rarely wash, why should you?) and since her husband was a higher-up person, he could wash with hot water. She would use his leftover water...how dare she? <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Clearly these criticisms caught my eye! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Also, they had to get permission to marry - from the Party! The author notes that the Community Party was the new patriarch. (pg. 127)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Pages 240-307<br /></div><div>In my reading today (February 9th), I learned about the author's parents mellowing in their beliefs, especially her father who always put Party over his family. The author tells of her privileged upbringing since her dad was a higher-up official, yet how she would shrink down in the car so no one would see her, and how her father applauded her doing this as it showed she didn't like having privileges. Her dad said that they worked so that one day all people could have the privileges her family had. Her parents got along better during this time and her mom wasn't as resentful of her father.</div><div><br /></div><div>I smiled at the part where Chinese parents would tell their children to eat their food or whatever because the poor capitalist kids were starving. One day her friend had a raincoat and Jung was envious, but later criticized herself for this "'bourgeois' tendency" thinking of "'all the children in the capitalist world - they can't even think of owning an umbrella!'" (pg. 246)</div><div><br /></div><div>The author admitted that her brother loved science and became enamored with the United States which caused her father to be "at a loss about how to respond." ""What can we do? This child is going to grow up to become a rightist!'" (pg. 248)</div><div><br /></div><div>Jung talks about how Mao eventually declared grass, flowers, and pets as "bourgeois" so the children had to go around school pulling up blades of grass and destroying flowers. (pg. 270). Pulling up grass was a common method of punishment and since the grass was stubborn, there was usually a ready supply of it to be pulled! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Though she joined the Red Guards, she relates how things they did didn't sit well with her including closing tea shops. One old man told her that he went there because he shared a room with two grandsons. "I come up here for quiet," and Jung was ashamed. She didn't realize people lived like this and had to share a small space in this way. (pg. 291)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I didn't note much about the remaining pages though they were interesting as Mao had his various campaigns, and her loyal parents were denounced, tormented, detained, and sent to various parts of the country, separately. The family of 6, at one time, was in five different places throughout the country. Really interesting look at Jung's family, and how her parents changed in many ways over the years, and how her own views of Mao changed. It's hard to change your mind about someone revered like a god.</div><div><br /></div><div>Towards the end of the book, the author wrote this which I shared on Facebook:<br /><br />
<div>"In the days after Mao's death, I did a lot of thinking. I knew he
was considered a philosopher, and I tried to think of what his
'philosophy' really was. It seemed to me that its central principle was
the need - or the desire? - for perpetual conflict. The core of his
thinking seemed to be that human struggles were the motivating force of
history, and that in order to make history 'class enemies' had to be
continuously created<i> en masse</i>. ... <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>But
Mao's theory might just be the extension of his personality. He was, it
seemed to me, really a restless fight promoter by nature, and good at
it. He understood ugly human instincts such as envy and resentment, and
knew how to mobilize them for his ends. He ruled by getting people to
hate each other. In doing so, he got ordinary Chinese to carry out many
of the tasks undertaken in other dictatorships by professional elites.
Mao had managed to turn the people into the ultimate weapons of
dictatorship. That was why under him there was no real equivalent of the
KGB in China. There was no need. In bringing out and nourishing the
worst in people, Mao had created a moral wasteland and a land of
hatred." (pg. 495-6)</div><div><br /></div><div>Hahaha...seems I read this book in September 2012 <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://susanne430.blogspot.com/2012/09/september-books.html&source=gmail&ust=1677713429235000&usg=AOvVaw1VwpmeYPdu2qn_pegLujry" href="https://susanne430.blogspot.com/2012/09/september-books.html" target="_blank">as I blogged about it</a>. Well, it was a good reread ten years later. I kept thinking the lady looked familiar, but <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://susanne430.blogspot.com/2018/05/may-books.html&source=gmail&ust=1677713429235000&usg=AOvVaw3ofndb0QC96kyWRpTIu_bg" href="https://susanne430.blogspot.com/2018/05/may-books.html" target="_blank">I also read a book by her in 2018</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>NEXT BOOK STARTS HERE <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Life on the Mississippi </i>by Rinker Buck -- This is one that <a href="https://topomountain.blogspot.com/2022/12/books-2022.html" target="_blank">Suzanne mentioned on her blog</a> that she read in 2022. Last year I read another book by this guy at her recommendation (when he traveled the Oregon Trail by mule) so I decided to read this one. He had a flat bottom boat built which he and a variety of folks who joined him along the way sailed from the Ohio River down the Mississippi to New Orleans. Some of the stuff was a bit boring to me, but mostly it was pretty good. I like when he pulled into river towns and locals would join him in the evenings. He went to a Pentecostal church's picnic while in New Madrid, Missouri, and such fun things. He met an interesting bunch of people along the way. I enjoyed the history of the rivers, and how it contributed to America's growth in good and bad ways. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Rodin's Lover</i> by Heather Webb -- I've read most of her books by now, I think. This was one I got for Christmas that I'd had on my Amazon Wishlist. An ok book about Camille Claudel a French sculptor who learned under Auguste Rodin.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Mitford Affair </i>by Marie Benedict -- An interesting look at World War II's beginnings from the viewpoints of Unity, Diana, and Nancy Mitford, the first two big-time fans and friends of Hitler. Pretty good book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Local Gone Missing</i> by Fiona Barton -- When a neighborhood favorite Charlie goes missing. detective Elise King investigates. Only she's on medical leave so her investigation is a bit on the sly...until her department reinstates her. Pretty interesting story. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Sometimes I Lie</i> by Alice Feeney -- As Amber lies in a coma, she hears voices: her husband and sister, the nurses, and a voice from her past. This book alternates between Amber being in the coma, as well as the days leading up to her hospitalization, plus a diary written twenty-some years ago. Pretty good, twisty tale. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>My Wife Is Missing</i> by D.J. Palmer -- When Michael gets back to the hotel room in New York City with the pizza his family is hungry for, he is startled to discover his wife and children aren't there. Especially when he sees that their suitcases are missing as well. Eventually Michael realizes his family left him - but why? </div><div> </div><div>--------------------------------- <br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Note to self as I post this on 2/28: H36BD, DBF,III. I <3 U! <br /></div></div></div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-6474722154774017002023-02-27T08:04:00.004-05:002023-02-27T08:04:53.854-05:00Itchy Boots Season 4 Notes<p> <br /></p><div><br /></div><div>In Season 4 Noraly is home for the winter so she
decides to investigate the Dutch Moto Scene by riding on three Ducati
bikes, training at race tracks for motocross and flat track and a Dutch
police department, and such things. Sounds kind of dreadful if you
aren't into motorcycles, but she made it entertaining and it was a neat
thing for her to do while stuck in The Netherlands in late 2020 as the
pandemic still had many borders shut.</div><div><br /></div><div>She
mentioned in a Live Chat that she really wanted to go to a place where
she could overland with Rhonin, but with some countries open and others
not, she was having trouble figuring out where to go next. In the
meantime . . . <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Note: all of these take place in The Netherlands except for the last episode in this series.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>February 23</div><div><br /></div><div>watched
episodes 1-2, plus a Live Chat from back then ; I enjoyed seeing her
talk to the children at the race track where they train</div><div><br /></div><div>February 24</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 3-5 which included training on trial bikes, motocross, and a race with twelve year old Jayson</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>February 25</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 6-7 which
included training and races at a flat track (mud flying onto her face)
and a ride on an electric motorcycle as she followed a park ranger
through the natural preserve; I enjoyed seeing the cows, sheep, trees,
and views here <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>We also watched the
Christmas Special which doesn't have an episode designation, but was
enjoyable as Noraly shopped at the Dutch version of a dollar store and
bought and wrapped many presents which she passed out as she drove
around on her motorcycle while wearing a Santa suit. She also dropped
off 140 Christmas cards for residents of an elderly-care place. Though
she didn't show us a close-up of what she wrote, it was more than a
signature of "Merry Christmas! From, Noraly"! <br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>
<div>February 26<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 8-10
which included two episodes where Noraly trained with Dutch police who
ride motorcycles. That was pretty neat, and Andrew and I thought how
weird it was to have a civilian, YouTube star train with police. Wonder
if this were a recruitment tool for the Dutch PD!</div><div><br /></div><div>Episode
10 is the only one in this series to take place outside of The
Netherlands. Noraly traveled two and a half hours to Belgium to train
with a couple of guys who do Enduro races. That was<i> tough</i>!</div><div><br /></div>From
looking at the caption on this video, it seems she had more planned for
this series, but more covid lockdowns made further episodes impossible
at this time. Thus ends Season 4.Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-51308710227441827232023-02-26T12:45:00.003-05:002023-02-26T12:45:51.290-05:00Itchy Boots Season 3 Notes<p> </p><div>In previous posts, I've mentioned Itchy Boots, and I wanted to continue recording our viewing history and my notes here. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Season 3 began with Noraly back in The Netherlands (I never know whether or not to capitalize the "The," so bear with my inconsistencies. I see it both ways.) due to the pandemic. Before the season officially begins, she has a couple of specials where she talks about buying herself a new bike, a Honda which she named Rhonin. In this season, Noraly travels to some Northern European countries which had opened up. Actually it was quite tricky because as she started the adventure, Norway closed their borders, but later when she gets rejected by Finland, she learned Norway will accept her since she's arriving by a northern Swedish border crossing. So, yeah, covid lockdowns and border closings were a reality for her then. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In order to stay more isolated, Noraly planned to camp instead of staying in a lot of hotels, and she did do some camping, but not as much as she wished. For one thing, parts of Sweden and Norway were just too cold - and at one time it rained for days, so...</div><div><br /></div><div>I really enjoyed seeing these parts of Europe and experiencing camping and riding with her during these 33 episodes. Also some of the food bits were funny, especially in Sweden as she tried this fermented canned fish that smelled horribly. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>February 13, 2023</div><div><br /></div><div>started with a couple of pre-episodes explaining her decision to buy a new bike, and the name she chose for it</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 1-3 which were in The Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark</div><div><br /></div><div>February 14</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 4-7 which were in Denmark and Iceland</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>February 16</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 8-13 which were in Iceland</div>
</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>February 17</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 14-23 which were in Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden <br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>February 18</div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 24-29 which were in Sweden, Lapland, and Norway<br /></div>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<div>February 21<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>watched episodes 30-33 which were in Norway, Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands </div></div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-69419641168475138702023-02-12T13:21:00.001-05:002023-02-12T13:22:48.414-05:00Itchy Boots Season 2 & The Netherlands Episodes <p> </p><div><a href="http://susanne430.blogspot.com/2023/01/itchy-boots-intro-and-season-1-notes.html" target="_blank">In a previous post</a>, I introduced this blog to Itchy Boots and how we came to watch her YouTube channel last year. I also wrote about watching Season 1 while waiting for her to start a new journey which I believe she started around January 30. New videos should begin soon, maybe tomorrow. She usually gives herself a couple weeks head start before she starts posting new videos - and she's been leaving her fans hanging as to where she will be this time! (It took so long to start Season 7 because she shipped her bike, Alaska, this time, and apparently shipping takes much, much longer.) </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>We started Season 2 on January 17. This was supposed to be the year and a half she had planned to ride from Buenos Aires, Argentina, down to the most southern place she could travel in Patagonia and then start north towards Alaska. But you may recall that she didn't make it to Alaska until Season 6 (August 2022) and this season began in late 2019. Looking at the dates, you can probably figure out what happened to her travel plans.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<p>January 17, 2023</p><p>started with "Good News, Bad News" in which she talks about why she can't ride Basanti any more, and instead has a new bike which she named Dhanno<br /></p><p>watched episodes 1-5 which were in The Netherlands, the UK (she loaded Dhanno to transport here as it was much cheaper to fly her bike from Heathrow than from The Netherlands), back to The Netherlands (where she flew from), and on to Argentina <br /></p><p><br /></p>January 19<br /><p> watched episodes 6-11 which were in Argentina</p><p><br /></p><p>
</p>January 20<br /><p> watched episodes 12-16 which were in Argentina</p><p><br /></p><p>she said she was 1.68 meters tall when she was standing near a petrified tree; I had wondered about her height since I heard that Dutch people were among the tallest in the world<br /></p>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
January 22<br /><p> watched episodes 17-21 which were in Argentina, Chile, and Argentina again</p><p><br /></p><p>she got to the End of the Road where there was a small naval station; from then on, she was headed north to Alaska<br /></p>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
January 24<br /><p> watched episodes 22-25 which were in Argentina and Chile <br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I really enjoyed when she was showing us her errands in eps. 23 and we met Juan who chatted with her in the store. His questions and responses amused me.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Also, in eps. 24, I really enjoyed the Venezuelan guy who was living in Chile and working at the place where Noraly saw the condors.</p><p><br /></p><p>She mentioned later that she saw the best wildlife during her travels in Argentina, and I really enjoyed seeing that as well. She took us on a couple of "tours" to places where we could see penguins and sea lions.</p><p><br /></p><p>
</p><p><br /></p>January 26<br /><p> watched episodes 26-31 which were in Chile and Argentina (mostly)<br /></p>
</div><div><br /></div><div>
<p><br /></p>January 27<br /><p> watched episodes 32-35 which were in Argentina and Chile</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>January 28</p></div><div><p> watched episodes 36-41 which were in Chile and Argentina</p><p><br /></p><p>in eps. 41, she said "welcome to 2020" although it wasn't quite 2020 when she recorded it since she has that built-in posting delay<br /></p>
</div><div><br /></div><div>
<p><br /></p>January 30<br /><p> watched episodes 42-46 which were in Argentina, Chile, and back to Argentina<br /></p>
</div><div><br /></div><div>
<p><br /></p>January 31<br /><p> watched episodes 47-50 which were in Argentina</p><p><br /></p><p>Here she decided to take a few weeks off to rest and get some things straightened out. I checked her publishing dates from back then and it went from January 20, 2020, to February 11, 2020, when she posted again.</p><p><br /></p><p>February 2</p><p>watched episodes 51-56 which were in Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia <br /></p><p><br /></p><p>
</p><p><br /></p><p>February 3<br /></p><p>watched episodes 57-61 which were in Bolivia <br /></p><p><br /></p><p>really enjoyed the tour of the silver mine here<br /></p>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<p><br /></p><p>February 5</p><p>watched episodes 62-66 which were in Bolivia <br /></p>
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<p><br /></p><p>February 7<br /></p><p>watched episodes 67-72 which were in Bolivia and Peru</p><p><br /></p><p>She had planned to stay a week in La Paz, and even got a week's membership at the gym thinking working out at higher altitude would prepare her for upcoming weeks, but after a couple of days, she had a major change of plans when Bolivia decided to shut down the borders. Noraly had to quickly get to Peru where she hoped she would be able to continue traveling. Unfortunately in Peru, she got stuck in quarantine in a place where she, the blond-haired, blue-eyed European, was frowned upon for possibly bringing covid into their village. She kept a really interesting "diary" of her days while waiting to see what would happen next. She wanted to ride out quarantine in Peru until she felt her life was in danger. She said this was the first time she had ever experienced this in all her travels. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p>
</p><p><br /></p><p>February 9<br /></p><p>watched episodes 73-76 which were in Peru and the Netherlands</p><p><br /></p><p>Interesting episodes about how she got to Lima from the small village she had been in for a couple of weeks; how she was repatriated to The Netherlands with hundreds of others; and her arrival at an airport she'd been in countless times - and it was so empty.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>After Season 2 ended abruptly, Noraly did a few specials, a couple of which we'd watched before: some footage of times she'd fallen and had some other mishaps, and then some highlights of her travels since she'd ridden over 60,000 kilometers around the world. It was fun to see some of the folks from her Asia trip (Season 1) as well as highlights from Season 2.</p><p><br /></p><p>February 9</p><p><br /></p><p>We watched Special episodes 1 and 2 about The Netherlands; she rode a motorcycle she named Lima (this one is borrowed since she had to leave Dhanno in Peru)</p><p><br /></p><p>February 10</p><p>We watched a live chat called
"What's Next?"
where she discussed some plans while waiting for things to open up again; we also watched eps. 3 about her country (tragic day that affected my family); her father joined her for a few minutes in this one.</p><p><br /></p><p>In her live chat, Noraly was asked about languages she spoke, and she declared that she wasn't fluent in Spanish, but tried to improve it as she traveled. (In one of the videos, she mentioned living with a family in Guatemala, I believe, several years back where she took Spanish language classes.) She mentioned having taken six languages in high school: Dutch, English, German, French, some Spanish, Latin, and "old" Greek. She learned some Portuguese during her years of living in Brazil. She said she's lost a lot of that, but thinks it would come back if she ever went there again. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p>February 11</p><p>Finished watching the last two videos around the Netherlands plus another live chat "What's Happening?" -- since much of the world was in some form of lockdown, these live chats seemed popular <br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The episodes around the Netherlands, she said, took her about three days to prepare. She tried to read historical and interesting information to share, and these last two were really good. She took us to the highest point in the Netherlands which is actually where her country meets Germany and Belgium. She took a walk to all three points. Also, she showed us a limestone mine and had a brief tour of where the Dutch people stored paintings so they would be preserved during World War II. She walked into a vault where the temperature was controlled and where one painting that was too big to store properly, was rolled up and turned daily by workers so it would be preserved.</p><p><br /></p><p>The final episode was on the day the Dutch were celebrating 75 years of freedom, and she took us to places important in the war against the Germans. There is a bridge<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_S._Thompsonbrug" target="_blank"> named after an American</a> who parachuted into that region. She also recommended the movie "A Bridge Too Far" which told about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Market_Garden" target="_blank">another place</a> where Allied forces were unable to achieve their objectives. She said the reasons were too much to get into and suggested the movie. She showed a very well-kept cemetery where Dutch soldiers were buried. She said there were others in the Netherlands for Allied troops, but some were closed due to covid. She said the Dutch people adopted the graves to keep them looking nice and putting flowers on them. She said the waiting list was so long for people wanting to adopt a grave, that they no longer accepted names for the list! </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>If you want to watch Season 7 from the start, it should start soon! I wonder where she will go this time. <br /></p></div>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-13813624544658922462023-01-31T10:56:00.005-05:002023-01-31T10:56:40.749-05:00January Books<p> </p><div><i>My Sweet Girl</i> by Amanda Jayatissa -- I started this near the
end of December, and then Zach and Sophie came to visit so I didn't
read much as we were too busy riding the carousel and visiting the
arboretum's little play area (so fun). Paloma was adopted from a Sri
Lankan orphanage at age 12, and 18 years later, she is being blackmailed
by her roommate who claims to know her secret. This story alternates
between Paloma of today, living in California, to when she was getting
ready for her adoption. I kept reading this book because I wanted to see
how it ended, but the author uses a lot of off-putting language if you
don't like the F word (no kidding) sometimes three times in one
sentence. I think it detracts from a book, but I am a fuddy duddy type
like that so ... Someone who got this book before me, crossed out nearly
all the g--d---s in the book as I guess <i>that</i> particular word offended the reader a lot. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Puppet</i>
by Joy Fielding -- Amanda is loving her life as a defense attorney in
Florida when she picks up the phone and her ex-husband in Toronto calls
saying her mother is accused of murder. Amanda hasn't talked to her mom
in eight years, but duty calls and she heads north to see what she can
do. This book was OK. A quick read anyway. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Family Trust</i>
by Kathy Wang -- A story told from the perspectives of Stanley, the
Chinese-America patriarch who is dying from pancreatic cancer; his
ex-wife Linda, who is the better investor and also looking for a new
love on a dating app; Mary, the much younger second wife; and Fred and
Kate, the children of Stanley and Linda. This book was OK; nothing
special. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Marsh Queen </i>by
Virginia Hartman -- Loni is working as a bird illustrator for the
Smithsonian when she gets a call from her brother urging her to come
home because her mom is struggling with a broken wrist and dementia.
Loni is reluctant to go back to north Florida, but takes a few weeks to
do so. While there she looks for answers about her father's death when
she was twelve years old. Pretty good book by this new-to-me author. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The War Librarian </i>by
Addison Armstrong -- Two storylines in this book: one with Emmaline,
who travels to France to cheer the troops with books during World War I,
and the other with Kathleen in 1976 as she begins training at the Naval
Academy. This book was a bit ho-hum at times, but later got pretty
interesting. Not the best book, but not bad. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Need to Know</i>
by Karen Cleveland -- I enjoy this author's books: fast-paced and
pretty exciting though they leave me skeptical of some of our
intelligence employees. Vivian is a CIA counterintelligence analyst
working to uncover Russian sleeper cells. When her algorithm works, she
discovers something <i>very close to home</i> that threatens life as she knows it. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Blame Game</i>
by Sandie Jones -- Naomi is a psychotherapist who often allows
relationships with clients to blur the line. This time she's helping
Jacob leave his abusive wife by allowing him to rent a flat that she and
her husband own. Only she didn't tell her husband (yet) as she knows he
doesn't like her blurring those lines. Additionally she offers to allow
Anna to stay with them for a few days while she sorts out where to live
- her husband is abusive after all. Anyway...this was a fast read and
pretty interesting though maybe a touch confusing there towards the end.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Before I Called You Mine</i>
by Nicole Deese -- Perhaps a bit too predictable, but I ended up liking
this one pretty well. At one point, I thought it was going to be a
total yawner, but it got more interesting as the story progressed.
Lauren is a first grade teacher who is hoping to adopt a child from
China, as a single woman. It's part of the contract that she is single
yet the long-term substitute teacher across the hall, Joshua, is making
this difficult. A sweet book with some good reminders for me. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Liar's Girl</i>
by Catherine Ryan Howard -- Alison moved to the Netherlands after her
freshman year of college ended disastrously. Her boyfriend Will was
charged for the murder of five girls who were drowned in the canal. Ten
years after Will's incarceration, another college girl is found killed
in the same manner. Is this a copycat? Will wants to tell Alison
something, but will she come back to Ireland? Pretty good book. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Just the Nicest Couple</i>
by Mary Kubica -- Nina and her husband, Jake, had a fight, but she
didn't expect him to not come back home. Or show up for work. He loves
his job! Meanwhile Lily and Christian are trying to figure out what to
do because Lily might have accidentally killed Jake. Huh? Pretty good
story if you like these types of books. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Shadows of Swanford Abbey </i>by
Julie Klassen -- Rebecca returns home to help her brother John who
hasn't been quite right since a childhood fall caused a brain injury.
When John suggests she stay at the abbey-turned-hotel because the house
is not prepared for her visit, Rebecca becomes embroiled in a bit of a
mystery involving an author who is writing a novel while staying at the
hotel. A pretty good story though not my favorite from this author. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Last Invitation </i>by
Darby Kane -- This book seems similar to another book I read. I almost
thought perhaps I'd read it before, but I guess not. There's the secret
organization of powerful women who take justice into their own hands
when the system fails (which happens quite often.) This alternates
between Gabby and Jessa, two lawyers - one practicing, the other not.
Pretty good, but not my favorite of hers. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Monday's Lie</i>
by Jamie Mason -- This book was OK; not a favorite, but not awful.
Dee's mom is like a superhero government spy or something...it's never
very clear for us - or Dee herself. Because her childhood was so
extraordinary, Dee marries someone who is perfectly boring. Yet when
things start going wrong with Patrick, Dee thinks back to her mom and
lessons she learned from her. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Aviator's Wife</i>
by Melanie Benjamin -- I enjoyed this look at the lives of Charles
Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh through the eyes of Anne. The book
begins when Anne was a college student visiting Mexico where her father
was an ambassador. Charles Lindbergh was a hero to many, and he was
visiting her family in Mexico at Christmas! The book follows their
courtship and marriage. Interesting people! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><i>The Widow</i>
by Fiona Barton -- I read one of her more recent books last year so I
decided to get some others from the library. This is her first one and
some characters from the other book I read - that fleshed them out more -
are in this one. Kate Waters is the reporter sent to get the story from
the widow of a man charged with kidnapping a two year old girl.
Fast-paced bookSusannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-74227253112696156112023-01-15T17:04:00.007-05:002023-11-30T09:33:35.597-05:00Itchy Boots Intro and Season 1 Notes<p> Last year Andrew was watching a couple of his favorite YouTubers (usually fellows who mow or haul dirt and such), when YouTube gave him a suggestion for <a href="https://www.itchyboots.com/" target="_blank">Itchy Boots</a> which he watched and started following.</p><p><br /></p><p>Itchy Boots is the YouTube channel for Noraly, a Dutch lady who decided she'd rather travel the world by motorcycle than write travel blogs or work in her former field (she trained in geology). She'd already traveled quite a lot in the world, and - if I remember the story correctly - started riding a motorbike in India and fell in love with this mode of travel.</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, Andrew started watching her videos, and I would<i> hear</i> them while trying to read nearby. Over time, my listening turned into <i>watching with him</i> so that the two of us would bend our necks over his small phone three times a week when he'd get a notification that she's posted a new video.</p><p> </p><p>Noraly was already well into Season 6 by the time I started watching. She was in Colorado or Nevada though Andrew had watched her in parts of Latin America and her crossing into the US. Her final destination this season was Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. This lovely <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnzqRLETeDk" target="_blank">movie</a> (about 90 minutes) is a summary of her trip that she created once she was home in the Netherlands. Since I only watched the last part of Season 6, I found this a great way to see the parts I missed in South America, Central America, Mexico, and parts of the US. I especially enjoyed seeing the people she met along the way although the scenery and hardships she faced made it more interesting! </p><p><br /></p><p>ETA: I thought I recorded this somewhere, but can't find it so I just looked it up on November 30, 2023....at the end of the movie, Noraly mentions that she started her journey on October 1, 2019 and ended it on August 11, 2022 when she reached the Arctic Ocean. (Remember that her journey was interrupted due to the covid-19 pandemic). She traveled 65,000 kilometers and went through 18 countries. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p>That was sometime last summer and we watched her final episode of Season 6 in mid-November, and then decided to start watching some of her earlier seasons.</p><p><br /></p><p>On November 23, we started Season 1 which began with a short video, perhaps four or five minutes. I wonder if she was just starting out, seeing if people were interested in watching her videos. Over time, her videos became longer with most of them in the 15 to 20 minute range. She records such things as food she eats, places she stays, people she meets, scenery, good and bad roads, border crossings, stuff about her bike.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I just wanted to record my few notes from Season 1 which were mostly ridden on her Royal Enfield Himalayan bike, named Basanti.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>November 23, 2022<br /></p><p>watched episodes 1-10 which were in India</p><p><br /></p><p>November 26</p><p> watched episodes 11-25 which were in India, Myanmar, and Thailand </p><p>She met "Roads Up" stars Peter and Claudia from Austria. She later stayed with them when she was in Vienna.</p><p><br /></p><p>November 27</p><p>watched episodes 26-35 which were in Thailand and Malaysia</p><p>-- find review of motorbike after 10K miles; mentioned on episode 34</p><p><br /></p><p>November 28<br /></p><p>watched episodes 36-40 which were in Malaysia and Oman (she took a ferry to Oman)</p><p><br /></p><p>December 1</p><p>watched episodes 41-45 which were in Oman<br /></p><p>While waiting for Basanti to arrive in Oman, she used another bike and took off-roading lessons from someone<br /></p><p> </p><p>December 8<br /></p><p>watched episodes 46-50 which were in Oman </p><p><br /></p><p>December 9<br /></p><p>watched episodes 51-57 which were in the UAE and Iran</p><p>I absolutely loved the hospitality and friendliness of so many people during her travels in this region and in several upcoming episodes. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p>December 15<br /></p><p>watched episodes 58-66 which were in Iran and Turkmenistan </p><p> </p><p> December 16<br /></p><p>watched episodes 67-72 which were in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan </p><p><br /></p><p>December 22<br /></p><p>watched episodes 73-77 which were in Tajikistan and she pointed out the Afghan side across the river, but she didn't go into Afghanistan <br /></p><p> </p><p>December 24 <br /></p><p>watched episodes 78-80 which were in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan </p><p><br /></p><p>December 26<br /></p><p>watched episodes 81-84 which were in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan </p><p><br /></p><p>December 27</p><p>watched episodes 85-88 which were in Kazakhstan and Turkestan<br /></p><p> </p><p>January 2, 2023 <br /></p><p>watched episodes 89-93 which were in Kazakhstan and Russia <br /></p><p><br /></p><p>January 3<br /></p><p>watched episodes 94-98 which were in Russia, Georgia, and Armenia </p><p>She bought a drone from a hostel-mate Tony from Switzerland, and had Itchy Boots stickers designed by another hostel-mate<br /></p><p> </p><p>January 5 <br /></p><p>watched episodes 99-104 which were in <span>Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey<br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p>January 6<br /></p><p>watched episodes 105-109 which were in Turkey</p><p> </p><p>January 7 <br /></p><p>watched episodes 110-114 which were in Turkey, Greece, and Albania<br /></p><p> </p><p>January 13 <br /></p><p>watched episodes 115-119 which were in Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Croatia <br /></p><p> </p><p> January 14<br /></p><p>watched episodes 120-125 which were in Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands where we saw her mom, dad, and niece meet her; She said she had been gone from home for a year at that point.<br /></p><p> </p>Susannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.com3