Susan's ROOT Project for 2021

Hello, I'm Susan. I did this challenge a few years ago, when it was called BOMBS, I think, but it didn't go well due to all the shiny new stuff at the library. However, with my library running only a very slender service at the moment (and England probably going into total lockdown again any day now) I don't think there will be so much shiny new stuff to tempt me this year.

I'm going to try and read 50 books of my own - hard copy (not many) and Kindle (hundreds). I'm going to include books bought in 2021 - I wouldn't have such a stack of TBRs if I actually read them as I bought them. I tried to do that in the second half of 2020 and it did cut down the amount I bought.

I'll include everything I read on this thread, but only the ROOTs will have numbers next to them and those are the ones included in my ticker.

Shamelessly copying Julia's idea (Hi Julia!) I'm going to list my acquisitions too.

2021 Acquisitions

1. The Once and Future Witches (Kindle Daily Deal in the UK)
2. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (random Kindle Deal that showed up in my notifications)
3. West With Giraffes (a Kindle First Read)
4. The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths
5. Long Bright River by Liz Moore
6. Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
7. The Other Mrs by Mary Kubica
8. Dead Famous by Greg Jenner
9. The Wedding Game by Meghan Quinn
10. The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish
11. Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel
12. Bloodline by Jess Lourey
13. The Coppersmith Farmhouse by Devney Perry
14. Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes
15. Red Heat by Alex von Tunzelmann
16. The Boundless Sea by David Abulafia
17. Written in Bone by Sue Black
18. Airhead by Emily Maitlis
19. Blitzed by Norman Ohler

Hi Susan! Good to see you back after all those years. I was a BOMBer too. Happy ROOTing.

1. Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire by Alex von Tunzelmann

This is about India in the run-up to independence in 1947, when it split into India and Pakistan, with some of the princely states undecided and Kashmir a source of dispute (as it still is). Towards the end of last year I read The Mountbattens by Andrew Lownie and it was a superb read. This book also has a lot about them, although Edwina comes across as a slightly more sympathetic character, at least by the end. At the beginning, well:

"Edwina's life was a constant rotation of luncheon-parties, garden-parties, cocktail-parties, dinner-parties and weekend house-parties. When she was not at parties she was planning parties, or buying new dresses for parties, or carrying on illicitly with the men she had met at parties, or recovering from the hangovers she had incurred by going to too many parties."

Mostly, though, it's about the Indian politicians rather than the Mountbattens, and it's an excellent read.

In non-ROOT reading, yesterday I finally read the first of the Sherlock Holmes stories, A Study in Scarlet, and I've started Our Mutual Friend as my chunky classic read for January. It's nearly incomprehensible, only 4% in. Oh dear.

>3 connie53: Hi Connie, and thank you for the welcome! I fixed that rogue "2021" - thank you for pointing it out :-) It's weird because it usually takes me till about March to stop writing the previous year when I date things!

Welcome to the group, Susan! I hope you're able to get a good lot of reading done this year. Also hoping that England get their act together and you actually know what's going to happen re lockdown (I'm in Scotland, although I'm English so most of my family are still down south).

Howdy, Susan!

Hello and welcome back! Hope you have a great reading year exploring the books on your shelves!

>6 Jackie_K: Thanks Jackie! So far things are chaos down here (London). First the schools were going back on Monday, then some weren't, now none of the primaries are. I don't even have kids in primary school and it seems like a shambles. No doubt there will be a press conference on Monday, with more confusion. I will be back at my (WFH) desk, anyway.

>7 rosalita: Hi Julia!

>8 rabbitprincess: Thanks RabbitPrincess! I should like the books in my own collection even better than library books as I picked them and paid for them. But then again they'll always be there...

Hello, Susan!! Just barely begun and already you hit me with a book bullet. Well done!

>10 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Alex von Tunzelmann is an excellent historian, but she also has a nice line in snark :-) I love things about India, and I'm planning to read The Patient Assassin very soon.

Hi Susan! Good luck with your challenge. I'm watching a documentary about wild weather in the UK in 2020. I hope this is not a sign of how my 2021 is going to go!!

>12 charl08: Thanks Charlotte! I read something about another Beast from the East due to something happening in the stratosphere.* I've decided that not having to get up in the dark and go to work in the cold is one of the (few) benefits of WFH so I'm trying to embrace it instead of whining. Which really doesn't sound like me...

*or maybe another type of sphere

>9 susanj67: I don't envy you Londoners at all! I used to live in SE London for many years (Brockley and Forest Hill, mainly, so LB Lewisham) and know several teachers, including a former flatmate. And seeing the pictures from outside St Thomas' Hospital over New Year, with the protesters chanting that covid is a hoax as staff left their shifts, was just heartbreaking. It sounds though like the teaching unions are being very active and supportive - I hope you get clarity soon. Up here in Scotland our holidays have been extended, so we still have another week of holidays (in our local authority the children were supposed to go back to school this coming Thursday), and then a week of blended learning (aka home learning). I wouldn't be surprised if that is extended - hopefully not by too much, as having an only child at home with only us for entertainment was difficult for everyone last year! At the moment she's saying she's going to do the home schooling, but it was a bit of a battle before, so we'll see how we go! :D

>14 Jackie_K: Jackie, that group outside St Thomas's must have been heartbreaking for the doctors. There have been lots of anti-lockdown protests here too, with crowds in Trafalgar Square and the West End, no masks in sight - I feel sorry for the police who have to break it all up and put their own health on the line. I'm in Tower Hamlets, which wasn't too bad during the first wave due to a large young population and almost no care homes, but it's really bad now. There *is* more testing than there was, which accounts for some of it, but the hospitals are getting close to full which they weren't before. I've had a text from the NHS saying don't call 999 or go to hospital unless it's an emergency (which I thought was the rule anyway) and one from my GP saying that the number of cases in the area is one of the highest in the borough (!) so don't go out. Fortunately I've been practising staying in for nine months, so I'm pretty good at it :-) As well as reading 50 ROOTs in 2021 I think this could be the year I finally finish Netflix!

Happy new reading year, Susan!

Looking forward to another year of following your reading, Susan. Hope you manage to get your roots done this year. >;-)

Glad you are going to give it another try!

Happy ROOTing in 2021, Susan!

Hi Susan, thank you for showing me the way. I've got you starred now. Happy New Year!

>16 katiekrug: Thanks Katie!

>17 Helenliz: Thanks Helen! I have high hopes for my Roots :-)

>18 cyderry: Thanks Chèli, and thank you for getting everything organised. Every year I fear I'll forget how to do the tickers, but so far so good :-)

>19 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita!

>20 DianaNL: Thanks Diana!

After a slow start to the morning (my final day of holiday, so that's my excuse) I'm planning to finish East West Street today. It's not a ROOT - it's a library book that I've been reading for about a month and it's time I wrapped it up. Then maybe The Flatshare, which I started last night. I also read a bit more of Our Mutual Friend, which is still almost impossible to understand. If it wasn't a library ebook I'd suspect it had been through about three languages on Google Translate and then back into English.

East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity by Phillipe Sands

This is not a ROOT, but a very good library book which won the Baillie Gifford prize here in the UK in 2017, I think. It's partly about the author's family, but in the context of WWII and the persecution of Jews in Europe. It also looks at the Nuremberg trials, and crimes against humanity and genocide. It's a superb read, although a difficult topic and there are parts which are very hard to read because of their content. Sands is one of the commentators in the documentary about Nuremberg recently shown on Channel 5 here (and available on My5) and that is also very well done, although even harder to watch. I couldn't bear to look at some of the historical footage.

Sands followed this up with The Ratline, which I read in July last year. The story in that book arose out of this one and follows a Nazi who got away. I'd also recommend Samantha Power's A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, which looks in more detail at Raphael Lemkin, the lawyer who developed the idea of genocide as a crime, and later saw it adopted in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Happy Sunday, Susan! I am not a Dickens fan (except for A Christmas Carol, which I love) - he is too verbose for me. I would love to read another classic with you, though, so if there's want you're wanting to get to this year that is not authored by Dickens, Twain or Faulkner let me know.

I have The Flatshare in the stacks.

The Flatshare is a good read!

Hmmm, some of my favorite people are over here and I have more books in Mt. TBR than I have space to put them on shelves when I read them...perhaps I should start a tread over here. I'll think about it.

>22 susanj67: I've heard lots of good things about this book. I guess if it's won the Baillie Gifford it's hard to go wrong with it!

>23 Crazymamie: Mamie, I would love to keep our classics buddy-reading going too! I was thinking about Tess of the D'Urbervilles for next month (I read it in high school but it was wasted on me). Or Ivanhoe? Or Tom Jones? Or whatever you have in a beautiful hard copy, and I will download the free version? :-)

>24 katiekrug: Hi Katie! I didn't *love* it, but my review is below.

>25 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, it would be lovely to see you if you do!

>26 Jackie_K: Jackie, yes, it was a worthy winner. There's an amazing amount of research in it, but Sands is a great writer and it doesn't get bogged down.



2. The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

This has been on my Kindle for a while, and I was saving it for something light to read in between long NFs. I'm not sure it's the best choice for that. It has lots of popular romance things in it - two good lead characters, an interesting set-up, but I had Issues. First, there's a lot of legal stuff in it, and it's all Completely Wrong. So, so wrong. But I won't get started or this will be a super-long post. My main issue was with Justin, the ex-boyfriend. Justin turns out to be a violent psychopath who's been stalking the heroine, with the help of one of her co-workers. The physical violence comes out at the end, and is mostly directed against a door rather than a person, but it's obvious from the start that he can't bear the fact that Tiffy has moved on. This is never treated seriously. As he hammers on the door at the end the police come and take him away, and then it cuts to an epilogue of happily ever after for Tiffy and Leon. But in this country Justin would probably not have been jailed for the violent episode. And if he had been, the sentence would have been ridiculously short. Tiffy may well have become one of the two women a week who are murdered in the UK by a current or former partner. And suggesting that "love conquers (or fixes) all" is just wrong. I know it's a fluffy, feel-good romance, but I didn't feel good.

This turned into a long post after all. Oops.

>27 susanj67: I don't mind a long post ;-)

Skipping your review spoiler until I have read it, which means that I need to get to it soonish because I am not good with waiting.

You mentioned on my thread maybe a NF classic, which would be fine with me. Let's see, in fiction don't have Tess (but there is a gorgeous Penguin Clothbound Classics edition that I would happily purchase to add to my collection), but I do have Far From the Madding Crowd, I also have Vanity Fair, The Woman in White, Vilette, Crime and Punishment, Brideshead Revisited, Candide.... I don't have Ivanhoe or Tom Jones but do want to read these, so would just obtain a copy.

In NF I have Silent Spring, Homage to Catalonia...I know I have more but I am blanking. I love polar stuff, so any NF polar read would be fine - to count as a classic for my classic challenge, it has to be at least 50 years old, so 1971 or earlier.

>27 susanj67: - I wouldn't mind knowing how the legal stuff was wrong. Just sayin'!

I think your spoiler comments are really interesting. It definitely took a darker turn than I was expecting, and your insight is useful.

>28 connie53: Thank you, Connie :-)

>29 Crazymamie: Mamie, how about Far From the Madding Crowd in that case? Then we can think of a NF choice for after that. I am also a bit blank on titles, but I'm sure there are lots :-)

>30 katiekrug: Katie, I'll put some of the wrong things in spoilers below:



1. Barristers do not wear wigs and gowns outside court. There's a scene in which Gerty is all wigged up somewhere else - nooo!

2. It is very unusual for barristers to communicate directly with clients, as Gerty does with Richie. Usually communications go via a solicitor.

3. Gerty orders the transcript of Richie's trial, but there is no mention of who's going to pay for it. A transcript costs a fortune. A barrister wouldn't just order a copy and get it free. Gerty may act pro bono for Richie, but that doesn't include costs like transcripts and other disbursements.

4. Richie says he's at the "courthouse" for his appeal, but a criminal appeal before three judges takes place at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand. No-one in the history of ever has called it a "courthouse". Even a less important court in the UK is "the court", not "the courthouse". On that subject, an appeal judge is a Lord Justice or Lady Justice. The book refers to "Judge Whaite", which is wrong. "Judge" is the title for a lower-level judge. In the Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Whaite would be sitting.

5. I'm not a criminal lawyer, but it's incredibly rare to call witnesses to give evidence in a civil appeal, and you can't just put in evidence that was available at the time of the original trial (which the CCTV evidence in this case was) without permission. Also, the book is vague about whether Richie's first lawyer had actually filed an appeal or not, even though he'd been in prison for months. There are time limits!

6. Richie's conviction is overturned in a judgment given *insanely quickly* and he's released from prison, but it would be far more common for a conviction to be declared unsafe and a retrial ordered (which may or may not go ahead depending on what the new evidence was and the view of the Crown Prosecution Service as to whether it was worth having another trial). If the defendant was in prison on remand before the original trial, he might have to stay there pending the new trial, or apply for bail. For armed robbery he might not get bail if he was originally remanded in custody.

ETA to change a "jail" to "prison" as I think they are different in the US. The words are synonyms in England.


Well, you did ask ;-)

England is back in lockdown. Well, everywhere in the UK is, but Scotland announced it at lunchtime. No big surprise, really. And not much of a change from tier 4, although the schools are closing this time. They didn't for lockdown 2.

Had I known all that was so wrong, I would have been VERY annoyed. The author is British, right? How could she get so much wrong? Too many American law and order shows?!?!

>31 susanj67: Good luck for this lockdown! I think it's the right decision, and I really hope that it's allowed to actually work this time, rather than relaxed too soon and all the gains are lost again.

At any rate, it looks like your reading has got off to a good start! I have a few books on the go, so hopeful I'll have something to report by the end of the week.

Far From the Madding Crowd it is!

>31 susanj67: Blimy! It hadn't floated my boat before seeing that lot, now it's sunk at the bottom of the river. Thanks for taking the time to type it all out.

>32 katiekrug: Katie, yes, there are a lot of US legal shows on here, and people get carried away. At least no-one "took the stand", which we also do not do here. Witnesses "go into the witness box". I should set up a consultancy to correct law-related errors in manuscripts. I could do it alongside Bookshelf Butler, for people appearing on TV via the Zoom with tragic bookshelves behind them.

>33 Jackie_K: Jackie, yes, I think it was inevitable that lockdown would happen again. And until March at least, it seems. aaaargh.

>34 Crazymamie: Mamie, excellent! And it will encourage me to finish Our Mutual Friend in good time. And by "finish" I mean "read the remaining 91.8% of it."

>35 Helenliz: Helen, you know me - correcting legal wrongness is my thing :-)

I started Blood and Oil last night, which is about Mohammed bin Salman, and it's a really good read. And a ROOT!

Wow, the year is barely a week old and I have already been hit with a book bullet for the India book! Well done! Please continue! (Oh those blasted typos...)

>37 MissWatson: Birgit, I'll do my best!



3. Blood and Oil by Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck

Ooh, this is *excellent*. And pretty much right up to date. If you've ever struggled to keep up with what's happening in Saudi Arabia, where there are literally thousands of members of the royal family, this book makes it very clear who's who and what they're doing. It focuses on the current Crown Prince, but there's some history in it and lots of other people too. Very highly recommended for current affairs fans.

In other news, I've given up Our Mutual Friend because I just couldn't understand a word of it. Had I not been reading other things at the same time I would have been worried, but I had no problem understanding the other things. I'm going to read some more Sherlock Holmes for my January classic read. I've got book 2 from the elibrary so I'll read that over the weekend. My next ROOT is going to be Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World

Blood and Oil sounds good. Adding it to my list...

You may recall I went to Saudi last January. I keep getting emails from the visa authority asking me to complete a survey about my experience. I haven't yet, but I'm afraid if I don't, they'll come find me and kill me...

Greetings! Here's hoping for a somewhat calmer 2021, in London and everywhere! Happy reading this year. I'll look forward to following along.

>39 katiekrug: Katie, maybe just rate everything "excellent", to be on the safe side? I opened up my Chromebook earlier to reply to you and at that very moment an ad came on TV for "Visit Arabia (Saudi)" which I've never seen before. I quietly closed the Chromebook and went and did something else.

>40 rocketjk: Thanks Jerry! Some calm would be nice :-)

It's freezing here, and that's the weather forecast saying that - not just me. I know London doesn't get *really* cold, but it's cold-for-London. The Mayor has declared a major incident (ETA for Covid, not the weather), although I'm not sure what that actually means other than more TV time for the mayor. But our hospitals are pretty much full at the moment, and I doubt there are any more medical staff to be made available. I had to go out for groceries yesterday and that was the first time I'd left the building in nine days. Outside seems very big when you get there.

I started Hidden Hand last night and it's good, but I think I'll read a thriller of some sort today. Or maybe watch some more of Cosmos, which is an excellent Disney+ series with Neil de Grasse Tyson. I know I said I was going to cancel Disney+, but instead I now have a subscription for a whole year. That's a cancellation fail right there. But they're adding lots of new content next month, and it turns out I want all the Nice Things.

I think you are right to indulge yourself with Disney+. With all the staying in, things like that are sanity savers. Being kind to yourself is a win.

I'm adding Blood and Oil to The List, so thanks for that.

>41 susanj67: We have Disney+ and it is great!

>42 Crazymamie: Mamie, I've decided to start the Marvel universe (if that's the right name for it). Today I watched Captain America, which is the first one if you watch them in order. Next up seems to be two seasons of Agent Carter. I'm going to make it a 2021 project.

>43 rabbitprincess: I've been surprised at how much there is that's not just for kids. I'd recommend The Right Stuff, a National Geographic drama about the first NASA astronauts, if you haven't already seen that.

>44 susanj67: Birdy would be so proud, Susan. She is a huge Marvel fan, so if you have any questions...

>45 Crazymamie: Mamie, that's good to know! So far my main question is how Captain America looked so small before he was transformed into his super-hero self. It was the same actor, so they must have shot the early scenes in a different way to the later ones after he'd been transformed. It was clever, however they did it.

It's cold here too. And I already have too much recorded to get through it all so I am NOT going to succumb to the allure of Disney or Netflix (That's Katie and The Brigertons).

>4 susanj67:
What a great quote - Edwina Mountbatten sounds like a riot (even if the thought of that many parties makes my poor introverted heart quail)

>31 susanj67:
Oof - I really hate it when people get "the legal stuff" super-wrong as well. I know they kind of have to in some cases for plot/drama purposes, but that doesn't mean I can't scoff loudly or holler things like "fruit of the poisonous tree!" at the pages. Honestly, though, it is more the little things (like wigs) which really pull me out of the story, because...just...ASK...

>41 susanj67: I hope you'll soon be over the worst in London, but I fear it will take a while. If the government had been more decisive about lockdowns earlier I believe we'd not be in this position. I know folk working at London hospitals and it sounds awful right now.

Honestly, I think this (and last) year is probably not the year to be depriving ourselves of simple luxuries like books and Netflix subscriptions.

>44 susanj67: That's on my watchlist, but I haven't got to it yet. I'm glad for your recommendation!

>47 Helenliz: Helen, it seems to be even colder today. Boo. I still have stuff on my PVR that I haven't watched - once the streaming takes over there never seems to be time...

>48 Caramellunacy: The author has a great writing style, definitely :-) But the Mountbattens didn't seem like very nice people, all in all.

>49 Caramellunacy: Ha! Yes - there are plenty of lawyers in the world and I'd be very happy to beta-read for Wrongness. I wonder now about all the stuff I read with characters from other types of work, and whether that is also wildly inaccurate.

>50 Jackie_K: Jackie, according to Tim Spector, of the Kings/Zoe Covid app, London's R rate is falling, so that's something. There must still be cases to come from Christmas, though. They never should have "unlocked" Christmas. But there are still so many people doing stupid things - it's just ridiculous. If the government isn't up to the job you'd think people would be even more careful to look after themselves, but they're not.

>51 rabbitprincess: I hope you enjoy it when you get to it!

The Pull of the Stars came in at the elibrary yesterday, so I read half of that last night. I'll finish it today because it was a reserve and it took weeks to come, so there must be a giant list waiting for it. It's very well done, but perhaps not the best choice in the middle of a pandemic.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

This is really excellent, although very harrowing in many respects. It's set over three days in early November 1918 as the Spanish Flu rages through Dublin. Julia, the main character, is a nurse at a hospital in Dublin, responsible for pregnant women who also have flu. She's essentially running a makeshift offshoot of the maternity ward, assisted only by an unqualified helper, Bridie. The story took turns that I didn't expect it to, but I loved it. It's pretty much unputdownable, unless you need to sleep :-)

>53 susanj67: - I hadn't been able to decide if I wanted to read this one or not, but I think you've sealed the deal for Yes.

>53 susanj67:. There is a BB for me! You hit me. I love Emma Donoghue anyway. Now on my way to find it.

Hi Susan - came over to catch up and keep seeing familiar names. What does one call this, a "thread bullet"?

>53 susanj67: Oh good. I have this waiting on borrowbox. Thanks for the nudge.

>56 RebaRelishesReading: I not Susan, but I love the idea of Thread bullets.

>54 katiekrug: Katie, it's great but pretty gory, so beware if that sort of thing doesn't work for you.

>55 connie53: Connie, I hope you can get it! This was my first Emma Donoghue. I didn't like the premise of Room and I didn't realise she'd written so many other things.

>56 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I'm not sure, but it's always lovely to see my pals :-)

>57 charl08: Charlotte, that's odd - I was sure that you'd recommended this one...Or maybe that's just my default assumption :-)

>58 connie53: Hi again, Connie!

No ROOTS for me this week, but I have finished A Fistful of Shells and The Sign of Four. I'm really not a Sherlock Holmes fan, it turns out, so I won't be reading any more. Holmes seems like a smug know-it-all to me.

I've started Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, which was a Kindle Deal earlier in the month, but it isn't really grabbing me. All in all I'm not excited by anything I'm reading at the moment. The China book is important but not a page-turner. I've suspended all my hard-copy library holds until June, but the elibrary holds are still ticking over. Let's see - four weeks, eight weeks, ten weeks, 12 weeks and an ominous "about six months" (The Thursday Murder Club)

Gore is fine :)

Since you like historical fiction, you might give Emma Donoghue's Slammerkin a try. I remember really liking it when I read it back in the early 2000s.

>59 susanj67: I totally agree with you re Sherlock Holmes. I've only read the very first one, A Study in Scarlet, and he really grated - unnecessarily condescending to absolutely everyone. Ugh.

Room is a very good book, that made me want to read all her books.

>59 susanj67: I hope an exciting book comes your way soon! I've been feeling a bit the same, honestly. I want to read, but I keep picking at all the books on the go and can't really settle on one.

And I hope you like The Thursday Murder Club when it finally arrives. It was exactly what I needed when it came in for me late last year :)

Another non-fan of Holmes here -- either in print on on TV.
I did like Room though. It's one of only a few books that will stick with me forever I think.

Hope you find a book that grabs you soon. I'm having trouble settling down to any reading. I'm blaming it on all of the personal and national distractions and hope it will end soon.

>60 katiekrug: Thanks Katie - I'll keep that one in mind.

>61 Jackie_K: Jackie, I'm a tiny bit pleased that I don't now have all the others to read :-)

>62 connie53: Connie, I was put off the Room scenario after I read The Collector at University. That was flat out the scariest book I've ever read. I remember getting home one day, still reading it, and I'd forgotten my keys and my mother was out. I had to sit and wait for her to get home, scared that someone might come along and "collect" me.

>63 rabbitprincess: Yes, I think I'm just having one of those January weeks, where everything is a bit blah. I am looking forward to The Thursday Murder Club - it's had a lot of good press here.

>64 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, you've had so much to do, though! It must be hard just to sit down again. Also, you should probably have a good look round the house in case there's say, a whole attic that you haven't discovered yet. Because that happens to people, you know...

>65 susanj67: Your Collector experience sound terrifying!!

Thank you for finding excuses for me. There is actually an attic where I've not been...it's over the garage and is only for storage. Otherwise, this is a single-story house with a "crawl space" (where I am NOT going) underneath so no surprise areas I'm afraid (except maybe some that Harry Potter could find but I won't be able to) :)

I read all the Holmes books in my early teens (if not a smidge before) and I get where you're comming from with the smug git thing. I suppose I read them at an age when (to me) every adult knew everything and I was surprised when they didn't know it all. That doesn't stop me enjoying every minute of them though. >:-) Never watch the TV shows though, not sure why but it's never appealed in the same way.

>66 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, see, I knew there would be a secret attic involved somewhere. You and Katie should start a club. Or a secret society. That would make sense. A secret attic society. (Hi Katie!)

>67 Helenliz: Helen, I wonder how I would have felt if I'd discovered them earlier. I've never seen the TV versions either (because I haven't read the books, obvs...)

I'm having a day of tech annoyances - hardly any email all morning and then it arrives in clumps. Things seem to be a bit better now. I turned the wi-fi off on my phone to see whether it was a wi-fi issue, but it doesn't seem to be. And my wi-fi router has all the correct lights the correct colours.

I started the Agent Carter series on Marvel over the weekend and I like it a lot. I also watched The Night Stalker on Netflix (very good but very disturbing) and the first episode of their new Yorkshire Ripper documentary. The books have been less successful. I started Wall of Silence last night, hoping for a good thriller, but it's pretty ploddy with too much back story ladled in. I do want to find out what happens, though, so that's something.

It's Monday, Susan, which explains the tech issues. It's just getting started here, and I must say that I do not have a very good attitude about it.

I love Sherlock Holmes for all the reasons you dislike him. And Sherlock featuring Benedict Cumberbatch is brilliant.

No secret attics here that we have discovered yet, but we do have a LOT of attic. Of course, I have not been in it...

>68 susanj67:
I really enjoyed (especially Season 1) of Agent Carter. I am particularly fond of her very dashing hat - and innovative use of office supplies as defensive weaponry.

>69 Crazymamie: Mamie, I think you're right about M*nday. The Fire TV stick refused to work earlier, saying there was no internet, so I couldn't get Alexa to play Absolute 80s. It seems to be OK now, though and emails started appearing regularly. Today is supposed to be the most depressing day of the entire year, so maybe the tech was just joining in.

>70 Caramellunacy: Ha! Yes, I liked the way she stapled someone. I might watch another one tonight if the internet co-operates.

I thought of you yesterday as we were putting bins of holiday stuff in the attic. I peered into some dark corners to see if I had missed any hidden doors or anything, but no luck...

"Today is supposed to be the most depressing day of the entire year, so maybe the tech was just joining in." -- really? Care to explain?

>72 katiekrug: Katie, but remember how long it took you to find the attic last time?! I'm following a BookTuber who bought a house in Nova Scotia, unseen, and she's posting updates on her renovation, which includes all sorts of strange rooms. Only in North America do people have So Much Room.

>73 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, today is "Blue Monday": https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/blue-monday-2021-uk-why-today-b1788755....

>74 susanj67: - Okay, I will keep looking....

I'd never heard of Blue Monday before. I don't make resolutions solely because I don't need the extra guilt when I inevitably break them!

My tech had all sorts of weird glitches yesterday - I never thought of Blue Monday though! I checked this morning, and two new reservations have come through for pick up at the library so Tuesday is looking up for me. (It's the little things.)

Hi Susan, me again. Waterstones have sent me an email saying they're offering the new Reacher for half price if you pre-order. Just in case you haven't seen it already...
https://www.waterstones.com/book/better-off-dead/lee-child/2928377053321

>75 katiekrug: Katie, I'm not a big resolution-maker either. There's no point setting yourself up to fail :-)

>76 charl08: Charlotte, that does sound like a good start to Tuesday :-)

>77 charl08: Thank you for the link! I think it's a tiny bit misleading of Waterstones to say "Coming soon" when it's not out till October, but I suppose everyone is trying to get some cash right now.



4. Wall of Silence by Tracy Buchanan

I bought this last year, and started it when I wanted something thrillery. I didn't love the writing but I was kept entertained by who'd done what, and why, and definitely wanted to finish it to find out. One of the main "clunk" points was the chapters which were a Facebook chat between residents of a village. Those are just tedious.

I've nearly finished Ninth House but this evening I'm staying up to watch a new series, and in the meantime I'm watching Dream House Makeover on Netflix, which is about an interior designer based in Utah. The first clients have an *extra living room* that they don't know what to do with. I could cry.

Have I missed your review of A Fistful of Shells? I'm interested in what you thought of it, because I really struggled with it. Mainly as I'm particularly dense when it comes to economics.

>79 Helenliz: Helen, I mentioned it as a finish but I didn't review it, so you haven't missed a review :-) I thought it was an interesting premise but it was very long, wasn't it? And the library kept auto-renewing loans because of lockdown, so I let it slide a bit. It probably would have worked better if I'd read it more quickly. There was lots of history in it that I'd never seen before - the author was so right that what we think about African history is very much what it suited Western governments for us to think at the time (and since). I wonder whether that's the same for Africans, or whether they are taught more about their own history than the western view of it.

My replacement Marks & Spencer order arrived this week after the first one was "lost in transit" according to their customer service people (who rang me the day after my email - impressive!). The only part of the original order that arrived was the multi-pack of tights that I added to the order to get free shipping. The irony. I wanted to try a "Heat-Gen" top, which is the M&S version of Uniqlo's Heat-Tech. It's very, very warm. Maybe *too* warm (which I didn't even think was possible, for me). And the neck is pretty tight. So I feel warm but a little bit strangled. I'm going to see if it loosens up a bit when it's washed. It was packaged up and had clearly never been touched so I didn't wash it first, which might have been a mistake. Otherwise it's good - plenty long enough (and I am a long person) with full-length sleeves which are also long enough for my long arms. So a cautious recommendation at present, for people with very skinny necks. https://www.marksandspencer.com/heatgen-thermal-turtle-neck-top/p/clp22422481?co...

5. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The BookTubers love Leigh Bardugo, and particularly her "Grishaverse" series, soon to come to Netflix. But this is apparently her first novel for adults, so I bought it earlier this month when it was a Kindle Deal. It's set at Yale University, which has a number of magical societies (with alumni all over the world) and the "Ninth House" is supposed to keep them all in line and make sure the magic doesn't get out of control. Except it does. And Alex Stern, the main character, has to learn very fast in her new role with the Ninth House. I had thought this was a standalone until I got near to the end, and I see that LT lists it as book 1 in the Alex Stern series, although there are no other books yet. But I won't be picking up the next instalments - I didn't care enough about any of the characters to need to find out what happens next. I'm just going to assume that it all turns out OK in the end :-)

Ooh, it's *snowing*! It's just started as I was typing this. The forecast on my phone involved a snowflake but snow is often promised for London and not delivered.

>81 susanj67: we had a flurry yesterday, settled for a bit, but vanished within a couple of hours.

>80 susanj67: It was rather long. I felt it would have been a lot more accessible with some more maps and a basic knowledge of economics. It was an interesting premise, though.

Hey there, Susan!

If you are interested in a trade, I’ll swap my roaring Arctic wind for your snow flurry. Granted the wind has been carrying on since late yesterday afternoon, but it’s supposed to have another day, at least, of additional fury so it would probably be a pretty good deal - if you are a fan of Arctic winds and the like. Turns out that neither Jane nor I are.

We are forecast to get between 9 and 12 inches of snow tomorrow, which I will happily send your way, Susan, if you're feeling shortchanged!

Snow! How delightful.

>80 susanj67: "The only part of the original order that arrived was the multi-pack of tights that I added to the order to get free shipping. The irony." So true!

>84 rosalita: *envy eyes*

Happy reading 2021, Susan. I'm glad that I've found you.

>85 Crazymamie: Our 5 day post break ended on Saturday which was a relief. One clothing company took a month to send the final bit of my order (two basic tops) and then sent me the same thing again a week later. Odd.

I saw pictures of the snow on various friends' Facebook/Instagram postings. So pretty!

>82 Helenliz: Helen, yes, ours disappeared pretty quickly too. But the rooftop dusting was pretty to look at while it lasted.

>83 Fourpawz2: Charlotte!! Lovely to see you :-) Now let me see - does the Arctic wind come with a roaring fire, unlimited hot drinks (preferably brought straight to my chair) and an end date? Because otherwise...maybe not. I hope it gets better for you soon.

>84 rosalita: Julia, yikes, that sounds like a lot. London would creak to a halt by about inch 2. I hope you don't lose power.

>85 Crazymamie: Mamie, I didn't even need the tights right now - it's just always handy to have some hoarded available for a tights crisis.

>86 Ameise1: Hello Barbara! Welcome!

>87 charl08: Charlotte, that's a long time without post, particularly with the vaccine letters going out. East London is notoriously dreadful but I seem to be lucky this time. I hope your sorting office is back to full service now.

>88 katiekrug: Katie, it really was a nice amount for prettiness with no hassle.

I started Force of Nature last night, which looks good. I enjoyed The Dry when I read it a year or so ago (all the months blur into one now). I think I have all the author's books on my Kindle, or at least three of them. Maybe not the fourth yet.

>89 susanj67: Hi, Susan! I love Jane Harper, and I hope you enjoy Force of Nature. Her fourth book isn't out here yet — next month, I think. I've really liked the three I've read so far.

I need to get back to Jane Harper - I have only read one of hers. I have The Dry on Kindle.

It's Monday, Susan. I hope you remembered not to make eye contact.

>90 rosalita: Hi Julia! I did enjoy it! I have her third book on my Kindle and the fourth one is out here but pretty recently, I think.

>91 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! I tried not to look at Monday, but it was still a long day. It was a long week, really, but finally it's the weekend and tomorrow is February OMG. Are you still OK to read Far From the Madding Crowd?



6. Force of Nature by Jane Harper

This is book 2 in the Aaron Falk series. Four women walk out of the bush after a "team-building" weekend, but where is the fifth? Very twisty and turny and I didn't guess the ending. I liked it a lot. I read it partly because the author's first book was set during an extreme drought and everything was very hot, which I thought might be nice at this time of year, but this one was set near Melbourne and everyone kept saying how cold they were...



7. The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths

When I read The Stranger Diaries, which is the first book in this new series, I liked it but wished that the author had used the time to write another one in the Ruth Galloway series. But with this one, all is forgiven :-) I loved it. It's the second book featuring DS Harbinder Kaur, a police officer in Shoreham, which is on the south coast. But it's the rest of the characters that make this one a delight, and I'm sure I'm not the only person hoping that Natalka gets her own spin-off series. I also like the way that Griffiths writes German Shepherds into her books. In both the Ruth Galloway series and now this one, a German Shepherd has saved the day :-)

I've started Scrublands, which is set in another drought, but I don't think I'll finish it today. So January's stats are:

Books read in total: 12 (4 NF, 8 F)
ROOTs read: 7

Books bought: 5 (oops)
Books bought this month and read this month: 3

Happy Sunday, Susan! I am looking forward to reading Far From the madding Crowd with you - I have already pulled it from the shelves. And for further contemplation, I now have my own copy of Tom Jones, so if you wan tot tackle that one at some point this year, just say the word.

I need to get back to that Jane Harper series - I read and liked the first one. And also I am cheered by this: "and everyone kept saying how cold they were..." You know how I feel about cold reads!!

I cannot wait to read The Postscript Murders - I have had it pre-ordered since I learned about it, and still I wait. It comes out here on March 2nd.

Good work on the ROOTS read! I have read 11 from my shelves that I purchased prior to this year, so I am very happy with that. But only 1 non-fiction, so not so good there. I went to the library this week for the first time in ages, so long in fact that my card had expired! I discovered that RB Digital and Overdrive have merged, so I now have access to Overdrive again, which is very happy making. I will try to control myself because I have been doing an excellent job of reading my own stuff for the past year. Of course, I also purchased A LOT more stuff, so...

>93 Crazymamie: Happy Sunday to you too, Mamie! And it seems like you've got quite a good start on it. Wasn't it, um, 4.30 when you posted?

Excellent news about Tom Jones - shall we aim for April?

Weirdly, The Postscript Murders was a Kindle Daily Deal here on Thursday, I think, so I snagged it for 99p. You are doing very well with the ROOTs! I've been picking easy novels but I have quite a bit of NF that I need to get on with. I'm glad they let you renew your library card :-) I just logged on for something and could hardly remember my number or the PIN. Terrible. It must be lovely to have Overdrive again - I tried a book on RB Digital and it was beyond awful as a platform so I never tried another one. I bet it was designed by people who aren't readers. I still have ages to wait for my current holds so I should make some decent progress on the ROOTs next month, particularly as I can count things I buy this year :-)

>94 susanj67: Yep. I don't sleep much - my insomnia runs rampant these days.

I would love to read Tom Jones in April!

That was a most excellent Kindle Deal! Some of my reads this month were short ones, so my numbers are looking good. I am excited about the renewed library card, but sadly, my closest branch has hardly anything in it - they keep getting rid of stuff, which seems counterintuitive. So, I will have to go to a different branch next time. I also tried RB Digital just once and it was truly horrible, so I just didn't use it. You are probably right that it was designed by nonreaders. I like to borrow digital stuff on my Kindle, not read it on my computer, which seems like how that platform is set up to work best. That last sentence is very awkward, but you know what I mean. *grin* I was absolutely giddy about getting Overdrive back.

Wishing you good luck with your February ROOTS - I believe in you, Susan!

>92 susanj67: I read The Stranger Diaries and enjoyed it, so will look out for the follow ups. I'm still working my way through the Ruth Galloway books, so maybe for when I've got a little further with those.

Sorry about the long week. February has sort of snuck up on me. I've got a training coursre first week in Fenruary, and I've been convinced I've got another week, but no, it starts Monday. And an exam on Friday eek.

>95 Crazymamie: Well, it's lovely to see you in "European" time. It's usually pretty quiet until LT US wakes up :-) That's sad about your library - I hate to think what will happen to mine when thing are back to normal. There's a consultation going on at the moment which may involve closing three branches (out of seven, I think). But all options involve closing at least the little Carnegie Library down at Cubitt Town, which is very sad. Apparently they're going to re-site the Canary Wharf branch further down the peninsula in the next five years, so it will be handier for those people who lose Cubitt Town. Someone from a council up north somewhere said that as they've been able to keep libraries closed during the pandemic, that proves that they aren't really needed and they should all close. This at the same time as all the stories about how much poor children's education has suffered...

>96 Helenliz: Hi Helen! Yes, February has snuck up on us. Still, we've done January, so there's that :-) I thought I had Young People on Wednesday as my calendar showed "An introduction to" which is often "An introduction to litigation and dispute resolution" but when I clicked it was an introduction to something else entirely, and not me. I've started colouring my own talks red, but I wasn't sure whether it worked on my phone. I hope your course goes well.

I'm having a rearrangement of stuff this morning, due to water getting in at the join between the sloping ceiling in my study (alcove) and the side of the Clompingtons' balcony. It may be connected to all the drilling and clomping that's been going on upstairs for the past couple of days, as it's never leaked before. It seems to be drying out, but underneath it there's a set of shelves on the wall, so there are piles of things that have to go elsewhere until I see whether it's going to happen again. Nothing got wet - it's just the plaster that's damp, but it's annoying. I'll hold off texting Clompington 2 until I can be sure I can keep a civil tongue in my head. Or until it rains again...

Oh, that is very sad about your libraries. "Someone from a council up north somewhere said that as they've been able to keep libraries closed during the pandemic, that proves that they aren't really needed and they should all close. This at the same time as all the stories about how much poor children's education has suffered..." People are stupid.

What a pain with the water seepage. Hoping it doesn't happen again. I'm glad nothing got wet - at least that was a little bit of luck.

>99 Crazymamie: The lack of education during the pandemic is going to be one of the worst long-term problems. Currently only "vulnerable" children and the children of key workers are allowed to attend school, which leaves hundreds of thousands of kids without computer access or broadband doing no schoolwork at all. The government says that children with no computer access can go to school, but it's a bit of a grey area and in some areas that would mean full attendance. Our penpal programme has been suspended for the time being, and I wonder how mine is getting on. She seems to come from a large family in a poor area, so she's unlikely to have computer access, but then again she is very literate for her age, so it might be a family that actually values education.

Escaping water is one of my major anxieties, although at least it isn't my fault. And there's nothing I can do about it right now anyway - I'm not having strange men in the house in the middle of a pandemic so I'll just have to do what I can. Rehousing the books in the hall cupboard (which functions a bit like a Tardis) I found a few more for the TBR pile, so that's something. I'll take some pictures tomorrow and send them to my brother for his advice. He's visited the flat so he knows the layout and may have an opinion on what the problem is, or at least be able to explain the words to say to the managing agent of the block if it persists.

Hoping the water stops coming in where it is not wanted without doing any more damage.

I agree with you, education will be a huge differentiator. For those parents that are intelligent and engaged with it, the children will do better. Those that can afford it will survive, as usual. It's those parents that struggled themselevs that will lock the children in a continuing cycle of deprivation.

Hope the wet patch has a simple resolution Susan. There is an ongoing damp problem in the garage which visits from builder have not fixed. Currently several buckets in use to catch the drips although most everything is in those plastic boxes so I have suggested that we knock it down and replace it with more garden, but no dice. Sadness.

I wonder how Force of Nature and The Postscript Murders would do as audible books. I'm seriously short on bookshelf space here (although Hubby did casually mention a spot where we could put some more bookcases yesterday which is very nice of him since he's been getting rid of books at an astonishing rate and isn't likely to acquire many new ones -- so the bookshelves would really be for me if we got them) and I've started cross-stitching three new Christmas stockings AND a treadmill is on its way which means I will likely be listening to more books than "reading with my eyes"

stopped wondering and just bought Force of Nature and The Stranger Diaries (because, of course, series must be read in order)

>103 RebaRelishesReading: I'm not a big listener of books, especially since I stopped commuting to work every day, but I think Force of Nature could work well as an audiobook. For me, the deciding factor would be how long the listening session would be. I might find it difficult to keep up with the outlines of the plot and who is who if I was only listening in short bursts every few days. But everyone is different, so it still might work well for you.

>104 RebaRelishesReading: Well, excellent! Then you can let us know how it goes. :-)

>101 Helenliz: I do feel sorry for those kids - there are apparently a huge number that aren't classed as "vulnerable" but who are still living in chaos and goodness knows what will happen to them without teachers to keep an eye on them. I know that's not a teacher's job, but they would at least know if a child showed up at school or not.

>102 charl08: It's raining again, Charlotte, and so far it doesn't seem to be getting worse. In fact it looks quite a bit drier than last night when I found it (I can't be sure it actually happened yesterday - it might have been damp for a while). I'm sure the Clompingtons are to blame somehow.

>103 RebaRelishesReading:, >104 RebaRelishesReading: Reba! I have seen all your bookshelves! That's not short on space :-) But I think they would both work as audio books, which is lucky I suppose!

>105 rosalita:, >106 rosalita: Julia, I agree that listening to a fair bit at a time would be best. Force of Nature flips around, timewise. I can't remember now whether The Stranger Diaries is told from multiple viewpoints, but The Postscript Murders is, so it's very clear whose voice each chapter is.

I've been watching some more of Dream Home Makeover this afternoon. One house was 22,000 square feet, although that may have included the full-sized basketball court attached to it. but even the "great room" was three times the size of my flat. And I was watching a YouTuber the other day who mentioned that she packed her craft supplies in the bag shown on camera "when I need to go to another part of the house". grrrr.

Hi Susan!

Sorry about the damp patch - I hope it's an easy fix.

I have the first two Jane Harper books on my Kindle. You make me want to move them up, along with the first in that new Elly Griffiths series, which I also have on my Kindle. I hate to sound like a cliche, but "Too many books....."

>107 susanj67: You haven't seen all of my bookshelves ;>. The problem is, though, that they're all nearly full and once I finish the books in Mt. TBR they will be fulll so where will I put more books if I buy them? I have purchased the audio versions and will try them soon :)

I hope that your leaky patch was a one time thing, Susan. I'm glad I got caught up with your thread. I saw Philippe Sands on something last year, maybe the Edinburgh Book Festival and thought that The Ratline sounded interesting but not a hint of it at the local library. When I checked this time they have it on order. Thanks for the reminder.

>100 susanj67: You're so right about the children and their education. I think they are also problems in the social area. They need to learn how to share and communicate. It's important they see there friends and connect to other adults besides their parents.

>108 katiekrug: Hi Katie! I think the neighbours are emptying pots of rainwater on their balcony, because it doesn't seem to happen when there is actual rain, but afterwards, as if someone's gone outside and tidied up. I'm keeping an eye on it, and there may be a logsheet...

>109 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, maybe audio is the way to go for future purchases!

>110 Familyhistorian: Meg, he was at the Hay Festival last year so it might have been there that you saw him. I'm glad the library has the book coming - it's excellent.

>111 connie53: Connie, there are rumours that the Prime Minister wants to open schools earlier than March 8, but it's hard to know what to do with all the new variants.



8. Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel

This was released yesterday and I read it yesterday. Go me! A rare full-price purchase from Amazon, but it's only £3.99 for Kindle as it's pretty short. It's a really interesting look at why anti-Semitism isn't treated as seriously as other forms of discrimination/violence etc. The short answer is that Jews have been reclassified from "persecuted minority" to "rich white people" and therefore, like other rich white people, are fair game for anything to be said about them. Baddiel writes really well, and the book is right up to date with excellent examples. Highly recommended.

I'm still plodding on with Scrublands which is a giant snooze. What a shame I have book 2 on my Kindle as well.

This morning there are Strange Men in the building, sawing. They appear to be sawing into the ceilings on each floor for some reason, but then tidying up after themselves and moving down a floor. And the water seems to be turned off. All very odd and I don't have the phone number for the caretaker so I can't text him to ask what's going on. No doubt there's a notice on the board downstairs, which no-one will see because we don't go out.

>112 susanj67: Yes, the new mutations are the big scare here too. Our primary schools and daycare will open next Monday. My daughter is relieved about that but it's also a bit insecure. You don't know what the girls bring home and the other granddad and -mum take care of them on Tuesday. So she doesn't want them to be infected.

>113 connie53: It's been a very long time for parents to home-school. I hope everything goes well for them.

I've discovered what the Strange Men are doing - installing super-fast broadband cabling up to the door of each flat. But we can't connect to it without someone coming *inside* the flat, and that's not essential at the moment. So I've emailed the managing agent to ask what's the point of putting the cabling in *right now* as no-one will be able to use it. The men are roaming around without masks, and the NOISE! OMG. One lot of drilling seemed as though it was going to break through into my flat at any moment. I sent a text to the caretaker, who said the noise would only be for a few minutes. I replied and asked why it had been going on for THREE HOURS in that case. Thank goodness I don't have any calls or presentations today. I literally can't hear myself think.

Yikes, that sounds horrible, Susan. I hope it will end soon.

bother to the noise. And it's not like you can really escape it by going out. For 1 it's cold out there...

>115 connie53: Thanks Connie. It got quieter around lunchtime and then I heard faint noise afterwards, liked they'd moved further down the building.

>116 Helenliz: Helen, it's pretty nice here today, so I walked along to Waitrose for supplies ahead of the storm we're supposed to be getting (snow on Sunday!). And they've gone now. The managing agent said we've all been sent a letter saying that they'll be starting on Monday (um...) and it will take ten days and everyone wants better broadband. Well, mine's fine, so I don't. Nor do I want a HOLE drilled into the flat through the wall next to my front door, which is how they run the cabling in. Yeesh. I'm pretty sure Elon isn't launching all those satellites so we still have to drill through walls.

Just checking in, Susan, to see what you're up to....

Susan? Sorry about all of the noise - you are in desperate need of some noise canceling headphones. I swear by them.

Have you started on Far From the Madding Crowd yet? I am hoping to start it this weekend. My reading has tanked lately because I have been dealing with headaches, but I am hoping to get back into the swing of things soonish.

>118 katiekrug: Hi Katie! I'm not really up to anything, although I did go out for groceries yesterday and I went into work for a document that only exists in hard copy. When I was finally allowed into my office I snagged two charging cables that I'd left there last year before our unexpected second lockdown, and the brand new hand cream in my drawer. I felt quite (in the English sense) triumphant.

>119 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! I *have* started it, but I don't like it. See what you think, but I know you'll be upset by a Bad Thing that happens near the beginning. Also I get the feeling that the hero is supposed to be very popular with readers but to me he seems like a bit of a creep (plus there is the Bad Thing). Sorry you've been laid low by headaches. I have no excuse other than I'm just stuck with books I don't like. I really need to finish a couple of things or I'll be stuck forever.

In other news, my brother finally sat the exam for the course that he did here nearly a year ago and passed it really well. Yay! He's finished the diploma now, and 2020 wasn't a total write-off after all.

>120 susanj67: Hooray for your brother doing well on his exam and hooray for you getting to pick up some things you were missing from your office. Perhaps there's a little light at the end of the Covid tunnel now and you'll be able to return to your office sometime later this year. Hope so!

>120 susanj67: I like the way you got your possessions back. They are yours so you are allowed to.

Hooray for your brother.

>121 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba! I'm not sure we'll be allowed back this year, although I haven't given up hope. The vaccinating is going really well and the over-50s are all supposed to have their first dose by the end of April. But then it's 12 weeks till the second dose (unless production and vaccinating capacity increases) which puts me at the end of July. And the younger ones will be even later than that. If the office doesn't reopen until most people have had two doses then I can't see it happening this year. My boss (just over 60, I think) got his first dose the other day though, as he lives in an area where there is low uptake due to people not believing in science so it was offered to younger people than the current target group. I also live in an area like that, so I'm keeping a close eye on my phone for text messages.

>122 connie53: Thanks Connie! I was pleased about the charging cables.I know I could just order a new one from Amazon but I feel bad when someone makes a whole trip in a car for such a tiny package. I have Prime, and there doesn't seem to be a way to say "no rush" for delivery. We can pick a day of the week for all our Prime things to arrive at once but it doesn't include everything as items come from different warehouses.



9. Scrublands by Chris Hammer

I have no idea why this has won all sorts of awards and was the Sunday Times crime novel of the year. It's a mess - a ridiculous and overly complicated plot, half-wit characters with stupid names, people smiling "sardonically" and "suicide" being used as a verb. For about the second half I was hate-reading it. And stupidly I bought the second one before reading this one, so that's 99p wasted. :-)

But I'm halfway through the elibrary copy of Endell Street by Wendy Moore, author of the fabulous Wedlock, which is my second-favourite NF book of all time, after Catherine Bailey's Black Diamonds. It's very good so far and I want to finish it this weekend as Stranger in the Shogun's City has come in at the elibrary too. It's freezing cold again so I'm going to stay at home (not for a change). Next week is supposed to be warmer, so thank goodness for that.

>123 susanj67: Sorry about that.

I finished The Pull of the Stars yesterday and really liked it a lot. I think this was one you recommended? I wasnt expecting it to be so gripping, but I really wanted to know what was going to happen to Julia.

Hooray for your brother passing his exam!! And for retrieving the charging cables and hand lotion - good thinking!

If you want to bail on Far From the Madding Crowd, it's fine with me - we could pick something else or just wait for our shared read of Tom Jones in March. I haven't started it yet, so I'm not out anything. Hardy is usually hit or miss with me anyway. I hated Mayor of Casterbridge but liked The Return of the Native - mostly, I have to admit, because I listened to it narrated by Alan Rickman. And I would listen to him read anything.

>124 charl08: Charlotte, I'm very glad to have finished it so I can move on.

>125 charl08: Yes, I did, and I loved it. I'm glad you did too!

>126 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie! I am delighted for my brother. The exam was put off and off because of lockdown here and then the completed papers failed to arrive in the UK for marking (they got caught up in the Christmas post problems and made it eventually) so it was quite a long time between the course and the exam result, but finally it's done. I would love to bail on Far From the Madding Crowd - thank you! Let's reconvene for Tom Jones, which I think was going to be April, but I'm flexible :-)



Endell Street: The Trailblazing Women Who Ran World War One's Most Remarkable Military Hospital by Wendy Moore

The subtitle pretty much describes this book, which was excellent. Despite all the British social history I've read, I knew nothing about this hospital that was set up during the Great War in London by pioneering female doctors, with a mostly-female staff. It's such a good read and I hope it gets the wide audience that it deserves. I've sent it back to the elibrary so the next person might be reading it even as I type :-)

I've nearly finished series 2 of Agent Carter, which is very good, and I've just watched the first three episodes of the Hotel Cecil documentary on Netflix. Who knew that "Cecil" is pronounced "See-sill" in the US? Not me. It's "Sess-ill" here. I want to make some more progress with the Marvel Universe before all the new stuff drops on Disney+ the week after next. It's like a full-time job...

>120 susanj67: hurrah for brother's result. And a high five on the office raid.

Shame book 9 didn't live up to the hype.

I'm not a fan of Hardy either. I had to read Under the Greenwood Tree at school and it put me off so much that I didn't try him again for almost 30 years. Then I read Return of the Native and it wasn't awful, but I can't say I'm keen to read more of him. I think he liked the landscape more than the people in it, none of them ever seem to come out of it well.

>127 susanj67: that sounds like a very interesting read.

>123 susanj67: Twelve weeks between dose one and dose two?!? Here Pfizer is 3 weeks between and Moderna is 4 weeks. My National Guard son got Moderna and was having trouble scheduling the second dose. They told him there was a 4-day window for it (he got it today, within the 4-day window). I've never heard of 12 weeks between.

>128 Helenliz: Helen, I think you would love Endell Street. There are some interesting science-y bits in it, about the various new treatments invented during WWI to deal with the new types of injuries that doctors were encountering. I had to study Tess of the D'Urbervilles at high school and didn't love it, so I haven't tried any Hardy since then.

>129 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, 12 weeks is currently the gap between doses here so that more people can get their first dose rather than a smaller number having both doses. The first dose of the Pfizer and Astra Zeneca vaccines gives a lot of protection. If there was an unlimited supply then the appointments would be closer together, but they're trying to make the most of what's available at the moment. There are some people who've had both doses - if they were vaccinated early on and an appointment made for a few weeks later for the second dose then those appointments were kept, but most people now have the longer wait.

Hooray for bailing on Hardy. And you are right that we had said April - I just typed the wrong month.

>127 susanj67: A direct hit - adding this one to The List. Excellent review.

>128 Helenliz: "I think he liked the landscape more than the people in it..."Yes, Helen! Exactly this.

131. Hi Mamie! Endell Street is a really good one if you can find it in the US. I also saw one the other day that made me think of you - Frostquake by Juliet Nicolson, which is about the incredibly cold UK winter of 1962. I think it would count as cold even by US standards :-)



10. The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish

This was a recent Kindle deal and it is so, so GOOD! Very twisty and turny, and set in large part on the commuter ferries that go along the river right outside my flat. Well, they do when they're running. They're currently suspended because of lockdown. But I loved the setting, which also takes in parts of east London, and the characters were all very well done. It's set during 2019 and very early 2020, so it's a bit bitterwseet as we know what's coming in the real world. But if you're looking for a thriller, pick this up!

And thanks to Mamie for releasing me from Far From the Madding Crowd, which meant I could read this instead of *not* reading FFTMC and then being cross with myself :-)

I loved Far from the Madding Crowd which I read when I was a kid after seeing the Julie Christie movie. Bought it from Scholastic Book Services when I was in the sixth grade, which kind of surprises me now. It was very different from the usual kind of book about kid problems that the SBS sold to schoolchildren in those days. I've enjoyed almost all of the first tier Hardy novels; only The Return of the Native seemed kind of meh to me at the time though I can't say why now, because, truly, I can't remember a thing about it. Suppose I should take another crack at it some day...

>130 susanj67: I had understood that one would lose the protection of the first dose if the second dose wasn't very near to the 3- or 4- week schedules we're on here. Most interesting to learn that isn't the case (especially good to know if weather keeps us for getting to our second dose on time). I also liked hearing that Pfizer dose one gives "a lot of protection" since that's what we got last Wednesday.

>130 susanj67: OK. adding that to the list.

The Other Passenger isn't out here yet, but I've put it on my "Watch For It" list on Amazon :)

I think The Wayne and I took one of those ferries after our day in Greenwich (after meeting you for coffee!)...

>132 susanj67:
I think you hit me with a book with The Other Passenger! Thank goodness my library seems to have a digital copy, may save my creaking floorboards.

Susan, it's Monday morning here, and you know how I feel about those. I'm adding both Frostquake and The Other Passenger to The List.

>133 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, that was an unusual choice from Scholastic! We used to have those forms too, and I loved choosing things :-) I do want to revisit Tess of the d'Urbervilles at some stage, but I'm not having the best year for classics so far.

>134 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, they seem to think that a gap is OK for the Pfizer and Astra Zeneca vaccines, and there is a bit of data reported this morning that deaths from the virus in the over-80s are dropping twice as fast as they are in the under-60s (who mostly haven't been vaccinated unless they have underlying health conditions). I know correlation isn't causation, but the scientists seem to be optimistic.

>135 Helenliz: Helen, excellent!

>136 katiekrug: Katie, if you took a catamaran then you would have :-) I didn't know they were all named after Tudor queens, so I learned something :-)

>137 Caramellunacy: Hello Caramellunacy! Good news for the floorboards :-)

>138 Crazymamie: Mamie, I do know. Remember not to look directly at it, and just do the best that you can :-). I want Frostquake too, but I might leave it till the summer as it's always nice to have cold things for the hot weather :-) Also the library might be open again properly by then and I can unsuspend my reserves and add new ones. Ooh.

I started West With Giraffes last night, which is a good read so far. It was January's Kindle First Read or whatever they call them, and I am trying to keep on top of the purchases.

>139 susanj67: That is really exciting news, Susan. Correlation is good even if cause isn't totally proven. I know I'm VERY happy to have my first dose on board and will be even happier when everyone (or everyone who can be convinced) is vaccinated too.

>136 katiekrug: I did too! A BB for me!

>140 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, yes, it will be a great relief. Someone said that all the UK over-50s could have their first dose by the end of March if they can vaccinate a million people a day, but I think they're a way off that at the moment. So we're still hoping for the end of April :-)

>141 connie53: I hope you enjoy it, Connie!



11. Joe Cinque's Consolation by Helen Garner

This was a ROOT from the shelf I cleared a couple of weeks ago underneath the damp bit in the study (alcove). There's been no more water coming in since then, which is good, but it's been so cold here that the Clompingtons haven't been outside on their balcony, which is where I think it's coming from. Anyway, this book was a Christmas gift from NZ at some stage. It didn't grab me when I originally looked at it, but I decided to read it so I could get rid of it when that's allowed again. I thought I might at least understand the odd title, but I still don't.

It's the story of an infamous murder in Australia in 1997, I think, and the subsequent trial. Well, part of the trial. The author didn't get involved with the story until after the mistrial of the two women accused of murder, and she only attended part of the retrial of the main defendant. A bit like reading things out of order, I can't approve. She then attended the later trial of the other suspect. You might think that someone covering court proceedings would acquaint themselves with how proceedings actually work, but no. The author's name is bigger and shinier on my cover than the name of the book is, which is another point against her. She keeps trying to insert herself into the story, which is very annoying. So overall a No from me. We're being asked to save books and magazines to send to Prisoners Abroad when the office reopens and they can be collected, but I don't think I'll include this one.

Next up from the cleared shelf is going to be Blindsight by Maurice Gee, who's a NZ author. Another NZ gift. I never used to read NZ authors, on the basis that there were far more exciting things from other parts of the world and what could there possibly be to write about in NZ, but I've read a few since I left.

>142 susanj67: Oh dear, I hope your next NZ book is better than the last. That sounds annoying and dreary at the same time.

>142 susanj67:. Oh. I listened to a book of essays by her. And I very nearly gave up at the beginning, it was impossible to connect. But I carried on and some were very interesting and engaging, others not so much. I ended up with I would read more by her, if I came across it, but not seek it out. Sounds like she might be as patchy in book form as the essays were.

>143 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, annoying and dreary is the perfect description! I was glad to finish it.

>144 Helenliz: Helen, I'd never heard of the author, but the book was blurbed by all sorts of people. I won't be seeking out any more.

Well. My Freeview email arrived this afternoon, as it does every Friday, and it seems that we now have the US Court TV channel on Freeview channel 89. I may have found a new obsession. I wonder whether there will be any lawyers disguised as cats this week :-)

>145 susanj67: Which US court? or is it a rotation of ones that are doing something interesting?

>146 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, it seems to be news and commentary from various high-profile cases (so much legal nerdery!) and some court footage. That's a novelty here as only proceedings in the Supreme Court are always available to view. Sometimes civil cases in the Court of Appeal will be streamed, but in the lower courts there is still a ban on taking photos or video/audio in court.



12. West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

This was a Kindle First Read last month, and it's a lovely read. In 1938 two giraffes arrived by sea in New York during a terrible hurricane, but they survived and they were driven across America to the San Diego zoo. The main human characters in the book are the zookeeper and the driver on that trip. No records from them survive, so they are fictional, but there are real people in the story too, and articles from newspapers of the time recording the progress of the giraffes across the country. Usually I find the Kindle First Reads a bit hit and miss, but this is definitely a hit. Very highly recommended.

>147 susanj67: I have a fondness for giraffes - I desperately wish I could stay at Giraffe Manor near Nairobi where they will come by for breakfast - so that sounds like a great read.

Hi Susan!

I'll have to tell one of my customers about West With Giraffes. She is just crazy about giraffes - and books. She stayed at Giraffe Manor when she went to Africa and loved it.

Hope you are having a good weekend.

>147 susanj67: - Glad to hear this was a good one, as I also picked it last month from the Kindle offerings...

>147 susanj67: Glad the giraffe were a winner, Susan. I'll get to that one someday...

>147 susanj67: Oh dear -BB!! Not only do I often find my favorite books by reading things you recommend, in this case the book includes my favorite animal AND a place I lived and loved for 30+ years. Guess I'd better take a break here and hustle over to Kindle.

(actually I ordered the paperback version).

>148 Caramellunacy: The giraffes are definitely the stars of this book :-)

>149 Fourpawz2: Hi Charlotte! Your customer will love it :-)

>150 katiekrug: Katie, it's a really good read. As well as the giraffe angle, they were travelling through the US during the time of the Dust Bowl, and there was quite a bit about that too.

>151 rosalita: Julia, I hope you do!

>152 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, San Diego doesn't feature much, although the story does include the giraffes' arrival there. What made me think of you when I read it was the vastly long trip right across the US. You've probably driven that route yourself :-) They go from New York down to Washington and then further south and onto the Lee Highway, I think. That might have another name now.



13. Bloodline by Jess Lourey

This was a Kindle Daily Deal earlier in the month, and it's a thriller/horror story, if that's a thing. It's 1968 and Joan Harken and her fiance leave Minneapolis after she's mugged, to go and live in the small town in Minnesota where he grew up. Joan is pregnant, which the townsfolk find out immediately (assuming the couple to be married) and seem inordinately interested in her baby. And then a handsome stranger appears, saying that he's the child who disappeared from the town years before. Joan feels there's something creepy about the town, but friends tell her she's imagining things. But is she? This is very well done. The author thanks her readers for supporting her change in genre, and looking at her Amazon page she seemed to write a lot of romance, so this is indeed quite a change :-)

>153 susanj67: I haven't driven E-W across the middle of the U.S. which is what the "Lee Highway" sounds like. I have driven I-40 many times as far east as Tulsa which might be about the same route. I'll have a better idea though when the book comes and I read it.

>155 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, they certainly covered a lot of miles, but it would be faster if you didn't have to find a place with trees at night, so your giraffes could have their dinner :-)



14. The Coppersmith Farmhouse by Devney Perry

This is a shocker of a book. It was recommended by a BookTuber that I follow, who seems like a sensible young woman, but it's awful, not just for the clunky writing but because the "hero" is a classic example of coercive control. Women shouldn't swoon over a man like this - they should run for the hills and hope they make it before he kills them for rejecting him. I'm staggered that this sort of nonsense gets published now, and that on GoodReads people seem to think it's really sweet and he's just "alpha". He's not alpha - he's a creep who constantly insists that the heroine does everything his way and he won't take no for an answer. Plus there's waaaay too much use of the F-word, and all in all it's awful.

>156 susanj67: Wow, thanks for taking that one for the team! Don't think that'll be going on the wishlist any time soon.

>156 susanj67: oof, I'm sorry that was inflicted on you, but I will learn from your suffering and keep it off my wishlist as well!

>156 susanj67: ouch! Warning duly heeded. Even sensible people have their blind spots.

>157 Jackie_K: Jackie, I'm glad I saved you from it!

>158 Caramellunacy: I often say that other people might like books I don't, but with this one...no.

>159 Helenliz: Helen, as you know, I love a good sheikh-based romance (Sarah Morgan does 'em best) and people say those are ridiculous because the heroes are so bossy, but somehow they're different. They're not (and not purporting to be) about "ordinary small-town people" so there's an element of fantasy about them, but also even the bossiest sheikh is going to be taken down by the heroine and end up grovelling and as a reader I know that. In this one, though, the heroine just seemed to give in. Ugh. I shouldn't be so disturbed by a 99p Kindle purchase but somehow I am.

Next up is Kevin Kwan's Sex and Vanity, which came in at the elibrary a couple of days ago. I think it's a Pride and Prejudice retelling, but I loved the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy so I'm sure I'll enjoy this one too. I've also got Pandora's Jar, the new Natalie Haynes book about women in Greek myth.

Hi Susan!

>156 susanj67: - Ew. No.

>160 susanj67: - I believe S&V is a reimagining of A Room with a View.

>160 susanj67: I will await by next book bullet. I listened to A Thousand Ships by Natalie Hayes last year and absolutely adored it.

>156 susanj67: Yuck!! Thanks for the warning.

My giraffes arrived yesterday. I'm finally starting to read again and have nearly finished Jack and then I'll start on giraffes :)

>160 susanj67: My copy of the Haynes book turned up on my books as part of the library's online collection and I never got to it. Not good. Like Helen I expect to be persuaded I should get on with picking it up. Hopefully it will be out in paperback soonish? (I'll tell myself that, anyhow)

>156 susanj67: Yikes! That sounds awful. I hope your next read will be better.

>161 katiekrug: Katie, I've never read A Room With A View, so it will seem very original to me :-)

>162 Helenliz: Helen, stand by!

>163 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, hooray! *nervously waits for the verdict...*

>164 charl08: Charlotte, yes, I'm sure it be out again and you can pick it up then :-) By the way, did you see that the Hay Festival is going to be online again this year?

>165 connie53: Thanks Connie!

I was planning to start something new today as I thought I'd take some holiday but so far it isn't working. The holiday, I mean. Maybe this afternoon.

>166 susanj67: I started Giraffes yesterday and I'm hooked already :)

>167 RebaRelishesReading: Yay! I'm so pleased, Reba :-)

It's another lovely day here, so I am going to stay in and not contribute to all the crowds who will be photographed in parks later. The government's new slogan is "Let's keep going". But they should have added "by staying home". I started Pandora's Jar last night and it's good. It looks at ten women in Greek myths and why the original myths showed very different characters from the women as we know them now. So far I've read the Pandora and Jocasta chapters. Next up is Helen.

The new "Star" channel was added to Disney+ on Tuesday, with hundreds of hours of stuff that I've already added to my watchlist. I've started with Big Sky, which takes quite the turn at the end of the first episode...It's a new one (I see it started in the US in November last year) and so far there are only two episodes on Disney so I wonder whether they're going to add one every week like old-fashioned television. I also want to watch a couple more Marvel things this weekend. Next on the watch-in-order list is Iron Man 2 and then the Incredible Hulk. I remember the TV series from when I was a kid- my brother loved it.

>166 susanj67: I did not know! I have gone and signed up to their newsletter sharpish like.

>168 susanj67: I am very excited about the Star channel, mainly because of M*A*S*H! Never mind that I have all the seasons on DVD...

Just finished West With Giraffes -- I absolutely loved it!! Thank you!!

>169 charl08: Charlotte, I'm really pleased they're doing it online again rather than trying to have distancing etc, which is bound to end in disaster.

>170 rabbitprincess: I didn't see M*A*S*H on my quick flick through the home page - clearly there's more I need to explore!

>171 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, hooray! It really is a lovely read :-)



Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan

This finally arrived at the elibrary for me after ages on reserve, and it's a fun read. I didn't think it was up to the standard of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, but I do love Kwan's dreadful super-rich characters :-). As Katie noted above, it's based on A Room With A View, which I should probably read at some point...

I've read the Helen and Medusa chapters of Pandora's Jar too, so that's coming along. And over the weekend I watched Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk for my Marvel project. (OMG they have touchstones!) The Incredible Hulk is missing from Disney+ because Universal Pictures owns the distribution rights. But I remembered that I have two other streaming services, and I found it on Netflix :-) Next up is Thor and then The Avengers. Only five more films to go until series 1 of Agents of Shield...

Pandora's Jar by Natalie Haynes

This is superb. That is all. Ha - just kidding. When do I ever use so few words? Haynes looks at ten women from Greek myth and why they seem to play less of a role in retellings of those myths than they did in the originals. These days it's partly because Hollywood can really only cope with one woman on screen at a time, regardless of how many men there are, but other writers over the centuries have done bad things to these women, meaning that we now see them as very different people than the ancient Greeks did. It's a fascinating read, and I think it would work for anyone, regardless of how much they already know about the myths. I don't know a huge amount and yet I found it easy to follow and really thought-provoking. Haynes also has a snarky tone which works well as she explains how the women have been changed over time. This is one of those books that gave me a long reading list, and I'm going to start by rereading Medea, which I have in a volume of plays that I studied for a course years ago. And when the British Museum reopens I'm going to pay a lot of attention to their Greek pottery.

>173 susanj67: - That one does sound interesting, despite my lack of familiarity with myths. I'm always up for some snark!

>173 susanj67: Anticipated book bullet duly received on target.

>174 katiekrug: Katie, I think you would get a lot out of it anyway, even if you don't know much about them. Also Haynes weaves in Beyonce videos, the Lego Medusa and her excellent hair, the Hercules animated movie (one of the best, apparently, even if it leaves out the reason why Hercules had to do all his labours (too gory for kids)) and many other popular culture references.

>175 Helenliz: *puts book-bullet catapult back in the hall cupboard*

>173 susanj67: tra lalala waiting for the paperback, will not be convinced by this, tra lalalala...

(So tempted though)

>177 charl08: I have a thingaversary and a birthday within 2 weeks of each other, so I've given in and am writing a list. That may be on it...

I really like the Radio 4 programme Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, and her new book will definitely be on my wishlist.

>173 susanj67: I am excited about Pandora's Jar despite not having read A Thousand Ships yet!

So Katie and Amber say on scaifea's thread that Haynes knows the difference and doesn't make the mistake of calling the myth Pandora's Box.
I had a classics course in school (before university-level) and the myth always appeared as Box in the title. So, do please enlighten if you can, why the difference? I can guess that perhaps 'jar' is ceramic and maybe no one was building boxes (?) Too simple a thought?

>177 charl08: 13 May, Charlotte! I won't point out that the paperback is going to be £8.19, while the Kindle version is available right now for just £1.80 more.

>178 Helenliz: Aaaand my work here is done :-)

>179 elkiedee: Luci, I'm going to find that series and listen to some. She is very funny as well as learned.

>180 rabbitprincess: You could read it without having read A Thousand Ships, and actually it explains some things that probably would have made that one a better read for me.

>181 SandyAMcPherson: Sandy, it's all down to a translation choice which then carried on down the centuries. Haynes is interesting on the translation point - there are frequent references to women being "abducted" in the translations but the original word used meant "raped". And "war bride" means "sex slave" and so on.

I'm having today as holiday. I had the same intention yesterday but the universe had other ideas. However, it seems quieter today and we're all supposed to take our mountains of unused leave by the end of April so I think Fridays might be pretty quiet for the next few weeks. I started Money for Nothing a couple of night ago, which is not a Dire Straits biography but a book about the South Sea Bubble. It doesn't seem to have a touchstone, so here's the Amazon link. It's free if you have Kindle Unlimited (which I don't - mine is an elibrary copy) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Money-Nothing-Bubble-Invention-Capitalism/dp/1784973947... I have long wanted a good book on that subject, and this looks promising, even if it did start in 1665 with Isaac Newton fleeing the plague in Cambridge. It's all relevant somehow.

*peeks in*

Susan?

Read anything good lately?

>183 katiekrug: ditto, Susan. Also, any Sussex comments?

Hi Susan. Everything all right?

Hoping holiday hasn't turned into hibernation by mistake. Hope you're OK.

>183 katiekrug: Hi Katie :-) I've finished a couple of things (see below) but I haven't read very much.

>184 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba! The Sussexes are behaving like spoiled brats. Even I'm starting to turn into a republican...

>185 connie53: Hi Connie!

>186 Helenliz: Helen, just totally stunned and horrified. I never thought I'd live in a country where a *police officer* abducted a woman from the street and murdered her. And goodness only knows what else they're going to find in Kent. Ugh.

So I've pretty much been glued to the news. I think last week was probably London's worst since the bombings.

But I did have my first vaccine this morning. Yesterday the booking site changed from 55+ to 50+ so I booked myself in for this morning at the Excel Centre at the Royal Docks. It's an exhibition centre that was turned into the first Nightingale hospital, but it was never really needed for patients, so they've turned it into a vaccination centre. It's massive, but there weren't that many people there today, which surprised me. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised as I got an appointment so quickly. My next one is on 3 June, but new data shows that the first shot gives about 80% protection and things are going really well here with the vaccination programme. Nearly 50% of adults have had at least their first dose. I had the AstraZeneca one, and the side effects are supposed to kick in the day after if they're going to happen. A friend said he felt a lot better after some champagne, though, so there's that. It was even a supermarket own-brand one. Then I took the cable car part of the way home and went to a supermarket en route. I felt like I'd been gone for days when I got home, but it was only three hours. It's still spookily quiet - I had a pod to myself on the cable car so it was actually safer than getting the train.

I read Watermelon on the weekend, and finished Money for Nothing. The touchstone title doesn't mention the South Sea Bubble so maybe people outside the UK don't know what that is. But it was an excellent read. I've started Mr Atkinson's Rum Contract which is also very good so far. But they're all elibrary books, so I have no recent ROOT finishes.

Good to hear you had your first shot, Susan. I hope you don't have to much side effects but then you have the champagne ready for some help ;-))

Hurrah for first jabs. Hope you've been feeling OK afterwards.

>187 susanj67: - Congrats on your first shot, Susan. I got mine last week. Seemed kind of weird when I came out of the place where I had it done. It seemed as if it should have been a watershed moment - and it was in some ways. However, in other ways, life seemed just the way it was before I went in to get the vaccine.

>187 susanj67: Well, since the Sussexes are "ex" royals perhaps you don't need to become a republican lol. Glad to hear you've had your first shot and scheduled second. Hope any side-effects aren't too bad.

>188 connie53: Connie, all I had was a slightly achy arm, so I didn't need the champagne in the end :-)

>189 Helenliz: Thanks Helen. Yes, I was fine. I thought at least I might have some side-effects to add to the King's College symptom tracker app, but not really. I did add the sore arm, but otherwise I've clicked "I feel physically normal" for a year. I'm no help to science :-(

>190 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I know what you mean! I was more excited about the sticker they gave me than the actual vaccine. (We don't get stickers here for voting like you do in the US. It's a looong time since I've had a sticker). But it does feel good to have it done now.

>191 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, they're driving us mad. I don't think anyone minded when they wanted to go off and live their own lives, but that needs to involve actually living their own lives and not constantly whining about how terrible the UK is. Archie was *not* denied the title "Prince" because of his skin colour and no-one can understand how the Duchess said that she had to surrender her passport when she married into the family even though she went on all those trips afterwards and therefore clearly must have had it. And don't get me started on the "secret" wedding.

I finished Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married last night. It's Marian Keyes' second book and I borrowed it from the elibrary after I finished Watermelon. Watermelon is the better book, but there are aspects of both of them that would outrage the Kingdom of Woke, so Keyes is lucky she hasn't been cancelled yet. Lucy Sullivan was published in 1996 but set, I think, in the super-hot summer of 1995, which was my first summer in the UK. There were no mobile phones mentioned in it and barely any internet, so it seems very dated. Also all the characters spent most of their time drinking/drunk, which I think is something else that doesn't tend to happen now.

I need to get back to my ROOTS and stop borrowing things, but I still have Mr Atkinson's Rum Contract to finish. It's the writer's own family story, based on caches of letters and other documents from his family's stately home. I always envy people like that, with all the history. Not so much the falling-down stately home.

>192 susanj67: Thanks, Susan. I was dying to hear what you thought (and guessing too of course). I didn't hear the interview but find it awfully hard to sympathize with them sitting in their huge ocean-front garden chatting with their neighbor Oprah...and getting paid for it!! And now Kate is being called a Stepford wife for taking her job seriously and doing it well. (I'm still using and enjoying the Sussex tea towel though :).

Glad your only side effect was a slightly achy arm. That about sums it up for me too. Now if continental Europe would just get busy with the vaccine before things get totally out of hand from mutant varieties...

>193 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I didn't watch the interview either as it was on quite late here the following day, and my South Sea Bubble book had reached a particularly interesting bit. Plus we'd had a whole day of the highlights on the news and I didn't think there would be much more of interest. The racism allegation got the most airtime, and undoubtedly there was a racist element to some of the newspaper coverage of the Duchess here, although I think most of the criticisms would have been the same if he'd married one of the white actresses from Suits. (Any woman in the public domain is subject to constant and vile misogyny and other abuse on the internet, regardless of who she is). The Duchess seems to be getting perilously close to the view that any criticism of a person of colour is automatically racist even if you could legitimately criticise a white person for doing the same thing. And among many questions Oprah never asked was: Why, if the UK public/papers are so racist, did Doria Ragland get nearly universally favourable coverage when she came over for the wedding?

Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married was the first book I read by Marian Keyes, back in 1997 (I only know because I can remember where I was living at the time - in a shared flat about half a mile from where I've lived since the end of 1998) and I really enjoyed it, though I liked Watermelon even better. Claire in Watermelon is one of 5 sisters and there is a book focused on each of the other 4. Rachel's Holiday is #2. Marian Keyes has written/talked about her own issues with alcohol when she lived and worked in London.

>195 elkiedee: I also enjoyed Watermelon more, but both of them seemed curiously dated for books written so recently. Well, recently-ish. I read republished versions from the elibrary, but I wonder whether they would be published today if Keyes didn't already have a huge fan-base. Mostly it struck me how much our language, and even plot points in books, are so heavily policed these days by the braying Twitter mob with their trigger warnings and outrage. It was an interesting experience.



Mr Atkinson's Rum Contract by Richard Atkinson

This was another elibrary book, but it doesn't seem to be that well known on LT. The author started some family tree research, and this is the result. But it reads really well - he was a publishing professional rather than someone who'd never picked up a pen. His interest started with a bundle of letters from Ye Olden Days, and his research uncovered all sorts of interesting details, including the family's ownership of plantations (and slaves) in Jamaica. It's a good read, although the same first names recur down the generations and at times I wished I'd had the hard copy so I could actually read the family tree at the beginning.

I've hardly read anything this month, and I must get back to my ROOTs.

>194 susanj67: You make some excellent points. Nice to hear Ms. Ragland got good press coverage. She seems like a class act to me.

>198 susanj67: Reba, I even saw Meghan-haters saying "If only she could be more like her mother", which, again, suggests that not all the nay-sayers were motivated by race.



15. The Other Mrs by Mary Kubica

Finally another ROOT finished! This is an *excellent* psychological thriller, with a huge "OMG" moment near the end and then another huge twist. Phew! I loved it. I bought it on special at Amazon, but it was on my wish list so I think I must have heard about it on BookTube.



16. Written in Bone by Sue Black

This is a great read by one of the UK's top forensic anthropologists, and it's about what our bones can say about our lives and deaths. The book starts with the cranium and ends with the legs, and there are lots of stories about real-life cases the author was involved with. I started it on Friday night, thinking it might take a while, but I read it in two sittings, or more accurately two lying-downs as I go to bed early these days and read for two or three hours. There are no biscuits or other temptations in my bedroom...

I'm 62% of the way through Something to Talk About, which is another one tht BookTube loved. It's OK, but there's not enough plot for the number of pages. I started Emily Maitlis's Airhead last night, and that's what I'm most likely to pick up today. It doesn't seem to have a touchstone.

Airhead does have a touchstone. Am I spotting some recent Kindle Daily Deals here?

>199 elkiedee: Thanks Luci - all I got earlier was an empty box with quote marks in it instead of other titles, but it seems to be working now. Airhead and Written in Bone are both recent Kindle deals - I'm trying to read things in the month I buy them rather than just getting further behind. Also they're both fairly short, and they will help my numbers for March...

>198 susanj67: Ooooh I really want to read Written in Bone! I loved Black's first book, All That Remains.

>201 rabbitprincess: I want to read All That Remains after reading this one!



The Day The World Came to Town by Jim DeFede

This came in at the elibrary for me yesterday, unexpectedly. It was mostly unexpected because I hadn't actually reserved it. I'd added it to my wishlist but I'd already maxed out my reserves. And yet there it was. So I borrowed it, thinking that I'd get an error message, but it worked fine. I also learned that the reserve number has risen from five to eight and I can also borrow eight ebooks at a time. Yay! I read it last night and sent it back as I'm pretty sure the system had made a mistake anyway. I've wanted to read it for years, and it seems that it's been republished for the 20th anniversary of 9/11 later this year. It's the story of how a small town in Newfoundland found itself with many planeloads of passengers after the US closed its airspace, and how the community rallied around to house them, feed them and keep them entertained until they could leave again. It's a lovely read and I'm glad I finally got to it.

>202 susanj67: There's a play about that which we saw on the walking trip to U.K. It's a most heart-warming story.

>202 susanj67: & >203 RebaRelishesReading: fwiw, I highly recommend a visit to Newfoundland if you can swing it sometime. My wife and I spent a couple of weeks there over a decade ago. We had a wonderful time. We drove through Gander on our way from St. John's, the provincial capitol, to Twillingate, which is a great spot. We read then about the events described in "The Day The World Came to Town," though I've never read the book. Unfortunately, we never got to Labrador. Someday!

>203 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I had no idea there was a theatrical version of it! I was just thinking about your walking tour the other day and our nice dinner with your BFF. All I have is memories of Outside now...

>204 rocketjk: I'd love to hear the Newfoundland accent, that's for sure! I was interested to learn that it didn't join Canada until 1949, and that even now some people think it shouldn't have.

It's a lovely day here today, so I have doors and windows open. This means I can hear what's going on down on the river path and the foreshore. It's a popular meeting place for the local teens, so this morning's yelling and shouting didn't seem *that* out of the ordinary until I heard screaming. Long story short, I ended up on the phone with the police for 15 minutes trying to get a woman rescued from the incoming tide as the guy with her was either trying to stop her getting back up to street level or trying to convince her to go back and she wouldn't go. At one point she was sitting in the water and got her dress half wet. And the tide comes in *fast* - faster than people tend to think. Right in front of me is the last bit to be covered by water, but the river wall juts out just along from me and cuts off the route back to the stairs which I knew they must have gone down to get to the beach.

After 15 minutes there was still no sign of the river police, even though they're a couple of hundred yards up the road, but then I saw a police officer on the walkway, and a woman running like the clappers in his direction, and it was her. He intercepted her and seemed to be trying to work out what had gone on and who she was, so at least she got back up the stairs to safety. She seemed like she had a learning disability, but I don't know whether the man with her also had one or whether he was supposed to be looking after her. I gave the call handler the best description I could, so I hope they catch up with him. A police boat did appear just after that, and then I got a call from London Ambulance asking if I'd called them. Well, no, the police did, but I said it all seemed to be OK now. I'm sure the police/coastguard (yes, we have one for London as it has a tide and is therefore "coastal") got other calls as quite a few people seemed to be appearing on their balconies, but it's always hard to tell who's calling the emergency services and who's filming stuff for YouTube.

Susan, that is more than enough excitement for one day. AT least the weather is lovely. The last few days have been lovely here, too, now that the rain has cleared out the humidity for a bit. I have been enjoying reading on the screened in porch, which is one of my favorite places when it doesn't feel like Hell outside. We have the pool up and running, an except for all the pollen, it is full of fabulous at the moment.

You hit me with Written in Bone - that's right up my alley!

>206 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Yes, it was not a nice thing. Lockdown has covered up a lot of abuse of vulnerable people as they can't get out to their usual activities. I hope the police figured out where she lived and got her the appropriate help. Are you still OK to read Tom Jones in April? I looked for a library copy last night but they didn't have one. Then it occurred to me that if I bought one I could count it as a ROOT and add it to my tally :-)

Yep. I am good to go with Tom Jones. I have the Everyman's Library edition, which is lovely.

Me, too, with hoping the police figured things out.

>205 susanj67: The play was called Come From Away (I couldn't remember the title but BFF is here so I could just ask her :)) If it's still there when live theater starts up again you might consider seeing it.

Goodness such excitement on the river by you!!

>204 rocketjk: I certainly agree with that recommendation. I've been to all of the Canadian provinces (but not the territories) and love that country. Sometimes thing the stork missed his mark a bit with me.

Well done, Susan, for being one of the good guys. I hope that the situation resolved itself and that there's no long term harm done.

>208 Crazymamie: Mamie, that's great. I've downloaded it from Amazon. I'm sure the Penguin English Library version was available yesterday for £2.99, but today it says it's free but not the PEL version after all. Odd. Still, I won't argue with free :-)

>209 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I could do without the river excitement. I haven't called the police for years, and that was when two young men decided to go for a swim one evening. They appeared to be drunk, but I never have found out whether it's actually illegal to swim in the Thames rather than just a Very Bad Idea. There's a wicked undertow and it's freezing cold.

>201 rabbitprincess: Helen, I think a few of us rang up. There were people appearing on balconies but sight-lines vary so none of us could see the whole of what was going on all of the time. The tides have been super-low/high this week and there have been mudlarkers and others out there, but I think people don't realise how quickly things change. It can go from zero to 12 feet deep very quickly as the tide comes in because the river is so heavily embanked in central London. It's not like the beach where there's always a shallow bit to paddle in.

My White Book arrived this morning - yay! It's the two-volume Civil Procedure Rules + commentary. I got last year's in about July when it became evident that we weren't going back to the office any time soon, but March/April is the annual publication date, so it's brand new. Already I've used it to answer a query and found a new case on the point at issue. I saw another couple of new things flicking through it to get to the part I wanted, so I'm glad to have it. I'm officially on holiday today, until Tuesday (inclusive) but there's been a bit to do and it was easiest just to do it. It's not like I can go anywhere save the supermarket...

The Penguin English Library edition is still there for £2.99 but Amazon Kindle defaults to to the Project Gutenberg edition for free. It is a bit confusing seeking out classics editions where there are lots of editions on Kindle, as some ebook producers seem to be using Penguin covers etc while not selling a real Penguin edition.

>212 elkiedee: I can see the Penguin English Library one for £2.99 on my phone (which is where I saw it yesterday) but on my computer it doesn't appear. They have a page with the Penguin cover, but no option to pay £2.99 for it - just the free version of the book. Very strange!

ETA: I downloaded the sample of the Penguin one, which is indeed the Penguin version and not the freebie. Even stranger.

>213 susanj67: There's a way to look at "all Kindle editions" and find it

Or search this ASIN code: B008RLTVMC

There's also a Vintage Classics edition for £2.49

B0048EK46E

I quite like editions with introductions and extensive endnotes.

A couple of years ago my face to face reading group read a Virginia Woolf novel, except that I started reading the wrong one. I actually have a lot of old Penguin classics and other editions going back to student days but got Oxford World Classics editions of these two. The To the Lighthouse endnotes are quite interesting but the ones for the first chapter are probably longer than that chapter (it balances out a little bit later). They are done so that it's not too difficult to click back and forth. I have borrowed books from the library because Kindle editions were just too hard to navigate properly (for non-fiction) when the endnotes weren't all linked up in Kindle format.

>216 elkiedee: I appreciate a book with the scholarly extras. I tend to use 2 book marks in a book like that, one where I am reading, one where I am in the end notes. Never having used a Kindle, I'm struggling to imagine how that works, unless you can link to and from the end note.

>217 Helenliz: in the well done ones, linking to and from the end note is exactly what you do. I have a Paperwhite which is touch screen (my first Kindle was an earlier non touch screen model), and you can click on the endnote indicator and back.

And yes, in print editions I do exactly the same as you with two bookmarks.

And you can also set bookmarks in Kindle books - where you are in main text, where you are in notes. It's really helpful.

Sorry Susan, I will stop hijacking your thread like this now.

>215 elkiedee: - >218 elkiedee: Thanks for those references, Luci. I've opted for the free one for the time being as the Penguin sample didn't have individual chapter links and the scholarly commentary was at the end, so I couldn't see how long (or hard) it was. I'm always a bit nervous about foot/endnotes - I have visions of never being able to find where I was if I tap the wrong thing. Like Helen, I tend to go for hard copies and two bookmarks if there are a lot of footnotes or endnotes!

It's time for a new thread for quarter 2, so watch this space...

ETA: New thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/331053