I‘ve finished 16 of 26 letters for #LitsyAtoZ not counting the letters for which I‘ve read multiple books. I‘ve completed all the letters on the first page of my index! Ten books to go! I‘ve never been this far ahead. So glad I‘m doing the #nonfiction2019 challenge too. I‘ve a long way to go on that one.

Tolkien‘s first story about a dragon. Can anyone explain why it isn‘t “a green great dragon”, but had to be “a great green dragon”?

Tolkien‘s favorite childhood book, tagged in the comments below.

“But most of all he found delight in the Fairy Books of Andrew Lang, especially the Red Fairy Book, for tucked away in its closing pages was the best story he had ever read. This was the tale of Sigurd who slew the dragon Fafnir: a strange and powerful tale set in the nameless North.”

He disliked Hans Anderson‘s fairy tales and Treasure Island proffering “Red Indian” stories.

Since I bailed on my last ebook, this is up next! #letterj for #litsyatoz and I believe it will be something uplifting for #nonfiction2019

Bail! Folks, run, don‘t walk from this one. See my previous posts for full details.

I found another x book for #litsyatoz if anyone needs one; it‘s helpfully an ebook. But it has a pretty low score here on Litsy so I‘ll stick with the two I found at a used bookstore last week (tagged below). #letterx

Bad editing? Catherine just saw Richard in the previous chapter; now she doesn‘t recognize him, but then this section ends noting she had met him 3 times! 🤔

“Catherine, returning from the kitchens, saw a man she did not recognise unloading a cart drawn by a tired, dusty-looking horse....Red-faced, composure shattered, Catherine fled the stables in a flurry of skirts. She had met him three times and he had reduced her to tears on two of them.”

How I spent the first day of the three-day holiday: pedicure and a book. Not a bad afternoon at all.

This “flowery” language over every darned detail is making this a lengthy, wordy, boring read. The “house‘s welcome embrace”...are you kidding me? A wife is described as “colorful, careless, and expensive.” And “skipping”! Ugh. A little is fine; a lot is annoying. Btw, this is 1500s England: which I picture a lot less romantically than this author does. And practically nothing has happened 25% into this looong book. Will I bail? Jury‘s out.

Just received #bookmail. My z book for #litsyatoz thanks to a good recommendation from @Bookzombie

About clerking after law school: “Sprinkled on top of these factors is the reality that you work closely with these judges. And no one wants to waste a year getting berated by an asshole in black robes.” I relate in so many ways to the author of this book having been the poor kid in a large public university, then a pretty decent law school, and a clerkship. I just managed my way through never really knowing the secrets to success.

Book buys today! I hope you notice I got two “x” books so I‘m covered this year and next for #litsyatoz

I found a used bookstore in Victoria, Texas boasting more than 45,000 books! Loved it and its exchange policy! I took in five books and got $10 credit off my purchase of four books (which were already half off). This makes it so much nicer to endure the long drives here for work (plus the audiobooks I listen to along the way).

Next Audible book for a long drive for a client meeting tomorrow. I‘ve really enjoyed this series and have listened to them all on Audible. So it was a good time to finally get to listen to book 4. I‘m very excited to catch up with the characters again!

This looks so good. Anyone read it or heard of it? Trying to decide whether to buy it for $2.

8 minutes to go in episode 1, and I can‘t take anymore. It doesn‘t matter how badly I need an x book for #litsyatoz. This is unbearable. Done. Bail.

Bookstore run for my daughter‘s 11th grade reading (tagged book), which I talked her into letting me read first. The rest were my own impulse buys.

And up next: I may be from Texas but I‘m from Scots-Irish stock on my dad‘s side and having read the intro, I fear the similarities. But having parents with an entrepreneurial streak who gave me a brutal work ethic I hope my story (I‘m, too, the first to college, then law school) diverges significantly from the author‘s. We‘ll see...

I think I understand the low Litsy score, though no one says so: the acknowledgement. The author is a Fox News host. He cites as inspiration anti-hero Roger Ailes! I‘ve never watched Fox but I know who HE is. But I won‘t throw the baby out with the bath water. The book is still an excellent introduction to the topic, well researched from original sources and written. I‘ve met many a real hero in this book. Recommended, but skip the credits.

This is a great quick read I should finish today or at least this weekend. I was a history major and the Barbary Wars were unknown to me. I am enjoying the stories and writing style. I‘m astonished at the “low” score here on Litsy but it seems several were looking for textbook depth, which you won‘t find here and certainly not what I‘m looking for. This is a perfect introduction to the topic.

Just started this because I need an x book for #litsyatoz. Never watched the show and not sure how I feel about the first story, at least. I can say for sure that the Audible originals are extraordinarily well-produced.

I‘m needing a Q book for #litsyatoz so this freebie from Amazon is up next. Pretty decent read three chapters in.

This exclusive audiobook is amazing; no contrived voices by one narrator because actors play the parts. Includes music and sound effects. The writing is, of course, well done. But let me say: this is not my genre. Facts in the story irritate me to no end—is it really true that women of a certain class at a certain time in history had nothing better to do than worry about romantic pairings? 🤔 Women: get a life! My apologies to Austen fans. 😶

Bookbub alerted me to two free historical fiction Kindle books. Here‘s the second one.

BookBub alerted me to two free historical fiction Kindle books. Here‘s the first one.

I read a fair amount tonight from this one. It‘s a very fast easy read and I‘m learning about the Barbary Wars and our new country‘s first Navy, of which I knew nothing. I‘m learning about the founding of the Marines, the whys of a part of the Marine uniform, and the basis for some of the words from the Marine Hymn:

From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli; ...

And I‘m learning more about my favorite president.

A reminder that the violence against women portrayed in this book is very real; this murder was just this weekend. 😥

Such a lovely Mother‘s Day today! These were gifts from my fam. The top one is an acoustic remake of many of their songs with an orchestra and is gorgeous. Maybe better than original songs. The second was recorded before Dolores O‘Riordan died so I‘ll have to listen to it in private. Sob.

Next up: a purchase in March while in the Denver airport.

Daughter and I went around to three of the Little Free Libraries in our neighborhood (a huge walk for me; I‘ll be sore tomorrow). One was almost empty, one was empty, and one had a handful of Bibles. So no luck today. Instead here‘s a photo of the prettiest flowers we passed. We shall reward ourselves shortly with a trip for frozen yogurt.

Just finished this one on this lazy Mother‘s Day. Don‘t know why it took me so long. It‘s really good. Review to come.

Just added to my nonfiction library for #nonfiction2019.

I‘m learning so much about Sweden of which I had no idea: eg, what the author calls “benign totalitarianism” for much of the 20th century (see quote above), its “neutrality” in WWII vastly benefitted the Nazis, and forced sterilization of 60,000 women for a huge chunk of the same century to protect its “relatively unspoiled race.” Whoa!

On to Sweden and its open immigration policies: “‘It is economic suicide not to integrate immigrants and not to invite people from elsewhere to come and work here. The Swedish economy is booming. People have moved around throughout human history. With some patience, and stable economic circumstances, it works...‘”

I finished this book sometime ago but have been struggling with how to write my review. I wasn‘t happy with the ending (I wanted to know more about what happened next I think?), but I also think it ended precisely where it should have. An incredibly well written book and an important story for everyone to read about how women in parts of the world are still treated. The audio was beautifully made. But, alas, the ending left me flat. 👇🏻

I‘ve been seeing this one reviewed a lot here on Litsy. Kindle version is on sale today for $2.99.

❤️ when a client orders you tea from Scotland! I‘ve just returned from meetings with a client in south Texas and a person on the client‘s leadership team learned I like black tea and ordered this for me. When I opened it the smell transported me to heaven. Now for a cuppa and a good book! 🤗

“Finland has in terms of its labor market is that it is arguably the most gender-equal society in the world.”

So excited to be here to recognize my son‘s high score on the SAT!

Another joke, courtesy of the Finns.

More on the Finns... Love this joke about Americans; we are a wickedly friendly bunch (especially those of us from Texas). And as for Helsinki, my beautiful and wonderful sister-in-law (married to my husband‘s Norwegian brother) is from Helsinki. I haven‘t been there, but if she is representative it is a marvelous place.

The author went relatively light on Norway (from reading Norwegian writers and my own experiences, he really did go light), and now promises to be even kinder to the Finns. This after Denmark (the author‘s present home) and Iceland received scathing reviews. What he writes sounds accurate. But maybe not all of it, omitting both good and bad. He saves Sweden for last. I assume he will say only all great things if the trend continues.

I had bailed shortly into this when I first got it, but started it again today. Not my genre and Emma the main character is driving me nuts! But the audio quality is top notch: look at the talent of the “cast.” I liked the movie Pride and Prejudice, so I‘m sticking this one out come what may. Perhaps I‘ll be surprised.

An accurate description of Norway. This from a chapter on immigrants in Norway.

These Kindle sales are killing me. I just bought this one for $1.99. I‘ve been anxious to read Cadfael, so here we go. This is the first map in the book. Very cool that I‘ve been to Cardiff!

Today was a farewell party to my daughter‘s best friend in Girl Scouts who‘s moving to Oregon. We made her a giant Girl Scout badge cookie.

Bigger news: they invited us to visit and my daughter and I might be going to Portland this summer! And guess what‘s in Portland that I‘ve always wanted to visit?!?! 🤗

Rather than giving up on the whole eating shark business altogether, they eventually hit upon the idea of burying it in the ground for between eighteen months and four years until it has decayed to the point where it becomes, in the very loosest sense of the word, edible.

One does wonder, as the author does on the next page, why anyone with access to the freshest greatest fish on the planet would choose to eat putrified shark. Ewww!

Ok I bought this one on sale today! @GingerAntics @LeahBergen @MaureenMc @Lcsmcat

Kindle version on sale today! Should I get it?

One of the reasons for a happy Dane: “Right now, the Danes are especially preoccupied with role playing—dressing up like Gandalf or elves and acting out violent narratives deep in the woods with their foam “boffers””. I‘d love that, too.