The Bookity Book & Tall Grass Salon

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,320
Reaction score
25,292
Location
Snow Cave
Hey, there's a ferret in here! Quick, let's get it a sweater.
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,320
Reaction score
25,292
Location
Snow Cave
Same here. Mr. Maryn is out chasing the garbage can, which flew away once emptied. I'm trying to talk myself into bundling up and going out to shovel a bit, even though more snow's coming. Easier to shovel twice when it's not deep, right?

Maryn, who likes shoveling well enough
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,577
Reaction score
7,220
Location
Wash., D.C. area
I'm debating even getting out of bed! This old apartment is drafty and it's as cold as it gets for us. But that coffee won't make itself!
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,320
Reaction score
25,292
Location
Snow Cave
I got up. We've considered putting the coffee maker in the bathroom so that would not be necessary, but there's no counter space for it. Maybe a Keurig?
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,577
Reaction score
7,220
Location
Wash., D.C. area
You could run special plumbing directly to it and install it on the nightstand. Put a microwave and dorm fridge under it and you'd never have to leave bed at all.
 

Kylabelle

unaccounted for
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
26,200
Reaction score
4,015
(is everybody hiding in that tall grass?)

Well, I guess when you disappear for some three years, you got to expect when you come back lots of things will be different.

Hi. Nice to be back. :)


 
Last edited:

Ari Meermans

MacAllister's Official Minion & Greeter
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
12,852
Reaction score
3,041
Location
Not where you last saw me.
Hey, Kyla. Nice to see ya.


(See that tree just up the rise? I think it's a cottonwood. I sometimes kick back in the grass under the tree and read.)
 

Kylabelle

unaccounted for
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
26,200
Reaction score
4,015
Mmm, sounds nice, Ari! Your reading spot....

I recently bought myself a used Kindle and on it currently I'm reading something called The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. Anyone here know of it? I am about two thirds the way through, and it's definitely caught my interest! Jacob is a Dutchman gone to Japan to make enough money to win the hand of his lady love back home (this is in sailing ship, British East India Company, Europe colonizes the world days....) He falls in love with a Japanese woman, has various crises of conscience etc., and meanwhile she is sold by her family to a nunnery where nefarious practices occur -- it is a kind of cliff-hanger at this point! The depictions of ancient Japanese culture are stunning (and at least accurate seeming if not in fact) and the language is enjoyable enough to carry me through lots of explication and various scene-setting.

The Kindle is nice for getting cheap reads in my hands fast, but I still greatly prefer paper books, for all sorts of reasons.
 

Ari Meermans

MacAllister's Official Minion & Greeter
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
12,852
Reaction score
3,041
Location
Not where you last saw me.
I've passed over The Thousand Autumns a number of times; I may have to look into it.

I had to switch almost completely from my beloved hardcovers to Kindle 'cause my wrists have gone kaput!
 

Kylabelle

unaccounted for
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
26,200
Reaction score
4,015
If you do I'll be interested in how you like it, or don't.... I get daily "bargain" emails from Book Bub, and sometimes choose to take a risk and buy something for a couple bucks; this one was a winner (which is sitting among a growing list of not so happy choices....)

Kindle is definitely easier to hold than a big fat heavy book! :)
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,577
Reaction score
7,220
Location
Wash., D.C. area
I got tired of moving (no joke) two thousand pounds of paper with me, so Kindle it is, even under the tall cottonwood (the rustling of the leaves even on a still day is a very spiritual sound for me) as long as I bring a solar charger and keep the glare from the glass from blinding me. However, I recently got a book on paper because an ebook version wasn't available, and I find myself burying my nose and inhaling deeply. I forgot how much I loved the crisp white paper smell.
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,320
Reaction score
25,292
Location
Snow Cave
If we move this summer as we anticipate we might, a major culling of the books will take place. I'm already pre-traumatized.
 

Kylabelle

unaccounted for
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
26,200
Reaction score
4,015
I would love to cull most of the books on my Kindle but can't figure out how. (Googled it, yes I did.) I mean, they are not doing me any actual harm, but I don't like being reminded of all those poor choices. And also, as I get more books on there, it will mean I have to hunt for the ones I like among all the dross. Also, cookbooks are not as easy to use on Kindle -- or maybe I am still just not used to the format.

Maryn, where might you be moving to? Just a smaller place? I am currently in Wilmington NC, with family, and a move is intended for us too, probably next fall sometime -- inland, out of hurricane landfall territory. I'm all for that. But I have not yet taken it seriously enough to begin to sort and consider what to discard.

Chris? What is the book?
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,577
Reaction score
7,220
Location
Wash., D.C. area
Kyla, I'm currently reading "Redemption Song and Other Stories: The Caine Prize for African Writing 2018." I get this anthology most years, and sometimes it's in ebook form and sometimes not. Another anthology I get every year, the Pushcart Prize, is never in ebook. I'm not sure why. It seems to me once a publisher has gone through the trouble of laying out the book making it an ebook would be simple. I wo der if it has to do with digital rights for the stories?

Also, on the Kindle Fire tablets, to remove books I click and hold on the icon, then a drop-down appears and I can select "Remove" with the next option being "From Favorites" or "From Device." Sometimes I have to delete separately from both places. Also, make sure you don't have some sort of automatic downlaod selected in your Amazon profile so it doesn't try to re-download after you've deleted it. The books you buy are always in your Amazon profile and can be re-downloaded for free if you ever want them back on your device.

Maryn, I took two pickup loads of books to the library before I moved overseas in 2012. There are fewer than ten books I wished I'd kept. The ones I regret the least are the big, heavy coffee table books like "Best photos of the Associated Press 1946 to 1980," and stuff like that. Begone, poundage that doesn't fit on standard shelves! I kept all books from my heroes, such as Vonnegut and Dave Eggers (although I get his new ones on Kindle so keeping a full collection of paper copies makes less sense now). Bu, in the end, the cull was amazingly freeing.
 

AW Admin

Administrator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
18,772
Reaction score
6,284
I would love to cull most of the books on my Kindle but can't figure out how. (Googled it, yes I did.)

It's pretty easy to remove them. The first way doesn't remove the book permanently; it's still part of your Amazon account, but it's archived.

You can download it again, but it won't be on your Kindle.

The second way removes it permanently. It isn't on your Kindle and it isn't associated with your Amazon account. You'd have to re-purchase it if you wanted to read it again.

These are pretty good instructions for removing books from your Kindle.
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,320
Reaction score
25,292
Location
Snow Cave
We are talking about moving to Wisconsin to be near our older daughter, who has expressed a desire for us to be close enough to see often. (The other daughter seems to prefer to see us seldom, and we can't afford much house there anyway.) The general idea is that we'd like to be there while we can still be positive contributors to The Kid's life, rather than waiting until we're so old or ill we need her help.

Maryn, tit for tat
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,577
Reaction score
7,220
Location
Wash., D.C. area
Wisconsin is wonderful. I love Madison, and I lived in Ashland for two years while I was in college. Milwaukee isn't the best of cities, but housing is cheap and it's convenient to Chicago for big city fun times. Places along the Mississippi are also nice, if you're into small town fun times. There is an ouuuuutside chance the wife and I might end up in Madison, but it's way too early to start talking about all that. But I would live there. Happily.
 

Ari Meermans

MacAllister's Official Minion & Greeter
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
12,852
Reaction score
3,041
Location
Not where you last saw me.
I would love to cull most of the books on my Kindle but can't figure out how. (Googled it, yes I did.) I mean, they are not doing me any actual harm, but I don't like being reminded of all those poor choices.

Yeah, I've made a few poor choices, too, and I don't keep them. You can get rid of them iffen you just have to. :)

  • If you want to remove a book from your "downloaded" library on Kindle, click on the three vertical dots to the right of the title. Click on "Remove from Device". The title is then archived as Lisa said.
  • If you want to completely delete a book from your account forever, go to Amazon. Hover your cursor over "Account & Lists". Select "Your Content and Devices" (it's about two-thirds of the way down on the right). Everything you've bought for your Kindle will be listed. Check the box to the left of the title you want to delete forever. Select "Delete" on the left above the list of titles. You'll get a message warning that the book will be deleted permanently and you won't be able to get it back. If you're sure, select "Yes, delete permanently."
You can select multiple titles to delete at the same time, but the more you select, the longer it takes.

ETA: If you delete the title permanently via your Amazon account, it may still show on your Kindle. Rebooting your Kindle or running the sync function will remove it from the Kindle, too.
 
Last edited:

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,320
Reaction score
25,292
Location
Snow Cave
Part of our issue with Wisconsin is that The Kid's job at the university in Oshkosh (b'gosh!) is not stable and pays poorly. The state has cut education funding again and again, so while her department likes her, every time someone leaves, they just lose the money for the position. This semester she's got a good class load, but in the fall she did not and times were lean. Her husband's teaching job is secure and he detests it. She and hubby are both open to work elsewhere in the area, but the reality is that one of them might get some other work and they'd have to stick close to Oshkosh. She's applied for positions at UMadison, but hasn't gotten anywhere with it.

I feel bad for encouraging her to study what interested her and to become an academic in that field. It suited her anxiety issues, but the administrative assistant at a typical office earns more.

Maryn, masterfully messing up children since the 80s
 

Kylabelle

unaccounted for
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
26,200
Reaction score
4,015
Huh. Was sure I posted a thank you to you, Ari, for the kindle delete instrux but, not seeing it. So, thanks! :D

Maryn, I had also thought I posted to you that it is nice one of your daughters wants to be close! And... I hope it all works out. I tend to value doing what you like doing over doing something else that pays more, generally speaking. And being close to people who actually love you is worth a lot, in my book.
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,320
Reaction score
25,292
Location
Snow Cave
The Kid is a better version of myself, so of course I like her and aspire to be like her as well.
 

Kylabelle

unaccounted for
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
26,200
Reaction score
4,015
Well I am about done with The Thousand Autumns. Several cliffhangers going at once now, and I would never have chosen this book had I been standing in a bookstore sampling pages from it, because the graphic brutalities and gross personal habits and dietary weirdness and medical disgust-0-bombs are a little too realistic for my palate. Feudal hoomans, colonizing hoomans, *grick!*

The protagonist, though, is a decent guy. I hope he figures out who he is really in love with and manages to get out alive... And the old doctor is also a decent guy, his lack of hygienic practices not his fault but the fault of the times. Still...... *shudder*
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,577
Reaction score
7,220
Location
Wash., D.C. area
My Wisconsin outside chance just got outsidier. It was worth a shot. It was a cool job with a big NGO that would have allowed me to work from anywhere, and Madison was somewhere the wife and I would be willing to go. I am waiting back to hear on another good lead, but that will keep me in DC--not complaining--but it's with the government and the interview was less than a week before the shutdown. So, we'll see what happens when the government reopens. Any other time, giving the employers time to think usually means they change their mind about what they want the job to do and who to fill it, but with everyone staying home and posting on their favorite web-based bulletin boards the mucky-mucks aren't making any kinds of decisions at all.
 

Kylabelle

unaccounted for
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
26,200
Reaction score
4,015
Hi, all. I wanted to share a book review I just read, and the website it comes from which is The Neglected Books Page. I subscribe to their several-times-a-week emails, and occasionally (maybe one in ten) there is something that really intrigues me. Today, it's the review of Theme with Variations, by G. E. Trevelyan.

Theme with Variations has the narrative power of a vortex. Trevelyan draws us deeper and deeper into each character’s thoughts, showing how little things — a book thrown across a room, an item in the newspaper, one pint too many — can have the effect of cutting us off from options, from the sense of having control over our own lines, until all the escape routes seem to be cut off forever. I started reading it after dinner on Friday, stayed up till 2 A.M., and finished it by noon Saturday, and was haunted by its claustrophobic atmosphere for days after.

(Sadly, as stated in the following paragraph of the review, there are exactly zero copies of this book for sale now, and only six in libraries.)

***

Also, as I have been requested to by somebody, I am going to start posting daily links to poetry as used to be in the Writer's Almanac. We'll see how that goes; I have subscribed to a few "daily poem" emails for the purpose but have not received any yet.