Welcome back to our final discussion for Beloved Land. I hope you have enjoyed the book, learnt a bit about Timor-Leste and gotten something from discussions. Today we are covering the final chapters 8 through end. Thank you to u/nicehotcupoftea for leading us through the 1st two sections with helpful summaries and interesting questions.

Click links for the marginalia and schedule.

#Summary

• Chapter Eight - The Lure of Easy Money

The Timor sea contains gas and oil reserves that account for (at the time of writing) more than ¾ of the GDP. The Timor Sea aka tasi mane (male sea) is a sacred place associated with a source of wealth. The oil wealth can be clearly seen in Dili. It has bought money, contentment, safety and an influx of people from the rural regions. However, it also comes with the potential for problems aka the 'resource curse'.

Timor-Leste uses the US$ and the 1st government created a sovereign wealth fund, however investment in in country education, infrastructure, agriculture, developing exports other than oil and large cultural ceremonies expenditure suggest the resource curse it likely. Tourism is almost non-existent, but most importantly, spending is high and investment in the country is low. Timor-Leste even became in position to donate to other countries in their times of need. Unfortunately the Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030 for the country is incredibly ambitious, and plans to action it are sorely lacking.

Timor-Leste generates its revenues not from taxes (even though there is a dangerous dependency on resource revenues), but from selling its own resources, namely oil. Ease of Doing Business from World Bank reported Timor-Leste 168 out of 183 (which went to 181 out of 190 in 2019, perpetuating issues.

Outside of the Capital little has changed, and subsistence farming and poverty are rife. Politicians talk of international air links and high-speed internet when in the country no piped water, only 6-hours of electricity and little sanitation is a reality. Children suffer from malnutrition and malaria.

The electricity generation method chosen by the state was to use the outdated and highly polluting heavy oil generators. The project was poorly executed, long delayed and 3 x over budget.

Oil was already prospect back in the 1950s and 60s, and Baucau was abuzz with oilmen on the hunt after oil seepages from the ground were reported. Australians invested heavily waiting for the announcement that oil was found. The search was tough, and years passed with no big commercial discoveries. In 1974 Woodside discovered a large gas field between Timor-Leste and Australia (but closer to the former) known as Greater Sunrise. No gas has been extracted due to the contention over ownership of the area between Timor-Leste and Australia leading to strained relationships between the two countries and a no-man's-land called the Timor Gap. This in turn lead to Australia being less opposed to Indonesia's annexation of Timor-Leste than it should have been, and also to become the 1st country in 1978 to recognise said annexation.

Later Timor-Leste and Australia eventually settled on 50/50 split of Greater Sunrise revenue. However, extracting the gas then became a point of contention between the 2 nations and continues to be so.

Peake claims Timor-Leste was the most resource-revenue-dependent country in the world. He also states reserves would run out in 2024 (spoiler alert...it did not). He speculates on how one day, in the not too distant future, the country's bank balance may be zero or worse well into the negative.

• Chapter Nine - The Tropical Bakery School of International Capacity-Building

The Tropical Bakery, located near the United Nations compound was frequented by the malae in town. A latte costing as much and more than many Timorese had to scrape by on day to day. Peake questions how much the expats in Timor-Leste are actually helping. At the time Timor-Leste was receiving some of the highest per-capita allocations of aid, and yet malnourishment was high with 49.9% of Timorese living below the poverty line of US$0.88/day.

Millions of dollars is spent yearly on development projects in all forms from many countries that don't always succeed. Often the proposals are extensive and written in English so completely inaccessible to the target local department. Infact La'o Hamutuk (a Dili-based NGO) estimates that about 90% of development assistance never actually reaches the country. Peake recognises there have been some successess, but is very critical of both the mode of implementation and the high turn over of staff affecting productivity. He believes the international community has a responsibility to self-reflect in order to enact true progress. The International community blame the locals for their lack of success whilst sending positively inflated reports home. On the other hand the Timorese are unhappy with the International communities interference especially after the influx of oil money meant reliance on aid (for some of the Timorese at least) was drastically reduced.

Peake praises some committed malae in Timor-Leste, such as Isa Bradridge who ran Familia Hope orphanage in the hill town of Gleno, and Keryn Clarke who worked towards providing ready clean water access to 10% of the population.

• Chapter Ten - Far From Home

In Northern Ireland men from Timor-Leste work in meat processing plants in Dungannon and Portadown. They send money back to relatives who buy TVs and radios that blare late into the night. Northern Ireland and Timor-Leste share Catholicism, colonial histories and a split island with a history of conflict.

In the Republic of Ireland, after watching The Death of a Nation, unemployed bus driver Tom Hyland felt motivated to do something. He single handedly embarassed the Irish government into changing its policy on Indonesia. Later he moved to Dili to teach English, and became Ireland's honorary consul receiving Timor-Leste's highest honours.

The Timorese community in NI started with one man. A Timorese butcher living in Portugal. After being recruited and moving to NI more of his country folk followed. Timorese people are entitled to a Portugese passport, and therefore free travel in other EU countries. There were 1000s of Timorese in NI and the UK at the time of printing.

Peake visits Dungannon finding it run down and depressing he begins talking Tetun with one man who invites him back home. 11 men live in a 3 bedroom house shift-sharing the beds. Not all have been able to find employment yet. They get US$10 an hour and send much (minus the obscene 18% transfer fee) home. There's not much left to live on. They have tons of questions for Peake as he is the 1st Irish person they have ever really spoken with. Sadly they face a lot of racism and prejudice. The English speaking immigrants fare better, but a lot of men were permanently cold, isolated, lonely and depressed. Many turn to gambling, so much so that Tetun signs can be seen.

Peake meets Bernadette McAliskey a Irish civil rights leader, political activist and friend to the Timorese community in Northern Ireland. The Timorese politicians make many empty promises, but ultimately it is Bernadette's NGO that look after the growing Timorese community in Dungannon.

• Epilogue

Peake returns to Timor-Leste and Taur Matan Ruak former chief of the army is running for head of state. Journalist Jose Belo has been helping him campaign. (He actually becomes President and later Prime Minister ). Peake ends with wishing Timor-Leste all the best creating a state of their own. How successful have they been since the writing of this book? I guess I have a little more research still to do.

Thank you all for joining myself and u/nicehotcupoftea for Read the World Timor-Leste 🇹🇱

REFERENCES

• The book quotes Timor Lest as 120 out of 169 on the Human Development Index. That has changed more recently to 141 out of 191.
• Oil reserves are currently estimated at US$16 billion, however, they could be depleted already by 2030.
• Here you can read more about the planned LNG liquefaction plant at Beasu in Viqueque district of Timor-Leste.
• For more info on Timor Leste's role in the Second World War the wikipedia article has a good summary.
• Learn more about the contention between borders here.
• The picture mentioned of Gareth Evans and Ali Alatas foreign ministers to Australia and Indonesia respectively celebrating splitting the oil reserves and cutting Timor-Leste from the eqaution entirely can be seen here
• I was hoping to find the youtube video of Woodside's development plan being rejected by the security guard, but couldn't find anything. I did find this video which gives an interesting summary of the issues. Still today the stalemate continues
• Peake speculates the oil will run out in 2024. This article from last year predicts that it will actually be 2034, and that, finally, the government is being proactive.
• Peake compares Timor-Leste's spending to that of Nauru which went from a country with one of the higest per-capita incomes to one of the lowest. Let's hope not!
• China has built the Presidential Palace, the defense headquarters and the Foreign Affairs buildings all in Dili.
• Check out this short video of Familia Hope orphanage and Isa Bradridge. Trigger Warning!
• Peake mentions the traditional Tebe Tebe dance. Check it out here
• The Death of a Nation: The Timor Conspiracy 1994 was the documentary that motivated Tom Hyland to bring awareness of the atrocities going on to the Irish government. I have added this to my To Watch List.
• Learn more about Bernadette McAliskey and NGO South Tyrone Empowerment Programme here

Hello everyone! We’ve finally reached the final discussion of Under the Banner of Heaven! It’s been an insightful journey through profound and challenging themes and I want to thank everyone who has shared their insights and reflections along the way. This week, we’ll be covering Chapters 23 through the conclusion. If you’d like to revisit any details, chapter summaries are available here. You can also visit the Schedule and Marginalia post. Links to additional resources for extra context are included below.

As u/Less_Tumbleweed_3217 wisely reminded us in our first discussion, the topics in this book can be difficult to read and discuss. Let’s continue to create a space where everyone feels respected and comfortable sharing their thoughts. Please engage thoughtfully and with an open mind. Also, if you reference material outside of this week’s chapters, don’t forget to use spoiler tags. You can format them like this: >!type spoiler here!<, and they will appear like this: >!type spoiler here!<

++~++++~++++~++++~++++~++++~++++~++

Chapter 23: Judgment in Provo

• If you're wondering what Ron Lafferty's mustache looks like, here’s a Yosemite Sam comparison.
• STATE v. LAFFERTY (2001): Utah Supreme Court ruling on Lafferty’s case.
• Netflix: Murder Among the Mormons (2021) - This three-part documentary dives into Mark Hofmann’s forgeries, bombings, and the impact of the Salamander Letter on Mormon history. Watch the trailer here.
• The history and variations of the Angel Moroni statues that top LDS temples. Fun fact for my fellow The Expanse series readers: The TV series >!depicts a gold Moroni statue on the Nauvoo/Behemoth ship, check out the science behind it!<.
• Refusal of Insanity Defense: Lafferty’s refusal to use an insanity defense raises questions about religious delusions in the legal system.
• Firing squad sparks talk of Mormon 'blood atonement': article discussing Utah's use of firing squads and Mormon theological concepts.
• Tenth Circuit Court's Decision: The 1991 decision to overturn Lafferty's conviction sparked debates on religious motivations and legal standards.

Chapter 24: The Great And Dreadful Day

• Dan believes he is Elijah, tasked with heralding the Second Coming of Christ. Elijah, central in Judeo-Christian traditions, is associated with preparing the way for God (Malachi 4:5-6). In Mormonism, Elijah is key to temple ordinances and priesthood restoration.
• Dan’s view of humanity as divided into the Children of God and the Children of the Devil conflicts with LDS teachings that all individuals can become righteous through repentance (2 Nephi 2:27).
• The phrase “great and dreadful day” appears in Malachi 4:5 and Doctrine and Covenants 110:16, interpreted in LDS doctrine as a day of judgment and restoration.
• “Avenging angels” appears in early LDS fundamentalist rhetoric, such as among the Danites, but is not part of official LDS doctrine.
• The Millennial Day Theory links the six creation days to thousand-year Earth periods, culminating in a seventh millennium of peace as a Sabbath rest.
• LDS theology teaches a pre-earth life where spirits chose God’s plan to gain bodies and experiences on Earth (Abraham 3:22-26).
• A NASA article explains why the Moon can be visible during the day.
• Explore the psychology of religious fanaticism, which examines the cognitive and emotional factors driving extreme beliefs.

Chapter 25: The American Religion

• The LDS Church is among the top employers in Utah. Brigham Young University (BYU), owned by the Church, employs between 15,000 and 21,998 individuals, making it the largest private employer in Utah County.
• The New York Post highlights the LDS Church's significant economic contributions through education, humanitarian efforts, and real estate investments, including its $289 million acquisition of 46 farms across eight states.
• The Guardian describes the Church's comprehensive welfare system, which supports those in need through employment services, food production, and distribution facilities.
• The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the Church's U.S. real estate portfolio includes agricultural, commercial, and residential properties valued at over $16 billion.
• Another Salt Lake Tribune article notes a slowdown in LDS Church growth, with U.S. membership appearing stagnant in 2024 despite continued raw numerical increases.
• A BYU RSC study reveals retention challenges. Global activity rates are around 25–30%, and retention in Italy aligns with this average.
• A CGU podcast discusses The Book of Onias, a text by Mormon fundamentalist Robert Crossfield (Onias) that offers insights into fringe LDS perspectives.
• This Reddit post on r/exmormon showcases a house reminiscent of Emmylou’s design.

Chapter 26: Canaan Mountain

• Canaan Mountain is known as a "sky island" for its isolated, elevated summit that hosts rare desert plants like mariposa lilies and Indian paintbrush, contributing to its biodiversity. In the Old Testament, Canaan is the "Promised Land" given to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 17:8; Exodus 6:4).
• The Water Canyon Trail leads to Canaan Mountain and is popular for its slot canyons, petrified sand dunes, and ancient petroglyphs created by Ancestral Puebloans.
• The Navajo Sandstone formation in Canaan Mountain's cliffs, dating back over 180 million years, offers insights into Earth’s deep history.
• The article from KUER explores the transformation of Short Creek, the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, from an FLDS stronghold to a tourist destination.
• DeLoy’s mention of "sacred long underwear" refers to the FLDS religious garments, which, while similar to LDS garments, are distinct in design and symbolism. The Bedtime Story explores the sacred undergarments of LDS and FLDS traditions, emphasizing their deep spiritual meaning as symbols of devotion while addressing the vulnerability of those misunderstood for wearing them.
• DeLoy’s trip to Las Vegas reflects apocalyptic fears from the year 1999, a period when many groups, including the FLDS, anticipated divine interventions that did not occur a.k.a. the Y2K panic.
• An interesting article that critiques Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven from an academic perspective, focusing on the portrayal of Mormonism.

Welcome to your first discussion of this standalone novel in the Cosmere universe-so NO need to start on Book 1, you can just jump in! Just a reminder, here is where we are in the order of things!

• The Way of Kings (book 1)
• Words of Radiance (book 2)
• Edgedancer (novella)
• Oathbringer (book 3)
• Dawnshard (novella)
• Rhythm of War (book 4)
• The Sunlit Man (4.34) <-----------------------us now!
• Knights of Wind and Truth (book 5)

Schedule

Marginalia

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Chapter 1: 

We meet Nomad, on the run from the Night Brigade, able to jump between worlds but in a fragile state as he lands in a new location, running out of Investiture. This means he can’t use his translation ability or his physical prowess to its full capacity due to his Torment, as his Aux struggles to help him. He finds himself condemned to certain death by sun exposure and captured by a type of people with ember hearts. Discovering he can have tools but not weapons, he manages to escape and jump on an escaping hovercycle with his captors. Those left behind perish horribly.

Chapter 2:

Nomad is dragged to safety behind the hovercycle. We understand more about the natural cycles of this planet. After about an hour, the hovercycles arrived at a floating city, made of a patchwork of ships that looks fairly ramshackled. We learn more about Nomad’s past-scholar, soldier, renegade. Nomad’s first run in with the leader of the ember hearts who goes in for a kiss to touch Nomad’s face. When nothing happens, he is nicknamed “Sess Nassith Tor aka One Who Escapes the Sun”. The leader is unhappy with this development and beats Nomad up. Soon the city breaks apart!

Chapter 3: Nomad is taken inside a building as the whole city disassembles into different ships. Some ships go to scatter seeds and plant the day’s harvest. Nomad is taken to the gladiator ring and manacled. As he and other prisoners are cast into the mud of the arena, ember people emerge with weapons and they run for their lives. One particular ember lady seems fixated on Nomad and his Torment means he can only fight defensively with tools from Aux, even as she has a machete. One of the peasants helps him onto a box to escape her and from there, Nomad sees the prisoners divided into those who would be condemned to the sun and the remainder, both groups seeming to be family or friends. The ember lady comes back for Nomad and they end up in the mud, with Nomad victorious. Their leader, Glowing Eyes, is displeased and uses the manacles to control Nomad into unconsciousness.

Chapter 4: Nomad wakes up manacled spreadeagle to the side of the ship, right in time to witness Glowing Eyes drain the life from some of the caught prisoners. Nomad catches sight of a rifle. Next up, a woman who was able to dodge her captors is pierced with some kind of spear that embeds an ember into her heart and she is transformed into an ember person. Nomad and Aux debate how many spearheads he would need to power up. Next up, the man who helped him before Nomad is offered the same treatment. Nomad calls up his powers and rips one arm free, summons Auxiliary from the mud and throws his Shardblade into the pillar to get Glowing Eyes’s attention. He then turns Aux into different items, hoping to lure the spear to him. And just as he is about to get his boost, a ship explodes!

Chapter 5: The ember people are under attack and their embers suddenly dull. Aux is formed into something that keeps him freezing the same as them. Still, Nomad is thrown into it when the ship he’s attached to explodes and traps him underneath. Using Aux as a crank, he begins to free himself and sees the raid. Two of the rebels look for the ember lady and strap her in their hovercraft-a rescue mission. Glowing Eyes recovers and takes out one of the rebels, which gives Nomad an opening to offer aid, first by freeing his hand, and second by creating a shield from Aux to protect them in the chase that follows. But first he frees the man who helped him in the ring. Now they are chased by the newly awakened embers.

Chapter 6: The counter chase is on, and sharpshooters are targeting the fuselage of the hovercraft. Nomad works to protect it and consults with Aux about the power source. The scholar in him takes over while observing their speed and the shift in perspective. Nomad, considering his limitations, jumps onto a chasing ship and fights the crew. Alas the second ship is getting closer to the hovercraft, so he changes tactics and jumps on that instead. The two enemy ships have converged and all eight embers attack in a haphazard manner. Nomad dodges them and finds the power source, absorbing it fully and rendering the ship powerless. He catches a ride on the second ship and gets back to the hovercraft.

Chapter 7: Time to meet the rebel alliance. Luckily, he can now understand their language. And we learn the ember lady is named Elegy and she is the raider’s sister, and they are “Threnodites”. The hovercraft arrives to the shadow city, Beacon. Although Nomad continues speaking Alethi to obfuscate his actual language, and is offered a bed and a bath, he follows the driver, Rebeke, to meet with the “Greater Good”-three old ladies.

Chapter 8: The Greater Good- Confidence, Compassion and Contemplation meet with Rebeke and Nomad grabs some tea. Nomad’s reputation as a Sunlit Man precedes him. Still, the main mission was apparently to recover a metal disk belonging to “Scadrians”, an authorization key to open a door somewhere to the mythical land beneath the ground, an apparent pet project of the Cinder King. The Greater Good and the group discuss their options, which are few. Nomad knows this is a surveyor’s card to authorize the return of a small exploratory starship. Nomad contemplates his knowledge of the planet and his own failings and heads into the storm.

Chapter 9: The storm reminds him of Roshar, even as it is mild in comparison. He goes for a contemplative walk and considers stealing the engine power of the hovercycle until his own consciousness prods him to consider his rescuers. He is suddenly drawn to a power source in the distance that turns out to not be “Kal” but is instead the one and only Wit!  

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Join us next Friday for Chapters 10-19 with u/Joinedformyhubs !

Welcome (or welcome back) to Free Chat Friday!  For many of us, the holidays are almost here.  An early Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa to those who celebrate!  Are you getting in the spirit and feeling festive, or are you maybe getting sick of all the commercial trappings of the season being shoved in our faces?  Either way, I can’t wait to hear what you’ve all been up to and what you’re planning to do next.  

For those who are joining us for the first time:  Free Chat Friday is a chance to get to know each other better and chat about whatever is on our minds, free from any specific themes or topics.  You don’t even have to talk about books, although of course we’d love to hear what you’re reading.  Free Chat Friday will be open all week (and beyond) so you can always pop back when you have a moment to catch up on what everyone chooses to share.  

RULES:

• No unmarked spoilers of any kind
• No self-promo
• No piracy
• Thoughtful personal conduct - in a world where you can be anything, be kind!

So how was your week?  Any plans for the weekend? Have you been reading anything interesting?  Share whatever you’d like!

Welcome all to our penultimate dive into The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde. Remember to keep your head above water folx. The last thing we need is to get drowned by recycled junk mail, spam and story drafts.

If you need them, here are the links to the schedule and marginalia for the Thursday Next series.

Let's jump to it!

#Chapter Summaries

• Chapter 18 - Snell Rest in Peece and Lucy Deane - Next and co. are quarentined by the Anti-mispeling Fast Response Group while the vyrus is pressed down by dictionaries into one word then smothered out completely. Snell passes away. Miss Havisham requests that Bradshaw hold up reporting events for a few days while they investigate the tampered with key.

Havisham and Next meet in Mill on the Floss to discuss the murder of Perkins. The Sword of the Zenobians is code-word-protected meaning only a Jurisfiction agent can get in and out. A rogue agent! Who had apparently also tried to kill Next that day by sabotaging her Eject-O-Hat. Havisham and Next arrest Lucy for attempted Fiction Infraction when they find her armed with a rifle. They imprison her in The curious experience of the Patterson Family on the island of Uffa along with 796 other Lucy Deanes.

At Juris Tech Plum examines the Eject-O-Hat as Next listens to Sofya and Vera on a footnoterphone crossed line. The hat has been sabotaged by someone who knew what they were doing. Only luck saved Next.

Next's practical test is a plot adjustment. She must create a Happy Ending in Shadow the Sheepdog by Enid Blyton. She has to swap the dogs, and she has to do it solo.

• Chapter 19 - Shadow the Sheepdog - In the book Next has problems convincing the auctioneer to allow her to buy Johnny’s father’s pigs for triple the price. Until Next helps him get regular cups of tea by moving the tea tray so that Miss Aurora Pittman, a D-7, can now enter Mr. Phillips' spatial limits. Next next goes to the vet with a story that the dogs need to be switched due to plans by Johnny Foreigner to abduct him for medical experiments.

Next's accidental hand brushing of one of the characters mean she is now betrothed and is whisked away by Townspeople for her wedding and 10 mins later her burial. The Generics are sentiment junkies hooked on the hard stuff - Grief. Instead Next creates mixed emotions in them and uses the diversion to escape with Shadow.

• Chapter 20 - Ibb and Obb Named and Heights Again - Granny Next, still in the Medici court, left a note for Next to "Remember", but she doesn't recognise her sketch of Landen. Ibb has developed into a female and wants to be called Lola. Obb has become a 50 year old male called Randolph. Next promises Lola a shopping trip in the afternoon. Gran returns and reminds Next about Aornis and talks about Landen.

Only eight members of Jurisfiction had access to The Sword of the Zenobians. One being Vernham Deane who went missing after going into Ulysses to hunt for missing punctuation.

Next is on her way into Reading for her Cavisham Height duties when she experiences an accident. 8 identical blue Morris Marinas. Next takes charge. The only thing left is a single bolt.

Spratt is making progress with his booze and reconcilliation, but has recieved a letter the union forbidding it. Jack and "Mary" (Next) go to Mickey Finn’s to carryout a Cavisham Heights plot only to find themselves at The Text Sea. There has been a deletion!!! Things aren't looking good for the future of Cavisham Heights. The plot will start to spontaneously unravel, but Next has the idea that Jack can tell Mary about what should have happened at Mickey Finn's, even if the chapter will only be a page long. After the scene they discuss ways to save the book.

Cheshire cat calls, Next's got a hearing for her Fiction Infraction in Alice in Wonderland.

• Chapter 21 - Who Stole the Tarts? - The Gryphon is now head of the Jurisfiction legal team after Snell's death. Mrs. Fairfax, Grace Poole, Blanche Ingram and St. John Rivers all give evidence that Next changed the ending of Jane Eyre. Her defense is love and the Gryphon calls Edward Rochester to the stand. He says that though Next changed the ending, and he has been injured, he has never been happier. Next is guilty as charged, but sentencing could be years away.

Havisham grades Next A-plus-plus Hons for her assignment in Shadow the Sheepdog. She's the only one in 32 years to ever succeed. Havisham intends to make inquieries about Vernham Deane's disappearance.

• Chapter 22 - Crimean Nightmares - Granny Next talks to Next about Landen and Aornis. She advises Next not give Aornis so much power in her dreams. Next is the one in control of her mind. It's time to get on the offensive meaning Next has to go back to the Crimea and relive Anton's death.

Next dreams. Aornis is there taunting her and they will have to do the traumatic day over and over till dawn.

When Next wakes she is confused and thinking Landen died that day not Anton. She remembers their fling in Crimea but not his name.

• Chapter 23 - Jurisfiction Session No. 40320 - Randolph and Lola's teacher, Dr. Fnorp - a generic Generic, turns up at the door. Lola is doing ....er great..., but Randolph is not. Next asks him to help her run the engine so they can talk. Randoloh confesses he loves Lola, and Next advises him to tell her.

Jurisfiction session number 40320 - Bellman asks why the Perkins and Snell case is not yet closed. Bradshaw says it's because they still still want to speak to Vernham Deane. Deane has been classed as a PageRunner which means illegal activities. He was a villain cad from The Squire of High Potternews who vanished after a maid also disappeared. This was the morning after Perkins' death. He had been refused a plot adjustment which meams he has motive. Analysis of the book reveals a stowaway, and further investigation shows Deane had been handling punctuation stolen from Ulysses. The theory is that Perkins found out about the punctuation so Deane released the Minotaur and vyrus to cover his tracks. Deane is dangerous.

Item seven - that that that that had had had had had, had had had had. Had had had had! That....had. 👀

To celebrate Next becoming a full Jurisfiction Agent Miss Havisham gifts her a small shard from the Last Original Idea.

• Chapter 24 - Pledges, the Council of Genres and Searching for Deane - On the 26th floor of the Great Library they can see out the windows to all the other Great Libraries in various languages all in (or maybe of) the Great Panjandrum. In the Council of Genres Next takes the oath of the BookWorld and gets her official badge.

Miss Havisham confesses Harris Tweed, Perkins, Deane and herself were all given an Ultra Word™ book to test. It was flawless. Perkins called Miss Havisham the night before he died. He said he had a surprising discovery, but she has no idea what. Havisham disappears to run an errand while Next is sent back to Plum and the hat.

Thanks for reading along with me this week. Next week u/Amanda39 will see us through to the end of the book.

See you there 📚

Come on, come all! Scythes, Nimbus agents, and Tonists alike.

While the main Arc of a Scythe series may have completed its swing, we're not done yet with Neal Shusterman's exciting world - we're diving in to the companion book Gleanings, comprised of multiple tales spanning the entire timeline of the series and beyond. Origin stories, new scythes, old friends! Oh my!

Goodreads summary:

!The New York Times bestselling Arc of the Scythe series continues with “captivating…thrilling” ( School Library Journal ) stories that span the timeline. Storylines continue. Origin stories are revealed. And new Scythes emerge!!<

!There are still countless tales of the Scythedom to tell. Centuries passed between the Thunderhead cradling humanity and Scythe Goddard trying to turn it upside down. For years, humans lived in a world without hunger, disease, or death with Scythes as the living instruments of population control.!<

!Neal Shusterman—along with collaborators David Yoon, Jarrod Shusterman, Sofía Lapuente, Michael H. Payne, Michelle Knowlden, and Joelle Shusterman—returns to the world throughout the timeline of the Arc of a Scythe series. Discover secrets and histories of characters you’ve followed for three volumes and meet new heroes, new foes, and some figures in between.!<

!Gleanings shows just how expansive, terrifying, and thrilling the world that began with the Printz Honor–winning Scythe truly is.!<

As this book is comprised of short stories, I will list both the story names and the pages on the schedule, just in case you want to be totally surprised each week!

Schedule:
Jan 1 - Pages 1 through 81 - >!"The First Swing", "Formidable", "Never Work With Animals"!<

Jan 8 - Pages 83 through 162 - >!"A Death of Many Colors", "Unsavory Row", "A Martian Minute" (ending on line "...cranking up to full power") !<

Jan 15 - Pages 162 through 247 - >!"A Martian Minute" (starting on line "There was an old story..."), "The Mortal Canvas"!<

Jan 22 - Pages 249 through 338 - >!"Cirri", "Anastasia's Shadow", "The Persistence of Memory"!<

Jan 29 - Pages 339 through 423 - >!"Meet Cute and Die", "Perchance to Glean", "A Dark Curtain Rises"!<

So, will you be joining us? Are there any stories you're hoping will appear? Let us know!

Detectives, magicians, and romantics it's time for the penultimate Glass Library book Secrets of the Lost Ledgers and all the mysteries involved. Who's the daddy?, will they or won't they? will Daisy ever find a career and more.....

Find the (updated....sorry about that folx) schedule here and the marginalia here.

Right let's get down to business.

#Summary

• Chapter 1 - London, Summer 1920

Sylvia is with Walter and Evaline Peterson asking about invisible ink for Huon. She cannot go to Petra due to the Huon - Petra rivalry. At work whilst cataloguing Sylvia comes across a book she feels an unfamiliar magic in and assumes it's invisible writing. She takes it to Petra to read but it is not invisible graphite. Together they go to Huon. The invisible writing is from Daniel Barratt to Oscar Barratt (Huon's beloved uncle). Daniel was afraid for his life. The other side of the page has an encoded map.

• Chapter 2

Daniel Barratt is a distant cousin of Huon's, and he died in 1891, the same time his wife (a paper magician) and children (boy 4 and girl 2) went missing and were never found. Daniel had been coerced into working for a bookmaker of dubious character, and when he wanted to stop he sent his family away and collected evidence. The bookmaker's name is unreadable, but he is an associate of Lord Coyle. On the coded map/diagram is an address in Whitechapel. The trio decide the police need to be involved and obviously Sylvia uses this for an excuse to see Gabe and his two, post stabbing, body guards, Alex and Willie. Huon copies out the invisible diagram while Gabe speculates that Thurlow might be the corrupt bookmaker. Daniel's wife's maiden name was Hendry. In the past a Hendry paper magician had attacked Gabe's parents with deadly paper arrows. When Gabe goes to check his parent's records Alex approaches Sylvia with his concerns that Gabe is becoming obsessed with Thurlow. Neither Gabe nor Sylvia find out anything much about Hendry (except that he was fair haired).

• Chapter 3

The Whitechapel address was an old, delapidated building. The crew investigate the building to find an ancient Roman mosaic on the cellar floor. They follow the instructions on the invisible diagram to reveal a metal box hidden under the floor. Inside were 2 ledgers filled with invisible entries. However, the bookmaker is not named in them either. Huon will transcribe them, for a fee. They replace the tesserae and leave. The crew head to Cyclops to fill him in on their investigation. He approves it. Their next stop will be Lady Coyle. Cyclops suggest they also investigate Daniel's associate and also the Hendrys. Willie is hoping to put the Hendry behind bars "for Matt and India". Sylvia questions Cyclops about Hendry and learns little.

• Chapter 4

The crew arrive at the Coyle's to hear Mrs. Coyle and her son Valentine arguing. Mrs. Hobson had recently visited Mrs. Coyle. Valentine has invested in Ponzi's American ventue (👀), and are waiting for it to pay off (could be a long wait!). Hope Coyle claims to know nothing about her late husband's business, and all his assest have been sold off. Sylvia asks about Hobson only for Hope's cutting comments to actually have the affect of reassuring Sylvia about Gabe. Back at the library Stanhopeless has resurfaced and wants to speak to them. Instead they go for ice-cream. Daisy arrives at the library just in time to join. She is going to be a designer *ahem. Before leaving, Huon calls with an address for where Daniel and his family lived at the time of his death. Some of the neighbours are Hendrys.

• Chapter 5

Melville Hendry lived alone above his stationery shop in Smithfield. Coyle used to exploit magicians by threatening to expose them. Gabe assumed Coyle demanded Hendry work for him and use his flying paper as a weapon, but Sylvia wasn't convinced. One neighbour is Fred Laidlow, Myrtle Hendry's husband. He is missing a hand. Naomi Hendry is a spinster who also lives with them. SylGab fill them in on events. Fred tells that Daniel was flush before he died. He worked as a clerk in Harrods. Myrtle is very critical of Daniel. The day he died his home had been ransacked. Back in Feb 1891 Daniel and Rosina became reclusive. Myrtle won't comment on Melville. On the way out the door Sylvia notices a paper rose containing strong paper magic. Fred tells the crew that Melville is actually their brother.

• Chapter 6

Gabe wants to confront Thurlow, but they have nothing to confront him with. Stanhopeless shows up at the library. Mrs. Hobson's meddling has given Gabe a bad reputation for apparently leaving Ivy for Sylvia, and she has come to warn Gabe out of the kindness of her dead black heart. Willie warns Sylvia off Gabe. Later at The Buttonhole Gabe and Sylvia talk #finally kiss 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳.

Until Willie comes and breaks them up. So naturally Sylvia decides now ia the time to throw in the towel on SylGab forever....*sigh!

• Chapter 7

Daisy meets Sylvia at the library. She's worried about her. The girls and Professor talk about Daisy's design sketches that are flawed or colies of real outfits. Sylvia falls asleep reading and wakes to Gabe (and Willie) asking her to continue investigating....but with rules. Naturally Sylvia agrees. They go to Harrods to meet manager of the finance department, Mr. Barrowman, who had worked with Daniel. Daniel had been fired for embezzling money by pocketing debts he collected whilst writing them off as a loss in the official records. The police hadn't been called because they were worried about Daniel's mental health at the time. Barrowman suspects Daniel was a gambler. Later Huon calls the crew to meet him at Petra's shop

Next week join me to discuss chapter 8 through chapter 13.

See you there magicians 📚

Hello readers Welcome back to Ireland 🇮🇪 for more from the O'Driscoll family in bonus novella Wildflower Girl. This discussion is for the whole book and remember that on the 31st Dec we will have a discussion for the final book in the trilogy Fields of Home.

Don't worry if you missed book 1, Under the Hawthorne Tree, as you can find all the discussions here. The marginalia for the series can be found here.

Note - there will be spoilers for book 1, Under the Hawthorn Tree, in this discussion!

#Book Summary

• Chapter 1 - Bridge: Peggy now 14 is excited they've recieved a notice to go to America. Eily says they won't go. The sisters argue but later make up at the bridge. Castletaggart is basically a ghost town.

• Chapter 2 - Changes: They hardly have any customers anymore. Eily picks up hours in the Big House where she can. She is smitten by John Powers. Billy Kelly, their landlord, comes around offering to sell them the building, but they can't afford it. Nano won't survive the journey to America, but Michael and Peggy want to go. They can send money home. However, Michael gets a job as stable boy in the Big House and Eily is to be married to John. They will all move up to the Powers' cottage. Peggy appeals to Aunt Nano as she is determined still to go to America. Eventually Eily, John and Nano agree to let Peggy go. Peggy and Eily have an emotional moment together.

• Chapter 3 - Farewell: Peggy has a farewell party, and after Aunt Nano gives her Aunt Lena's Bible complete with family tree. The siblings stay up late together for the last time. Peggy unable to sleep goes out to collect wild flowers for Nano one last time. They send her off with Nell Molloy, food, some funds and a horse hair bracelet made by Michael.

• Chapter 4 - Queenstown: Peggy travels by cart, compliments of Father Lynch, with the Molloy clan. Queenstown harbour is bustling. Peggy is nervous but with Nell's help she secures passage on the Fortunata to Boston in 2 days time. Everyone from Castletaggart heads to shabby lodgings and a hearty meal.

• Chapter 5 - The Fortunata: The next morning they wake to find Fortunata has arrived and is unloading its cargo onto the quay. The excitement soon dies down when they board and see the cramped, dark, airless bunks they will call home for the next 5-6 weeks. The ship sets sail, there's no going back.

• Chapter 6 - Setting Sail: The festive vibes and excitement quickly die down as the passengers begin to suffer from sea sickness. Sarah Connolly introduces herself to Peggy and they become fast friends. Sarah grew up in a workhouse. She is travelling to America with her 2 brothers for a fresh start.

• Chapter 7 - Storm: The ship was thrown around, the hatches are battened down, and the passengers are trapped in the hold. Water is pouring in from above. Peggy ends up thrown from her bunk, but is heaved out the freezing water by Sarah and James. Mary has broken her arm. They finally come through the storm, but so much is lost and damaged. An old man and a baby have drowned. They are buried at sea.

• Chapter 8 - The Long Voyage: Nell is sick with cabin fever. Peggy goes on deck to empty the slop bucket and tries to linger but cannot. The captain is strict that the passengers must not linger on deck. Peggy and Sarah talk wistfully about their future in America.

• Chapter 9 - America: Land! Nell is still very unwell. The Captain orders everyone to clean up and the hold to be scrubbed. They drop anchor for a doctor and nurse to come aboard and assess the passengers. Peggy has done her best to clean up the children and Nell, but it is clear Nell and Tim are unwell. The Molloys along with other sick passenger are sent to the hospital on Deer island. Peggy and Sarah are given a full bill of health and continue on. Peggy promises to tell Nell's husband what's happened. The ship docks in Boston.

• Chapter 10 - First Foot Forward: Peggy finds Daniel Molloy and tells him about Nell and his children. Peggy and Sarah (and 4 other girls) decide to go with Mrs. Margaret Halligan, landlady and proprietor of the Shamrock Agency for the Employment of Young Ladies. At (ramshackle) 49 Empire Hill the girls claim their bunks and rest. After a good scrubbing, de-nitting and a hearty meal Mags tells how she had arrived herself 25 years previous. The girls will pay to be kept, and pay a fee when Mags finds them work.

• Chapter 11 - Skivvy: Peggy gets a job for Mona Cavendish working as a maid in a mens boarding house. Her room is a cramped storage closet. Peggy works hard with no days off. She's lonely and homesick. One day she had to prepare the men's meal alone. It was a disaster. Cavendish was passed out in bed the smell of whiskey in the room. In the middle of the night Cavendish wakes Peggy to yell at her. She hits her knocking out one of Peggy's teeth. That's enough for Peggy and she packs up her things and leaves before the house wakes.

• Chapter 12 - The Runaway: Without a penny to her name Peggy goes back to Mags'. Mags cleans her up and dries her tears. Sarah is now a lodger and works at a shirt factory but Peggy isn't good enough at sewing. Mags gets her a job at Rushton.

• Chapter 13 - A Good Capable Girl: The house is enormous and beautiful. Mags warns Peggy not to touch anything and be a good capable girl. The housekeeper, Mrs Halligan, and Mags talk about her duties then she is introduced to the lady of the house Elizabeth Rowan. Peggy will be a kitchen maid for cook Mrs. O'Connor. She will share a room with Kitty. She is busy from the first day and collapses exhausted into bed.

• Chapter 14 - the Likes of Us: Peggy gets kitted out with a uniform. Mrs. Rowan is a good, kind boss. Peggy feels overwhelmed trying to remember all her duties. She and Kitty quickly become good friends. Kitty's family had emigrated in 1847 during the worst of the Great Famine. Her whole family, except her 4 year old sister, May, died on route to America. Kitty worked a few places before settling in at the Rowans'. She lost track of her little sister. Kitty can't read or write so Peggy begins to teach her.

• Chapter 15 - Roxanne: Young Simon Rowan was often in the kitchen but Roxanne only appeared to complain. She was unhappy that Peggy had gotten blood on her petticoat while mending it (poorly). Peggy was terrified of Roxanne's new puppy Bonaparte after being attacked by dogs when young. Later Roxanne blames Peggy for getting her dress dirty when it was actually Bonaparte. Peggy has made a dangerous enemy.

• Chapter 16 - The Wild Flowers: one hot day Peggy and Kitty go out to the fields. Peggy dreams of home and of Eily. Kitty confesses to dreaming only about her little sister May. They collect wildflowers for their bedroom.

• Chapter 17 - The Kitchen Sink: The heat makes Peggy wants to wash in the bathroom but Mrs. Madden forbids it. One day when the house was quiet Peggy washes in the kitchen sink only to get caught by Simon, who doesn't care one bit. He asks for a container and after quickly dressing Peggy takes one to him where he is watching a baby mouse under a bush. The mouse escapes.

• Chapter 18 - The Day Off: Peggy's trail month is up and she gets her salary (minus $2 for Mags) and a day off. She goes to Boston city and buys some warm stockings and hand cream. She goes to Mags', but Sarah has moved out to live with her brothers. Peggy catches her coming out of work at the factory. She's exhausted. Peggy gifts her the handcream she bought.

• Chapter 19 - The Missing Ring: One day whilst Peggy is cleaning the music room she finds a ring. Roxanne accuses her of stealing and when she goes into her apron pocket to give it back and explain it is missing. No one believes she didn't take it and they all turn against her. She cleans the pots alone that evening and it takes her till 1am to finish the task.

• Chapter 20 - Maids of All Work: The next morning Peggy leaves Kitty to sleep only to discover later she is very poorly. Peggy takes on Kitty's duties. Peggy still has not been forgiven for the ring. The doctor comes the next day and Kitty is diagnosed with a chest infection. Peggy offers to look after her. Roxanne slips up to Mrs. Madden accidently confessing to trying to set Peggy up. Finally the cook and housekeeper believe her and the ring was found by Mrs. Rowan. Peggy is so busy she misses her day off.

• Chapter 21 - Autumn Changes: Mrs. Madden announces she will be leaving to run a first-class lodging-house. Peggy is sorry to see her go. Peggy finally recieves letters from home. One from Nano and one from Eily. Eily and John are married amd may be expecting. The shop closed, but Nano and Joshua have become good friends. Peggy sobs. On her day off Peggy gets daguerreotype portraits done to send back to Eily and Nano. She also buys herself a new (used) purple coat.

• Chapter 22 - The New Housekeeper: Mrs. Madden leaves after warm goodbyes and gifts from everyone at Rushton. She doesn't look back as the cart drives away. Miss Hannah Lewis takes her place 2 days later amd instantly creates tension with Mrs. O'Connor. She criticises everything and puts Kitty on notice saying she must get well quickly or lose her job. Peggy and Roxanne clash again when Peggy cleans the girl's room. Roxanne throws a book at her and cuts her head but Miss Lewis doesn't care.

• Chapter 23 - Mutiny: Miss Lewis makes changes that upset the staff. The quality of staff food is decreased and she is after Kitty. Mrs. O'Connor and Peggy do their best to protect Kitty and get her back on her feet. There is mutiny and Mrs. O'Connor refuses to talk to Miss Lewis and even sabotages the quality of the food that the Rowan's get to reflect badly on Miss Lewis, which it does.

• Chapter 24 - Good Riddance: Peggy suspects Mrs. O'Connor is looking for another job on her day off. She has to help Miss Lewis make dinner. Miss Lewis is clearly trying to show Mrs. O'Connor up with her extravagent menu. Peggy sabotages the meal by adding green-eye to the herb mix. The Rowans and Miss Lewis spend the night being very ill. Two days later when Mr. Rowan is recovered Miss Lewis is let go.

• Chapter 25 - Thanksgiving: The staff work hard preparing for thanksgiving. Peggy tries all the new food and enjoys it. She finally feels at home in America with Kitty and Mrs. O'Connor. She was even able to send some money home to Eily along with her daguerreotype.

Thanks for continuing the journey of Peggy with me. I really enjoyed this book, and I look forward to reading all your thoughts and comments 📚

#References

• I found this article on Irish emigration to America was quite interesting
• Eily mentions working in the Big House. Check out this link for some pictures of various Big Houses in Ireland (and a little history behind them).
• Passage to America was a tough voyage as explained on this website and this website doesn't sugarcoat the trip at all. It was tough, dirty, diseased and arrival didn't necessarily mean comfort. Tough times!
• I was curious about the term Cabin Fever and as usual went off on a little trip down the rabbit hole. I assume that in this book Cabin Fever was actually its historic use and a term for typhus. Anyway this one was interesting. Beware Jack Nicholson. He scared me a tad when I opened the page 1st time! Oh and just incase you don't know the grossness that is typhus, here you go. It makes sense that many passengers would be suffering from this.
• Deer Island Hosptial was a real place. Learn more here
• It turns out that if you lose a tooth the advice on how to save it hasn't changed much.

Well, my fellow exped mems, we did it. We finished Absolution. The mish is drawing to a close...or is it only just beginning?? Ffffffffffffffffffff-

Okay, now I'm creeped out by my own Lowry mimicry, so let's just move on from that. There's no reward in the risk. Schedule and Marginalia are linked; now on to the discussion!

~~~~~~~~Chapter Summaries:~~~~~~~

The First and the Last 2:

Some of Us Will Be Queens

We learn that Lowry, like most if not all other characters in this series, has a penchant for writing on walls. In his case, it’s a diagram showing the expedition members’ romantic entanglements. The team establishes base camp in Area X and Sky reminds everyone of their mission directives: evaluate, do not engage, sample, withdraw. Lowry is skeptical and plans to shoot to kill. 

The lighthouse looks strange, resembling different things to different people, and some on the expedition have taken drugs to suppress this and any other visions. The pile of discarded suits disappears overnight without explanation and they have yet to meet a single survivor from before the border went down.

Calorie Counts

Several members of the team leave base camp to secure the village, which Lory thinks is pointless because the entire area might be hostile. As if to prove him right, an alligator kills and eats one of the psychics in the middle of base camp. Lowry would like to eat the animals in Area X right back, but that’s against the regs due to the contamination risk, even though the air itself could just as easily be hazardous.

Jack-In-The-Box

Lowry reviews the files Jack provided on Old Jim. Lowry’s mission is to head for Dead Town, bring Old Jim back alive, and retrieve Jack’s money. We learn that Old Jim’s partner/almost-spouse died on a mission and it may have been Old Jim’s fault. Lowry recalls Jack’s warning to watch out for Henry and also mentions that people at Central had been infected by watching surveillance tape of Old Jim playing piano. The files mention someone called Schubert in relation to Old Jim and Lowry wonders whether Old Jim even had a real daughter in the first place. Overnight, another expedition member goes missing.

Haunted Walkie-Talkie Twhut Fest

The walkie-talkies start transmitting disturbing sounds when Sky tries to contact the team securing the village. Lowry begs Sky to turn the walkie-talkie off and she says it’s already off. Both of them realize they’ve drawn their knives and drop them. They dump the walkie-talkies in the water, but Lowry keeps his in case he needs to communicate with Area X later. The box containing the dumped radios turns up in camp the next day. Sky can’t handle it, so Winters orders the team to shoot the box and dump it again, further away this time. Lowry shoots his this time, too, but keeps his satellite phone.

Lowry feels like time is slipping away from them. He also notices the complete lack of domesticated animals, even though there were farms in the area before the border came down. Around the campfire, the team feels enveloped in an invisible presence and one of the expedition members disintegrates. Not Lowry: he claws the living wall and shreds it with his teeth. The team is in shock and Lowry kicks off a raucous party to snap them out of it. Another expedition member dies overnight with a gunshot wound to the head. No one heard a shot.

Slinky-Dinky Pinky-Winky

Sky recorded a video of Lowry’s encounter with the invisible wall of flesh; in it, Lowry looks like he’s making love to it rather than fighting it. Awkward. The team sets out from base camp and find a convoy of deteriorated trucks that look as though they’ve been rusting in Area X for fifty years instead of the one year since the border came down. Further on, they are ambushed by a sludge that transforms into grotesque doubles of the dead expedition members. Lowry blasts away at them with his machine gun, but the doppelgangers reform and the team’s guns turn into flesh. Lowry, Winters, and Sky toss their weapons, but everyone else’s hands fuse to their guns, which begin devouring them. 

Beach of Boners, Death Destroyers

Lowry, Sky, Winters, and one of the psychics, Scaramutti, escape to the beach where they camp overnight. They’re close to the lighthouse and it looks more like a normal lighthouse up close, but still glowing faintly green. In the morning, they discover that the sand is covered in not shells, but bones; in the distance out to sea, they can see half of the destroyer which the border severed when it came down. Sky insists she sees people on it, but Lowry swears the opposite.

Sky shows Lowry a video she found on one of the expedition cameras which shows her screaming at her doppelganger as more and more people show up in Area X. Sky thinks it’s showing the future and wonders if she is actually a double already. 

They find a boat which Lowry is convinced is a trap, but Sky and Winters launch it anyway and head for the destroyer. The next day, the rowboat washes back up on shore, empty. Lowry realizes he hasn’t seen Scaramutti in two days.

The First and the Last 2:

Not Enough Fucked-Up Stuff in Barrels

Lowry visits the places on Jack’s list: Cass’s apartment, Old Jim’s house, and the biowaste facility. He doesn’t find Old Jim or any of the money, so he heads for Dead Town.

Molt Revolt

Lowry heads to Dead Town City Hall and through the secret door, where he sees the names of his expedition mates written on the wall, including his own. There’s also a body, wearing something that may or may not be a Southern Reach uniform. Was there an expedition before this one?

Someone has left a sign on the corpse saying DO NOT EAT. Unfortunately, the corpse smells delicious and even has the texture of perfectly-cooked turkey. Lowry eats the corpse, starting with the feet; when he gets to the head, he sees it has Whitby’s face. After some dithering, Lowry finishes it off. It can’t be the real Whitby. Can it?

Tyrant to King’s Dread

On the roof of City Hall, Winters reappears, saying the destroyer was a dead end. He informs Lowry he’s covered in scales turning into eyes. Lowry sees Whitby riding an alligator on the ground below, points it out to Winters, and pushes Winters off the roof when he goes to look.

Hoarse Tongues

Whitby enters Lowry’s mind, possibly? And Lowry begins to shed golden dust from his pores. Lowry perceives that Whitby has come from the future to ensure Area X happens as it had already happened, and that this was the best possible outcome. Because Area X is also trying to colonize the past, and that outcome would be much worse.

When Lowry reaches the lighthouse, these visions end. He sees hundreds of bodies spilling out of the lighthouse, each one of them Henry from the S&SB.

Village Dump

Lowry heads to the Village Bar where he finds Old Jim’s letters to Cass. Another expedition member, Hargraves, shows up. It seems like she’s been in Area X a long time, and has figured out a lot of stuff. She says there’s no off switch and has pieced together Old Jim’s last moments. Hargraves reveals that she is Cass, the False Daughter, and that she was Jack’s real fail-safe, not Lowry. She tells Lowry she found a piece of paper in Old Jim’s pocket that said “Kill Lowry”, and she shoots him.

Two Men In a Fucking Boat Thing

Lowry is injured but still heading towards the extraction point. He sees Landry, who isn’t making much sense, but convinces Lowry to get into a boat. Except it isn’t a boat, but a creature with large teeth. Landry lunges at Lowry, who shoots him and makes his way to shore.

Third Skin

Lowry makes it to the extraction point and sees a suit which appears to be made of millions of tiny organisms and starts talking to Lowry. The suit tells him Hargraves made it through but that Landry has been dead a long time. Lowry and the suit rest for a bit and he feels comforted by the idea of crossing the border.

It's almost the New Years, so let me help you with your resolutions!

This January, do you want to read bigger books? More classic novels? Do you want to spend January 2025 in Davos getting intellectual? Maybe taking a rest cure? Do you need to cut out the noise and focus on something philosophical? Do you want to discuss serious topics like personal attitudes to life, health, illness, sexuality, and mortality and how a society can descend into chaos? Or do you just want to read more German novels to accompany our Read the World Germany selection? Have you always wanted to read more Mann? Any Mann?

So, what are you waiting for, join us for The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann! Plus 2025 is the 101th anniversary of this novel, so let's raise a toast! Schedule coming soon!!

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"In this dizzyingly rich novel of ideas, Mann uses a sanatorium in the Swiss Alps, a community devoted exclusively to sickness, as a microcosm for Europe, which in the years before 1914 was already exhibiting the first symptoms of its own terminal irrationality.

The Magic Mountain is a monumental work of erudition and irony, sexual tension and intellectual ferment, a book that pulses with life in the midst of death"- (link)

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Join me, u/lazylittlelady, u/Greatingsburg, u/Joinedformyhubs, u/Superb_Piano9536, u/latteh0lic and u/tomesandtea for what is sure to be a großartig erfahrung!

Schedule coming soon!

Marginalia coming soon!

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Welcome to our next discussion of The Fraud.  The Marginalia post is here. You can find the Schedule here.  This week, we will discuss Volume 5: Chapter 8 through Volume 6: Chapter 30. 

 A summary of this week’s section is below and discussion questions are included in the comments. Feel free to add your own questions or comments, as well. Please use spoiler tags to hide anything that was not part of these chapters. You can mark spoilers using the format > ! Spoiler text here !< (without any spaces between the characters themselves or between the characters and the first and last words). 

*****CHAPTER SUMMARIES:*****

VOLUME 5, continued:

Bogle’s testimony continues.  He explains how the Claimant offered him passage to England and how, when he arrived, Lady Doughty cut off his annuity.  Bogle also admits to giving the Claimant a picture of Sir Edward Doughty and a picture of Upton House, but no maps of the estate.  Whatever people think of the Claimant, it seems universally true that Mr. Bogle can be believed.  He is sincere in his testimony and stands by his story, even when the Doughty family offers him his annuity should he recant.  The trial has been going on so long that William decides he cannot support the ladies’ attendance any longer; they’ll have to pay their own way, so their appearances become irregular.  They happen to be present on what turns out to be the last day of the trial.  Evidence is given that Sir Roger Tichborne had a tattoo on his left arm, but the Claimant doesn’t have one.  The foreman announces they have heard enough and can deliver a verdict.  The Claimant is declared to be Arthur Orton, a criminal to be charged with perjury and taken to Newgate.  The verdict causes a huge commotion!  Sarah decides to head to Regent Street with the others,  as “Sir Roger’s” supporters do not plan to abandon him.  

Eliza is more interested in Andrew Bogle, who she invites to tea.  But his son, Henry, wants to know why.  She introduces herself as a writer, and the Bogles ask for money in exchange for interviews, but she counters by offering a hot meal since she cannot pay them.  Henry goes off to help “Sir Roger” and Andrew agrees to talk with Eliza.  He insists that he’s said everything he can about the case, but Eliza points out that his entire life story would be of interest.  Mr. Bogle was born in Hope, a parish of Saint Andrew, Jamaica, to an African father named Anaso, who came to be called Nonesuch, and a Jamaican mother, Myra.  Their friend Peachey, who outlived them both, helped Andrew to learn about his family.  His father’s people were called the Nree (possibly referring to this kingdom? Correct me if I’m wrong, please!), and Peachey, who also came from this village, told him about his people.  His father was one of the high-born men, the oh-zo, while Peachey was from the lowest group, the oh-soo.  Bogle’s grandfather was a highly respected judge.  Bogle’s father was kidnapped at nine years old, just after a coming-of-age ceremony for boys where masked men come to tell great secrets.  In his father’s case, it was a Scotsman in disguise, a fraud who was not a real masked man.  The Scotsman dragged Bogle’s father to a boat where many were in chains already, and his father never saw his home or family again.  The ship, the King David, sailed to Bristol and then to Kingston, Jamaica.  

VOLUME 6:

We continue the story of Andrew Bogle’s father with his arrival at Hope, the Jamaican estate where his kidnapper, Mr. Ballard, has brought him.  Ballard enjoys naming the enslaved people in ways he finds funny, such as calling an ugly woman “Aphrodite”.  He names Anaso “Nonesuch” to mock his pride, and “Bogle” because it means “scarecrow” and is meant to humble Anaso. Ballard works for an English owner named Roger Elletson, who dies in November of 1775. Elletson’s wife, Anna Eliza, implores Ballard to use a “humane plan” in managing the enslaved people on the estate because her late husband had cared so much for their welfare. (I could not be rolling my eyes harder.)  Ballard considers this impossible, but knows his predecessor lost his job due to cruelty, so he gives it a try.  One day, Bogle is told to lead Ballard to the hut of Big Johanna, whose true name is Derenneya, an enslaved woman who has given birth to Ballard’s baby (again).  This is the only one of his babies that she has allowed to live.  The baby’s skin is very dark, and Johanna has named her after herself:  Derenneya means Stay with mother.  Ballard makes Bogle take the baby outside so he can “correct” Johanna.  

Within a year, Anna Eliza Elletson marries the Marquis of Chandos and within two years, she has a little girl who she names after herself.  Not long after this, one of her late husband’s bastard sons arrives from England with a letter instructing Ballard to find a useful trade for the boy, named Roger, and forbidding him to be used for hard labor.  (Ah, a father’s love.  How… touching? These people are the worst.)  The terrified boy, whom Ballard dubs “Mulatto Roger”, won’t speak and so Bogle volunteers to teach the boy to tend the animals like he does.  Roger is entered into the ledger under the Chickens and Pigs column.  Time passes, and the enslaved people’s true names start to fade from memory.  Johanna has gained quite a reputation:  within the enslaved community she is known to have traditional powers including cursing her enemies, and with the enslavers she is considered a strong worker who runs away so frequently that she is mutilated for her persistence.  Roger is also getting a reputation as having two sides to his character, the mouse and the snake, with the snake eventually winning out.  Ballard holds his annual meeting with Thomas Thistlewood, the owner of a neighboring estate named Breadnut Pen.  Since Hope is so large, Ballard must rent additional workers from Thistlewood despite how much he despises the man for his egregious cruelty and awful business practices.  Thistlewood loudly boasts of his sadistic abuse against the enslaved population on his estate and Johannah overhears from the kitchen.  She must help the drunken Thistlewood to his carriage when he leaves, and she whispers mysterious words in his ear.  That night, Hurricane Johannah a huge storm destroys Breadnut Pen while leaving Hope untouched.  Ballard must “correct” Johanna again, but he is too thorough and ends up killing her accidentally.    Johanna’s daughter, now called Little Johanna, inherits not only her mother’s name and jobs, but her powers.  Bogle envies her for having any link to a heritage and a family, since he cannot even picture his mother’s face anymore.  The Marquis of Chandos has died when Anna Eliza pulled his chair out and he fell, and the grief has caused Anna Eliza to be institutionalized in an asylum.  Her daughter, at 12 years old, has inherited Hope and all the enslaved people on it.  Attorneys are in charge for now.  

Myra, Bogle’s mother, works in Roger’s cane field and this is bad luck because Roger has become the cruelest overseer in Hope.  (Ballard expected this, as no one - even the Black enslaved people - seemed to think anything good came from mulatto overseers.) Nonesuch loves Myra for her “clear and bright” mind, but they can only see each other on Sundays.  They long to have a child, but Myra cannot seem to conceive.  Most people Nonesuch knows would consult Little Johannah for help, but Myra only wants to acknowledge Christian faith and eschews the traditional beliefs of Nonesuch’s people.  One day, Myra develops an abscess behind her left ear and must go to the hothouse to be treated for the Yaws, but the treatment could leave her unable to have children.  Luckily, Myra was treated early enough that she avoided the worst of the disease.  Although Nonesuch is able to father many children over the years, Myra never gets pregnant.  Desperate to have a child with the woman he loves before it is too late, Nonesuch finally consults Little Johannah who tells him to collect pennyroyal.  This advice gives him hope and he can joyfully attend jonkonnu.  The next September, Myra gives birth to Andrew (our Mr. Bogle), and Nonesuch enters his son’s name in the ledger, knowing all he can do for his child is to help him avoid the hard labor gangs and get him assigned to safer jobs.  When Andrew is six, Nonesuch succumbs to his own untreated case of the Yaws and dies in the hothouse.  Andrew inherits his father’s jobs and skills.  Myra has two other children, both of whom die in childhood, and she wastes away from grief.  Andrew mourns her, knowing she won’t live much longer.  Andrew is in love with Little Johannah, despite their age difference and the way everyone laughs at him for it.  His friend Ellis encourages him to be more like Anna Eliza, who is betrothed to the future Duke of Buckingham in what he calls an “adding up marriage” because their fortunes and estates will be combined. Ellis thinks Andrew should pursue his own “adding up marriage” with Dorinda, the housemaid who might have her freedom bought since she is the daughter of another estate’s owner.  But Andrew only feels safe with Little Johanna, who he considers his wife in his heart.  

The Duke’s agent, Edward Tichborne, arrives and Bogle becomes his page, learning a lot by listening to Tichborne’s constant talking.  In this way, he finds out he will be taken to London soon.  In England, Andrew is pleasantly surprised to discover that life and people there have many parallels to Hope.  The other servants remind him of his friends in Jamaica, and he is intrigued by the bold servant boy, Jack, who admires John Baguely and wants to take Andrew to political meetings where the son of a slave and her master, a preacher named Wedderburn, will speak in favor of slave uprisings.  Having witnessed a public hanging, Andrew prefers safety and he pretends to sleep when Jack sneaks out.  The Chandos-Buckinghams have left to spend the autumn in Stowe, but Tichborne needs to consult with the Duke on his out of control spending, so he and Bogle make the 10 hour journey.  Tichborne talks the whole way and Bogle gathers that the man envies the Duke his privileged position and considers himself worthy of nobility but cursed by being born third of seven sons.  Andrew is not surprised that a lowly fate happens to high born people - it was his father’s experience, after all - but Tichborne is beside himself.  Tichborne has more respect for the Duchess, who treats the poor well, and is ill-used by the Duke (who is unfaithful and has sired many children).  They no longer speak.  They arrive at the Duke’s house and Bogle is overwhelmed by its size and grandeur.   While Tichborne and the Duke discuss business and the fraught state of things in Jamaica, Bogle spots a painting of a boy archer, and finds the subject so reminiscent of Ellis that he is overcome with homesickness.  Bogle views several other pieces of art, including one carved from white stone that depicts a king receiving his crown while a servant grovels at his feet.  It is the only piece of the Duke’s art he understands:  he writes these relationships in the General List with ink and paper back on Hope, but here in the halls of power “the order of things” is inscribed in stone.  

Back in London, Bogle surprises himself by attending the political debates with Jack.  Wedderburn speaks in favor of the French Revolution, which he thinks will soon repeat in England, and against the nobility and royal family.  He cheers Thomas Spence and Thomas Paine.  After the speeches, Bogle wishes they’d heard more about slaves and when Jack insists that all men without rights are slaves, Bogle doesn’t respond.  Bogle misses jonkonnu because Tichborne wants to spend Christmas in London.  In January, Tichborne sends Bogle back to Jamaica by himself, where he is informed by Peachey that his mother died.  Peachey has softened the story, but Bogle discovers that despite her fragile state, someone had assigned Myra to work in the boiling house and she collapsed there.  He also discovers that Little Johanna has disappeared amidst rumors that she transformed into a horse or a tree.  Bogle finds out that - due to her mysterious and threatening ways of speaking and her hatred for Roger - she has been sentenced to three months on a treadmill in Kingston Prison.   Bogle finds himself numb and empty, which ironically makes him more productive and earns him small privileges.  One is to collect the newspapers from England, which is how he discovers the execution of five men who plotted on Cato Street to kill the English rulers.  He does not see Jack’s name among those hanged, and is surprised to find Robert Wedderburn’s name mentioned as being in prison at the time of the plot (and therefore alive).    Later, when Bogle collects the rented workers for Hope’s harvest season, he passes Wedderburn estate, which borders the long ago destroyed Thistlewood estate.  He ponders the idea that the preacher he heard speak in London might have Jamaican roots, and is again despondent that he has no history of his own to connect with.  

Johanna returns, completely changed by the brutality of her time on the treadmill.  She speaks of her prophetic circular dream that says the world sits on a blood-drenched treadmill, the secret engine of the world, which will turn over and cut down those in power, who she calls Bahama grass.   Tichborne, desperate to increase the productivity of Hope due to the Duke’s massive debts, freaks out about actual Bahama grass which had been planted by Ballard as a decorative border but has spread and ruined the estate’s soil.  This makes Little Johanna laugh.  Tichborne gets Macintosh to have the women’s gang pull it all up by the roots.  When the Duke will not answer Tichborne’s desperate communications, he quits his job and leaves Jamaica, taking Bogle with him.  Tichborne has married Kathryn, and Bogle accompanies them on a honeymoon trip around Europe where he is an object of intrusive curiosity.  They narrowly avoid encountering the Duke, who is hiding from his creditors, and the mere reminder of such a privileged man sends Tichborne into a fit of depressive binge-drinking.  Yet things are looking up:  three of his brothers have died, leaving him second in line to inherit, and the eldest brother has seven daughters but no son.  Tichborne’s wife, Kathryn, has just given birth to a baby, Henry.  And then comes the wonderful news that a distant cousin - a Doughty - has died and left Tichborne her entire estate including Upton House in Dorset and a large part of Bloomsbury (on the condition that he changes his name to Doughty).  The only fly in the ointment:  his youngest brother’s wife has just given birth to a boy, named Roger.

Welcome to the marginalia for our two books for Read the World (Germany) - Demian by Hermann Hesse, and Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck.

This is a communal place for things you would jot down in the margins of your books. That might include quotes, thoughts, questions, relevant links, exclamations - basically anything you want to make note of or to share with others. It can be good to look back on these notes, and sometimes you just can't wait for the discussion posts to share a thought.

When adding something to the marginalia, simply comment here, indicating roughly which part of the book you're referring to (eg. towards the end of chapter 2).

Because this may contain spoilers, please indicate this by writing “spoilers for chapters 5 and 6” for example, or else use the spoiler tag for this part with this format > ! SPOILER ! < without the spaces between characters.

Note: spoilers from other books should always be under spoiler tags unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Here is the schedule for the discussion which will be run by u/nicehotcupoftea, u/fixtheblue, u/miriel4, u/thebowedbookshelf and u/bluebelle236.

Any questions or constructive criticism are welcome.

Let's go, everyone! See you in the first discussion on 24th December.

Hello all welcome to the only discussions for the short ghost story To Be Read at Dusk. This story is psychological as it makes the reader question ghosts and further the human mind...what is real and what is not real, how the mind can speak something into existence..

This ghost story, or rather not a ghost story at all, as one of the character declares "I DON'T Talk of ghosts", takes place in the Swiss Alps. The sun casts a deep red color across the snow, like deep red wine spilling. Five couriers sit on a bench and talk about their experiences with ghosts as the main character is eavesdropping.

The German tells a story about an old woman at a dinner party who declared she could sense her sister just died, even though she was far away in Spain. His own grandmother could always tell the death of a relative before it happened, and his father came to him in a dream the night before he passed.

and what about the times your head fills with the idea of your friend and you start seeing them in every person you see, just to eventually come across that person, he says

The next story is about a woman who was haunted in a reoccuring dream by a man in dark clothes and a silver mustache. Her husband and servants took her to a countryside house to be away from society, where she was happy, until one day a man with dark clothes and a silver mustache visited for dinner. She passed out and was carried away, where she stayed haunted, until one day someone witnessed her disappearing in the back of a carriage cowering in fear with the dark clothed man

The last story is about two twins. Twins are often used in horror, to portray good and bad, conscious vs unconscious, and nature vs nurture. One twin had apparently visited the other twin in a dream declaring the twin is very sick and dying. The next day, the twin visited his sick brother right before he died just to say “James, you have seen me before, to-night – and you know it!”

All of these stories are just accounts of things HAPPENING, but no definitive explanation of anything.

At the end of the story, the eavesdropper hears only silence. When he looks at the bench where the five couriers sat talking, the bench is empty and no one is around

Great St. Bernard Pass

Here is a narration of the story on youtube for 27 minutes

Mystery lovers, welcome to the last discussion of our Mystery read! I think we can all say that Gipsy's Acre really is a place to die for!

Useful links:

• Schedule
• Marginalia

Summary 🐎🌃

17. Mike plans to meet Phillpot to go to an auction, where he intends to buy Ellie a papier-mache bookrest. He sees a familiar face that he can't quite place there, and another at the restaurant where he and Phillpot are waiting for Ellie, who went horse riding in the morning. When he sees the mysterious person going away, he notices he looks like Stanford Lloyd.

When Ellie doesn't show up, they go looking for her in the woods, and find her dead.

18. A passerby says he saw the horse running away, and that Ellie was alone. Another woman claims to have seen Mrs Lee nearby a few hours prior.

19. The autopsy on Ellie's body reveals some non-fatal injuries, so the doctor concludes that she must have gone into cardiac arrest after falling from her horse. Greta claims Ellie suffered from heart attacks. Mrs Lee appears to have left the country (despite this not being unusual for her).

20. Mike and Philpot wonder if someone paid Mrs Lee to scare Ellie to make them sell the house. He shows Philpot a message he found enveloped around a stone, which says that a woman killed his wife. He takes it to sergeant Keene, who believes it is referring to someone other than Mrs Lee, who he suspects might have been killed by the person who paid her to scare Ellie. He also tells Mike they found a golden lighter in a gazebo on his property, with a 'C' engraved on it.

He later meets Claudia, who is interested in buying his house. He learns that her ex-husband was Stanford Lloyd.

21. Mike learns that, at the moment of Ellie's death, most of her relatives were in England. He finds out he is Ellie's heir, and Mr Lippincott warns him to be careful and hire a legal advisor.

After Ellie's funeral, William E. Pardoe visits Mike. He is Ellie's cousin, and the man Mike saw at the auction. William mentions that Cora is a close friend of Claudia Hardcastle, and they were together on the day of Ellie's death.

22. Mike travels to New York, where everyone is awful. He receives news that Mrs. Lee has been found dead, presumably after an accident. Claudia Hardcastle has died as well while horse riding, after another accident? Not suspicious at all!

He decides to fire Mr Lloyd after his legal consultant tells him that the man has given him some bad advice. Mr Lippincott seems not to trust the banker as well.

He visits Santonix at the hospital, shortly before his dear friend dies.

23. Mike decides to ask Greta to marry him (WHAT???), declaring that she has helped him so much after Ellie's death and that he needs her on his side.

Well, the real reason for this is that Mike's marriage to Ellie and her death were all a very intricate plan. He and Greta met in Hamburg a while ago and fell in love, so they decided to find a way to make easy money. Remember the classmate who drowned in a pond?

Mike had let him die to steal his super expensive watch. A similar thing happened later with another friend that he stabbed (WHAT????????). Apparently Mike really likes money and is completely insane? Well, what a twist.

Mike goes back to Gipsy's acre, where he sees Ellie in the woods, looking in his direction but unable to see him.

He and Greta are ready for a celebration, but he panics after he opens a letter from Lippincott, that contains a picture with him and Greta in Hamburg.

A surge of hate for Greta arises, so he kills her because he wants to know how it feels.

24. The police arrest Mike. He tells doctor Shaw that he and Greta put cyanide in Ellie's pills. Shaw had found out because Claudia had borrowed some pills from Ellie, but this time they were able to find the body much earlier, sothe smell of the poison was still in the air.

Mike gets arrested, and while in prison he starts writing down his memories, still thinking about Ellie and reflecting on the “endless night” he is.

Welcome to the marginalia for Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquival.

This is a communal place for things you would jot down in the margins of your books. That might include quotes, thoughts, questions, relevant links, exclamations - basically anything you want to make note of or to share with others. It can be good to look back on these notes, and sometimes you just can't wait for the discussion posts to share a thought.

When adding something to the marginalia, simply comment here, indicating roughly which part of the book you're referring to (eg. towards the end of chapter 2).

Because this may contain spoilers, please indicate this by writing “spoilers for chapters 5 and 6” for example, or else use the spoiler tag for this part with this format > ! SPOILER ! < without the spaces between characters.

Note: spoilers from other books should always be under spoiler tags unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Any questions or constructive criticism are welcome.

Let's go, everyone! See you in the first discussion onThursday December 26th.

Hello bibliophiles This will be the Marginalia for the last 2 books in The Children of Famine trilogy. We are about to dive into book #2 - Wildflower Girl

See you all soon :)

What is a Marginalia post for?

This post is a place for you to put your marginalia as we read. Scribbles, comments, glosses (annotations), critiques, doodles, illuminations, or links to related - none discussion worthy - material. Anything of significance you happen across as we read. As such this is likely to contain spoilers from other users reading futher ahead in the novel. We prefer, of course, that it is hidden or at least marked (massive spoilers/spoilers from chapter 10...you get the idea).

Marginalia are you observations. They don't need to be insightful or deep. Why marginalia when we have discussions?

• Sometimes its nice to just observe rather than over analyse a book.
• They are great to read back on after you have progressed further into the novel.
• Not everyone reads at the same pace and it is nice to have somewhere to comment on things here so you don't forget by the time the discussions come around.

#MARGINALIA - How to post???

• Start with the book name (marginalia are used for an entire book series), general location (early in chapter 4/at the end of chapter 2/ and so on).
• Write your observations, or
• Copy your favorite quotes, or
• Scribble down your light bulb moments, or
• Share you predictions, or
• Link to an interesting side topic.

Note: Spoilers from other books should always be under spoiler tags

As always, any questions or constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged. The post will be flaired and linked in the schedule so you can find it easily, even later in the read. Have at it people!

Happy reading 📚

Welcome everyone to the first discussion for Stephen King's Fairy Tale. Please find the schedule and marginalia at the links. Remember that r/bookclub takes a strong stance on spoilers and not everyone here will have read all Stephen King's other books. If you feel you absolutely must make comparisons or references to any of his (or any other book, in fact) please just mark it with spoiler tags where > !the spoilery text goes here! < and there is no space between the! <.

Right now all that's cleared up lets hop to it. There are discussion prompt questions in the comments, but as always, feel free to add your own.

#Summary

• Chapter ONE - The Goddam Bridge.The Miracle. The Howling.

The Little Rumple River's unsafe wooden bridge was replaced in 1996 with a new steel one that went unpaved for years. One Saturday in November of 2003 Charlie's mother walked to Zip Mart to get fried chicken for dinner. On the way back a plumber in a panel truck skidded on the frozen steel and crushed Charlie's mother into a stanchion killing her gruesomely. After she died his 'regular drinker' father began drinking out of control. Charlie began having to take more care of himself as his father became increasingly absent. He sometimes woke to hear him crying in the middle of the night. 3 years later, in 2006, George lost his job. After a binge he promised Charlie he would stop drinking and get another job....he didn't.

That summer was rough for Charlie. The bills rolled in, and his father even got a job at the Jiffy Car Wash. It didn't last. Charlie was behaving badly and suffering from insomnia worrying about their impending homelessness. Charlie prays his father will stop drinking.

One day Lindy Franklin, a recovering alcoholic, shows up for a Twelfth Step visit. They go to an AA meeting that night and the next day and he keeps going and gets sober (with a few slips along the way). After 6 months sober he gets his job back at Overland. In February of 2012 George Reade went solo and became Investigator and Independent Claims Adjuster. He worked long hours making his business work. He does well and is paying off his debts, but he won't be able to pay for Charlie's college tuition. Therefore, Charlie has to do well enough for scholarships. Charlie works hard at school, at his varsity football and baseball, at volunteering. He had has to payback his debt! His father stopped dtinking because he prayed for it.

Bowditch (or the Psycho) House was delapidated and scary Andy claims to have been shoving mail back into the overflowing mailbox when an angry German Shepherd called Radar barked at him threateningly before being called off by Bowditch. Charlie's father advises him to stay away from the old man. And he did....until April 13th when Charlie overheard Radar and Bowditch in distress. Charlie saved him.

• Chapter TWO - Mr Bowditch. Radar.Night in the Psycho House.

Charlie finds Bowditch on the back porch with a broken leg after falling off a ladder. Charlie calls 911 and is advised to stay and keep him warm. They talk and Bowditch sends Charlie to get him some Empirin from the bathroom. The house is rundown, but neat and full of books and magazines. As the EMT's arrive Charlie offers to take care of Radar while Bowditch is in the hospital. Reluctantly he agrees.

Charlie stays at the house doing homework until it is time to feed Radar at 6pm. At home he tells his dad about Bowditch and the house. Charlie feels bad Radar is alone and goes back to the house to check on her, which was lucky as he had left the doggie door open. They play fetch briefly before Charlie turns on a light leaves her Bowditch's shirt and a toy for comfort. He texts his teacher that he will miss 1st and maybe 2nd period the next day.

• Chapter THREE - A Hospital Visit.Quitters Never Win. The Shed.

After feeding Radar Charlie meets Mrs. Althea Richland who gossips about Bowditch and Radar. He visits Bowditch in the hospital who has had one operation, but he will need another, a hip replacement. Charlie saved Bowditch's life, but Charlie continues to credit Radar. He shows Bowditch photos of Radar which cheers him up. He knows he has a long convalescence period, and considers putting Radar down. Charlie objects and offers to take care of her instead.

At school Mrs Silvius and Charlie talk about Bowditch's old school TV. Charlie plays like crap at practice, and walks out calmly. Back at Bowditch's house Charlie hears scratching, followed by a weird chittering noise coming from the shed. Radar is also disturbed by the noise.

Charlie's dad knows about Charlie quitting baseball, and is supportive even if he doesn't fully understand. A reporter from The Weekly Sun is trying to get hold of Charlie. Before heading home he checks out the shed again. Nothing.

• Chapter FOUR - Visiting Mr Bowditch. Andy Chen.The Cellar. In Other News. A Hospital Meeting.

The next day Charlie goes to feed and play with Radar. He turns on the ancient TV, and it works. He takes a picture of Radar, then heads to the hospital where a nurse asks him to fill in a form as Bowditch's emergency contact. Bowditch's leg is encased in an external fixator, and he is pretty high on pain meds. Recovery is going to be hard. Bowditch is grateful to Charlie, but won't allow Charlie into the shed to get a mower to cut the grass. He tells him to go into the basement to get a scythe to cut the grass down enough to mow it. Bowditch agrees to allowing the reporter to take a picture of Radar. He also asks Charlie to walk Radar, and to deal with the groceries due to be delivered.

Charlie ponders what Bowditch did to earn his money and wonders if Radar has ever been to the vet. Andy turns up at Charlie's to convince him to come back to the baseball team. Later reporter Bill Harriman takes a picture of Charlie and Radar and tries to fish for info before Charlie cuts him off. Charlie and Radar take a walk back to Charlie's and Radar meets George warming to him quickly. Charlie takes her back home even though George offers to let her stay.

At Bowditch's Charlie goes into the basement for the scythe and feels saddened by the abandoned puzzle. He is missing baseball. Charlie scythes half the lawn. In the hospital Bowditch is in pain and overwhelmed. He tells Charlie he trusts him and he's the best thing that's happened to him for a long time.

The hospital calls Charlie to talk about recovery and aftercare with him, and his guardian. Charlie and Radar's story make it into the Chicago Tribune. Bowditch has called Charlie his recovery plan. Charlie will need to clean his rods and prepare for his return home. Charlie may need to stay over for the first few nights. George supports Charlie's decision.

• Chapter FIVE - Shopping. My Father’s Pipe.A Call from Mr Bowditch. The Flour Cannister.

Charlie and George shop for supplies for Bowditch and Radar. Then Charlie explores the house before scrubbing the windows. Back home George and Charlie talk. George is worried that his drinking has created a caretaker mentality in Charlie. Charlie tells him he is grateful for George's sobriety, and is paying it forward. Charlie says nothing about his "debt". George is supportive as long as Charlie doesn't let his studies slip.

George has looked into Bowditch and discovered little. The property was bought by Adrian Bowditch. It seems that Bowditch is very financially comfortable, but he didn't find any records. Bowditch owns a classic car but possibly no licence to drive it.

Charlie prepares the bed for Bowditch's return by making up the sofa bed. Bowditch calls, and he is pretty stoned. He asks Charlie to come visit and then asks of he can keep a secret. He also offers to pay Charlie $500 a week. The money is in the flour jar, a LOT of money is in the flour jar. There are also what Charlie suspects are gold pellets.

Next week u/IraelMrad will be hosting chapters 6 through 10.

See you there 📚

We're kicking off 2025 with a little mystery set in the Adirondacks: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. This novel has generated a lot of buzz this year, including its recent win as Goodreads readers' top Mystery/Thriller of 2024! If you want to see what everyone's talking about, be sure to snag your copy and join u/eeksqueak, u/spreebiz and myself in January.

Schedule:

• 1/2/25: Part I (Barbara) - Part II (Bear) | Carl 1961
  • Through the section ending with "...making their way to the preserve."
  • 95 pages
• 1/9/25: The rest of Part II (Bear) - Part III (When Lost)
  • 91 pages
• 1/16/25: Part IV (Visitors) - Part VI (Survival) | Judyta, August 1975, Day Two
  • Through the section ending with "...above her head, the sound of footsteps."
  • 99 pages
• 1/23/25: The rest of Part VI (Survival) - Part VII (Self-Reliance) | Judyta, August 1975, Day Four
  • Through the section ending with "...Your task for the day is to set eyes on Vic Hewitt."
  • 94 pages
• 1/30/25: Rest of the book - 88 pages

So, will you be joining us in the woods as we try to solve this mystery?

As we close the year, cast away the cares of the old and focus on the new. Look at the world and one another with new eyes and consider the possibilities.

Let’s begin with a brief reminder of the architecture that marks the "Romanesque arch" – a style in Roman revival of a row of arches and vaults and columns that was popular in 11^(th) and 12^(th) century Western Europe. The arches in question are rumored to be those of San Marco, Venice.

It was no surprise that our poet, Tomas Tranströmer (1931-2015) began his career in psychology.  He is considered to be one of the most important Swedish poets in the post-WWII era, debuting his poetry in 1951 and quickly becoming one the most translated poets in the world, in more than 60 languages and showered in awards, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2011. I’ve linked the video of his award ceremony below. Sadly, this award came after a stroke in 1990 that left him unable to speak and partially paralyzed, so the ceremony features many other poets reciting his poetry in multiple languages although he is, of course, in attendance.

He was mainly raised by his mother, Helmy Tranströmer, a schoolteacher after his parents divorced when he was 3. Tranströmer grew up under the shadow of Swedish neutrality in WWII and the post-war landscape. His school life was pretty miserable- he is even an extra in the Ingmar Bergman film that was shot there, Torment, about a sadistic Latin teacher. It was probably his summer visits to Runmarö, an island in the Swedish archipelago where his maternal grandfather had a pilot station that inspired his deep interest in nature. A bout of “melancholy” led him to begin playing the piano at age 15. Music would be one way he could continue his communication after his stroke, learning to play with one hand and entertaining his guests with music instead of words. Here is one of the last videos of him playing the piano before his death with a recitation of his poem, “Allegro” from one of the last public recitations before his stroke.

Later, his education took him to Stockholm University, where he not only graduated with a degree in psychology but published his first poetry collection, 17 Poems (1954). His main poetic inspirations were Horace (keeping in the Roman theme), who he read in high school for the first time, Thoreau, and other contemporary poets. Is he the John Donne of his time? I'll let you decide.

After graduation, Tranströmer spent his time working with the juvenile prison population, as well as the disabled, convicts, and drug addicts. His pace of output was very deliberate and time-intensive—with a single poem taking as long as it needed, even a year, which left him plenty of time to pursuit his career, as well as translating many poems into Swedish, as well. The 1950’s was a time when he traveled widely, including to places behind the iron curtain. His friendship with American poet, Robert Bly, began in the 1960’s and would continue for their entire lives, leading to certain collaborations in translation and a rich set of correspondence that has been printed (see below). I've given you two translations to compare, including one by Bly.

His early poetry was very focused on nature and natural rhythms and his later work is more abstract and concerned with the human spirit, while never losing sight of the natural world. In his career, Tranströmer published 15 collections, including two after his stroke and a short autobiography, Minnena ser mig (The Memories see me), in 1993. He left behind his wife, Monica, married in 1958, and their two daughters, Emma and Paula. See the link below to hear some of Emma’s work. In 1997, the Municipality of Västerås established the Tranströmer Prize, which rewards outstanding poetic writing in his honor (Gyrdir Eliasson is the winner in 2024).

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 “Tranströmer’s poems imagine the spaces that the deep then inhabits, like ground water gushing up into a newly dug well”- Tom Sleigh in his 2006 "Interview with a Ghost"

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality”- The Nobel Committee on awarding him the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature.

"This interplay between fragile triviality and sublime resilience. … That was the condition of poetry” - Tranströmer on finding inspiration in Horace.

 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Romanesque Arches

by Tomas Tranströmer, translated by Robert Bly

Tourists have crowded into the half-dark of the 
enormous Romanesque church.
Vault opening behind vault and no perspective.
A few candle flames flickered.

An angel whose face I couldn't see embraced me
and his whisper went all through my body:
Don't be ashamed to be a human being**—**be proud!
Inside you one vault after another opens endlessly.
You'll never be complete, and that's as it should be.

Tears blinded me
as we were herded out into the fiercely sunlit piazza,
together with Mr and Mrs Jones, Herr Tanaka and 
Signora Sabatini—
within each of them vault after vault opened endlessly.

 _____________________________________________________________________________________

Romanesque Arches

by Tomas Tranströmer, translated by Robin Fulton

Inside the huge Romanesque church the tourists jostled in the half darkness.
Vault gaped behind vault, no complete view.
A few candle flames flickered.
An angel with no face embraced me
and whispered through my whole body:
"Don't be ashamed of being human, be proud!
Inside you vault opens behind vault endlessly.
You will never be complete, that's how it's meant to be."
Blind with tears
I was pushed out on the sun-seething piazza
together with Mr and Mrs Jones, Mr Tanaka, and Signora Sabatini,
and inside them all vault opened behind vault endlessly.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Romanska bågar

by Tomas Tranströmer

Inne i den väldiga romanska kyrkan trängdes turisterna
i halvmörkret.
Valv gapande bakom valv och ingen överblick.
Några ljuslågor fladdrade.
En ängel utan ansikte omfamnade mig
och viskade genom hela kroppen:
”Skäms inte för att du är människa, var stolt!
Inne i dig öppnar sig valv bakom valv oändligt.
Du blir aldrig färdig, och det är som det skall.”
Jag var blind av tårar
och föstes ut på den solsjudande piazzan
tillsammans med Mr och Mrs Jones, Herr Tanaka och
Signora Sabatini
och inne i dem alla öppnade sig valv bakom valv oändligt.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Some things to discuss might be the contrasting mood in the opening to the conclusion of the poem, the images of arches and the infinite potential of the human spirit, even as the idea of being “complete” is impossible. What feelings and ideas take root during this reading? Do you have a preference between the two translations-especially if we have any Swedish speakers? How does the Bonus Poem, which is also featured in the video above, contrast with our poem? How was this as the last poem in Poetry Corner for 2024? Do you have any suggestions on future poets? Do drop me a line!

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bonus Poem: Allegro (1962)

Bonus Link #1: Hear the poet recite his poem in Swedish: “Romanska bågar”

Bonus Link #2: A beautiful musical arrangement of “Romanska bågar”, sung by Via Vitae, arranged by Per Gunnar Petersson.

Bonus Link #3: More music! Emma Tranströmer, his daughter, is a singer who put many of his poems into song in her collection,  “Dagsmeja”.

Bonus Link #4: A video of his Nobel lecture in Swedish, with music and poetry readings in multiple languages. The English text of the poems is below the video. Here is the introduction translation in English.

Bonus Link #5: A comparison of two translations, both Bly and Fulton, from Edmund Prestwich.

Bonus Link# 6: More about Romanesque Architecture and Durham Cathedral, a prime example of the style.

Bonus Link #7: "For the Left Hand Alone"- an interesting essay originally published in 2023 by Jared Marcel Pollen.

Bonus Link #8: If you would like more information about Tranströmer’s long-running and productive relationship with poet Robert Bly, there is a book of their correspondence, Airmail: The Letters of Robert Bly and Tomas Tranströmer

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you missed last month’s poem, you can find it here.

As 2024 rapidly draws to a close, faithful bookclubbers all over the world are beginning to look to the year ahead.

They speculate about what books 2025 has in store for them and wonder if this will be the year one of their nominations will win a vote.

But above all, the members of this bookish community want to know: What are the 2025 Book Club Bingo Squares?

Never fear, faithful bookclubbers, the r/bookclub Ministry of Merriment is here to answer this burning question!

To help you plan your bingo strategy for 2025, we humbly offer you this preview of the 2025 Bingo Board. Thanks to u/espiller1 for the adorable design!

The 2025 Bingo Megathread, where you will post your 2025 bingo cards, will go up in January along with the new Bingo Helper and updated FAQ so keep your eyes peeled 👀.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For those of you still wrapping up your 2024 cards, you have until January 8th to submit them via the Megathread.

This year's cards are here and here.

Be sure to check out the Bingo Helper Guide created by u/midasgoldentouch to see which books count for which squares and visit our Book Bingo FAQ and 2024 Bingo Q&A post for any questions.

Happy reading, happy bingo-ing, and Happy Holidays!

Cheers, r/bookclub's Ministry of Merriment🥂

Welcome to the marginalia for Fairytale by Stephen King.

This is a communal place for things you would jot down in the margins of your books. That might include quotes, thoughts, questions, relevant links, exclamations - basically anything you want to make note of or to share with others. It can be good to look back on these notes, and sometimes you just can't wait for the discussion posts to share a thought.

When adding something to the marginalia, simply comment here, indicating roughly which part of the book you're referring to (eg. towards the end of chapter 2).

Because this may contain spoilers, please indicate this by writing “spoilers for chapters 5 and 6” for example, or else use the spoiler tag for this part with this format > ! SPOILER ! < without the spaces between characters.

Note: spoilers from other books should always be under spoiler tags unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Any questions or constructive criticism are welcome.

Let's go, everyone! See you in the first discussion on Monday December 16th.

Hi all,

I'm excited to announce that once we finish Oliver Twist, our next Evergreen read will be A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. A prominant Irish writer who has influenced generations of writers that came after him. This will be my first James Joyce book, and I hope you will join me!

Here's the Goodreads link

The portrayal of Stephen Dedalus's Dublin childhood and youth, his quest for identity through art and his gradual emancipation from the claims of family, religion and Ireland itself, is also an oblique self-portrait of the young James Joyce and a universal testament to the artist's 'eternal imagination'. Both an insight into Joyce's life and childhood, and a unique work of modernist fiction, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a novel of sexual awakening, religious rebellion and the essential search for voice and meaning that every nascent artist must face in order to blossom fully into themselves.

We will be starting towards the end of January so look out for a schedule coming soon!

Hello, fellow /bookclubbers!

This February, join us for an adventure in Wales in Miss Percy's Travel Guide to Welsh Moors and Feral Dragons by Quenby Olson, the second book in the Miss Percy Guide series. We'll rejoin Mildred, Fitz, and the crew on their journey - it's sure to be smooth sailing, what could possibly go wrong globetrotting with a dragon?

Book summary:

!First, there was a trunk. Inside the trunk was an egg, and inside the egg was…!<

!Well, it certainly was not a chicken.!<

!Miss Mildred Percy, former wallflower and current adventurer, is now in charge of a dragon. Along with Mr. Wiggan and Mrs. Babbinton — our stalwart companions from the first volume of Miss Percy’s adventures — she embarks on a journey across Wales, in search of the mysterious Nyth y Ddraig, or Nest of Dragons.!<

!But traveling with a young dragon in an unfamiliar land proves more difficult than anticipated. Between angry mobs, midnight rescues, and recalcitrant sheep, they battle (figuratively) their way across the countryside, defend themselves against enemies old and new, and discover something remarkable hidden in the mountains of Wales.!<

Keep your eyes peeled for the schedule sometime in January. We hope you join us!

Hey all, the results are in!

Here is the leaderboard:

Published in 2024

1. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
2. The Wedding People by Alison Espach (2 votes behind winner)
3. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (3 votes behind winner)
4. James by Percival Everett (5 votes behind winner)

January Any Genre

1. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
2. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides (2 votes behind winner)
3. The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson (5 votes behind winner)
4. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (8 votes behind winner)

(Wheel of Books: We do give the books that almost won another chance and spin the Wheel of Books from time to time and read one of the runner-ups.)

Watch this space, schedules will be posted soon.

Will you join one (or both) reads?

Welcome to the Marginalia thread for The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah. This is our post for you to share any ideas, questions, or anything else pertaining to the book as you read it.  If you’ve got a thought you’d like to share with us as you read, you can put it here instead of waiting for the discussion posts on Sundays. If you find any other media related to the book - such as a podcast, video, or article - you can drop it here, too.

Remember, if you’re going to post anything that might be a spoiler, use spoiler tags around your text. Do that by typing: > ! spoiler text ! < without any spaces. This will hide the text like this: >!spoiler hidden here.!<

Help people reading your post by starting it with where you are in the book. For example, Middle of Chapter 2, pp xx.

We’re excited to start reading the book with you and hearing your thoughts. Our first discussion post will be next Sunday, December 22, on Chapters 1-7.  The schedule is here or on the book club calendar. Enjoy the first section, and we’ll see you for the first discussion!

Welcome to the second discussion of Oliver Twist. Today's section covers chapters 10 to 18.

You can find the schedule and marginalia here.

Here is a recap of this week's chapters, questions will be in the comments. Next week I'll hand the baton back to u/Amanda39 for chapters 19 to 27.

Chapter 10

After days of being confined indoors working on handkerchiefs, Oliver is finally allowed to go out with the Dodger and Charley Bates.  To his horror, he witnesses the Dodger stealing a handkerchief from an elderly man’s pocket.  At that moment, the truth about the handkerchiefs and other stolen items becomes clear to him. When a cry of “Stop thief!” rings out, the entire town begins chasing Oliver, mistakenly assuming he is the culprit.  The Dodger and Charley join the pursuit to deflect suspicion.

The gentleman who had been robbed arrives with a policeman.  Noticing Oliver’s injured state, the gentleman urges the officer to handle him gently.  Despite this, the officer grabs Oliver by the collar and hauls him away.

Chapter 11

At the police station, a particularly notorious one, the elderly gentleman expresses doubt that Oliver is the thief.  Despite this, Oliver is searched and locked in a cell, which Dickens describes as grim but still better than the infamous Newgate prison.

The gentleman, now revealed as Mr. Brownlow, feels a vague familiarity in Oliver's face but cannot place it.

When the case is brought before Mr. Fang, the ill-tempered district magistrate, Brownlow tries to speak on Oliver's behalf but is abruptly silenced.  Fang turns to the policeman for information instead.

Too weak to respond, Oliver struggles to answer Fang's questions.   A compassionate officer steps in, pretending to hear Oliver’s replies and fabricating answers.  Despite this, Fang sentences Oliver to three months of hard labour. Just then, the bookstall owner bursts into the courtroom, declaring Oliver's innocence.  The case is immediately dismissed, and a concerned Brownlow takes the ailing Oliver away in a cab.

Chapter 12

Brownlow takes Oliver to his charming home in leafy Pentonville, where he tenderly nurses him back to health with the help of his kind housekeeper, Mrs. Bedwin. When Oliver wakes from his fever, Mrs. Bedwin, moved to tears, wonders aloud how his mother would feel if she could see him now.  Oliver softly replies that he felt as though she had been by his side.

As Oliver recovers and is well enough to sit up, he becomes captivated by a portrait of a beautiful woman on the wall and asks Mrs. Bedwin about her.  Brownlow, pleased to see Oliver looking healthier, notices a striking resemblance between him and the woman in the painting.  His reaction is so intense that Oliver faints, providing the narrator a chance to recount what happened to the Dodger and Charley Bates after Oliver’s capture.   Dickens devotes a page and a half to explaining that they ran straight home, driven by self-interest - he notes that this behaviour is claimed by philosophers to align with the laws of nature.

Chapter 13

When the Dodger and Charley Bates inform Fagin that Oliver has been taken to the police station, Fagin flies into a violent rage.  At that moment, Bill Sikes arrives with his dog and berates Fagin for his treatment of the boys, adding that if he were one of Fagin's apprentices, he would have killed him by now.  Upon hearing the full story, Sikes, like Fagin, grows anxious that Oliver might expose them and get them into trouble.

Bet and Nancy arrive shortly after, but when Fagin asks them to go to the police to find out Oliver's whereabouts, both women are reluctant.  Sikes, however, intimidates Nancy enough to force her into compliance.

Nancy eventually learns that Oliver has been taken by a gentleman to his home in Pentonville.

Chapter 14

Meanwhile, at Brownlow’s house, Oliver continues to receive kindness and is given a new outfit.  One day, Brownlow invites him into his study, where Oliver is amazed by the vast number of books.  (Didn't we all want to be in that study!)  Brownlow asks Oliver to share the story of his life, and Oliver recounts his sad and troubled past.

Their conversation is interrupted by a visitor, Mr. Grimwig, an Orange Peel Conspiracy Theorist who frequently ends his sentences with a dramatic vow to eat his head.

Later, Brownlow sends Oliver on an errand to return some books to the bookseller and to reimburse him. Grimwig, sceptical of Oliver’s honesty, insists that the boy will run off with the books, money, and his new clothes.  Although Grimwig doesn’t want his friend to be deceived, he secretly hopes to be proven right.

Chapter 15

Bill Sikes is sitting in a dark den, taking out his bad temper on his equally bad- tempered dog.  Fagin arrives and hands him some sovereigns that he owed.   A Jewish man called Barney, who speaks with a blocked nose appears and tells him that Nancy is there.  Sikes asks to see her and tells her to be "on the scent" for Oliver.

Meanwhile, Oliver is on his errand to the bookseller's when Nancy grabs him, yelling that she has found her brother.  She plays the part well, and the shopkeepers in the area join in rebuking Oliver for running away from his family.

Oliver struggles but is overpowered by Nancy and Sikes who take him back to Fagin's place.  During this time, Brownlow, Grimwig and Mrs Bedwin are waiting for Oliver's return.

Chapter 16

Using the vicious dog as a threat, they drag Oliver through a very dark gloomy London.  Nancy listens to the bells chiming and feels sorry for the young men who will be hanged at 8 o'clock.  Oliver is led to Fagin's new hideout with Dodger and Bates who make fun of his new outfit.

Sikes claims the five pounds for his work, leaving the books for Fagin.  Oliver is upset that Brownlow will think that he stole them, and tries to run away.   Nancy tries to prevent Sikes from setting his dog on him. 

Fagin hits Oliver, believing he wanted to go to the police, when Nancy intervenes. She is in an absolute rage and Fagin seems a little nervous.  Sikes threatens Nancy but she is angry and upset that she has helped kidnap Oliver, committing him to the same life that she has had since her own capture.  She rushes at Fagin, but faints.  Betsy arrives and takes care of Nancy, and the boys take Oliver's new clothes, leaving him locked up in the dark.

Chapter 17

Dickens starts the chapter with a digression and says that jumps in the narrative are a normal part of storytelling and reflect  life itself.  We go back to the town of Oliver's birth and the workhouse.

Mr Bumble visits Mrs Mann at the baby farm and pretends to be greatly pleased to see him.  He's transporting a couple of orphans to London because he wants to offload them to another parish.  Normally they would travel in an open cart but because the children were close to death, it was calculated to be more expensive to have to bury them than to transport them by coach.  They fetch the little boy called Dick who is very pale and wasted and asks someone to write a message for Oliver.  In case he dies, he wants to leave him his “dear love” and that he would be happy to die because then he would be reunited with his sister in heaven.

The next day while Mr Bumble is enjoying a dinner of steak and porter he reflects on the sin of discontent and complaining.  While reading the newspaper he spots an advertisement placed by Mr Brownlow offering an award for the discovery of Oliver Twist.   Bumble doesn't waste any time going to visit Mr Brownlow and tells the story of Oliver, making him out to be a villain.  Grimwig feels vindicated and even Brownlow believes him (that was disappointing), but Mrs Bedwin (bless her dear soul) refuses to believe that Oliver is bad.

Chapter 18 

Fagin yells at Oliver, calling him ungrateful and tells him that if he doesn't do as he's told he will face the gallows, giving him a description of hanging.  Oliver is terrified - he has already experienced a miscarriage of justice after associating with bad company.

He is locked in a room for days, deprived of company, and when the boys occasionally come to visit him to shine their boots and perform other small jobs for them, he is actually happy just to see someone. They ask him why he doesn't become apprenticed to Fagin.  The Artful Dodger suggests that pickpocketing will always exist, so one might as well participate and reap the rewards.

A man called Tom Chitling arrives with Betsy.  He has the appearance of having been in prison, and Fagin asks Oliver where he thinks he has come from.  He doesn't know, and Chitling says he'll bet a crown that Oliver will end up there one day too.

Oliver is locked up away from others and in this way, Fagin manipulates him into preferring any company over solitude.  Over several weeks, Fagin, Dodger and Bates try to convince him to live a life of crime with them.

Welcome back, space opera fans!  We’re preparing to launch our third and final book in The Children of Time series, Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky, in a few weeks.  This book will be discussed every Wednesday, starting January 15th.  Helping us navigate on the voyage for our discussions will be u/jaymae21, u/maolette, u/Reasonable-Lack-6585, u/rosaletta, and myself (u/tomesandtea)!  

In case you need to get caught up, check out the schedule posts with links for the previous discussions we’ve held for Children of Time (Book 1) and Children of Ruin (Book 2).  The reading schedule and Goodreads summary for Children of Memory are included below.  

Summary:

!The modern classic of space opera that began with Children of Time continues in this extraordinary novel of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet.!<

!Earth failed. In a desperate bid to escape, the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost.!<

!Then strangers appear. They possess unparalleled knowledge and thrilling technology – and they've arrived from another world to help humanity’s colonies. But not all is as it seems, and the price of the strangers' help may be the colony itself.!<

!Children of Memory by Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky is a far-reaching space opera spanning generations, species and galaxies.!<

Schedule:

• Jan. 15 - Start through Part 2: Ch 2.3 
• Jan. 22 - Part 3: Ch 3.1 through Part 4: Ch 4.4 
• Jan. 29 - Part 4 Ch 4.5 through Part 6: Ch 6.3 
• Feb. 5 - Part 6: Ch 6.4 through Part 8: Ch 8.3 
• Feb. 12 - Part 8: Ch 8.4 through Part 10: Ch 10.6 
• Feb. 19 - Part 10: Ch 10.7 through THE END!

We hope to see you in the discussions for Children of Memory!  Are you planning to join us on the final leg of the journey?

Hello Earthers, and welcome back to another discussion of Abaddon's Gate. My personal life has recently felt as chaotic as life in the Ring, so while I've made it here today, chapter summaries got left behind in the slow zone. I'm hoping that if Anna and Naomi can forgive Clarissa for nearly killing them, you can forgive me for this.

You can find our schedule here and here is the marginalia.  

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and check back in next week for our penultimate discussion covering Chapters 38-45.

Welcome to the penultimate discussion of Under the Banner of Heaven! The schedule can be found here, and the Marginalia post is available here. This week, we’re diving into Chapters 18-22. Chapter summaries are available here for anyone needing a refresher. Inspired by u/tomesandtea's thoughtful post, I’ve also included some extra links below to provide context or additional reading for each chapter. Next week, I’ll be back to guide us through our final discussion.

As u/Less_Tumbleweed_3217 wisely reminded us in our first discussion, the topics in this book can be difficult to read and discuss. While we explore these challenging themes, let’s make sure we create a space where everyone feels respected and comfortable sharing their thoughts. Please engage thoughtfully and with an open mind. Also, if you reference material outside of this week’s chapters, don’t forget to use spoiler tags. You can format them like this: >!type spoiler here!<, and they will appear like this: >!type spoiler here!<

++~++~++~++~++~++~++~++~++~++~++~++~++~++

Chapter 18: For Water Will Not Do

• Baker-Fancher Party – A group of emigrants traveling westward in 1857, whose tragic massacre in the Mountain Meadows became one of the most infamous events in U.S. history.
• Sarah Frances Baker Mitchell: survivor of the Mountain Meadows Massacre – 1940s account, original news article and transcription
• Nancy Huff’s accounts of the Mountain Meadows Massacre – Nancy Huff’s eyewitness accounts provide a critical perspective on the massacre, focusing on the role of the indigenous people and her experience during the tragic event.
• The Mountain Meadows Massacre — A pivotal book by historian Juanita Brooks that thoroughly examines the events and controversial aftermath of the 1857 massacre.
• Burying the Past: Legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre — A 2004 documentary film exploring the long-term repercussions of the Mountain Meadows Massacre on Utah and its surrounding communities.
• Blood Atonement – A controversial doctrine within Mormonism, which holds that certain sins could only be forgiven through death or "blood atonement," often tied to justifications for violence.
• The Paiutes – The indigenous people of the Great Basin, including areas in Utah, who were involved in the historical context surrounding the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
• Wasatch Range – A mountain range that runs through Utah, playing a central role in the geography of early Mormon settlement and the events of the massacre.
• Emigration Canyon – A canyon in Utah that was a major route for emigrants traveling to the Utah Territory in the mid-1800s, and the site of the initial settlement and conflict leading up to the massacre.
• Thoroughbred racehorse – This discusses the valuation of thoroughbred racehorses, which may be included in the broader historical context of U.S. economic factors during the time of the massacre.
• Parley’s Canyons – A scenic valley located between Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah, famous for its ski resorts and cultural significance, and named after Mormon pioneer Parley P. Pratt.
• Eleanor McLean – A significant historical figure, related to Mormon history, who has connections to the events surrounding the broader context of the Mormon community during the 19th century.
• Haun’s Mill Massacre – Another tragic event in early Mormon history, where a violent attack resulted in the deaths of a number of Mormon settlers in Missouri in 1838.
• Nauvoo Legion – The military force organized by the Mormon Church in the 1840s, playing a key role in the protection and defense of the Mormon community

Chapter 19: Scapegoats

• **Jules Remy** – A French botanist who explored the American West in the mid-1800s, documenting its flora and fauna.
• **Sir Richard Francis Burton** – A British explorer and linguist known for his travels in Africa, Asia, and his controversial translations of works like The Kama Sutra.
• The **original article** of the 1859 interview between journalist Horace Greeley and Mormon leader Brigham Young, discussing polygamy and Mormonism.
• A detailed account of John Wesley Powell's first descent of the Grand Canyon/expedition down the Colorado River
• Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act – The 1862 U.S. law aimed at curbing polygamy in the Utah Territory.
• Transcontinental Railroad – The 1869 railroad that connected the U.S. East to the West, impacting Utah's settlement and economy.
• Shivwits Band of Paiutes – A Paiute tribe from southern Utah with historical ties to Mormon settlers.
• Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians – A Paiute group in northern Arizona with a significant history of interaction with Mormon settlers.
• **William Leany’s letter extracts to Judge Steele as printed in Canyon Legacy** – Firsthand letters from a Mormon settler offering insights into early Mormon missions in the Grand Canyon area.
• Kangaroo Court – A biased or unfair court proceeding, often used to describe extrajudicial trials in early Mormon or frontier justice.
• Lee’s Ferry – A historic crossing point on the Colorado River established by Mormon settler John D. Lee.

Chapter 20: Under the Banner of Heaven

• Laying of hands – A practice in the LDS Church for conferring blessings, healing, or priesthood authority.
• Edmunds-Tucker Act – A 1887 U.S. law aimed at stopping polygamy in Utah, including penalties and church disincorporation.
• Woodruff Manifesto – The 1890 declaration by LDS President Woodruff renouncing polygamy to comply with U.S. law.
• Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church) – A group of twelve leaders in the LDS Church responsible for its teachings and governance.

Chapter 21: Evangeline

• 1886 Revelation – A revelation given to John Taylor reaffirming the eternal nature of plural marriage in Mormonism.
• Church of the Firstborn (LeBaron family) – A polygamous sect founded by the LeBaron family, claiming direct divine authority and leadership.
• The Polygamist's Daughter by Anna LeBaron – A memoir by Anna LeBaron detailing her experience growing up in a polygamist family within the LeBaron sect.
• Truth and Lies: The Doomsday Prophet – An ABC documentary featuring former FLDS members sharing their experiences with Warren Jeffs and his teachings.
• The Lion of Israel – A title used to refer to leaders of certain religious groups, including those claiming to be divinely chosen, like Benjamin LeBaron.
• Utah State Prison at Point of the Mountain – A high-security prison in Utah, historically home to several high-profile Mormon fundamentalists.
• Colonia Juárez – A Mormon settlement in Mexico, established to escape U.S. anti-polygamy laws.
• Sierra Madre Occidental – A mountain range in northern Mexico, home to several Mormon fundamentalist colonies, including Colonia Juárez.

Chapter 22: Reno

• Highland, Utah — a general reference on the history and geography of Highland, where the Lafferty brothers planned their second murder, Chloe Low.
• Wendover, Nevada: The small town where the Lafferty brothers stayed during their flight from justice.
• Reno, Nevada — provides the history of Reno, including its role in the Lafferty brothers' fugitive escape route. Reno's prominence as a gambling city during the 1980s is also noted.
• Bear Lake: A large, scenic lake on the Utah-Idaho border where Chloe Low’s family vacationed during the Laffertys’ planned murder.
• School of the Prophets: The early Mormon institution where teachings on spiritual matters, including radical theology, were disseminated.
• The Dream Mine prophecy — based on LDS bishop John Koyle’s vision of Nephite gold, symbolizes the blend of faith and folklore in certain Mormon circles. The Lafferty brothers believed building a "City of Refuge" near the Dream Mine.
• Bonneville Salt Flats — not far from the Dream Mine, where the Lafferty brothers passed during their journey.
• Peppermill Casino — a key location for the Lafferty brothers during their time in Reno.
• John Ascuaga's Nugget — another casino where Ron and Dan Lafferty spent their time while in Nevada.

Hello, dear bosom friends and readers! I'm here to run this week's discussion, and that you may tie to. Here's the marginalia and the schedule if you need them.

The Twins Pretend

Twins Jill and PG/Piggy are bored which is a rare occurrence. A man named Anthony Lennox came past. He looks like an appropriate villain for Jill to admire. Lennox is a magazine publisher and a millionaire on vacation. He is so bored! He saw Jill sitting on a throne rock and felt a connection of kindred spirits. Pig won't play pretend and just lies in the sand. He would have done so with Nan Blythe but not her.

They usually pretend they're rich and fix up the old house at Orchard Knob. This piques Mr Lennox’s interest. Jill would add a sun porch and rose garden. PG would have a swimming pool, a tennis court, and a rock garden. A boat house, too. Mr Lennox decides to take their advice. He owns it and has let it go to seed. He makes a deal with them: he pays the bucks and they supply the brains to design it. PG already figured out it will cost $30,000.

Anthony gives them a tour of the dusty disused house. There's still ashes in the fireplace, and a grandfather clock is stopped at twelve. They made him tell them why he never set foot there for fifteen years. He was in love with a girl and gave her a ring to wear while he was at school abroad. He came back after three years to see her, but she was not wearing the ring. She didn't love him anymore. He didn't know what became of her.

The repairs start, with Jill inside, and PG and Anthony outside. Jill had impeccable taste. Anthony will sell the house, but first they will have a housewarming party and invite the Blythes. They also invite Mrs Elmsley, a widowed artist. She doesn't show up, but the twins’ mom does. She is his lost love Betty! There was a silly misunderstanding that separated them. The Blythes can't help but eavesdrop on the whole scene. Anthony and Mums will marry, and they'll all live happily ever after in the renovated house.

The Fourth Evening

To a Desired Friend: Anne is really serious about friendship in this poem. Walter wonders to himself if he'll ever find a friend like that. A voice no one hears says he will, and that name will be death. 😳

Fancy's Fool

Esme stays the night at the Barrys’ home. Her beau Allardyce lives there. She's hesitant to marry him even though he's desirable. Dr Blythe knows he's a playboy but isn't talking. Esme thought she had imagined a guy named Francis. She was seen as timid and elusive, but Allardyce made her laugh.

She misses visits to Birkentrees where her late Uncle John Dalley and Aunt Hester lived. Allardyce showed her his father's study. A portrait makes her blush. It's of his great uncle Francis who was a ship captain and died young. His mother with the surname Dalley was devastated. Allardyce thinks he can cheat on Esme and get away with it.

Esme had danced with Francis when she was a child, but people would think she was crazy like her Aunt Hester. She felt Allardyce should know. Esme was orphaned and lived with various relatives. She would walk with her aunt in the shadowy paths of Birkentrees. There was a garden locked behind a gate that nobody ever entered. It gave Esme a creepy feeling.

Another summer, Aunt Hester waited by the lily pond and seemed calmer. During a full moon, Hester wore white like a bride. She unlocked the gate to the garden. Janet Dalley had disappeared there years ago and was never seen again. There were poplars and a birch tree. There was a sandstone path where a man named Geoffrey greeted Hester. Esme can come again if she doesn't tell anyone she was there. They'll come back during the next full moon.

She accompanied her aunt to the garden the next month. Her boyfriend Geoffrey was there. The next night, more people passed through. Only Janet said hello and wanted her to follow. Fortunately Francis came along. They danced to music that came from nowhere. Dr Blythe intervened and told Uncle Conrad to take Esme away. Aunt Hester died before that could happen. Allardyce laughed at her story and gaslit her. It could be explained away. Fine then. Esme won't marry him. Her relatives are dismayed and look down on her like Aunt Hester. The Barrys move abroad for good.

It was a Full Hunter’s Moon, and she walked three miles to Birkentrees. No one lived there because of a disputed will. Dr Blythe drove past, but he had a patient to attend to. All the trees in the garden were frosty. Francis was walking towards her. He said that was his middle name. This guy wasn't a ghost but a live person related to the Barrys who works at the biological station. He thinks she is engaged to Allardyce. Esme vehemently denies it. They sit on the wall and talk. Dr Blythe thinks he made the match.

The Fifth Evening

Midsummer Day: the goddess of summer maybe [Auxo.](https://www.worldhistory.org/Horae/#:~:text=Homer%20(c.,(the%20Hora%20of%20Summer).) Anne wrote it when she was a teenager.

Remembered: Anne wrote it while at Redmond. No one would publish it. It was about Green Gables, but she changed the color to grey.

A Dream Come True

Anthony Fingold was bored of everyday life in the Upper Glen. He desires adventure, but he won't switch from nightshirts to pajamas like his wife Clara suggests. He's feuding with Susan Baker for some reason. He imagines if he was a heroic knight or folk hero. He did steal cream for the cat.

Anthony envied a tramp walking past. He envied other townspeople with exciting pasts. He wondered if the minister Mr Meredith wore pyjamas. When he did odd jobs, he imagined he was in an adventure story. (He would have loved Indiana Jones.) He wanted Caroline Wilkes to admire him as he admired her from afar his whole life.

The Wilkes were back for the summer. The widow was sick and brought a nurse. Clara knew of his secret crush and thought it was a silly fancy of his. The caretaker Abe has to leave for a family emergency, and he asks Anthony to sit on the porch to wait for her family to come. Of course he will, it's his dream come true to be near her. But the woman who greets him is old, grey, and toothless. She wears a plaid nightgown and brandishes a poisoned dagger. She remembers him and his jealous wife. She claims she hanged George in the closet. She asks for a kiss then kisses him. She makes him go upstairs and put on pajamas.

She put on a grey silk dress, glasses, and her false teeth. She makes him sit in the car while she drives like hell on wheels through backyards and onto the highway. She told him she cut up George with an ax. Anthony hopes death is quick. Everyone in town will see him. In reality, all they can see is the blur of the Wilkes car. She follows a car full of men she thinks are up to no good. Anthony thinks the police are following them. The car ahead threw a bag over a bridge. Caroline crashed the car, but both emerged unharmed. The car behind them wasn't police but a chauffeur and a couple.

Caroline is actually holding a paper cutter, and Anthony hit her with the bag that was thrown out. He ran off into the woods then walked five miles home. Clara was beside herself with worry. Caroline got him to wear pyjamas before Clara could. He told her the wild story, and she believed him. No one told him that Caroline had “spells.” They open the bag, and inside is $60,000! The people in the car ahead had robbed a bank and thought Caroline was a cop. There's a reward for the return of the money. They lock it in a closet and go to bed. He appreciates Clara so much more after that hair-raising night.

The Sixth Evening

Farewell to an Old Room: Anne wrote it before her wedding day about her room at Green Gables.

The Haunted Room: A room full of memories and ghosts. Susan won't even hear talk of kisses around the children. There's a fiddle on the wall in the Upper Glen with a sad story behind it.

Song of Winter: The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. GB ❤️ AS forever.

Penelope Struts her Theories

A friend died, so child expert Penelope Craig is to adopt her son. Others think it's absurd, but Anne sticks up for her choice. (We know her story.) Dr Galbraith has been trying to propose to her for a decade. His mind is set, so he will continue to ask. They wonder if she even likes children. Opinion is divided on if she should spank him when he's naughty.

Dr Galbraith visits and asks about the boy named Lionel. She has purchased a cottage where she will raise him. The doctor doesn't want him to turn out a sissy. (Ugh.) He goes on and on about the Blythes. Then he proposes for the umpteenth time and is rejected. Penelope thinks that subliminal messages while a child sleeps will influence them. Dr G thinks Lionel has already developed his own mind.

Lionel/Bumps arrives and is stubborn with bad grammar. He calls her cousin Marta ugly and won't shake her hand. He won't eat and demands sausages. Marta would like to spank him for being so obstinate. Marta pays him a dime to eat his spinach. She gave him a plate of sausages. He hit it off with Jem Blythe. Penelope wants to get a dog, but Lionel wants a cat. He names it George even though it's a girl. He was saving up for a ticket back to Winnipeg.

Penelope thinks another boy will help. Theodore Wells lost his father, and his mother is an actress abroad (how scandalous). Theodore/Red pulled George's tail, and Bumps hit him. Marta advised her to let them fight and not intervene. Red charms them yet has a temper. They get up to all kinds of mischief. Penelope got endless phone calls about the little hellions. She was envious of the Blythe children who everyone loved.

Red jumped off the garage roof and lay in a heap. His mother Sandra Valdez showed up and acted dramatically. Dr Galbraith along with Dr Blythe were summoned. Red didn't really jump, he just fooled them all. Dr G “took charge” and hit Red in the barn and told Penelope she'd marry him by the end of the month. Sandra doesn't really want her son anyway. Dr Blythe's kids aren't perfect either. All will be right in the world when Penelope marries Dr Galbraith. (So they believed back then.)

Extras

Edith Cavell

Did you catch the Beatrice reference from Divine Comedy in “The Twins Pretend”?

Spondulick: slang for money

Anthony Fingold is like Walter Mitty

Come to call again next week, December 20, for The Seventh Evening to Part 2: Wind of Autumn with u/Amanda39. Questions are in the comments under each story and poems.