rabbitprincess paints a portrait of her reading year in 2019

The Scottish Art Category Challenge



The reading room at the Glasgow School of Art, in happier times

This challenge is inspired by a 2008 documentary called "A Portrait of Scotland," presented by Peter Capaldi, that finally flipped the switch for me with regard to art appreciation.

Each of my usual categories will be illustrated by a work of Scottish art. Most of these are portraits featured in the program, but there are some landscapes and still lifes (still lives?) as well.

General fiction – The Blue Hat (J. D. Fergusson)
General non-fiction – Old Willie (James Guthrie)
Historical fiction – Walter Scott (Henry Raeburn)
Historical non-fiction – Mary Queen of Scots (after Nicholas Hilliard)
Mysteries – Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room (Steven Campbell)
SFF – The Mysterious Garden (Margaret Mackintosh)
Graphic novels and other miscellaneous books – Self-portrait (George Jamesone)
Audio – Still Life with White Tulips (Anne Redpath)
Plays – Tilda Swinton (John Byrne)
French – Boats at Royan (Samuel John Peploe)
Rereads – David Hume (Allan Ramsay)
Group reads – Poets' Pub (Sandy Moffat)
Scotland – Twa Plack (Calum Colvin)

ROOT 2019 ticker:




The 2019 Pool:



The BingoDOG:

General fiction – The Blue Hat (J. D. Fergusson)

Fergusson was one of a group known as the Scottish Colourists, who were influenced by the Impressionists and French modernist artists in the early years of the 20th century. In the documentary, Peter sketches this painting and laments that people don't wear fancy hats like this very often these days.

1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman
2. First Term at Malory Towers, by Enid Blyton

General non-fiction – Old Willie (James Guthrie)

This unflinching, realistic portrait of Old Willie, the village worthy, is characteristic of James Guthrie's work. Guthrie was part of a group known as the Glasgow Boys, who sought to paint realistic, unsentimental portraits of Scotland. They were opposing the overly sentimentalized "chocolate-box" paintings by artists such as Thomas Faed.

1. Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer, by Barbara Ehrenreich
2. The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul, by Eleanor Herman
3. With the End in Mind: Death, Dying and Wisdom in an Age of Denial, by Kathryn Mannix
4. Race to Hawaii: The 1927 Dole Air Derby and the Thrilling First Flights That Opened the Pacific, by Jason Ryan
5. The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London, by Christopher Skaife
6. Sympathy for the Traitor: A Translation Manifesto, by Mark Polizzotti

Historical fiction – Sir Walter Scott (Henry Raeburn)

Raeburn had an energetic painting style: he worked without preparatory drawings and would run back and forth across his studio, studying his subject intently and then working from memory to slap down the highlights on the canvas.

1. The King's Agent, by J. Kent Clark
2. The Clansman, by Nigel Tranter
3. The Harper's Quine, by Pat McIntosh (Overdrive)

Historical non-fiction – Mary, Queen of Scots (after Nicholas Hilliard)

This portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots, is one of several paintings sketched by Peter over the course of the documentary. I read a lot about her in 2018 so thought she would be a good choice for my 2019 history category.

1. The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors, by Dan Jones
2. The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine, by Thomas Morris
3. Erebus: One Ship, Two Epic Voyages, and the Greatest Naval Mystery of All Time, by Michael Palin

Mysteries – Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room (Steven Campbell)

Campbell, one of the New Glasgow Boys, was known for his surreal dreamscapes. This one feels a bit David Lynch-ian to me, probably because of the tallest man in the painting.

1. The Chinaman, by Friedrich Glauser (translated by Mike Mitchell)
2. A Pint of Murder, by Alisa Craig
3. Blackout, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Quentin Bates)
4. Rupture, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Quentin Bates)
5. The Golden Tresses of the Dead, by Alan Bradley
6. The Darkness, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Victoria Cribb)
7. Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here!, by Ed McBain

SFF – The Mysterious Garden (Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh)

Mackintosh, the wife of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, was an artist in her own right. She worked primarily in crafts (needlework, metalwork, and gesso panels), but also designed graphics, illustrated books, and produced decorative panels for interiors and furniture—including at the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow.

1. Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion, by Jenny T. Colgan
2. Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters, Volume 2 (Big Finish audio drama)
3. Doctor Who: Rose, by Russell T. Davies
4. Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor, by Steven Moffat
5. Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos, by Terrance Dicks
6. Doctor Who: The Many Hands, by Dale Smith
7. Doctor Who: The Way Through the Woods, by Una McCormack
8. Doctor Who: Wishing Well, by Trevor Baxendale

Graphic novels and other miscellaneous books – Self-portrait (George Jamesone)

Jamesone was the first Scottish artist to make a success of portrait painting in Scotland. This painting is said to be a kind of self-promotion, showcasing the kind of work he could do: portraits, seascapes, landscapes, mythological scenes, and so on. On our most recent trip to Scotland (in 2018), we went by his house on the Royal Mile! It's right next door to John Knox's house.

1. How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men's Feelings, by Sarah Cooper

Audio – Still Life with White Tulips (Anne Redpath)

Redpath was influenced by artists such as Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Matisse, and specialized in landscapes, church interiors, and still lifes. This one is my favourite, not least because of the Penguin-style books on the table.

1. Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters, Volume 2 (Big Finish audio drama)
2.
3.

Possibilities:
Vengeance of the Stones, by Andrew Smith (Destiny of the Doctor #3)
Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome (read by Hugh Laurie)
Time Lord Fairy Tales, by various authors (read by various actors)

Plays – Tilda Swinton (John Byrne)

John Byrne is an artist and playwright, hence his painting being chosen for the Plays category. In the documentary, Byrne talks about portraits capturing not just a physical likeness of the person, but the spark of who that person is. And in this case he definitely succeeds: Tilda is instantly recognizable. The drawing was done in 20 minutes!

1. Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare
2.
3.

Possibilities:
Dark Road, by Ian Rankin
Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare

French – Boats at Royan (S. J. Peploe)

Peploe was a fellow Scottish Colourist along with J. D. Fergusson, and you can really see the influence of Impressionist techniques in this painting. He was introduced to the use of bold colour on holidays in northern France, including one in 1910 in which he painted Boats at Royan.

1.
2.

Possibiities:
Au péril de la mer, by Dominique Fortier
Mourir sur Seine, by Michel Bussi

Rereads – David Hume (Allan Ramsay)

Ramsay was appointed the King's Painter by George III, whose Ramsay-painted portrait features on the cover of Revolution, by Peter Ackroyd. Ramsay's attention to detail, particularly of fabric and lacework, is exquisite (see his portrait of his second wife, Margaret Lindsay). This portrait of David Hume, a buddy of his from the Select Society, is one of my favourites of his.

1. McNally's Caper, by Lawrence Sanders
2. Cold Midnight in Vieux Québec, by Eric Wilson
3.
4.
5.
6.

Possibilities:
A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt

Group reads – Poets' Pub (Sandy Moffat)

Alexander "Sandy" Moffat is part of a group of 20th-century Scottish artists known as the Scottish Realists. He taught at Glasgow School of Art when Peter was studying there. This painting by Moffat is an imagining of a gathering of Scottish poets and writers.

CalendarCAT
January - Dark Road, by Ian Rankin (Burns Night 25 January)
February - Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding (published 28 February 1749)
✔ March - Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare (beware the Ides of March)
April - Ships in the Bay!, by D.K. Broster (National Maritime Day 5 April)
May - The Custodian of Paradise, by Wayne Johnston (Wayne Johnston's birthday is 22 May)
June - Au péril de la mer, by Dominique Fortier (reading a Quebec author in honour of St-Jean-Baptiste Day 24 June)
July - Vengeance of the Stones, by Andrew Smith (a Third Doctor story in honour of Jon Pertwee's centenary on 7 July)
August - The Mayor of Côte St. Paul, by Ronald J. Cooke (a Montreal-set book for the Quebec construction holiday at the end of July / beginning of August)
September - The Wallace, by Nigel Tranter (the Battle of Stirling Bridge took place on 11 September)
October - Time Lord Fairy Tales, by various authors (for that spooky Halloween spirit)
November - Cheer Up Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate, by Susan Calman (Susan Calman's birthday is 7 November)
December - The Aviator, by Ernest K. Gann (International Civil Aviation Day is 7 December)

RandomCAT
✔ January (Your name in print) McNally's Caper, by Lawrence Sanders
February (Let's take a break) Across the Plains, by Robert Louis Stevenson
March (Brexit madness -- a book set in the EU) Mourir sur Seine, by Michel Bussi
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

SeriesCAT
January: A series in translation: The Locked Room, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
✔ February: YA/children's series: First Term at Malory Towers, by Enid Blyton
March: A series by a favourite author: The Twenty-Three, by Linwood Barclay
✔ April: A series you've been meaning to get back to: Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here, by Ed McBain
✔ May: The newest book in a favourite series: The Golden Tresses of the Dead, by Alan Bradley
June: A series that is definitely complete: Lone Wolf, by Linwood Barclay
July: Genre: fantasy: Lies Sleeping, by Ben Aaronovitch
August: A series set in a country/region where you do not live: Gideon's Power, by J.J. Marric
September: Genre: mystery: Maigret Stonewalled, by Georges Simenon
October: A historical series: Pawn in Frankincense, by Dorothy Dunnett
November: A series with a female protagonist: A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
✔ December: A series that's new to you: A Pint of Murder, by Alisa Craig

TBRCAT
January: First in, last out - read one of the oldest members of your tbr - Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome (one of my oldest audios!)
✔ February: A book you borrowed to read and still haven't got to - The Wars of the Roses, by Dan Jones (borrowed from library, didn't get to read, now parents have it)
✔ March: Book acquired on/for trips or for a special occasion - The Clansman (bought on my Ireland trip in 2014)
April: Book originally acquired for an LT group read or challenge - A Place of Greater Safety, by Hilary Mantel
May: Book that I keep looking at, but never manage to open - The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk
June: Book bullet - Cheer Up Love, by Susan Calman (Jackie_K)
July: Book by an author with more than one book on your TBR shelf - Scotchman’s Return, by Hugh MacLennan
August: Book purchased with great excitement and with plans to read right away that is somehow still on my tbr a year later - Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters (this is really just representing ALL my Doctor Who novels)
September: Classics I feel I should read - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
October: Book purchased because of its visual appeal (striking cover or colors, beautiful edition, etc.) - Hungry Hill, by Daphne du Maurier
November: Book given to me as a gift - The Custodian of Paradise, by Wayne Johnston
December: A book I bought because it was so cheap (library sale, remainder table, etc) - Invasion of the Cat-People

Scotland – Twa Plack (Calum Colvin)

It wouldn't be a Scottish art category challenge without a category for my Scotland reading! I really like Calum Colvin's portraiture; it's a combination of painting, sculpture, and photography. This picture, "Twa Plack", was based on a stamp that Colvin found in a collection of Burns ephemera.

1. All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew
2. The Clansman, by Nigel Tranter
3. The Harper's Quine, by Pat McIntosh
4. Doctor Who: The Many Hands, by Dale Smith
5. The Strings of Murder, by Oscar de Muriel

Possibilities:
The Clansman, by Nigel Tranter (Rob Roy MacGregor #2)
Pawn in Frankincense, by Dorothy Dunnett (Lymond #4)
The Wallace, by Nigel Tranter
The Way of All Flesh, by Ambrose Parry (Raven and Fisher #1)
Cheer Up Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate, by Susan Calman

You've chosen an interesting subject for your 2019 Category Challenge. I love "The Blue Hat". I'm looking forward to following along.

I love the Margaret MacDonald picture - it's so beautiful. And as for that portrait of Tilda Swinton - wow!

I must see if I can get hold of that documentary, it sounds great!

Beautiful set-up for your 2019 thread! I love the Tilda Swinton portrait as well.

>13 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy! I love that painting too. I would totally wear a hat like that!

>14 Jackie_K: I saw the original of Tilda at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and it is even more impressive in person. I found the documentary on DailyMotion...although you might be able to find it on YouTube as well. And if you can't find it, let me know...

>15 LisaMorr: Thanks, Lisa! I bought a postcard of the Tilda portrait in the gift shop, along with ones of the Mary Queen of Scots and the Poets' Pub paintings shown above...and a few others. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is my favourite art gallery :)

Such creative and great categories!

Dropping my star. I'm impressed with your theme!

>17 Tess_W: Thanks, Tess! The categories themselves are my usual stalwarts, but this particular theme is certainly a departure for me :) Finally, I've figured out the kind of art I like ;)

>18 thornton37814: Hurray! It was a new idea this year and muscled its way to the front of the queue of prospective challenge themes.

Gorgeous pictures!

>20 MissWatson: Yes, they're all so lovely in their own way!

Love the pictures you've chosen.
Looking forward to another year of great reading.

>22 Helenliz: Thanks, Helen! I can't believe we're already thinking about 2019! ;)

Star dropped! I'm going to try to keep up with threads more next year than I did this year, which was not at all.

What beautiful pictures -- I'm especially digging the Scottish Colourists!

>24 sturlington: Great to see you! :)

>25 christina_reads: They are gorgeous, aren't they? :)

Terrific categories! I'm looking forward to following your reading, as always. I hope you read lots of Scottish books.

>27 VivienneR: Thanks, Vivienne! I hope so too :)

Yay for Scottish arts. Love the categories and the art work. You have also reminded me that I have not yet gotten around to reading Mr. Mac and Me.

>29 VioletBramble: Hm, maybe I'll re-read that next year!

I really love how you are basing your reads around paintings. What an amazing idea!

>31 seascape: Thanks! Normally I'm using actors' filmographies as the basis of my challenge, so this is an interesting change.

Loved browsing your "museum" and seeing quite a few new to me artists. Good luck with your challenge!

Such a cool idea. I'm just no good at these themes. *sigh*

But I have to ask, if that's OK, for an explanation to the caption in >1 rabbitprincess: "in happier times"??

>33 LittleTaiko: Thanks! Many of these paintings are in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which I recommend highly. The National Galleries are good too, but you really have to time it right to avoid the hordes of tourists :-/

>34 kac522: The Glasgow School of Art suffered two fires in the past four years. The first happened in 2014, and the second happened earlier in 2018. The real kick in the teeth with the second fire is that they were almost finished restoring the building after the damage caused by the first fire :(

>35 rabbitprincess: Oh, dear! That is terrible! Did they lose any important works in either fire?

>36 kac522: the building itself is the important work of art, with the building and fittings designed by Charles Rennie Macintosh.

>36 kac522: As Helenliz says, it's the building itself that is the work of art. This second fire was even more devastating than the first one in 2014 (and that was horrific enough). This time round I think that large parts of the building would have to be demolished and rebuilt (they are still doing the assessment, but I think large parts of it are likely now extremely unsafe).

I was lucky enough to go on a tour of the School of Art a few years before 2014 so can say "I was there". They were very strict about no photos though, so I only have memories. It really was the most extraordinary building, and the reading room pictured in >1 rabbitprincess: was stunning.

>36 kac522: >37 Helenliz: >38 Jackie_K: With the first fire, I think the end-of-year degree show was on display there, so those artworks would likely have been lost in that fire, as well as the work of art that is the building. I wonder if the second one was more devastating because the building was emptier and therefore there was more oxygen to fuel the fire.

Great categories! Looking forward to seeing what you read.

>40 The_Hibernator: Thanks! Already itching to start building up the 2019 pool of prospective reads!

Starred! Such an interesting theme this year, and I wish you happy reading for 2019. Btw, many of the pics aren't coming up, at least for me.

>42 mstrust: Weird! They're fine for me. I'll go back and make the images hyperlinks so you can click on them and go to the page directly.

Yeah, they work fine on my phone but not on the desktop. But don't worry about it at all, it seems to be just me.

>44 mstrust: Very odd. I did end up making them hyperlinks, so anyone can click on through to the images :)

Very interesting categories! I loved your artwork selections--this took some thought on your part, mine is not nearly so creative! (Mine resulted from a conversation with my husband, whose book tastes are different from mine. So he challenged me a little to read the nonfiction selections, especially the history.)

>46 LadyoftheLodge: The structure of my challenge stays the same from year to year; the window dressing just changes ;) Thank you! It was fun to pick out the paintings for this one.

>47 rabbitprincess: That's how I do mine too. Same categories, different pretty pictures :)

>48 Jackie_K: That's usually my biggest challenge, contorting a theme to fit my standard categories! I was really impressed with myself for pulling off the Doctor Who Series 10 theme for 2018 ;)

What a fabulous theme (and I learned an awful lot about Scottish art in the process)!

>50 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori! :)

Now that all the CATs are pretty much up, I've settled on my 2019 Pool (now viewable in >1 rabbitprincess:).

Oh I love your theme, it works beautifully with your categories. I was sneaking a look at your Scotland category and see you are reading Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles which I finished a couple of years ago. Such big stories in each book.

Really creative category choices, rabbitprincess. I'll look forward to your updates. Overall, I have been enjoying checking out everyone's themes for the 2019 challenge.

>53 avatiakh: Thanks! I am pretty chuffed with how the theme turned out. I can only read one Lymond a year because they're so meaty!

>54 This-n-That: Thanks! Glad that you're having fun visiting other people's threads. This is a very creative group :)

Thanks for the history lesson. The paintings were very interesting.

>56 mnleona: Yes, the documentary featured a lot of great paintings!

What a beautiful thread! I wish you happy reading for 2019! :)

>58 Chrischi_HH: Thanks, Chrischi, and to you as well! I can't believe 2019 is so close!

>60 mstrust: Merry Christmas to you and Mike! I love that retro vibe!

Happy New Year!

Have a Happy New Year, princess!

>62 The_Hibernator: >63 mstrust: >64 thornton37814: >65 Tess_W: Thank you all for the New Year's wishes! Our new year will be nowhere near as big a deal as Hogmanay is in Scotland. Eating snacks and watching movies is more our speed. I think we'll be watching Howl's Moving Castle and The Great Mouse Detective.

>66 rabbitprincess: Happy New Year!
A friend and I watch Howl's Moving Castle every Christmas as it is replayed here on TV every Christmas time.
Enjoy!

>67 JayneCM: Thanks, and happy new year! I'm looking forward to it -- this will be my first time seeing Howl's Moving Castle.

Wishing you and yours a happy and joyous 2019, filled with peace, love, and great books.

Happy reading in 2019!

>69 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks, and happy new year to you as well!

>70 lavaturtle: Thanks! Hope you have a great reading year!

****

We rang in the new year last night by watching Howl's Moving Castle and The Great Mouse Detective. We watch movies every year and I like to have a bit of a theme. This year the theme ended up being animated movies.

It was my first time seeing Howl's Moving Castle and now I've requested the novel by Diana Wynne Jones to see how different the movie was. I enjoyed the movie and we got a giggle out of Christian Bale doing the voice of Howl -- basically repeating some of his lines in the Batman voice.

And The Great Mouse Detective is one of my favourite Disney movies -- a Holmes pastiche AND Vincent Price in what he has said was his favourite role, as Professor Ratigan! The Great Mouse Detective is based on a series of books by Eve Titus called Basil of Baker Street. I read the first one a while ago and thought it was OK, but wouldn't read the others.

Today I will probably do a bit of tidying up with an audiobook for company: Classic Doctors, New Monsters, Volume 2. Doctor Who makes cleaning a breeze!

Happy new year to you! Our movie theme was silly action movies. We watched Kong Skull Island and Jumanji. Both were entertaining but I'm getting too old to stay up so late.

Happy new year! We watched a few episodes of Big Bang Theory, and then the annual Jools Holland Hootenanny (which is recorded, not live, but still a bit of a NYE institution in the UK). I must admit to going to bed at 5 past 12 though!

Happy New year!
You all made it further than us. I was in bed by about 10 pm! We did wake up at midnight, when the fireworks went off, but we're trying to get into training for tomorrow morning's 05:30 alarm clock - that's going to hurt...

Happy New Year! I'm going to have to rethink my policy of waiting until 2019 to dive into the 2019 threads!

I love, love, love your art theme and I look forward to following your reading again this year.

>72 sturlington: I hear you on the staying up late! My BF works nights, so it was really easy for him to stay up last night. I went to bed shortly after midnight and got up around 9:30.

>73 Jackie_K: Sounds like a good New Year's Eve!

>74 Helenliz: Somebody was setting off fireworks near us, but we couldn't tell where exactly they were coming from. Given the timing, we think it might have been the family fireworks event that is hosted at a municipal venue south of us. They do the fireworks at 10 and then everyone can go to bed ;)

>75 RidgewayGirl: Happy new year! Looking forward to following your reading again as well! :)

We watched a little video then Jim went to sleep while I finished a last 2018 book. Someone in the neighborhood did set off a few fireworks about ten. That's a pretty typical New Years for us.

Love the way your rang in the New Year!

Happy new year! Fireworks around here started about 11pm and were popping all over the place. But we were making so much noise I didn't hear any going off at midnight!

>55 rabbitprincess: That's how I read Lymond, took me about 8 years to get through them. I've lined up her King Hereafter for this year, though I've done that before and not got to it.

My daughter and I now want to watch The Great Mouse Detective, one that has slipped our notice.

>77 hailelib: That sounds like a good New Year's to me!

>78 lkernagh: Thanks! It was definitely our speed. And with the freezing rain that was in the forecast yesterday, we wouldn't have wanted to go out anyway.

>79 VivienneR: Ha! At least you heard some of the fireworks :)

>80 avatiakh: I think I'll read King Hereafter after the Lymonds, then start on the Niccolòs. I hope you like The Great Mouse Detective!

2019 is off to a good start on the reading front.

The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors, by Dan Jones
Category: Mary, Queen of Scots; Poets’ Pub (February TBRCAT)
Source: borrowed from parents
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163530524

Dan Jones continues to be "scholarly, informative and entertaining" with this look at the turmoil in the 15th century that saw the English crown change hands seven times and a couple of monarchs take it twice. Especially recommended if, like me, most of your knowledge of Henry VI and Richard III comes from Shakespeare. (Although now I want to read Richard III and watch The Hollow Crown again...)

Excellent start to the year!

>84 Tess_W: definitely a BB for me! I have studied and taught the Tudor's (beginning at Henry VIII), the Stuarts, Windsor, and the Hanovers, but really don't know much before Henry VIII. This will certainly fill in a gap for me!

>82 rabbitprincess:

Another addition to a too long wishlist!

>82 rabbitprincess: I love all English history, well all history really! Just checked and this book is on shelf at my library, yay! I also found one called Blood Sisters: The Hidden Lives of the Women Behind the Wars of the Roses by Sarah Gristwood.

I can just see the book recommendations on my first category challenge becoming a huge TBR pile very quickly!

>83 Jackie_K: Yes, I was glad to start the year with something reliable! :)

>84 Tess_W: I found it filled this gap quite well. There's always more to read of course, but Dan Jones is a good starting point.

>85 hailelib: A long wishlist just means lots of choices to suit every reading mood ;)

>86 JayneCM: I started reading Blood Sisters from the library but borrowed it at the wrong time, because I didn't get a chance to finish it. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on it!

Ahhhh the first weekend of the year! I don't know why I feel so desperately in need of a break, despite just having had Christmas. Maybe it's because our January is rather busy at work. Lots of plans locked in and that makes me antsy. I like having things to look forward to but not having my every move set in stone.

Anyway, I finished two books this week:

The King’s Agent, by J. Kent Clark
Category: Walter Scott
Source: pilfered from EVM
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/92649001

This historical novel is set at the time of James II/VII (at least in flashback) and has an interesting structure. I'd recommend it if you can get a hold of it.

Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer, by Barbara Ehrenreich
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163381967

Parts of this worked better than others, and the last bit (about the philosophy of the self) didn't really jive with the cover image of the Grim Reaper on a treadmill. A library borrow at best.

Wow, you are already making a dent in your tbr pile! :-) I was considering reading Natural Causes but now think I'll skip it since I previously read (and liked) Being Mortal. Thanks for the thoughtful review!

>89 This-n-That: Thanks! And yes, I think Being Mortal is the benchmark for me when it comes to this sort of book. I'm about to start With the End in Mind and will see how it compares.

No TV theme this year? :'-( But truly, the art is gorgeous, and varied, and lovely. I'm looking forward to hearing about what you read this year!

>91 pammab: This is still kind of a TV theme, given that it was inspired by a documentary ;) Thanks for stopping by! I'm glad you like the art too :)

As a Sunday-afternoon treat I watched the Doctor Who episode "The Christmas Invasion" before reading Jenny T. Colgan's novelization.

Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion, by Jenny T. Colgan
Category: The Mysterious Garden
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163668521

This is a great novelization -- Colgan devoured the old Target Books in her childhood, and it shows in her work with this story.

On a side note, I laughed at how much technology has changed between 2005 and 2019: Mickey asks if he can plug his laptop into Jackie's phone line (dial-up internet in Central London!), and the laptop itself has only 512 MB of RAM!

I read Natural Causes at the end of last year and was in two minds about it. Parts of the book read as though it was written in an afternoon. But, even though the author waffled on far too much about macrophages and the structure of the book was a mess, her idea that it's not worth making ourselves miserable trying to prevent illness has stayed with me so I think it was worth reading. It's not in the same class as Being Mortal, though.

>94 pamelad: Yes, that idea resonated with me as well. I'm obviously going to not eat fast food all day every day, and I'm going to make an effort to engage in physical activity, but I'm not going to count calories or torture myself to stay well. (I'm more likely to focus on getting enough sleep!)
I actually found the macrophage stuff interesting on a science level, although it did seem a bit out of place in this book -- it would have made a good long essay in a collection of science writing, perhaps.

Being Mortal was excellent, and I'm finding With the End in Mind, by Kathryn Mannix, to be similarly excellent.

I'm finally getting around to visiting the 2019 threads and I must say that yours is one of the most educational. I enjoyed learning about the Scottish artists that you featured!

>96 mathgirl40: Thanks! I enjoyed putting this thread together. Something different :)

****

I've been reading up a storm this week, partly because I'm going to Toronto for a long weekend and had to clear some library books off the shelves. Never mind that I went downtown yesterday and borrowed even MORE books from the main library...

2019 has been pretty kind to me so far on the reading front *knocks on wood*. Lots of really good reading.

The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul, by Eleanor Herman
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163417113

This is the second of three books I have in my general non-fiction category, and all of them relate to medicine or health in some way. Weird. This was really good -- delightfully disgusting. People who've read books like Fashion Victims or The Arsenic Century, books about European royalty, or the history of health, may find this interesting.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman
Category: The Blue Hat
Source: Chaptigo
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/159554752

I saw so many quotes from this book floating around and decided Eleanor and I had to meet. We did, and I love her to bits. This was a wonderful book.

>97 rabbitprincess: Oh my, two BB's in one post. Thanks, RP! ;)

>97 rabbitprincess: Eleanor Oliphant is fabulous. I read it last year for my book club and have it down to read again this year.

>98 Tess_W: Haha thanks! I hope they live up to the hype ;)

>99 JayneCM: I'll probably have to re-read it sometime too! For now, though, my mum is going to borrow it :)

****

Tying up loose ends before heading down to Toronto. Kicked off my long weekend by sleeping in until 8, woo hoo!

All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew
Category: Twa Plack
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163668580

I saw the author read at Bloody Scotland and immediately requested this book when our library ordered it. I really liked it -- I think it's her first crime novel.

With the End in Mind: Death, Dying and Wisdom in an Age of Denial, by Kathryn Mannix
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163668623

I'm going to have to buy a copy of this for myself. So, so good.

>100 rabbitprincess: - Definite book bullet for With the End in Mind.

>100 rabbitprincess: Yes, a BB for me too!

>97 rabbitprincess: BB! You got me with both of those, especially The Royal Art of Poison. I have a keen interest in the way cosmetics used to be made.

>101 LittleTaiko: >102 Jackie_K: I hope you both like it, if like is the right word for this sort of book. I especially liked that the author drew on her CBT skills to help her patients.

>103 mstrust: I also found the bits about royal paranoia re poison to be quite interesting!

I've been slowly making my way around to threads. I love your theme and set up. Those paintings are excellent. That documentary sounds really intersesting. I would love to see all of those sketches from Peter you mentioned. It looks like you are off to a great start to the year with your reading. I think I've just added almost every book you've read so far to my wish list!

>97 rabbitprincess: - >100 rabbitprincess: - So I think I'll be taking 3 out of 4 book bullets from these. I'm particularly interested in With the End in Mind. A few years ago I was reading Stiff while I was waiting in the exam room at the doctor's office. We had a bit of a discussion about it when he came in - me wearing my little paper exam robe. Only All the Hidden Truths didn't make the list - not my cuppa.

>105 staci426: Thanks for stopping by! You can find the documentary on DailyMotion here, in two parts:
Part 1: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ahesj
Part 2: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2aho9j

And yes, I've had a great reading year so far!

>106 dudes22: Oh good, if any BBs are to be taken, I definitely want it to be With the End in Mind. It's such an important subject. My BF and I ended up having a conversation about it when I finished the book.

Major bus accident in Ottawa this afternoon: a double-decker bus collided with a Transitway station shelter. Three people are dead, and 20+ are injured. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/bus-crash-westboro-station-ottawa-1.497538...

Providentially, I am out of town this weekend visiting my parents. My BF is in Ottawa but he is fine. He was home at the time of the crash.

This is bringing back memories of the other bus crash, in which a bus collided with a VIA train. Same model of bus, same sort of damage, except on the right side of the bus instead of the left. I can't imagine what the people involved in either of those accidents must be thinking or going through right now.

Getting the audio reading off to a good start for 2019. Big Finish is always reliable.

Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters, Volume 2 (Big Finish audio drama)
Category: Still Life with White Tulips, The Mysterious Garden
Source: Big Finish
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/144171342

The only drawback to this set is that two stories deal with the same monster, so I was less interested in the second of those two stories. But the set as a whole was well put together as always; the team at Big Finish do their work with care and enthusiasm.

Part of my visit home to my parents has included a trip to the used bookstore, so I have a few acquisitions to report.

Rear Window and Other Stories, by Cornell Woolrich (mathgirl40, it looks similar to your copy of I Married a Dead Man)
Delta and the Bannermen, by Malcolm Kohll (a Seventh Doctor novel)
The Deviant Strain, by Justin Richards (a Ninth Doctor novel)
Medicine Walk, by Richard Wagamese (this was on the list of possibilities for my MIL's book club)
Undermajordomo Minor, by Patrick deWitt (a hardcover, but both Mum and I will read it, so it was worth the price tag)

Also, a story. My mum has been collecting the travelogues of H.V. Morton, and last year she was reading In Search of Scotland to set the mood for our then-upcoming trip to Scotland. Unfortunately, she left the book on the subway and couldn't find it again. Today in the bookstore, I happened to be in the travel section and happened to look over... there, on the shelf, was a gorgeous 1973-published hardcover edition of In Search of Scotland. So of course I had to buy that too! My mum was ecstatic. Made my day :D

Lovely illustrations for your categories. Looking forward to seeing the books that fit in 2019.

>110 rabbitprincess: Secondhand bookshops are my happy place!

Has your mum been following the HV Morton blog? One of the members set off in September to follow the book aroud Scotland. I am a real fan of travelogues, in particular the older British ones.

>111 Robertgreaves: Thanks, Robert!

>112 JayneCM: I don't know if she knows about this! I'll have to let her know. Thanks for the heads-up!

It was fate that you should own In Search of Scotland! Good for you!
>108 rabbitprincess: What a horrible accident.

>114 mstrust: I know right? I looked in exactly the right spot at the right time.

It is indeed horrible. Those buses are basically tin cans. No crashworthiness protection whatsoever, it seems.

>97 rabbitprincess: - Eleanor is a wonderful character! I loved that story when I read it last year. ;-)

Seeing the news about that bus crash was horrifying. Those buses are basically tin cans. No crashworthiness protection whatsoever, it seems. We have some of those double decker buses here in Victoria. All I could think of as I watched the news is how I always see small kids racing for upstairs seat for the view.

>116 lkernagh: I loaned the book to my mum when I was home this weekend, and she read it in a day! Obviously a winner around here :)

Here, the appeal of the double-deckers is that they can accommodate more passengers in a smaller footprint than the articulated buses that are in use on a large portion of the network. They're often used for express buses to the suburbs for that reason -- and in both the 2013 crash and this one, they were express buses, so a lot of people on board. Fortunately, I don't use an express bus to get to work, so I'm not taking double-deckers very often.

Great theme. :) I don't know Steven Campbell but I think I should get to know him - love that painting. The Tilda is pretty amazing as well.

>97 rabbitprincess: I don't know why I keep resisting Eleanor Oliphant! I haven't heard a single negative review from anyone I know who's read it. I even asked for and received it for Christmas since I knew I wouldn't buy it myself.

>118 madhatter22: I do find myself resisting books that attain a certain level of popularity, but I think I'm going to have to give in on this one especially after the rave reviews from my sister when I saw her at New Year.

>118 madhatter22: >119 Robertgreaves: I think I am lucky I read it when it first came out so had no preconceived ideas. I just loved it because of Eleanor. And I liked the construction of the novel, how every few pages you received another little snippet to piece together the puzzle of Eleanor's life. It is worth reading!

>119 Robertgreaves: >120 JayneCM: That 'certain level of popularity' probably is a part of it. Working in a bookstore, there are definitely things I just get tired of looking at. (Not) looking at you, All the Light We Cannot See!
I may also be unfairly conflating it with Where'd You Go Bernadette because of the titles and covers. I really didn't like Bernadette. But I'm being swayed! Maybe I can fit it in next month. :)

>118 madhatter22: Steven Campbell is certainly an interesting painter! And yes, isn't that Tilda great? He totally captured her essence.

>119 Robertgreaves: Me too! I was a bit worried about it, but after seeing all those quotes on Litsy, I had to give it a go.

>120 JayneCM: It was constructed so well!

>121 madhatter22: I get that! And the more it's pushed as the thing you should read, the less you want to read it!

****

Still working my way through the stack of Doctor Who novels I got out of the library...

Doctor Who: Rose, by Russell T. Davies
Category: The Mysterious Garden
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163693893

I'd forgotten about the great joke involving "Plastic!" This was fun because it conjures up the episode so well. Russell T. Davies should do more novelizations.

>121 madhatter22: >122 rabbitprincess: describing anything in advertising as a "must read" or "must have" is a sure fire way of turning me off.

After taking a BB above for With the End in Mind, I was looking through my BB list and realized that I took a BB a couple of years ago for From Here To Eternity from you which looks like it's a similar topic. I need to read some of my BBs I guess.

It's January and I already have to catch up on threads! I'm glad you liked Eleanor Oliphant, rp. I thought the author did an extraordinary job of treading a fine line between twee and misery and she managed it brilliantly.

I read my first novel by Wagamese last year and loved it. I plan to read more. I'll be interested in hearing what you think of Medicine Walk.

>125 RidgewayGirl: I love this site! Learn new words often: twee!

>126 Tess_W: I think it is a British word - we use it in Australia. Well, I do anyway! And it just has such a great ring to it when you say 'twee' out loud!

Wow, you're really getting to those Doctor Who novels. You know, I've only read one Doctor Who novel, despite being a big fan.

>122 rabbitprincess: I'm curious, have you ever seen the show "Community"? One of the characters is obsessed with a show called "Inspector Spacetime," which is clearly a stand-in for "Doctor Who." Makes me think of you every time! :)

>125 RidgewayGirl: The twee title put me off this book.

Because there are so many books to read, I use some arbitrary rules for filtering them. No twee titles is number 1, and no authors with 3 names is the second. I might miss a few good books, but on the whole the filters are working well. I broke the twee rule for that hedgehog book. Mistake. Rule #3 No crime-solving animals. (They're also twee.)

>130 pamelad: That's wonderful. I suspect we all have a bunch of arbitrary rules just to avoid being piled under our books. I'll avoid any title based on a pun or wordplay, but I did read and love Ella Minnow Pea, so clearly I don't follow my own rules.

>129 christina_reads: Oh, how I love Community. And how they even got Matt Lucas at the "Inspector Spacetime" convention.

>132 mstrust: I'm bingeing "Community" for the first time now...just started season 5. I'm addicted at this point!

>123 Robertgreaves: For sure. Or at least it puts the book further down the list. If I’m interested a few years later, then I'll take a chance on it.

>124 dudes22: Yes, those books would go together nicely!

>125 RidgewayGirl: I was really looking for Indian Horse, but Medicine Walk should be good too.

>126 Tess_W: >127 JayneCM: It is a wonderful word!

>128 The_Hibernator: They do have a different feel from the TV series. There are even a few about the Thirteenth Doctor, which I thought was awfully fast. And yes, Doctor Who novels make a nice binge for me :)

>129 christina_reads: >132 mstrust: >133 christina_reads: No, I haven’t seen Community, but that does sound amusing. Are there any particular episodes that highlight Inspector Spacetime to best effect? I’m not sure I’m up to watching a whole TV series :P

>130 pamelad: >131 RidgewayGirl: I do enjoy a good punny title, but if that title is attached to a cozy mystery, I’m probably not going to read it, because the book is merely a pun conveyance. Also, I can’t suspend my disbelief anymore for those kinds of mysteries.

A positive arbitrary rule I have is “Request ALL British Library Crime Classics and Doctor Who novels the library orders, even if you already own them”. I want to encourage the library to buy more :D

****

Had a lovely afternoon outing with paruline! We had chocolate drinks (hot chocolate for her, a dark chocolate milkshake for me) and roasted marshmallows at Cacao 70. It was really cool: they gave us a little “grill” on which we could actually roast the marshmallows, as though we were camping! It also came with toffee bananas, peanut butter sauce, dipping chocolate, and whipped cream. Even for two of us, it was a lot.

Then we went to Chapters! paruline bought Desert Solitaire, by Edward Abbey. After not being able to find a copy of With the End in Mind, I bought my own copy of Brace for Impact, by Peter Pigott (I’d read it from the library and liked it) as well as Seven Fallen Feathers, by Tanya Talaga.

>134 rabbitprincess: Oh my, that sounds delicious! What a treat!
And I am glad to hear I am not the only person who buys books they have already borrowed from the library. Hubby always says, didn't I just see you reading that? Obviously he does not understand that the library is used as a vetting service! Then I will know whether I want to buy it or not.

>134 rabbitprincess: Re: Community. Season 4 had an episode called "Conventions in Space and Time", and this is the one that Matt Lucas guested in. It takes place at a con, so lots of info about this fantasy show one of the characters is obsessed with. I was going to just link to the episode for you but couldn't find it on Youtube.

>134 rabbitprincess: The episode that features "Inspector Spacetime" most prominently is 403, "Conventions of Space and Time," which is set at a fan convention. I feel like it's not a strong episode of "Community," but it does have a lot of fun stuff for "Doctor Who" fans!

>135 JayneCM: I don't know how many books I have on my "look for when at a booksale" list that I initially read in library book form.

>135 JayneCM: It was indeed delicious! And yes, libraries are an excellent vetting service, especially for series. Try the series before you buy.

>136 mstrust: >137 christina_reads: Well then, I'll definitely have to track down that one! Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be on Netflix... one of my friends has to have a copy of the show somewhere.

>138 RidgewayGirl: My "look for when at a book sale" list often includes books that I know *aren't* at the library but are sufficiently obscure that I'm willing to pay some secondhand rates for them.

The Clansman, by Nigel Tranter
Category: Twa Plack, Poets' Pub (March TBRCAT)
Source: bought on Ireland trip 2014
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/109001343

This is the second book in the Rob Roy MacGregor trilogy and is set at the time of the first Jacobite rebellion, in 1715. It has the same brisk pace and smooth writing style of the first book, but it has some more potentially upsetting subject matter.

Race to Hawaii: The 1927 Dole Air Derby and the Thrilling First Flights That Opened the Pacific, by Jason Ryan
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163668549

This was an interesting book, but I ended up having to return it to the library unfinished. It's divided into three very long chapters and I found that tough going.

And I read a Doctor Who novel in a couple of hours as a Saturday-morning treat for myself!

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor, by Steven Moffat
Category: The Mysterious Garden
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163693849

I thoroughly enjoyed Moffat's novelization of this episode. Very interestingly structured (I can practically hear him chuckling as he put the story together) and of course it brings back lots of fun memories from the episode. I borrowed this from the library but will have to get my own copy.

>134 rabbitprincess: - Always wonderful to read news of a meet up! Jealous that you met up at Cacao 70. We have a Cacao 70 location coming to downtown Victoria but there seems to be a delay in their opening. ;-(

>142 lkernagh: Uh oh, I hope they open soon! When they do, you'll have to let us know how it is ;)

>139 rabbitprincess: Oh, dear. Two of us, one right after the other, telling you about the "Community" episode. I hope you weren't picturing a fist being shaken at you with "You better..." Lol!

>144 mstrust: Haha not at all! I considered it an extra-solid endorsement, if that was the first one that sprang to mind for both of you :)

****

Feeling tremendously productive today. Finished a(nother) Doctor Who novel, made more progress on a historical mystery I have out from the library in ebook, and did some #AudioIroning with Time Lord Fairy Tales. Dan Starkey's narration of "The Three Little Sontarans" was PERFECT. Nobody else is allowed to narrate Sontaran stories in my books ;) And Tom Baker has a deliciously delightful voice.

And why am I doing #AudioIroning? Yesterday my BF and I visited his aunt and uncle, and his aunt gave me a box of clothes to go through. She's been cleaning out her closets and gives me first dibs on what she's giving away. Some things didn't quite fit or I couldn't see myself wearing them, but like 90% of the box was a good fit physically and style-wise, so I ironed a few of the more wrinkled items I was keeping (the rest were OK). My favourite piece is an A-line tweed skirt -- it is GORGEOUS and I would like it to NOT be minus 30 with the windchill so that I can wear it to work.

>145 rabbitprincess: - Sounds like you came away with some awesome "finds"!

>146 lkernagh: I did indeed! So many skirts :D We both like the A-line or "fit and flare" style of skirts and dresses, so I am set for at least the next 10 years ;) And getting stuff from her has finally prompted me to start a box for the things of mine that I want to get rid of, and to tidy up my dressers and closet to make room for all of my new clothes.

>147 rabbitprincess: - I love skirts that flare at the hem, but as you have noted, a bit of a challenge to wear these kind of skirts when the winds kick in. I went through a phase of badly predicting the weather to the point that my work colleagues would look at my clothes: If I was wearing a skirt/dress that could billow in the wind, chances were that I had that item on the same afternoon that we had a wind warning in the area. ;-)

Good for you in "purging" some items. I find if I do a purge quarterly, I can stop my other half from complaining about my clothes creeping over to his side of the closet. Sad but true.

Excellent clothes haul! A whole new wardrobe extension.
I'm not good at purging clothes, but I am good at buying things I will wear repeatedly. I'm not a fan of fashion, I tend to stick with what I know suits me. Does mean I have several items that are basically the same, but in different colours! My oldest wardrobe item is an Arran jumper I had for my 16th birthday. We've been through an awful lot together!

>149 Helenliz: Same here, sticking with what suits me. It's very annoying though when I need to replace something and can't find exactly the same item. Shoes are the worst for that.

Now that I have that tweed skirt, I think I need a black turtleneck to go with it! So perhaps this won't entirely fill my wardrobe...

>145 rabbitprincess: new clothes! Since I have down-sized and purged (3 rounds, 5 years) we have this new "rule" something in-something out. It was so hard the first year, but now I can't believe we didn't do it long ago. This applies to anything but ebooks or audiobooks, which don't take up physical space.

>148 lkernagh: Haha yes that is always a problem! Fortunately my workplace is casual enough to accept knee-length shorts in the summer, so I can wear those on particularly windy days.

>151 Tess_W: I'm not at that point yet -- everything I have does fit in the apartment -- but I do need to optimize the space I have!

****

I have a couple of reviews kicking around from Sunday!

Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos, by Terrance Dicks
Category: The Mysterious Garden
Source: Book Bazaar
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/130512015

Yet another Doctor Who novel. This category will be FULL of them (although really, what else is new).

The Harper’s Quine, by Pat McIntosh
Category: Walter Scott, Twa Plack
Source: library, via Overdrive
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/164132739

This is the first in a medieval murder mystery series set in Glasgow. I'm finding it harder to suspend disbelief for this type of murder mystery these days, but the Glasgow setting was good, and I liked the team of sleuths (mainly because I know a couple of people with similar names). I'd probably try another.

>147 rabbitprincess: So envious! A free box full of A-lines and fit & flares. Also my favorites, and A-line skirts are so hard to find right now!

>153 madhatter22: Yes, I'm glad that I don't have to go looking for a while! Also got some nice tops that I can wear to work, which is good because I'm getting sick of the ones I have (and some are getting ratty because I've worn them so much).

It's felt like a slow reading week for some reason. It probably doesn't help that my current bus book is A Place of Greater Safety, by Hilary Mantel -- but it is working pretty well, actually, because there are lots of section breaks in each chapter.

Library-book reading is a bit slow too because I'm trying to read only one at a time. There's been a bit of strategic renewing and returning-and-re-requesting going on.

How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings, by Sarah Cooper
Category: Self Portrait (George Jamesone)
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/164290060

This was funny, but also "too true to be funny". So I'm a bit torn. But I'm glad it exists.

The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth, and Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine, by Thomas Morris
Category: Mary Queen of Scots (I’m considering it the history of medicine)
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/164132898

With a title like that, how could I NOT request it from the library?! This was great. I laughed so hard at one story that I had to read it aloud to myself and laugh all over again. This would make a great audiobook with the right narrator.

I would pick up The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth too. There aren't any reviews on it so you get to be first.

>155 rabbitprincess: Exploding teeth? I'm afraid to check that title out! ;-) It does sound like a fun book though.

>156 mstrust: Hopefully the first of many!

>157 thornton37814: I thought so! It's probably more weird and horrified-laughing rather than actually funny-laughing, but it certainly wasn't boring.

>155 rabbitprincess: That almost describes what took me to the dentist earlier this month! Not a book for me, thank you.

>159 VivienneR: The title story is maybe 3 or 4 pages long, and it's very easily identified, so you could skip it and read the rest ;)

>160 rabbitprincess: OTOH That's the sort of title to brag about! The library has it on order so I'll give it a go.

>161 VivienneR: Good luck!

****

Hard to believe it's the last day of January already! Here's the last book I managed to finish this month, back on Tuesday.

Erebus: One Ship, Two Epic Voyages, and the Greatest Naval Mystery of All Time, by Michael Palin
Category: Mary Queen of Scots
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/164290137

I requested this because of the subject matter AND the author, and enjoyed it for both reasons. I especially liked learning about Erebus pre-Franklin, and I'm now on a huge tangent reading about a plane crash on Mount Erebus as a direct result of this book.

I love it when one book leads to another!

It looks like you had a good set of books in January; I wish you similar success with February :)

>163 leslie.98: It was so funny -- it's literally one sentence in Palin's book that mentions this plane crash. I immediately put his book down and hopped online, found the investigation report, and started reading :D I've had it open in my browser for about a week, because it's almost 200 pages! But it's really interesting.

Thanks for the reading wishes!

****

January recap

So far 2019 has been an odd mix of sci-fi and history. I read 18 books:

The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors, by Dan Jones
The King’s Agent, by J. Kent Clark
Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer, by Barbara Ehrenreich
Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion, by Jenny T. Colgan
The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul, by Eleanor Herman
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman
All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew
With the End in Mind: Death, Dying and Wisdom in an Age of Denial, by Kathryn Mannix
Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters, Volume 2 (Big Finish audio drama) — 4 stars
Doctor Who: Rose, by Russell T. Davies
The Clansman, by Nigel Tranter
Race to Hawaii: The 1927 Dole Air Derby and the Thrilling First Flights That Opened the Pacific, by Jason Ryan
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor, by Steven Moffat
Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos, by Terrance Dicks
The Harper’s Quine, by Pat McIntosh (Overdrive)
How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings, by Sarah Cooper
The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth, and Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine, by Thomas Morris
Erebus: One Ship, Two Epic Voyages, and the Greatest Naval Mystery of All Time, by Michael Palin

My favourite book of the month was With the End in Mind. I need my own copy of this book.

I had no books rated less than 3 stars, which is a pretty good month. I’ll go with Natural Causes as my biggest disappointment, because the content was uneven in quality and not all of it matched the impression I had from the cover.

Currently reading

Bleak House, by Charles Dickens (Serial Reader) — Still reading this forever.
Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith (Serial Reader) — Still reading this forever too, and I’ve been skipping whole issues. No, I don’t particularly need to hear about silver mines anymore.
Doctor Who: Time Lord Fairy Tales, by Justin Richards (audio) — Fairy tales retold in Time Lord style by various authors, with various narrators, including Tom Baker, Adjoa Andoh, Sophie Aldred, and Dan Starkey.
A Place of Greater Safety, by Hilary Mantel — an enormous hist-fic about the French Revolution. I’ll probably be reading this for most of February too; it’s my bus book, because I’m a glutton for punishment apparently.
Helicopter Flying Handbook, by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration — YES I am a huge nerd.
The Many Hands, by Dale Smith — a Tenth Doctor and Martha story set in Edinburgh in 1759.

I’m also reading the Royal Commission of Inquiry report into the plane crash involving an Air New Zealand sightseeing flight in 1979 that crashed into Mount Erebus. LibraryThing has a record for it, so I’m counting it as one of my books read ;)

February plans

Once I get A Place of Greater Safety finished, I’m going to binge on the shorter books in my Pool. A few mysteries to choose from, which is nice — that category is looking kind of empty at the moment.

From the library, I have a few other mysteries, including a couple of Ragnar Jónassons, the third Faroe Islands book by Chris Ould, and the new Flavia de Luce! I’m also hoping to finish up the Charles Hayden series with Until the Sea Shall Give Up Her Dead, by S. Thomas Russell.

>164 rabbitprincess: LOL - I'm laughing at your "Still reading this forever" comments. Fortunately you will reach the end at some point. You may, of course, begin again if you wish to read them forever!

You had some great reading in January! Hoping that trend continues into February.

But are you enjoying A Place of Greater Safety?

>165 thornton37814: The end is near eventually! Probably sometime in March. I can't say I'll read The Wealth of Nations again though ;)

>166 VivienneR: Thanks, I hope so too!

>167 RidgewayGirl: I am, and now I want to read Edward Rutherfurd's book about Paris, and Les Misérables!

>168 rabbitprincess: I've read Rutherfurd's New York and also want to read Paris, Russia, and Sarum! If you are actually reading France as a theme, I re-read Phantom of the Opera in 2018 and I loved it. I admire you for reading The Wealth of Nations. I was assigned this book as college reading, and I did not finish it, but shhhhh, it's only been almost 40 years!

>169 Tess_W: Paris is the only Rutherfurd I haven't read yet. Sarum was very good, especially because I then went to Salisbury the same year and could see the area in person. Wasn't crazy about the Russia book.

I'll have to re-read Phantom sometime! I think I read it (or part of it) in high school French. Not sure whether to read the original French or go the translation route. I'm going the translation route for Les Misérables -- got the Penguin Deluxe translation by Christine Donougher.

I would definitely not have got as far as I have in The Wealth of Nations without Serial Reader!

>170 rabbitprincess: I'm a fan of serial reader, also. It's great for the classics, but not too much that I've "needed" or "wanted" to read could I find. However, I was able to finish Moby Dick and Great Expectations through serial reader.

>171 Tess_W: Those would be good books to read on Serial Reader, especially Moby-Dick. My "for later" list on Serial Reader is full of random things that I would probably not have considered otherwise.

****

More yucky weather this weekend. I was supposed to go out this afternoon, and I could probably have got there OK, but the freezing drizzle is supposed to get worse over the course of the afternoon and evening, so I didn't want to have to come back in it. Annoying! I am done with this nonsense.

On the plus side, getting a lot of reading done...

Doctor Who: The Many Hands, by Dale Smith
Category: The Mysterious Garden, Twa Plack
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163694066

A Ten and Martha mystery set in Edinburgh! Yes please.

The Chinaman, by Friedrich Glauser (translated by Mike Mitchell)
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/164656784

Picked up this book thanks to pamelad reading it for the January SeriesCAT. Going by the Goodreads rating, this might be the weakest book in the series and therefore not the best one to start with, but I liked it well enough that I'd consider reading the rest of the series.

>172 rabbitprincess: Thumbprint, the first one, introduces the incorruptible Sergeant Studer, which adds a lot because his character is so important to the stories. I liked In Matto's Realm even more, knowing that the author spent some time in psychiatric institutions.

>168 rabbitprincess: I have Edward Rutherford's Paris waiting for me at the library! I, too, hope to get to them all.
Love your January reading - I am definitely going to have to look for the Exploding Teeth. Maybe my boys would like it; sounds like a boy kinda thing!

>173 pamelad: It's a rare series that I actually read in order ;) But now that I've tried one, I'll probably go back to the beginning :)

>174 JayneCM: Ooh, enjoy! And yes there are some stories in there that boys might like.

****

LT meetup alert! mysterymax, paruline and I had an LT Summit this afternoon. Normally we have them in the summer, and in fact paruline and mysterymax did back in August, but I couldn't go because of work. But we were all available today.

Our original choice of venue, the Moscow Tea Room, is closed on Mondays, which of course we didn't realize until we got there! Fortunately, down the street was a lovely little lounge/restaurant called Social, so we decided to be frivolous and have cocktails and snacks. My drink was the Bee's Knees on Sussex: Ungava gin, Earl Grey honey, and lavender bitters.



Mr. Mysterymax dropped in toward the end of our meetup and very kindly took a photo of us. It was a bit dark inside, and my phone's flash was off, so the shot's a bit fuzzy. But then again so were we :p Left to right is paruline, mysterymax, and me (with my era-appropriate hat).



paruline and I then knocked around Librairie du Soleil for a bit and I bought a Fred Vargas: Temps glaciaires. It was on my to-read list and it mentions Robespierre, and I thought that tied in nicely with my reading A Place of Greater Safety.

Lovely photo!

What a great picture - yay for LT meetups!

Oh, what fun! I have never heard of that drink before - I may have to confuse bartenders here by asking for it!

>175 rabbitprincess: Can't wait for the summer meet!

That's a great photo! It's so nice you guys can meet up every year. MM and I got to meet up a few years ago when she and Mr MM came to RI. We had a meal and then took in a minor league baseball game. LT meet-ups are great!

Excellent on the meet up. What did the cocktail taste like? I'm struggling to imagine it!

>175 rabbitprincess: Nice photo! Glad to hear you had a successful meetup.

Love the photo and I'm seriously suffering from hat envy right now! It looks like you guys had a great time!

Glad you had a fun time with your meet-up! And your cocktail sounds delicious.

LT meetups are definitely the best - the proof is in that picture! :)

>176 MissWatson: Not bad for a dark room on a dark winter’s afternoon! Fortunately mysterymax’s scarf provides some vibrant colour ;)

>177 Jackie_K: Mr. MM took about a dozen to make sure one took — this is the one in which I look the least deranged :D

>178 JayneCM: A standard bee’s knees might be less confusing — gin, lemon juice and honey.

>179 mysterymax: Yes! It will be nice not to have to dodge puddles and climb over snowbanks ;)

>180 dudes22: I’m glad we can too!

>181 Helenliz: It tasted like honey and lavender, and kind of fizzy like a punch that is served in punch bowls.

>182 mathgirl40: Every meetup is a successful one!

>183 LittleTaiko: Yes I thought mysterymax’s hat was nice too! We think paruline should have had a hat as well ;)

>184 mstrust: It was! Pretty good gamble considering I picked it almost entirely because of the name.

>185 DeltaQueen50: It was a lot of fun!

Fabulous meetup pic and that cocktail sounds yummy!

Wonderful pic of you three enjoying your meetup - and cocktails!

>187 lkernagh: It was really yummy! I think I am a bit partial to gin cocktails now ;)

>188 VivienneR: Thanks, Vivienne! We had a great time!

Well, I guess I could also post some book reviews... ;)

The Way Through the Woods, by Una McCormack
Category: The Mysterious Garden
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163693950

An Eleven, Amy, and Rory story. I enjoyed it, tearing through it in an afternoon.

Wishing Well, by Trevor Baxendale
Category: The Mysterious Garden
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/163693978

The writing in this Ten and Martha story was serviceable; the scary moments were properly scary, which was good. Good jump scares.

McNally’s Caper, by Lawrence Sanders
Category: David Hume, Poets' Pub (January RandomCAT)
Source: pilfered from the amenity room library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/76742756

This made a nice refreshing break from A Place of Greater Safety. I'm continuing my re-read of the McNally series (mostly) in order. Always fun to visit Archy in Florida.

Kind of a lousy end to the week this week, and having a lacklustre book on the go didn't really help.

A Pint of Murder, by Alisa Craig
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room, Poets’ Pub (December SeriesCAT)
Source: St. Matthew’s United Church book sale, May 2017
Rating: 1.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/141824177

I picked this up because of the title and because it was set in Canada. Not really worth the gamble, although fortunately it was only a dollar. A bit cozy for my tastes. Also, it took half the book for the Mountie to show up!

Sorry your week ended badly. There definitely should be more Mountie than that.

>192 mstrust: Especially considering he was the main detective! The pace was pretty slow. But I have a book on my iPad that should provide more Mountie content: Corporal Cameron of the North West Mounted Police, by Ralph Connor. Planning to read it sometime this year for the "book mentioned in another book" square on the Bingo card, because I heard about it from The Massey Murder, by Charlotte Gray.

It was a bit of a downer week, but seeing those chocolate pictures over on your thread cheered me up immensely :) Thanks for sharing them!

>191 rabbitprincess: - Wow. Hum. Oh. Sounds like a book beyond retrieval. On the bright side, your weekend read will hopefully make up for this dud read.

>194 lkernagh: I managed to find things a bit better to read, yes!

****

Had a bit of a readathon this weekend. I went shopping on Saturday and crashed on the couch afterward, finishing one book. Then today I swept all the floors and rested my aching back by starting and finishing TWO books. (Sweeping really hurts my back, especially when you have to put the stuff in the dustpan.)

Blackout, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Quentin Bates)
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library, via Overdrive
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/165053490

Yay, a mystery set in Iceland during the volcanic eruption of 2010! For some reason this is a neat intersection of my interests. I am enjoying Jónasson's series very much. Glad to have the next book translated into English, Rupture, on hand to read immediately!

The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London, by Christopher Skaife
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/164734654

I enjoyed this book very much as well. I love stories about highly intelligent animals, and I love history, and I love London, so this was another book that ticked a lot of boxes. Now I want to read more about birds. Fortunately, this book has a list of useful references in the back.

Cold Midnight in Vieux Québec, by Eric Wilson
Category: David Hume
Source: church book sale
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/129905758

This was a childhood favourite, and I decided to re-read it in honour of the Carnaval de Québec, the 2019 edition of which began this past Friday (the 8th) and runs until the 17th. This book held up fairly well despite my reading it 20-something years later, although I don't think it would do much for modern kids. Still giggling over the car with an aerial for a cellular phone :)

>180 dudes22: We're hoping to come out this summer. See the Sox again before they go to the new field.

>196 mysterymax: - Yes - I imagine a lot of people will be doing that. Let me know when you pick your dates and maybe we can meet up again. If not for the game, maybe just a tea/coffee. (sorry, rp for butting into your thread)

>196 mysterymax: >197 dudes22: No worries! :) I'm glad to hear of the possibility of more meetups between the two of you!

A glut of reviews incoming! It's been a busy week, and I had to do a lot of reading to meet library deadlines. My holds *will* all decide to come in at once, and I can't always renew them right away. Some strategic returning-and-re-requesting has been going on...

Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare
Category: Tilda Swinton, Poets’ Pub (March CalendarCAT)
Source: Book Bazaar
Rating: 2.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/152345465

This was an obvious choice for the March CalendarCAT. I came very close to finishing it but ultimately found it not worth the trouble. I did enjoy spotting the famous quotes in the text, though.

Rupture, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Quentin Bates)
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/164914568

This is my favourite book of the Dark Iceland series so far, and I'm glad to have been able to read it immediately after Blackout. I don't always binge-read a series, but the timing of my library holds worked out in this case.

The Golden Tresses of the Dead, by Alan Bradley
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room, Poets’ Pub (May SeriesCAT)
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/164914533

Once again my creeping the On Order section of the library catalogue pays off in spades. I got this book the very week it came out and read it in a single day...although that day was the day before it was due back at the library :S I enjoyed it -- it's definitely back up to the usual Flavia standards, although maybe not *quite* as fun as The Grave's a Fine and Private Place.

First Term at Malory Towers, by Enid Blyton
Category: The Blue Hat, Poets’ Pub (February SeriesCAT)
Source: library book sale
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/70473911

I'd never actually read the first Malory Towers book as a kid, because for some reason my mum had only the last two books. I think we've since collected all of the others -- my mum might have the rest now. Anyway, this was another good nostalgia-inducing read.

My holds *will* all decide to come in at once Soooo glad to hear this doesn't just happen to me! I don't know how the library books know that they're are all destined for me, it's like they have to travel in packs'to stay safe. >:-)

Mallory towers takes me back. I read very few of them, but they were certainly the in thing to read for a time.

>200 Helenliz: Haha I like that idea, that they travel in packs!

I think my mum's copies were given to her by relatives in Scotland. She had all of the Famous Fives as well, and I think all of the St. Clare's.

>199 rabbitprincess: You can browse the "on order" section of the library? I have to search for a title and if it's on order I place a hold. Then when the new books are processed my email starts a repetitive pinging.

You have been getting through lots of good books. You have reminded me that I *must* read Ragnar Jónasson.

I have fallen behind with reading threads but getting there slowly.

Now that you read and recommended two books of the Dark Iceland series, I guess I really need to accept another BB has hit its target. I'll note the first in the series down for later. :)

>202 VivienneR: Yes, my library catalogue has pages where you can see what fiction, non-fiction and DVDs the library has ordered or what have arrived within the past 30 days. I check them most weekdays and place holds on whatever looks interesting. Then six months later I sometimes get about eight holds coming in at once :)

And yes, it's been a solid reading month. I still haven't read a totally mind-blowing book yet, but a lot of good reading.

>203 Chrischi_HH: Yay, excellent! I do enjoy the series.

Mystery-wise, I'm switching countries and time periods: from Iceland in essentially the present day to Scotland in the late 1800s.

The Strings of Murder, by Oscar de Muriel
Category: Twa Plack
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/164317405

Oscar de Muriel's book The Loch of the Dead was nominated for the 2018 McIlvanney Prize, but my library didn't have it, so I decided to try the first book in his series instead. It's set in Edinburgh in the late 1880s and has a creepy, slightly supernatural element to it (but not THAT supernatural). I liked it well enough to continue with the series.

I needed an excuse to get out and go to the library today, so I finally finished up this book:

Sympathy for the Traitor: A Translation Manifesto, by Mark Polizzotti
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/164657785

As a former translator myself, I was naturally predisposed to like this. It's best read fairly close together; I took a break in the middle and found it hard to get back into. Worth reading if you like to learn about how translators work and what the challenges are.

I also decided to call this book done:

The Darkness, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Victoria Cribb)
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 2/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/165260856

This book didn't grab me quite the same way as the Dark Iceland series has; I didn't finish it. I did flip to closer to the end and saw some element of whodunnit, but I wasn't feeling motivated to read that far myself. Granted, this book is a first in series and has to establish Hulda's story, so maybe the next book will be a bit more about the actual case.

>206 rabbitprincess: Have you read the 2 mysteries by Tiina Nunnally? She translates Scandinavian books, and so (not surprisingly) her series character is a translator in Runemaker and Fate of Ravens.

>208 NinieB: I recognize the name but wasn't aware she'd written her own series! I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the tip!

****

Catching my breath in between Blue Rodeo concerts (they played at the National Arts Centre last night and are playing again tonight, and of COURSE I got tickets to both shows) and going through threads and reviews. I finished this book while waiting for the show to start:

Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here!, by Ed McBain
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room, Poets’ Pub (April SeriesCAT — a series you’ve been meaning to get back to)
Source: Friends of Library and Archives Canada book sale
Rating: 2.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/112662644

One of the many unread 87th Precincts on my shelves. This is what I call a slice-of-life installment, with lots of little threads of equal importance rather than a major narrative arc with subplots. I liked the dialogue as always, and it certainly felt realistic that so much was going on in a single day, but I felt a bit grubby reading this because of the way women were described or thought about by the predominantly male characters.

>209 rabbitprincess: Blue Rodeo! And two concerts! How lucky you are!

>210 VivienneR: Indeed I was lucky! It was a great weekend. Oddly I feel more tired today than yesterday... maybe because I actually got a full night's sleep last night and I wanted more sleep ;)

Just dropping in to tell you that I FINALLY got around to reading Isaac's Storm, which you pushed me toward in the Go Review That Book group--full review written :) It was both terrifying and fascinating, and beautifully written, so I'm glad you nudged me to finally get around to it! And, of course, I've offered a suggestion your way as it turned out! In the West by Nevil Shute--let me know what you think when you eventually get around to it?

>212 whitewavedarling: Excellent! I'm glad you liked that one :) And good pick for me! Looking forward to reading it :)

I'll hazard a guess that this will be my last completed book of the month, barring some miracle.

Brown Girl in the Ring, by Nalo Hopkinson
Category: The Blue Hat
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/165340302

This was a Canada Reads finalist in 2008, and I can't remember what prompted me to pick it up now of all times, but I really liked it. Dystopian fiction set in Toronto may be a bit of a niche genre, but I dig it. This was a very fast read for me and also an intense one. There's one scene that I'm going to be thinking about for weeks.

Come join me on my second 2019 thread! Follow the continuation link below.



(Photo is of Alison Watt and John Byrne at the Royal Scottish Academy for the exhibit Ages of Wonder: Scotland's Art, 1540 to now. Article here.)