September StoryGraph Stats

 

Unforgotten on BBC/PBS

 There are 6 seasons of Unforgotten on PBS available with a passport subscription. I love this series. 

Unforgotten started with the fabulous Nicola Walker.

At some point there were cast changes, I like it just as much. 

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

Note one - The librarian and I both agreed to reread The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne prior to reading Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese (2022). I think I am rubbing off on people in my book groups. 

This time I listened to a new version, exclusively on Audible. The reader was excellent. I love this story. 

Note two - Of course, I looked, according to GoodReads, there are 38 books inspired by The Scarlet Letter. Hester is one of these books. 

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/79875.Books_Inspired_by_The_Scarlet_Letter

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese (2022) was an assigned book for one of my groups. 

If the name rings a bell, Hester is the main character in The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne (1850). Yes, it is the same Hester reference, with a twist.

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese was a very good book. I enjoyed it. 

My only comment - there are three past stories told in “interlude” sections amid the main story of the book. I wish the earlier stories had been told all in one go at the very beginning of the book. 

I have the urge to get a ebook and copy and paste the interlude sections together. Can you copy sections of an ebook? 

I listened to Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese on Libby.   The reader was very good.

I used a 1.15 pace (my normal for most books is 1.20).  This only decreased the time by just over an hour. I listen at the pace that is most comfortable for me.

   

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

StoryGraph - 

Note - I have only read one other book by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables. I might consider a deep dive into to this author’s list at a later date. But I would definitely skip the last three books on the list below, I 100% avoid posthumous books. 

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.

All better

I mentioned the neighbor’s drainage tile in Monday’s post. I thought the house would have to change owners for that tile to ever be removed or buried. We lived with it for 24+ years. 

In this version, photo below, a few years ago, I planted Astilbe to cover the tile. The area was too dry and too hard to water. It did not work. I moved all the astilbe to another bed. 

 

Last year, we planned to build a low stone wall to hide the tile. My husband and the high school boy dismantled an L shaped stone wall on the old hosta bed (which is now grassed) and moved all the stone in preparation for the tile coverage wall. 

I only have the grainy photo above. My husband started building the wall, which meant he had sunk part of the first row, then magically, the drainage tile was removed. The wall was no longer needed. 

So we were very glad the tile was gone, but we were left with a lot of clean up, all of our own making. 

My husband slowly moved the big wall rocks over the last few weeks. 

Two weekends ago, he added dirt and tamped, so the area was flat. 

He added weed cloth (to keep the river rock from sinking). 

Using large colanders and five gallon buckets, he washed five bags of river rock. He covered the area with the river rock. 

And here we are. It was a long way around to get back to a nice clean slate with no drainage tile.

You can see the area my husband fixed, the river rock is very clean. This area looks small in the photos. It is bigger than it looks. 

The drainage tile

 Our next door neighbors had a drainage tile. 

They could not really see it from their side. And probably they never thought about it. 

The original owners of that house put it in when they were the only house, surrounded by woods. 

I had to dig hard for these tile pictures, all taken when we were putting in the river rock -

We have lived with that unsightly above ground drainage tile for over twenty years. I thought we would have to wait for new neighbors to have it gone.

Had we asked for this tile to be removed? Yes.

But we had not pushed it. And we had not filed a complaint with the neighborhood. 

I think it was the weekend I was in the east coast, June 2025, at niece’s wedding, that the neighbors had it removed.

I wish I had been here to see the process. There is a lot of trees, tree roots and rock on their side. How the drain spouts were rerouted, I have no idea. But the visible tile was finally gone. 

Google helped on the topic of First Lady memoirs

All copied from the Internet -

First ladies of the United States have published numerous memoirs, including Michelle Obama's "Becoming" and "The Light We Carry", Laura Bush's "Spoken from the Heart", Jill Biden's "Where the Light Enters," Hillary Clinton's "Living History," and Eleanor Roosevelt's "The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt". 

Early examples include Helen Taft's "Recollections of Full Years" and Nancy Reagan's "My Turn".  

Here is a list of some prominent memoirs by First Ladies: 

Modern & Recent Memoirs 

Becoming: by Michelle Obama: Detailing her life from childhood through her time in the White House.  

The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times: by Michelle Obama: Her second memoir, published in 2022.  

Spoken from the Heart: by Laura Bush: Her personal memoir.  

Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself: by Jill Biden: A memoir about her family and self-discovery.  

Living History: by Hillary Clinton: Her memoir covering her years as First Lady.  

What Happened: by Hillary Clinton: Another memoir focusing on her 2016 presidential campaign.  

Barbara Bush: A Memoir: by Barbara Bush: Her personal account of her life.  

My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan: by Nancy Reagan: Her memoirs from her time as First Lady.  

Memoirs by Earlier First Ladies

The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt: by Eleanor Roosevelt: Her life story.  

Recollections of Full Years: by Helen Herron Taft: The first published memoir by a First Lady.  

Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies: by J.B. West (with Mary Lynn Kotz): Not a direct memoir of a First Lady, but a fascinating account of life within the White House, offering insights into the lives of several First Ladies.  

Books that offer unique perspectives  The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House: by Kate Andersen Brower: While not a memoir by a First Lady, it offers a look into the private world of the White House from the perspective of the staff who served the First Ladies.

Other White House Related Books

 Note - Reading Becoming by Michelle Obama this week, I was reminded of other White House related books I have read. I had forgotten about most of these. I happily added them to my Goodreads and StoryGraph accounts. Of course, I had no way of knowing when I actually read most of these. I used December of the year after publication. 

Today’s post -

I read Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama in February 2017. This might have been for a book group. It might have been a personal project for Black History month. I liked it very much. I believe this is the only contemporary president book I have read. And it is not really a “presidents” book.  Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama was published in 1995. He was President from 2009-2017.

I remember books on First Ladies Rosalynn Carter,  Betty Ford, Nancy Regan, and Barbara Bush.

I remember Julie Nixon Eisenhower’s book about her mother too.

I also remember reading about Eleanore Roosevelt, I think it was her autobiography.

So I have read most of the contemporary First Ladies.  

I was born in 1961, I remember most of them. 

First Lady memoirs would be a good project.

I already have Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush on hold via Libby. 

I looked to see what other First Lady books are out there (tomorrow’s post).

I remember several books on Lincoln. This is the only title I could remember, but I know there were more. 

In grade school, reading thru the biography section of the school library, I read many books on early presidents. This was a special set of books, I have mentioned previously -

There was a series of books, housed in the biography/autobiography section of that school library, that I read/loved, which I now realize were actually/technically fiction. 

The internet can find nearly anything. One just has to phrase the question correctly. 

My query easily found two articles and a list of the books in question:

https://auxiliarymemory.com/2023/06/12/do-you-remember-the-childhood-of-famous-americans-series-of-biographies-written-for-children/

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/7/25/2041922/-Childhood-of-Some-In-Famous-Americans

https://www.librarything.com/nseries/1769/Childhood-of-Famous-Americans

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Becoming by Michelle Obama was a recently assigned book for one of my groups.  

My husband was surprised Becoming would be chosen, that thought had not cross my mind. Reason for his surprise? We are not conservative, but we live in a conservative area. Educated liberal minded people, here, tread carefully. All people, locally, mostly avoid sensitive topics. It is a bit odd the librarian would select this book. 

I remembered, the month before, at our previous meeting, two women were hesitating over picking up a copy of Becoming, because they were worried it might be political. That thought had not crossed my mind either. But I agreed - absolutely do not want to read a political book, these days, from any perspective. 

So is it a political book? To me no, not really. 

It is mostly the story of black families. It is mostly the story of black women. It is the story of trying to find enough time in the day to do everything. 

Yes, it is politics/government related. Yes, the history is included. The political voice is stronger at the very end,  but not in a preachy way, in my opinion.

I considered a similar story could likely be told by a corporate executive or other famous people in the public eye, scrutinized by the press/public opinion, whose safety is at risk.

I liked Becoming by Michelle Obama, it was well written, but it was not compelling to me. It never drew me in, I had to keep pushing myself to listen. It took me nearly a week to finish Becoming by Michelle Obama, instead of my normal 2 days. 

Ms Obama reads her own audio book, she is an excellent reader. 

I used the audio pace of 1.30 which sounded very normal to me, no chipmunks. (My normal pace is 1.20.) This 1.30 pace reduced the length from 19 hours to 14.6 hours. I tried to listen 3-4 hours a day each of the 5 days before my meeting, but somehow found myself having to finish 3+ hours the morning of my meeting. This is very unusual. 

Here’s a very nice bio for Ms Obama -

https://www.obamalibrary.gov/obamas/first-lady-michelle-obama

   

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.

The Pecan Man and The Truth About Grace by Cassie Dandridge Selleck

 The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge Selleck was a recommendation by my good with color quilting friend. 

Her description - The Pecan Man - very good - like To Kill a Mockingbird.

The Internet goes further - 

When I *looked up The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge Selleckup, there is a sequel, The Truth About Grace. I sent my friend a text, so she now knows there is a second book. 

*I look up the works of every author I read, it pays off hugely. I recommend two habits - keep a list of everything you read - look up the complete works of the author before you read their book. 

I listened to The Pecan Man and The Truth About Grace, both by Cassie Dandridge Selleck, on Libby. 

These were very quick reads normally at 6 and 7 hours each. For this pair, I could increase my pace to 1.25 which brought the times down to 4.8 and 5.6 hours each with no chipmunks. 

Fine tuning the speed makes a real difference in my audio reading comfort. Too slow of a reading pace really drags down a book for me. I increase the speed to what sounds normal.  Youngest and my husband increase even more, so it does not sound normal, I can’t stand that. 

I liked The Pecan Man and The Truth About Grace, both by Cassie Dandridge Selleck, very much. 

And yes, The Pecan Man IS To Kill A Mocking Bird meets The Help. 

The Truth About Grace is even better. 

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

StoryGraph - 

Normally, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

However, in this case, Cassie Dandridge Selleck was not listed. 

This is what I found on the Internet -

The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore

The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore was a recent assignment for Youngest’s book group. I read most of her assigned books. 

This was a 15 hour audio book, Libby. Increasing the pace to 1.20 (my standard speed) brought it down to 12.5 hours with no chipmunks.

The nonfiction book takes place in Illinois, USA, beginning in 1860. 

Kate Moore, the author, is British.  

Kate Moore read her own audio book. Her voice is lovely, she is a good reader, but it was odd to hear an American story via a British accent. 

Normally, in my experience, audio books are read with the accent of the book’s origin country. I got used to it, but it was odd.

This book, in my opinion, needed tighter editing. The first 8.5 hours of the book, again my opinion, needed greatly reduced. The last 6.5 was fine. I think of this as the Jane Eyre syndrome. 

I stuck with it all the way through, it is an important subject, and a great book, it is just too long in the first half-plus. 

The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore is listed, various sources, as narrative nonfiction and biography.

Note - Kate Moore also wrote a nonfiction book, The Radium Girls. I have not read it. (Not planning to read it because I saw a similar play.)

Radium Girls is a play by DW Gregory (below). I saw a local performance years ago, it stuck with me. I remember it clearly.

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

StoryGraph - 

Note - Kate Moore has a long list of fiction works also. From the titles, they may be romances. 

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/kate-moore/

I am only including her non-fiction list (below).

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.

The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity by James M Cain

I mentioned this author, James M Cain, a couple weeks ago. 

I listened to Mildred Pierce by James M Cain (1941) in 2012 as part of my classic book group. At that time I probably never saw the book cover and also did not look up this author’s other works. 

Seeing this cover recently I immediately noticed mention of  The Postman Always Rings Twice, which I recognized as a famous movie, and looked up the rest of his books (bottom of this post).

I was interested in reading more of Cain’s works, but not the whole list. 

This was easily solved for me, because only a few pieces were available in audio format:

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)

Double Indemnity (1936)

Mildred Pierce (1941)

The Cocktail Waitress (2012)

A Bad Woman (2015)

This was further solved for me because I had already read Mildred Pierce, and the last two books, The Cocktail Waitress (2012) and A Bad Woman (2015), were published posthumously. I avoid posthumous books.

That left me with two very short books, The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity by James M Cain, about three hours each, in audio format. I used my standard pace of 1.20 which made them even shorter.

I listened to the Postman Always Rings Twice first. This is definitely a classic book where you have to ignore modern conventions and just go with it. Taking it as it was written, I did like it. 

I thought there was an actual postman, there is not. See below.

Then I listened to Double Indemnity (1936). 

This one was excellent, in my opinion, again having to just “go” with the premise. I can see this would have made an excellent movie back in its day.

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.