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Cass M

Cass M

has 9 followers and is following 8 people

I will be returning to Shanghai in January for 4-6 weeks. I am going to miss the Phoenix Library with the never ending supply of books. I will be checking all the recommendations for excellent books I can download. Recommendations welcome!
  • Phoenix, AZ, USA
  • member since September 20, 2008

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  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Cass,

    What an exciting time you have ahead of you: China again! If you still have time to order some book for your Kindle, I'd recommend 'Sea of Poppies' by Amitav Ghosh. It's an epic story of the time of the opium wars but also of lots of other things and of very interesting people in Americ, India and China. And, if you like it - it's the first part of a trilogy!

    Have a good trip and take care! Pirjo

    posted 1 month ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Hi there, Cass!

    Hope you still have it nice and cool! We have a very warm fall this year, no permanent snow yet, wet and dark: when I leave for work in the morning it's dark and when I come back at half past four it's dark again! Luckily I don't suffer from fall depression like many women here do.
    I haven't even noticed that there are Donna Leons on DVD. Sound interesting - must have a check on the Amazon.uk to see what they are like. I just ordered a DVD with four episodes made from books by Peter Robinson. He has this DCI Banks as his hero, a policeman in Yorkshire, and I've liked the books very much. The first two parts I've seen so far are quite good.
    Have you read the latest Donna Leon? I haven't, as somebody told me it was very dry and even boring. I'll wait for the paperback, anyway.
    When we were in London in October, I finally managed to buy this Kindle, an ebook reader, as I thought that I could buy some of my books in that form and save space in my house... Unfortunately it turned out that Finns can only order content to Kindle from Amazon.com, and their prices are really high compared to paper books. So at the moment I only have two books on my Kindle, and big piles of paperbacks all over the house!!
    I'm already eagerly waiting for our Christmas holiday: two weeks of no work, reading till late at night and watching all those DVDs with the family that we never had time to watch before! We don't celebrate Christmas as a religious festivity, but it makes a nice break in the darkest time of the year. My kids hope for snow to have a white Christmas - well, let's see. These low pressures might change route and we could get snow eventually.

    I wish you good books and gentle winds.

    Pirjo

    posted 3 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Hi Cass,
    It was so lovely to hear from you. How was the UK? Did you have a chance to visit London - I hope you didn't get in the middle of those riots there? I really love London: it's THE city to me. Will be going there again in October with family.
    I noticed that you didn't like The clan of the cave bear. Was it too adventurous or light for your taste? But you loved Water for elephants; I still haven't read it even if it's been on my shelf for at least a year. There are so many good books and not enough time! I have tried to cut down the time I surf on the Net and spend it on reading or doing something useful at home, so that's why I haven't visited shelfari for some weeks, either. We started school on the 10th this month, so my days roll by very fast again. Really nice kids on my new classes and luckily in somewhat smaller groups, so I can get to know them better. I have altogether around 160 pupils, so lots of names and personalities to remember! I teach them English two or three lessons a week.
    Hope you have it a bit cooler now, and also more time to read.
    Pirjo

    posted 6 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Hi Cass!

    Noticed that you also have read Major Pettigrew - I found the book very entertaining and witty. Lately I've read two novels by Kathy Reichs, the Bones series, but next I'll need something serious and real.
    We still have lots of snow, but the sun has started to feel warm and the snow is softening by her touch. It's getting light and the birds are chasing each others round the trees, so it must be spring - finally! At school we are facing the busiest time of the year, so probably no more time to indulge oneself in a book. Must mark tests and grade pupils... Well, perhaps an occasional glimpse before falling asleep is allowed!
    Take care!
    Pirjo

    posted 11 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Dear Cass,
    So sorry it's taken me a long time to write back: this fall has been some tough time at school. I was hosting our Comenius-meeting here in Jämsä, and we had visitors from three other European schools. There was a lot of preparing to do, program to plan and things to check. It was very lovely, and so nice to see the teachers and pupils enjoying themselves and communicating in English with my pupils, but after they left I felt like an old, empty balloon!! The amount of stress and bad sleep...

    Now I think I'm back to normal, finally; I've even knitted a few socks and read some books. We have the beginning of winter already, ten centimeters of snow and it's -14 degrees Centigrade at the moment out there. The wind is blowing either from the north or from Siberia in the east, so it's cold! We only have the Christmas holiday next, from 23rd December till 10th January. On New Year we will fly to London, once again, to some city life and bright lights. This is a 7000-people village we are living in...

    Your new photo is charming, such a proud grandmother! And the baby is also cute. She's a big girl now, isn't she? Do you already read books to her? All the best to your new life, and let me know later how your Chinese friend found your part of the world!

    Pirjo

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Hi!
    Noticed that you also gave five points to 'Leaving the World' - I really liked that book, too! Have you read any others by Douglas Kennedy? Can you recommend any? He is very popular in France; I first learned about him from a French colleague of mine who was visiting here.

    Pirjo

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Hello Cass!

    Hope you are a proud new houseowner and grandmother by now? And I do hope everything is OK with your new grandchild.

    This summer we took a calculated risk and didn't reserve any beach holiday in southern Europe, because we wished for a hot summer here in Finland. And it was worth it: we have had a tremendous heatwave here for three weeks already, and it's going on at least for the next week, too! You, as a one-time northener yourself, can probably understand our pleasure as the temperatures are roaming at +30 degrees centigrade (around 90 in F?), the sun is hot and there's plenty of time to sit in the shade and read and read till you have to go to bed. We try to eat lightly, salads and such, so that nobody'd have to stand in the hot kitchen for too long.

    In June there was the World Cup in football (your soccer) on TV, so some of the time we spent on the sofa, encouraging our favourite teams, but now we don't have any timetable and feel free as birds to do whatever we feel like doing. It is so relaxing, and good for the mind. I'm so pleased with the fact that we have managed to make all our three children book lovers, too. This summer the favourite seems to be Terry Pratchett: Elli is reading him in English, while Juha and Eetu do the same in Finnish. They read, burst out laughing, and ask each other if they remember this and this part in the book! I haven't read any of his books because I don't usually like fantacy, but perhaps I should have a try as they seem so hooked on these books? My two grandchildren like to read, too, or at least listen and look at books (they are 18 months, and three and a half years).

    Still three weeks to go before the school starts again. I really should do some work in the house, but in this heat it seems such a faraway thought - I think I'll take my book outdoors and carry on with Dennis Lehane's hero Patrick Kenzie, who seems such a witty and honest young man...

    Pirjo

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Glenn Kleier

    Glenn Kleier says

    Thank you, Cass. And welcome back to the U.S.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Glenn Kleier

    Glenn Kleier says

    Hi, Cass,

    You may be interested to hear that much of the story in my new novel takes place in the "Far East" (though not China). The back cover description is:

    THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD & EVIL
    Fact: On December 4, 1968, world-famous theologian Father Louis, 52, visited the ancient Dead City of Polonnaruwa, Ceylon, entered its Cave of the Spirits of Knowledge, and experienced a vision. Some say he found a backdoor to Heaven. That he looked into the Mind of God and escaped with a Secret so powerful it could change all humanity. Bring wars to a standstill. End forever the age-old hatreds between races, creeds and cultures. As he prepared to make his revelation public, however, he suffered a horrific and mysterious death. But his Secret did not die with him. Father left behind a journal.
    Years later, psychologist Angela Weber, 27, and troubled fiancé, Ian Baringer, 30, are on the hunt for that long-lost journal. Ian, a former priest, endured severe mental trauma as a child seeing his parents lose their lives to save his. Now, faith ebbing, he no longer trusts in religion’s promise of eternal life. He’s driven to know firsthand if there is indeed an afterlife, and what it holds for mankind. And he’s found the means…
    Risking all, he and Angela will defy the Gates of Heaven and Hell to learn a Secret hidden from the world since the dawn of creation. The Knowledge of Good & Evil.

    Does this sound like your kind of story? In any event, thanks for asking. My best wishes, Glenn

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Cass,
    Long time no heard... I've had a very busy spring again - but just tomorrow and then it's two months for reading, gardening and life without clocks; even without the notion of what day of the week it is! Nature here is at its best now: very green, all different shades of green everywhere, and the day lasts long.

    You have read books steadily, I've noticed. It's so lovely to have a good library near your place. I usually buy my books, because we have a rather modest library, especially the department of books in English. At the moment I'm reading the latest Donna Leon which I try to read slowly because I don't want it to finish too soon.

    The Hamish Macbeth doesn't sound like the one you mentioned, but he is a country policeman who is quite bright but sometimes acts slow and stupid to get better results. There's also a TV series made from the books. The Brits have made other very good series that are based on popular detective stories, like Morse, Lynley, Inspector Wexford and many others. Do you have them ever on your TV? I also like the Italian Comisario Montalbano series: he lives in Sicily, by the Mediterranian shore, and I like to listen to the Italian language in the series, even if I can't speak it myself.

    I still have at least two and a half meters of books waiting on my bookshelf, so welcome, holiday - I'm ready!

    Pirjo

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    So good to hear you can do a lot of walking in your new home town: here in Europe we tend to think that nobody walks in American cities, that you don't even have the sidewalks for it! That's also living slow: when you walk, you have time to notice many places and things that you wouldn't see if you rushed by in a car.
    We still have 60 centimeters of snow and lots of minus degrees at nighttime, but the sun is higher every day and melts the drifts gradually.
    I had a wonderful week with eight of my pupils, when we were visiting the French Riviera this month. Places like Antibes, Cannes, Nice, Monte-Carlo - now I've seen them all! It wasn't very much spring time there, either, but no snow and the flowers blooming! We got a grant from the EU to get to know other European countries and talk about water and its importance to our cities. Haven't read many books, but one about a Scottish policeman called Hamish Macbeth was very interesting to me - I loved the Highlands and lochs and the scenery and people in the book.
    Pirjo

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Cass, what wonderful news! Grandchildren are such a pleasure; and it's so touching to see your own child as a competent and loving mother or father. You feel proud to be one in a line of generations, and life carried on.
    Knitting is one of my favourite pastimes, and it's quite like meditation: your hands go on automatically and your mind is free to roam. Also it's lovely to see something concrete as a result of your work - in teacher's job most of the real results are mental and difficult to measure and see. Walking is also a very profitable way to plan things or think about ideas.
    I agree with you about clutter. Last summer we cleaned our house of any extra clutter and gave many things away for recycling or reuse, and it feels great to have the attic and basement half empty and know where all the stuff is.
    I'm still reading the same book, but Elli has her new socks on her feet!
    Pirjo

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Hi! I'm sorry, Cass, but I didn't very much like the Skull Mantra. To tell you the truth, I didn't finish it, as I couldn't follow what actually was going on in the book.. I don't know too much about Tibet or Buddhism, and the book had so many references to both, using local phrases for them, that I felt at a loss with the story. I like exotic places for the background, but this time it was too exotic for me to cope.
    I also started the Amy Tan, but didn't read further than page ten, because somehow I wasn't in the mood for it now. Must save it for later. But sometimes I read books that the English call 'chick lit' - very light and often funny novels about comtemporary women and their problems with work, family and love - and last night I started one of those. It's American and about knitting: the Friday night knitting club. Everybody else has read it ages ago. After reading a few chapters I had to take out some wool and knitting needles, and start knitting socks for my daughter! Well, we have such hard winter this year that she is sure to need them. Tonight it is Friday, and I've had a truly hectic week at school, so some light escapism is OK, don't you think?

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Hi Cass, and thanks for your news. I'm glad to hear you have it safe, warm and peaceful, even if not quite as exotic as your former place of living. The scale of your city is still huge to me: we have 23.000 people in the whole area, and about 7.000 in our small center, and you have 2 million! Well, to tell you the truth, the reason I want to go to London now and then is to explore a big city, ride in the Underground, sit in a street cafe, look at all those people. Still, the daily life is good here and it's always lovely to come back home.
    We've had the Christmas holidays for a week now and I've read two books already, both thrillers to clean my brain of school stuff. Next I'm going to read something more like real literature that is touching and deeper than just an exciting plot. Have you read Amy Tan? I have her 'Saving Fish from Drowning' still waiting in my bookcase - I might try that? School starts again on January 7th, so there's plenty of time.
    Pirjo

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Hi Cass,
    If I walk to school like I do in wintertime, it takes me around eight minutes! This is a very small community, 7300 people, and we chose this house because it's near the schools and the supermarket. There's a lake nearby also, and we have a small rowing boat to use for fishing and rowing. It's quite idyllic, actually, and we appreciate the lifestyle here. In ten minutes you get to a place where you can pick blueberries and mushrooms... Also, houses with big plots and gardens are quite cheap here, so you can have a life of luxury with a teacher's salary! Yesterday my son Eetu, 11, made a snow dragon out of the first snow of the year and lit a candle in it - it's still burning in the darkening evening in the garden. If that's not luxury, what is?
    I happened to buy a book that takes place in Tibet in Amazon.uk called The Skull Mantra and noticed afterwards that you also have the book! Was it good? It sounds very exotic to me, and the first ever detective story that takes place in Tibet in my bookcase! Can't start it in the next two weeks as I have a lot of tests to mark again, but after that, I'll have a try. Wish you are well and don't fret about those books you had to leave behind!
    Pirjo

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Dear Cass, so happy to hear that you found a place for home. I've heard it said that the climate in Minnesota is very much like Finland: that's why many Finnish immigrants settled there a hundred years ago! I know about the cold weather and all that! If I could choose now, I'd definitely live in a warm climate and not in this dark country with long cold winter months...
    I don't drive myself, neither does my husband, so we don't have a car. This is quite rare in Finland, too. But from what I know of the US, cars are a necessary item there, so do you have any option but to get a car and start driving? I'm so happy I don't have to: I have a bike and even a kicking sleigh for winter! I walk with pleasure, and for longer journeys use the bus or the train, or a taxi if I have heavy shopping to do.
    I really enjoy being your friend - take care out there!

    Pirjo

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Oh Cass,

    I do hope you'll find a home to yourselves and can go back to your roots. Inform me when you have found something suitable. I'm sure you will also find a need to readapt to your home country as you've been away for so long - China, even the present one, is still so much different...

    Pirjo

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Patricia Ryan Madson

    Patricia Ryan Madson says

    If you are asking about the book, Improv Wisdom, then my answer is an unqualified YES! Lots of ideas for your journey.
    Best wishes,
    Patricia Madson

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Janice C

    Janice C says

    No, Cass ~~ Ettrick is up north of La Crosse & south of Winona ~~ used to throw the I Ching back in the 60s ~~ all the hippies did ~~ still have my copy ~~ in my on again / off again study of comparative religions, I read it once in awhile but haven't used the coins for many years ~ nice to hear from you

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Pirjo S

    Pirjo S says

    Cass,
    Thank you for inviting me as a friend - I gladly accepted!
    I duly understand your decision to move back home after years of moving about and living in different cultures. It takes plenty of energy to adapt to new things again and again, and one could use that energy to other purposes, too, even though I'm sure that you also get a lot to yourself by helping the others.

    Sometimes you've had a book for a long time but keep putting off reading it, for some reason. Then, out of duty, you start reading and realize that the book is really good and you enjoy every page! And wonder why you didn't try it before... It has happened to me many times.

    We have had a lovely fall here this year: warm and sunny. I've cooked juice from black and redcurrants and gooseberries with raspberries; and the apples are still waiting. Nights are a bit frosty sometimes but afternoons are clear and beautiful. The autumn colors are just beginning to appear. I've always loved the fall - I feel very active and living. Also the darkening evenings are very much suitable for a good read deep in the sofa!

    Wish you a good return home,

    Pirjo

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

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