Summer reading

My whole schedule of reading and listening to books is off kilter. No more long drives anywhere. The last one was to my high school reunion when I listened to Memory Man. I like Baldacci and this is a new character and theme, I hope he continues to grow these characters. Last year when I was back and forth to Baltimore in the Spring I listened to The Invention of Wings. Not an easy book to read or listen to. It is written by the same woman who wrote The History of Bees. The problem with listening to a book when you get to a painful part it is hard to speed read through it, and sometimes it sneaks up on you, or the reader is so engrossing you are in the middle and don't know how to skip ahead. But I would read it again it is set in Charleston and is reasonably accurate - the author has notes on her research. In light of the recent tragedy it is an important read for historical context. The Husband's Secret is a good summer book. The Girl on the Train is Gone Girl with British accent. I recommend doing the audio book, hearing the words spoken correctly makes it much more interesting. The Silent Sister is gently introspective and well worth your time. If you are feeling that you need some more Southern subtext definetly read The Quiet Game. Good mystery, almost shades of South of Broad. Any recommendations for me?

Posted with Blogsy

Elephants

Not a subject I frequently thought about until I read (listened to) Leaving Time. It was about lots of things like love and determination and lying and all the regular things but mostly it was about elephants. Now every time elephants are in the news I am reading the item as if I am an expert nodding my opinions. In the Sunday times there is an article about the Bronx Zoo and an elephant who is alone and lonely. There is lots of background that I feel as if I totally understand and can even offer an opinion. At one point the article comes to the question of a private sanctuary and rightly the zoo keeper opines that sanctuaries are usually run by well meaning people who love elephants but that they do not have a secure funding source like the zoo and they are not certified. Leaving Time is a lovely book, I am not sure what it is like to read but the audible book is read by Rebecca Lowman who does a wonderful job. It should be on everyone's summer list of books to listen to. It is a conundrum what to do for the Bronx Zoo. This single aging female has no family, she isn't one of the wise ones of the herd to be respected. She is isolated and has no skills of joining a herd or mothering. She is destined to live out her life alone. There is much to be learned from the elephants about family and aging and love. I think I'll listen to the book again.

Posted with Blogsy

I am hooked

Last year we upgraded the garage door and added a new closer that kicked in after 5 minutes if I forgot to close it (not unheard of) and wifi to check if it was closed and even open and close it remotely. It was great. No more worry that after walking the pooch I went to bed and forgot to close the garage door. Next came the thermostats. Very cool. I could program them remotely and set up the weeks schedule. The thought had been to conserve power when we were away and then cool or heat when we were on the way home. Great idea but we stopped traveling for work but it was still nice to make the changes when the weather was erratic. Then I went back to work. Zena will go to day care MWF and have a dog sitter TT. Friends had complained that sometimes dog sitters said they came but didn't, and if Miss Zena was in distress I wanted to know so a friend could come to the rescue. Enter the Canary. Very low tech, no zoom or rotating eyeball so my field of vision is limited but I have eyes on her favorite perch and play area. We added a Bluetooth front door lock and now I have alerts from four sources on my phone. I can see an integrated system in my future. Doggy TV is addicting and I want more.

Posted with Blogsy