Hi Rachel, good point about the donkeys — we do have a small barn that’s a bit rundown from the people before us but I need to research more if we’ll need to put in heat there. And apparently donkeys eat wood if bored so we might need to put in metal fencing etc. hmm. much still to do.
Thanks about the interview, the books are pretty good. And I think it’s cool you went to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — two places I’d like to visit sometime. I have never been farther than Montreal. But that would be a great fall trip!
Have a great week. & Happy holiday season.

Congratulations on the published interview! I’ll see if I can register and check it out. Twist sounds like an interesting story as does Pearly Everlasting. I hope Bruno was okay! I visited New Brunswick and Nova Scotia a while back. Just quick visits off a cruise, but they were pretty and cold. It was a fall trip.

Thanks Tracy, I’m glad you were able to get thru PW to the interview. It turned out to be a pretty nice chat with the author. The full thing was much longer than what could be printed. I was interested he mentioned the Great Gatsby and a bit surprised I hadn’t thought of it while reading his book.
I think it’s fine to wait for Pearly Everlasting and I found my copy at the library.
I was surprised how much Pacino talked about his theater roles …. I hadn’t thought of him as a stage actor. Interesting about David Suchet.
I will continue to research the donkey possibility and see if it’s feasible or not.
Hope your holiday season is going well. Happy reading.

I meant to tell you that I have a friend in Nebraska who used to have a donkey. I asked her about it and she wrote, “they are sweet, but they need a friend. We had a llama [named Moose!], but I suppose they would like a companion of their own breed. They also need hoof trimming by a Ferrier, a big consideration since they need to be somewhat tame to do that, and it’s difficult to find a farrier that will work on them.”

Thanks for your review of Pearly Everlasting. I can’t decide whether to get a copy now or wait awhile. It is pretty expensive right now.

I recently purchased (almost?) all of Elizabeth Strout’s that I have not read but will not get Tell Me Everything until I have read those.

That is interesting about Al Pacino and his theater career. When I read David Suchet’s memoir about playing Poirot for so many years on television, some of the most interesting parts were about the roles he played on stage.

I hope you get some donkeys, but only of course if it best for them and you.

Hi Ti, I think you’d like the newest McCann but it’s not out till March (unless you have an advanced copy?). It’s a more straightforward story than his other novels.
I think I want donkeys because they seem like fun, loving pets in a farm-like area/setting. But donkeys often have trouble with obesity so you need to limit their eating/grazing, so I think they differ a bit from goats that way. I’m still reading as much as I can about donkeys to learn what they require etc.
I’m glad to hear you liked the Strout novel. I had forgotten much about Bob Burgess until this book. He was quite endearing. Have a great week.

Donkeys. Do donkeys provide land clearing like goats? Or you want them just to have them because they can be dang cute?

I loved Tell Me Everything. I was not familiar too much with those characters but I plan to go back and read all the other books with them in it.

Hooray! I’m glad it arrived. I’ll be sure to let Rod know.

Thanks Jane, it’s okay I’m sure Strout isn’t for everyone. It’s a particular storytelling perhaps. Of this series, I’ve listened to 4 of the 5 audios, which I’ve liked narrated by Kimberly Farr. She does the books better than I could.
See what you think of Pearly Everlasting. I enjoyed it.
Generally donkeys alas will trample dogs because they think it’s an intruder, so I need to find out more if we could make it work. It is nice to be out of the freeze zone for once. When we get back in January we’ll have plenty of time for that but now it’s nice in the 60s. Enjoy the holiday season.

Thanks Helen, it’s nice to be in SoCal again. It’s been a while since we were here at Christmas time. I hope you enjoy the Strout book when you get to it.
Happy holidays.