Books I read in October 2018

The photo above is art made by Jane Mount and you can purchase prints of her work and even create a customized bookshelf for yourself. Just go to her website:  Ideal bookshelf


Bring Me Back by B A Paris (library) I figured this one out pretty early in the story. A psychological thriller, but pretty predictable.
The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook (library) story of an English family during the rebuilding of Germany after WWII. Very good
The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy (library) I did a tour of some downtown Los Angeles sites that pertained to the Black Dahlia murder and I am reading more about it, this is a fictionalized account, but it really makes the mystery come to life.
Feed by Mira Grant (library) Zombie horror type thing, it was okay.
Too High and Too Steep by David B Williams (library) about the reshaping of the Seattle topography, when the city was the frontier. Ryan and I did a walking tour (from a book by the same Author) and walked around the area of the Denny Regrade
The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman (library) murder mystery that first ran as a serial in the New York Times. Very enjoyable
Caught by Harlen Coben (audiobook) thriller I listened to in the car. I enjoy Harlen  Coben's stuff and this one was good.
The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg.   It was okay.  Not like her other stuff.   It was a fictionalized account of the life of George Sand.  So unless you are a George Sand fan, I probably wouldn’t recommend it. 
Scavenger by David Morrell
Cuba Strait by Carston Stroud (audiobook) thriller about spies in Cuba







To be Read:
Tekwar by William Shatner
Treacherous is the Night by Anna Lee Huber
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
Dear Mrs. Bird by A J Pearce
Waterway: The Story of Seattle's Locks and Ship Canal by David B Williams

2018 Postcard: France

The coast of France is lovely and if you ever get the chance to go, do it! And then send me a postcard.

2018 Postcard: Italy

Italy is an extremely popular vacation spot for my friends and family and I am lucky that they send me postcards.

2018 Postcard: O' Canada

Lots of my friends and family visit Canada and send postcards to me.

2018 Postcard: More exotic locales

Bahrain, New Zealand and Cuba, 3 very exotic and far flung locations!! I am lucky to have such well traveled friends.

2018 Postcard: California Desert

Along the Pacific Crest Trail in Eastern California come these postcards. Thank you so much!!

Books I read in September 2018

The photo above is art made by Jane Mount and you can purchase prints of her work and even create a customized bookshelf for yourself. Just go to her website:  Ideal bookshelf




The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery (library)  Very cool look at Octopuses...I was fascinated and now I need to go to the Seattle Aquarium and pay some attention.
The Good Girls Revolt by Lynn Povich (library) The women of Newsweek sued in the 1960's and come to find out, the discrimination is still going on 40 years later....very illuminating  
Lipsmackin' Backpackin' by Tim and Christine Conners some great ideas and recipes for homemade backpacking food. 
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (library) Very Agatha Christie like murder mystery. Loved it
Secrets of Saffron by Pat Willard (library) This was very interesting. I have been reading a lot of food related books lately. I am going to have to try some saffron recipes. (and this book has some good ones) 
Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance (library) I really enjoyed this one. A memoir about growing up in poverty in Appalachia. 
House of Havoc by Marni Jameson just another how-to book about organizing and decluttering. Some good types....but I am still not sure I am going to make drapes with a glue gun
The Taste of Empire by E. M. Collingham (library) following the expansion of the British Empire by food. Absolutely fascinating. Spices, Tea, Potatoes, Corn, Sugar etc etc. Amazing how much the pursuit of food items shaped the British Empire. 
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell (library) I really enjoyed this book. It is about a woman who was in an institution for 60 years coming home to live with her great niece! 
You're On An Airplane by Parker Posey (library) Meh, I am sort of a fan...but she always seems to play such shrill, busy characters and I got a lot of that from this. I really enjoyed her memories of doing the Christopher Guest films, working with Woody Allen and doing Dazed and Confused. So if you are a fan of cinema, give it a go. 
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornsby (library) I enjoyed it, one of his best in my opinion. So if you are a Hornsby fan, check it out. 
Natural Causes by Barbara Ehrenreich (library) She is the author of Nickel and Dimed which is one of my all time favorites. Here she looks at "an epidemic of wellness, the certainty of dying and killing ourselves to live longer" I enjoyed it. 
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts (library) about long term world travel. I did not learn anything new really, but he does have some great tips for resources/websites etc to use for finding jobs and lodging around the world.
Under the Red Roof by J. J. McGoffin (library) The story of the Northern State Hospital in Sedro-Woolley, WA. Ryan and I had been hiking there in August and I was intrigued to learn more about it.
First Blood by David Morrell (library) who knew that the Rambo movies were a book first?? It was written in 1972 and it is very good. 
Black Dahlia, Red Rose by Piu Eatwell (library) I recently walked to some of the locations in downtown LA where Elizabeth short was before her death, so I thought I would read more about the murder and investigation. Very interesting.


To Be Read:
Any Man by Amber Tamblyn
The Wedding Chest Mystery by A. E. Fielding
Bats Sing, Mice Giggle by Karen Shanor
Unsolicited by Julie Kaewert
Skeletons at the Feast By Chris Bohjalian

2018 Postcard: Shells

My friends know that I love shells, so I get some shell cards sent to me every once and a while

2018 Postcard: South Dakota

South Dakota, prettier than you might expect. ya need to go there!! Thank you to everyone who goes and then sends me a postcard!

2018 Postcard: Rocky Mountains

Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park, worth a visit....Go now!! I need postcards with fall foliage colors on them!! LOL

2018 Postcard: Utah

Utah is gorgeous and you need to go there! And send me a postcard when you do!

Last chance to send in a donation for Washington Trails Association Hike-a-thon. The deadline is September 7th.

Visit my fund-raising page and make a donation.

https://give.wta.org/fundraiser/1515911

Books I read in August 2018

The photo above is art made by Jane Mount and you can purchase prints of her work and even create a customized bookshelf for yourself. Just go to her website:  Ideal bookshelf







The Absolutist by John Boyne (library audiobook) listened to while driving to and from trailheads for the WTA hike-a-thon. WWI PTSD story...although they didn't call it that then. Very good
Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy (library) I started this years ago in college, but never finished it, so I got it again to finally finish.
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (library) a graphic novel. I don't usually like these. I can count on one hand the graphic novels that I have enjoyed, but this one is very beautiful. The artwork was so wonderful that it did not detract from the stories.
Welcome to Marwencol by Mark Hogancamp and Chris Shellen (library) Fascinating story about a man who came back from a vicious attack and used art and imagination as his therapy.
Dark Sparkler by Amber Tamblyn (library) poetry by actress Amber Tamblyn, I have been a huge fan of her work on screen. And I enjoyed her poetry also. I am looking forward to reading more by her (she has a work of fiction that just came out that is on my TBR list)
Twisted Prey by John Sandford (library) I am a big fan of his books and this one was interesting because Lucas Davenport is now a US Marshall and most of the action took place in Washington, DC.
This One Summer  by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki  (library)A graphic novel, it reminded me a lot of "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret"  That type of coming of age thing.
And Never Let Her Go by Ann Rule (library) A guy in Wilmington, Delaware who was just obsessed with the women in his life. It was very contemporary to me. I am the same age as his victim.
Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (library) I actually like her other book better, Garden Spells. But it was not bad...maybe I was in the wrong frame of mind when I read it....
Glitch by Elisabeth Cohen (library) It was okay, I was expecting more by reading a review and it disappointed me. It was just okay
The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner (library) totally in my wheelhouse, I am all about where I live....I find that weather/geography totally makes me happy....or not. My blood pressure lowers when I travel to Seattle. It is a documented thing. I sleep better, I breathe better. My life in Seattle is bliss.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (audiobook) (library) Claire Danes narrates this version of the Handmaids Tale and it is awesome. I had not read it in many years, but had seen the recent series, so this was a very well done, I highly recommend
Flyover Nation by Dana Loesch (library) I don't know how to describe this book. It was hard to read, it was hard for me to believe that this is how some people think in America, obviously A LOT of people think this way in America.




To Be Read:

Whisper Falls by Elizabeth Langston
Mystery at the Rectory by A. E. Fielding
Dear Mrs Bird by A. J. Pearce
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance

Last hikes for Hike-a-thon 2018

This last week of August, I spent the weekend in North Carolina hanging out with my Nancy Drew friends. But I did get in a few miles of hiking on trails. 

Four mile Creek Greenway...I only did a mile

We saw an owl along the trail!! Unfortunately I did not get a photo

along the four mile creek greenway

 Up in Montreat, NC, I did a mile on the Gate Trail along the creek from the gate to the Nature Center

The Gate Trail in Montreat, NC

along the Gate Trail in Montreat

Fungi

creek along the gate trail in Montreat

Thanks to Gary and Carole Hada, Susan Oler and Amy de Jongh for their donations this week!

My hike-a-thon total is now 19.8 miles and we have raised $473 dollars! Thank you to EVERYONE who donates !! 
Visit my fund-raising page and make a donation. There is still time, they don't stop it until September 7th. That is the deadline to get in all donations. (I still have to mail in some from folks who donated cash!!)

https://give.wta.org/fundraiser/1515911

You can also mail a check or money order or even cash ! (make out checks to WTA or Washington Trails Association )  Send to: Amanda Arkebauer PO Box 16131 Seattle, WA  98116

2018 Postcard: Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is a fabulous place, if you have not seen it, you need to go now!! And send me a postcard!   It is hike-a-thon time again for Washington Trails.  From now until the end of August, I will be raising money for the Washington Trails Association and I plan to spend August hiking all over the USA!

Visit my fund-raising page and make a donation. And if you have any suggestions on where I should hike this last week of August, please let me know!!

https://give.wta.org/fundraiser/1515911

You can also mail a check or money order or even cash ! (make out checks to WTA or Washington Trails Association )  Send to: Amanda Arkebauer PO Box 16131 Seattle, WA  98116

Balloon Festival Weekend in Virginia

Air quality in the Pacific Northwest has been so bad because of wildfires all around us. Some in British Columbia, Canada, some in California and many right here in Washington State in the Olympics and in the Cascades. It is really a bad wildfire year.  But I was planning on going to Virginia for a Balloon Festival long before the wildfires hit, but the wildfires have derailed much of my hiking at home in the Seattle area for hike-a-thon.

So while in Virginia, I got in a short 2.1 mile hike on the Greensprings Trail in James City County, Virginia near Williamsburg.

It was crazy hot and humid in Virginia, so I wanted a hike in the shade! 

So much Colonial History in this area

see the deer?

The next day we were off to the Balloon Festival and I did not get in any hiking on trails.

This is a "chair balloon" and the owner is a dentist

The biplanes were flying all around the balloons It was amazing

Barnstorming antics

wing walkers

flying in formation and parachutes

Chatting with Rick Conn (AA pilot) while he takes a break from aerobatic rides

Then on Sunday, we went out to Chippokes Plantation State Park. We were there primarily for kayaking and beach-combing for sharks teeth, but I got in a mile of hiking on the College Run Trail while we put in the kayaks.

 Lots of interesting History at Chippokes Plantation

The College Run Trail goes along the James River

an easy hike along the College Run Trail

Access to the beach

Looking for Shark Teeth

Lots of cool stuff to find on the beach

My hike-a-thon total is now 17.9 miles and we have raised $452 dollars! But there have been no new donations this week. And just a reminder to you guys, a donation of 1 dollar or 5 dollars is just as important as a donation of 25 or 50 dollars. It is the accumulation that makes all the difference. If the dollar amount was all it was about, I would just ask one person to donate $500. But that is not the point. The point is for all of us to come together and help a little bit as a group. Thank you to EVERYONE who donates !! Instead of getting that $3 latte today, think about donating $3 to help Washington Trails. We will definitely need it after this wildfire season destroys bridges and other trail structures in the back country.

Visit my fund-raising page and make a donation. And if you have any suggestions on where I should hike this August, please let me know!! Does anyone have a favorite trail near Asheville, NC? Let me know about it, because that is where I will be this coming weekend. 

https://give.wta.org/fundraiser/1515911

You can also mail a check or money order or even cash ! (make out checks to WTA or Washington Trails Association )  Send to: Amanda Arkebauer PO Box 16131 Seattle, WA  98116