I’m sorry about your tree (and your Covid/laryngitis!) - we had a big beautiful almond tree in our yard until one year when a hurricane dropped one of its more massive branches on our neighbor’s property and it became clear that the rest of the tree wouldn’t hold up well to more storms, and was a potential threat to properties outside of our own. I hated to take it down, but a silver lining has been the MANY other small trees and flowering shrubs I put in around the big old almond stump & roots. It’s a very colorful area of the garden now and I like to think the new plants are thriving on old almond tree vibes from underground 🌱🌱🌱 (I’m reading HAVOC by Christopher Bollen right now; really enjoyed LISTEN FOR THE LIE!)
Hope your voice comes back asap! I’ve actually gotten a decent amount of reading in this week. I read The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian, The Long Fall by Walter Mosley and now I’m about 40% through Broken Country.
Loved reading about your well-loved tree...We have a very small yard, but also a huge silver maple in front of our house that my husband of almost three years has grumbled about since he moved in. He said silver maples are shallow-rooted trees, invading sidewalks and driveways, with too many "helicopter seeds" that clog the gutters. To me, however, it is a tall, graceful tree that has provided shade and cooled the house for more than 40 years. My children grew up throwing the seeds up in the air and watching them spin in the wind. When he hinted it might be diseased and have to come down after it lost a little bark in front, I had an arborist come out, who assured me the tree was in fine shape and just needed a little "judicial" trimming. The tree trimmer my husband hired, however, was not very judicial and cut the only limbs I could reach. For at least three years, I mourned the fact I could touch the trunk of the tree, but not any of the branches. I used to love to see the low branches stretch toward the front sidewalk and across the yard, and held those branches every time I went out to get the mail. Yes, he is still my husband, but I had to finally explain the "grief" I felt over losing those "touchable" branches and the shape of my beloved tree, so he better not trim it again! One of the branches is finally stretching down toward me, and I can touch green leaves again as I walk in the yard--pure joy!
I absolutely hate having to destroy any living plants (except weeds). I make my husband do the deed as he is heartless whilst ripping them from the ground. I just finished an ARC of The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve that is absolutely amazing.
I saw heartless but he's really just very practical and knows that some of the plants have to go. But I just can't do it. We live in the desert and I feel like any non-weed plant that can grow in drought, high temperatures and wind should be left alone LOL
It's good to know I'm not the only tree lover in the area. We have a beautiful tree - a perfect tree - an old tree - on our property. I look at her and her closeness to the house and worry if I won't be hugging her sooner than later.
It's not fair is it? We build in their backyard. They grow and shelter us, and then it becomes dangerous. Sigh. But I'd rather live in trees than anywhere else.
Oh JT, I'm so sorry you're sick and that you also lost your tree. When my dad told me his cancer had returned, he said, "I'm going to fight it again because I don't want you to be sad." My response was similar to your friend's when I told him that grief is the price of love. Not that I don't want him to fight it, I do, but I don't want him to feel like he has to keep going for us if he doesn't want to. Anyway, all that to say, trees are a sacred part of this world. When I moved here from Colorado, I was in awe at the number of trees that seemed to grow everywhere. Where we lived in CO, trees were sparse and had a hard time thriving so when they cut down all these gorgeous, tall, vibrant trees to build the next part of our Dallas subdivision, I grieved. Then they added more injury by pushing them all into huge piles and burning them. I cried when I saw the smoke and realized what was happening. Like you I had to witness their end. I love that you have a tree souvenir to keep the tree with you.
This week I read Alex North's MAN MADE OF SMOKE, and oh man do I have feelings about it. It was an atmospheric creepy read. Not because of the setting--that's interesting too. But because the villain is so scary. I'd say this book treads the line between horror and thriller. There isn't gore on the page, but there were times I actually shivered due to how much the bad guy scared me. Mr. North is a pro at writing to get you to feel emotions. The characters were good, but they didn't hit me like the villain did. The last time I felt this way about the antagonist was when I read THE SHINING my freshman year of high school. My one piece of caution is do not read this story when you'll be alone all night long.
I love trees, too! Every time I drive by a piece of land that has been cleared of trees, the logs laid out like corpses on the ground, to build more whatever, I want to cry. And I hate, hate, hate having to have a tree cut down on our property even when it is a safety hazard or a threat to our house ... just hate it!
As Amy said... "all the feels!" And I must say... I can relate.
I love to listen to immersive and emotional stories, so I would like to recommend the audiobook of KAUA'I STORM. Normally, I wouldn't recommend my own work, but since I was hired to narrate the audiobook (combining past and current careers), I was able to voice my Ranger Makalani Pahukula and her multigenerational, multiethnic family as I've always heard them and bring true nuance and authenticity to our Native Hawaiian language and dialects. This is a deeply emotional, deeply Hawaiian mystery adventure set in the glorious wilderness of Kaua‘i. I hope you'll let me sweep you away. 🌺
Wow....you were feeling all the feels! I get it. I live in Nebraska, the home of Arbor Day....so we love our trees! We live in the country and when we built our house 23 years ago, my husband planted 100 pine trees from seedlings for a wind break. He also plants a couple of hardwood trees ever year in our 2 acres that we've carved out for the house. He actually won Tree Planter of the year in our area about 5 years ago.
I read some excellent books this week.
EVERY SUMMER AFTER by Carley Fortune. 3 teenagers (2 brothers and the girl who lives next door) become great friends and everything that happens as they become adults.
Unbeknownst to me, this is actually the first book. I should have read it before ONE GOLDEN SUMMER. It didn't matter and almost made me appreciate the first book more.
I'm almost finished with THE GRIFFIN SISTERS GREATEST HITS by Jennifer Weiner. Oh boy is this book good. Definitely get DAISY JONES AND THE SIX vibes here. 2 sisters who are complete opposites get discovered at a talent show and get very famous very fast. Of course it all fallls apart. First time reading this author and I'll have to check out her other books.
Graduation season is upon us. We have one today and one next Fri to go to. Long time friends grandson and nephews daughter.
Congrats on graduation season!! It takes a village to get them on to the next chapter. I spent last weekend in Oklahoma attending my daughter's graduation from OU. It was a wonderful way to experience that weekend with some family. I hope they're all joyous occasions!! And I agree with JT that your community sounds ah-maz-ing!
I'm originally from Omaha, Nebraksa which is a decent size city. I moved about an hour south in 1996 to a small town...around 7000 people...big change that took some getting used to but now I LOVE it!
I’m sorry about your tree (and your Covid/laryngitis!) - we had a big beautiful almond tree in our yard until one year when a hurricane dropped one of its more massive branches on our neighbor’s property and it became clear that the rest of the tree wouldn’t hold up well to more storms, and was a potential threat to properties outside of our own. I hated to take it down, but a silver lining has been the MANY other small trees and flowering shrubs I put in around the big old almond stump & roots. It’s a very colorful area of the garden now and I like to think the new plants are thriving on old almond tree vibes from underground 🌱🌱🌱 (I’m reading HAVOC by Christopher Bollen right now; really enjoyed LISTEN FOR THE LIE!)
Oh did the almond tree fruit for you??? How cool that you created a garden around it. I’m doing the same.
HAVOC - check!
Hope your voice comes back asap! I’ve actually gotten a decent amount of reading in this week. I read The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian, The Long Fall by Walter Mosley and now I’m about 40% through Broken Country.
I loved the Flight attendant. Really good book. Glad you’re feeling better too!
Loved reading about your well-loved tree...We have a very small yard, but also a huge silver maple in front of our house that my husband of almost three years has grumbled about since he moved in. He said silver maples are shallow-rooted trees, invading sidewalks and driveways, with too many "helicopter seeds" that clog the gutters. To me, however, it is a tall, graceful tree that has provided shade and cooled the house for more than 40 years. My children grew up throwing the seeds up in the air and watching them spin in the wind. When he hinted it might be diseased and have to come down after it lost a little bark in front, I had an arborist come out, who assured me the tree was in fine shape and just needed a little "judicial" trimming. The tree trimmer my husband hired, however, was not very judicial and cut the only limbs I could reach. For at least three years, I mourned the fact I could touch the trunk of the tree, but not any of the branches. I used to love to see the low branches stretch toward the front sidewalk and across the yard, and held those branches every time I went out to get the mail. Yes, he is still my husband, but I had to finally explain the "grief" I felt over losing those "touchable" branches and the shape of my beloved tree, so he better not trim it again! One of the branches is finally stretching down toward me, and I can touch green leaves again as I walk in the yard--pure joy!
Oh Pamela, I hate that for you but am so happy she’s recovering enough to reach for your love again!
I absolutely hate having to destroy any living plants (except weeds). I make my husband do the deed as he is heartless whilst ripping them from the ground. I just finished an ARC of The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve that is absolutely amazing.
Hope you recover soon!
The Memory Collectors sounds great! My guy does the dirty works, too, and he cares so much for it that I let him : P
I saw heartless but he's really just very practical and knows that some of the plants have to go. But I just can't do it. We live in the desert and I feel like any non-weed plant that can grow in drought, high temperatures and wind should be left alone LOL
It's good to know I'm not the only tree lover in the area. We have a beautiful tree - a perfect tree - an old tree - on our property. I look at her and her closeness to the house and worry if I won't be hugging her sooner than later.
It's not fair is it? We build in their backyard. They grow and shelter us, and then it becomes dangerous. Sigh. But I'd rather live in trees than anywhere else.
The rest of my family members are beach bums. Give me the mountains with trees!
Hope you feel better, JT. Time to plant a few new trees in your lost friend’s honor!
This week’s list:
The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr
Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham
Puzzle Me A Murder by Rosalind Noonan
Queen B (Her Majesty’s Royal Coven #0.5) by Juno Dawson
The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood
Ripperland by Steve Orlando, John Harris Dunning
We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets
Great list as always, Brandee! Hope you're feeling good this week, too! And yes, we're here for the summer so lots of trees to be planted. :)
I'm so sorry about the tree, and I hope you feel better soon!
♥️♥️ Thanks Heather! Working on it…
Oh JT, I'm so sorry you're sick and that you also lost your tree. When my dad told me his cancer had returned, he said, "I'm going to fight it again because I don't want you to be sad." My response was similar to your friend's when I told him that grief is the price of love. Not that I don't want him to fight it, I do, but I don't want him to feel like he has to keep going for us if he doesn't want to. Anyway, all that to say, trees are a sacred part of this world. When I moved here from Colorado, I was in awe at the number of trees that seemed to grow everywhere. Where we lived in CO, trees were sparse and had a hard time thriving so when they cut down all these gorgeous, tall, vibrant trees to build the next part of our Dallas subdivision, I grieved. Then they added more injury by pushing them all into huge piles and burning them. I cried when I saw the smoke and realized what was happening. Like you I had to witness their end. I love that you have a tree souvenir to keep the tree with you.
This week I read Alex North's MAN MADE OF SMOKE, and oh man do I have feelings about it. It was an atmospheric creepy read. Not because of the setting--that's interesting too. But because the villain is so scary. I'd say this book treads the line between horror and thriller. There isn't gore on the page, but there were times I actually shivered due to how much the bad guy scared me. Mr. North is a pro at writing to get you to feel emotions. The characters were good, but they didn't hit me like the villain did. The last time I felt this way about the antagonist was when I read THE SHINING my freshman year of high school. My one piece of caution is do not read this story when you'll be alone all night long.
I love trees, too! Every time I drive by a piece of land that has been cleared of trees, the logs laid out like corpses on the ground, to build more whatever, I want to cry. And I hate, hate, hate having to have a tree cut down on our property even when it is a safety hazard or a threat to our house ... just hate it!
Kindred souls Audra.
And with the world on fire, it seems even more wrenching to witness life and death in nature!
As Amy said... "all the feels!" And I must say... I can relate.
I love to listen to immersive and emotional stories, so I would like to recommend the audiobook of KAUA'I STORM. Normally, I wouldn't recommend my own work, but since I was hired to narrate the audiobook (combining past and current careers), I was able to voice my Ranger Makalani Pahukula and her multigenerational, multiethnic family as I've always heard them and bring true nuance and authenticity to our Native Hawaiian language and dialects. This is a deeply emotional, deeply Hawaiian mystery adventure set in the glorious wilderness of Kaua‘i. I hope you'll let me sweep you away. 🌺
Love a deeply emotional story. Congrats on the new book, Tori!
Wow....you were feeling all the feels! I get it. I live in Nebraska, the home of Arbor Day....so we love our trees! We live in the country and when we built our house 23 years ago, my husband planted 100 pine trees from seedlings for a wind break. He also plants a couple of hardwood trees ever year in our 2 acres that we've carved out for the house. He actually won Tree Planter of the year in our area about 5 years ago.
I read some excellent books this week.
EVERY SUMMER AFTER by Carley Fortune. 3 teenagers (2 brothers and the girl who lives next door) become great friends and everything that happens as they become adults.
Unbeknownst to me, this is actually the first book. I should have read it before ONE GOLDEN SUMMER. It didn't matter and almost made me appreciate the first book more.
I'm almost finished with THE GRIFFIN SISTERS GREATEST HITS by Jennifer Weiner. Oh boy is this book good. Definitely get DAISY JONES AND THE SIX vibes here. 2 sisters who are complete opposites get discovered at a talent show and get very famous very fast. Of course it all fallls apart. First time reading this author and I'll have to check out her other books.
Graduation season is upon us. We have one today and one next Fri to go to. Long time friends grandson and nephews daughter.
Happy weekend!
Congrats on graduation season!! It takes a village to get them on to the next chapter. I spent last weekend in Oklahoma attending my daughter's graduation from OU. It was a wonderful way to experience that weekend with some family. I hope they're all joyous occasions!! And I agree with JT that your community sounds ah-maz-ing!
Congrats to your daughter on her graduation!
I'm originally from Omaha, Nebraksa which is a decent size city. I moved about an hour south in 1996 to a small town...around 7000 people...big change that took some getting used to but now I LOVE it!
I can see why you love it. It'd make a great setting for a story.
I love your community, Amy! Supporting all the people and family is so great. Have fun!
And I already like your husband. We need more trees. I grew up int he woods so they are all sacred to me.
Love the Griffin Sisters rec - I’ll get on that.