August StoryGraph Stats

James M. Cain

The two Dorothy Whipple books, yesterday’s post, made me think of another classic, I couldn’t remember the title, here is how I searched -

“classic book where heroine starts a restaurant with fried chicken and waffles, title is a woman's name”

 

One title on the cover (above) caught my eye immediately - The Postman Always Rings Twice. It was a movie. 

I listened to Mildred Pierce in approximately 2012 via my classic book group. In 2012, I probably never saw a cover. I did not realize the connection. 

In those days, 2012, I did not look up each author’s published works in order. Now, I always do.

James M Cain has a nice long list (bottom of this post). I recognized more book titles that were made into movies.

So at least a few of these books are going on my “to read” list. 

They Were Sisters (1943) and Someone at a Distance (1953) by Dorothy Whipple

Nicole Reed mentioned English author Dorothy Whipple (1893-1966) in a recent podcast. I was intrigued. 

The Whipple discussion is near the end of the podcast (below). 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reeding-between-the-lines/id1744436935?i=1000722229392

Here is short biography on Ms Whipple -

https://persephonebooks.co.uk/pages/dorothy-whipple

Dorothy Whipple originally published between 1927 and 1967. Six of her books were republished recently -

Two of Ms Whipple’s books, They Were Sisters (1943) and Someone at a Distance (1953),  are available in audio format. I listened to both of them on Libby, 1.25 speed. 

These books were well written and very good reads. I enjoyed them, full/rich characters. 

Note - Like many classic books, one just has to “go with it”. Modern standards cannot be applied. 

Note the beautiful covers. The artwork is modern, the original covers were plain, I think. 

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

StoryGraph - 

A new laptop

 The same week (last week) that I was very busy with my mom’s plumbing replacements, I was also laptop shopping for her. 

Oh my goodness. 

I am not a laptop person. 

So this process was a bit like buying a car for someone else when you do not drive yourself.

I used a laptop approximately 25-30 years ago to construct quilt patterns. So I have used them, but so long ago it does not count. 

My mom’s previous laptop was a very low quality one that she purchased on 2020 or so. A friend who clearly knows nothing about laptops helped her buy it, long distance. I think the purchase was based 100% on price. 

That old lap top cannot handle Windows 11, it has Windows 10. Windows 10 will not be supported after October 2025. (A detailed explanation is at the end of this post.) 

*** Mom (age 84) needed a new laptop. Her laptop is very important. She uses her laptop to pay bills online. She does her banking online. She reads Facebook. She talks to extended family and a friend on Messenger. She uses email. She orders groceries for curbside. She orders from Amazon. She stores her digital pictures. She orders her meds from an online mail order pharmacy. ***

My first step was to determine what her old laptop included. I went to a local computer store and Best Buy. 

Best Buy guy was helpful. He opened it up and had me take screen shots to send to youngest. 

The local computer store guy just kept telling me how terrible it was, but was not a lot of help. 

Youngest looked at all the screenshots and verified what both places had told me. “ You cannot make a mistake, no matter what you buy, it will be better than what she has currently.”

Mom wanted an HP because that was what she already had. (I also had to buy plumbing fixtures that were just like what she already had, so I did not argue.)

Two trips to the computer store, three trips to Best Buy, and lots of conversations with youngest later, I purchased a $649 HP laptop that was on sale for $399 at Best Buy. I also bought her a new mouse. I did not buy the extended warranty. 

I also looked at a lower priced HP, but the response time was too slow. I know this because the computer guy at Best Buy activated both display models, to look for something for me, and the lesser one was incredibly slow.

The original plan was to have the computer store transfer key data from the old laptop to the new laptop with a house call. They did not want to do this. They make house calls. But what they prefer is to make  transfers at their store. They would have moved everything. 

There were obsolete programs on the old laptop that had been on a previous laptop. We absolutely did not want “everything” moved. 

Youngest highly recommends this method - only move what you need - for new PC’s, new phones, new laptops. Do not transfer everything. Save the old device for a bit, to be sure you have what you need. I agree. 

I had my mom make a list of everything she uses on her laptop. 

Friday night middle went with me to her house. Middle activated windows, linked the new laptop to my mom’s WiFi, and then tackled the list. 

Middle updated passwords and set up backups as she went. There was a lot of general cleanup that needed done. She was quick. She saved login/passwords to the new computer for basic things (but not banking). She also updated my mom’s password book (hardcopy).

It was only a little bit complicated. There were three documents on Microsoft Works, which has been obsolete since 2009, that my mom wanted on the new laptop. Middle copied them, pasted into email, opened the email on the new laptop, and then pasted them into a One Note account on the new laptop. Bonus, these documents are also now on email as a back up. 

The old lap top is still functional with everything still intact. If my mom thinks of something thing else she needs, middle can move it. The three documents are also still on the old laptop. We are saving the old laptop.

Middle understands what is on the new laptop and can help with any problems.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982) was an assigned title from one of my recent book groups. 

We had great discussion over this book. 

I think this book is now labeled a classic. 

I thought I had read this book. I had not. I had seen the movie. 

The movie, as famous as it is, does not do the book justice, in my opinion. The book is really terrific. Extremely well written. 

The author, Alice Walker, reads the audio version. Normally I am not a fan of authors reading fiction pieces, but she is most excellent. Perfect in fact.

Ms Walker is currently in her 80’s. 

I looked it up, this book is rated a 4 (4th grade) in the Accelerated reader system. So this means simple words were used to tell the story. It is adult content, but easy vocabulary.  Normally I would complain about lower reading level, but I am not. The book is perfect just the way it is. 

I did not know The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the first book of a trilogy (list at the bottom of this post). Only the first two titles are available in audio format, the third is not. I tried the second book, The Temple of My Familiar, and could not read it. In my opinion, it needed rearranged in editing. It was too much of a jumble. It did not need the words changed, but the order/structure needed work. I did not try the third.

I knew The Color Purple won a Pulitzer. 

I did not know it won a National Book Award (1983, hardcover fiction). 

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

StoryGraph - 

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.

A lot of plumbing

Earlier in the summer, a lot of things were replaced at my mother’s house. 

It started with an outdoor spigot. 

It moved to the water shut off valve for her house, her bathroom sink drain, and her hot water heater. 

There might have been more, that’s what I can remember. I scheduled all those repairs and met the plumber and the city water department guy at her house. They were not on the same day. I think it was three appointments. 

This week, the water spout in her bathtub and her bathroom sink faucet were replaced. They were both leaking fiercely. 

In process, the plumber discovered the shut off valve under the bathroom sink did not work. He replaced it. And while he was there, we had him install a handheld wand in the shower. 

I booked the plumber and bought all the fixtures. She wanted as close to what she had as possible. Lowe’s carried what we needed. 

I met the plumber at her house at 8:30am this past Thursday. We quickly realized he needed one more part. I ran and bought it quickly. I stayed long enough for him to verify he had what he needed and then went to my book group. 

He was there until 10:30am or so. He had the replacement water valve on his truck. 

What is going on? 

I think the lifespan of the builder grade plumbing fixtures has been met. Things have worn out simultaneously. There may well be more. 

The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck (1961) is the last Steinbeck novel of my Steinbeck Summer 2025 project. 

I enjoyed The Winter of Our Discontent very much. It was nice to end on a positive note. It is also very nice to be done. 

The Winter of Our Discontent was set in the early 1960’s. The story was linear, it was easy to follow. I liked and could easily keep track of the characters. 

I was able to increase the audio speed to 1.20 which brought the very slow pace up to normal. This faster pace helps reading Steinbeck tremendously. I highly recommend it.

I mentioned before - there were waiting lists on Libby for almost all the Steinbeck titles. As I finished each book, there were people waiting. This is just a little crazy to contemplate. Clearly I was not the only person reading Steinbeck this summer. 

Steinbeck was a worthy summer reading endeavor for me.  This project gave me *structure and a book list. 

*One of my book groups did not meet all summer. Dropping from four groups to three groups (plus Youngest’s group) made me feel like I had almost no book groups. I realize that makes no sense. But, I needed more assigned titles. Focusing on one author filled my summer reading list easily. I was not scrambling for books. As I finished each selection, I knew what I was reading next. 

I most definitely needed to tackle Steinbeck as a focused/set project, with a deadline, in order to finish. I was done a couple weeks before Labor Day, the end of summer, I completed Steinbeck easily.

I plan to do this same project with other authors, in future summers. Gretchen Rubin also focuses on one author each summer. This philosophy would work in the winter too. 

Did I read every single Steinbeck title? No, but I stuck with almost all of them, finishing the majority. I read 18 Steinbeck pieces with this project.

What would I recommend? Doing what I did, coming up with a list, working your way through them, skipping things as needed. 

Here is someone  who recommends 15 of Steinbeck’s works. This blog post includes nonfiction pieces too -

https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/john-steinbeck-books

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

StoryGraph - 

Note -  I did not re-read The Red Pony which I had read previously. I skipped The Gift. I marked off a short story already included in one of the collections I read. Zapata was not available in audio format. I did not finish The Acts of King Arthur.  I, still, do not plan to read his nonfiction nor the rest of his short stories as part of this project. So, I am done with Steinbeck for now. 

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.

Shout out to Rex Parker

 I started doing The NY Times daily crossword puzzle earlier this year.

Yes, I do it every day. It is a very pleasant part of my life now. 

Early in the week, I complete the puzzle from start to finish in the wee hours of the morning. These are shorter/easier puzzles. 

Over the weekend, I often start the night before and then finish them in the early morning hours the next day. I am a very early riser. I try to stay in bed and quiet so my husband can sleep. 

Very often, I have an error somewhere and use Rex Parker’s completed puzzle to find my correction(s). For me, this is usually a typo or a spelling error. These can be tricky to find. I take a screen shot of my puzzle and screen shot of Rex’s puzzle, and compare them in “photos” on my phone. I turn my phone sideways, so I can see both photos at the same time. It took a bit to work out the logistics of reading the fine print of both cross word puzzles at the same time. I scroll up and down to read the lines.

Rex has become an important blogger for me. In addition to utilizing his puzzle, I really enjoy his writing. He analyses The NY Times Crossword puzzle each day. 

This is a nice bit of intellectual connection for me. I know of no one else who does the puzzle each day and then wants to discuss it. (Youngest got me started in this daily habit, but then bailed.)

I do not complete the puzzle in the traditional crossword format. I utilize the option to view the puzzle in a list format. I switch to list and the scroll to the “down” section and work on the “down” clues first. 

Why do I do this? I find it easier to think when all the words are horizontal. 

To a God Unknown by John Steinbeck

To a God Unknown by John Steinbeck (1933) is my next to last Steinbeck book. 

What a project! 

With To a God Unknown by John Steinbeck, the story is linear, that helps. There are clearly defined locations and characters, so it is easy to follow. 

Oh my goodness what a (crazy) story. The strong perspectives definitely apply to modern times. I read it with that viewpoint.

I was able to increase the speed to 1.35 which brought the very slow pace up to normal. This helped a lot. Normally I have only increased the Steinbeck novels to 1.2. I was able to do this one faster and it still sounded normal. No chipmunks.

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

StoryGraph - 

Note - I am skipping The Gift. I marked off a short story already included in one of the collections I read. Zapata is not available on audio.  I, still, do not plan to read his nonfiction nor the rest of his short stories.

One more fiction novel to go! 

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.