Hey Jane, thanks for your input. Yeah I agree Anne is a big part of the book and I totally got a window into the family’s world through the story. Both the plague and how the relations worked & were affected then were fascinating. I loved the historical aspects. Perhaps I should read more from Maggie O’Farrell.

I know Lesley, right? I think it’s a bummer that my PW reviews have to be kept secret. Bahhh. I don’t know why but it’s all supposed to be anonymous. Grrr.
Anyways it is a surprise you haven’t been back to NE … but I know there are many other places to want to go. Though I wonder if the pandemic has taken some steam out of our travel plans for good. We’ll still travel but perhaps not as much. Hmm. Cheers.

We have not been back to Lincoln since we moved. Shocking, right? We’ve had several friends come out here to visit, so it’s not like we haven’t seen people from NE. We just have so many other places we want to explore in the RV, so Lincoln isn’t high on our list right now. 😉

I can imagine that the PW reviews take a lot more thought and effort, but it’s good that you have a good editor. I’m just sorry we don’t get to read those reviews of yours.

Thanks AJ, I got a few good ones in but I need to get to others I missed! I hope you like those two books. I’ve gotten some book titles off your site to read that you listed coming out in 2022. Thx for the heads up. Have a great week.

Yay Lesley! We are kindred readers, getting about the same amount per year. I hope you like Hamnet and Klara this year. I’m hopeful to get to other high quality ones I missed. It’s okay to read what you want to read. More enjoyable that way. That photo is of our front yard … but we have quite a few trees — more aren’t pictured there. It’s an okay front yard as it muffles the street noise. We are a bit more in town than we’d perhaps like. Have you returned to Lincoln lately?
And the PW reviews are a bit challenging … who knows how much longer I’ll last. We’ll see. I like my editor there. Here here to more reading & friendship in 2022!

Hooray for 63 books! That must be the magic number of 2021. I think JoAnn read that same amount! We’re all kindred spirits. 🙂

Are you still writing reviews for PW? That sounds quite challenging. I’ve looked back on some of my early reviews and they were much more extensive than in recent years. I definitely read more female authors and very few translated works in 2021. I am also low in my diversified reading, but I really do just want to read what I want to read. I’m trying not to let the word “should” enter in to my choices this year.

My book group is reading Klara and the Sun later in the year and I can’t wait. It sounds like such a wonderful story. I’ve yet to read anything by Ishiguro, but I have seen the film version of Remains of the Day (twice), which I loved. I have a copy of Never Let Me Go in my stacks, so maybe I’ll get to that one, too. I also have a copy of Hamnet on my “Must Read in 2022!” shelf. I meant to read it last year, but the time got away from me.

Here’s to a great year of reading and friendship.

So The Master is about Henry James? Toibin is really getting into writing these kinds of books eh? They seem quite interesting. Though maybe Thomas Mann makes a better subject … hmm. I wonder who he will choose next. Let me know what you think of it … and happy reading.

Thanks Gretchen. I list my books on Goodreads but only seem to count my reads and all their details at the end of the year … so it’s always a bit of a surprise to see. I hope you have a fun reading year in 2022!