flight paths discussion

it seems July went by so fast
how can we make August last?

by revelling in nature
with gratitude and special friends
so that long after summer ends

it keeps on blooming in memory sweet and tender, wild and free

Lovely thoughts, Magdelanye! Love the idea of memory blooming, wild and free and forever.

Thank you for sharing this Magdelanye; very touching

Now, what are folks reading? I finished 2 of the 3 novels of John Crowley and figured since I've read Engine Summer I would just skim it. Well that revealed that I'd forgotten much and am currently enjoying the reread.

Magdelanye, enjoy the reread. I recently did the same thing.....I picked up Oliver Twist thinking I could read it quickly and partially skim but the story was very different than what I recall, so I read it more slowly.

I'm currently reading Karen: A True Story Told by Her Mother.

Petra, It certainly is surprising what we discover when we reread something. I enjoyed Engine Summer this time around but not quite as in awe.

I read Karen's story told by herself I'm pretty sure when still a young teen and I was deeply impressed.

I just read Flannery by Lisa Moore. It had some interesting points to make but overall not as captivating as her other stuff I've read. Probably not in the right mood for teenage angst.

Started The Dance Tree which matches more.
Plus, I was given a copy, by the author, of a book that is not listed here. It used to be fairly simple to add a title but it seems to have become more challenging. The book is gorgeous and more than an autobiography. How do I add it?

I finished Karen and was touched by this family. They faced so many hurdles and everything brought them closer together as a family. Karen herself worked so hard to overcome her disabilities. This family was truly remarkable.

I'm now reading Learning to Swim. It started with a very intriguing story. That story is now almost completely resolved at a third through the book so I'm curious to see what the rest of the story holds. I'm enjoying the story.

Magdelanye, I don't know how to add a book on Goodreads. There's a librarian group here on GR, I believe. Perhaps they can help.

Karen is my favorite book of all time. I've read it many times, the first time when I was 8. It had a profound effect on me, in the way only an 8 year old, I think, can be impacted by a book. I think it may be partly why I went on to work with children with disabilities. It's so good to hear other people reading it

It's interesting for sure that the three of us have read Karen and the profound effect it had for something so obscure, still resonating.
That book and the Diary of Anne Frank plus, Helen Keller and a little later the Diary of Carl Chessman were the pillars of my reading trajectory after Peter Pan and Enid Blyton.

I finally returned the Crowley to the library.
I miss it.

What's happening with our Ice man and retirement? Is this not the month?

I recall reading books about Helen Keller and being deeply touched & affected. I think she made me braver to face hard situations. If she could be brave and move forward, so could I. I needed role models like that.

Karen rates up there, too. The family was remarkable.

I'm pretty sure I read Anne Frank but don't recall it specifically, which is strange.

I finished Learning to Swim. I enjoyed it enough that I'd read the second in the series, if I found a copy. It wasn't a perfect story but the characters felt real and I felt for their personal dilemmas.

I've been looking through Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible: 260 Exquisite Patterns by Hitomi Shida. I'm trying to learn the symbols used as the patterns. The Japanese don't write out their directions but use symbols. It's confusing but I'm determined. The patterns are lovely.

Wow Petra, that's impressive--learning patterns in symbols devised by a foreign language! I can't even do it in English.

I'm reading The Librarianist & really enjoying it.

yes indeed Petra. You seem to have a lovely talent for sussing out increasingly offbeat skills...and mastering them
I'm happy that you can still find pleasure in such things. I'm with Ellie here...

Ellie did you read his earlier hit? I could not get in to Sisters brothers and am wondering if I should give him another try.

I put Learning to Swim on hold. They have it here but it's checked out.

Just read a curious book, Lucien and Olivia. It was definitely interesting and I was enjoying it as it deepened in complexity until came a couple of things that so put me off, like the end. At the end two characters I really liked put me off. I'll have to think about this.

Also read a Michael Cunningham, By Nightfall.
Now this was one I was a bit apprehensive and not sure I would be able to resonate. Especially after reading a terrible review simply tearing him apart. But, I lived the Hours and MC is one of the authors I'm following, so when confronted with anything he's written I usually grab it.

I also read an optimistic book about depression.

just started a droll dystopian fiction about one of those survivalist communities, a dad abducting his kids, as told by his precocious teenage daughter.