FlossieT's Confessions of Another Year's Common Reading

Reading now:
The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry (re-read)
Kabul in Winter - Ann Jones
The Rest is Noise - Alex Ross

This year's list (decided to dispense with the touchstones as correcting them again every time I added a book was getting old):

January
1. The Sewing Circles of Herat - Christina Lamb (326 pages)
2. Ghostwalk - Rebecca Stott (324 pages)
3. Not the End of the World - Kate Atkinson (332 pages)
4. The Man in the Picture - Susan Hill (145 pages)
5. Don't Panic - Neil Gaiman (240 pages, or 241 if you count the acknowledgements...)
6. Through the Dark Woods - Joanna Swinney (152 pages)
7. Dead Lovely - Helen FitzGerald (298 pages)
8. The Master Bedroom - Tessa Hadley (309 pages)
9. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (328 pages)
10. A Bit on the Side - William Trevor (245 pages)
11. The Flying Troutmans - Miriam Toews (274 pages)

February
12. 84, Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff (97 pages)
13. Sleepyhead - Mark Billingham (405 pages)
14. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You - Ally Carter (284 pages)
15. In the Woods - Tana French (592 pages)
16. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman (289 pages)
17. Coraline - Neil Gaiman (185 pages)
18. American Gods - Neil Gaiman (588 pages)
19. Ella Minnow Pea - Mark Dunn (203 pages)
20. The 13 Clocks and the Wonderful O - James Thurber (158 pages)
21. Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (338 pages)
22. Angels of the Flood - Joanna Hines (409 pages)
23. Cassandra at the Wedding - Dorothy Baker (225 pages)
24. No Time for Goodbye - Linwood Barclay (437 pages)
25. Proust and the Squid - Maryanne Wolf (295 pages)
26. My Antonia - Willa Cather (372 pages)

March
27. Vicky Had One Eye Open - Darryl Samaraweera (211 pages)
28. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan (374 pages)
29. What Should I Do With My Life? - Po Bronson (400 pages - I'm counting the gushing acknowledgements and the saccharine reading group guide)
30. The Silver Linings Playbook - Matthew Quick (289 pages)
31. Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom (eek forgot to check before I packed it up - about 200 pages)
32. Death of an Englishman - Magdalen Nabb (238 pages)
33. The Dark Lord of Derkholm - Diana Wynne Jones (328 pages)
34. The Idle Parent - Tom Hodgkinson (?? drat another one I forgot to check before giving it back)
35. Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl, I Learnt From Judy Blume - ed. Jennifer O'Connell (275 pages)
36. I Was Told There'd Be Cake - Sloane Crosley (230 pages)

April
37. Florence, A Delicate Case - David Leavitt (176 pages)
38. Imagined London - Anna Quindlen (162 pages)
39. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders - Daniyal Mueenuddin (237 pages)

Here we go at last! I have some reading ideas for this year which I'm going to try to stick to.

1) Focus on reading books I already own, primarily as a remedy to extreme shortness of shelf-space

2) More non-fiction - I read hardly any last year, partly because things were so hectic I desperately needed the pure escapism of fiction; but this has gone on long enough.

3) More about politically-charged world regions about which I am woefully ignorant (starting with Afghanistan)

4) Not so many looooooooooong books

5) This is definitely going to be the year in which I read some long-overdue Russian classics - Anna Karenina is first in my sights.

6) Also some Brontes - my last new purchase before my new year of austerity was The Brontes: A Life in Letters, which I've wanted to read for years; I also intend to catch up on the novels that I've missed (i.e. most of them).

I'm planning to keep track of the number of pages I'm reading, and to pinch avaland's idea of keeping a full running list in my first post for my own ease of reference (trawling back through my thread for my 'review of the year' has been a bit painful!).

I also intend to try to keep my 'reading now' up to date in my first post; for some reason I have to re-learn how to do this sort of thing on my own LT profile every time I try, where editing the post is a snap.

I'm so looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on what they are reading and, of course, watching my wishlist lengthen accordingly :-)

Happy New Year!

Some admirable goals, Flossie. I hope we held you make them!

Your goals are almost the same as mine (not written out yet, but soon... as soon as I've marked another 40 silly exam questions!).

I read The Sewing Circles of Herat a few years back and really enjoyed it. she's written another one called Small Wars Permitting that would fit your 2nd, 3rd and 4th goals, and it was a really good book besides! It's a collection of articles she wrote over about 10 years.

Thanks, cushla - sounds good. I've managed another couple of chapters over breakfast (in between breaking up an embryonic WWIII between the kids) and am really enjoying the way she writes.

>3 alcottacre: - Stasia, one thing I really like about this group is the amount of serious non-fiction that you all read. Left to my own devices, I'd probably just gorge on novels, so with the new ideas I pick up, I can kid myself that I'm also on here for "educational" reasons. Makes me feel a bit better...

#5: You are on here for "educational" reasons - learning more about more books to read, lol.

BTW - Any luck with the tea situation?

Stasia, I did pass your links on, but I think Bec's plan at the moment is to stock up on Earl Grey (UK edition) when she visits next week - that should tide her over for a little while, at least; after that she may well be hunting again...

#7: Well, I am glad she is going to have something to tide her over even if she has to go to England to get it!

Looking forward to your comments on Becoming a Writer.....I like to read about books and writing.

Welcome back......you're another favorite of mine......and starred again.

Thank you, BDB! Very kind of you - I always really enjoy your reviews.

My reading is going v slowly so far this year - my husband has been working most of Christmas so I have had all three kids to keep entertained by myself, in the unexpectedly sub-zero UK weather; also ended up spending a big chunk of today in A&E (US translation: emergency room) after my daughter managed to stick her leg in the wheel of my bike while we were cycling home (owwwwwwwwwww). It may be some time yet before I actually manage to post a book.

Is that subzero Fahrenheit or Celsius?

Sorry to hear about your daughter (ouch); I hope it was nothing worse than a bad bruise...

Hey Flossie, sorry to hear about your daughter, I did the same as a child in winters and it did hurt a lot! Hope she is well and wish her to get well soon.

Nice pick there with Anna Karenina, its an amazing book, am sure you would like it!

>11 kidzdoc:: oh, only Celsius. It's just we've had a couple of really mild winters, so a prolonged period of not getting much above freezing is unusual (and makes me realise I really should have got the central heating seen to over the summer...).

>11 kidzdoc: & 12: Little girl is fine, actually, thank you for asking. It looked like she'd gone right down to the bone when she first did it, but when they cleaned her up it was clear she'd just taken off the top layers of skin, and she has been walking on it (if not extensively weight-bearing). She has been dancing to Fur Elise this evening so I think it's fair to say she's feeling much better....

>12 PiyushC:: I have been told repeatedly by those that know me too well that I should love Anna Karenina, and they can't quite believe I haven't read it yet. So it had to happen sometime. I'm looking forward to it, although probs later in the year - Easter, maybe. I'd like to read it at a time when I can approach it slowly and in large continuous chunks.

Hi Flossie
This is a quick post to say I'm thinking of you and your little one and hope you and she get a good night's rest.
Trips to the ER can be emotionally and physically draining.
And, even if you don't have time to read, please do continue to post if you can so that we can hear from you...You would be missed if we didn't know what was happening.

You and I can compare notes on Tolstoy this year, Rachael. I am starting War and Peace and am going to get it read if it takes all year!

Glad your daughter's ok - and hope you are. Ugh, trips to A&E with kids are horrible. Hope you've read some trashy magazines while you've been hanging round in waiting rooms.

I am probably up for reading Anna Karenina at the same time as you - might help me stick with it!

I am planning on reading Anna Karenina as well - group read, anyone? Let me know when you decide to start it!

Found you! Looking foward to your posts this year.

RE: goal # 6
It's great to see Bronte on your list. I first read Wuthering Heights when I was 12 years-old and decided I would one day have a daughter named Emily. SO.. I now have a daughter named Emily and a standard poodle named Bronte. I shall now have to look up the book of letters you mentioned as I have not read that one. Thanks for posting it!

>19 profilerSR:: I think the Juliet Barker is now out of print, sadly, and prices seem to vary wildly - mine cost about GBP 14 in the end, which I thought was OK, and it's in pretty good condition considering (it's quite a thick book but the spine is not too badly creased). I read a review of it when it first came out and it sounded fabulous.

I've read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights but I think that's it, despite buying a nice fat ed. of all the Bronte novels in one volume when I went off to uni. So it will also meet my goal of reading books I already own!! (Although technically, since it's still in my bedroom at my mum's house, it won't help the shelf-space issue any...)

..and >16 cushlareads: & >17 Cait86:: group read of Anna Karenina sounds great! As I say, personally I'm thinking Easter-ish at the moment - also gives me some time to research translations as the copy I have (had? can't see it on my shelf now...) is my mum's, which she got from a US book club in the 70s, so may not be the best.

Count me in for reading Anna Karenina this year too!

Easter sounds good. I have quite an old translation bought at a secondhand book sale - when my daughter wakes up I'll find it. My husband has reorganised all the bookshelves and I can't find anything! But he has somehow reduced the double-stacking and it looks much better.

Easter sounds perfect - it will give me time to work up to a Tolstoy!

Can someone please start a thread when they start reading Anna Karenina? I think that will give me the incentive I need to begin...

My translation is by Constance Garnett, and it's a Barnes and Noble book (unabridged). It's about 800 pages, hardcover.

>2 FlossieT: Flossie, I plan to read The Brontes by Juliet Barker. Is the Brontes: A Life in Letters any different, or is it just the same book under a different name?

ETA. Just checked and it is a follow up - should have checked first!

- TT

>26 TheTortoise:: Barker's biography is meant to be excellent too! I'm particularly interested in the letters though so am reading that rather than the biog.

Hey, I finally finished a book!! Totally worn out by all the hospital-related stress of the weekend plus first (not even full, given doctor's appt.) day back at work, found I was physically incapable of working on the train and instead tucked into a bit of Lamb, making book number 1....

1. The Sewing Circles of Herat - Christina Lamb
(326 pages)

Found on akeela's list last year, I really enjoyed this. The author is a UK journalist and foreign correspondent who has spent a lot of time in Afghanistan. The sewing circles of the title actually occupy a very small portion of the book (only around 10-20 pages), which covers the author's experiences of the country both pre- and post-2001.

Having a passing acquaintance with the history of Afghanistan in the 20th century is probably useful - my knowledge was very patchy when I started reading this, and I found some of the chronological jumping around a little confusing; I'm still not sure I entirely understand what happened when the Russians left (or why they left). But this book's purpose is not to be a history, so that is a comment on my preparation rather than the author's ability!

Two aspects really stand out for me: firstly, the chilling sense I got at various points of the book of the morally compromised position of the journalist reporting on wars. The need to 'get the story' sees the author doing various callous things, and interviewing and befriending extremely dodgy characters, and I did find her lack of curiosity about her own behaviour a little disturbing - but then I guess that's what makes a good foreign correspondent...

Secondly, the matter-of-fact detailing of the crimes of the Taliban, which by the end of the book led me to the conclusion that these people were as close to pure evil as one can get. I found the situation in the country described by the book utterly horrifying. It is hard to believe that this was happening in the same centuries in which I have lived.

This is definitely a subject area I'm going to read more about in 2009; in particular, I will be trying to seek out more books that examine the rise of the Taliban in more detail.

I would recommend this highly to anyone interested in the region, and particularly those (like me) who find the standard 'history' approach a little hard to digest. The personal journey was a great way in to the topic.

ETA number of pages, which I forgot I was meaning to do this year...

If you enjoy Christina Lamb's style, I heartily recommend The Africa House by her.

My local library does not have The Sewing Circles of Herat, but it does have another one by her, House of Stone, that I am anxious to read. I will let you know how it is.

Rachael, I'm glad you enjoyed The Sewing Circles of Herat. In spite of the bleak circumstances portrayed, I think it's an important and substantial read.

#27 Great review, which inspires me to add it to my pile. Another hit for bookbutler!

It's gone onto mine too!

I'm glad you liked The Sewing Circles of Herat. I've always enjoyed Christina Lamb's journalism, and I was really impressed with this when I read it in 2007, although as you say it made me aware of how little I knew about Afghanistan.

Sounds a good read, and one that I'll look out for.

On a similar theme, have you read Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time?

I really enjoyed reading your review. The Sewing Circles of Herat was my first book about Afghanistan too.

A couple of other Afghanistan books that you might like were The Places in Between by Rory Stewart and Ghost Wars by Steve Coll. Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan for a month in winter 2002 - he started in Herat. I remember getting a bit sick of it in the middle, and wanting to see what happened to his dog, but it was a good read overall and I learnt a lot more about Afghanistan.

Ghost Wars was fantastic and I think I gave it 5 stars. It's about the CIA, the origins of Al Qaeda, and Bin Laden.

>33 lunacat: and >34 cushlareads:: thanks (for both nice comments and recommendations)! I actually have Three Cups of Tea and Ghost Wars on my TBR list already, but I hadn't thought of adding Rory Stewart. He gave a great talk at the London Review Bookshop last year, on his experiences as chief exec of the Turquoise Mountain(? may have misremembered that) Foundation - very enlightening.

I've actually got into Afghanistan via its neighbour - hearing Tariq Ali speak on Pakistan (that talk's also on the same website), and recommending what became my best book of last year - 2008 75ers, stop yawning now ;-) - The Wasted Vigil, which he said was a must-read if you wanted to understand Afghanistan. It was an amazing book. Later picked up The Kite Runner (which I would have found disappointing if I hadn't been expecting to be disappointed, IYSWIM), but since then I've been gradually amassing a small collection of books to seek out - including Taliban - Ahmed Rashid and The Dark Side - Jane Mayer.

I do hope to read something other than books about Afghanistan this year, but I will be very happy to augment this list if there are any more suggestions out there - keep 'em coming!

Also, >28 alcottacre: and >32 rachbxl:: Stasia and Rachel, I'm going to look out for more of her books as I did really enjoy her style - very readable, and somehow I managed not to get too lost in all the names...

Great review - FlossieT. (Glad your little one is OK, too).

FlossieT I agree with you that after all the hype The Kite Runner was disappointing. I am currently reading 1000 Splendid Suns only because it is my book club's choice for January. I am finding it to be shallow, although the story of the women's friendship is interesting enough to make me keep reading. The attempt to incorporate Afghanistan's recent history is clumsy and utterly without perspective. I'm going to look for The Wasted Vigil, since I've seen several recommendations for it.

>38 arubabookwoman:: what the hell, I can't say it enough and you weren't around in the 2008 group to have been bored by me saying it :) - The Wasted Vigil really was an amazing book. It's quite gruesome in places, but just so well constructed and well-balanced from a moral/political perspective. And beautifully written - I really love stuff that is very visual, and the book is stuffed with neat little images, dropped in in the space of just a couple of lines, that are incredibly striking and seem to encapsulate some significant aspect of the various plotlines. My review is on my thread for last year here if you're interested.

I was bought a copy of A Thousand Splendid Suns for my birthday in 2007 but still haven't read it... I will get around to it, it's just not top of my list.

The Wasted Vigil sounds very good. Why is it that so many books sound good?? Does anyone fear that it is a physical and/or chronological impossibility to read all the books they want?

lunacat

I do already feel so, though I am just 24 and should have another 50 years of reading :(

#41 piyushchourasia

I'm 22!!!

Does anyone fear that it is a physical and/or chronological impossibility to read all the books they want?

At 45 years I know it is impossible, so I try to enjoy the books I do read ;-)

#40: The answer to that is an emphatic "Yes!" I just try and squeeze in as many as I can.

Ah....fear .... that it is impossible to read all the books? No, no fear. It is a certainty for me at age 64, especially if I keep reading these threads.

Thank you for wonderful reviews and commentary. I am putting The Sewing Circles of Herat and The Wasted Vigil on my TBR, after I get them, pile.

ETA: I stuck my foot in my brother's bike spokes when I was young and have a fascinating little round scar on one ankle to prove it, even today. As a kid, I was really interested in having done that, and had no memory of the actual accident.

I'm 31 and still cling to the idea that I can read all the books I would like to before I die, as long as I retire nice and early (counting on my husband to start some sort of lucrative biotech company here...). This despite the fact that "number of books added to my want-to-read list" has consistently outstripped "number of books read" by a factor of at least 3 for at least the last five years.

Sigh. Was there a figure in that thread about book stats about how many lifetimes it would take to read the newly-published output of a single year? I'm going to try to forget it if so.

ETA: thank you, maggie, for stopping by and for the kind words on both books and bike accidents - I spent another couple of hours in the hospital with my daughter again today after being referred by the GP, only to be sent home again with an instruction to give her paracetamol regularly....

As I just posted over at the "have your reading tastes changed" thread, I only have time to read about 3000 more books in my life, so I have to make every one count.

#42 lunacat

Oops :P
I had the feeling I am the youngest regular member of this group apart from Catey (whom we can discount since she is Stasia's daughter :D), thanks for breaking the bubble!

The only reason I wanted to be an I-Banker is that I could retire by the age of 40 max. and pursue my interests (read reading), but with the current market conditions, even that is impossible :(

Flossie sorry to threadjack (and everytime I turn around you have more posts!!)

PiyushChourasia, I used to be an i-banker and now I'm 37, and I still don't get enough books read! (but that's because of 2 kids and lecturing part-time). They got their pound of flesh from me in my late 20s and early 30s...and between grad school and investment banking I read very few books for 10 years.

Will keep my eyes out for The Wasted vigil.

>49 cushlareads:: it would be entirely hypocritical of me to whinge about threadjacking since I have a bad habit of doing it myself.... currently having a conversation with dk_phoenix on Vanye's thread about Stephen Lawhead books!! Actually, it's one of the reasons I enjoyed this group so much last year.

Glad to see others may age on here - I'm 22 as well :)

Me too!

cmt

Sorry to hear that, but then, I don't intend to get married! Thus expect to have all the time in the world :)
But again, with the hiring freeze, need to make new/contingency plans.

Wasted Vigil seems to be a highly recommended book, but perhaps next year...

2. Ghostwalk - Rebecca Stott
324 pages (forgot I was intending to do this! Will have to go back and add the others as well)

I picked this up in a charity shop as I'm a complete sucker for books set in places I know well, and this one doesn't disappoint in that area!

This is one of those timeslip mysteries, where a modern death is entwined with a series of deaths in the 17th century. Historian Elizabeth Vogelsang is found drowned in the river at the bottom of her garden, leaving behind her an unfinished book on Newton's alchemy. Her son asks her friend (and his former lover) Lydia to finish the book, and she moves into Elizabeth's house to do so. But as she begins her research, strange things start to happen...

I did love the very detailed geography of Cambridge - lots of placenames, saved me having to imagine it all :) Unfortunately, there's extremely detailed everything else too - in the end, there was just too much stuff in this book. It was a very good read - first book in ages I've actually stayed up past 2 to finish - but it got a bit silly towards the end. One thing that really annoyed me was that the author was so keen to show off how amazingly thorough her research had been that she included supposed chapters from Elizabeth's history book, footnotes and all.

A good book, but one that needed a better and more ruthless editor - could have done with being a good 50 pages shorter.

I was going to go on to Reading Lolita in Tehran, but I went to the library and unaccountably came home with 4 books... The first isn't really grabbing me though, so I'm going to go on to another Cambridge ghost story instead: The Man in the Picture - many thanks to Linda for posting this to me!

#54: I went to the library and unaccountably came home with 4 books

Don't feel bad, Rachael, that happens to me all the time - only in my case, I generally come home with 10 or 12.

>54 FlossieT: that sounds like a good read. I guess I prefer and extra 50 pages to wrapping everything up too quickly as my last read did. Why can't they be perfect like we are?

(please laugh, for I, at least am far from it!)

>55 alcottacre:: I calculate that given your superhuman ability to survive on so little sleep, that's probably roughly in equal proportion to the time (un)available to read them!

>56 suslyn:: sorry you're not laughing at the moment, Suse - I'll do extra smiling for you as my lovely sister-in-law (she who 'stole' my Waste Land facsimile - I do love her really - and misses Earl Grey tea) and her husband are over for a few days and we're spending a good chunk of this weekend seeing them.

Hi Flossie T
I hope all is well and that your daughter's injuries have completely healed.

I'm anxious to read your impressions of The Man in the Picture.
Take care,
Linda

Hallo and very belated happy new year! Somehow managed to miss your thread so far this year - don't know how...

Hope your daughter's leg is doing better and she won't need any more A&E trips - sounded extremely painful.

Very interesting to read your thoughts on Ghostwalk, which were very much more lucid than mine - I really couldn't make up my mind about it when I read it last year - on the one hand, I found the story gripping (and like you, I like reading about places I know), but on the other, I just couldn't bear her writing style - would definitely agree with the "just too much stuff" comment!

I don't know how you all keep up with these threads! Just read the review of Sewing Circle--which I am adding to my list--and was reminded of The Bookseller of Kabul. The author spent time living with the title character and his familyduring what sounds like the same time frame in Afghanistan. I had much the same reaction as to the living conditions and difficulties of everyday life for Afghanis. A good book and I recommend it.

Just to throw another book about Afghanistan into the mix, I loved An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan by Jason Elliot
A wonderful travelogue of his experiences in war-torn Afghanistan. The amazing hospitality the people display to a stranger can provide a lesson to us all.

>58 Whisper1:: thanks as ever for your kind thoughts, Linda. The little one actually wore regular shoes instead of a big fluffy slipper yesterday and today, and is sleeping tonight with the dressing off, so she is definitely on the mend. A huge relief! She has coped amazingly well with it (and astoundingly not milked it for all the sympathy she could get, which is encouraging..)

>59 flissp:: Happy New Year to you too, flissp. No doubt I got lost amid the pages and pages of busy threads on here... and also I haven't actually managed much reading yet!! I haven't been on LT at all over the weekend and it has taken me an amount of time to which I shall not publicly admit to catch up with all the posts. This really isn't sustainable, is it?

>60 LisaCurcio:: Lisa, thanks - others have recommended the Seierstad too, but I have to admit to treating it with a little scepticism so far that has deterred me from picking it up; the eponymous bookseller was apparently very upset about his depiction in the book. I haven't followed it closely, but I may leave it a little while before I read this.

>61 nancyewhite:: thanks, nancey - I hadn't heard of this one, but it sounds fascinating. Onto the ever-lengthening wishlist...

And now, some books. And very short reviews.

3. Not the End of the World - Kate Atkinson
332 pages

The only reason I didn't give up on this after the first three stories is that I have really, really enjoyed half of the Atkinson books I've read, and kept hoping this was going to turn a corner. But it didn't. This is a set of loosely connected short stories (main characters in one turning up as minor characters or passing-mentions in another), with some not particularly well done magical-realist-type elements - the gods in modern-day life, apocalyptic scenes in shopping centres and so on. One story near the end, about a complete doormat mother of teenage children, made me so angry I wanted to throw the book across the room. I'm so glad Atkinson 'discovered' Jackson Brodie after this volume, and sincerely hope she never returns to this style.

4. The Man in the Picture - Susan Hill
145 pages

Oliver's old college tutor relates the story of a mysterious picture in his possession, which gradually comes to assert a sinister hold over Oliver as well. Double thanks to Linda/Whisper1 for posting this to me now I've actually read it :) A great little ghost story - not quite as chilling as The Woman in Black, but beautifully paced, and with a very clever sting in the tail. One minor gripe: setting spooky scenes with elderly ladies in gloomy mansions in Yorkshire is becoming something of a cliché. But I think I can forgive her ;-)

This has also reminded me that I've never read The Fall of the House of Usher either, and probably ought to.

And I'm going to apologise now for the thicket of self-help books my thread has just sprouted. January is not working out very well so far and desperate times.... you know the saying.

5. Don't Panic - Neil Gaiman
240 pages, or 241 if you count the acknowledgements...

Enjoyed greatly, highly recommended for H2G2 fans of the middling kind, like me - i.e. those who go to conventions probably know it all already; I didn't know most of it, and I also loved the style (those genius footnotes again). Makes me want to re-read the entire series (again).

#63

Do you think I count as enough of a fan to read this, seeing as I was just about to ask what H2G2 was but after 2 mins of staring confused at the screen, I worked it out from the title of the book, which hadn't made any impact to start with?

My excuse: I'm very VERY tired right now.

>64 lunacat:: oh, absolutely. It's used a lot as shorthand in the book so I got over that 'huh?' moment quite early on....

I'm tired too. What is it about January? I think it should be banned.

#65: I feel the same way about Mondays.

#65 & 66, coincidentally, one of the many reasons why I fell in love with Hitchhikers was Arthur Dent's inability to get the hang of Thursdays - I completely identified with it! Let's ban January, Monday's and Thursdays - what do you think?

Works for me!

Absolutely agree with banning all that!!!!!!!!

Hmm, I'm not so sure about Thursdays... it's usually the last day of my working week, and also the day my mum usually picks up the kids from school, so nice in many ways. (Sadly this week I'm working this evening as well).

I'd like to ban Tuesdays though.

If enough of us get together, I think we could manage to banish every day of the week, and possibly a few months as well!

Can we keep fridays? I quite like fridays. And sundays as long as I don't have to work on them. And I would like a request for february to stay as it is my birthday month, but march to go cos it is always so wet and yucky!!

My days and years are too short already! If you take some then where would I be?

Suslyn, can I give you my (working) Mondays?

Ah Flossie, I'll let you keep your Thursdays then... Maybe you could get double time for them?

#72 I like Fridays too - although they always seem to be the busiest day of the week work-wise - just in a good way, as opposed to the "everything's going wrong and manic" way of Thursdays ;)

>72 lunacat:: I'd have to keep March as it is my daughter's birthday. This could get logistically complex.

maybe we can have some sort of opt in/opt out system?

6. Through the Dark Woods - Joanna Swinney (linked as touchstone not working) (152 pages)

This short book was a very uplifting read. The author, who happens to be a woman of exactly my age (I know, because she provides her birthday - part of her very conversational style), describes her own struggles with depression, techniques that have worked for her in dealing with it, and its implications for relationships, spiritual life and so on.

I wouldn't have described myself as depressive, but I do have bouts of very low mood (particularly at this rotten miserable dark and cold time of year, see posts passim..), and found this sparking lots of ideas as to how to pull myself out of it a bit (and also has me marking pages to push under my husband's nose later with instruction to read and comprehend!). It's also very funny in places - quite an achievement for a book about depression.

The only bad thing about it: it includes both quotes from books that sounded interesting AND a recommended-reading list. So now my TBR list has grown again. Grr. Thanks to TT for a good review last year, which led to me ordering this.

For some reason I seem to be reading several books at once this year, which is not normally my thing at all - I prefer the total-absorption approach, as a rule. Alex Ross and War and Peace for what dovegreyreader calls "stately progress", a little bit each night, but then I also have a couple of those self-help things on the go, plus - since the first two are way too big for comfortably carrying on the train - a "commuting book" - now Dead Lovely, which my husband's aunt bought me for Christmas - and then apologised as she handed it over as she had only realised how "racy" it was after it was too late!! Sounds like a perfect commuting book to me.

Thanks for your thoughts on this book -- the amazon reviews were interesting too.

7. Dead Lovely - Helen FitzGerald
298 pages

Ick. Just about the only good thing I can think to say about this is that the production values are good.... and the nicely spaced type meant that I could skim it all the faster so have got it out of the way this evening while I wait around for work (goodness only knows what I'm going to read on the train home now, though). Ridiculous plot, cardboard cutout characters, several truly horrible images/scenes. I feel a bit queasy when I think about it.

I also feel terribly guilty about hating it, as it was a Christmas present from a wonderful person; but at least she hadn't actually read it when she bought it for me, so no blame whatsoever attaches to her literary taste.

Edit to correct touchstone

#80: Yea! One I do not have to add to the sinking-into-the-ocean Continent!

If anyone tries to force it on you, run very fast in the opposite direction....

Flossie - I needed to return the thread-visit! Good to "see" you! Hearkening back to the much earlier posts of this thread, I just picked a copy of Ghost Wars and Three Cups of Tea this afternoon. I'm glad to see the $6 I spent on both was justified, according to other LTers.

I'm going to try to do better keeping up on threads now that the traffic has died down a bit.

Hi Flossie
So glad to know that your daughter is on the mind. Hang in there!

Just a type-by (computer version of a drive-by) to remind you to try A Moveable Feast as I suggested in our conversation over on my thread.

>83 alaskabookworm:: $6?? Am green with envy... oh, except I'm not supposed to be buying books at the moment. I'm just going to call the five I picked up on Saturday from the charity shop a "donation to cancer research" ;-)

>84 Whisper1:: thanks, Linda! She walked nearly three miles today with barely a whimper (although she has been complaining of her foot itching) so I think we're definitely in the home stretch, thank goodness.

>85 blackdogbooks:: it's on the wishlist, BDB - thank you. Actually I might see if I can get a copy from BookMooch, having recently whinged about having a glut of points and nothing to spend them on....

Okay, I need to look at people's profiles pages more often. You work for a literary magazine? My first thought was, how cool!! A job where you get to think about books and writing all of the time. But, I don't know what exactly it is you do for the magazine. Sadly, my thinking about books and reading and writing have to take a back seat to my day job.

>87 blackdogbooks:: BDB, sadly for me, I'm on the tech side rather than the editorial side :) But at least I get to enjoy the atmosphere... although I missed the big Christmas party this (well, end of last) year after some idiot cycled into me (on the pavement, no lights, on his mobile phone) while I was on my way there and I had to limp home again. grr.

Flossie

Yikes...both you and your daughter had foot injuries around holiday time...
hopefully you and she are not limping and are on the mend.

>86 FlossieT: Flossie, Even more amazing was yesterday my next door neighbor gave me 72 books. (Okay, mostly crime novels and genre fiction, but still.... all the sweet smelling ink and paper!) I have become the repositor (is that a word?) of other people's cast offs. The most fun was today, though, I went to my favorite thrift store where I put together a "care package" for a friend who has to take eight weeks off work to get her rectum fixed. (TMI? Sorry.) Anyway, I guiltlessly (mostly) bought her 25 books. That should get her through, don't you think?

#88 one of my pet peeves is cyclists who don't have any lights - particularly at this time of year (and I am a cyclist as well as a driver, I hasten to add)! What a shame to miss your Christmas party. Smelly cyclist...

>89 Whisper1:: I know!! And bike injuries too - the idiot on the pavement actually buckled both my wheels (he was cycling downhill into me - or what passes for a "hill" in the fenland flats of Cambridge).

Fortunately I'm a stubborn so-and-so and have refused to be deterred from cycling.

>90 alaskabookworm:: buying books for other people is so much fun!! All the joy of choosing, none of the pain of shelving.

>91 flissp:: flissp, the really awful thing is that I apologised to him and insisted it was all my fault - I was distracted, I was running late and focusing on where I was going... it was only after I'd limped away with torn tights and a huge hole in my knee that I actually took in what had really happened. Ho hum. I tried to console myself with the thought that I'd probably have been exhausted from coming home late if I had made it to the party, but I did regret the lack of opportunity to spill my drink on Alan Bennett - until I heard he didn't turn up this year!

Right, less chat more books...

8. The Master Bedroom - Tessa Hadley
309 pages

Kate Flynn is a 40-something academic, taking a year off to return to Wales and look after her ageing mother in the family home, Firenze. On her return, she becomes rather messily entangled with David Roberts, whom she has known since schooldays and whose deceased wife she knew at university, and his family - who are themselves going through various crises of identity.

I picked this up because I read Accidents in the Home a long while back, and was completely gripped by it. Hadley writes small-scale domestic drama, but with an incredibly sharp eye; in her first book, I had that unnerving sensation you get when a writer precisely articulates things you can remember feeling yourself but never quite admitting to. This book had much of the same biting insight, but... the plot was a bit daft, the dialogue poor (the moment that finally had me throwing down the book was when Kate, talking to David's teenage son Jamie, described his mother as "the redoubtable Francesca". I mean, COME ON....who speaks like that in conversation?) and the characters annoying: the story is mainly told, in the third person, from Kate and David's perspectives, and I felt that Kate, who comes across as feckless and selfish, got way too much airtime, and David not enough. David's wife Suzie was a bit of a caricature, and also a victim of what I shall deem a trend, this being the second book I've read this year that employed the device: any woman with too many decorative ornaments is automatically shallow and brainless. I don't much care for ornaments myself (why waste that shelf space when you could fill it with BOOKS?) but that kind of reductive writing really irritates me.

Reading over this, it sounds like I disliked it much more than in fact I did. I'd give it 3.5 stars as the writing was really good, enough to take it above the cut of the average, 3-star book, and it won't put me off reading more. It just wasn't anything like as good as her first.

Ummm, Rachael, I actually speak like that in conversation (says Stasia, ducking behind the nearest shelf to hide her embarrassment). Yes, I know, I am a pedant.

I confess, alcottacre, I had the same thought. I use way too many "big" words in every day conversation. Hoity-Toity am I.

LOL While I may not I have a ton of friends who do!

Oh, all right, maybe I picked a bad example.... actually when I threw the book down in disgust, my husband pointed out that he might well say that kind of thing too... but it was just so WRONG in context. Kate met Jamie for the first time, in a coffee shop - just a chance encounter, now can't remember how the narrative establishes that they actually have any connection at all - and then all of a sudden they're having a conversation about his dead mother. Just believe me: it was completely wrong in context, and there were many more examples.

No criticism of persons who use "redoubtable" in regular conversation is intended or implied. The value of your investment may go down as well as up. Etc. etc. My apologies to anyone that felt offended!!

I did not feel offended, so don't worry about me.

LOL -- I'd be surprised if anyone was. Hope you weren't!

Have a great day!

#92 I appologise for being cut up on my bike etc all the time too - I don't know what it is - why do we always automatically assume these things are our fault before reality kicks in, do you suppose?! I hope your bike was fixable? Bent wheels sounds fairly dire...

Ack, I can't open a thread without a book leaping up and saying 'you know you want me on your wishlist! You know it! Add me!'

In this case it's Through the Dark Woods. Thanks for your thoughts on that.

>100 Severn:: we live to serve, Severn ;-) Thanks for dropping by!

no worries. I was amused.

9. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
328 pages

This is one that has jumped on and off my TBR list many times - it sounded interesting despite the very critical review I first spotted it in, but every time I looked at it I thought I couldn't face it. Then I was sent it as part of a book-swap group I belong to and therefore had no choice!

Brief plot synopsis in the unlikely event you don't already know: Susie Salmon is 14 when she is murdered by a neighbour. The novel narrates ten years of the aftermath of her murder, from her perspective as she looks down from her heaven, and its effects on her family.

I've been trying really hard to find things wrong with this as I have a nasty prejudice against bestsellers... OK, I have to find some faults: I thought the heaven bits weren't the best; the scene very near the end with her wasn't-quite boyfriend and the strange girl who becomes obsessed with both Susie and other cases of murdered women and chilren (trying to avoid a spoiler here!) felt unnecessary; it does all tie up rather too neatly.

I also had to go back to the initial review I read, by Ali Smith in the UK Guardian. She accuses it of avoiding its own ramifications - because, trying to unpack what she says, it doesn't look too hard at the murder itself, or at the simplistic view of right and wrong that leads her family to correctly identify the killer (although of course the police, being the police, refuse to investigate) purely because he's "a bit odd", but is all about the family it affects. While I take her point, for me this didn't diminish the book at all. And I don't care if it's sentimental - it made me cry. I am ashamed to admit it because I really wanted not to like it but I was completely absorbed in this book. I actually think it's beautifully written too - although I'm not sure I could tell if it wasn't as Sebold had such complete control of my emotions while I was reading it I think my literary judgment may have taken a quick break.

Hi there FlossieT

I read The Lovely Bones awhile back and then followed it with Lucky: A Memoir which was equally as good.

I have to say though that I was very disappointed in The Almost Moon. It lacked the depth of feeling that the previous books seemed to elicit.

#104: I am sorry to hear that, Linda, as I have The Almost Moon home from the library right now. I shall implement the 50 page rule on it if need be. Thanks for the input.

I really enjoyed The Lovely Bones (apart from the scene mentioned) and Lucky: A Memoir means a lot to me, although it is a harrowing read. I also have The Almost Moon waiting for me and haven't heard great things about it so hopefully it won't be as bad as people said!

#106, yep, I'm in the same boat as you lunacat - I've put off reading The Almost Moon because of various comments I've read - but it's on the list to read soon...

Ah! I read The Lovely Bones last year but it didn't make the 2008 list -- tried reconstructing a years' worth of reads beginning at the end of Oct! Knew I missed some. Yes! I enjoyed this book a lot. Didn't realize it was a best seller or that there was buzz about it. It came across my path and I read it.

I was initially put off by the premise, but in the end I really enjoyed it. Have to say I agree that the heaven parts were my least fav, but I did like the dog :)

I had The Almost Moon on my list too - maybe I'll wait a while to see what emerges...

Just to update with a couple of not-counting books too:

* George's Marvellous Medicine - Roald Dahl: read with my middle son. I'd forgotten that peculiar suspension of disbelief you have with Dahl - knowing that in "real life" George's medicine would definitely poison Grandma, but wanting to believe in its magic anyway.

* Matchbreaker - Chris Manby: recommended to me, I can't remember where, as "good chick lit", but it wasn't. Abandoned after 20 pages - note to self in case I repeat the mistake!!

FlossieT: I read The Lovely Bones when it came out, and I *still* have mixed feelings about it. It's clearly a well-written book, but it troubled me a lot.

Well, I'm glad to hear you (reluctantly) liked The Lovely Bones, Flossie. I read it awhile back and loved it, though I was so frustrated by the ending (or rather, how the killer is dealt with). And I love Roald Dahl! Glad to see he's on your list. :)

#104: What a coincidence, Whisper. The Lovely Bones was by first book by her, and I just started Lucky today. :)

>111 saraslibrary:: just posted on your thread about Lucky :) I know exactly what you mean about the way the killer is dealt with - she seemed to be feeling her way to some sort of poetic justice, but I at least wanted possible spoiler here, shall we say, a more conventional and Manichean conclusion to the whole thing (hmm, did I avoid the spoiler there? not sure).

I think we have all the Dahls now, some of it twice. The newer editions (well - 10-years-old editions...) are perfect for the 7YO as the text - as well as being obviously funny and often disgusting and all those other things 7YOs love - is broken up nicely by lots of Quentin Blake illustrations, which gives him a bit of a breather.

Wow, even having cut back to reading all the 75ers just once a week, there still seems to be a lot of chat going on in my 'starred'... Spent today at my mum's as it was the 7YO's birthday and he desperately wanted to go ice skating. The nearest rinks to us are either an hour's drive away in Peterborough, or London, so we decided to make a day of it - on the outdoor rink at Somerset House, followed by an excursion to the London Transport Museum shop (possibly his favourite place in the ENTIRE world), a pizza in Covent Garden and then a bit of splurging the birthday cash before back to my mum's for present-opening and cake. And I went a bit mad with the scanner... so many of my books are still at my mum's and I miss them, so I spent a little while last night zapping them with the CueCat so I can bring them back into the fold (so to speak). Still a lot of childhood favourites that didn't make it in, but I needed to sleep too....

What a lovely day. And then I arrived home to two lovely book parcels - finally my ER book from November, plus two BM books from the wonderful Ambrosia4 who heard my plea over on BookMooching. I heart the Internet.

Flossie
I enjoy your posts and the way in which you describe your children and family. The love shines through! Thanks for making me smile.

>113 Whisper1:: thank you, Linda! That made me smile...

Flossie.
I'm also enjoying the conversations re. The Lovely Bones.

Linda, the more I think about it the more annoyed I am by Ali Smith's review. Sebold didn't set out to write a book about a murder, or about justice, but about family breakdown and reconstitution in the aftermath of a tragedy, and on those grounds she succeeds admirably. I'm sure I've read recently something (wish I could remember where, grr) about how important it is to judge a work on what it sets out to do and how successful it is at that, not what you think it ought to do.

#112: I noticed. You're much quicker to respond to messages than I am. :) I don't think you gave anything away about how The Lovely Bones ends, and I totally agree! That's one reason why I read books like that--to have everything wrap up in a neater fashion than it normally does in real life.

And it must be me, but I always associate Quentin Blake's illustrations with Roald Dahl. It throws me off when I see his pictures in another author's book. I guess the same could be said about some other illustrators (like Garth Williams stuff in anything other than E. B. White or Laura Ingalls Wilder books).

>117 saraslibrary:: pure fluke!! I've been off LT all day and just catching up...

I'm showing my age here, I know, but the first Roald Dahls I read were illustrated by someone else entirely, and in a much more traditional style. Now I want to go back and find out who it was!! So we discovered Quentin Blake on his own turf, first I think with Mr Magnolia, before Dahl snapped him up.

Blake's autobiography is well worth a read if you haven't already, btw!

ETA: I have to admit to being a bit irritated if things wrap up *too* neatly, but on this occasion.... well.

FlossieT - I'm a bit behind with posts, but had to pipe in and say:

-I also loved The Lovely Bones. I agree that Sebold did what she set out to do beautifully. I haven't read any of her others though.
-I'm in the middle of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator with my 8 year old, and I agree that suspension of disbelief is definitely what's required. Somehow it was easier with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory than it is with this one.
-Tell your 7 year old "Happy Birthday." I just got back from an ice skating party for my oldest son's 8th birthday. We had nine 2nd graders and three 5 year olds (to keep my younger son happy) on the ice with no major bumps or bruises!

Oh, I had no idea Quentin Blake wasn't the original illustrator for Roald Dahl's books. Now I'll have to look into that autobiography to find out more about him. I just love his drawings. Thanks. :)

FlossieT every time I hit F5 you have more posts here!

I didn't love The Lovely Bones. I am hopeless at suspending disbelief, so I shouldn't have been surprised. Somehow I did manage it till the last few chapters. I'm avoiding spoilers here but I think you'll guess the bit where I couldn't be bothered!

I loved Roald Dahl, contradicting my previous paragraph! and have bought us (our 4 year old) a lovely collection with Quentin Blake's illustrations. They're new to me too. Must be my age. But I remember getting a boxed set one Christmas of the 2 Charlie books, Danny the C of the W, the Magic Finger, Fantastic Mr Fox and James and the Giant Peach. I'm desperate to read them to Fletcher! (who is at my leg demanding the Lego website.)

I've had The Lovely Bones on my TBR shelf for over 2 years! Flossie, you've helped me realize I need to get to this book sooner rather than later.

>119 porch_reader:, Amy, I am in awe of your bravery!! We just took me, the birthday boy and his big brother - oh, and Grandpa too... Happy birthday to your son too :)

>120 saraslibrary:: Words and Pictures is the autobiography - great fun, lots about how he draws and develops characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

>121 cushlareads:: I think I know precisely which bit you mean. I think it's easier to manage in the rest of the book because Susie is unable to intrude into the real world beyond the odd breath, so it manages to avoid engaging too much with the question of whether one does or doesn't believe in an afterlife. You can just kind of thumb fast through the ghosty bits and concentrate on the story that's playing out. But that scene near the end sort of steps through the fourth wall, if you like. Anyway! I am rather surprised at how much I was involved in it. Talbin, I hope you like it when you get to it.

Roald Dahl: some of it I remember being COMPLETELY involved in. The BFG gave me nightmares for months, while Matilda had me secretly staring intensely at objects in the quiet of my own room and hoping... But with things like George, it's interesting that you're completely aware the medicine is lethal, but have no particular desire to throw the book down with a disgusted, "She couldn't drink that - she'd be dead!!"

Ahem. I may be repeating myself a bit here.

10. A Bit on the Side - William Trevor
245 pages

Must admit I expected more from this, after Lucy Gault and everything I'd heard about Trevor being "master of the short story". The first and last stories were really excellent, exhibiting that trait of short-story writing at its best of packing a world of unspoken information into little details which makes the story expand well beyond its few pages. But the rest - a bit so-so. Too many cliches and too much slightly clumsy in-filling of backstory.

Re: Trevor - he may possibly be past his best, but I can really recommend the earlier stories, marvellously collected in one Penguin volume and most probably available in any well-stocked library! I like him very much, but was also slightly underwhelmed by A Bit on the Side...

What a marvellous thread this is! I hope the little patient is getting better.

>125 citizenkelly:: thanks for dropping in, Carolyn! And glad it wasn't just me that wasn't blown away by A Bit on the Side - I seem to recall the Grauniad gave it a rave review so my expectations were quite high. I'll look out for the collection you mentioned; once upon a time I would have said I didn't like short stories, but I seem to read an awful lot of them nowadays.

Little patient is doing very well, thank you - still complaining of her foot being "ouchy" if she's feeling a little under-appreciated, but it's healing nicely. I'm hoping we've got all our major accidents out of the way at the start of the year...

ETA: The Secret Scripture won the Costa Book of the Year! Justice at last. I am a very happy bunny.

Isn't it great news!!? (it's almost as good as when A.L. Kennedy so deservedly won!)

Ha ha, I was going to direct you to dgr's post on the subject, but I see you've already seen it!

I just started Ella Minnow Pea today! Have you finished yet?

>128 alaskabookworm:: not yet - in fact I've only read the first chapter so far!! I'd picked it up as my 'commuting' book, but since I started it my November ER book arrived, so I've had to put down the Dunn in favour of the Flying Troutmans... will go back to it when I've finished though. It seems to be book of the month for this group :)

I agree with your comments on The Secret Scripture - I thought it was wonderful. I just picked up a remaindered copy of A Long Long Way this morning so please tell me it's good.

>130 avatiakh:: avatiakh, I haven't actually read A Long Long Way so can't give my personal view; however, those I know who have read it all loved it, and feel that (again, nothing new here) the Booker judges made a huge mistake in not giving it the prize the year it was shortlisted. I'm certainly intending to read lots more Barry in future.

>127 citizenkelly:: and speaking of books I haven't read... Carolyn, to my shame I haven't read Day yet either - you'd recommend it, then?

I have to admit that Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, which I loathed, rather put me off reading wartime-themed books (oh - and Amsterdam, which wasn't terrible, but disappointed me - I expected it to be so much better). This is a shame. I did read all of these books a long time ago now though: maybe the pain has faded sufficiently to try again.

ET fix touchstone argh as if I'd voluntarily ask for a recommendation for David Sedaris...

>132 FlossieT: I'm disappointed to see that Charlotte Gray was so unpleasant for you! I haven't read it but really liked the movie, so I would have expected great things.

>132 FlossieT:: oh, Suse... I just found the whole central love story TOTALLY implausible. I haven't seen the film, so I can imagine it may do a better job of convincing you that it is a real true thing.

>132 FlossieT: thanks for the clarification :)

I remember reading and being disappointed by Charlotte Gray after being impressed with Birdsong. I read lots of WW2 memoirs when I was a teenager and the whole plot that Charlotte Gray was based on seemed implausible. Mal Peet's Tamar is good, it won the Carnegie Medal.

>132 FlossieT:, I certainly would recommend Day, and A Long Long Way too - both being far superior to Birdsong and Charlotte Gray imo. But then, I'm not a huge Faulks fan...
But be warned that neither of the books spares you from the horrors of their respective world wars, so if you're feeling somewhat conflict-weary... well.

>137 citizenkelly: have been wondering about A Long Long Way for a while now (grr touchstones - how dare they suggest Nick Hornby?? rubbish book) but put off because aforementioned novels led me to believe that I hated all war stories. Would be delighted to be proved just unlucky in reading choices though, as it is rather a massive blind spot for a British person not to like war literature.

A few books - first two finished in Jan, the last February's first book.

11. The Flying Troutmans - Miriam Toews
(don't have pages here and can't be bothered to go upstairs to retrieve, will have to edit later)

Proper review to follow as I need to write one to satisfy my ER conscience (and possibly pacify the Algorithm). The phrases "achingly hip" and "wise-cracking" have been pounding in my head while I read this, but it is actually a good bit better than this unfortunate fact would seem to suggest - I just need to be a bit less tired to distil it adequately.

ETA: finally got around to it, only 2.5 weeks later...

12. 84, Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff
(ditto on the pages, wow I'm lazy this evening. Must be all the snow.)

An absolute gem, although tbh I still haven't quite figured out whether it is fiction or non-fiction. The book purports to be the correspondence of Ms Hanff (New York based, writing for television) and Marks & Co., secondhand and antiquarian booksellers at the eponymous address, over many years, provoked by her responding to an ad of theirs in a magazine (the Saturday Review?).

I find it hard to believe that the letters weren't at the very least massaged slightly to point up Helene's biting wit and Marks & Co's bumbling Englishness. But it was great fun and an extremely fast read (partly because it's so short, partly because it's so full of character and the epistolary form just makes it whiz by).

I note that TT has disliked the other Hanff he's picked up this year, but I really like her style - kind of a smarter Anita Loos with an interest in books rather than blokes - and am going to try to justify the Helene Hanff Omnibus to myself somehow even though my record on book purchasing (particularly given my stated intention was to buy less this year) is truly appalling thus far. I'm not going to quantify it (a) because I'm ashamed, (b) because even in my shame I feel sure that three people will post even more outlandish purchase figures within minutes, making me feel both better and worse at the same time.

13. Sleepyhead - Mark Billingham
(405 pages)

A cracking good crime novel which I would never in a million years have bought for myself - I got this as part of a book swap circle I belong to and have a misplaced sense of honour that obliges me to try to read everything it sends me, however suspicious I am of it. I am a fool, but at least on this occasion, an entertained one.

D.I. Tom Thorne (Billingham's hero of choice) has a peculiar case on his hands. A victim of induced 'locked-in syndrome' (a la Diving Bell and the Butterfly) turns out to be linked to three murders in the last year - only, she's the success, not the 'failure'. A perpetrator of clearly medical background (I'm not giving much away here, it's all established quite quickly) is hunting down women and deliberately trying to place them into a persistent vegetative state.

I read another Billingham last year courtesy of the same book-swap. This, although older, was much, much better than that, and has helped me crystallise my thoughts a little on why they're so readable. The characterisation is stereotypical, but not too badly overdone, so it doesn't interefere too much. The writing is for the main part ridden with crime-writing cliches BUT one thing he does very nicely is a mix of narrative perspectives, including the murderer and the 'locked-in' victim. The former is particularly effective because he often leaves the speaker unnamed, just using the pronouns - but then does the same for similar passages with other characters, which provides some nicely interesting ambiguous scenes.

I don't read a lot of crime books, so real connoisseurs may have different opinions on this, but I really enjoyed it, read it very quickly because I couldn't put it down, and certainly thought it was much better written than the similarly compulsive Sophie Hannahs I gobbled down last year.

Right, onto another new book I shouldn't have bought... I'm doing so badly. As I said, I'm not going to quantify the whole sorry saga, BUT based on just my reading thus far this year, out of 13 books:

- only 3 have been on my TBR list longer than about 6 months
- only 1 of those longer than a year
- absolutely none of them are long-term residents of my TBR stacks, being either borrowed from the library or acquired from BookMooch, charity shops, presents and even new purchases sometime in the last 6 months.

I think I may be a lost cause.

Well at least they weren't *all* purchased books :) Don't give up :)

#139: I think I may be a lost cause.

Me, too . . . and I suspect quite a few others, so even if we are lost causes, we are not lost causes alone.

Hi! Just catching up on about 2 weeks worth of posts (gulp!), so way behind on most discussions, but just wanted to check in to say a) happy birthday to your son (sounded like a fantastic day out!) and b) re #123 Matilda had the same effect on me (the staring at objects trying to move them bit) - I always loved Roald Dahl - I may have to root out a couple...

I'm a lost cause as well. I'm on a 'ban' on purchasing or acquiring new books but somehow they keep creeping in.........................

ditto. I'm on a Bookmooch-only regime.

Rachael, how much snow did you get in Cambridge? I read in the Guardian that it was the heaviest snowfall in the UK in the past 18 years.

#145 kidzdoc, to butt in, we had about 12cm by the time I went home from work... about 3/4 gone by now though...

>139 FlossieT: Both books look like they're going onto the wishlist!

And as for your reading habits, you're not alone! I'm on a buying-books ban too, but Bookmooch and Paperback swap have brought in just as many books as I've taken off my to-read mountain, and I admit to tackling some of those first. Oh, willpower, how I wish I knew you.

Rachael, NPR had a wonderful commentary this morning re. the snow in UK. There were images of people laughing, building snow men, in the pubs smoking pipes while watching neighbors interacting. It made me smile and think of the book and movie The Snowman by Raymond Briggs.

I'm close to Rachael and we had about a foot of snow. Unfortunately, this led to my car ending up on its side with me in it!!! Thankfully, neither me nor the car had a scratch on us when we were returned right side up.

Eeeek!! That sounds very scary. Glad you're ok lunacat. This morning's paper had a funny photo of the guards at Buckingham Palace with snow on them.

ohhh Luna
Glad you and the car are okay, but it must have been a scairy incident!
hugs
Anita

lunacat
Oh my, gives me shivers to think something may have happened to you. I'm glad you are ok.

Oh my goodness, Luna! I am so glad you are alright! *grr* Evil snow.. :)

>145 kidzdoc: et al: I still feel a bit mystified that this snow is being touted as the worst for x years, because I thought we had much worse in 2004, at least in Cambridge - people were trapped on the motorway overnight in their cars after most of the exits were shut, stuck at Stansted airport overnight, etc. etc. Coincidentally, it was also the day I started my then-new job. Practically nobody came into the office; my boss made it in at about 11.30 and then went home at 3. Has to be the weirdest first day I ever had.

And neither of those can hold a candle to 1990, when the schools shut for the last couple of days of the Christmas term (at that point, widespread school closures for snow were unheard of) and we had no power for about 5 days. Can vividly remember driving over to my grandparents in Lincoln, whose power was back on, just to take a hot shower. And the letdown of driving home and realising the re-lit streetlights stopped one village up from ours....

I wish I could post a photo but my only decent ones are on my film camera - the kids refused to pose, so the best I can do digitally is a wide shot of a bunch of people on a hillside (including them, somewhere in the batch) waiting their turn to go down the best bit of the hill for toboganning. Bonus points to the middle son for insisting on wearing his Santa hat though.

Enough with the snow already. alaskabookworm must be in stitches by now.

..and ET: luna, how awful about the car!! Hope you're OK now?

>148 Whisper1:: Linda, my little girl adores The Snowman - we 'read' it often at bedtime and she laughs herself silly at all the funny things the Snowman does in the boy's house. She doesn't like it when he melts though... has been known to leave the room before the end of the film in order not to see that part ("My not like this bit, Snowman's melting.")

oh, lunacat, I am glad you and your car are OK. You illustrate the very reason I do not drive when it is snowing. I've put too many bends and bumps in my cars. I am finished with all that.

Ooo, Flossie, I just noticed Becoming a Writer on your currently reading list! That book, together with No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty, is one of the bibles of the learn-to-write cult. It's such a clear and direct explication of the principle, "Apply fundament to chair. Write. Repeat as needed." And the Baty book is a very gonzo-journalism guide to the same principle, but focusing more on what to do when the brick wall looms. I'd recommend it, if you haven't heard of it before.

>157 richardderus:: yeah, sadly I've been "currently reading" it since the start of the year... I was trapped in a children's playground with no writing implement or paper when I reached the first 'exercise' and since I am an obedient child, I felt I could not proceed further until such time as the happy trinity of paper, pen and time to myself converged. Who was I kidding? I may have to set myself this book as "homework". Also thanks for the endorsement of the Baty - it's on my list but I'll give it a bump... just as soon as I've done smothering my literary intelligence with trashy crime novels and teen fiction. gah.

*delicate shudder* Teen fiction? My dear, why ever? But denigrate not the trashy crime novel in my hearing! It is a high expression of the human need for right and order and justice in this world that sees so little of all three.

>55 alcottacre: & 54 -- Speaking as a librarian, I love y'all!

>Lovely Bones

My students (high school) loved this one, as you might expect. I also consider it one of the best YA novels I've read.

Are all of you British? You sound very British. Or Australian. "whinge"--I learned that from an Australian librarian I met on a listserv.

#149 lunacat, I didn't realise you were in the Cambridge area too - wherearounds? :) Glad you and your car are OK...

#154 FlossieT - I know what you mean - there was definitely more snow this time, but people seem to have been much more sensible about it. Last time I was still working in Cambridge on the Addenbrooke's site, so I was cycling to work - and was very glad to when I saw the tailbacks! That said, in cycling just a mile and a half, I literally turned into a snowman on my way home!

This time round, bizarrely, given that I now work in a village outside of Cambridge, there was no problem with traffic at all... That was until the snow this morning of course - just had a phonecall to say not to bother coming in - yay!!

Still amazing that the country grinds to a halt with even half an inch of snow though...!

#161 furdog, yep, I think we all are - all 'whinging poms' ;)

>159 richardderus:: Richard, it had such a great title though... and I saw it on Stasia's list last year. I'm done for now, I promise. But not with the crime - a new one just came in the post yesterday. I'm really going to have to delete that rash statement at the top of my thread about reading the books I own already this year. It's getting embarrassing.

>160 debherter:: thank you, furdog :) I think my librarians find me a bit annoying because I keep requesting books they don't have... lots of ILL paperwork!! Our main library has been closed for nearly 3 years for refurbishment (supposed to be re-opening this month) so we've been using the tiny local one, which has a rather random selection; I think I have now borrowed virtually everything they had in stock that I actually wanted to read.

>161 debherter:: flissp, lunacat and I are all Brits and coincidentally live very close by to each other (flissp about 15 minutes' walk away!). But I think we're still definitely in the minority in this group as a whole.

>162 flissp:: I was cycling in the last lot of snow too and just remember how much ice there was on all the paths... my boys are really cross they haven't closed the schools today. Their headmaster is a Scot and doesn't settle for this nonsense about closure, so they shut, reluctantly, on Monday, but that's it. I think they were looking forward to some snowman action.

14. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You - Ally Carter
284 pages

Spotted on alcottacre's list last year - aforementioned great title! Cammie Morgan is a trainee spy attending a prestigious school (disguised as an exclusive academy for gifted, rich young ladies). On a class 'field trip', she meets an ordinary boy...

Good fun, some great snappy lines, clearly written with the movie option in mind, and the first 4 or 5 chapters just screamed 'HARRY POTTER' - the same sort of specialist skills, elite students, boarding-school setting, concealed from the everyday. A very light read, but that seems to be what I need at the moment.

15. In the Woods - Tana French
590-something pages, can't find the book right now which is a bit odd

Continuing my crime spree. Detective Rob Ryan and his partner Cassie are investigating a child murder in Knocknaree. As they begin to dig, though, they uncover what may be links to an earlier, unsolved mystery disappearance of two children 20 years previously. It just so happens that Ryan was 'the one that got away' in the earlier case - found pressed to a tree with torn clothes and shoes full of blood, and absolutely no memory of what had happened to him or his missing friends.

Cons: too long - French cranks up the tension nicely, but then keeps it going for just too long, and it sags badly in the middle; could have done with being about 200 pages shorter. Somewhat implausible setup - one strand in the tension comes from Ryan not having told anyone other than his partner about his past history. I may be naive here, but it seems that this is the kind of thing that might have come to light during background checks for employment or transfer. And - WARNING skip the whole of the next paragraph if you haven't read this, this bit is going to be a spoiler which I normally try to avoid but in this case it wound me up so much that I can't not say it (am going to put it in strikethrough to make it harder to read):

The fact that the earlier case remains unsolved really, really, really annoyed me. While it would probably not have been satisfying to have it tied up in a neat bow with the newer case, it was even more unsatisfying to have so much of the book devoted to Ryan's trying to remember, dealing with it emotionally, flashing back to that summer, investigating things that happened then, that to have it just peter out into a sort of "we can never really know" was profoundly irritating. It felt like she'd just grafted onto the present-day plot 2/3rds of a novel that she'd already written but couldn't work out how to finish. grrrrrrrrr.

Spoiler over!

Pros: I got completely involved in it and sat up until past 3 finishing it last night; some of the descriptive passages are really good, in a literary sense; personally, I really liked the central relationship between Ryan and his partner; she conjures a genuinely creepy atmosphere and some really very scary characters.

Am thinking I ought to remove The Hidden from my 'reading now' list as I just can't seem to start it properly - keep reading the first 2 pages and then putting it down again, which is annoying as it sounds from the reviews like it's going to be excellent. I hate reading funks. Still - I'm ploughing through the less high-falutin' stuff on my shelves so maybe I'll manage to shed some books....

edit for typos

I agree with you, Rachael (and your spoiler), about In the Woods. Like you, I also found there was a lull in the middle of the book. That being said, I will probably look for other books by French because I thought that overall it was a good read.

Glad you liked the Ally Carter book. When I was reading it, I did not think of the similarity to HP, but of course, you are correct. I liked book 2 well enough to continue with the series and will probably give book 3 a go later this year when I need some mindless reading (you know, BC books).

>164 alcottacre:: yes, I also certainly liked it enough to look out for more - thought it was very well-written on the whole. And after all, it was her first novel; hopefully she'll be a bit more disciplined in future!

I did like the Ally Carter! Slightly annoyingly, my copy was missing page 254 - at the climax of Cammie's confrontation with Josh - and instead had a second copy of page 248... but at least I could kind of figure out what had happened.

And it really is a great title.

The second book is called Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy. I am not sure what the title of the third book is called, I just know it is due out later this year.

ETA: Just checked Carter's website and found the following - We are pleased to tell you that Gallagher Girls 3, DON'T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER, will be in stores on June 9, 2009.

#163 I agree with your assessment of In the Woods. The next book by Tana French is The Likeness and it's on my wish list.

message 162..flissp...I laughed right out loud re. the image of you peddling along in the storm looking like a snowman...

#168 my flatmates at the time found it very amusing when I got home too! ;)

Just spotted this very cool thing at the British Library - Adopt A Book:

http://adoptabook.bl.uk/mall/infopageviewer.cfm/BritishLibraryAdoptABook/Howtoad...

And while I'm here, can anyone recommend a good biography of Gerard Manley Hopkins?

Rachael, this isn't at all new, and something better may have been published in the meantime, but I was very impressed by Gerard Manley Hopkins: A Very Private Life, which I read as a hardback when it came out in 1991.

(Touchstone not working, so I've linked it).

When in need of a ref for Hopkins in one of his papers, my nephew used this:

"White, Norman. Hopkins: A Literary Biography. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992

This is one of those useful books that combine biography with intelligent comments on the poems in the order in which he wrote them. Again, best to use the index and just go for exactly what you need as the book is some 500 plus pages long."

Precis is from crossref-it.info which site is surprisingly useful!

Thanks, both - I shall make enquiries. And that site does look very handy, Richard - thanks.

16. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

An adventurous toddler clambers out of his cot in the middle of the night and wanders out of the house, in the nick of time to escape being murdered along with his big sister and parents. Unwittingly pursued by the killer, he crawls into a nearby graveyard, where Mrs Owens, one of the resident ghosts, takes it upon herself to protect him. Given the Freedom of the Graveyard, the newly-named Nobody Owens (Bod for short) grows up in the care of the ghosts and his mysterious guardian Silas.

I don't think there's much I can add here to what others have said already! This was a lovely book, and although the denouement was perhaps a little uneven, the beautifully episodic nature of the rest of it was just delightful - witty, inventive, thoughtful. I didn't want it to end.

17. Coraline - Neil Gaiman

Sitting on the shelf next to the Graveyard Book so I just had to. Coraline, child of absent-minded parents who "do things with computers", discovers a secret door out of the corner of her living room into a mirror-image flat, where her "other mother" would like her to stay for ever and ever.... Genuinely creepy stuff, particularly the last 30 or so pages.

I've been trying really hard to think what Gaiman's books remind me of and just can't place it. A flavour of the Phantom Tollbooth, perhaps, but that's all I can identify at the moment... Great fun anyway.

Thanks for the reviews, FlossieT. I want to read both!

>174 loriephillips:: glad to help :) I really particularly loved the first - one of those books where I kept anxiously monitoring the pages dwindling away ahead of me, or pausing just to stare into space and think for a while, not because I couldn't wait to stop but because I wanted it to last as long as possible!

Flosie your comment regarding not wanting the Graveyard book to end is the highest recommendation possible. I'm trying to obtain it from my library but there are many ahead of me.

Glad to see you're a Neil Gaiman fan, Flossie. :) I only have a couple of his books, but I'm always looking for more when I'm out shopping. I'll keep an eye out for the two you mentioned above. Danke!

sara, I don't think I really qualify as a fan (yet) since it's taken me so long to read his books! Good Omens (the one co-authored with Terry Pratchett) is my all-time favourite book, and I've been noting down and acquiring Gaiman titles for a bit without actually getting round to reading them.... Not enjoying American Gods as much as the others tbh - my stomach isn't quite strong enough for the sex and violence - but it's a really interesting idea and I want to see how it pans out.

I've got Neverwhere somewhere on the shelf as well, but am going to have a bit of a break and read some other people next.

I got about half way through American Gods and gave up. I am going to try Good Omens and Neverwhere sometime this year.

American Gods has such a cool premise, and Gaiman does nothing much with it. The Jesus character stays the same even after the ummm events near the end, and no wisdom or imiprovement are adduced to him anywhere I can remember. The book was such a huge disappointment to me.

I think I just don't fit his reader profile. I don't like any of his books enough to keep them.

Richard, Lorie, and Flossie, have you read Anansi Boys? I felt just like Richard about American Gods, but I adore Anansi Boys. In it, he has a rich milieu of tradition, a delightful set of characters, and his sense of humor comes through, which I don't remember happening at all in American Gods. It is my second favorite of his, after Good Omens. If you haven't tried it, I strongly recommend that you do so before giving up on Gaiman's adult books. I also reread it a couple of months later and got even more out of it--one of my definitions of an excellent book.

American Gods is the only one I've tried so far. I haven't given up on Gaiman yet, but it is reassuring to know that I'm not the only one that hasn't enjoyed him. A co-worker suggested American Gods because she liked it, but it did nothing for me.

I recently read Good Omens and my mum got me Anansi Boys which I am now looking forward to reading even more!

I've read Coraline and Wolves in the Walls - Dave McKean does such a great job on the illustrations in both cases, I couldn't think of a better match to the stories!

#178: I can understand wanting to take a break from reading that many books by one author all in a row. It would tire me out. But I'd recommend Neverwhere whenever you have a chance. It was made into a movie (kinda low-budget), but I liked that they kept true to the book and didn't morph it into something entirely different. I'll have to find American Gods as soon as I can, because I already have Anansi Boys and prefer reading the series in order (or at least I think it's a series). And it must be me, but I didn't really like Good Omens. It's been eons since I've read it, so I don't remember why I was so "meh" about it. Maybe I'll give it another go when I can find the time (ha!).

Actually, the book Neverwhere is the novelization of the television movie script. You can see how the stage direction is changed to narative while reading. It's a less heavy, more fun read than American Gods. I also really liked Stardust, it's more like a traditional fantasy than his other works.

And there is no real connection between American Gods and Anansi Boys, so it doesn't matter which order you read them in.

Flossie - I was only here a week or so ago and it has taken me nearly an hour to catch up with your thread. Great reading!!! Great thread!!!

I had a similar reaction to The Master Bedroom and wrote a review there - I found the writing good, but the characters flat.

I am also a great fan of Barry and Trevor.

#186 & 187: Thanks, Violet and ronin! :) Now I think I will try Anansi Boys instead of waiting to find a copy of American Gods.

>180 richardderus:: Richard, having finished this off on the train this evening, I'm currently feeling that the lack of acquisition of wisdom was part of, if not all of, the point. I seem to have had the opposite reaction here - I wasn't really enjoying it for about the first 400 pages, but once the vigil began, I suddenly found I was really engaged. Seems like at the moment, I can only enjoy the beginning or the end of a book, but not both.

>181 ronincats:: roni, I have Anansi Boys on my list but haven't read it yet (or indeed acquired a copy). Thanks for the nudge!

>185 saraslibrary:-186: sara/Violet, I definitely intend to get to Neverwhere soon (what Brit couldn't love a book that twines itself about the London Undergound?). My copy says it is the "author's preferred text" so I guess that TV script sprouted a few variants.

>188 kiwidoc:: kiwi, thank you very much indeed! Particularly given I'm feeling a tad frustrated that so little of my reading so far this year has been stand-out amazing (none of the fiction so far, really, and of the non-fiction, I'm getting through Alex Ross sooooooo slowly because it's way too chunky to carry on the train. Amazing though, and highly recommended to anyone with a interest in music when it comes out in paperback - soon). I'm going to check out your review of the Hadley. I also have Everything Will Be All Right on the shelves to read soon - I do like the way she writes, but as you say, the characters: meh.

OK, so - I have a legitimate reason for hanging around my own thread, honest:

18. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
588 pages

Lots of moment-to-moment reaction above, but in the final analysis: hmm. I keep trying to write a brief plot summary and realising I'm putting in spoilers. Which is a pity, actually, because a lot of the fun of the narrative comes from the way Gaiman seeds his little clues and then delivers the pay-off punchline. What can I actually say safely? There is a storm coming. Shadow, the tall and yet surprisingly noble ex-criminal protagonist, has found himself employed on his release from prison by a classic "mysterious stranger", and is fair set to be caught up in the middle of a very messy clash between new and old, in a land that does not love belief.

I am a complete wimp in some respects, and so the fairly graphic sex and violence in the first 400 or so pages was more than I would ordinarily be able to stomach. With the beginning of the vigil, though, it seemed to shift into a different gear. I'm still not really sure what I make of the last 200ish pages, but I definitely found them more of a satisfying read than the first 2/3rds, and slightly feel I read them a bit too fast - seeking my plot resolution at the expense of appreciating the mechanics a bit more.

I'd recommend this to people like my brother (who I've just offered to post it to) who are (a) into fantasy (b) possessed of a more robust constitution than I (c) interested in poking around in the idea of what 'belief' means in a non-Christian sense (I think probably all 3 are necessary to actually enjoy this). I think I liked it, in the end, but I'm not sure....

Back to Ella Minnow Pea, if I don't get distracted by Thurber on the way over.

edit because my love affair with ellipsis was embarrassingly obvious. very sloppy.

19. Ella Minnow Pea - Mark Dunn
203 pages

This is almost the 75ers' mascot book at the moment, so a plot summary seems a little superfluous.... but hey. I'm nothing if not thorough. In a nutshell: a lipogrammatic novel about an island whose first patron invented the sentence 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog', and about how the island copes when the letters begin to drop from his monument, earning themselves a complete ban from use in spoken or written communication.

Things I liked: Ella. The sentences ('Enterprise 32' is a great concept). The pay-off.
Things I didn't: the contrivedly arcane manner of the Nollopians. I daresay this made the passages where they'd lost letters sound less weird, but still... some of the satire about censorship (especially the behaviour of poor Georgeanne) felt a bit contrived and heavy-handed.

I liked it, but I'm not so wild about it as many seem to be.

And some not-counting reads:

* Barney and the Magic Mirror
* NCT Book of Potty Training
* Toilet Training in Less Than A Day

Ah, the joys of parenthood. First the book on 'drugs, alcohol and tobacco' that the school didn't warn me they were sending home, which has to be one of the most poorly written, badly designed and entirely wrongheaded books of moral instruction it has ever been my misfortune to come across. What 9-year-old today really empathises with talking animals? Then it's time to chuck out the nappies with the littlest and I was in need of some affirmation...

Some Thurber now, before Proust and the Squid. I realise that the reason I must stop placing library requests is not the requests themselves but what might be termed "collateral damage" - the books I come home with that I didn't intend to borrow when I set out.

the books I come home with that I didn't intend to borrow when I set out.

Now you know how I end up with 90+ checked out at one time!

FlossieT

I think I liked Ella Minnow Pea because of what is happening in the US right now with all the governmental intervention and buy outs.

>193 Whisper1:: Linda, that was the conclusion I came to, when trying to understand why it didn't grab me in the same way (although I think lunacat also loved it!) - the US perspective on things might give this an extra piquancy.

(an aside: I still kind of wish that word was pronounced the way I first read it out loud: pie-kwon-see. It has the same sense of stimulating the senses in an abrupt and extremely moving fashion, except the "pie" adds some extra sense dimensions to do with smell and visuals).

Ahem. It's late over here, and I just had my special Valentine's dinner abruptly terminated by a stomach upset (not mine), so I'm feeling more than usually eccentric.

(btw I notice that one of the Duke's spies in The 13 Clocks is called Whisper!! poor chap)

Thanks for the humor...
I'm hoping the upset stomach (that is not yours) is much better.

Are you liking The 13 Clocks

Ooh Rachel, do I gather that they have some Thurber at Rock Road then? I loved The 13 Clocks and have been looking around for more ever since, with very limited success - everything seems to be out of print... Don't know why it didn't occur to me to check the library!!

Oh dear Flossie, I am so sorry that Ella Minnow Pea didn't captivate you! It's one of my favorite all-time Top-Ten take-to-the-desert-island reads. I think, though, that Welcome to Higby might appeal to you. It doesn't use the kind of narrative hook that I think put you off Ella Minnow. Dunn is a versatile and fascinating writer, so I'd encourage you to try one more and see if it's a better aetheric fit.

>196 flissp:: afraid this one is borrowed from my parents-in-law! NYRB Classics published a lovely new edition of The 13 Clocks and the Wonderful O last year, with Thurber's illustrations, but my copy was an old Puffin Classics edition. Athough with Ronald Searle illustrations so still good fun.

Happy to lend it you if you haven't read The Wonderful O - it's very short, and a very entertaining read. Interesting to read also with the currently-super-popular Ella Minnow Pea.

>195 Whisper1:: hi Linda! Upset stomach has recovered, but it doesn't seem to be our week: my husband's wallet and phone were stolen out of his jacket pockets over Sunday lunch yesterday, and I'm home today with a floppy toddler who has a high fever (and not feeling totally brilliant myself either tbh).

By the way, I didn't mean to suggest that it was unfortunate for the Duke's spy to share your name!! Just that the poor chap gets sliced up and fed to the geese, and I felt rather sorry for him.

And to answer your other question:

20. The 13 Clocks and the Wonderful O - James Thurber
158 pages

Lots of people were talking about this last year, and I knew my son had swiped a copy from his grandparents that was somewhere on his shelves, so when I finished Ella Minnow Pea it seemed like a good one to go on to. Both are gently satirical tales in the general tradition of fairy stories; in The 13 Clocks, the evil Duke has imprisoned his niece, the beautiful Saralinda, and sets impossible quests to those who would win her hand in marriage. Complete with the usual cryptic prophecies, concealed identities etc. etc. The Wonderful O sees two villainous pirates rampaging through an island community, prohibiting all words containing the letter 'o' as they hunt for the treasure that is rumoured to be hidden on the island.

I did enjoy this, but wasn't entirely engaged with the style: there were some bits that I found very clever, and the subversion of various fairy-tale tropes was entertaining. But the whimsy got a bit too much for me in places, and especially the rhyming speech on various occasions, which felt a little contrived - I'd almost rather he'd tried to write the whole thing in verse or not at all.

I wonder if I was maybe just in the wrong mood for this book as it has many of the characteristics of things that I would ordinarily love. ho hum.

I'm not s

Rachael.

I'm so sorry to hear about the latest unfortunate events...

Each one of these is stressful, and when they occur one right after another, it magnifies the tension.

Good thoughts coming your way!

Flossie - sorry to hear you have not been feeling well, and hope your little one recovers fast. Great reviews - still think I will try Ella Minnow Pea.

Rachael, I hope that everything improves for you soon!

I am adding The 13 Clocks to Continent TBR. I read The Wonderful O last year.

Stasia, I read The 13 Clocks last year and enjoyed it.

Got to ask, Flossie - what's a "floppy toddler"?

>199 Whisper1:-201: thanks for kind thoughts. I hope so too! I've actually ended up taking today off sick which is almost unheard of - hadn't had a sick day in over a year prior to that.

>203 Fourpawz2:: :) Divided by a common language again! "Toddler" as in young child (although technically given she's nearly 3 I probably have to stop referring to her as a toddler...), "floppy" because she was so tired she had just flopped down on the sofa and was incapable of doing much.

After a long run of fiction I've finally started another non-fiction book - lunacat very generously lent me Three Cups of Tea and I'm completey engrossed in it. A good book to have when you're not capable of doing much more than reclining artistically on the sofa.

#198 Ah shame - I was hoping there would be a treasure trove at Rock Road! If there's a new edition of The Wonderful O, I'll take a look for it - I love the 13 Clocks edition I have - thanks for the offer though!

Hope you feel a bit better after your day off (and that floppy toddler also becomes less so - although maybe when you're feeling a bit more up to it!)

Back in message 138 I said I'd need to review The Flying Troutmans later - and it's a lot later, and it's weighing heavily on my conscience, so here goes.

Miriam Toews has written several novels, but achieved a higher profile with the book that preceded the Troutmans, A Complicated Kindness, the first-person narrative of teenage Nomi's experiences of adolescence in a family falling apart under the pressures of living within a Mennonite community (Toews also grew up in a Mennonite community). One of the most memorable things about that story was Nomi's voice - distinctive, edgy, laconic, earning many comparisons with Holden Caulfield.

The Flying Troutmans also has a very distinctive voice for its first-person narrator, 20-something Hattie, who has flown back from a rather aimless life and a useless boyfriend in Paris to rescue her niece and nephew, whose mother Min, Hattie's elder sister, is suffering from crippling depression. Min will form the absent presence at the heart of the story after Hattie, having supervised Min's admission to hospital and agreed to act in loco parentis for the children, decides to take off with her charges on a road trip in search of the kids' long-absent father.

This is an extremely sharp and wittily-written book, and yet at the same time manages passages of convincingly realistic dialogue. Niece Thebes is one of those eccentric-child characters that appear in books so often you feel they must be real: using outlandish vocabulary well beyond her years (not always accurately), seriously discussing concepts that should be too adult for an 11-year-old, dressing eccentrically (her hair is blue, and when she is persuaded to buy some new clothes halfway through their trip, she plumps for a cream trouser suit). It's no great surprise that she invokes the example of Pippi Longstocking in defending her desire to fend for herself.

For every perfectly-scripted exchange in which Hattie and Thebes trade wisecracks, though, there's a counterbalancing passage that perfectly captures the stumbling awkwardness of being, and trying to talk to, a teenage boy, as Hattie struggles to communicate with 15-year-old Logan, who expresses himself by carving quotes from Kurt Cobain into the dashboard of the minivan.

The novel has been compared a LOT to the movie Little Miss Sunshine. It does have a great deal in common with that film: dysfunctional family, the spectre of severe depression and suicide, snappy dialogue, a roadtrip undertaken for completely spurious reasons, an ailing van for transport that increasingly sickens as the trip unfolds. But this isn't really an ensemble piece. The focus is on family relationships - between Hattie and her charges, and between Hattie and her sister in the past - and for all of the van's occupants, on growing up.

For much of the book, I have to say I would only have given it three stars: Hattie's reluctance to confront herself, or to admit to her motivations, is infuriating, and for the first half of the book her narrative style reels from the impact of a constant stream of similes: Thebes sighs "like she'd travelled to every corner of the world, on her knees, with a knife in her back"; it is like Min is "living permanently in an airplane terminal"; Hattie feels "like the kid at the end of the diving board". With every repetition, the reader feels the truth getting further away rather than closer: the similes seem a way to deflect what is really going on than to explain it. Which lends the moment halfway through the book, when Hattie is lost for simile, even more impact: "Logan smiled and it was like... I don't know what it was like. A hurricane. Childbirth. Heroin. It rocked my world for a few seconds."

From this point, things really improved, and I began to recognise that it was a lot better than three stars. Metaphor begins to replace simile; Hattie begins to face up a little to who she is and to understand her childhood better; and the children begin to unwind their own contradictions and relax. I feel I'll like this novel better when I re-read it and am a little less focused on the style: in a nutshell, it has whacky but believable characters, razor-sharp dialogue, and some passages of really excellent and beautiful writing.

I also finished Three Cups of Tea last night, but I think I can only manage one review this evening! What I will say is: wow. HOW inspiring? I've just ordered the young-adult version (published in Jan) from the Book Depository with the intention of pressing it on my 9YO, who has to read three "non-fiction" books this half-term holiday (evil genius laugh). A HUGE thank-you to lunacat for lending this to me and I'll try and write more coherently about it soon.

edit for style and spelling

Three Cups of Tea is without a doubt one of the most amazing books I've ever read -- and one of the few that has made me want to give all of my money away without a second thought. I'm in awe of Greg Mortenson and all he's accomplished.

Might have to give The Flying Troutmans a try!

It really was an incredible story. I was off work sick yesterday, feeling absolutely rotten, and yet somehow it kept me up past midnight (eyes streaming, head pounding) as I just couldn't stop. Truly humbling.

I felt very ambivalent about The Flying Troutmans when I finished it - but going back to my notes, and remembering the experience of reading it, I found I'd mellowed a bit. I really think that maybe I was reading just a bit too closely because I knew I had to write a "proper" review. It's definitely worth a shot.

FlossieT - I so agree with your assessment of Three Cups of Tea. I've read it twice, loaned it to my mom, got my book club to read it, and then even got my dad to read it. I just saw the young-adult version at a bookstore the other day, but didn't pick it up to look. I'll be interested to hear what you and your 9YO think of it. I thought it might be a good book to use in the Sunday School class that I teach in a conversation about missions.

Hope you are feeling better!

FlossieT

Your thread generates interesting comments and discussions. I liked your review of The Flying Troutmans. I was able to obtain a copy of this on the Barnes and Noble bookstore sale table and hope to read it soon.

I've had Three Cups of Tea on my shelf for awhile now.. guess it needs to move up the stacks!

If I'd just put my mind to it, I might (and should) have been able to figure out "floppy toddler" by myself, Floss. I am, however, challenged in the parent-speak area not being one. It makes, now that you have answered my question, perfect sense.

>212 Fourpawz2:: glad to have clarified things :) and apologies for parental jargon...

I'm a review or two short...

21. Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
338 pages

Given the resounding chorus of "read it, read it" that broke out every time this book was mentioned on this group, a plot summary may seem a little superfluous, but since I personally hadn't heard about it before, I'm going to dot all the 'i's.

Greg Mortenson was devastated when, in September 1993, his attempt to scale K2 failed disastrously. Weakened and dazed, he lost his way as he descended, and found himself convalescing in the remote mountain village of Korphe. Overwhelmed by the hospitality of its people, as he began to recover, Mortenson became more aware of his surroundings and of how much was lacking - in particular, being shocked by the outdoor classes held to educate the children of the village. He left the village with a promise to return and build them a school.

So far so visionary. But where the average human being might have forgotten such a fulsome promise as soon as they touched down on home soil, Mortenson put his money where his mouth was - literally. Three years after that encounter, the Korphe school opened for lessons, and became the first of many schools built in similar circumstances by what became the Central Asian Institute.

I'm going to get my one major gripe out of the way first: I found that the tabloid style of Mortenson's 'co-writer' really grated with me; there is always the sense that he would be more at home writing made-for-TV movies or heartwarming stories for popular mid-range magazines. With a lesser subject, that would have been a dealbreaker for me - but the story is just astounding. Mortenson has next to nothing: he works antisocial, erratic shifts as a trauma nurse, sleeps in his car, rents a typewriter (and later a computer) to painstakingly type out over 500 letters to celebrities, public figures and foundations in an effort to raise funds for his first school, and finally sells the beloved car in order to fund his air ticket back to Pakistan to begin his first construction project. Once the foundation was up and running, he repeatedy turns down salary increases authorised by his board of trustees because he is so aware of the Institute's precarious financial situation. And there is so much more, but I don't want to start adding spoilers!

One thing that really resounded for me is that Mortenson's approach is one that I have heard repeatedly from commentators in the region is 'the way to go': the major problem with terrorism in the region is the grinding poverty and in particular how that affects the children. The madrassahs offer to provide bed, board and education for the children of families that simply cannot afford to do it themselves - small wonder that anti-Western sentiment is growing in that area. Furthermore, Mortenson's belief in the importance of educating the girls, based on Amartya Sen's theories, as they are the ones that stay in the villages and can pass on their learning, clearly has huge potential.

This is an incredibly inspiring book, and one for anyone who has ever felt that they are too small, too poor or too busy to make an important difference. I have to knock off half a star for the terrible style, but since I would give it 5 and half out of 5, that still makes it a 5-star book overall. I really can't recommend it highly enough, and it is clearly going to be one of those books that I buy in bulk and press on anyone that is unfortunate enough to sit too still in my company for too long.

Phew.

ETA: completely forgot to add a huge THANK YOU to lunacat for lending me this. It's definitely one of those books that I shall be acquiring for my own library.

So. After that, I felt non-fiction like still, and I'm really, really, really enjoying Proust and the Squid BUT - I can't seem to shake off this wretched virus, and I didn't have anything like enough sleep last night, so I took refuge in a trashy mystery....

22. Angels of the Flood - Joanna Hines
409 pages

A chance encounter with a very old friend, Kate, sees David accepting a casual invitation to a lecture given at the National Gallery on art restoration, and in particular, on a mutilated painting that has been sent to Kate for repair. 30 years ago, Kate and David helped clean up after the floods that devastated Florence and destroyed or damaged so much of its art heritage. They were just two among the 'angels of the flood', a gang of teenagers and young people who pitched in and were salaried by the Uffizi and the British Consul to assist in the restoration effort. But the painting, and the manner of its mutilation, drags Kate and David back to Florence, and to a dark confrontation with their past - including the tragic death of one of the 'angels' that brought their 1960s stay to an abrupt conclusion.

Sounds much better than it was. I read it because I was hoping to pick up something that really evoked memories of Florence, but actually very little of the book is set there: the historic scenes are at pains to stress how different the city under the mud is from the tourist Mecca we know now, and the modern-day strand is mostly set in a villa an hour's drive from the city. The 'twist', to me at least, was rather clunkily foreshadowed, and there were some examples of rather sloppy writing. But it was a pleasant enough way to spend an hour or two on a Saturday - and it has really sparked an interest in finding a good non-fiction book about the floods and the clean-up effort. Three stars only.

Forgive me......I skipped over your Three Cups of Tea because my next TBR stack is made of books my wife has read and recommended to me, including that one. I've read a few reviews but I dont' want to read yours so close to when I am going to read the book. I will check back after reading and putting my thoughts down!!!

Cheers!!! (I think that is the right term.)

Mac, I'm happy to add my voice to the "read it, read it!!" chorus. Bump it up as high as you dare - it really is inspiring stuff.

Glad you liked Three Cups of Tea, Flossie. I feel kind of guilty because it's part of our library reading program and I haven't even flipped through it.

So sorry you're still not 100% -- praying that changes soonest!

>217 suslyn:: things clearly getting worse before better... have completely lost my voice!! grrr. Very unhelpful when home with all three kids and needing to stay in to sign for a delivery.

23. Cassandra at the Wedding - Dorothy Baker
225 pages

Another library book. This VMC has been rather bizarrely rejacketed to look like chicklit - pastel blue and pink cover showing girls in bikinis sipping cocktails at the poolside, rather a different atmosphere to what's inside!

Cassandra is returning home for the surprise wedding of her twin sister Judith. The two lived together in Berkeley for many years before Judith moved to New York, where she met her about-to-be-husband. The novel is told mainly from Cassie's perspective, with a central section narrated by Judith. Cassie is devoted to Judith, has lived with her for many years before her move to New York in the previous year, and is struggling to accept that their living separately is to become a permanent state of affairs.

This was a beautifully written novel, and very moving. Cassie is a very real creation - struggling with her mental health, her career and her relationships as well as with having to let go of her 'other half'. Highly recommended. Just don't read the introduction first - another of those books that very annoyingly gives away some great moments of high drama that I'd rather have experienced in the telling than secondhand.

24. No Time for Goodbye - Linwood Barclay
437 pages

I don't know why I keep saying I don't "really" read crime fiction as looking back over my list thus far in 2009, it's formed roughly 20% of my reading. I read somewhere recently a comment predicting that sales of crime and mystery would go up this year as people look for more escapist reading material to help them forget about the economic climate, in which case maybe I'm ahead of the curve ;)

Cynthia Bigge woke up one morning to an empty house - her mother, father and elder brother Todd have all vanished without a trace. Neither their bodies nor her mother's missing car are never found, and 25 years later, Cynthia still can't let go, taking part in a 'cold case' TV programme. Then she receives a mysterious phone call, telling her her family "forgive her" - just the first of a series of strange events that seem to indicate she may be about to find out what happened.

It's a really strong plot, and winds you right in - I did finish most of this in a single sitting - but I did guess fairly early on what the 'twist' was going to be, and would have to say that there are a lot of plot holes. SPOILER ALERT I'm going to put the ones that annoyed me most in the next paragraph in strikethrough so you can skip it if you haven't read it...

Firstly, I couldn't believe the fact that Cynthia's father had a dual identity wouldn't have come to light when the police were investigating his disappearance. For instance, the TV programme wants a picture of him and they contact the DMV - only to discover that, surprise surprise, no record exists. Surely that sort of thing would have come to light in running background checks when trying to determine where he might have gone? Secondly, bringing Vince into it in the middle fell completely flat for me, especially when Jane miraculously appears and rescues Terry from being flattened for poking his nose into the wrong places. And there were so many "why didn't he just...?" moments: why didn't Clayton just turn Enid into the police straight away? Why didn't he expose her when he was in hospital, near death (so with nothing much to lose) and with unsupervised access to e.g. police, or at the very least someone unconnected who he could confide in? Why didn't Tess contact the police when the envelopes first started showing up, since they so strongly suggested that at least one of the family was still alive? etc. etc.

Spoilers over. It's a good thriller and very readable - I'm just not so sure it's as good as all the hype, and its astronomical UK sales, seem to suggest.

Thanks for the spoiler alert and the strikethrough really works! I haven't read much crime this year (one spy thriller thing, which is close enough) but have a few waiting.

I have stopped reading introductions too. The new VMCs that I've found are especially bad for it. I'll keep my eyes open for Cassandra at the wedding.

3 kids and no voice - oh dear. Hope they were lovely all day. Our 2 year old's just tipped water all over our 4 year old and it's not yet 7 am.... ;)

>219 cushlareads:: sorry to post spoilers at all! But there were so many points that just irked me... hoping that someone who's actually read it may wander along and share my irk briefly.

Cassandra at the Wedding was great. I was about to call it one of those 'classics of nothing much happening', but actually some fairly major stuff does happen (besides a wedding, I mean). But most of the action is contained within 2 days - it's really about what's going on inside the characters' heads.

Lovely all day? Not in this universe. They were angelic until about 2 and then the middle one felt he hadn't filled his troublemaking quota for the day. At least we managed to get to the park with a couple of friends who live nearby for an hour once the wretched delivery showed up (at 3.30 grrrr), and we had the back for supper as well. Every cloud etc. Interesting to hear your tale of younger terrorising older - it's not just us then!!

Nup, not just your place! Deliveries drive me mad here too because getting out of the house always makes things better.

I think you meant to write "when they are older, they will be lovely all day and the little one will not pour water on her brother/destroy his lego/insist on helping you grind the coffee beans/yell until you turn Pingu back on".

Sorry for the kids digression. On a LT note, I've just been through my TBR tag and added "soon" for the ones I mean to read, umm...soon. The soon tag is over 100!

I haven't seen No Time for Goodbye anywhere here. Maybe it's not out yet. It has 27 reviews here already so I'm sure someone'll be here soon to share your pain...

Flossie & cmt--someday (sooner than you think) you will look back on these times with your kids and some part of you will wish they had never grown up. That's hopefully when you get grandkids. :)

Flossie - you are at risk of changing the direction of my reading genres to Crime with such compelling reviews. Thanks.

kiwidoc..I give warning...Flossie will indeed change your reading genre(s). As a result of her excellent recommendations and those of Famultsee (Anita) I now read YA books! The good news -- whatever they recommend you will find well worth the read.

>220 FlossieT: & 221
How much older do you think they have to be? Mine are 14 & 16 and things aren't much different. Only change is that the younger brother is no longer the "little" brother by a couple of inches. I warned the older one all along that this was a possibility, having seen it happen with my two younger brothers. I don't think he believed me :o)

To be honest, though, I wouldn't have it any other way - they're way too much fun to trade in!

re: No Time For Goodbye
I'm planning on locating a copy of this book soon. I'm waiting awhile, having just read Too Close to Home recently. (I'm one of those that doesn't read the same author's books too close together.) I look forward to revisiting your review after I've read it. (I didn't read the spoiler part!)

>221 cushlareads:: Cushla, those two halves of "what I meant to write" are maybe just arriving one at a time for me.... they are all lovely; it's just that when all three of them are together, all hell, unavoidably, breaks loose. Pick two - any two - send the third away to do something else, and they are fine. Husband and I occasionally (OK, fairly often, actually) refer to them as the fox, the goose and the corn, after that old puzzle about getting those three items across a river safely ("You take Goose, I'll take Fox and Corn.")

>222 arubabookwoman:: ABW, oh, I know... I feel very fortunate that I'm able to work part-time at the moment and spend a bit more time with them, especially the littlest who is a total sweetheart and my ally (also quite possibly the most sensible, organised and positive member of the family). Just as long as I don't start missing having little ones so much I accidentally produce another one....

>223 kiwidoc:: thank you, kiwi! I hope I don't really change your mind: I feel slightly ashamed of myself for reading so much, um, fluff this year. And there's still rather a lot of crime (or mysteries, or whatever) on the shelves. hmm.

>224 Whisper1:: Linda, you're too kind. I'm really glad you've enjoyed the books I added my vote to, though - there is a certain stress involved in recommending a book (what if they don't like it? Does that mean we can't be friends??), at least for me. So it's always a relief when someone agrees with your choice!

>225 muddy21:: muddy21, I wouldn't dare to guess how much older.... Murphy's Law would suggest around about the time they actually fly the nest, right? I think the thing I find hardest with my boys is that they are so unrestrainedly physical in the way they fight. Many dark-nights-of-the-soul spent trying to figure out what's wrong with my parenting.

>226 profilerSR:: profilerSR, I thought I'd read a review of Too Close to Home on here recently. I think I'll probably look out for that in pb (just out in hb in the UK), as it sounded like it had a similarly interesting premise. Will look out for what you make of No Time for Goodbye when you get to it.

Only slightly related: I love that you struck through your spoilers -- it really does make it easier to look away and not get sucked into them. :)

>228 ladydzura:: thanks! Having accidentally read the tail end of a couple of spoilers recently, I realised that although you can *stop* reading OK when it says "WARNING SPOILER", it can be kind of hard to know where to pick up again. I figure this way it's fairly clear :)

>229 FlossieT: I know exactly what you mean, usually there's only a spoiler warning and I have no idea when it's safe to read again, so I just end up skipping the whole message altogether. I usually put a big SPOILER in bold, and then at the end an END SPOILER. So that people don't miss everything. But I like the strikethrough as well :)

Edit: in BOLD not in blood. 'm not that creepy.

25. Proust and the Squid - Maryanne Wolf
295 pages, including 58 - 58! - pages of notes (I'm not counting the permissions or indexes though)

What an incredible book. Supremely readable, it seems undignified to label this 'popular science', because the amount of references show clearly that this has been as thoroughly researched as any serious scientific book. The only thing, really, that puts it into the popular category is the lack of note markers in the text - which is nice, until you get to the notes and realise how hard it is to relate them back... a very minor gripe.

Maryanne Wolf's title alludes to the different aspects of reading exemplified by Proust's description of the book, in 'On Reading', as a place to take refuge and explore other realities and ideas, and the part the squid has played in the historical study of the brain. If you like, it's the felt experience of the reader complemented by the mechanics behind the scenes. The book is divided into three main parts: how the brain learned to read - a retrospective of the history of reading and brain science; how the brain learns to read over time - what we know or believe now about reading acquisition; and when the brain can't learn to read - a survey of current research and developments in dyslexia.

Wolf's style is delightful. Even when she is explaining the complexities of brain imaging and how that might relate to reading development, she is never less than fluid (though I suspect I fell into the trap that, she tells us, Socrates feared would arise through literacy: that of ceasing to question, and reading without truly understanding!). It's not the kind of book where you find yourself so bogged down in the technical descriptions you are unable to move forward. The science is leavened with anecdotes from her own research and family life, and seasoned with numerous interesting literary and historical references (personal favourite: Eliot's analogies for Casaubon's mind from Middlemarch).

Wolf closes with a call to arms to urgently consider the implications of 'growing up digital' on the current generation of schoolchildren, repeatedly worrying at the notion that the ease of access to information provided by the internet may produce a crop of children with little or no curiosity about exploring texts further than their surfaces.

I found this completely fascinating from just about every perspective: the history of reading, writing and alphabets, which I knew very little about; the process of language acquisition, which was particularly interesting as my youngest child is at the stage of beginning to reliably recognise letters; dyslexia, which I knew absolutely nothing about (nice too that Wolf uses The Lightning Thief for an epigraph in one of these chapters); and her personal mission statement in the final chapter. Everyone with an interest in reading should seek it out.

phew.

On to some fiction, I think - I have My Antonia out from the library, which a number of people have spoken of highly on this group in the last week or two. Although it may be usurped by my March book from my bookswap circle, which is due to arrive tomorrow.

Just for my own records, I'm taking out of my first post my 'stalled but not abandoned list'. These are all books that I've started this year but not got very far into and not gone back to. They're all still books that I want to read, but just didn't hit the spot at the time, and I don't want to overlook them! But I got tired of seeing them every time I added a new book.

Stalled but not abandoned
The Hidden - Tobias Hill (no touchstone)
War and Peace - Tolstoy, Pevear & Volokhonsky translation
Get it Done When You're Depressed - Julie Fast
Energize Your Life - Dwight Carlson (no touchstone, on TT's list last year)
Becoming a Writer - Dorothea Brande

I heard about Proust and the Squid some time ago, but didn't buy it because I wanted to read a few reviews first. Now that I've read yours, it sounds exactly like something I'd be interested in. Added to my wishlist, thanks!

excellent review of Proust and the Squid . On the pile it goes! Thanks.

Nice review, Rachael, of a book that I was already curious about. Another one for the wish list...

#231: I must get a copy of that book. Thank you for the wonderful review.

Smashing review of Proust and the Squid, Rachael. My word. I'll have to get it.

Great review Flossie, to echo those above.

That is one for the pile. It sounds like a very interesting subject.

I was fascinated to learn (somewhere?), that children can be dyslexic in one language and not in another - the example given was the Chinese immigrant who is dyslexic in English but not in Chinese.

Perhaps it is the use of symbols vs letters. Maybe all dyslexic kids should learn Chinese?!!

ditto - definitely going on the list!

>232 FlossieT:: I've got a pile of 'stalled but not abandoned' books too... eeeee... eventually I'll return to them... someday... *sigh*

.#240 it's one of my 999 categories this year 'books i started but never finished' - some of them have been sitting there for years!

Faith and flissp, I'm not sure, but I believe that if all LT members piled their books together, it would reach 'beyond infinity, way, way high in the sky" as my granddaughter would say.

Thank you for all the nice comments :) I really, really liked this book so am glad it seems I did it justice.

>238 kiwidoc:: kiwi, that's just one of the topics covered in the section on alphabet development; it also gives the example of a Chinese businessman, fluent in Chinese and English, who suffered a severe stroke and lost all ability to write in Chinese - but not in English. There are also some interesting observations on the speed in which kanji and kana are interpreted by Japanese children.

I borrowed the copy I read from the library but am definitely going to get my own.

I'll definitely be reading Proust and the Squid, it sounds great!

I have Proust and the Squid sitting on my nightstand--I have an ER nonfiction to finish first and then on to it! Your review has whetted my appetite.

OK, I'm going to buy it... I think this one falls into the "it's a new book but presents for my husband are exempt from my ban" category! Great review.

I have also bought the book on the internet - Flossie, you are going to get us in trouble with our better halves!!!!

Just out of curiosity, is the squid connection in Proust and the Squid about Hodgkin and Huxley's experiments with squid giant axons?

>247 kiwidoc:: sorry, Karen... my husband is also not especially impressed with my book-purchasing habits. Maybe I should have given up buying books for Lent :/

>248 wunderkind:: Erin, 'giant axons' rings a bell - I took the book back to the library yesterday so can't check on the names though.

26. My Antonia - Willa Cather
372 pages

I really liked this - beautiful book, so calm and thoughtful. A nice complement to some of my recent reading.

Jim Burden is 10 when, after the death of his parents, he travels from his home in Virginia to live with his grandparents in Nebraska. On the same train are Ántonia Shimerda and her family, immigrants from Bohemia who are heading to the same area as Jim. Jim's story is his account as an adult many years later of the events as the two grow up, first out on their own farms and later in the prairie town of Black Hawk, recording the influence Ántonia has had on his life.

I still can't think of a better way of describing this than "Little House on the Prairie for grown-ups" - NB meant as a positive thing, as I am speaking here as someone who loved those books, finding them incredibly atmospheric and evocative. So many of the essential ingredients are the same: the prairie, the snow, the styles of housing, the food, the relationships between neighbours, small-town life, the episodic nature of the storytelling, which is also sprinkled with anecdote from the characters' previous histories (one from a dying Russian especially stands out for me). The 'grown-up' strand adds more insightful exploration of romantic and not-so-romantic behaviour between men and women, a deeper understanding of the way small-town society operates, and a more critical look at the immigrant experience, in particular the two-tier system it creates between the Bohemian and Scandinavian girls who work for their living and the American 'society ladies' who sit around at home waiting for life to come to them.

A couple of recent reviews on this group have commented that the characters were what made this such a great experience for them, but for me it was the descriptive writing. Cather's pictures of the landscape and exploration of her characters' emotions are just beautiful - not over-indulgent or purple, but very visual and individual. Gorgeous stuff.

Having a bit of a book dilemma now as I have four stacked up that have equally urgent motivations for being read next...

edit for bad grammer and pour speling

#250: Rachael, I love Cather's ability to paint pictures with words. I just finished another one of hers this week, The Song of the Lark, and highly recommend it for when you are in the mood for another of her books.

>251 alcottacre:: Stasia, I shall definitely be looking for more. I got O Pioneers! in the library sale last week and have Death Comes for the Archbishop due to come in from BookMooch. I really loved the pace of this book - it was just what I needed.

Hmm, touchstone issues again.

I am a big fan of Cather's and have read to date: My Antonia (my personal favorite), Alexander's Bridge, O Pioneers!, Death Comes for the Archbishop, The Song of the Lark, and A Lost Lady. Not a bad book in the bunch, although Alexander's Bridge, her first book, is the weakest by far.

I am hoping to check her Pulitzer Prize winning book One of Ours from the library when I go this next week.

Very nice review of My Antonia. I'm glad to hear that it's a worthwhile read as it's on my TBR pile!

I took my 'stalled' books off my 'reading' list as well. Glad to know I'm not the only one a category like that ... and now I even have a name for them :) THx.

>254 loriephillips:: Definitely worthwhile, Lorie. It was just lovely.

>255 suslyn:: Suse, I'm going to try my hardest to avoid bloating my stalled category any further... I do it a lot with self-help-type books: pick them up because they sound good and useful for a particular crisis moment, read a couple of chapters, find them relatively interesting, and then somehow never go back. It's almost as if I don't want to be helped (sigh).

27. Vicky Had One Eye Open - Darryl Samaraweera
211 pages

"Vicky slipped into the coma at 2.30 on Sunday afternoon, after having cooked a beautiful 8lb chicken."

Samaraweera's novel starts with Vicky's lapse, and follows her family as they adjust to life keeping vigil over their formerly vibrant matriarch as she is shuffled from hospital to hospital. Interspersed with these scenes, we are also given the view from Vicky's perspective - although aware of her surroundings, she isn't very interested in them: her main focus is on the journey she is making inside her own head, suddenly 6 years old again and following a magical path.

I read this on behalf of a close friend whose mother died not many years ago from a brain tumour - the author is a friend of hers, but she wasn't sure she could handle the subject matter and wanted a second opinion before she attempted it. It's certainly not an easy read, even speaking as someone who is not quite so emotionally engaged.

It's very consciously stylised: there isn't a single line of direct or reported speech in the entire book, something that is very deliberately done, perhaps to try to both honestly convey the reality of the situation and remain faithful to what is "believable" in fiction. There are odd asides in the book referring to the craft of writing, and one passage references a conversation between 'Vicky's eldest' (who is the main focus of the book, and from whose perspective we see much of the action - or rather inaction) and his professor at college:

And still they needed dialogue. It was getting harder to agree. It wouldn't sound right word by word. After all, who would imagine telling jokes and laughing? It would be too difficult to believe on the page.

The absence of names in Vicky's immediate family also contributes to this sense of claustrophobia: everyone in the family is defined by their relationship to Vicky, and only outsiders have "real" names. At a sentence-by-sentence level, this can cause some problems - there are too many "hes" and "shes" flying around and I found I had to re-read a lot to be clear as to who was addressing who.

This was an interesting book, but I wouldn't really be able to say I enjoyed it - it's definitely a book you have to read slowly and carefully, but in the end I didn't feel adequately rewarded for that investment of time.

Eek - I have two chunky library books to read before next Friday!! And two more holds to collect tomorrow. SMBSLT indeed.

Hmm...this book seems interesting enough, but your review makes me think twice about getting it. I'll add it to my wish list, and try to look at the book (if I can find it in the US) before purchasing it.

>257 kidzdoc:: kidzdoc, it's shortlisted for the 'Spread the Word' award in the UK, and the comments on its page there are altogether more positive:

http://www.spread-the-word.org.uk/pages/books-2009/book-detail.asp?BookID=47

but personally speaking, I'd definitely recommend sampling before deciding whether to read the whole thing.

28. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
374 pages

Read aloud with my eldest over a lengthy series of evenings (I think we actually started on this before Christmas!). I spotted it initially on BeSerene's list last year, emailed my son her review, and he thought he'd like it so I picked up a copy. Which he then failed to read for about 6 months, much to my irritation.

So I suggested we read it together. Once we actually got going, he loved it - so much so that it was his turn to be irritated because we were reading it in chapter-sized chunks rather than all in one go (ha! that'll teach him not to listen to my recommendations...)

BeSerene's excellent summary says much of what I'd like to say (only better). I did find the language a bit too 'American' for my personal taste (sorry!), as some of the slang expressions and cultural references are perhaps not quite as well known or widely used over here, and there were one or two I had to mentally translate for myself.

This also belongs to the category of books for me that trundle along inoffensively for about 4/5ths of the book, and then suddenly have 2 or 3 really gripping chapters... we were only supposed to read one chapter tonight, but we got to the end of that one, and realised there were only 2 to go and, well, what can you do? At least it's Friday and there's no school tomorrow.

I've no idea what we're going to read together next though. He's already about 4 chapters into The Sea of Monsters (read after lights-out, hmmmmm) so that's out. I want to read The Children of Green Knowe as part of my quest to 'educate' him in all things that are not modern fantasy or adventure novels, but he is reluctant, having found the few pages I read him from it a few weeks back fairly dull. Sigh. There is no hope for our youth.

Also a couple of books with the middle son, that I'm not counting towards my total but just wanted to note: Horrid Henry Robs the Bank and Horrid Henry's Revenge. The eldest tore through the whole Horrid Henry series early last year, which meant there was a stack already waiting for the 7YO when he decided the time was right to read more for himself.

I had assumed that they were derivative drivel, but actually, while they obviously do follow a set template, a sort of stripped-down version of the naughty-boy-against-the-world formula that Just William made so popular, they're quite well written - in particular some lovely metaphors, and some great moments of very sharp humour. Anyway, even if they were total claptrap, I'd still be prostrate with gratitude before Ms Simon, since they really seem to be doing the trick in encouraging the middle son to read more. He is capable of reading pretty much anything he puts his mind to; he just chooses not to.... which is a shame, as he is a very imaginative child and one, I would have thought, who'd get a great deal out of reading.

aiee! Pumpkinhood beckons. Must go to sleep....

never heard of the Horrid Henry series! Would you recommend it for adults as well? (adults only in age, not in spirit, that is) :)

>259 girlunderglass:: GUG, I'd say they were definitely kids' books - amusing if you're reading them with a 7YO but not something you'd pick up for your own relaxation!!

Hi Flossie! Posting so I can find you again. Cheers!

re: stalled books -- I moved 1 off the list :) It was uh, so-so. and now it's gonzo :)

Hello again. Have been MIA a bit as I hit a book that dragged on for waaaaaaaay too long and decided to curtail LT activity in an effort to dispatch it. Just to log reading in the interim - will add reviews later.

29. What Should I Do With My Life? - Po Bronson (too many pages of really tiny print)

30. The Silver Linings Playbook - Matthew Quick (289 pages)

31. Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom (not my choice)

32. Death of an Englishman - Magdalen Nabb

March and April both looking insanely busy so I'm not likely to be on here much...

Rachael..
you will be missed!

#263: Just check in every now and again if you can so that we know you are still alive and kicking :)

Oooh. That's why I haven't seen you round and about. I thought it was because I wore a new aftershave and you didn't like it. :-P

LOL so what was the weighty tome?

>264 Whisper1: & >265 alcottacre:: thanks, guys :) Here I am, checking in... still breathing, but have gone a bit cold-turkey on LT in the last couple of weeks. Too much life, too few books read. I just tried to catch up merely on my starred/my posts and have bailed out with still about 20 to go (it was when I got to 150 unread messages on joycepa's Club Read thread that I knew I was bested. 109 on Linda's I could just about face, especially as it's Linda, but 150? Fuggedaboudit.)

>266 richardderus:: richard, couldn't be your aftershave. I have absolutely no sense of smell so unless you'd actually bathed in the stuff I probably wouldn't notice. Sad but true.

>267 suslyn:: suse, the distressing thing is it wasn't really a "weighty tome" - I was just finding the pages were turning too slowly for me to feel I was making any real progress, and it wasn't the sort of book I found so incredibly absorbing that I was tempted to stay up late reading lots of. It falls into little short vignette-y chapters, and I would read a couple before sleep and then turn out the light.

We have old friends coming for lunch tomorrow, my husband is on call, I was working late last night and have spent the whole day in London with the kids, and the house is a pit... but I want to at least get my own thread up to date! So no proper reviews here, just quick summaries. If I ever manage to review some properly at a later date (ha), I'll link to them.

29. What Should I Do With My Life? - Po Bronson (too many pages of really tiny print)

This was my nemesis and the primary cause of my voluntary LT exile. Interesting, but not interesting enough - the focus of interviewees wasn't diverse enough for me, and it didn't really address the central issue I feel I face in that big question (i.e. how to manage when you think you know what you should do with your life and can't see any damn way you can afford to do so.... although Greg Mortenson does tend to come yomping through my mind as I type that.)

30. The Silver Linings Playbook - Matthew Quick (289 pages)

Proof copy from Picador. Lovely book, although as you might expect from a novel in which the central character believes that he is the star in a romcom directed by God, the plot is a weeny bit predictable. Has a lot in common with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime: the central character has just come out of a mental health facility, and is trying to work out what has precipitated his breakdown, and why no one will talk to him about his wife. As with Christopher in Mark Haddon's book, some of it is obvious to the reader, some of it is not, and it makes for an interesting sort of mystery. Exceptionally readable too - I finished this easily in the span of a couple of train journeys - and quite touching despite the predictability.

31. Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom (not my choice)

I strongly disliked this book - not because of Morrie, who obviously is a very inspiring and noble person, but because of the author, whose exceptionally obvious presence in the book I found narcissistic in the extreme, and all the more appalling because of what the book ought to have been focusing on. (Actually, the too-present author was a problem I had with Po Bronson's book too.) Also, if I had paid for this I would have been feeling exceedingly ripped off as in addition to the small number of pages, the type was big and widely spaced. Read only because of my strangely enduring loyalty to my bookswap circle (although this one has seriously made me think I'm going to bail out at the end of the year. Reading time is too precious.)

32. Death of an Englishman - Magdalen Nabb

Requested from library on a recommendation from joycepa. Didn't blow me away tbh. On the one hand, I loved the very real sense of place in the writing, and some of the characterisation was inspired (I especially loved the dotty expat Miss White) - on the other, the denouement was rather abrupt and not very well prepared, as well as a bit of a letdown given all the interesting threads she seemed to be spinning. I'll probably give this series a couple more tries before deciding it's not for me, though, as her ability to recreate Florence is one to be prized.

33. The Dark Lord of Derkholm - Diana Wynne Jones

This is going to get me crucified, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I was hoping too (eek). The concept of the tours of a fantasy world is really clever (and an obvious companion-piece to the Tough Guide to Fantasyland - or is it the other way round? Haven't checked pub order), and she does some inventive things with it. My central problem with this stems from the uneasy rubbing together of the jokey tone with some really quite serious events - e.g. Shona's assault by the enchanted soldiers, the disintegrating relationship between Derk and Mara, some more I can't really mention without spoilers. Wynne Jones does some excellent satire with the structural elements, but her characterisation is not unidimensional enough for you to feel entirely comfortable with what happens to her people. I found that tension too difficult. In a way, it's my fault rather than hers - after all, the same sort of thing could be said of many of Shakespeare's comedies (esp. Measure for Measure) - but it just didn't quite pan out.

34. The Idle Parent - Tom Hodgkinson

I read half of this when working late a few weeks ago, swiped from the review shelf at work, and finished it off on another late night this week. I can't really review it objectively as it was clearly ghostwritten by my husband. Seriously, it's uncanny - right down to favourite choices of book for reading out loud to children. He's definitely getting a copy for Father's Day, probably liberally sprinkled with Post-it notes.

(It's a rant-against-the-modern-age disguised as a sort of parenting guide, with the emphasis on leaving children to get on with being children - partly on the grounds that it leaves one freer to have lie-ins, socialise and not spend so much time clearing up, partly because he believes it results in happier, healthier kids. It's actually quite funny, and surprisingly erudite. Although I would say that since my husband has definitely actually written it, and I'm wondering where he's put the royalties since I didn't know he was capable of negotiating the banking system without copious written instructions and shouted reminders).

35. Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl, I Learned From Judy Blume - ed. Jennifer O'Connell

This is a slight cheat as I haven't quite finished it, but it may be a while before I'm on here again so...

I still can't really work out who this is meant to be marketed to (possibly one reason I got my copy from bookcloseouts.com). Essentially, this is a collection of short memoirs of adolescence tied in to Judy Blume's books, from women writers who, I assume, mainly write chicklit or YA fiction (although I've only heard of Meg Cabot independently of this collection - it's definitely for the American market). I read my share of Judy Blume when growing up, though clearly not as much as the authors, so this was a bit of a nostalgia trip. One thing that surprised me was how much sex there is in the books - I don't remember, somehow, this being as obvious when I was reading them as a late pre-teen/adolescent; I knew it was there, of course, but I was much more interested in the characters. I liked it because I do enjoy that confessional sense of unexpected intimacy with a writer - most of the pieces are very honest and candid - but it's a slightly odd package.

A small confession, in the interests of keeping myself honest. I went away to stay with my parents-in-law (owing to aforementioned late working) overnight, so a sojourn of less than 24 hours. I packed 5 books - not because I really thought I'd read 5, but because I couldn't decide which one I was in the mood for. Worse, I then actually read a sixth that I borrowed from work, and grabbed 2 more off the review shelf at work. I am not well.

April is definitely No New Books Month (brought to you by the school of If I Say It Often Enough And Loud Enough, Eventually I'll Believe It).

I have been telling myself that it is No New Books Month for the past three years. Sadly, it hasn't been working for me. Hopefully, it will work better for you :)

Rachael.

I laughed right out loud out your April is definitely No New Books Month (brought to you by the school of If I Say It Often Enough And Loud Enough, Eventually I'll Believe It)......

Considering I have ever so many books checked out from the library, each time I return a few, I tell myself to simply drop off the few and NOT check out twice as many...BUT, somehow I simply find that while I"m there I simply have to look at the books and then of course my resolve fades.

Nice to have you back. You were missed. I totally agree with you regarding Tuesdays With Morrie.

Rachael - Good luck with that challenge that you have set up for yourself along with the 75 books challenge. I hope it goes well!

I am with Linda in the 'I Cannot Get Out of the Library Without Checking Out at Least One More Book' Club . . .

Nice to see you back!

I'm going to look for the Idle Parent book. Wonder if it includes "mum is on LT"? or "Mum is reading and drinking wine while you build a castle out of blocks?"

Haven't read the Po Bronson book you've just finished, but I gave up on Bombardiers years ago, and it's the kind of book I'd usually love.

We have a Horrid Henry here (the book, not the child) but our son's latest thing is Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey. He's read 3 of them (with my husband) in the last week - so nice to see him wanting to have stories again.

Good luck with the no new books thing...

Hi Rachel!

I'll also sympathise with the No New Books Month - I'm actually starting to panic a bit about what to read next - I seem to have about 16 books on the go at the moment because I can't decide!

Re #269 Dark Lord of Derkholm I'm actually not going to crucify you on that one as, while I think I probably enjoyed it more than you did, I was also a bit disappointed with it - and had a similar reaction to Shona's assault. I wouldn't recommend reading the sequel (Year of the Griffin) in that case as it misses the novelty of the former and just isn't as good... I think Tough Guide to Fantasyland was written quite a while before hand, but don't quote me on that - I'd have to check!

Also interested to read your thoughts on Tuesdays With Morrie - I've only read The Five People You Meet in Heaven - it was a while ago, but I seem to remember quite liking it, but feeling that he was trying a bit too hard - I've always felt I should read something else by him, but baulked a bit about actually doing that...

PS you did make me giggle about The Idle Parent!

>270 Kittybee:-272: I've got to make the no-new-books thing work for a little while at least. After shuffling, reshuffling and restacking, I have to admit that I can now only make more shelf space by taking down the photos of my kids, of which we don't even have that many, and that just feels like a step too far. So I have to read some and then set them free... I have some books to take back to the library this week so I guess that will be the first big test of my resolve.

>273 cushlareads:: Cushla, The Idle Parent is out next month in hb in the UK (doesn't seem to have a touchstone so I've linked the work page) so I guess it may take a little while to make the transglobal journey. I wouldn't say it's one to read for hints and tips, but for a bit of a chuckle and some reassurance about one's own parenting. He does talk rather a lot about drinking! Middle child has moved on from Horrid Henry to Roald Dahl now. I queued to get a copy of Horrid Henry Robs the Bank signed by Francesca Simon at the Edinburgh Book Festival last year - she's one of those rather lovely authors who likes to spend a little bit of time talking to each and every one of the people who queue to see her so I was waiting rather a long time, but it was worth it for the smile on the eldest's face when I brought the book home.

>274 flissp:: flissp, know exactly what you mean about the what-to-read-next issue - it's why I ended up taking so many books away with me at the weekend for what was, essentially, an overnight stay; I tried, but I really couldn't choose between them. I seem to be reading so much rubbish at the moment. I have "proper" books queued up waiting to be read, but every time I finish one I don't quite seem to have the stamina to start something serious. Which is silly really as I usually enjoy these books once I've actually got started. Hope you manage to find a happy resolution! Maybe a blindfolded rooting around in a large box...

Glad I made you giggle :) It must be true though. I think the front about owning a farm is just a well-constructed cover story to disguise his real self.

>268 FlossieT: books 29 & 31 are prize-winners in my "Belt Up Already!" Contest for Terminal Over-Sharers. Other entrants included Rupert Everett for Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins, which won in the Irritating Self-Absorbed Queen category and John Barrowman for his autobiography which was simultaneously TMI and not salacious enough to make it a guilty pleasure.

Of course, the fact that my ex was a raving Rupert Everett fan and that John Barrowman is married and therefore unavailable has not one single solitary thing to do with my attitude.

#269: Ooh, Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume is right up my alley. I love Judy Blume, so I can't wait to read some essays on her. Thanks for the review! :) And really, the sex scenes in Forever... were nothing compared to Wifey, Summer Sisters, etc. Read Freckle Juice, then switch to one of her adult novels, and you'll be shocked it's the same writer. :D She's amazing.

Way behind in your thread Flossie - in fact, my first unread was in January about The Lovely Bones. So, even though it was 2 months ago, I just have to say that I agree with you - it was beautiful, and I, too, thought the weak points centred around the heaven scenes.

#278 ah, Forever..., that was it! I've been trying to remember the name of the Judy Bloom book that got passed around my year group when I was at school. Expressly for the sex (all being rather immature at that stage). I think it's the only one of hers I've ever read!

#276 good to know I'm not alone although, given this group, this is not surprising! I also have a "proper" book queue that keeps getting postponed!

@280- heh, yes, I remember it for that too. And Pillars of the Earth and the Clan of the Cave bear series. Hm...there were quite a few. I don't know if it's immaturity - actually, I think it's to be expected at that age!

A belated reaction to your review of Dark Lord of Derkholm--I'm certainly not going to crucify you. But I want to point out that there is more than one level going on to this book. On one level, there is the inspired pinioning of the fantasy tropes with much levity. But on the other level, this IS life or death for the inhabitants of the world. They are desperate! And so serious themes intermix with the levity, enriching the story IMHO. If it didn't click for you, it didn't. But for me, the story would ring less true without the themes that bothered you.

>282 ronincats:: roni, I just didn't feel that the overarching trope of fantasy satire quite gave enough space to the serious elements. They registered as 'minor hiccups' in the story, and I wanted more explanation/repercussion to arise from those moments.

On reflection, I would have felt more satisfied with the book if she had either just aimed for satire and left the serious stuff out, or had given the serious elements some proper airtime rather than "moving swiftly on". Agree completely with your life-or-death point, which is why the tone felt quite uneven to me.

Flossie - totally agree with your comment about Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. I could not believe people wanted to read this one. Your narcissistic comments summed it up perfectly. My copy was pitched into a second hand bin in disgust. (I think there was even a movie on the book, god forbid).

(Bear with me, there are going to be a couple of my posts on my own thread as I catch up here! Oh, the irony of my criticising Mitch Albom's narcissism.)

>270 Kittybee: & >271 Whisper1:: I am pleased to report that I have yet to acquire a 'new' book this month. I even went to the library on Friday and came home with no books for myself (although my daughter did borrow still another book about trains). This despite the fact that the library sale rack had a (slightly battered, admittedly) copy of Death at La Fenice going for 30p, i.e. about US0.45. Even after joycepa's Leon marathon, I managed to make myself put it back.

AND I went into the bookshop on Thursday without buying anything.

I feel like I'm in a 10- (or 12-, or 6-, or whatever it is) step programme.

>277 richardderus: richard, I had NO IDEA that John Barrowman was married; my following of Dr Who and its spin-offs is patchy at best, owing to deeply-imprinted hiding-behind-the-sofa-as-a-child phobias. Just the theme tune tends to make my brow begin to bead and my pulse quicken alarmingly. Providing TMI and simultaneously being insufficiently saucy is quite an achievement though...

>278 saraslibrary:: sara, it wasn't so much Forever... that surprised me; I had very liberal parents by the standard of my classmates, and also ones that did not at any point vet or censor my reading, so it was actually my copy of Forever that did much of the being passed around the class. It was all the others - the Deenies and all the rest - that it surprised me to realise had so much in them. Does make me, once more, eternally grateful I never have to be an adolescent again. Anyway, if you're interested, leave me a message with your address and I'll gladly post it to you.

>279 Severn:: thanks for stopping in, Severn. Still think The Lovely Bones is one of my favourite reads so far this year, which I would have NEVER imagined.

>284 kiwidoc:: kiwi, relieved it's not just me, since it has sold very well and therefore must be loved by someone. I did feel a little bit churlish saying negative things about something where the central character was so noble, but it was just too exploitative.

OK, and now some books.

I had this great idea a few weeks ago that I might actually start writing proper reviews, because that is what I love to do best, and then I realised that it was insane to think I'd have the time to do that. So brief comments only.

36. I Was Told There'd Be Cake - Sloane Crosley

Really enjoyed this. Like a slightly more awkward, less confident version of Carrie Bradshaw (fictional) or Cynthia Heimel (real), this was a collection of single-literary-girl-on-the-town essays/columns. Worth it for the plastic-pony piece alone. Won't make literary history, but definitely worth at least half a star more than your average 3-star good-but-I'll-never-re-read it book.

37. Florence, a Delicate Case - David Leavitt.

Disappointing, and too gossipy in tone - very much focused on the social dynamics of Americans and Brits abroad in Florence over the last 200 years. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting from the precis, but this wasn't it - a disproportionately large chunk of the book feels like special pleading for writers with little literary merit; the actual quotations that were provided made it difficult to understand where Leavitt was coming from in praising some forgotten 19th-C writers so highly.

38. Imagined London - Anna Quindlen

Spotted on orangeena's list and acquired from bookcloseouts, I found this enjoyable and irritating in equal parts. I loved Quindlen's love for London, her approach, her immersion in the topics - but she REALLY needed a better editor, as some of the American-perspective-on-things-they-say-and-do-in-London made me cringe mightily. Just for the record: the only people that should refer to Buckingham Palace as "Buck House" are those that wish to be mistaken for extras in the latest addition to the National Lampoon: European Vacation series. Let that particular shudder stand for many other moments in the text where the wide-eyed American naivete set my teeth on edge.

On the credit side of the account book, a woman who describes Dickens as "a crazed Punch and Judy show on the village green of the mind" can't be all bad by my standards.

39. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders - Daniyal Mueenuddin

Mueenuddin's stories, all loosely based around a connection with the character of a Pakistani landlord, K.K. Harouni, have been published in the New Yorker, Granta and other illustrious mags, but I found this collection a little patchy (although the UK book design - jacket, type and binding - is truly beautiful, and a thing to be appreciated in the age when physical books are deemed not to be important). The first half of the book is stories set in rural Pakistan, focusing on rural characters and relationships. These stories seemed to be striving for the scope of a novel, in particular in their time span, but at the cost of any kind of emotional depth - dreadful things happen and life (or death) goes on. The second half looks more closely at the culture clash of bringing Americans into Pakistani society; the timescales are more compressed, replaced by a greater sense of emotional depth and realism, which in 'Our Lady of Paris' I found completely heartbreaking.

I'm not entirely sure whether this marked contrast between the two styles of story is because it is easier for me to empathise with and relate to the views of Western characters, or because the nature of rural life in Pakistan is such that there is simply not the luxury of emotional depth: time passes, things happen, and either you weather the storm or you drop out of the story.

But in both types of story - emotionally shallower rural tales or more intense metropolitan perspective - I did feel that the ways women were described were worryingly narrow and unsympathetic. Very nearly all the female characters are opportunistically promiscuous and coldly calculating, or overbearing, domineering and shrewish (and hence, usually, supplanted and exiled). Again - maybe that's Pakistani society; from my own Westernized perspective, it was an insufficiently nuanced portrait. Only Helen in the aforementioned Paris story seems to escape with something approaching nobility.

This was an interesting collection, and the quality of the writing definitely lifts it above three stars; I just didn't feel it was completely worth the fulsome plaudits on the jacket.

Finally, I like this idea of the "Q1 roundup". To end March, mine runs something like:

General stats:

* Male writers: 16
* Female writers: 21 (haven't counted the individuals in the Judy Blume book separately but have counted the editor as one!)
* Books in translation: 0 (I started off trying to split the rest into UK, Irish, Canadian and US but it got too confusing)

Goal 1 (more books I own):
- Off the TBR, already-owned list (as in force at 1/1/09): 14
- New: 25

Result: FAIL

Goal 2 (more non-fiction):
Non-fiction: 12
Fiction: 27

Result: PASS (much improved on last year - "more" is comparative to last year)

Goal 3: more politics

Result: PASS (see above re non-fiction, read some good books on Afghanistan)

Goal 4: fewer long books

Result: PASS (only 6 books longer than 400 pages, and at least two of those were crime fiction)

Goal 5: Russian classics

Result: FAIL (binned out of War and Peace group read after complete failure to keep track of names)

Goal 6: more Brontes

Result: FAIL (none yet, despite acquisition of Juliet Barker's Life in Letters)

So I'm equal on my goals this far this year - room for improvement, but by the same token, I haven't failed yet.

Almost forgot - my total on the BBC meme is 65, although there are, I think, 5 more that are on my will-definitely-read-this-year list. And one or two that I am NEVER going to read whatever anyone says so there.

Argh - I have to work tomorrow.... I forgot. The kids are on holiday so I'm in the spirit. At least it's from home so if I look like death there's only me to see it!!

I think you should work on your foreign authors missy! 0 authors in translation?! Meaning none that don't write in English? Shame on you! ;)

>289 girlunderglass:: I know, it's not good. The balance of my TBR list is beginning to shift a little more in favour of translated work (largely thanks to rachbxl, avaland and akeela) and I am now following a lot of sources that discuss translated fiction. The problem is that translated books don't yet account for a significant percentage of my physical TBR pile, and shrinking that is my top priority for this year. So it may be a while before translated titles begin to filter through.

#290 Ah, but you'll be able to knock some back with the Russian Classics goal!

#288 Go on, tell us which ones you're NEVER going to read!

#286 "On the credit side of the account book, a woman who describes Dickens as "a crazed Punch and Judy show on the village green of the mind" can't be all bad by my standards. ...chortle :)

#285 Very impressed by your resistance to book buying. I have no self-restraint in this matter. I currently have many piles of books in front of my bookcases, by my bed (about to topple over), on the dining table and in the bathroom, and a massive backlog of things I want to read RIGHT NOW and yet I still don't seem to be able to control myself mooching, or library requesting more (at least not too much money is being spent, I suppose...)

Re Dr Who, I've always maintained that the best thing about it is the theme tune - I still get a thrill of anticipation every time I hear it - anything that happens afterwards, however good, will always be a little bit of a disappointment - particularly now the sets aren't made of painted polystyrene :)

I've been very interested in the ongoing Mitch Albom comments - I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven years ago, having never heard of him (I'm not always very up to date with the books you're supposed to read!) and enjoyed it enough to wonder if it was worth trying anything else by him (but not enough to track everything else down as I have done by authors who really grab me). I've picked up Tuesdays with Morrie several times since then, but for some reason never bought it. I'm thinking this was the right decision now! Maybe I'll try him again at some point, but it sounds like there are better things to get on with in the meantime...

Try Blindness by Jose Saramago. Its a dystopian look at the world, very good, and written differently enough that you can't tell its a translation, its unique enough on its own!

Like flissp in 291 above, I wanna know which books you'll NEVER read from the BBC meme! C'mon, FlossieT, spill!

The Dr. Who scaredy-catness aside, I really would recommend Torchwood to you. Give it a whirl!

>292 lunacat:: That's a book I've almost bought a dozen times. I don't know what stops me from pulling the trigger on it.

#294

Its well worth it. Takes a bit of getting into and can be unsettling to read at first (because of the style) and then unsettling because of the subject, but I recommend it again and again and again cos it had such an impact on me.

I agree with lunacat; Blindness is one of my all-time favorite books.

All right, let go of my arm, I'll try it!

I'm going to chime in and say that I also enjoyed Blindness, (although not, I think, as much as lunacat or kidzdoc) and recently bought the sequel Seeing - I'm looking forward to it!

Uncle! I give up! Peace! I surrender!

:-D

I'm in the middle of a 383-page book, a 534-page book and an 862-page book. Let me at least knock off the first two as they are library books and I'll come along peacefully.

lol, do you think we've beaten Tad over the head enough yet?

I read Blindness a few months ago, and I think it is destined to become a classic. The subject of an epidemic causing a dystopian world is very interesting.

Book buying!!! HELP ME. I am addicted. I am TRYING to stop in at the library rather than driving on to the store - it is really not necessary to own every book I have read. I need help controlling the urge, though.

#299 Mwah ha ha ha ha... ;)

#301

oh boy do I know that urge. I don't use the library at all, I own every book I read. I just can't help think............but what if I love it and want to read it again? And can't find the same edition as I've just read. I hate swapping editions, it needs to look the same for me!

Validation for owning books, THANKS Lunacat. I always think I will go back and read it again. Someone after my own heart. (Getting in the car to strike out for the bookstore!!)

American Express sends you a statement at the end of the year on what you spent your money. Last year's Amazon/B&N/Abe Books convinced me that at least 50% must now come from the library. If I really love a book, I then hunt up a copy in second hand shops. The end result is that I'm acquiring more books I think I'll reread and fewer that just take up shelf space.

Plus, second hand stores are so much fun. I love old editions!

Indeed on the second hand bookshops being great. The vast majority of my books come from there, I only buy new editions if it is a favourite author and I have heard good things.

Recent brand new buys: books for christmas and my birthday, Harry Potter books when they came out..... 3 for 2 offers when there are 3 books I want.......

All this Doctor Who/Torchwood talk has reminded me that I taped an episode of Torchwood on Sunday and I haven't watched it yet.

>#277 Richard. Did you see the BBC special about John Barrowman -- his investigation into whether his homosexuality was environmentally or biologically acquired. They ran various tests on him and his family members. Really interesting. His significant other was referred to as his boyfriend and not his husband. Maybe the show is old and I've only just seen it.

I went into B & N today with the intent to buy one specific book City of Refuge, and when they didn't have it I was so proud of myself for not coming out of the store with half a dozen other books. Of course, I had just come from Half Price Books where I HAD picked up half a dozen books. :)

>291 flissp: & >293 richardderus:: Captain Corelli (tried a few pages once, didn't like it), most of the Dickens (I will definitely try again to read one of them someday, haven't decided which one, but unless that blows me away he's firmly on the 'no' pile), Dune (not my kind of thing at all). I'm also unlikely to ever finish 1984 - think this must be the only book that I have given up on within sight of the finishing line, having read about 3/4 of it before I admitted I just couldn't stand it. Those are the ones I have no desire to read; there are several more of the doorstop sort that I am very unlikely ever to read, but not through lack of interest.

>292 lunacat: & >298 flissp:: thanks for the endorsements, luna and flissp - Blindness is already on my list, but I don't actually own a copy. My bookshelves are seriously overstuffed at the moment, so reading and releasing has to be the thing to be addressed first. My employers are hosting a short festival of translated fiction in June, though, so I should have some opportunities to pick up tips (and books).

My book acquisition really has spiralled out of control. It's not so much that it's expensive - I buy mostly secondhand, from the warehouse or library sale, or from a great remainders bookshop in Cambridge, mooch from BookMooch, or pick up review copies at work - but more that we really do have limited storage space (see above) and I have to get rid of some books. I also borrow quite a lot from the library (although if I really love a book, I will then buy a copy to keep), which slows down the rate at which I can get through the unread ones I already own. Anyway, I decided it just had to stop for a bit - need to read what I've got already and make some space. I'm not the sort of person that finds moderation easy so an absolute ban (for a period) was the only way to go. I haven't, however, stopped adding books to my wishlist...

I think the problem is that books are pretty much perfect retail therapy - the joy of acquisition, the sense that it's doing you good in some way, and none of the self-esteem issues associated with buying clothes, shoes or other personal adornment-type things. A book is never going to rub blisters on your feet or make you look fat (unless you have very strange reading habits).

#309 Re Blindness - you can borrow my copy if you'd like? You'll have to resend me your address though as I don't think I've kept it...

Re Captain Corelli and 1984 - two of my favourite books!

...but I definitely agree with book shoping being the perfect retail therapy! (but I do detest clothes shopping, so...) I would add music shopping to that too... :)

>310 flissp:: thanks, that's very kind! Maybe in a week or two... I have a library book to finish, plus a book that I must read before an author event (Cambridge Wordfest, really looking forward to it), plus my current re-read to get through first.

I know it's a bit hypocritical of me to high-mindedly state I'm reading only books I own already, and then in the next breath admit to a re-read, but it's for Sebastian Barry's Guardian Book Club event tonight (vvv excited about this as The Secret Scripture was one of my absolute favourite books from last year).

#311 Just say the word when you're ready!

...I think you may be ready to join the 2 thread crowd? ;)

I, too, hated 1984 and only read it under parental pressure.

Floss, glad to finally get over here to catch up (and a lot of catching up it was!). Enjoyed your comments on the Mueenuddin collection. I clearly enjoyed the book more than you did, but the differing opinions is what makes life so interesting, yes?

I hated 1984 as well. I thought I was the only one. I truly expected to like it too, as it is a type of book I would normally like. I never finished it, and I always finish books even if I don't really like them. I don't even know what I didn't like about it. I was just bored, I guess.

315makes 1984! I'm not even a huge fan of the novel, but it's really one that has to be completely read to be appreciated.

>307 VioletBramble: Violet, no I didn't see the special, because my bloody bedamned cable system doesn't get BBC America! I have no intention of going to iTunes and paying for their webcasts because, if I have to watch something on my computer, it dratted well better be free.

Why they would refer to Mr. Barrowman's espoused as his boyfriend surpasseth my understanding, unless the special is old and was made before they married...?

And I second the call to start a second thread, miss lady ma'am.

>317 richardderus: Richard, Actually it was John Barrowman himself who referred to him as "my boyfriend". Who knows how old that show was though. It takes forever for things to go from the BBC to BBC-A. They just showed the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas special in November. Their programming can be random at times.

Continuing to confess over here...

Miss lady ma'am at your service. Although nothing new to see over there yet! soon.

I hate 1984. Mandatory reading in school when I was 12. I think it was way too early for that book for me, although I'm sure I'd never like it. Same goes for Animal Farm (read the previous year for school) and another completely depressing book whose title I knew a minute ago but escapes me atm. Why can't kids be required to read something beautiful?

ETA I think it's time for a new thread m'dear.

LOL oops >319 FlossieT: