PAUL C in the War Room - XII on the Warpath with Boney

Napoleon in action. One of the greatest generals in history; brilliant, arrogant, creative and fatally flawed.

The Opening Words

The Napoleonic Wars is the featured War Room conflict this month and it would never have been called such without M. Napoleon Bonaparte himself. I will be reading Napoleon by Alan Forrest; a scholar at York University in my home area.




"Parisians turned out in force to hail their Emperor's return, on a cold December day in 1840, when his body was solemnly carried on a riverboat from Courbevoie on its final journey to the Invalides."


Interested...............................?

Books Read

January

1. Dear Future Boyfriend by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (2000) 90 pp Poetry / 150Y Challenge 15/150
2. Pax Romana by Adrian Goldsworthy (2016) 420 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 16/150
3. The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff (1959) 306 pp Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 17/150
4. Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken (1964) 286 pp Fiction / BAC / 150Y Challenge 18/150
5. Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles (2010) 373 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 19/150
6. When We Were Warriors by Emma Carroll (2019) 248 pp Fiction / War Room / 150y Challenge 20/150
7. Double Indemnity by James M Cain (1936) 136 pp Thriller / 150Y Challenge 21/150
8. Persian Fire by Tom Holland (2005) 376 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 22/150

February

9. North Woods by Daniel Mason (2023) 369 pp Fiction 150Y Challenge 23/150
10. The African by JMG Le Clezio (2004) 106 pp Non-Fiction / 150Y Challenge 24/150
11. The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson (2019) 564 pp Non-Fiction / War Room
12. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (1927) 297 pp Fiction 150Y Challenge 25/150
13. Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell (1987) 405 pp Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 26/150

March

14. Fatal Colours by George Goodwin (2011) 239 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 27/150
15. R.S. Thomas : Selected Poems by R.S. Thomas (2003) 343 pp Poetry / BAC / 150Y Challenge 28/150
16. The Maiden by Kate Foster (2023) 370 pp Fiction
17. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan (2024) 334pp Fiction / Warm Room
18. The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright (2023) 273 pp Fiction
19. The Brothers York : An English Tragedy by Thomas Penn (2019) 572 pp Non-Fiction / War Room
20. Pet by Catherine Chidgey (2023) 323 pp Fiction
21. Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshanathan (2023) 341 pp Fiction
22. Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney (2024) 217 pp Fiction
23. Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas (1954) 108 pp Drama / BAC / 150 Y Challenge 29/150
24. Bosworth: Psychology of a Battle by Michael Jones (2002) 220 pp Non-Fiction/ War Room / 150Y Challenge 30/150

Books Read 2nd Quarter

April

25. The Sweet Science by A.J. Liebling (1956) 232 pp Non-Fiction / AAC / 150Y Challenge 31/150
26. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (1955) 249pp Thriller / 150Y Challenge 32/150 / 1001 Books
27. Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad (2023) 319 pp Fiction / War Room
28. Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (1977) 186 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 33/150 / BAC/ 1001 Books
29. A History of the Crusades I by Steven Runciman (1951) 281 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 34/150
30. Loot by Tania James (2023) 289 pp Fiction
31. Field Work by Seamus Heaney (1979) 56 pp Poetry / 150Y Challenge 35/150
32. A History of the Crusades II by Steven Runciman (1952) 385 pp Non-Fiction / War Room
33. A History of the Crusades III by Steven Runciman (1954) 401 pp Non-Fiction / War Room
34. Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy (2023) 233 pp Fiction
35. The People of Hemso by August Strindberg (1887) 152 pp Fiction / 1001 Books / 150Y Challenge 36/150
36. Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (1902) 237 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 37/150
37. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (1875) 766 pp Fiction / BAC / 150Y Challenge 38/150
38. The Details by Ia Genberg (2022) 151 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 39/150

Current Reading

The War Room



JANUARY - Ancient Wars (Greeks/Romans/Persians/Carthage/Egyptians/Alexander, etc) https://www.librarything.com/topic/356820
1. Pax Romana by Adrian Goldsworthy
2. The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff
3. Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles
4. Persian Fire by Tom Holland

FEBRUARY - The American War of Independence : https://www.librarything.com/topic/358097#n8402612
1. The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson
2. Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell

MARCH - The War of the Roses : https://www.librarything.com/topic/358941
1. Fatal Colours by George Goodwin
2. The Brothers York : An English Tragedy by Thomas Penn

APRIL - Wars of Religion https://www.librarything.com/topic/359824#n8524265
1. Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
2. A History of the Crusades I by Steven Runciman
3. A History of the Crusades II by Steven Runciman
4. A History of the Crusades III by Steven Runciman

MAY - Napoleonic Wars : https://www.librarything.com/topic/360466

JUNE - English Civil War
JULY - Colonial Wars

AUGUST - WW2
1. When We Were Warriors by Emma Carroll
2. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

SEPTEMBER - American Civil War
OCTOBER - American Follies (Korea, Vietnam, Gulf-War, Afghanistan)
NOVEMBER - WW1
DECEMBER - Spanish Civil War

WILDCARD - Pick your own fight

British Author Challenge (Hosted by my friend Amanda)



JANUARY - Joan Aiken & Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle : Black Hearts in Battersea
FEBRUARY - Emma Newman & Ronald Firbank
MARCH - Welsh Writers : Selected Poems R.S. Thomas; Under Milk Wood
APRIL - Barbara Pym & Anthony Trollope - Quartet in Autumn; The Way We Live Now

American Author Challenge (Hosted with occasional assistance this year by my friend Linda)



JANUARY - Mark Twain
FEBRUARY - Susan Sontag
MARCH - Truman Capote
APRIL - Non-Fiction - The Sweet Science by AJ Liebling

150 YEARS OF BOOKS

150 years; 150 books; 150 authors; 15 months

Done:
Row 1 : 1874, 1875, 1887


Row 2 : 1889, 1902


Row 3 : 1904, 1908, 1910, 1915


Row 4 : 1923, 1927


Row 5 : 1936, 1937, 1945


Row 6 : 1951, 1954, 1955 1956, 1958, 1959


Row 7 : 1964, 1966, 1977


Row 8 : 1979, 1987


Row 9 : 1994, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005


Row 10 : 2010, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023

Women's Prize List



Current Ranking
1. Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshanathan READ SHORTLIST
2. Western Lane by Chetna Maroo READ
3. Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy READ SHORTLIST
3. The Maiden by Kate Foster READ
4. The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright READ SHORTLIST
5. Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad READ SHORTLIST

A Trace of Sun by Pam Williams
Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan
Hangman by Maya Binyam
8 Lives of a Century Old Trickster by Mirinae Lee owned
Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie owned
In Defence of the Act by Effie Black
Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville owned SHORTLIST
River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure owned SHORTLIST
The Blue Beautiful World by Karen Lord owned
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

Up next RIVER EAST, RIVER WEST

Paul's Alternative Women's Prize Longlist

Current Ranking

1. Loot by Tania James READ
2. Pet by Catherine Chidgey READ
3. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett READ
4. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan READ
5. Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney READ

6. Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton owned
7. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai owned
8. Julia by Sandra Newman owned
9. Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward owned
10. Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood owned
11. The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe owned
12. Absolution by Alice McDermott owned
13. The House of Broken Bricks by Fiona Williams owned
14. The Fraud by Zadie Smith owned
15. Penance by Eliza Clark owned
16. Land of Milk and Honey by E Pam Zhang owned

Next up The House of Broken Bricks

Books Added in 2024

January books 1-31
https://www.librarything.com/topic/357215#8360403

February books 32-73
https://www.librarything.com/topic/358698#8432568

March books 74-104
https://www.librarything.com/topic/359405#8476551

April books 105-130
https://www.librarything.com/topic/360210#8513437

131. Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein
132. Golden Age by Wang Xiaobo

Book Stats

Welcome to my 12th thread of 2024.

Hi, Paul. Hi, hi, hi. Should I wait until tomorrow, I'd find your new thread here with about 150 posts. Won't have time for all that. Tomorrow I've got to mow for the first time in 2024

>15 weird_O: Hi right back at you Bill. Great to see you here so bright and early.

>15 weird_O: Not early here. It's just after nine p.m. I don't do bright and early. Ha ha.

>17 weird_O: Yup Bill, I get that, but I was referring to the thread not the time Stateside. :D

Happy new thread Paul haha

>19 Owltherian: Thanks Lily

Happy new thread!

>21 amanda4242: Thanks Amanda.
I will try to get the war room thread for May up shortly.

Happy new thread, Paul.

Hi Paul, I made a start on The Battle this morning.

>23 ArlieS: Thank you, Arlie

>24 avatiakh: That looks an interesting read, Kerry.

Happy new thread, Paul, and happy May!

Thank you, Kristel.

I am having the day off today, obviously.

Happy new thread Paul!

Happy May Day!

>28 quondame: Thank you Susan. The very same to you too.

>2 PaulCranswick: Sounds very interesting, BUT.........I put it on my WL. I have several yet to read on Napoleon and there is a Great Course on the French Revolution (although technically not a Napoleonic War) that is FREE on Audible this month!

>30 Tess_W: I also have several Napoleon biographies but this one appeals to me the most this time, Tess.

BOOK #38



The Details by Ia Genberg
Date of Publication : 2022
Origin of Author : Sweden
Gender of Author : Female
Pages : 151 PP
Challenges : 150Y Challenge 39/150

Basically a series of four profiles by the narrator of her friendship with four largely unrelated individuals.

A pretty skimpy excuse for a novel and certainly little in the way of plot but some of this is well observed.

Mildly recommended if the reader enjoys introspective diagnosis of failed relationships.

Happy new thread Paul!

Happy New Thread, Paul. I finished Brotherless Night about 24 hours ago, and it’s the best of shortlist that I have read so far . Excellent read! I still have to read Soldier Sailor and River East, River West and I will have read the entire short list for Women’s Prize for fiction. We are quite like minded in our assessment of the Women’s prize books . I have yet to put some comments on my thread for Brotherless Night.

>20 PaulCranswick: Your very welcome, and somehow a lot of people spell my name Lilly when i write it out clear as day T^T I'm also going to be extremely busy today with chorus concerts and such so i may not be online till late

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, Paul.

>32 PaulCranswick: I think most of us can get that at home.

Happy new one! I got in early this time... :)

Happy New Thread!!!

>34 vancouverdeb: We agree again, Deb. It has been my favourite so far too by a considerable margin.

>35 Owltherian: I don't recall making that mistake, Lily. I have a couple of good friends in RL called Lily so I am quite used to typing their names!

>41 PaulCranswick: Yeah, you dont make that mistake but plenty of other people do.

>36 figsfromthistle: Thank you Anita

>37 jessibud2: Thanks dear Shelley.

>38 booksaplenty1949: Hahaha quite possibly!

>39 drneutron: Thank you Doc Roc

>40 hredwards: Thank you, Harold

>42 Owltherian: I always try to spell people's names correctly.

>45 PaulCranswick: Its a lot harder if they have hard to spell names for sure.

Happy new thread, Paul!

>46 Owltherian: Many (most?) names are “hard to spell” in any kind of multicultural environment. Why is there an “h” in John? Why are Barry, Mary, and Terry all spelled differently? What’s with Hugh?

>46 Owltherian: Well to be fair phonetically your name is more correctly spelled "Lil-ly" or is it mispronounced and should you say "Li-ly"?

>47 atozgrl: Thank you, Irene.

>48 booksaplenty1949: As you can see from my response to >46 Owltherian:, I totally concur.
Signed by your friend.....Porl!

...only a week late...

>51 richardderus: Hahaha.Nice to see you, dear fellow.

>49 PaulCranswick: Lilly, rhymes with “silly.” Lily, rhymes with “wily.” Is English a great language or what, eh Porl?

>48 booksaplenty1949: Not sure why all of them are spelled differently, they sound almost the same.

>49 PaulCranswick: That is true, my actual first name isn't even Lily but yet its easier to go by.

>50 PaulCranswick: My husband's Dutch boss is Pol (it sounds like 'Paul' when it's pronounced).

>53 booksaplenty1949: Hahaha that was exactly my point just made more entertainingly!

>54 Owltherian: The vagaries of the English language never fails to amaze, amuse and frustrate.

>56 PaulCranswick: Thats very true Paul, it amuses and frustrates me most of the time.

>55 humouress: There are a number of variants of the name across the continent of Europe, Nina. The Dutch one is close to the English version of it.

>57 Owltherian: I am more in the amazed and amused camp, Lily.

>59 PaulCranswick: It only frustrates me in English class due to having to learn so many different words on a new site.

>60 Owltherian: You find with a lot of reading the language just seems to get absorbed as if by a process of osmosis.

>61 PaulCranswick: Yeah, and we had to learn about the process of osmosis in Biology.

Some interesting thread posting stats as of this morning.

MOST POSTS
1. Paul C - 3,624
2. Richard - 2,673
3. Mark - 2,065
4. Katie - 1,732
5. Stasia - 1,145

MOST THREADS
1. Paul C - 12
2. Richard - 9
3. Mark, Katie - 7
5. Stasia, Laura

LONGEST RENEWED THREAD
1. Paul C - 388 posts (Thread 11)
2. Paul C - 375 posts (Thread 6)
3. Paul C - 366 posts (Thread 8)
4. Laura - 365 posts (Thread 1)
5. Jeff - 357 posts (Thread 1)

SHORTEST RENEWED THREAD
1. Harold - 85 (Thread 1)
2. Micky - 153 (Thread 2)
3. Linda - 154 (Thread 3)
4. Madeline - 155 (Thread 1)
5. Linda - 155 (Thread 1)

LONGEST UNRENEWED THREAD
1. Diane - 330 (Thread 1)
2. Mark - 287 (Thread 7)
3. Richard - 274 (Thread 9)
4. Donna - 271 (Thread 1)
5. Anita - 250 (Thread 3)

TOP US RESIDENTS
1. Richard
2. Mark
3. Katie
4. Stasia
5. Laura

TOP ASIA PACIFIC RESIDENTS
1. Paul
2. Nina
3. Kerry
4. Megan
5. Liz

TOP CANADIAN RESEDENTS
1. Meg
2. Deb
3. Anita
4. Shelley
5. Micky

TOP FIVE EUROPEANS
1. Anita
2. Thomas
3. Ursula
4. Ella
5. Carsten

TOP FIVE UK RESIDENTS
1. Rhian
2. Caroline
3. John
4. Kerry
5. Tony

THE WAR ROOM CHALLENGE THREAD FOR MAY IS UP!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/360466

Off to Austerlitz, Jena, Trafalgar and Waterloo with the Napoleonic Wars.

Happy new thread, Paul!

>63 PaulCranswick: Love all stats, these are fun :-)

>65 FAMeulstee: Lovely to see you, Anita.

The stats made me realize my threads are probably too long this year as the three longest threads are all by me.

>54 Owltherian: I’m not surprised. Since it seems evident that you didn’t join LT to catalogue your library or discuss books I assume it was to pursue your interest in role-playing. Would not be surprised to learn that you are a 37 year old man named Wally.

>67 booksaplenty1949: HAHA people have guessed that i was 11, 9 & 13 based on how i acted, but I'm 14 and they said i was lying lol

>67 booksaplenty1949: Hahaha at least Wally and Lily is better than Willy and Lolly.

>68 Owltherian: Without knowing you were 14, I might have said a little older.

>69 PaulCranswick: I would guess hah.

I see Alexis Wright just won the Stella Prize for the second time with Praiseworthy. Have you read any of her novels? I tried the audiobook of Carpentaria but found it not my thing after a few chapters.

Interesting stats!

Looks like I am slipping quite a bit which is understandable considering my reading has been slacking.

I enjoy seeing the longest renewed thread. You have taken all the podium spots ;)

>70 Owltherian: You don't need to guess, Lily, because surely you know your own age!

>71 avatiakh: No, Kerry, I am completely unfamiliar with her writing to be honest. I will go and have a look.

>72 figsfromthistle: You are still within striking distance in the Canadian threads, Anita!

Not intentional with the longest thread business. Normally Richard, Stasia and Peggy have an angle on that particular "prize". I have seen 500 and 600 posts previously.

>73 PaulCranswick: Nope i dont but even my dad forgets my age sometimes hah, I'm the one who remembers all the birthdays

>75 Owltherian: That is sad, Lily.

>76 PaulCranswick: Eh it just happens sometimes not always though, he once thought my little brother was 8 when he was 10 so i guess it surprises everyone.

>73 PaulCranswick: Yeah, right.

>77 Owltherian: You need to invest in an abacus.

>78 booksaplenty1949: I quite often think I am a teenager still but then again I am definitely close to my second childhood.

>79 PaulCranswick: Seems like we need to, and i just failed another assignment for algebra sooo that's great

>80 Owltherian: Consistency is the key, Lily.

>81 PaulCranswick: Guess so, and i got like a 33%

>63 PaulCranswick: Three hundred is optimal, PC, longer than that gets really unwieldy for your visitors including broken photo links. Of course it means more threads, but that's always the tradeoff.

>82 Owltherian: Simple maths then. Three exams and you'll get 100%??

>83 richardderus: Yeah I always used to be a 250 posts and change chap, RD. But I wanted to see what happened if I based it on time rather than numbers.....it doesn't really work.

>84 PaulCranswick: Thats true

>86 Owltherian: No it isn't Lily! That is how come you are scoring 33%. If you score 33% in three exams in a row your score remains at 33%!

>87 PaulCranswick: Yeah i guess so, but i barely passed math anyways and last year on the EOC's i should have gotten more than a 700 but yet i got only 700 and that's what i need to pass high school.

>88 Owltherian: We don't have that system in the UK, Lily. Our State Comprehensive system is supposed to cater for everybody although in reality there are huge discrepancies between the qualities of different schools.

>89 PaulCranswick: To graduate we need to pass 2 things, either first quarter & second or one of the two and the exams, and its the same with 3rd and 4th quarter

>50 PaulCranswick: I get Herald a lot for Harold.

>63 PaulCranswick: Hey!! I made # 1 on something!! I'm shocked!!

>90 Owltherian: That sounds complicated on its own.

>91 hredwards: I would always herald your appearance Harold.

>92 hredwards: Well done dear fellow. Your reading numbers have always been high up the list of course.

>93 PaulCranswick: Exactly and they expect us to understand it but i think I'll graduate freshman year

>95 Owltherian: I'm sure you will.

>96 PaulCranswick: Since i passed 3rd quarter

Happy new thread, Paul. I am only 2 days late. . .

Happy whatever!

Happy Friday, Stasia. I am thirty seconds into it now!

>75 Owltherian: When I was a child, my mom mentioned that she couldn't remember her age, and had to subtract her birth year from the current year (and then adjust for the months). I was amazed and appalled.

Now that I'm in my 60s, I do the same thing.

>99 PaulCranswick: Yay! Make it a good one!

>100 ArlieS: Wow, i would be suprised if i didn't know my dads age (39 going to be 40 this year)

>100 ArlieS: The only way I can remember my brothers ages is we are all three years apart so I subtract from my age.
My daughter was born in 2000, thank God! ;)

>100 ArlieS: Mental arithmetic is good for the brain muscles, Arlie!

>101 alcottacre: It won't be the best of Friday's for me as Hani is flying off to Indonesia for a few days away visiting sick friends and enjoying some "me" time with a couple of friends. I am about to send her to the airport.

>102 Owltherian: Oh dear your Dad is so young!

>103 hredwards: I remember my brother's age, Harold, by remembering my own as he is my twin!

>105 PaulCranswick: Yeah, if you lose track of that it’s probably a bad sign. Also if you forget his birthday.

>106 booksaplenty1949: So far I have always been able to remind him of his ever increasing age.

>105 PaulCranswick: Not sure how old my mom was, well before she passed away....and now I'm being harrassed on yet another site saying my dogs are dead (which two of them are) and they even said on a hobbies tab 'stalking teenagers with cringy pfps'

>108 Owltherian: Lily, I have absolutely no idea what "cringy pfps" is or are and it sounds suspiciously like I didn't really need to know! Better stay away from places where abuse is flying about as you seem very susceptible to being on the receiving end of such things.

>109 PaulCranswick: *sigh* seems like it, and i was starting to like that site anyways, and pfp is profile picture and cringy means like pathetic, cheesy or embarrassing. Of course I'm close to crying due to remembering the three dogs now that passed.

>110 Owltherian: I see.

>111 PaulCranswick: It hurts a lot to remember dead family or pets even if we lost them a month or years ago....or even days and weeks....

>112 Owltherian: Should be the other way around, Lily surely: days and weeks or even months or years. Obviously the feelings are stronger the closer you are to an event.

>113 PaulCranswick: Yeah, and my grandparents 13-14 year old dog Avery passed away last month or so...I was told 2 weeks after

>114 Owltherian: How often do you see your grandparents?

>115 PaulCranswick: Once every summer break, sometimes even spring break

>116 Owltherian: Ah not so often.

>117 PaulCranswick: Nope and i seems everytime i come over another one of their animals i grew up with is gone.

Happy New(ish) Thread!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/360495

>118 Owltherian: You hardly grew up with the animals Lily, if you only saw them once a year.

>119 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver

>120 SilverWolf28: And thanks again, Silver.

>104 PaulCranswick: I hope Hani has safe travels!

Happy whatever!

>121 PaulCranswick: When i was younger, and well more when my mom was alive i always went over there

>124 Owltherian: Did you not tell us your “biomom” died when you were five?

>125 booksaplenty1949: Yeah, so thats why i said 'when my mom (biological) was alive' since she lived nearby them

>123 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia. I have spoken to her a couple of times already and she seems to be having a ball.

>124 Owltherian: If you can remember back into your days of infancy you have some memory, Lily, even though effectively we are talking less than a decade ago.

>125 booksaplenty1949: Just what I was thinking.

>126 Owltherian: And answered sort of but underscoring my earlier comment to >124 Owltherian:

>127 PaulCranswick: Hah i only remember little bits and pieces, since i spent a little of it in the ICU due to complications

>129 Owltherian: Most of my infancy is not remembered it is just a case of impressions.

>130 PaulCranswick: Some people dont remember much

>131 Owltherian: I am known for having an extraordinarily good memory but I cannot remember anything much from before I was five or so.

Friday lunchtime additions.

131. Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein
132. Golden Age by Wang Xiaobo

Did my best to wind it in given our imminent move upstairs.

>132 PaulCranswick: Yeah, i dont remember much from before 5 years old either

>134 Owltherian: Wasn't that our earlier point about the pets?

>105 PaulCranswick: That makes it easy for you! Except sometimes I can't remember my own age.

>135 PaulCranswick: i think so and im enjoying some salmon from a wrap

>136 hredwards: do sometimes purposely overlook my age, Harold!

>137 Owltherian: Just a bit random, Lily, but making me hungry nonetheless.

>138 PaulCranswick: Yeah it is was good and i feel like i say a lot of random stuff

>139 Owltherian: Hahaha you do indeed, Lily!

>140 PaulCranswick: Haha i sometimes wish i could stay on one topic but yet i cant

>141 Owltherian: You should be able to concentrate more with ample reading, Lily.

>116 Owltherian: I see you posted about visiting your grandparents in March of this year.

>143 booksaplenty1949: Yep! That was over spring break

>142 PaulCranswick: Yep, i have started more books

<143 Much better than I am - I can't keep up!

>144 Owltherian: I see

>145 Owltherian: Happy reading Lily.

I'm terribly behind on threads. I missed commenting on the previous one completely. I figured I'd better chime in before "another one bites the dust."

>148 thornton37814: Always welcome, dear Lori. I know you have been really busy this last year or so.

>133 PaulCranswick: I was wondering if you were sick or something, Juan, but I guess the last statement explains it all. My weekly acquisitions have been posted to the 'This Just In' thread, if you care to have a look.

>150 alcottacre: I will indeed go and have a look, Juana. xx

>133 PaulCranswick: Hmm must have missed about the immanent move upstairs....

>129 Owltherian: Freud of course theorised that we have no conscious memories of early childhood because we were thinking non-stop about sex and have subsequently repressed that painful phase, which nonetheless comes back in our dreams. More scientific theories involve the pace of development of the parts of the brain needed for retrievable memories. Apparently rats are also unable to retrieve memories of experiments they participated in as baby rats and it is unlikely that this is because they are embarrassed about wanting to kill their fathers and have sex with their mothers. Language acquisition is also important in the physiology of human memory.

>152 Caroline_McElwee: We will keep the place on even if we move back to the UK shortly, Caroline.
I like the units and it is a carbon copy of this one but with better piping so my books know where they are supposed to go.

>153 booksaplenty1949: So I guess we are on the same page - infant memory is a chimera at best.

>153 booksaplenty1949: I dont think i have ever once thought about sex but i very clearly remember me at five, both because my family has told me things & my biological mother died in front of me.

Now, i think i either heard a single gunshot or fireworks, there was a flash of light before the sound but it didn't make the sound fireworks would and I'm kind of scared. Im actually not sure now- it could be rain but i don't think it is

>155 Owltherian: Lily, our friend was explaining Freudian concepts of childhood memory. You don't remember things because you are told them; you remember them because you remember them. One of my earliest memories was of my first day at school during which I was shamed for stealing some small coloured sticks which took my fancy. I have been told plenty of things from earlier but I don't in all honestly actually remember them.

Gunshot, rain and fireworks.....hope you will be ok.

>156 PaulCranswick: I think it was thunder/lightning only but it scared me, but I'm okayish now i guess, it sounded like a gunshot or fireworks at first

>155 Owltherian: Your “biomom” OD’d on her bipolar medication right in front of you? That’s pretty scary.

>158 booksaplenty1949: Yeah i was terrified and i miss her a lot

>157 Owltherian: It is a different world. I am in the tropics and if I heard a loud bang I would think vehicle misfiring or a tropical storm brewing. Gunshot definitely not. There is virtually no gun violence here.

>158 booksaplenty1949: That would be scary.

>159 Owltherian: Now something like that I am sure I would also remember. Of course you would not have realized at the time that she was on bi-polar medication.

>160 PaulCranswick: We hear guns all the time and fireworks....my older brother (by 9 months) heard a gunshot and then a car speeding away and then i hear that my friends house got shot up

>161 PaulCranswick: Yeah, but she was still on medication and then the next thing i knew we were having a funeral for her....then a year or two later another one, then the year after that another one

>162 Owltherian: If the USA is meant to be the land of milk and honey then I am pleased that Malaysia remains the land of Paul and Hani.

I don't quite follow. How can you have a funeral for your mum three years in a row?

>163 PaulCranswick: They were all family members funerals

Hah, its not the land of milk and honey, especially Norwood

>164 Owltherian: Now I see, Lily. Sometimes your random phrasing is a bit difficult to comprehend or it could be that I am in need of sleep.

>165 PaulCranswick: I think its my random phrasing haha

>166 Owltherian: Probably but I do need some sleep.

>167 PaulCranswick: Then take a nap, if you need it

Happy New Thread, Paul.
And again thank you for the stats.
Have a wonderful Sunday!

>168 Owltherian: Soon

>169 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas. It is my pleasure to produce the stats.

>170 PaulCranswick: Good, and i just got a new movie and some comics from a nearby shop

>154 PaulCranswick: So you won't need a 40 ft container to move your books to the UK :-)
Keeping the place sounds sensible, Paul, less to move around. And I think Hani has no problem to fill a house in the UK without your books. Although I am sure you can fill a few bookcases in no time when you are there.

>172 FAMeulstee: We may well have quite a bit less space too, Anita. Let's see!

A mini haul today between hair cutting and dinner.

133. The Expendables by Jeff Rubin
134. Napoleon : The Man Behind the Myth by Adam Zamoyski

I consider myself an internationalist but not on the issue of unfettered free trade which tends towards throwing people out of work and leading to a miscalculation of the cost of overseas products. I am not a free trader because there is no fair trade with a country that does not have the same welfare system and no principles when it comes to IP etc. I am more akin to the thinking of Small is Beautiful by Schumacher. Markets should be manipulated to suit the local populace and a government's first obligation is the security of its people - physical and job security. This is the subject of Rubin's book. It is a topic that has been hijacked by the right but it should be reclaimed by those of us on the left.

I am enjoying the Napoleon biography I am reading and couldn't resist this one which has received a lot of praise.

>171 Owltherian: Do you ever read books?

>175 booksaplenty1949: Comics are books, too.

>176 amanda4242: Absolutely. But this is a “75 Books Challenge for 2024” talk thread. Posters may not all meet this goal but they are generally interested in recording and discussing what they are reading.

>174 PaulCranswick: I asked Basic Books for a DRC of the Zamoyski, but got turned down...still miffed about that. The Rubin sounds great!

>177 booksaplenty1949: Owl discuses lots of books that they read. They also discuss other things, which is what a LOT of people do in this group, including myself. So I'm honestly not sure where you're going with this.

>175 booksaplenty1949: I do actually, i have read 30 of them. If you actually look at my thread you would know. Now I'm going to continue my break :)

>177 booksaplenty1949: a comic is not a poster, and some people get some if they like things-

>175 booksaplenty1949: Hahaha same question can be aimed at me probably. I am much better at buying them than actually getting them read. x

>176 amanda4242: It depends somewhat on the comic but yes, Amanda, generally right.

>177 booksaplenty1949: I have made a conscious effort to tone down political talk here in the chat and I do most prefer to talk about books, but I will make time to talk about whatever topics are raised.

>178 richardderus: I will probably fast track the Rubin, RD, as the disaster of free trade is a pet peeve of mine.

>179 The_Hibernator: I think it was a fair question, Rachel, and made somewhat tongue in cheek. Owl has acknowledged making rather a lot of random comments but random or not they are welcome here.

>180 Owltherian: Surprised to see you posting as you did say you would be offline for several days.

>184 PaulCranswick: Cut my break quite short actually. Not even making my break a day.

>181 Owltherian: I think some misunderstanding here. Posters refers to all of us.....we "post" to threads. It wasn't said that comics are posters.

>185 Owltherian: Anyway take good care of yourself break or unbreak.

>186 PaulCranswick: Ahhhhh, whoops i just happened to check after having a good day, and now i am a little mad.

Ive been reading about stoicism since your comments about me being stic Paul. Very interesting.

>188 Owltherian: No reason to be mad, Lily. I am a poster just like you. x

>189 dianeham: I certainly meant it as a compliment, Diane. In terms of "the endurance of hardship without complaint" (OED). I believe that you and Michael are doing your very best to face down the challenges suddenly thrust upon you.

>190 PaulCranswick: Coming back to basically hate comments about what i read put me in a bad mood, adding on the fact I'm in a lot of pain due to cramps

>191 Owltherian: Sorry Lily but that exaggerates what was said. No hatred was espoused here. The comment was about reading only and whilst it may have been slightly churlish let's not use words like hate or hatred here, please.

>180 Owltherian: Where would I look for your thread? You seem to have only 14 books and one review posted on your profile but it appears I am not looking in the appropriate place.

>181 Owltherian: The posters one puts on a wall do not discuss what they are reading, or anything else. I was talking about LT members who post.

>179 The_Hibernator: “Owl discusses a lot of books that they read.” Where? Not here, apparently.

>176 amanda4242: Consider this me pressing a like button.

>179 The_Hibernator: This is me pushing another like button.

>193 booksaplenty1949: Okay- you can look on the thread on this group, and you can clearly see how many books i have read.

>194 booksaplenty1949: That has already been explained by Paul, thank you for your time.

>193 booksaplenty1949: Jim maintains a Threadbook linking to the threads of everyone in this group; you can find the link in the group description. Might be a good idea to get informed a bit before randomly going on the attack.

>193 booksaplenty1949: I also happen to have 2 threads, about to make a third one

Let's all calm down guys.
Seems that there is some crossed wires over here.
A comment is a comment it isn't an attack. Can we give each other the benefit of the doubt please.
I want everyone to feel welcome here.

>193 booksaplenty1949: Lily's latest thread can be found here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/360565#n8527797

>194 booksaplenty1949: I understood what you meant.

>195 booksaplenty1949: That is true but Lily's own thread does contain much more in the way of book reading information.

>196 ReneeMarie: It is a shame we don't have that facility isn't it, Renee?

>197 ReneeMarie: Rachel is right that Lily does discuss books - it is done more over at Lily's thread but for me that is fine as I don't have and never will try to control what is posted here.

As my visitors will know I will talk about anything so long as the discussion is respectful and I will answer each and every post that anyone troubles to put here.

>198 Owltherian: I have taken the liberty of putting a link to your thread in >203 PaulCranswick:, Lily.

>199 Owltherian: Noted, Lily.

>200 _Zoe_: That is a good idea of course, Zoe and a very useful facility provided by DocRoc. Attack is perhaps slightly too strong a description of the comments made and to be fair booksaplenty1949 does not maintain a thread in the group and was only going by the comments made by Lily here.

Let's reset and start over.

>201 Owltherian: And closing in on 500 posts already......well done!

>205 PaulCranswick: Thank you for that Paul.

>207 PaulCranswick: Wow- thats a lot of posts haha

>208 Owltherian: You are welcome, Lily.

>209 Owltherian: Indeed. 458 posts to date to be precise.

>211 PaulCranswick: I would have expected to have way less than that, especially with being busy with school and stuff with that i try to comment as much as i can, but sometimes its a bit hard

>206 PaulCranswick: what’s a threadbook and where is it?

Oh, now I see it. Never saw that before.

>213 dianeham: A Threadbook is basically where they keep all the threads and here ya go! https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/The_2024_Threadbook

>174 PaulCranswick: Right there with you, Paul.

>1 PaulCranswick: Napoleonic is my second fave era thanks to Georgette Heyer and all the Regency romances! Historical fiction FTW! I find it incredibly funny that her An Infamous Army includes a small bibliography and contains many various excerpts from Wellington's military correspondence and indeed are the source of the book title.

I finally got around to The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde and was amused at how the Battle of Waterloo and Wellington's and Nelson's deaths were milestones to assess the state of the timeline by Thursday Next's dad. the rogue ChronoGuard. That book was beyond what I expected based on everything I'd heard since the series was published. And it certainly painted Rochester in a much better light than Bronte managed. But then, maybe I didn't properly appreciate Jane Eyre due to my youth when I read it. I'm looking forward to the rest of the Thursday Next series.

>215 Owltherian: Thanks Lily. I always kept putting the main page in topic order to try to find people’s topucs but that did not always work. I learned something new. Thanks.

>217 dianeham: You're very welcome!

>212 Owltherian: You see and you said earlier today that people ignore your thread.....certainly not the case!

>213 dianeham: Diane I did have a peek further in the replies and your question has been addressed satisfactorily in later posts. You are in the threadbook of course!

>214 dianeham: I am so grateful to Jim for all the hardwork he does in administering this group.

>215 Owltherian: Thanks for that, Lily.

>216 justchris: It is a favourite era of mine too, Chris. Napoleon was a fascinating fellow.
The misnomer of free trade and the West's blindness to the disaster it has heaped and will continue to heap upon it is a bug bear of mine.

>217 dianeham: Yes, I used to struggle more to make sure that I had captured everyone's threads in my stats until it was introduced, Diane.

>218 Owltherian: :D

>221 PaulCranswick: Stats?

>221 PaulCranswick: Napoleon was larger than life. Kinda overdid the whole small man syndrome thing.

It's a bug bear worth pointing out every time. Such a misnomer! People who get upset about immigration are failing to understand natural consequences of such things as NAFTA. Chickens coming home to roost in somewhat of a literal sense.

>222 dianeham: I keep statistics on number of posts per threads and on books read, Diane. I sometimes wear an anorak.

>223 justchris: Hahaha I was just going to say that lives were shorter back then!

It is a product of our polarized world that issues get so badly conflated.

>63 PaulCranswick: I see you're doing well in the stats, Paul. Possibly has something to do with the fact that you're NOT posting pictures of Jell-O atrocities.

>223 justchris: The idea that at any point, from the moment human beings appeared on the planet, groups of people normally remained permanently in some “homeland” is obviously not accurate. Opportunity and/or disaster have constantly driven human beings to up stakes and move on. Of course one can attempt to minimise human migration by trying to equalise local opportunity and relieve local disaster. But building walls and declaring “We belong here and you don’t” is absurd.

>174 PaulCranswick: Mini-hauls now, Juan? Totally unfair. Lol.

Have a wonderful whatever!

>225 humouress: hahaha much more likely that my success is despite the absence of Jello, Nina.

>226 booksaplenty1949: Free trade and immigration policy have little to do with each other in my opinion but they seem to get lumped together.

>227 alcottacre: My hauls, in the way of many middle aged men, have become dribbles!

>228 PaulCranswick: There’s no point in off-shoring jobs to low-wage countries if you allow too many of their workers to emigrate to higher-wage countries.

There's no way I can catch up on 230 posts today, Paul, so I'll just draw a line in the sand here and say Hello!

>225 humouress: Dunno. I can envision an art installation of a giant Jello formation with books inside it.

>224 PaulCranswick: are these statistics somewhere I can see them?

>233 dianeham: I belive they are above in the thread somewhere.

>234 Owltherian: thanks again, Lily. I had the longest unrenewed thread until a few days ago when I started a new one.

>235 dianeham: You're welcome again haha.

>230 booksaplenty1949: The idea of off shoring jobs full stop is a problem to the workers of the country involved.

>231 bell7: No issue Mary! Good morning (for me good evening) my dear lady.

>232 booksaplenty1949: Hahaha well that does sound like it could be my next project!

>233 dianeham: I put them up fairly irregularly on my threads Diane. I did some truncated ones up thread if I recall rightly. I will update the posting stats here on Wednesday.

>234 Owltherian: Ah yes I thought so, Diane.
As of this morning (Malaysia) you were on 348 posts and in 38th place overall.

>235 dianeham: Yes that is true. That particular honour now goes to Joanne (copperskye) with 252 posts.

>236 Owltherian: Thank you, Lily.

>240 PaulCranswick: You're welcome Paul, happy to help.

Finally finished The Way We Live Now. Had set it aside knowing I would be taking a very lengthy train trip and would need something very lengthy to read. Have to admit that despite Trollope’s story-telling gifts I was not really drawn into this novel. I didn’t find any of the characters particularly attractive and the reduction of courtship to a commercial transaction in virtually every relationship got a bit depressing. I was however impressed by Trollope’s ability to create a large cast of distinctive characters without resorting to caricatures with only one attribute, a frequent technique of Dickens.

>241 Owltherian: :D

>242 booksaplenty1949: I was eventually impressed by the novel but never entirely devoted to it. Agree with you that there were no truly likeable characters and the wont of at least one light in the darkness was a slight flaw eventually.

>243 PaulCranswick: Marie Melmotte and Bertha Hurtle were rather refreshingly atypical Victorian women, going after what they wanted with energy, and not crushed by failure. The “good girl,” Hetta Carbury, was by far the most boring woman in the book.

Hungry Ghosts is one I plan/ hope to get to this year, Paul. Charlotte has read it , and really liked it. I finished Brotherless Night and it is my favourite of the long and short lists so far. I still have Soldier Sailor to read and I am just starting it. I do have River East, River West waiting, and I'll get to it before the winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction is announced.

>244 booksaplenty1949: Isn't that always the way with good girls?! (Belle please don't read this!) Marie was probably my "favourite" character in some ways.

>245 vancouverdeb: I am going to read River East, River West soon and would hazard that I will still have Brotherless Night as my favourite. I did like Soldier Sailor but not as much as Ms. Ganeshanathan's book.

Hani is back from Indonesia. I collected her and her two friends from the airport last night at 10.30 pm and drove back to KL. Took her two friends to their respective homes and then back to ours. In the car park Hani realised that she had left two bags of things she had bought in Jakarta (chocolates and some clothes for me) beside where the car had been in the airport.
She was devastated and in floods of tears. I telephoned the airport and managed to speak eventually to the car park security and described where I had been parked and what had been left.
The cap called me back ten minutes later to inform me that he had recovered the goods and Hani will collect them this morning. A nice end to a long day.

The KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport Staff) were enormously polite and helpful and I have to say it was heartwarming to see Hani's face when I texted her a picture of the goods she had left behind to told her they were safe.

>247 PaulCranswick:, Such good news Paul. It's nice when human behavior is above expectations! And happy that Hani got her packages back.

>248 Kristelh: One of the things I cannot bear is my wife crying - it cuts me to the quick. I was so pleased yesterday to give her the good news and I have to say the staff at the airport were wonderful.

>247 PaulCranswick: Great that Hani is back! I am equally happy that the two forgotten bags were not stolen. A happy ending.

>250 figsfromthistle: It is so nice, Anita, when - just occasionally - we are given a reminder of the innate goodness of most people.

>247 PaulCranswick: What a nice save! Glad Hani was able to recover the goodies!

>252 justchris: It will put her in a good mood, Chris, which is never a bad thing!

Hi Paul, Once when we were visiting our oldest daughter in Japan who was living in Tokyo at the time, she left her purse on the subway and it was a while before she realized that she didn't have it. Later, it was waiting for her in the lost and found with all things fully there. Amazing! Nothing stolen. Glad that the Hani's story was a success as well! No tears!

>254 mdoris: I am always heartened by such stories, Mary. People in general are much better and more honest than they are often given credit for.

Thats good Hani is back! How are ya today Paul?

>247 PaulCranswick: I am glad to hear that Hani is back and that her goods were recovered. I went through something similar on our cruise back in January, so I can commiserate.

Have a wonderful whatever!

>256 Owltherian: I'm good, Lily, thank you.

>257 alcottacre: She is very happy to have gotten her chocolates back but has now hidden them to prevent the domestic chocolate predator from depleting her stock!

>258 PaulCranswick: And who is the 'domestic chocolate predator,' Paul? It is you? Lol

>258 PaulCranswick: You're welcome Paul. Domestic chocolate predator haha

>259 alcottacre: Well in fairness, Stasia, I have been accused of much worse things!

>260 Owltherian: I suppose the goodies are hidden for my own good!

>261 PaulCranswick: So you can get into the new clothes.

>262 booksaplenty1949: Yes there is that too. I have been struggling to fit into many of my current wardrobe.

I ❤️ chocolate too. It is irresistible!

>264 mdoris: We are on the same page, Mary!

>265 PaulCranswick: Yes in so many ways.......

>266 mdoris: To use another pun, I would say that it is easy to read in between the lines!

>247 PaulCranswick: A good outcome Paul.