Thanks Jane, nice of you to say. The SoCal trip is going well so far. And a bit of downtime too, which is nice.
I hope Miss Austen will be good — I have it taping at home. And I agree the Last Secret Agent looks good. I’m glad my library has a copy and I should get it fairly soon. I know what you mean about the Twain book. He was a conflicted person. My dad had a copy of the big Twain autobiography. It is huge. I don’t think any of us took the book. Too hard to carry! I wonder how the autobio would read?
Good you got some rain. We could really use some in Alberta. Will you put your veggie plants in the ground soon? We had to buy some plants as not many of the seeds came up. Might have been the sun room where we had them was too chilly. Enjoy your planting.

Hi Jinjer, I didn’t realize your parents were golfers … back in Arkansas? I’m just getting into it a bit. I haven’t played miniature golf in years … but I think it can be a hoot.
And thanks, this Calif. visit is going well so far. Nice to be back.

The Last Secret Agent sounds great–love books like this. Will seek it out.

I actually have the Autobiography of Mark Twain, which remains unread and is even thicker than the Chernow bio. To be honest, the more I know about Twain, the less I like him. He was definitely a conflicted person. I like Chernow as a biographer, but I will probably take a pass on reading this one.

I am taping Miss Austen and will start it later this weekend–just a couple of episodes of Northern Exposure left, so we can finally watch something else!

Happy almost summer! Safe travels to SoCal–my condolences on your loss and my congratulations on the birth of a new grandniece.

Both my parents lived and breathed golf. I don’t like it but I love miniature / goofy golf, whatever you call it.

Thanks Tracy, great to hear your thoughts. It seems Carney did well with his meeting in the U.S. There’s various problems in Canada so we’ll have to see how he does going forward. We’re a bit wait & see on him but hope he can make progress.
Glad to know you’re into the Murderbot series. It seems so popular. Perhaps the series will be fun. I think The Correspondent could be a good palette cleanser kind of read with the format — we will see. I’m on the library wait list for it.
And those really long novels you mention reading are two good examples. Those are huge books — I’m impressed you finished those. I agree indexes can be long at the end of nonfiction – so perhaps they not as huge as they look. Not sure when I have time for Twain but it’s on my radar.
I’m in Calif now and it’s pretty nice being back. All in all, it’s bittersweet. thanks for your thoughts. Enjoy your weekend.

Hi Helen, thanks. Actually the celebration of life is tomorrow (Saturday) so I’m in SoCal now for a long weekend. It feels good to be back. Pretty here now. Though it is sad too.
It’s great your parents are doing so well. Still it’s probably a good step for them to move earlier than later. We had to move my parents in March 2021 during Covid … it wasn’t easy! It’s so good you get to spend much time with them. Have a nice weekend.

Of the books you read, I am interested in Crow Mary and Wild Dark Shore. Of the new releases, I am very interested in The Correspondent. I don’t know if I will look for it at the end of the year or just put it on a list for someday.

I have read a few of the Murderbot novellas and enjoyed them. I will try the new series on Apple for sure, but I have my doubts as to how well it will work. On the other hand, I have always had trouble visualizing Murderbot; maybe this will help when I read future books in the series.

I don’t think the length of the Mark Twain book would bother me if I was really interested in the topic. Because it is nonfiction I would just divide it up over time. But… there are not many topics that would be worth spending that long on a book… for me. I do agree with Carmen that most longer nonfiction books like that have long indexes and appendixes etc and the actual text reading is less… unless you get sucked into reading footnotes the notes, which I sometimes do. I have read some fiction books over 1000 pages: Under the Dome by Stephen King, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

I hope your trip to California goes well. How exciting to have a new baby in the family!

Hi Rachel, thanks for your words, plenty of great memories with my dad … and mom. Still a weird feeling without them. We’ll see how the trip goes. I’m sure it’ll be a rousing celebration with his work buddies.
I wonder if the Murderbot series will do a good job replicating the books? Or if your mind will have imagined things differently. You’ll have to keep us informed. I’m pleased that my library carries The Last Secret Agent and I should be getting it pretty soon. What a life! Hope your reading is going well. Happy spring!

Thanks Marg, I appreciate your words. We’ll see how the trip goes … but I am looking forward to meeting my grandniece. She looks so adorable. 🙂
The weather here is just starting to get warm & nice … been a bit of a long winter. And now you all will cool off there. I was interested to see the results of Australia’s recent election … what do you think? Hope all is well. Enjoy your week too.