Yeah JoAnn. I think masks seem pretty rare these days out West. I wish we could get a 2nd booster here — but I haven’t had a vaccine since Oct. 4 and feel like I could be vulnerable if it wears off etc. It’s good that in NYC and New England masks are still being worn in places. I feel we could see another big wave.
I am glad you listened to Assembly … not many bloggers have read that one — so I’m glad to have your thoughts about it. I think the audio reader did well too. I’m curious what Natasha Brown will write next. Have a great week.

Thanks Sam for your report on Sea of Tranquility. I think it’s made me drop my interest in reading it quite a bit. There’s just too much else good out there…. to want to pick it up right now.
I think we are becoming complacent about Covid again. Sigh. It’s still out there. But masks are disappearing from most places.
I hope you are well. I miss your reviews. take care.

Hi Mareli, thanks for your comment. Always great hearing from you in S.A. The Crawdads movie should be interesting and the main character is a British actress! We’ll see how it goes.
I bought a copy of Lessons in Chemistry … but likely won’t start it soon.
Cheers. Have a great week.

My pandemic observations over the past month have been interesting, to say the least. In CT, there are still about 50% of people in stores wearing masks. We ate indoors at a couple of restaurants, and I was shocked to see so many people crowded, maskless, in the bar area. In central NY (the apparent epicenter of the new variant) I went into a Target and there was not a mask in sight. In NYC, everyone has masks on public transit and nearly everyone was masked at the airport/on the plane. There were even people in the streets wearing masks. Landing in FL, I saw only a couple of masks at the airport and maybe a few at the grocery store last week. So confusing…

Of the new books you mentioned, the only one I’ve read is Sea of Tranquility, and I was disappointed by it. For whatever reason, not a single character in the novel ever felt at all real to me, so I found myself not much caring what happened to any of them. It’s one of those time travel novels that go back and forth with lots of “major” characters, so them all remaining sort of cardboard to me made it difficult to follow the plot at times.

Around Houston, I’m surprised now when I see a mask or two in public…maybe because I’m not getting out all that much at the moment. No one talks much at all about the pandemic anymore, so I hope we haven’t become too complacent about the problem.

Stay well…and busy.

First of all, so sorry for the late reply!! My week just flew by.

I’ve been to the movies only once so far. Death on the Nile and I’m glad we went! Me and my Book Club friends are eagerly awaiting the release of Where the Crawdads Sing and plan on all going together.

Also looking forward to somewhere read Lessons in Chemistry an Unlikely Animals are apparently good on audio.

I hope you had a good week and are looking forward to a good weekend!

Elza Reads

Hi Stargazer. You make a good point. I wanted a bit more from Assembly as well though the author seems talented. The novel was too short & it leaves the reader sort of dangling at the end. Hmm. I am a bit curious what she’ll write next. And I have completed two of Emily St. John Mandel’s books and think they seem all sort of similar in that her narratives jump around in time and her characters are troubled. I’ve lost some momentum on her books I admit. I started The Glass Hotel recently but then put it down for another time. I just didn’t have the energy to like the characters! Hope you have a great week.

Hi Deb, glad you kept safe while you were in France and now you’re back. I hope all is well and it sounds like you had a fantastic trip.
The novels you mention are ones I hope to get to in the next month or so.
Have a great week. & Welcome back!

Bonnie Garmus’s Lessons in Chemistry, and Annie Hartnett’s Unlikely Animals both sound like interesting books. I have nothing to recommend, sadly, because I’ve only been reading older titles.