How do you measure your life?

They said it couldn't be done. They, being some of the males in my family, and "couldn't be done" meaning me, being happy in retirement. I was sure they were wrong. Now, I'm not so sure. Perhaps it's COVID, that really was a game changer for many people. All I know is that there is a deep restlessness within me. Not that I don't appreciate the things I have, my health, a happy marriage, a wonderful family, a good home. I do, but sometimes I feel like I'm just waiting to die. Every day is much like the one before it.

I've been thinking about how I measured my life in the past. As a child, I remember saying "I'm going to be (another year older) this year, starting in January. When you're born in December, it's only a month or less, until you can say that. As a young adult, I measured time by the birth and growth of my children. Later, it was how many years I had been at a job, or how close I was to this degree or that one, or some Digital Commons milestone. I was a big believer in whiteboards to track my goals. Now my whiteboard contains the ongoing grocery list and what's in the freezer. More recently, I measured how many days until I retired, then what was left to do to get the house ready to sell and move to Tennessee. I think my last pre-COVID measure was how long until we left for Hawai'i.

So what did I hope to accomplish when I retired? My husband will tell you that those two words do not belong in the same sentence (Accomplish/Retired), but we'll just have to agree to disagree there. I know I wanted to read more, see the state parks in Tennessee and the national parks in the United States, geocache, travel, and volunteer. Before COVID, I had done some of most of those things (no national parks, though). Now, I read. Thirty books this month. Don't get me wrong, I love to read, but there has to be more, doesn't there?

How about you, my friends - do you struggle to live the new life, or are you managing better than I am? I truly hope so.

January reading wrap up

January wrapup
Morning Glory 4 stars (A book about do-overs or fresh starts)
Murder in the Locked Library 4 stars (AtY: A book with a building in the title)
The Silence 2 stars (AtY: A short book (<210 pages by a new-to-you author)
A Woman is No Man 5 stars (PS and AtY: Muslim author or character)
Tender at the Bone 4 stars (A book set in multiple countries)
Return to Virgin River 3.5 stars (AtY: A book by an author whose career spanned more than 21 years)
Murder in the Mystery Suite 4 stars (AtY: A book with a female villain or criminal)
Magic Lessons 3.5 stars (A book you have seen on someone's bookshelf in real life, on a Zoom call, in a TV show, etc.)
The House I Loved 1.5 stars AtY: A book set in a state, province, or country you have never visited)
Never change 3.5 stars (A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign)
Heat Wave 3 stars (A book that was published anonymously)
Murder in the Paperback Parlor 4 stars (AtY: A book that you consider comfort reading)
How to Raise an Elephant 3 stars (A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads)
First Comes Scandal 3 stars (AtY: A love story)
A Clockwork Orange 3 stars (AtY: 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future"/ PS: A genre hybrid)
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake 2 stars (AtY: Siblings as Main Characters)
Downton Abbey: The Complete Scripts, Season Three 5 stars (AtY: 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future"/ PS: A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels))
Death Comes as the End 4 stars (AtY: A book to celebrate The Grand Egyptian Museum)
B is for Burglar 3 stars (A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover)
The Midwife 3 stars (A book where the main character works at your current or dream job/AtY: 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future")
The Great Alone 4.5 stars (A book set mostly or entirely outdoors)
Hillbilly Elegy 2 stars (A book about a social justice issue)
Salvage the Bones 4 stars (A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read)
When He Was Wicked (Bridgertons #6) 3 stars (A book with a family tree)
About A Boy 3.5 stars (A DNF book from your TBR list)
To Sir Phillip, With Love (Bridgertons, #5) 3.5 stars (fluff read)
Hawai'i 4 stars (AtY & PS: Long book/longest book)
My Brilliant Life (Translation) 2 stars (AtY: A book whose cover shows more than 2 people)
It's in His Kiss 2 stars (AtY: A book with a monochromatic cover)
Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse 4 stars (AtY: A book set on an island)
To recap: 30 books/ over 10,000 pages/1 audio/11 ebooks/15 Pop Sugar prompts/18 Around the Year prompts.

Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth

Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - This is the second volume in the Call the Midwife trilogy, memoirs of a young English midwife working in the London dockyards neighborhood, during the late 1950s. Unlike the first volume, which I did not care much for, this one focuses not on the delivering of babies, but the other half of the midwife's job - district nursing. It tells with compassion and insight, some of the stories of the people whose lives were made a little bit easier by the midwives and sisters of the Nonnatus House. The stories mostly focused on the effect that workhouse had on people's lives during the late 19th century, telling about Jane, who as a child believed herself the daughter of a high ranking member of parliament (and his disgraced servant), and of Peggy and Frank, sister and brother, who survived the workhouse and ending up living together for the rest of their lives, as husband and wife. The last part was Joe's story, a retired soldier, whom Jenny meets while on district nursing rounds, where she must change the dressings daily on his badly ulcerated legs. Jenny becomes friends with him, learning about his past, his time in the Scottish Guards, his family and how he lost each one of them. She brings him hope and dignity, and deeply feels his lose when he dies. And just to provide some levity to an otherwise depressing book, we get to see a little more of Sister Monica Joan, when she is put on trial for shoplifting.
AtY #25: A book set on an island
Book 30 of 2021

View all my reviews

Hawai'i by James Michener

Hawaii by James A. Michener
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - This epic book by James Michener covers the history of Hawai'i from its formation as an island, to the migration of the original Hawai'ians from Bora Bora, through the time of the missionaries, the plantation era, World War II and ending just before statehood. It traces many different races and nationalities who came to Hawai'i, changed it in significant ways, and created the culture it is today. Sometimes it's hard for me to read books that show examples of racism and misogyny, and I have to tell myself that it is reflective of the truth of the time in which it takes place. The missionaries came to save the Hawai'ians from themselves, and there were both examples of their superiority mindset and of their generosity towards others. Women were not held in high regard for most of the book, but they were often the people who were the strongest, most generous, and best decision makers.
Just two more notes - this was a book that I downloaded from Audible, and followed along in the text. Finally, I have a personal interest in it, having gone for the first time to Hawai'i last year, to see my youngest son who has lived there a dozen years, his new wife and our first granddaughter.
AtY #30: A long book
Pop Sugar # 41 : The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list
Book 27 of 2021



View all my reviews

About a Boy by Nick Hornby

About a Boy by Nick Hornby
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5/5.0 - This was a very strange book. The first time I got it out of the library, I returned it unfinished after about 10% (1 star), but for some reason I decided to try again. It started out slow (2 stars), but towards the middle it became a 3 star, and finished a 4 star. I've never had a book that's grown on me this way.
In the beginning, none of the characters seem likeable. Will is a 36 year old man with no occupation. He just drifts day to day, living off the royalties from a Christmas novelty song his father wrote 30 years before. Marcus is a 12 year old child who gets bullied at school and has a mother who tries to kill herself. Fiona, his mother, doesn't really invoke sympathy from the reader. Then one day, Marcus meets Will and bad girl Ellie, and things start looking up. My favorite quote from the book is:

It was almost as if they had forgotten why they were travelling in the first place; the journey had become the point of the trip. That sums up life, doesn't it?

Pop Sugar #49: A DNF book from your TBR list
Book 25 of 2021

View all my reviews

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - Wow, this was a powerful, beautifully written, but brutal book that looked at a poor African American family living in Mississippi during Hurricane Katrina. The family of five lost the mother at the birth of the youngest child, Junior, who is now 8. The other three children are Esch-14, Skeetah- 16, and Randall- 17. The father is an alcoholic, who tries his best, but the family lives in extreme poverty. The story takes place over 12 days, those leading up to, during and right after Katrina. Esch discovers she's pregnant, her father loses 3 fingers while trying to prepare for the hurricane, there is a major fighting pit bull plot that I won't go into, and the family's house is destroyed. In the end, the only thing that matters is that they're a family, prepared to go forward together.
AtY #5: A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read
Book 23 of 2021


View all my reviews

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 rounded to 5 stars - The Great Alone is a phrase used to describe Alaska, the vast wild area where a man can get lost and can die for his second mistake. In 1972, Leni, then 13, comes to Alaska with her parents, Ernt and Coraline, when her father inherits some property from an Army buddy who died in Vietnam. Ernt is damaged beyond repair from his years in the war and as a POW, but Cora has never quit loving him, even when his demons result in him damaging her. They see this as an opportunity to have a new beginning, unaware of the toll that the long months of darkness and cold will take on them. Cramped together in a small cabin, Leni sees for the first time the beatings her mother has tried to hide from her. She lives her life in fear and anger and in the hope that one day they will escape.
This book is many things, it is a love story for a state that challenges many, it is a tribute to the strong people who manage to survive and help others, it is about how love can go wrong but be hard to walk away from, and it is about second chances. Another great book by Kristin Hannah!
Pop Sugar #22: A book set mostly or entirely outdoors
Book 21 of 2021


View all my reviews

The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth

The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.0/5.0 - Jennifer Worth's memoir formed the basis for the PBS series "Call the Midwife." The book, of course, focused primarily on Nurse Lee, who I did not find to be a sympathetic character. She is immature, finding some of the people she served repulsive in the beginning. As the book progresses, she does begin to mature and starts to understand their humanity. I give the author props for being able to present herself in such an honest manner. I did enjoy the descriptions of the various births, the problems they encountered, the joys and sorrows that resulted from them. The nuns from Nonnatus House were portrayed as caring, down-to-earth, and at times, very funny. It was interesting to see a snapshot of life in the 1950s in this neighborhood of London, where large families lived together in one or two rooms, men worked long hours on the docks, and women were tied to the home raising the many children, for contraception hadn't yet become easy and accepted. The book wasn't bad, but the series was much better.
AtY #19: 4 books related to "Past, Present, Future" Description of English society
Pop Sugar #11: A book where the main character works at your current or dream job
Book 20 of 2021



View all my reviews

Death Comes As the End by Agatha Christie

Death Comes As the End by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - An Agatha Christie mystery set in ancient Egypt with no detective, so a departure from her normal style, yet it was quite fascinating and well written. I admit I didn't suspect the killer, with all the red herrings thrown in. This standalone mystery offers historical details into everyday life in Egypt, in the household of a ka priest and his family. There are three sons and a daughter, along with a new concubine, his mother, a faithful servant and some scribes; half of this cast will be dead by the end of the novel. Who is the killer? One by one, each suspect is killed, until at the end, only the killer remains.
AtY # 11: A book to celebrate The Grand Egyptian Museum
Book 18 of 2021

View all my reviews

Downton Abbey: The Complete Scripts, Season Three by Julian Fellowes

Downton Abbey: The Complete Scripts, Season Three by Julian Fellowes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5.0/5.0 - I love these books by Julian Fellowes that take you behind the scenes of the PBS Masterpiece Theatre - Downton Abbey. Not only is it the complete script, including deleted scenes, but the author shows so much historical background that you really get a feel for life in upper class England in the early 1920s. Along the way, you are also introduced to members of his own family and friends, who often the source of the characters and dialogue. Additionally, you gain a little insight to the actors and how they bring their own unique flavor to the characters.
AtY #18: 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" (English society in the past)
Pop Sugar #9: A book in a different format than what you normally read (script)
Book 17 of 2021



View all my reviews

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (Warning - may contain triggers)

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have to pass on a rating of this for now. Though the book was well written, the content - from the violence, robbery and rape done by the juvenile criminals, to the brainwashing done by the state in retribution, this was a very uncomfortable read. I found the Introduction to be one a very interesting part of the book. In it, Burgess explains that he doesn't care for the book, especially the American version which Stanley Kubrick turned into a famous film. That was an incomplete an incomplete version, only being 20 chapters. He felt the symbolism of 21 was important, being the accepted age of adult responsibility. (Also reading this in 2021 seems significant to me.) It is in this last chapter that Alex, having been a terrible person as a teen, then "rehabilitated" by the government while in prison, then let out where both former friends and victims turn against him, to finally be deprogrammed and given the power of choice.
1000 books you've probably read list
PopSugar #21: A genre hybrid (Classic/ScienceFiction/Dystopia/Horror/Thriller/Mystery/Crime)
AtY #20: 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" (Future of English society)
Book 15 of 2021



View all my reviews

Murder in the Paperback Parlor by Ellery Adams

Murder in the Paperback Parlor by Ellery Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 stars - I am really enjoying this cozy mystery series that takes place at Storyton Hall in the hills of Virginia. The hall is an old English manor that was taken apart and transported piece by piece hundreds of years ago. Why, you might ask? The Stewards are an old family whose secret mission is to protect and preserve hundreds of priceless books. When it became too dangerous to continue to do that in the old country, the last English ancestor had the home, with its secret passages and hidden library reconstructed here. This instalment advances the Edwin/Jane love story, just a tiny bit. They each find out each other's secret, but the book ends before they can share their knowledge with each other. And of course, there is a murder or two, these taking place during the Romancing the Reader week-long event. I'm looking forward to an Ellery Adams reading year!
AtY #29: A book that you consider comfort reading
Book 12 of 2021

View all my reviews

Never Change by Elizabeth Berg

Never Change by Elizabeth Berg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 rounded to 4.0 stars - Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite authors. She writes about the human condition, and often, about finding love in unexpected places and times. In this book, Myra is a visiting nurse, a loner who doesn't understand how she effects people. She looks at herself as a loner, and unlovable. Then a man whom she had a crush on in high school, more than 30 years ago, returns to town with a brain tumor, and becomes her patient. They grow to love each other deeply, and while he learns to die, she learns to live.
Book 10 of 2021
Pop Sugar #4: A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign

View all my reviews

Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages by Ammon Shea (from 2018)

Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages by Ammon Shea
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Why I picked this book up: It was on display at the library where I work with a group of books relating to Lexicography. I may or may not have “borrowed” this without checking it out.
What I liked about it: This delightful little book jumped off the shelf at me at work one day. Unlike the OED, which itself is almost 22,000 pages - this book is slightly over 200. There are, give or take, 26 chapters - one for each letter of the alphabet. Each chapter begins with several pages that tell us more about the author and this project and end with a sprinkling of words and definitions - most of which you probably never knew. I particularly enjoyed the intro sections to the letters “F” and “G” because I am fascinated with why people read certain books, in certain formats, and how they came to love reading in the first place. In “F” the author addresses the question “why read the print version, why not read it online?” Why indeed. And “G” describes his search for his lectory (a place for reading), and how he came to rest in the basement of a college library.
Overall impression: Loved this book, would consider owning it. Addressed my fascination with why people read in general, and why the read certain things. 4/5.00
Around the Year in 52 Books prompt: A book written in first person perspective
Popsugar prompt: A book that involves a bookstore or library


View all my reviews

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5/5.0 - This prequel to Practical Magic explains the story behind Maria Owen's curse, the foster child of Hannah Owens in Essex, England who travels to Dutch Curacao, where she meets and falls in love with the father of her child, Faith. She follows him to Salem, Massachusetts, where she stands trial for and is convicted of witchcraft, and invokes a curse warning her daughters never to fall in love. Rescued by Samuel on the gallows, they travel to New York City, where she spends the next five years trying to find her daughter, who she entrusted to a Salem woman. Of course, love wins out in the end.
The story was interesting, but started slow for me. It wasn't until about halfway through that it became the page turner that I expect from an Alice Hoffman book.
Book 8 of 2020
PopSugar #12: A book you have seen on someone's bookshelf (in real life, on a Zoom call, in a TV show, etc.)


View all my reviews

Murder in the Mystery Suite (Book Retreat Mysteries, #1) by Ellery Adams

Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 stars - Having read book #4 of this series and enjoying it, I decided to go back and start at the beginning of the series. This is one series where, to truly understand what is going on, you need to read book one. It explains Storyton Hall, how it came about, who the Guardians are and who the elusive Fins are. Besides the main characters, we get to meet the town people who have charming little shops, and Jane's friends, the Cover Girls, her book club. The twins, Hemingway and Fitzgerald, Mrs. Hubbard, and Uncle Aloysius and Aunt Octavia round out the recurring cast. When you add in the guests and the villains, you have a rich list of characters to enjoy. In this book, Storyton Hall is hosting its first themed event, Murder and Mayhem week, where guests from all over come dressed as their favorite detectives and participate in daily activities ranging from a scavenger hunt to a formal ball. Unfortunately, the murder part becomes real, as multiple people die as the killer tries to obtain a valuable manuscript.
One of the most enjoyable things for me was the way real books, authors and fictional detectives were referenced, and imagining participating in a retreat that involved so many liked-minded people. I look forward to more offerings from this series.
Book 7 of 2020
AtY #10: A book with a female villain or criminal


View all my reviews

Return to Virgin River (Virgin River, #19) by Robyn Carr

Return to Virgin River by Robyn Carr
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars - In what seems to be my tradition, this is a new series for me, which I have started with its most recent book. Robyn Carr is a go-to author of mine, and you can count on her books to have a beautiful setting, a 30-something young, professional woman who is looking for a new beginning, supportive friends, and a new love. Having just finished the Sullivan's Crossing series a few months ago, I found several similarities - the female suspense author, the doctor/midwife, the bar owner, the lawyer, and lots of love. Reading Robyn Carr is like getting a hug and finding hope in your life.
Book 6 of 2020
AtY #31 A book by an author whose career spanned more than 21 years (her first book was published in 1987).


View all my reviews

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - Having watched Ruth Reichl as a judge on Top Chef and reading a previous book, Delicious!, I was interested in reading this memoir and learning more about her. This memoir covers only her first thirty years, up until 1978, and focuses on what led her to cooking as a life. Her unique family, her independent childhood, the influence of two women who cooked for her mother and her pseudo-grandmother and her time in a Montreal boarding school, where her best friend was the daughter of a French diplomat, who loved nothing more than showing the two schoolgirls delightful French food, these all came together to create a young woman who loved to cook, who lived to cook, and who cooked to live. The second part of the book, from her college years on, shows the effect of various college friends, colleagues, and travel to different countries. Rounding out the book are recipes, each one cooked for a different person she loved.
Book 5 of 2020
PopSugar # 3: A book set in multiple countries


View all my reviews

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 rounded to 5.0 stars - I might never have picked this up if not for the fact that it fulfilled a challenge prompt for AtY and PopSugar. But I was immediately drawn into the stories of Isra, Deya, Sarah and others. They face so many challenges, leaving their homes and cultures, trying to make a new life while reconciling the choices that others have that don't seem to be available to them. Isra is a young Muslim girl in Palestine when she is married off to Adam, and taken the next day to New York City, where she assumes the young wife's role of serving, her husband and his family. Meanwhile, he, as the eldest son, must work long hours to support his wife, his parents, and his three siblings. There is no time for Adam and Isra to get to know each other, no space for them to create their own hopes and dreams. They are stuck, following the culture and mores that has been in place for hundreds, thousands of years. I think this quote sums it up best for me.

Fareeda knew her granddaughter could never understand how shame could grow and morph and swallow someone until she had no choice but to pass it along so that she wasn't forced to bear it alone. p. 280

Book 4 of 2020
AtY 17: A book with a Muslim character or author
Pop Sugar 24: A book by a Muslim American author


View all my reviews

The Silence by Don DeLillo

The Silence by Don DeLillo
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.0/5.0 - I'm not sure whether this book was horrible or brilliant. It was strange, that's for sure. It is Super Bowl Sunday in 2022. Jim and Tessa are on a plane to NYC, from Paris. They will be going directly to a friend's apartment to watch the Super Bowl when they arrive. On the plane, Jim repeats random facts, always related to numbers. The time, the distance, when they will arrive, how long, how fast...And then, just before arrival, the plane shudders, vibrates and finally crash lands. The people survive with minor injuries. At Max and Diane's apartment, they await the arrival of their friends. The game begins. And then, the screen goes blank. Phones aren't working, neither is the internet. Random thoughts are spoken aloud. Max commentates an imaginary game. Martin, another friend, a former student of Diane's talks of Einstein, data breaches, cryptocurrencies and zombies. Eventually, Jim and Tessa make their way to Max and Diane's, walking through midtown. It is closer than their home. The power goes off, more of the infrastructure is gone. Why, what has happened? These are their thoughts. Is it the end of the world? We will never know, because it is the end of the book.
The book is written in typewriter font, the dialogue is choppy, incoherent at times. I am not sure what to make of this, although I know it is spooky, given the times we live in. Given the fact that just one week ago, we were cut off from communication with the rest of the world, when a bomb took out the AT&T communications center in Nashville. It's just too creepy.
AtY: 26 A short book (<210 pages) by a new-to-you author
Book 3 of 2020

View all my reviews

Murder in the Locked Library by Ellery Adams

Murder in the Locked Library by Ellery Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0 stars - Although the 4th book in this series, it was (of course) the first one I've read. This series takes place in Storyton Hall, the site of a beautiful home, secret library, and future spa. It is hosting a rare books conference and on opening day a centuries old skeleton is uncovered at the building site for the new spa. You learn that Storyton Hall isn't what it appears to the public, and that it is a cover for a society that protects valuable books in a hidden library. Jane and her children, twins Hemingway and Fitzgerald, are Guardians, and they, in turn are protected by the Fins. What the Fins are is never fully explained, it will require reading the beginning of the series (imagine that?) to get the full back story as well as learn more about Edwin, who is mentioned many times, but conspicuously absent in person.
Given the title, I thought this might work for the Pop-Sugar prompt: A locked-room mystery, but I don't think so anymore. Back to the drawing board on that. However, it does fit the AtY prompt: 16. A book with a building in the title.
Book 2 of 2020

View all my reviews