Herbs

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I got this magazine style how to book at the Bradley Beach Library Sale this summer. Herbs: How to Select, Grow and Enjoy by Norma Jean Lathrop was written in the 80s but is still relivent today!

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Interesting and informative, Herbs gives you a solid base of knowledge to grow herbs on any scale.

I really enjoyed this book even though it is not, like a riveting read. This instructive manual, had sections for how to choose, propagate, transfer, plant, and use a wide variety of herbs. Some you may know and some you may not be familiar with. This books includes a long list of different herbs, their uses and properties. It also contained a section of profiles of gardeners around the world. I really liked hearing about the different people’s gardens and how they felt about them. I also liked that there is a section on some of the magical and medicinal uses of herbs. I really enjoy that almost every book on herbs mention their magical properties. I read Magical Herbalism earlier this year and liked how these were connected. I would highly recommend this book to those looking to start their journey growing herbs, those who are interested in gardening in general, and those who like gardening books.

Are you a gardener who likes reading? Or a reader who likes gardening?

This book was mentioned in my November Wrap Up.

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The Old Country

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I’ve had The Old Counrty by Mordicai Gerstein for a really long time. I bought it on a trip to Vermont.

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When Gisella’s brother goes off to war, she decides to hunt and kill the fox that has been stealing the family’s chicken. She never expected to end up becoming a fox herself!

I really did not like this book. I had tried to pick this up several times in the long history that I have had it. Reading it now, I know why I DNFd it in the past. Although the intention of making this book read like a fairy tale or fable is a neat idea, I felt everything about this book was overly heavy handed and obvious. The aspect of war was uninteresting to me, and the lessons were over stated and also clunky. I found at times the writing seemed childish and talking down to the reader, but at other times too adult with themes that felt way over the intended readers head. Some of the concepts were interesting, like a fox stealing your body, a court of animals putting you on trial, etc… A main idea was everyone and everything having it’s own nature and whether one can learn to change that nature. The book never fully decides, so the reader must. While writing this review I found that the part that I remembered most fondly was the ending which was a surprise to me. I wouldn’t recommend this book, but I wouldn’t say for sure don’t read it either. I would suggest that as an adult you read this before giving it to a child to read.

Have you read this book? What were you thoughts?

This book was featured in my October Wrap Up.

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November Plant Update

November felt like am month where we got back to plant observations, even tho looking back I didn’t have too much saved. This month was mostly temperate, but turned cold for some days and right before the end of the month. We caught many beautiful sunsets and twilight times as the days got shorter.

Sunset Lake, Asbury Park.

Sunset Lake, Asbury Park.

6th Ave Beach, Asbury Park.

6th Ave Beach, Asbury Park.

Cormorant Tree.

Cormorant Tree.

The sun setting on Old Man’s Beard.

The sun setting on Old Man’s Beard.

These flowering trees are either out of season or very very confused.

These flowering trees are either out of season or very very confused.

Cattails going poof.

Cattails going poof.

Sometimes the backs of buildings are the best.

Sometimes the backs of buildings are the best.

Bayhead, NJ

Bayhead, NJ

So there were more expanses than plants observed this month, but we had a great time looking. What are plants doing in your area?

Through a Glass, Darkly

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I have no clue where I got Through a Glass, Darkly by Helen McCloy but it must have been a book sale or thrift shop. It’s a British imprint which I don’t know until I read it.

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Dr Basil Willings girlfriend, smart and clever Gisela von Honenems, has taken a new job at a boarding school upstate. When her friend is forced to leave, ghostly visions appear, and people start dying, Gisela decides it’s time to seek Dr Basil Willing’s help!

I had never heard of this book or author before reading this and I had no idea what it would be about or that it was part of a series. Basically I had no clue about anything about this book. But I loved it!!! written in 1950, this book reminded me of PD James’ work, especially the Cordelia Grey mysteries. This book had a noir-ish aspect, but also a high society detective aspect. It was set partly in upstate, partly in Manhattan, and on the Jersey shore, which is awesome! Although I guessed the ending, it was the kind of mystery that you don’t mind guessing and finding out you’re right bc you want to know the motivations and the “how did they do it?” motivations. One of my favorite parts of this book was that there was a paranormal or supernatural facet, which I totally wan’t expecting and this characteristic of the book was what really kept me guessing. I might have felt very invested bc I had never heard of this author or lead detective. I was really delighted by how this book was written and really surprised that this author is mostly unknown. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes detective mysteries like those written by Agatha Christie or PD James, those who like mysteries with a paranormal bent, readers looking for a new series to follow, and those interested in female authors of the 1920s-1970s.

Have you ever heard of Helen McCloy? I very much want to read more from her!

This book was featured in my October Wrap Up.

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The House of Silk

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I have two copies of The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz, and I’m not sure where I got either of them.

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At the end of his life, Dr Watson decides he can share some of the more precarious and scandalous cases he worked on with Sherlock Holmes. The House of Silk might be the most violent and scandalous of them all.

Like I said, I’m not sure where I got this book or when it first showed up on my radar. I don’t even remember what compelled me to pick it up when I did. I do know that I love Sherlock Holmes and Holmes stories. This one was officially endorsed by the Arther Conan Doyle estate and I had seen a few other books by the writer, so I was excited to read it. There were things I really liked about this book and things that I really didn’t enjoy. I made a full review (spoiler free) over at my booktube channel. The most striking thing about this book was how much and how well Horowitz emulated Conan Doyle’s writing style in prose. But another striking thing was how much it is different in plot than the original stories. This book was a weird mix of classically holmsian and distinctly too modern to be a true Holmes novel. Overall I really enjoyed it but there were a lot of tough subject matters brought up that made it not the most fun read. I would not recommend this book to those that do not want to read about violence, trauma, rape, and child abuse. But I would recommend this book to readers who like Holmes variations, mystery lovers, and books where the writer copies the style of another writer.

Are you a fan of Sherlock Holmes? If so, how do you feel about Holmes variations?

The House of Silk was mentioned in my October Reading Wrap Up and in my first Stand Alone Review.

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The Murder at the Vicarage

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I found this audio book of The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie for free on the internet. I was delighted to find that it was read by Richard E Grant.

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The Vicar in the town of St Mary Mead is scaniliized when the town grouch is found dead in his study. The vicar is wrapped up in the mystery and takes a stab at solving it. Luckily, Miss Marple is also on the case.

This was the second Agatha Christie book I have ever read and it was a good one!! I didn’t know at the time that it was the first in the Miss Marple series. I think I lucked out by now having read the first in the Poirot series and the first in Miss Marple. Now that I’m thinking of it, I actually listened to both of them… Interesting. I wonder how I will feel when I physically read a AC book? I’ll find out soon, as my mother has just given me 2 Christie books she has unhauled. The Murder at the Vicarage was hilarious! There were many parts where I laughed out loud and many more where I was broadly smiling! This was a fast paced and interesting mystery that kept me on my toes. I did not guess the ending but I was perhaps most surprised at how little Miss Marple, who is one of Christie’s most well known ameture detective, was actually in this book. This book is narrated by the vicar and he is mostly driving the action with sly Miss Marple only coming in to neatly wrap up the mystery at the end. She pops in and out in other places in the book, but only for a few pages at a time and for most of the book, she only seems like a very small side character. So far, having read one Poriot book and one MM book, I think I liker her mysteries better just for the shear silliness. I would HIGHL:Y recommend this book, and especially this audio book, to anyone who likes mysteries, those who want to explore older mystery/crime writers and novels, anyone who watched the BBC series and those who love a bumbling lead character, a gossipy village setting, or a seemingly impossible death!

Have you read any Agatha Christie? Do you prefer Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot?

This book was in my October Wrap Up.

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The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

A friend recommended The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks many, many years ago. I distinctly remember buying this book when I lived in NYC. Pretty sure I bought this in the barnes and nobles on West 4th St right by the subway station. I used to stop there on my way to work when I worked in the west village and very fond memories.

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Oliver Sacks, a renowned neurologist, is most well known for his l-dopa trials, some of which were documented in the movie Awakenings, writes about more of his interesting case files.

I read a few of these case studies way back when I bought the book (15+ years ago???), and they really stuck with me, so I was excited to pick this one up again. The studies are conversational and really put across the fact that Sacks was more interested on how these people could live with their disorders and damages, rather than what the damages were. Although there is a lot of technical talk in each chapter, there is also a lot of description that make it easy for a leman to read and understand. Each chapter also has a little bit of end notes, mostly written for the book, far after the actual case, which were a wrap up of the case, notes, or observations on the case. I liked the way this books was structured very much and I think it made an otherwise heavy or hard to read book very assessable. This book was written quite a while ago and a lot of the terms and language used was very outdated. It was a little shocking to see the “R” word so frequently and easily used in a medical/clinical book. There is are quite a bit of problematic things in this book, but one must look at it as coming from a certain time. It would not make sense to go back and change the language in this book, but I found myself needing to pause every once in a while. I would recommend this book to anyone interested on medical, neurological, or clinical observations, those who like to read short non fiction case studies, and readers who are interested in the different was the brain can work.

Have you read this book or any book by Oliver Sacks?

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Life Admin Day 11/25/2020

Well, it’s been a long time since I have had a proper LAD and I need one! A Life Admin Day is a day (or a few hours of a day or a few hours over a few days) set aside to get your sh*t together and complete some annoying but necessary life tasks.

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Here’s what’s on my itinarary for today:
Marty pills (6am)
Marty surgery (8am)
Visit Gus (cat sitting)
Call my car insurance and sort out car
Call DMV if needed
Pay Bills
Look into eye doc bill from 2018
Find razor blades
Find doc, make appointment (me + chris)
Afternoon walk
Clean out fridge
Make soup
Film
ZW vid
Tag vid

Some of the things on my list are fuin, but most of them are things that I just need to get done. Many of these things are things that I HAVE to get done by the end of the year. I’ve known about them for a long time, but keep putting them off. Surprise, surprise it’s almmost the end of the year and I’m running out of time!

I often add these big tasks to my LAD list and also my more mundane tasks that I also need to get done that day. Sometimes breaking up the big tasks with more routine projects breaks up the bigger list and makes it feel more doable. LAD tasks are also sometimes things that can’t be totally finished in one day, so adding things like doing the dishes, etc… help me feel like I got a lot accomplished.

What are some projects, tasks and to-do items that you have been putting off in 2020? What do you need to finish by 2021?

~edit~ Editing Mo, jumping in here to say that this Life Admin Day was a total bust! Nothing in my day went the way I was planning and I was only able to cross off 3 or 4 tasks. This is why I often set my LADs up to have two days in a row to complete my goals. This time I’m not able to do that bc of the holiday. While this is terribly unsatisfying, it is a good lesson to not procrastinate and/or set up more regular Life Admin Days in order to complete all those pesky life tasks.