JayneCM Feels At Home In 2021

"Home is where you keep your books!" Avijeet Das

I am Jayne, a book lover for as long as I can remember. When I was young, I would get in trouble for reading under the bedcovers with a torch - and I haven't stopped reading way past my bedtime!

I live in Australia on a small farm in sheep territory. Our small town has one literary claim to fame - one of Charles Dickens' sons lived here, Alfred D’Orsay Tennyson Dickens. Thus we have streets named Byron, Shakespeare, Collins (for Wilkie), Tennyson and of course, Dickens. Sadly, his young wife was killed in a carriage accident in our main street and is buried in Hamilton Cemetery, and the Dickens' family moved away to start afresh.

I am a lover of vintage - the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s are my happy place! I have two Etsy shops - one for my handdyed yarn and one for my vintage knitted items, patterns and other finds.

This is my third year in the challenge - it is a wonderful place to stretch my reading. I am always too ambitious but you can never read too much!

I do not have as many categories this year as the CATs and KITs seem to keep me pretty busy! But I have added a nonfiction category. I plan to choose a new topic each year; a chance to brush up on some areas of interest.
The Read Around The World category began last year as we have added this as a way for my 12 year old son to focus his reading. And like we all find in category reading, he has discovered some wonderful books. So I am following along - he chooses the countries.

176/192 = 91.67%

* Read Around The World 10/10 = 100%
* Prize Winners 5/5 = 100%
* Wartime 3/3 = 100%
1001 Monthly Challenge 9/12 = 75%
* The Apple Isle 5/5 = 100%
* Middle Grade 6/6 = 100%
* BingoDOG 25/25 = 100%
* RandomCAT 12/12 = 100%
* GenreCAT 12/12 = 100%
HistoryCAT 9/12 = 75%
* AlphaKIT 26/26 = 100%
MysteryKIT 10/12 = 83.33%
ScaredyKIT 9/12 = 75%
SFFKIT 9/12 = 75%
* GeoKIT 7/7 = 100%
KITastrophe 3/5 = 60%
* Random Reads 16/16 = 100%

'Read Around The World' - read a book from every country

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go." Dr. Seuss


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

1. Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty (Ireland)- finished 28th January 2021
2. The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Dare (Nigeria)- finished 18th April 2021
3. Confession With Blue Horses by Sophie Hardach (Germany) - finished 15th May 2021
4. The Proof of Love by Catherine Hall (England) - finished 28th August 2021
5. Heart of the Grass Tree by Molly Murn (Australia) - finished 29th August 2021
6. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo (South Korea) - finished 4th September 2021
7. The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera (New Zealand) - finished 11th September 2021
8. Fire Girl, Forest Boy by Chloe Daykin (Peru) - finished 3rd October 2021
9. Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Japan) - finished 12th October 2021
10. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (Iceland) - finished 29th October 2021

10/10 = 100%

'We Have A Winner' - Prize winners announced in 2021

"You rarely win - but sometimes you do." Harper Lee

1. When You Trap A Tiger by Tae Keller - winner 2021 Newbery Medal - finished 15th March 2021
2. The Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant - winner of the 2020 Costa Children's Book Award - finished 19th April 2021
3. The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey - winner of the 2021 Miles Franklin Award - finished 20th July 2021
4. The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey - winner of 2020 Costa Book of the Year - finished 26th August 2021
5. The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld - winner of the 2021 Stella Prize - finished 8th September 2021

5/5 = 100%

'Wartime' - non-fiction with 'wartime' in the title

"This is a war to end all wars." Woodrow Wilson

1. Keep Smiling Through: My Wartime Story by Vera Lynn wth Virginia Lewis-Jones finished 16th January 2021
2. The Sisters of Battle Road: The Extraordinary True Story of Six Sisters Evacuated from Wartime London by J.M. Maloney - finished 4th June 2021
3. The Girls Who Went To War: Heroism, Heartache and Happiness in the Wartime Women's Forces by Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi - finished 11th June 2021

3/3 = 100%

'A Challenge in a Challenge' - monthly group challenge reads from 1001 Books group

"Don't limit your challenges; challenge your limits." Tony Robbins

1. January - Read a book you meant to read last year, I chose November Group Challenge for book I have never heard of - In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan - finished 5th February 2021
2. February - Read a book with 'love' in the title, or that features a love story of some sort - Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - finished 11th July 2021
3. March - Read a book by an Irish author or set in Ireland - The Book of Evidence by John Banville - finished 20th June 2021
4. April - Read a book with a cover that attracts you for some reason - The Commandant by Jessica Anderson - finished 12th April 2021
5. May - Read someone else's last read - A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch - finished 21st August 2021
6. June - Read a book by an author local to you - Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
7. July - Read a book that is/was a high school text - Lord of the Flies by William Golding - finished 19th July 2021
8. August - Random number generator - Strait Is The Gate by Andre Gide - finished 5th September 2021
9. September - Read a book published between 1901 and 1950 - Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson
10. October - Book with a living creature in the title - an animal, a bird, a fish, an insect - Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck
11. November - Book that was a best seller - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - finished 30th October 2021
12. December - Treat yourself - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - finished 12th December 2021

9/12 = 75%

'The Apple Isle' - books about or set in Tasmania

"Perhaps the virtue of coming from a place like Tasmania is that you had the great gift of knowing that you were not the centre of things, yet life was no less where you were." Richard Flanagan

1. Stars Over The Southern Ocean by J.H. Fletcher - finished 24th February 2021
2. A Year on the Farm by Sally Wise - finished 5th March 2021
3. The Hunter by Julia Leigh - finished 7th August 2021
4. The Last of the Apple Blossom by Mary-Lou Stephens - finished 16th October 2021
5. The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline - finished 5th November 2021

5/5 = 100%

'Middle Grade' - middle grade books

"No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting." Lady Montagu

1. They Threw Us Away by Daniel Kraus - finished
2. The Little Wave by Pip Harry - finished 6th November 2021
3. When We Got Lost In Dreamland by Ross Welford - finished 8th November 2021
4. The Blue Cat by Ursula Dubosarsky - finished 9th November 2021
5. Orphans of the Tide by Struan Murray - finished 16th November 2021
6. The Polar Bear Explorers' Club by Alex Bell - finished 29th November 2021

6/6 = 100%

'BingoDOG'

"Bingo is my game-o!"

As an extra challenge, I will attempt to read only Australian authors for BingoDOG.



* 1. Arts and recreation - Changi Days: The Prisoner As Poet by David Griffin - finished 18th September 2021
* 2. Type of building in title - The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison by Meredith Jaffe - finished 23rd August 2021
* 3. Dark or light word in title - The White Girl by Tony Birch - finished 11th November 2021
* 4. One word title - Tourmaline by Randolph Stow - finished 14th February 2021
* 5. Contains a love story - Social Queue by Kay Kerr - finished 17th November 2021
* 6. 20 or fewer LT members - Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson - finished 21st March 2021
* 7. Classical element in title - Deeper Water by Jessie Cole - finished 16th March 2021
* 8. Set somewhere you'd like to visit - A Year in the Mud and the Toast and the Tears by Georgie Brooks - finished 28th March 2021
* 9. Character you'd be friends with - The Dressmaker's Secret by Rosalie Ham - finished 28th March 2021
* 10. About history or alternate history - Elizabeth & Elizabeth by Sue Williams - finished 5th July 2021
* 11. Suggested by another generation - Black Cockatoo by Carl Merrison - my niece - finished 12th March 2021
* 12. New to you author - The Last Bookshop by Emma Young - finished 12th May 2021
* 13. Read a CAT or KIT - The Garden of Hopes and Dreams by Barbara Hannay - October AlphaKIT letter H - finished 3rd October 2021
* 14. About or contains magic - A Lifetime of Impossible Days by Tabitha Bird - finished 26th July 2021
* 15. Title describes you - Maggie's Going Nowhere by Rose Hartley - finished 13th April 2021
* 16. Impulse read! - The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall - finished 7th January 2021
* 17. 2 or more authors - The Last Lighthouse Keeper by John Cook with Jon Bauer - finished 23rd July 2021
* 18. Made you laugh - The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer by Ilsa Evans - finished 22nd October 2021
* 19. Less than 200 pages - Orry Kelly: Miss Weston's Protege by Robert Parkinson - no touchstone - finished 4th January 2021
* 20. You heartily recommend - The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham - finished 24th March 2021
* 21. Nature or environment - Blueback by Tim Winton - finished 6th November 2021
* 22. About time or time word in title - I Give My Marriage A Year by Holly Wainwright - finished 25th January 2021
* 23. By or about marginalised group - The Yield by Tara June Winch - finished 12th January 2021
* 24. Senior citizen protagonist - The Weekend by Charlotte Wood
* 25. Southern Hemisphere - Picnic At Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay - finished 23rd September 2021

25/25 = 100%

RandomCAT

"Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you." Princess Diana

January - Laughter - French Exit by Patrick deWitt - finished 18th February 2021

February - Fruit and Veggies - Three Apples Fell From The Sky by Narine Abgaryan - finished 7th May 2021

March - It's a Surprise! - Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella - finished 30th May 2021

April - Let's go to the Library - Tess_W - Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel - finished 8th June 2021

May - Let's Play Monopoly! - The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson - finished 3rd November 2021

June - Everything Old is New Again - Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys - finished 14th September 2021

July - Summertime - Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - finished 24th July 2021

August - On the Road Again - Nomadland by Jessica Bruder - finished 5th August 2021

September - Prize Winner - Jade City by Fonda Lee - World Fantasy Award 2018 - finished 10th October 2021

October - a Character Who Gives - The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris - finished 14th November 2021

November - Dreams of Growing Up - The Eighth Wonder by Tania Farrelly - finished 28th October 2021

December - Seasonal Reading - A Fairy Tale For Christmas by Chrissie Manby - finished 2nd December 2021

12/12 = 100%

GenreCAT

"I like the idea of trying to write a book in every genre." China Mieville

January - Non fiction - Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees by Thor Hanson finished 10th January 2021

February - Biography - The Story of Beatrix Potter by Sarah Gristwood - finished 18th July 2021

March - Action and Adventure - Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse - finished 12th November 2021

April - Literary fiction - Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter - finished 6th April 2021

May - Short Stories and/or Essays - Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold finished 3rd May 2021

June - Historical Fiction - Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell - finished 14th October 2021

July - Romance - Spring Magic by D.E. Stevenson - finished 21st September 2021

August - Poetry/Drama/Graphic Novels - The Sad Ghost Club by Lize Meddings - finished 15th October 2021

September - Children/YA - The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets by Nancy Springer - finished 28th September 2021

October - Horror/Supernatural/Paranormal - The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud - finished 29th September 2021

November - Science Fiction/Fantasy - Twilight Robbery by Frances Hardinge - finished 1st November 2021

December - Mysteries - The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - finished 20th December 2021

12/12 = 100%

HistoryCAT

"The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future." Theodore Roosevelt

January - The Middle Ages - The Story of Silence by Alex Myers - finished 5th December 2021

February - 1800-Modern Day - Stone Sky Gold Mountain by Mirandi Riwoe - finished 19th May 2021

March - Early Modern History c. 1500 – 1800 - The Dark Lady's Mask by Mary Sharratt - finished 8th April 2021

April - Ancient 8th C BC to 6th AD - The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden - finished 10th September 2021

May - Dynasties, Civilizations, and Empires - Queens of the Crusades by Alison Weir - finished 2nd October 2021

June - Military, War, and Revolution - The Romanov Empress: A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna by C.W. Gortner - finished 3rd September 2021

July - Social History - Grace Kelly: Hollywood Dream Girl by Jay Jorgensen - finished 28th November 2021

August - Read About Your Own Country - Joan Makes History by Kate Grenville - finished 25th August 2021

September - Religion, Philosophy, Politics, Law - God Remained Outside by Genevieve de Gaulle-Anthonioz - finished 18th November 2021

October - Country or Region of your Choice - Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

November - Events - Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

December - Adventure, Exploration and Discovery - The Story of Land and Sea by Katy Simpson Smith

9/12 = 75%

AlphaKIT

"I knew the alphabet. Maybe I could be a writer." Hubert Selby Jnr.

January P & M
For M - That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam - finished 9th February 2021
For P - The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin by Stephanie Knipper - finished 31st January 2021

February
For T - There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumara - finished 28th February
For K - The Dollmaker of Krakow by R.M. Romero - finished 9th March 2021

March
For U - Under The Golden Sun by Jenny Ashcroft - finished 4th April 2021
For R - Tirra Lirra By The River by Jessica Anderson - finished 29th March 2021

April
For A - Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland - finished 22nd May 2021
For W - The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes by Ruth Hogan - finished 26th May 2021

May
For I - I Am Behind You by John Ajvide Lindqvist - finished 25th June 2021
For N - Nothing But Blue Sky by Kathleen MacMahon - finished 2nd July 2021

June
For C - Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - finished 14th June 2021
For D - How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino - finished 8th August 2021

July
For S - A Sky Full Of Stars by Dani Atkins - finished 12th July 2021
For O - The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin - finished 16th July 2021

August
For V - The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - finished 22nd August 2021
For J - On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta - finished 16th September 2021

September
For F - Boys and Girls Forever by Alison Lurie - finished 9th September 2021
For L - Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager - finished 26th October 2021

October
For H - The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud - finished 1st October 2021
For E - Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger - finished 20th October 2021

November
For B - Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball by Laura Ellen Anderson - finished 24th October 2021
For Y - The One Thing You'd Save by Linda Sue Park - finished 3rd December 2021

December
For G - The Girl Who Stole An Elephant by Nizrana Farook - finished 28th November 2021
For Q - Boy Queen by George Lester - finished 22nd December 2021

Year Long
For X - The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo - finished 2nd November 2021
For Z - Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler - finished 15th July 2021

26/26 = 100%

MysteryKIT

"Mysteries abound where most we seek for answers." Ray Bradbury

January - Water - The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware - finished 23rd March 2021

February - Pastiche Mystery - The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer - finished 31st May 2021

March - Locked-Room Mystery - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie -finished 11th September 2021

April - Senior Citizen as Detective - Better Off Read by Nora Page - finished 7th July 2021

May - European Mysteries - Pelagia and the White Bulldog by Boris Akunin - finished 17th August 2021

June - British Golden Age - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie - finished 13th August 2021

July - Cops 'n' Robbers Lady Style - The Case of the Left-Handed Lady by Nancy Springer - finished 21st July 2021

August - Cosy Mysteries Featuring Animals - The Tale of Holly How by Susan Wittig Albert - finished 25th September 2021

September - Mismatched Detectives - The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan by Nancy Springer - finished 10th November 2021

October - Minorities/Diversity - Murder In G Major by Alexia Gordon

November - Historical Mystery - The Tunnels of Tarcoola by Jennifer Walsh - finished 21st December 2021

December - Ancient Greece/Ancient Rome - Medicus by Ruth Downie

10/12 = 83.33%

ScaredyKIT

"Every day is Halloween, isn't it? For some of us." Tim Burton

January - Graphic Novels and YA - Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - finished 17th January 2021

February - Creepy Nonfiction - The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale - finished 21st April 2021

March -Short Stories and Novellas - Order of the Wicked by Danielle Paige - finished 11th March 2021

April - Possession - A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge - finished 17th June 2021

May - Witches and Magic - The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw - finished 22nd July 2021

June - Diverse Perspectives - Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - finished 2nd August 2021

July - Ghosts and Hauntings - The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud - finished 13th September 2021

August - Adrift (Water and Outer Space) - The Survivors by Jane Harper - finished 6th October 2021

September - The Dead, Their Habits and Abodes - Home Before Dark by Riley Sager - finished 30th September 2021

October - Real Life Monsters - See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

November - Stephen King and family - Elevation by Stephen King

December - Horror thriller - The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

9/12 = 75%

SFFKIT

"Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it." Lloyd Alexander

January - Leftover from 2020 - Earthlings by Sayaka Murata - finished 2nd March 2021

February - Sentient Things - Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews - finished 27th April 2021

March - Fortune and Glory! - All The Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter - finished 6th September 2021

April - Series - She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan - finished 27th September 2021

May - Time Travel - The Portal by Kathryn Lasky

June - It's About the Journey - Doomsday Book by Connie Willis - finished 11th August 2021

July - Historical Fantasy - Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge - finished 24th September 2021

August - Female Authors - Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura - finished 19th August 2021

September - Near Future, Alternate Reality (Alternate History) - Scythe by Neal Shusterman - finished 24th November 2021

October - Creature Feature (significant nonhuman characters) - Cinder by Marissa Meyer - finished 17th October 2021

November - Short Stories - Black Swan, White Raven edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

December - Gothic Fantasy - House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

9/12 = 75%

GeoKIT

"Without geography, you're nowhere." Unknown

North America (includes Mexico, Canada, and USA) The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah - finished 25th April 2021

Central and South America (includes the Caribbean) The Seven Sisters: Maia's Story by Lucinda Riley - finished 22nd June 2021

Asia - Fragile Monsters by Catherine Menon - finished 30th April 2021

Africa - The Colours That Blind by Rutendo Tavangerwei - finished 15th December 2021

Europe (includes Russia) - The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman -finished 26th June 2021

Oceania (includes Australia and New Zealand) - All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton - finished 30th July 2021

Polar (includes Antarctica and tundra regions) - Chasing The Light by Jesse Blackadder - finished 21st January 2021

7/7 = 100%

KITastrophe

"Know the difference between a catastrophe and an inconvenience." Bruce Lee

Year-Long: Epidemics and Pandemics Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel - finished 3rd January 2021

Jan-Mar: Technology/Industrial/Man-made All That Is Solid Melts Into Air by Darragh McKeon

Apr-June: Transportation and Maritime The Midnight Watch by David Dyer - finished 31st August 2021

July-Sept: Weather/Geological/Fires The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin - finished 19th September 2021

Oct-Dec: Riots/Uprisings/Sieges/War/Invasions The Russian Tapestry by Banafsheh Serov

3/5 = 60%

Random Reads

"Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are." Mason Cooley

For those 'just because' reads!

1. The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay - finished 11th May 2021
2. The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess - finished 29th May 2021
3. A Million Aunties by Alecia McKenzie - finished 3rd July 2021
4. Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor - finished 17th July 2021
5. Seven Brief Lessons On Physics by Carlo Rovelli - finished 6th August 2021
6. Cheerful Weather For The Wedding by Julia Strachey - finished 12th August 2021
7. Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud - finished 15th August 2021
8. Gothic Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell - finished 19th October 2021
9. The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner - finished 4th November 2021
10. The Other Side of Beautiful by Kim Lock - finished 13th November 2021
11. Forever Liesl by Charmian Carr - finished 15th November 2021
12. The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern - finished 20th November 2021
13. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - finished 22nd November 2021
14. Peter Darling by Austin Chant - finished 26th November 2021
15. Verdigris Deep by Frances Hardinge - finished 27th November 2021
16. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - finished 30th November 2021

16/16 = 100%

Let's get this party started!
I am looking forward to seeing what the CATs and KITs have in store for us!

Great setup, but it will feel like a long wait for the CATs and KITs to fill up!

Great categories, Jane! If you are like me, I take a book to bed every night and have been known to still be reading when the alarm goes off-----or now since I'm retired, when the sun comes up. I look forward to getting some BB's from you, especially about Australia.

>20 MissWatson: I know! Now that I am here, I want to know what we will be reading next year!

>21 Tess_W: I am the same - I can easily read until 2am if it is a book that simply cannot be put down!
Hmm, you have given me an idea. I may choose one of the CATs or KITs or even BingoDOG, and read only Australian authors for it. Why not add an extra level of challenge?!

>22 JayneCM: I decided to only read female authors for BingoDog this year. 4 left, 3 of which I have books lined up for, so I might manage it. Certainly more challenging.

Great set up, Jayne. Happy reading!

Hey, Jane. Love your set up and your extra challenge with the Bingo. I haven't posted mine yet (waiting for Cats), but I already know that I'm going to concentrate on my series for the AlphaKit this year. Hoping to get some good BBs from you. You should think about joining the Needlearts Group. We'd love to see you there.

>23 Helenliz: I'm sure you will make it! I think it will make it a fun extra challenge.

>24 majkia: Thank you!

>25 dudes22: Thank you. I will definitely pop over and join, sounds just my thing!

What an interesting story about where you reside! (Of course, I immediately had to go read about Alfred D’Orsay Tennyson Dickens.) Wishing you the best of luck with your ambitious reading plans, especially your "Read Around the World Challenge." I agree, one can never read too much. : )

I love the black and white photos! Somehow they capture things differently and more nuanced than color photos. (Yikes, I can remember when "color photos" did not exist! Does anyone remember flashcubes and Instamatic cameras???)

Excellent set up - just dropping my star. I'm still not 100% sure of my theme for 2021, although an idea is starting to form.

Dropping a star as I'm looking forward to reading along. Hope you'll post a picture of some hand-dyed yarn soon!

I've placed my star and I am looking forward to following along in 2021.

Hi Jayne! You live in an interesting town!

Nice set up, I'm looking forward to following along in 2021.

btw, I can't see the image in your opening post.

Hurray, Jayne's here! Looking forward to seeing how those CATs and KITs fill up your challenge!

You’ve set some interesting goals for your challenge. Good luck.

Ready to follow your 2021 reading.

Thank you, everybody!
I think we are all very keen to get this new year, in reading and everything else, underway!

>32 VivienneR: The image isn't working for me either.

>32 VivienneR: - Or me

Interesting about the names of streets. I will have to check on them.
I have been to Australia and loved my time there.

I love the literary connections your town has! I am looking forward to following your 2021 reading.

I have changed the first image for another one - hopefully all good now!

Thanks all for visiting!

>41 JayneCM: Yes, I can see this. Great image!

>41 JayneCM: Awesome, yes I can see that! Very apt!

Phew! Who knows what was wrong with the first image as I could see it - too technical for me!

>6 JayneCM: I am really impressed! I am also planning to read to read more Australian writers this year, so will be following with interest.

I look forward to tagging along with you again this year, and although I meant to cut back on CATs, I'll be seeing you on Genre CAT and Random CAT as well. I hope you have a great reading year!

>8 JayneCM: I think I searched for your topic about 5 times and must have kept overlooking it, lol! Wishing you a great year of reading. Your BingoDOG plans look especially challenging. I hope you find some wonderful Australian authors to fill in your card. Happy New Year.

>47 This-n-That: Thank you! Happy New Year to you also!

You have chosen wonderful quotes and pictures for your categories, Jayne. Great set-up! Have a great reading year!

>49 Chrischi_HH: Thank you! Over ambitious as always but I do love a challenge! :)

Your categories are so interesting!

I will certainly look out for the Australian authors you read and the Tasmania books!

>51 MissBrangwen: Thank you! I look forward to following your reading too.

Here in Australia it is five hours to go until 2021 and it looks like all the Covid problems are gearing up again. All the states have closed their borders to each other from midnight, masks are back, numbers for get togethers have reduced - we will have to wait and see what 2021 has in store for us!

Happy New Year, everyone! Nearly time to pick up my first 2021 book.

January 2021

1. Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel - finished 3rd January 2021 - KITastrophe Pandemics
2. Orry Kelly: Miss Weston's Protege by Robert Parkinson - no touchstone - finished 4th January 2021 - BingoDOG less than 200 pages
3. The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall - finished 7th January 2021 - BingoDOG impulse read
4. Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees by Thor Hanson - finished 10th January 2021 - GenreCAT non fiction
5. The Yield by Tara June Winch - finished 12th January 2021 - BingoDOG by or about a marginalised group
6. Keep Smiling Through: My Wartime Story by Vera Lynn with Virginia Lewis-Jones - no touchstone - finished 16th January 2021 - book with 'wartime' in title
7. Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - finished 17th January 2021 - January ScaredyKIT graphic novel/YA
8. Chasing The Light by Jesse Blackadder - finished 31st January 2021 - GeoKIT Polar
9. I Give My Marriage A Year by Holly Wainwright - finished 25th January 2021 - BingoDOG time word in title
10. Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty - finished 28th January 2021 - Read Around The World - Ireland
11. The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin by Stephanie Knipper - finished 31st January 2021 - January AlphaKIT letter P

11/185 = 5.95%

Read Around The World 1/5 = 20% Diary of a Young Naturalist
Prize Winners 0/5 = 0%
Wartime 1/5 = 20% Keep Smiling Through: My Wartime Story
1001 Monthly Challenge 0/12 = 0%
The Apple Isle 0/5 = 0%
Middle Grade 0/5 = 0%
BingoDOG 4/25 = 16% Orry Kelly: Miss Weston's Protege, The Mother Fault, The Yield, I Give My Marriage A Year
RandomCAT 0/12 = 0%
GenreCAT 1/12 = 8.33% Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees
HistoryCAT 0/12 = 0%
AlphaKIT 1/26 =3.85% The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin
MysteryKIT 0/12 = 0%
ScaredyKIT 1/12 = 8.33% Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes
SFFKIT 0/12 = 0%
GeoKIT 1/7 = 14.3% Chasing The Light
KITastrophe 1/5 = 20% Station Eleven
Group Reads 0/13 = 0%

Thought I'd jump over and say Happy New Year! We still have all day to go.

And keep up with my friends here, Jayne. Have a great 2021.

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

>55 dudes22: >56 PaulCranswick: >57 lkernagh: Thank you all! We have just had all our state borders closed again, so not sure yet about more road trips - hopefully later in the year! Both my daughters had holidays planned in January that involved driving over borders, so they are a bit upset as we all thought 2021 was putting it behind us for the most part. Soon!

Book 1. Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

KITastrophe Year Long Epidemics and Pandemics

This book was published n 2014 but now, of course, is very relevant. I have always been drawn to end of the world scenarios but it certainly seems closer now than previously. The passages describing the pure luck that prevented one of the characters from catching the virus were particularly poignant. He catches a tax where, luckily, the driver was not contagious and noone who had the virus had used it. By pure luck, he did not happen to touch any contaminated surfaces while in the airport and caught a plane wth no infected passengers or crew. It really brought home the indiscriminate nature of the virus.
It also made you think about how easy our lives really are in the modern era. The awe that the younger people showed 25 years after world's end for the magic of things we take for granted, such as electricity, health care, food you don't have to grow or hunt yourself, even garbage trucks, really makes you pause and be more grateful.

Book 2. Orry Kelly: Miss Weston's Protege by Robert Parkinson - no touchstone

BingoDOG less than 200 pages

Like Orry Kelly himself, the two books on him are not featured in LT! Orry Kelly was arguably one of the most important and influential costume designers in Hollywood history, yet very few peple have even heard of him.
This book fits into my Australian BingoDOG as Orry Kelly was born in a small country town in New South Wales. He has won the most Academy Awards by an Australian, three wins from four nominations. It is said that he would easily have won twice that number but the Costume Design award was only begun halfway through his career, after movies such as 42nd Street, Casablanca, Jezebel, The Letter and The Little Foxes.
Believe me, you know many of the costumes he designed - Some Like It Hot, Casablanca, Gypsy, The Maltese Falcon, Jezebel, Arsenic and Old Lace, anything Bette Davis ever wore - she insisted on Orry Kelly designing her costumes.
Yet after his death in 1964, he disappeared into obscurity. t was only when Gillian Armstrong came across his story and decided to make a film about him, that it seemed the movie industry were noticing him again. The decision to make the film was catapulted forward when Orry Kelly's memoir, which had been sent to a nephew in Sydney after his death and promptly forgotten, was rediscovered. Orry Kelly had requested that it not be made public until after all the people mentioned had passed on. And we find out why when we discover that on a young and very poor Orry Kelly's arrival in the US, he had a relationship with a young man named Archie Leach - later to go by the name of Cary Grant.
Leaving his personal life aside, Orry Kelly should be remembered for his amazing contributions to the Golden Age of Hollywood.













Just realised that I didn’t say anything about the actual book! This is meticulously researched. Over half of the book is actually accompanying notes, appendixes, etc, including a list of every movie, stage show and revue he designed for, information about any person mentioned in the text and more. As such, the book itself reads as a list of facts. There are some interesting tidbits but for a more readable book, I’d look for the memoir, Women I’ve Undressed by Orry Kelly. It is worth a look just for the costume drawings. But Orry Kelly has a dry wit and a sharp tongue and he doesn’t hold back!

>60 JayneCM: I'd heard of Orry Kelly, so I always notice his name in the credits. Just last week I watched The Little Foxes, starring the fabulous Bette Davis, on Kanopy and saw that he was the designer.

Putting Women I've Undressed on the wish list.

>61 pamelad: I haven't seen it - I am slowly working my way through all the movies I can find from that era.

Book 3. The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall

BingoDOG impulse read

My library has been closed for two weeks and was to reopen on 4th January. But we had quite a lot of rain in the last week or so and the library suffered flood damage. So they opened yesterday morning for two hours - thank goodness I was in town and popped in as they will now be closed for at least another week.

I saw this one of the shelf and grabbed it as it was Australian and thought it would fit into my Australian BingoDOG somewhere.
As you may know, I love dystopia, cli-fi, future world scenario books. I really liked the believability of this world - it really would just be a few steps to reach the world the author describes. Especially with the world the way it is at the moment. We need to scan in to shops, cafes, restauarants, the library, at the moment where I live for COVID contact tracing. So it could be easily happen that the government decides that it would be easier if everyone had a number that they could scan in - maybe worn on a wristband. Then a step to chipping everyone, like in this book. I'm certainly not an alarmist, conspiracy theory person, but I can certainly see that a future like this could be a possibility.
Anyway, I liked that beginning and the ending, but the middle seemed to get a bit lost and off track for me. But still a quick and interesting read.

Book 4. Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees by Thor Hanson

GenreCAT non fiction

As the author's son says, "The world could do without us, but it couldn't do without bees."

This book goes from looking at how much of a Big Mac burger would remain without bees, to Colony Collapse Disorder, to native bees of many countries.

>64 JayneCM: This looks like a good one! Bees are so important to our environment and agriculture and they are so cute. (I am not allergic though and have only been stung once when I was a little kid.) If you like memoirs, I'd also recommend The Honey Bus which I read last year. I am not personally a big memoir fan but I appreciated the story and the family bonding through bee keeping.

>65 This-n-That: Thank you - I will add that one to my list. I am plannng a whole category on bees for 2022.

Book 5. The Yield by Tara June Winch

BingoDOG - by or about a marginalised group

>65 This-n-That: - I see I have that in my recommend category as a BB from you last year.

Another good book on bees is Robbing the Bees by Holly Bishop. (can't get touchstone to work)

>66 JayneCM: Another good bee book is A Book of Bees by Sue Hubbell. And as well as The Honey Bus on my wishlist (also, I think, a BB from This-n-that), I have A Honeybee Heart has Five Openings by Helen Jukes on the list, I've heard it highly recommended.

>68 dudes22: >69 Jackie_K: Thank you!

Book 6. Keep Smiling Through: My Wartime Story by Vera Lynn with Virginia Lewis-Jones

Book with 'wartime' in title

This is a book about a specific time in Vera Lynn's wartime experiences, when she travelled to Burma to perform for the troops, and was written when she was 100 years old!
Vera Lynn was the only ENSA performer to travel to the 'forgotten' war. And it was interesting to note that not everyone agreed with the trip. Apparently it was debated in the House of Commons when Lord Winterton, a Conservative politcian, suggested that the men needed some sterner music to prepare them for fighting. It was thought that all this sentimental drivel would lead to deserting and a loss of morale.
However reading many of the letters sent to Vera, both at the time and many years later, her visit had the opposite effect.
One letter says: "Dad said your visit brought so much joy and life back into the troops when they most needed it as they thought their country had forgotten about them."

Book 7. Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

ScaredyKIT graphic novel/YA

Now that I have read this graphic novel version of Ray Bradbury's book, I will definitely be working the original book into a future ScaredyKIT month!

>71 JayneCM: I think a woman such as Vera Lynn reminding soldiers that they were fighting for something, as well as against something, would be an excellent morale boost. Lynn must've had such an interesting life.

>72 JayneCM: Yikes, I remember the movie! I had nightmares for months (years?) and still remember parts of it.

That is an impressive number of challenges you've taken on! Good luck and good enjoyment of the many books to go through in 2021!

Book 8. Chasing The Light by Jesse Blackadder

GeoKIT Polar

Book 9. I Give My Marriage A Year by Holly Wainwright

BingoDOG time word in the title

Book 10. Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty

Read Around The World - Ireland

>78 JayneCM: Ooh, I've got that on the pile for this month too!

>79 Jackie_K: It was great. Such an articulate writer, not only about nature and the environment but in explaining his autism and how he deals with it.

Book 11. The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin by Stephanie Knipper

January AlphaKIT letter P

February 2021

12. The Weekend by Charlotte Wood - finished 4th February 2021 - BingoDOG Senior citizen protaganist
13. In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan - finished 5th February 2021 - January 1001 Books Challenge
14. That Kind Of Mother by Rumaan Alam - finished 9th February 2021 - January AlphaKIT letter M
15. Tourmaline by Randolph Stow - finished 14th February 2021 - BingoDOG one word title
16. French Exit by Patrick deWitt - finished 18th February 2021 - January RandomCAT Laughter
17. Stars Over The Southern Ocean by J.H. Fletcher - finished 24th February 2021 - The Apple Isle
18. There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumara - finished 28th February 2021 - February AlphaKIT letter T

18/185 = 9.73%

Read Around The World 1/5 = 20%
Prize Winners 0/5 = 0%
Wartime 1/5 = 20%
1001 Monthly Challenge 1/12 = 8.33% In Watermelon Sugar
The Apple Isle 1/5 = 20% Stars Over The Southern Ocean
Middle Grade 0/5 = 0%
BingoDOG 6/25 = 24% The Weekend, Tourmaline
RandomCAT 1/12 = 8.33% French Exit
GenreCAT 1/12 = 8.33%
HistoryCAT 0/12 = 0%
AlphaKIT 3/26 =11.54% That Kind Of Mother, There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job
MysteryKIT 0/12 = 0%
ScaredyKIT 1/12 = 8.33%
SFFKIT 0/12 = 0%
GeoKIT 1/7 = 14.3%
KITastrophe 1/5 = 20%
Group Reads 0/13 = 0%

Book 12. The Weekend by Charlotte Wood

BingoDOG Senior citizen protaganist

>83 JayneCM: Three stars for The Weekend means you weren't that impressed? Neither was I. Our book club read it and thought that, for women who were meant to be friends, they didn't like one another very much. Some of us thought that the author wasn't much in sympathy with her elderly characters.

>72 JayneCM: This is one book I'd like to read for a future ScaredyKIT theme too, and I'd love to read both the original and graphic novel versions.

Book 13. In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan

January 1001 Books Challenge

Interesting!

Book 14. That Kind Of Mother by Rumaan Alam

January AlphaKIT letter M

Book 15. Tourmaline by Randolph Stow

BingoDOG one word title

Very atmospheric if you want a description of an outback town.

Book 16. French Exit by Patrick deWitt

January RandomCAT - Laughter

One of the characters, Joan, talking about love and marriage as you get older:

"What you want is to know someone's there; you also want them to leave you alone."

So true!

>89 JayneCM: Haha this is me when I am working from home and my BF has the day off!

>89 JayneCM: Yup!

>89 JayneCM: Sounds like something my cats would say! :>)

Book 17. Stars Over The Southern Ocean by J.H. Fletcher

The Apple Isle

Book 18. There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumara

February AlphaKIT letter T

I really couldn’t engage with the main character. There were funny parts but they were too few and far between.

March 2021

19. Earthlings by Sayaka Murata - finished 2nd March 2021 - January SFFKIT leftover from 2020
20. A Year on the Farm by Sally Wise - finished 5th March 2021 - The Apple Isle
21. They Threw Us Away by Daniel Kraus - finished 7th March 2021 - Middle Grade
22. The Dollmaker of Krakow by R.M. Romero - finished 9th March 2021 - February AlphaKIT letter K
23. Order of the Wicked by Danielle Paige - finished 11th March 2021 - March ScaredyKIT Short Stories and Novellas
24. Black Cockatoo by Carl Merrison - finished 12th March 2021 - BingoDOG suggested by another generation - my niece
25. When You Trap A Tiger by Tae Keller - winner 2021 Newbery Medal - finished 15th March 2021 - 2021 Prizewinners
26. Deeper Water by Jessie Cole - finished 16th March 2021 - BingoDOG classical element in title
27. Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson - finished 21st March 2021 - BingoDOG 20 or fewer LT members
28. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware - finished 23rd March 2021 - January MysteryKIT - water
29. The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham - finished 24th March 2021 - BingoDOG heartily recommend
30. The Dressmaker's Secret by Rosalie Ham - finished 28th March 2021 - BingoDOG someone you'd be friends with
31. Tirra Lirra By The River by Jessica Anderson - finished 29th March 2021 - March AlphaKIT letter R

31/185 = 16.76%

Read Around The World 1/5 = 20%
Prize Winners 1/5 = 20% When You Trap A Tiger
Wartime 1/5 = 20%
1001 Monthly Challenge 1/12 = 8.33%
The Apple Isle 2/5 = 40% A Year on the Farm
Middle Grade 1/5 = 20% They Threw Us Away
BingoDOG 11/25 = 44% Black Cockatoo, Deeper Water, Song of the Crocodile, The Dressmaker, The Dressmaker's Secret
RandomCAT 1/12 = 8.33%
GenreCAT 1/12 = 8.33%
HistoryCAT 0/12 = 0%
AlphaKIT 5/26 =19.23% The Dollmaker of Krakow, Tirra Lirra By The River
MysteryKIT 1/12 = 8.33% The Woman in Cabin 10
ScaredyKIT 2/12 = 16.67% Order of the Wicked
SFFKIT 1/12 = 8.33% Earthlings
GeoKIT 1/7 = 14.3%
KITastrophe 1/5 = 20%
Group Reads 0/13 = 0%

Book 19. Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

January SFFKIT leftover from 2020

Totally bizarre and creepy, but mesmerising all the same.

Book 20. A Year on the Farm by Sally Wise

The Apple Isle

You're making good progress!
>97 JayneCM: That looks good!

Book 21. They Threw Us Away by Daniel Kraus

Middle Grade

>99 JayneCM: a BB for me!

>100 Tess_W: It is a very quick read as each page is a diary entry and some are only one sentence. It is more about his thoughts on sheep farming and the environment in general than detailed descriptions.

Book 22. The Dollmaker of Krakow by R.M. Romero

February AlphaKIT letter K

Beautifully written - and that cover!
This is a middle grade historical fiction based on the ghetto in Krakow during WWII. The magical/fantasy element really helps to make this topic accessible to a younger audience without detracting from the seriousness of the facts. Yes, I cried at the ending.
This is a wonderful book for all ages.

Book 23. Order of the Wicked by Danielle Paige

March ScaredyKIT Short Stories and Novellas

I love a series with quests, good versus evil, magic, all that good stuff. Throw in the fact that it is a twist on the Oz books and I’m there!
This is one of the many prequel novellas to the Dorothy Must Die series. Imagine an Oz where Dorothy is the baddie, come from the Other Place to take over Oz. I think I will have to read the whole series now!

Book 24. Black Cockatoo by Carl Merrison

BingoDOG suggested by another generation - my niece

A quick middle grade read about a young Aboriginal girl who rescues a black cockatoo. In only 62 pages this book conveys a real sense of the alienation that exists in the community, between white and black, but particularly between the generations in the community as the younger people struggle to bridge both worlds.

Mia’s grandmother says to her “You live in both worlds. You will be strong both ways.”

Yet for many, such as Mia’s older brother, it becomes too difficult to live in both worlds. It is hard to be strong in yourself all the time. And often this leads to trouble.

The author is a Jaru and Kija man and based this book on his own experiences growing up in a remote town.

>102 JayneCM: - I think I'll take a BB for this. And that is a great cover.

>104 JayneCM: That's a BB for me!

>104 JayneCM: A BB for me, also!

Book 25. When You Trap A Tiger by Tae Keller

Prizewinners - 2021 Newbery Medal

Book 26. Deeper Water by Jessie Cole

BingoDOG classical element in title

Book 27. Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson

BingoDOG 20 or fewer LT members

This book, although it doesn’t give a timeline, seems to be set around 1950s-1960s, certainly before the 1967 referendum.
It follows an Aboriginal family living in a small country town where relations are full of tension. It is a powder keg waiting to explode.
The chapters alternate between the living family and the ancestral spirits and spirits of deceased family members who are watching over them.
It builds to an amazing climax as the spirits sing to affect change for the remaining living family members.
It is a damning account of what the white people have done, and continue to do, to our first people - not only with violence but also by uncaring and inconsiderate treatment of their culture, such as the town building the tip on one of the sacred ceremonial grounds.

>110 JayneCM: Interesting review and I will save this in my Australia tbr list!

>111 MissBrangwen: There is a great non-fiction book that came out last year, describing the Songlines called Songlines: The Power and the Promise by Margo Neale.

Book 28. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

January MysteryKIT - Water

Well, I read it in a day, so I guess you can say it kept my attention! I liked the ending, that's all I'll say.

>110 JayneCM: Song of the Crocodile sounds marvellous. It's the second Aboriginal authored novel I've saved to my If AusLit Prices Go Down list this year (I can't make myself spend £21-00 on a novel I'll read once then give away). I liked your review of Black Cockatoo too.

>112 JayneCM: Thanks for pointing that one out to me!

>113 JayneCM: This was one of the first thrillers I read and the book that got me into reading crime and mystery apart from just the Agatha Christies!

Book 29. The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham

BingoDOG heartily recommend

I first read this book in 2001 just after its release and adored it. I could picture every one of the characters and this book certainly has the whole cast of quirky small town characters with all their dark secrets.
When the movie came out, I was a bit worried it wouldn’t live up to my imagination of the characters but it was fabulous. Any movie with Hugo Weaving and Judy Davis is going to be great!
The movie did leave out what I felt was the crowning glory of Tilly’s revenge though.
I decided to reread this book for two reasons. Firstly, I had slotted it in to the heartily recommend category for BingoDOG so needed to confirm that I still did! Secondly, The Dressmaker’s Secret, the sequel, has been released and I cannot wait to see what Tilly has been up to. I hope Sergeant Farrat makes an appearance as well.
If you love a quirky Australian small town feel, complete with all the dark secrets you could wish for, give this a try. And of course, the fabulous descriptions of the clothing!

>116 JayneCM: I have that one as an audio book. Thank you for your great review. I will make sure I read it soon!

>116 JayneCM: - I'm going to take a BB for this, but when I used your links to get to the book, the first one goes to the movie and the second book to a book by a different author. I can find it, but thought you might want to know.

>116 JayneCM: I loved that film. It was structured like a historical revenge drama but with the female protagonist coming out on top. I didn't know there's a sequel book so thank you for that. ETA: The Dressmaker's Secret.

>116 JayneCM: Fantastic!!! We just saw the trailer of the movie on Netflix and decided that we absolutely must watch it! I didn't know it was a book, though - so even better!

>116 JayneCM: My husband and I watched the movie, I think on your recommendation, Jayne! I liked it even if I was a bit confused much of the time. My husband thought the tone was all over the place--not sure how much he liked it.

>116 JayneCM: My library has it! It has a different cover and I can remember looking at it when it was on the new book shelves. I'll check it out soon.

Book 30. The Dressmaker's Secret by Rosalie Ham

BingoDOG someone you'd be friends with

I still enjoyed this but not as much as the original book. The characters are even crazier than before!
Probably a lot of my rating for this book came from the dressmaking descriptions and the time period it was set in. I love vintage and my era of choice ends around this time period - 1953, the year of the queen’s coronation. So I loved the descriptions of the fashions. It is also set in Melbourne where I grew up and it is always good to read about familiar places.
I think most people would rate this lower though as it was a little repetitive in its themes and the characters were even more over the top, although this didn’t bother me. I thought they were still hilarious.
As I choose it for the BingoDOG someone I’d be friends with, I should mention that of course it would be Tilly Dunnage, the dressmaker, I’d enjoy meeting. As well as Sergeant Farrat.

>123 JayneCM: the original has been on my TBR pile for sometime. I need to to get it (as well as about 400 other books!)

Book 31. Tirra Lirra By The River by Jessica Anderson

March AlphaKIT letter R

Like most Australians of a certain age, I first read this book in high school. I do remember enjoying it but not all that much detail.
I am assuming we studied it as it had won the Miles Franklin about a decade before so ended up on the school syllabus. I definitely relate to Nora much more now. I don’t think many teenagers could truly understand Nora as the story is about the elderly Nora looking back at her life. I think most teenagers would read this and think that they wouldn’t mess up their lives like that so they would have to look back and think their life was wasted. It is not until we get to a certain age ourselves that we really understand Nora and how easy it is for your life to end up somewhere other than where you hoped and planned for.
I don’t think this would get past the curriculum board now with topics such as sexual incompatibility, affairs and a briefly described but horrific abortion.
The book is definitely character rather than plot driven, with beautiful writing. Although it covers Nora’s whole life, not much happens, which I see as the whole point of the book. How much does one life add up to really?

>125 JayneCM: a great review, Jane. It's going on my WL. As to your last question: In reality, infinitesimal.

>125 JayneCM: - I think I'll take a BB for this too. I like books that are written this way.

>125 JayneCM: It's years since I read this and your review makes me want to read it again.

>126 Tess_W: >127 dudes22: I hope you enjoy it.
>128 pamelad: Did you study it at school too?

April 2021

32. Under The Golden Sun by Jenny Ashcroft - finished 4th April 2021 - March AlphaKIT letter U
33. Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter - finished 6th April 2021 - April GenreCAT literary fiction
34. The Dark Lady's Mask by Mary Sharratt - finished 8th April 2021 - March HistoryCAT Early Modern History c. 1500-1800
35. The Commandant by Jessica Anderson - finished 12th April 2021 - April 1001 Challenge read a book with a cover that attracts you for some reason
36. Maggie's Going Nowhere by Rose Hartley - finished 13th April 2021 - BingoDOG title describes you
37. The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Dare - finished 18th April 2021 - Read Around The World Nigeria
38. The Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant - finished 19th April 2021 - winner of the 2020 Costa Children's Book
39. The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale - finished 21st April 2021 - February ScaredyKIT Creepy Nonfiction
40. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah - finished 25th April 2021 - GeoKIT North America
41. Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews - finished 27th April 2021 - February SFFKIT - Sentient Things
42. Fragile Monsters by Catherne Menon - finished 30th April 2021 - GeoKIT Asia - Malaysia

42/185 = 22.7%

Read Around The World 2/5 = 40% The Girl With The Louding Voice
Prize Winners 2/5 = 40% The Voyage of the Sparrowhawk
Wartime 1/5 = 20%
1001 Monthly Challenge 2/12 = 16.67% The Commandant
The Apple Isle 2/5 = 40%
Woolly Ones 1/5 = 20%
BingoDOG 12/25 = 48% Maggie's Going Nowhere
RandomCAT 1/12 = 8.33%
GenreCAT 2/12 = 16.67% Grief Is The Thing With Feathers
HistoryCAT 1/12 = 8.33% The Dark Lady's Mask
AlphaKIT 6/26 =23.08% Under The Golden Sun
MysteryKIT 1/12 = 8.33%
ScaredyKIT 3/12 = 25% The Wicked Boy
SFFKIT 2/12 = 16.67% Clean Sweep
GeoKIT 3/7 = 42.86% The Four Winds, Fragile Monsters
KITastrophe 1/5 = 20%
Group Reads 0/13 = 0%

Book 32. Under The Golden Sun by Jenny Ashcroft

March AlphaKIT letter U

About halfway through this book, I started to think the author wasn’t Australian. Just little things, like calling Jaffas Jaffies and a few other things.
Then there was a scene where the cattle station owner says he will show the little English boy his first koala and he picks a wild koala off a tree and hands it to him to cuddle. No! My husband has to relocate wild koalas or take them to the vet if they find sick or injured ones and they are not cute and cuddly! Their claws are sharp and they get very angry when they are scared. And also, you would not be able to pick one off a tree from the ground. They are not stupid enough to sit at predator level!
Nevertheless, this book was enjoyable. It served its purpose of being a relaxing read for our Easter break.

Book 33. Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter

April GenreCAT literary fiction

In this case, hope is not the thing with feathers. Yet Crow ultimately brings hope as he helps the family manage their grief.
This is a short beautifully written book about a man and two boys struggling to cope after the death of their wife/mother. Crow appears as a type of grief counsellor. Like a slightly horrific Nanny McPhee, he promises, “I won’t leave until you don’t need me anymore.’
It is told from three points of view - Dad, Crow, Boys. The boys sections are particularly heartbreaking as they try to do things, even naughty things they know she would have hated, just so they can remember their mum for a bit longer.
For its length, this book packs a punch. There are absolutely beautiful, sorrowful lines such as when Crow says he found their home to be ‘every surface dead Mum, every crayon, tractor, coat, welly, covered with a film of grief.’

You did it again, Jayne; hit me with a BB!

Book 34. The Dark Lady's Mask by Mary Sharratt

March HistoryCAT Early Modern History c. 1500-1800

Historical novels based on actual historical figures are my catnip!
Shakespeare scholars have been debating forever on so many questions of his life. This novel covers two of these questions - what if Shakespeare had a female coauthor for some of his plays; and what if this lady was the Dark Lady of Sonnets 127-152.
This book really drew you into the time period. The author’s descriptions of everything from clothing, architecture, food, etc, set the scenes beautifully.
We follow Aemilia Bassano Lanier from her childhood through to her becoming the first published female English poet.
The book is also a wonderful exploration of the treatment and rights of women in this time.
Mainly a book based on a ‘what if’ premise, it is well worth a read for a dip into Renaissance England and Italy.

Book 35. The Commandant by Jessica Anderson

April 1001 Challenge read a book with a cover that attracts you for some reason

I hovered between 3.5 and 4 stars for this. Jessica Anderson’s writing is a slow burn, very character driven, which in such a setting it must be.
Convict settlements were very isolated and quickly became very insular. Oftentimes the line between captor and captive could become blurred. Patrick Logan was the real life commandant of the Moreton Bay penal settlement (now Brisbane) from 1826 to his death in 1830. He was hated by the convicts for his extreme punishments and cruelty yet like most of these men he declared he was simply following orders. This quote from the novel shows what many thought of the convicts:

“But he was never cruel in a hot way. It was more that he thought of them as so many building blocks to be put to his use.”

It is an unfortunate fact of Australia’s history that many of the men in charge were not of the best character. Australia was the place you sent younger sons who would not inherit in England and thus had to make their own way. Or the sons who had proven to be ‘difficult’ and needed to be sent out of the way, such as Dr Cowper in the book. We ended up with some shockers! The isolation of the settlements also meant that the men in charge could take matters into their own hands with often little or no concern of reprisal.
The book is interesting as it shows the minutiae of the daily life of these people who have been thrown together in this small community and must muddle along together as best they can, whether they actually like each other or not.

>129 JayneCM: I'd finished school by the time Tirra Lirra by the River was published, so read it in my twenties. It's an odd choice for adolescents, even though it's a good book. When I was 17 I thought that 20 was old!

Glad you've been able to fit in a trip to Loch Ard Gorge. So much better without all the people! I'm thinking now of other places to visit while the tourists are away. Perhaps the penguins on Phillip Island.

>135 JayneCM: I thought the female, domestic perspective on the penal colony was interesting.

>135 JayneCM: It's a lovely cover. And a good review, putting this on my ever-expanding wishlist...

>135 JayneCM: - That's an interesting cover considering the theme of the book. Some of what you said I knew about (why men came there, etc) and I read The Secret River which told some of the same stuff. It's the first of a trilogy but I haven't gotten to the other two yet.

Book 36. Maggie's Going Nowhere by Rose Hartley

BingoDOG title describes you

This was just the book I needed - a quick undemanding read to just enjoy. It was set in Melbourne where I grew up. I lived near Camberwell where Maggie’s mother lived and I worked in Smith St, Collingwood, where Maggie worked. It was like a little trip down memory lane!
The book made me laugh although I would probably slap Maggie in real life as she is the most annoyingly self-centred and pathetic character I’ve read in a while.
Still a fun read to while away an afternoon.

So why does the title describe me? Because, like Maggie, “I’m a nice middle-class girl. I went to a private school. Worrying about what other people think was what I ate for breakfast for eighteen years.”
Unfortunately, unlike Maggie, I am still doing what everyone expects of me! Which isn’t necessarily what I would choose to do. Such is life!

Book 37. The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Dare

Read Around The World Nigeria

“... a girl-child is a wasted waste, a thing with no voice, no dreams, no brain.”

In Nigeria, many girls are treated as commodities, worthwhile only for their bride-price or the amount they can be sold for as a housemaid.
Adunni is fourteen years old and all she wants is an education so that she can one day help other girls like her. Before her death, her mother had worked hard to pay for school fees but now Adunni cannot continue her schooling. The book follows her struggle to find a way to continue her education and find her voice.

“My mama say education will give me a voice. I want more than just a voice. I want a louding voice.”

The book is written in the first person, using Adunni’s broken English. As the book progresses, her language becomes more grammatically correct as she studies to improve her English. I found this method to be powerful and beautifully written as you really felt as though Adunni is speaking to you.
Altogether a powerful book.

>140 JayneCM: On my WL that goes!

Book 38. The Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant

winner of the 2020 Costa Children's Book Award

This was our latest read aloud and we all loved it! This is my kind of children’s book - action and adventure, great friendships, set in the past. I must admit to not having time for most middle grade/YA books set in modern times which just seem to focus on bad relationships, bullying, and phones. Call me old-fashioned!
The book is mainly set just after WWI. Lotti and Ben set out on a perilous journey to find their lost family members.
A wonderful read.

>142 JayneCM: Beautiful cover!

>140 JayneCM: Adding this one to the wish list.

>142 JayneCM: - What age level would you say this is for? I see you are calling it middle grade/Ya - around 13?

>145 dudes22: My 9 year old loved it, as did my 12 year old. There is mention of death and war injuries and the horrible uncle threatens to shoot Lotti's dog, but there is nothing too violent. The writing style is very gentle.

>146 JayneCM: - Thanks - I'm always on the lookout for books that boys will enjoy.

>147 dudes22: My boys are going through a boat adventure stage. So we have been doing the Swallows and Amazons series and then I saw this one when it won the Costa. I also have Of Boys and Boats lined up next.

Book 39. The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale

February ScaredyKIT Creepy Nonfiction

Book 40. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

GeoKIT North America

Powerful and compelling says the recommendation on the front of the book. And it is!
This was a quick read simply because I didn’t want to put it down.
If you didn’t know that this was historical fiction, you could be forgiven for reading it as an apocalyptic novel - people holding each other up at gunpoint to steal petrol or food, food riots, tent cities set up as people travelled the roads to find food or some poorly paying work.
Yet this is the story of Elsa, who lived through the Dust Bowl, travelled to California and joined the union movement. Hers could be the story of any number of Americans during this period. Elsa just wants to keep her family together and her children fed but she discovers that sometimes you need to stand up and say no more.
Get ready for a good cry at the ending!

“The four winds have blown us here, people from all across the country, to the very edge of this great land, and now, at last, we make our stand, fight for what we know to be right. We fight for our American dream, that it will be possible again.”

>150 JayneCM: Many years ago I read John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, which is also about people fleeing the Oklahoma dust bowl for California. It has stayed in my mind ever since.

>151 pamelad: I have that on my reread list as I first read it decades ago.

>150 JayneCM: I've been meaning to put a hold in for this at the library. I just checked Overdrive and I would be number 342 (there are 8 copies) for it. Looked at the library catalog for the hardback and I was very surprised, I'm next in line! Even though the library is now open for short hours, many are obviously still using the ebooks rather than go in or use curbside pickup. I wonder if that will be a change people make permanently.

>153 clue: I had to wait a long time for my library hold. I just can’t do reading on a screen; I need a book!
Certainly online seems to have become much more prevalent. Even though we have been out of lockdown for quite a while, there are still shopfronts closing down as many people have not returned to in person shopping.

Book 41. Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

February SFFKIT Sentient Things

This was a fun romp with a classic werewolf/vampire love triangle. A fun way to while away the afternoon. The best part was the inn itself. I thought that was intriguing - and I’d love to be able to tell my house what to do like that. Imagine the renovating you could do!

Hi, Jayne. Just catching up on your thread - that takes a long time to get through as I have to check the titles you mention at the library, place holds, etc. You've certainly been getting some good reading done!

Book 42. Fragile Monsters by Catherine Menon

GeoKIT Asia

This book is set in Malaysia, about three generations of women. The chapters alternate between the past and the present.
The writing is beautiful and evocative - a wonderfully crafted novel.
But I just couldn’t feel for the characters.
And it is definitely a slow burn. The second half is faster paced but I can see why quite a few people DNFd it before then.

May 2021

43. Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold - finished 3rd May 2021 - May GenreCAT Short Stories or Essays
44. Three Apples Fell From The Sky by Narine Abgaryan - finished 7th May 2021 - February RandomCAT Fruit and Veggies
45. A Year in the Mud and the Toast and the Tears by Georgie Brooks - finished 8th May 2021 - BingoDOG Set somewhere you'd like to visit - Adelaide Hills
46. The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay - finished 11th May 2021 - Random Reads
47. The Last Bookshop by Emma Young - finished 12th May 2021 - BingoDOG new to you author
48. Confession With Blue Horses by Sophie Hardach - finished 15th May 2021 - Read Around The World (Germany)
49. Stone Sky Gold Mountain by Mirandi Riwoe - finished 19th May 2021 - February HistoryCAT 1800-Modern Day
50. Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland - finished 22nd May 2021 - April AlphaKIT letter A
51. The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes by Ruth Hogan - finished 26th May 2021 - April AlphaKIT letter W
52. The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess - finished 29th May 2021 - Random Reads
53. Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella - finished 30th May 2021 - March RandomCAT It's a Surprise!
54. The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer - finished 31st May 2021 - February MysteryKIT Pastiche Mystery

54/185 = 29.19%

Read Around The World 3/5 = 60% Confession With Blue Horses
Prize Winners 2/5 = 40%
Wartime 1/5 = 20%
1001 Monthly Challenge 2/12 = 16.67%
The Apple Isle 2/5 = 40%
Woolly Ones 1/5 = 20%
BingoDOG 14/25 = 56% A Year in the Mud and the Toast and the Tears, The Last Bookshop
RandomCAT 2/12 = 16.67% Three Apples Fell From The Sky, Surprise Me
GenreCAT 3/12 = 25% Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold
HistoryCAT 2/12 = 16.67% Stone Sky Gold Mountain
AlphaKIT 8/26 =30.77% Florence Adler Swims Forever, The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes
MysteryKIT 2/12 = 16.67% The Case of the Missing Marquess
ScaredyKIT 3/12 = 25%
SFFKIT 2/12 = 16.67%
GeoKIT 3/7 = 42.86%
KITastrophe 1/5 = 20%
Random Reads 1/13 = 7.69% The Animals in That Country, The Last Book Party

Book 43. Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold

May GenreCAT Short Stories or Essays

I absolutely love folk and fairy tales and retellings of them. This collection are retellings of folktales of the British Isles, set in modern times. Various authors contributed, all female.
I enjoyed them all and had a few favourites. I have always been drawn to human/animal transformation tales so Between Sea and Sky (the selkie) and The Panther Princess were favourites.
It was great that the original tales were published in the book as well. So I read each retelling, then read the original.

Book 44. Three Apples Fell From The Sky by Narine Abgaryan

February RandomCAT Fruit and Veggies

This is one of those gentle, calm, character driven reads that just makes you sigh with happiness.
It is set in a remote Armenian village that has been torn apart by war, drought, famine and earthquakes, yet still the villagers continue their daily lives.
The ending is a beautiful surprise and a fitting wrap up.
It does jump around in time so characters that died in the last chapter suddenly reappear as the author has switched time periods again. But once you get used to that, it flows gently along and you become invested in the village and what will happen to all the residents.

>160 JayneCM: - Well you've hit me with another BB.

>161 dudes22: I hope you enjoy it. It is the perfect lazy afternoon read.

>160 JayneCM: Ooh, definitely a BB for me too! That sounds lovely!

Book 45. A Year in the Mud and the Toast and the Tears by Georgie Brooks

BingoDOG Set somewhere you'd like to visit - Adelaide Hills

First let me say that this kind of book is totally my feel good catnip read. Hence the high star rating. It is also set in Australia and written by someone around my own age with my sense of humour so I found it hilarious.
Any book that starts with ‘A Year of’, I automatically want to read. Even more so if it is about self-sufficiency, rural living or anything related.
This book had me hooked from the first pages where the author talks about the TV show The Good Life and how she can still hum the entire theme song. Just hearing that theme song throws me back to Saturday evenings in my childhood, making sure dinner was over and cleaned up so we would be ready for The Good Life, in the days where you had to wait a week for each episode! In truly modern fashion though, I have just binge watched the whole series after signing up to Britbox. Still my inspiration!
I lived in the Adelaide Hills until I was five and I still love going back there.

>160 JayneCM: A BB for me, too! I don't think I've ever read anything Armenian.

>164 JayneCM: But did the author have a Margo next door? It's only the Good Life with Margo and Jerry! :D

>166 spiralsheep: Margo is my favourite part - "Well thank you very much, Jerry!"

>167 JayneCM: When they make paper hats, and hers is made out of the Daily Telegraph because that's the only newspaper that matches her standards, lol. Iconic. And the costuming generally. I mean, Penelope Keith is a good actress but the dresses made Margo a perfect character.

Book 46. The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay

Random Reads

As the main character says, “this is batshit crazy.”
And this book absolutely is!
It is about a pandemic where the virus gives humans the ability to talk to and hear animals, birds, reptiles, even insects. But you don’t just hear them when they are ‘talking’, such as a dog barking - you can feel them, taste them, sense them; their body language, every mark they make just by being in a space.

“She’s speaking in odours, echoes, noises with random meaning popping out of them.”

People are going insane listening to all that the animals have to say. And some of it is less than complimentary!

The book is set in the north of Australia where Jean is a park guide at a native animal park.
It is a very Australian book, very gritty and in your face; there are no niceties here.

Totally engrossing read. The pace never lets up. Well worth a read if you’ve ever wondered what animals are ‘saying’ about us!

>168 spiralsheep: oh yes, I love some of Margo’s outfits!

Book 47. The Last Bookshop by Emma Young

BingoDOG new to you author

As you can see, I read this in one night. So it was obviously an enjoyable read. Duh, it is about a bookshop owner and has book references, in particular plenty of C.S. Lewis. And Cait’s car is named Dent for H2G2 fans.
But it was pretty formulaic - you knew how the book would play out from very early on. Still a lovely cosy read, particularly if you have a love of bricks and mortar bookshops.
The author was a bookseller so the main gist of the book is about the change from in-person to online shopping. And even the people who do come into the shop may not be purchasing. Such as the guy who, when asked if he needed help, replied that he was just making notes of what to get for his Kindle. Wouldn’t you say that you were just browsing?!

Book 48. Confession With Blue Horses by Sophie Hardach

Read Around The World - Germany

This book was published in 2019, the 30 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
A book that discusses the still fraught relationship that exists in Berlin and how difficult it is to leave the past behind.

Ella was a child in East Berlin in 1987 when her family attempted an escape to the west. The book alternates between Ella’s childhood and 2010, where Ella is in Berlin, trying to piece together what happened to her family.
I have not read a lot about East Germany and I certainly did not know that there are still archivists working to piece together, literally, the shredded files of the Stasi. Ella is hoping that her mother’s file has been found so she can find out who betrayed them.

This is a powerful book, very moving. It is a book that exists in the grey areas - the line between right and wrong is very blurry. How do we really know what is right or wrong? It is very often not that easy to define.

Ella’s confusion, her shyness and fear, caused by living under such a regime, is palpable.

“Men like Kuboweit had owned our lives; we had obeyed them even when they had been nowhere near us. And we obeyed them still; we kept that instinct not to stand out, not to attract the wrong sort of attention, not to ask the wrong kind of questions.”

https://www.facebook.com/events/464528114815521/?ref=newsfeed

Some of you may be interested in this free online talk wth Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Book 49. Stone Sky Gold Mountain by Miranda Riwoe

February HistoryCAT 1800 - Modern Day

Book 50. Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland

April AlphaKIT letter A

I found this book to be a very relaxing, enjoyable read. It is set in one of my favourite time periods, the 1930s, so that probably helped.
It was interesting that it was true. Florence was the author’s great-great aunt. While there were a few alterations of the facts to make the novel read better, these were limited.
The most bizarre fact I learnt from this novel was about the Atlantic City infant incubator exhibit. A major part of the story is about the premature birth of Fannie’s baby. And I was totally amazed that in order to see her baby, she had to visit the exhibit on the Boardwalk. Imagine having your premature baby used as a sideshow exhibit? If a baby looked like it had only a short time left to live, they would be taken off display and the mother called to say goodbye. I was totally flabbergasted by this!

Book 51. The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes by Ruth Hogan

April AlphaKIT letter W

Book 52. The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess

Random Reads

Book 53. Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella

March RandomCAT It's a Surprise!

The book was enjoyable and made me laugh. But any time I read books like this, I realise contemporary chick lit isn’t really my thing! It was good to have a quick undemanding read for Lockdown 4.0 though!

>178 JayneCM: I hope you're out of lockdown soon, and keeping well meantime! They're loosening the restrictions here, and I worry it's too soon.

Book 54. The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer

February MysteryKIT Pastiche Mystery

>178 JayneCM: Hi Jayne. It doesn't look as though the lockdown will be over by Friday, but I'm sure we'll defeat this latest outbreak. The streets are almost deserted, and almost everyone at the supermarket is wearing a mask, so it seems that people are doing the right thing. I hope the home schooling is going well.

>181 pamelad: We certainly have it easier, being in regional Victoria. Hope you are keeping well - and have lots to read!

June 2021

55. The Sisters of Battle Road: The Extraordinary True Story of Six Sisters Evacuated from Wartime London by J.M. Maloney - finished 4th June 2021 - non-fiction with 'wartime' in the title
56. Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel - finished 8th June 2021 - April RandomCAT Let's go to the Library - Tess_W
57. The Girls Who Went To War: Heroism, Heartache and Happiness in the Wartime Women's Forces by Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi - finished 11th June 2021 - non-fiction with 'wartime' in the title
58. Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - finished 14th June 2021 - June AlphaKIT letter C
59. A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge - finished 17th June 2021 - April ScaredyKIT Possession
60. The Book of Evidence by John Banville - finished 20th June 2021 - March Challenge in a Challenge - Read a book by an Irish author or set in Ireland
61. The Seven Sisters: Maia's Story by Lucinda Riley - finished 22nd June 2021 - GeoKIT Central and South America
62. I Am Behind You by John Ajvide Lindqvist - finished 25th June 2021 - May AlphaKIT letter I
63. The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman - finished 26th June 2021 - GeoKIT Europe (includes Russia)

63/185 = 34.05%

Read Around The World 3/5 = 60%
Prize Winners 2/5 = 40%
Wartime 3/5 = 60% The Sisters of Battle Road: The Extraordinary True Story of Six Sisters Evacuated from Wartime London, The Girls Who Went To War: Heroism, Heartache and Happiness in the Wartime Women's Forces
1001 Monthly Challenge 3/12 = 25% The Book of Evidence
The Apple Isle 2/5 = 40%
Woolly Ones 1/5 = 20%
BingoDOG 14/25 = 56%
RandomCAT 4/12 = 33.33% Like Water For Chocolate
GenreCAT 3/12 = 25%
HistoryCAT 2/12 = 16.67%
AlphaKIT 10/26 =38.46% Where The Crawdads Sing, I Am Behind You
MysteryKIT 2/12 = 16.67%
ScaredyKIT 4/12 = 33.33% A Skinful of Shadows
SFFKIT 2/12 = 16.67%
GeoKIT 5/7 = 71.43% The Seven Sisters: Maia's Story, The Blackbird Girls
KITastrophe 1/5 = 20%
Random Reads 1/13 = 7.69%

Book 55. The Sisters of Battle Road: The Extraordinary True Story of Six Sisters Evacuated from Wartime London by J.M. Maloney

Non-fiction with 'wartime' in the title

Book 56. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

April RandomCAT Let's go to the Library - Tess_W

Book 57. The Girls Who Went To War: Heroism, Heartache and Happiness in the Women's Wartime Forces by Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi

non-fiction with 'wartime' in the title

I always enjoy reading about women in WWII. This book follows three women for the duration of the war, alternating a chapter for each. Jessie joins the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service), Margery joins the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) and after a short stint in the Women’s Land Army, Kathleen joins the WRNS (Women’s Royal Naval Service).
The WRNS, or Wrens, was considered the force to be in as their uniform was the classiest and was the hardest to get into, unless ‘daddy’ had the right connections.

I did not know that when the WRNS was formed prior to WWI, they were to be called the Women’s Auxiliary Naval Corps until someone realised that the abbreviation might cause much hilarity among the sailors!

That is "interesting" about the WRNS. I think I'd like this book too and will take a BB for it. Kate Quinn has written a couple books about women during WW II that were very good. One is The Alice Network which follows 3 girls who are part of the French Resistance and The Rose Code which is about 3 girls who worked at Bletchley Park breaking German codes. They're also written in alternating chapters and I enjoyed both of them.

>187 dudes22: I definitely have those two on my TBR! I am particularly obsessed with Bletchley Park.

Book 58. Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

June AlphaKIT letter C

Yes, the plot is fairly obvious but this book has such an all-encompassing and evocative sense of place that you are just swept up in it. And it moves at a great pace, using one of my favourite techniques, that of converging time periods.
We begin with six year old Kya in 1952. The second chapter then jumps to the scene of an alleged murder in 1969. The chapters then alternate between the two time periods until they meet up. It always makes me want to read faster when a book is set out like this as you get the little clues linking up the two time frames.
But the characters are almost secondary to this novel - the marsh/estuary is the real star. Beautifully written scenes of the natural world, which makes sense as the author is actually a wildlife scientist.
I’ve been wanting to read this since it was first published and I’m glad I finally did. Well worth it.

Book 59. A Skinful of Shadows by Nancy Hardinge

April ScaredyKIT Possession

We start the book when Makepeace is twelve years old. Her mother begins to teach her how to fight off the ghosts who wish to find refuge in her mind. For Makepeace has inherited a strange gift or curse from her father, her mind is able to accommodate the spirits of the recently deceased.
Makepeace must learn to use this ability to her advantage or have her mind torn apart as others try to use her ability against her.

“Sometimes you had to weather everything and take your bruises. If you were lucky, and if everyone thought you were tamed and trained . . . there might come a time when you could strike.”

This was a fantastic read. It is classified as YA, which some people seem to think lowers the book’s potential readability for an adult. For me, many of the most compelling books I have read have been YA, particularly in this fantasy, supernatural genre.
It is paced perfectly - there really weren’t any ‘slow’ bits to slog through to get to the good stuff.
It is set during the English Civil War, first or second as the monarch is Charles I. And I love historical fiction.
This book ticked lots of boxes for me!
It would also work for the July ScaredyKIT of ghosts and hauntings, if anyone needs a book for that slot.

I've read some really good YA books too. And I love the cover on this, although I'm not much of a fantasy reader, so will pass on a BB.

>191 dudes22: I must admit to being a sucker for a lovely cover!

Book 60. The Book of Evidence by John Banville

March Challenge in a Challenge - Read a book by an Irish author or set in Ireland

Book 61. The Seven Sisters: Maia's Story by Lucinda Riley

GeoKIT Central and South America - Brazil

This is one of those formulaic, fairly predictable historical/contemporary romances (we are following two characters in two timelines) and I loved it. As you can see, I read this 626 page book in less than two days.
I really enjoyed it as the historical timeline was set in Brazil and France, following the design and construction of Christ the Redeemer.
I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series as we follow the six sisters - and presumably find out about the missing seventh sister.

Book 62. I Am Behind You by John Ajvide Lindqvist

May AlphaKIT letter I

Oooh, I did enjoy this one, if enjoy is the word for it!
Creepy and suspenseful, the action never stopped.
The people staying in four caravans in a busy summer campsite wake up one morning to find they are the only people there. And everything else has disappeared including the sun. Then a figure appears on the horizon.
The ending was great - it made me laugh at the irony of it all.
My only disappointment is that this is the first book in a trilogy and books 2 and 3 have not been translated into English. I hate when that happens!

Book 63. The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman

GeoKIT Europe (includes Russia)

And a YA novel gets the five stars again!
This novel managed to fit in so many issues without seeming at all contrived. And I have not seen any other historical fiction set around the Chernobyl disaster.
The story follows two girls whose fathers are both working at the reactor on the night of the accident. At the same time there is a story of another young girl escaping the German invasion in 1941.
This would be a great novel to introduce young readers to how life was in Soviet Russia.

July 2021

64. Nothing But Blue Sky by Kathleen MacMahon - finished 2nd July 2021 - May AlphaKIT letter N
65. A Million Aunties by Alecia McKenzie - finished 3rd July 2021 - Random Reads
66. Elizabeth & Elizabeth by Sue Williams - finished 5th July 2021 - BingoDOG about history or alternate history
67. Better Off Read by Nora Page - finished 7th July 2021 - April MysteryKIT Senior Citizen as Detective
68. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - finished 11th July 2021- February 1001 Monthly Challenge - Read a book with 'love' in the title, or that features a love story of some sort
69. A Sky Full Of Stars by Dani Atkins - finished 12th July 2021 - July AlphaKIT letter S
70. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler - finished 15th July 2021 - Year long AlphaKIT letter Z
71. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin - finished 16th July 2021 - July AlphaKIT letter O
72. Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor - finished 17th July 2021 - Random Reads
73. The Story of Beatrix Potter by Sarah Gristwood - finished 18th July 2021 - February GenreCAT - Biography
74. Lord of the Flies by William Golding - finished 19th July 2021- July 1001 Monthly Challenge - Read a book that is/was a high school text
75. The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey - finished 20th July 2021 - Prize winners
76. The Case of the Left-Handed Lady by Nancy Springer - finished 21st July 2021 - July MysteryKIT Cops 'n' Robbers Lady Style
77. The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw - finished 22nd July 2021 - May ScaredyKIT Witches and Magic
78. The Last Lighthouse Keeper by John Cook with Jon Bauer - finished 23rd July 2021 - BingoDOG by 2 authors
79. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - finished 24th July 2021 - July RandomCAT Summertime
80. A Lifetime of Impossible Days by Tabitha Bird - finished 26th July 2021 - BingoDOG contains magic
81. All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton - finished 30th July 2021 - GeoKIT Oceania

81/185 = 43.78%

Read Around The World 3/5 = 60%
Prize Winners 3/5 = 60% The Labyrinth
Wartime 3/5 = 60%
1001 Monthly Challenge 5/12 = 41.67% Love in the Time of Cholera, Lord of the Flies
The Apple Isle 2/5 = 40%
Woolly Ones 1/5 = 20%
BingoDOG 17/25 = 68% Elizabeth & Elizabeth, The Last Lighthouse Keeper, A Lifetime of Impossible Days
RandomCAT 5/12 = 41.67% Klara and the Sun
GenreCAT 4/12 = 33.33% The Story of Beatrix Potter
HistoryCAT 2/12 = 16.67%
AlphaKIT 14/26 = 53.85% Nothing But Blue Sky, A Sky Full Of Stars, Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
MysteryKIT 4/12 = 33.33% Better Off Read, The Case of the Left-Handed Lady
ScaredyKIT 5/12 = 41.67% The Wicked Deep
SFFKIT 2/12 = 16.67%
GeoKIT 6/7 = 85.71% All Our Shimmering Skies
KITastrophe 1/5 = 20%
Random Reads 4/13 =30.77% A Million Aunties, Blaming

Book 64. Nothing But Blue Sky by Kathleen MacMahon

May AlphaKIT letter N

A moving book about relationships - in a marriage, parents and children, friends - and how we negotiate within these relationships.
It is a very quiet and gentle book, but it delves deeply into the complexities of the human condition.

These quotes encapsulate the feeling of the book.

“. . . the terrifying knowledge that we hold in our hands each other’s fragile hearts, and can treat them as gently or as roughly as we please.”

“. . . and I was struck by the sense of how wonderful life is, and how sad, and how strange that it can even be both of these things at the very same time.”

Book 65. A Million Aunties by Alecia McKenzie

Random Reads

I was very interested in the art aspect of this novel and loved reading about the visits to the museums in France.
I did feel that there were too many characters and not enough character development. I would have preferred to know more about a few of the characters rather than jumping between so many POVs.

Book 66. Elizabeth & Elizabeth by Sue Williams

BingoDOG about history or alternate history

I am reading all Australian books for BingoDOG this year and I love historical fiction. So this recently published book about the unlikely friendship between Elizabeth Macquarie and Elizabeth Macarthur was perfect.
Elizabeth ‘Betsey’ Macquarie was the wife of Lachlan Macquarie, the fifth Governor of the colony of New South Wales. Taking over the position after the disastrous rule of William Bligh, Macquarie was instrumental in putting in place many improvements to the colony.
Elizabeth Macarthur was the wife of John Macarthur, recognised as the father of the wool industry in Australia.
What is less recognised is the role played by the wives of both those men, particularly Elizabeth Macarthur.
An interesting read for anyone interested in colonial Australian history.

>200 JayneCM: - I seem to be reading a lot of historical fiction lately and so I'll take a BB for this - although it might be a while before I get to it.

Book 67. Better Off Read by Nora Page

April MysteryKIT Senior Citizen as Detective

This was a fun read, a nice way to while away some time. I didn’t really engage with any of the characters but it was still an enjoyable book. It certainly picks up in the second half of the book.
And I didn’t guess the murderer! I’m sure a ‘real’ mystery reader would do better than me!

Book 68. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

February 1001 Monthly Challenge - Read a book with 'love' in the title, or that features a love story of some sort

I enjoyed the beginning and the ending - but the interminable middle! Oh, it just dragged on and on!
Even if Oprah called this one of the greatest love stories, I just found the main male character to be creepy and obsessive. I mean, who keeps a notebook listing their 622 sexual conquests?! Who has 622 sexual conquests?! And why do they have to be described in detail? Enough already!
The writing was certainly beautiful and atmospheric. But the content of the story just became boring.

Book 69. A Sky Full Of Stars by Dani Atkins

July AlphaKIT letter S

Tear jerker alert! I was crying within ten minutes of starting this book.
I read it in one day so you can see it is an easy and engrossing read.

Book 70. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

Year long AlphaKIT letter Z

Historical fiction about the ‘Golden Couple’ of the Jazz Age, the Fitzgeralds.

It seems that most people will be either Team Scott or Team Zelda. Either Zelda held Scott back and he never reached his full literary potential; or Scott’s alcoholism and his jealous and controlling nature constricted Zelda, leading to her breakdowns. I think this book shows that the combination of both was never going to be successful and they dragged each other down. It also explores the detrimental influence of Ernest Hemingway in their relationship. He was always there, like an evil influence on Scott’s shoulder, whispering against Zelda.

This was an interesting read although I would have liked to read more about the two bookends of Zelda’s life - her childhood and her life after Scott’s death.

Truly a tragic life, where there seemed to be so much potential.

Book 71. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin - finished 16th July 2021

July AlphaKIT letter O

What a beautiful book - you will need the tissues.

Lenni and Margot are both suffering from terminal conditions, or as the nurses are now advised to call it, life-limiting conditions.
Lenni calls the children on her ward the airport children, waiting in the terminal for their plane to leave.
When a new art therapy room is set up in the hospital, Lenni meets Margot. Lenni is 17 and Margot is 83 and they realise that together they are 100 years old. So they decide to paint 100 paintings - one for each year of their lives. And as they paint, they tell each other the stories of their lives.

“. . . and together Margot and I celebrated our one hundred years on the earth. It’s been a long life and it’s been a short life.”

Beautifully written, a different kind of the usual terminal teenage patient love story.

>206 JayneCM: - I'll take a BB for this.

>206 JayneCM: I'm taking a BB too, that sounds lovely.

>207 dudes22: Same here. It sounds like something I want to read. How many boxes of tissues do you suggest??

Me Too. It's pouring rain and I decided it was a good day to go to the library since I can't pull weeds. I've aleady checked and they have it and it's available!

Hope you all enjoy it. Lenni is a fabulous character. Quite a few tissues but it ultimately leaves you feeling happy and hopeful.

Book 72. Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor

Random Reads

This is the July group read in the 1001 Books group.
I love Elizabeth Taylor. Like Barbara Pym, her books explore the everyday minutiae of women’s lives. Not really plot driven, but rich in characterisation.

The book is about regret and blame, especially as we grow older and look back on our lives. There are always things we wish we had done differently, things we feel we missed out on, things we blame ourselves for. As we grow older, it is about making peace with these regrets and not letting them take over.

“Amy began to think that we all leave everything too late.”

Book 73. The Story of Beatrix Potter by Sarah Gristwood

February GenreCAT - Biography

This is the perfect biography if you would just like to know about Beatrix Potter without all the in-depth scholarly discussion. It is very readable and contains just the right amount of information for a beginning biography, particularly if you respond to the visual. The best part for me was the photographs and illustrations. Of course photographs of Beatrix’s life but also of how the places she lived look today. This book is published by the National Trust and Beatrix left the majority of her property to the National Trust, thus being instrumental in protecting large swathes of the area from inappropriate development.

A beautifully presented book. Makes me want to watch Miss Potter again!

Book 74. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

July 1001 Monthly Challenge - Read a book that is/was a high school text

This was a reread for me as I studied it in year 10 - a short while ago!
Yes, it is fairly simplistic and lacking in any deep character development or dialogue, but that is the point of the book. It was written as an allegory for teens, to show just how thin the veneer of civilisation can be and how easily it can be eroded if everyone doesn’t play by the same rules.
As one of the boys says, “the rules are the only thing we’ve got.”
And when the rules of the grown ups’ world are abandoned, chaos ensues.

You mentioned somewhere that you were reading Amanda Lohrey's The Labyrinth. I've just bought it and plan to read it soon.

>8 JayneCM: Your All-Australian BingDOG is very impressive!

Excellent lockdown weather yesterday. Very pleasant reading inside in the warmth watching the wind and rain outside. Fingers crossed that the numbers are down today and the lockdown ends by next Wednesday.

>215 pamelad: Just finished it - still keeping up with a book a day in lockdown! I enjoyed it but not a five star for me.

I am enjoying my Australian BingoDOG - I like that is encouraging me to look for even more Australian authors than usual. I'm not sure if I will do BingoDOG the same way next year or another theme, but I do like to have a connecting theme of some sort. My other thought is books published in the first half of the twentieth century or Victorian literature as they seem to be my favourites. Plenty of time to think about that though!

Certainly will be reading weather. Here we are forecast for rain for the next eight days! I think our spillway will definitely be flooding soon. Happy reading!

Book 75. The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey

Prize winners - winner of the 2021 Miles Franklin Award

I enjoyed the gentle flow of this book; it really is a book where not much happens. But that reflects the meandering nature of the labyrinth. You travel the labyrinth, slowly and thoughtfully, and in the end you are supposed to see more clearly.
This is the story of Erica, whose grown son has been imprisoned. She follows him to a sleepy beach town close to the prison, so she will be able to visit him. Now she is no longer working or has much to structure her days, she decides to build a labyrinth. The book follows her through this journey, as well as skipping back in time to let us know how she arrived at this place in her life.

At first, Erica seems inert, even when it comes to the labyrinth. "It would be easy to remain in this fugue state of apathy, to have always an idea, a half-formed plan that never materialises." After the stresses of the trial and the move, it is easier to do nothing. Nothing in her life has ever gone to plan, so why bother?

By the end of the book though, ". . . the fugue is ended."

>217 JayneCM: Definitely one to add to my WL!

>218 Tess_W: Hope you enjoy it! Just out of interest, do your libraries have many Australian books available?

>217 JayneCM: - You caught me - BB.

Book 76. The Case of the Left-Handed Lady by Nancy Springer - finished 21st July 2021

July MysteryKIT Cops 'n' Robbers Lady Style

I read the first Enola Holmes book earlier in the year, after my boys watched it on Netflix, and loved it. This one was even better. The first book, as many in a series seem to be, was mainly about character set up. But now that we have met Enola, Sherlock, Mycroft and their mother, this book was more about the mystery of Lady Cecily. Although there were also some marvellous scenes of Enola outsmarting her detective brother.

I love Enola as she is determined to live life her way, not the way society dictated to young women of the late 19th century. She refuses to be trapped into decency.

"If any decent woman's calling consisted of taking her proper place in society (husband and house, plus voice lessons and a piano in the drawing-room), then this particular woman-to-be prefers to remain indecent. Or, more accurately speaking, a disgrace to her family."

Seven books in seven days! Can I keep up the streak?!
Amazing how much reading you can do when it is rainy wintry weather and you are in lockdown for at least another week!

>219 JayneCM: Not many Australian novels are published in the US, so public libraries usually have a very small selection. Academic libraries will sometimes buy Australian novels from Australia.

>219 JayneCM: I'm not sure! I only ever do a search for specific books; which I don't usually find in my consortium. However, I live in the Midwest and I think that if I were nearer to the larger cities like New York or Los Angeles, there might be more available. Most of the time I buy them used or d/l on Kindle.

>223 NinieB: >224 Tess_W: That's a shame! Not being biased, but we do have some great books! At least being able to buy them for Kindle makes so many more books from around the world available.

>223 NinieB: - I couldn't find The Labyrinth in my local library nor in the ILL system for our state. I was figuring they didn't have it because it's still fairly new. My sister works in the local library so I might give her the book name and see if they'll order it.

Book 77. The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw - finished 22nd July 2021

May ScaredyKIT Witches and Magic

Ok, I was hooked from the first page! This is a young adult novel, but don't let that put you off. I found it totally gripping. I had to read fast as, although I had guessed part of the storyline, I needed to know how it would all unfold.
And so atmospheric! Quite eerie and chilling. The setting is perfect.

Two hundred years ago, the three Swan sisters were drowned in the harbour as witches. Now they return every summer to lure boys to their deaths in the sea to wreak revenge on the town that killed them. Can they be stopped?

"Love is an enchantress - devious and wild. It sneaks up behind you, soft and gentle and quiet, just before it slits your throat."

Book 78. The Last Lighthouse Keeper by John Cook with Jon Bauer

BingoDOG 2 or more authors

This is a memoir by a man who was a lighthouse keeper in Tasmania during the 60s and 70s, during the changeover from kerosene to electric powered lighthouses.

I should have loved this as it had all the elements I love - Tasmania, lighthouses, nature, the ocean, living a solitary life, facing hardships.
And there were little sections that I loved. When he was living at the most southerly lighthouse in the world, he describes seeing a humpback whale glide past the island. He also talks about lying under the stars and watching the Aurora Australis.
The descriptions of getting on and off the islands are crazy! And the weather they had to contend with, particularly on Maatsuyker. As he says, certainly not the romantic, peaceful life outsiders imagine.

"They always make lighthouses look so peaceful and romantic. They're as romantic as sharks."

But most of the book is about his own personal struggles with his two marriages and his first wife keeping his children from him.

I just wanted more about the lighthouses!


You can still work on Maatsuyker Island - there is a caretaker position. So one couple lives on the island for six months at a time. It certainly does look beautiful!

Book 79. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

July RandomCAT Summertime

Wanted to love it, but didn't really. It was a good story but just didn't deliver for me.

Klara is an AF (artificial friend) and is purchased by Josie. Klara, however, is different from the other AFs from the beginning - she is more interested in the world around her and observes and stores away human behaviour and interaction. She is able to learn more about the nuances of human relationships than AFs generally would.

The book just didn't seem to go anywhere in particular. But still an enjoyable read, just not as wonderful as I was expecting. I guess the expectations were very high, being the first novel after winning the Nobel Prize in Literature!

Book 80. A Lifetime of Impossible Days by Tabitha Bird - finished 26th July 2021

BingoDOG contains magic

What a delightful book! Although the Willas had a hard life, the book still leaves you with a feeling of hope and joy.

In 2050, Willa Waters is 93 years old. Her memory is fading but she knows there is something important she must do. A notebook of 'Things I Am Sure Of' arrives in the mail which helps her but she still isn't sure.
In 1965, Willa is 8 years old when a box arrives in the mail. In 1990, Willa is 33 years old and also receives a box in the mail. The boxes contain a jar of water and instructions to plant this ocean in the backyard. A time slip is opened that allows the Willas to visit each other.
Now they need to help each other to prevent a tragedy occurring and heal the horrors of their past.

"We are all the ages we have ever been. We carry around our trauma. And if we have unfinished business at one of those ages we can't move on to have a healthy adult life."

I loved all the Willas, but Silver Willa is my favourite:

93 year old Willa - "Ninety-three is the kind of age that has infinite potential to shock and annoy people. I'm fabulously old enough to wear red with purple, spots with stripes. To say whatever flitters into my head and pretend I haven't the faintest clue why people are huffing and puffing. To need sensible shoes and then turn around and buy yellow gumboots."

Why can't we all be like Silver Willa but at a younger age?!

A wonderful read.

>230 JayneCM: Just dropping by to say I'll be on the lookout for A Lifetime of Impossible Days. It sounds lovely.

And, your Australian bingo card is hitting me with even more bullets!

>231 VivienneR: Hope you find some good reads!

Funny book memes - who can relate?!











That last one! I have more than 30 books borrowed from the library - slightly more than that is the number that I own!

>233 JayneCM: Ha! I too have about 30 books out from the library :D

Love those memes! All very relatable, especially that last one.

Also love the memes and laughed a lot, as they are too true! Sooo--I handed off many of my books to the indie book seller when we packed up to move, and guess what I have been buying lately?? Piles of books are setting around the apartment.

>234 rabbitprincess: I have definitely have MORE than 30 - I'm just not saying how many more! :)

>235 christina_reads: I try to keep them off my bedside table as my hubby doesn't like books (I know, what?!)

>236 LadyoftheLodge: I have done that before. I have felt that I needed a culling of my books and then I end up buying more back; sometimes even the same titles as I 'miss' them!

Book 81. All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton

GeoKIT Oceania

The cover of this book alone drew me in! The Australian native flowers are beautiful.

This book is very evocative of place - the author has spent a lot of time and effort researching deep country with the traditional owners and this is reflected in the beautiful descriptions of the area. It really shows Australia in all her beauty and terror.

" . . . the land gives you all you need if you know the right way to ask for it."

"Is there a land in this world more in awe of oblivion? Death resides in its branches, in its rivers, in its soils. Death crawls here and death slithers. . . Tell me of a land more determined to kill those who would dare embrace its beauty."

The book reads as a modern day myth or fairy tale and I loved the whole story, the writing, the atmosphere. But I just wish it had been more sparingly told. It was a story that needed to stand for itself, without all the flowery embellishments. Definitely a case of less would have been more.

That being said, it is still a wonderful story and if you would like to read more about Australia's traditional country, this is a great book.

>237 JayneCM: Yes, I have done that. Some of the "re-buy" titles are in digital format. I was skimming through my digital library the other night and was surprised to see how many and how varied they are. It was exciting to see titles I forgot about.

August 2021

82. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - finished 2nd August 2021 - June ScaredyKIT Diverse Perspectives
83. Nomadland by Jessica Bruder - finished 5th August 2021 - August RandomCAT On The Road Again
84. Seven Brief Lessons On Physics by Carlo Rovelli - finished 6th August 2021 - Random Reads
85. The Hunter by Julia Leigh - finished 7th August 2021 - The Apple Isle
86. How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino - finished 8th August 2021 - June AlphaKIT letter D
87. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis - finished 11th August 2021 - June SFFKIT It's About The Journey
88. Cheerful Weather For The Wedding by Julia Strachey - finished 12th August 2021 - Random Reads
89. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie - finished 13th August 2021 - June MysteryKIT British Golden Age
90. Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud - finished 15th August 2021 - Random Reads
91. Pelagia and the White Bulldog by Boris Akunin - finished 17th August 2021 - May MysteryKIT European Mysteries
92. Lonely Castle In The Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura - finished 19th August 2021 - August SFFKIT Female Authors
93. A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch - finished 21st August 2021 - May Challenge in a Challenge Read someone else's latest read
94. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - finished 22nd August 2021 - August AlphaKIT letter V
95. The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison by Meredith Jaffe - finished 23rd August 2021 - BingoDOG type of building in title
96. Joan Makes History by Kate Grenville - finished 25th August 2021 - August HistoryCAT Read about your own country
97. The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey - finished 26th August 2021 - Prize Winners
98. The Proof of Love by Catherine Hall = finished 28th August 2021 - Read Around The World (England)
99. Heart of the Grass Tree by Molly Murn - finished 29th August 2021 - Read Around The World (Australia)
100. The Midnight Watch by David Dyer - finished 31st August 2021 - Apr-June KITastrophe Transportation and Maritime

100/185 = 54.05%

Read Around The World 5/10 = 50% The Proof of Love, Heart of the Grass Tree
Prize Winners 4/5 = 80% The Mermaid of Black Conch
Wartime 3/5 = 60%
1001 Monthly Challenge 6/12 = 50% A Severed Head
The Apple Isle 3/5 = 60% The Hunter
Woolly Ones 1/5 = 20%
BingoDOG 18/25 = 72% The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison
RandomCAT 6/12 = 50% Nomadland
GenreCAT 4/12 = 33.33%
HistoryCAT 3/12 = 25% Joan Makes History
AlphaKIT 16/26 = 61.54% How Do You Live?, The Vanishing Half
MysteryKIT 6/12 = 50% The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Pelagia and the White Bulldog
ScaredyKIT 6/12 = 50% Mexican Gothic
SFFKIT 4/12 = 33.33% Doomsday Book, Lonely Castle In The Mirror
GeoKIT 6/7 = 85.71%
KITastrophe 2/5 = 40% The Midnight Watch
Random Reads 7/8 =87.5% Seven Brief Lessons On Physics, Cheerful Weather For The Wedding, Hideous Kinky

Book 82. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

June ScaredyKIT Diverse Perspectives

Just meh to me - definitely a take it or leave it book. It was enjoyable enough to fill in some reading time but I wouldn't rush to recommend it.
But the cover totally drew me in - and you had me at 'gothic'! And then it failed to deliver any gothic horror thrills.

At first, it seemed to be heading in a bit of a The Yellow Wallpaper direction. But it was just too meandering and long-winded. And I found the main character just annoying. Nothing much seemed to happen for two thirds of the book and by the time the action picked up and we were discovering the truth about the house, I really didn't care what happened to her or any of the other characters.

>241 JayneCM: TY for your review. I'm trying to read more globally, but am have a very difficult time finding something in the Latin American genre that isn't fantasy or magical realism. I liked Water for Chocolate, but that has been it so far!

>242 Tess_W: I was reading something recently wondering why so much contemporary Latin American fiction is in the magical realism genre. There was no real conclusion but it certainly does seem to be the case. I must admit that my read for this region for GeoKIT was magical realism!

Book 83. Nomadland by Jessica Bruder

August RandomCAT On The Road Again

This is one book that I am glad that I saw the movie first. Although it is a hybrid between a movie and a documentary. While Frances McDormand is an actress playing a character, all the other people are actual nomads who were interviewed by Jessica Bruder for the book.

Jessica Bruder spent three years travelling around America, living as a nomad and doing some of the low-paying casual jobs that they take to survive.

Although the gap (the author calls it a chasm) between rich and poor isn't as obvious in Australia, I am sure we are heading in the same direction if we do not wake up and see that the current economic model no longer works.

"At one time there was a social contract that if you played by the rules (went to school, got a job, and worked hard) everything would be fine,” he told readers. “That’s no longer true today. You can do everything right, just the way society wants you to do it, and still end up broke, alone, and homeless."

These rules just don't work any more. And it means that valuable members of society are being lost to low-paying, mind-numbing jobs at Amazon and other big corporates.

I was very torn while reading this book. In some ways, it seemed liberating to be travelling around, calling the shots, free from all the 'stuff' that ties us down. But if something goes wrong, these people can so easily slide into total poverty. They are just one health issue, engine breakdown or accident away from having no money at all.
As one of the vandwellers said, "I can't decide if it's sad or hopeful that so many of the folks I talk to in my various RV groups are going full-time because of financial hardship. I suppose it's bittersweet."

The worst statistic to me is that the vast majority of vandwellers are over sixty - the oldest Amazon worker the author talked to was eighty-two. They should be,, according to the implicit societal contract that we all assume will be there for us, enjoying their retirement. But instead they are working in enormous concrete warehouses in the Christmas rush, scanning cheap items that will be in landfill by the following year. It is a physically exhausting and morally depressing place to be in.

This is well worth a read. It brings on a whole range of emotions - I felt anger that our economy would just throw people on to the scrap heap; I felt inspired by their determination and ingenuity in forging a new life and place for them to fit; I felt worried that this could easily happen to me or anyone I know as we age.
But ultimately hopeful that we can change and that we will change.

By the end of the book, Linda had saved enough money to purchase land and I am with her on wanting to build an earthship! I have had Mike Reynolds' books for years - just have to save up for the land! And the documentary about him, Garbage Warrior is fantastic.

And I want Swankie Wheels' T-shirt. Many of the vandwellers are introverts and feel uncomfortable at the big gatherings that occur throughout the year. They go to meet up with friends but can only handle so much. I know that feeling! Her T-shirt says, "Introverts Unite: We're Here, We're Uncomfortable, and We Want To Go Home." Apparently she received lots of smiles and nods from others who understood!

Book 84. Seven Brief Lessons On Physics by Carlo Rovelli

Random Reads

I have never been one for physics or complex mathematical formula. For a more concrete person like me, much of physics can seem a bit esoteric and, to some extent, irrelevant. Is the study of black holes or dark matter really that important?

But I wanted to understand more about physics and its thereoms and this was a great book for that. Although in saying that, while it helped to explain the theory and I understood it, I am not sure I am understanding the connections between each theory very well. But as the author states, often neither do the scientists themselves!

I did like the last chapter about ourselves and how humans fit into the world we inhabit. It showed the interaction between philosophy and physics and how the two are often interconnected.

Overall, an interesting book to dip my toe into the vast pool that is physics.

Modern Mrs Darcy just posted this: 20 book to screen adaptations coming up.

https://modernmrsdarcy.com/anticipated-book-screen-adaptations/

This is just her 20 most anticipated - apparently there are currently 125 book to screen adaptations in the works!

Looking forward to Hamnet, Kindred, two new versions of Persuasion, Pachinko, Station Eleven, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and so many more!

>244 JayneCM: - This book has been on my radar since I saw the movie. I was going to wait a bit before reading but maybe I'll move it up. (ETA: Seems like there's a wait list at the library)

>245 JayneCM: - Our book club just read Relativity by Antonia Hayes for this month. Although it's fiction, a lot of physics was explained in it. A few times I admit my eyes glazed over but it was a very good book and we had a good discussion.

>246 JayneCM: - And now I'm off to check this out. ("Book made into a movie" was one of the categories for book club this year)

>247 dudes22: I just put Relativity on hold at the library last week as it looked interesting.

I hope the wait for Nomadland isn't too long at your library. I had to wait two months. I put the DVD and the book on hold at the same time and the movie arrived within a week.

Hope you find some good ones. It certainly seems to me that there is less new writing for the screen and much more use of books. Fine by me, unless they totally massacre a book that I love!

>248 JayneCM: - It just dawned on me to try Overdrive and Nomadland is available, but I have a bunch of books I need to read this month, so I might try next month. (Book club next month is on Sep 1, so I need to get that read this month in addition to my other planned reading)

I was also thinking that it seems more books are being made into movies. Although usually the book is better. I think because they just cant fit everything that happens in a book into a 2 hour movie.

I'll be watching to see what you think of Relativity.

>244 JayneCM: I've just put a hold on Nomadland, and will get back to Seven Brief Lessons on Physics very soon. Easily distracted!

ETA 29 cases - a worry.

>250 pamelad: Yes, 29 cases is a huge jump from yesterday. Hope you are faring as well as can be expected.

My son's birthday is tomorrow - second year of having a birthday in lockdown! Last year he was resigned to it as we had been in lockdown for a while. But this year he had high hopes for actually having some friends over to celebrate. Not to be! So it will be just a family celebration at home with Chinese takeaway and his annual request of a honeycomb cheesecake. Hopefully next year he can do something for his 14th birthday.

These snap lockdowns are so much more demoralising than the long one last year. It seems that we cannot plan for anything, even events as simple this week's basketball or footy games.

Book 85. The Hunter by Julia Leigh

The Apple Isle

I feel this is definitely a love or hate book. I wavered between three and a half and four stars.
The writing is stark and raw but at the same time very descriptive and evocative of place. This is a story stripped down to its bare essentials.

The main character is M. We are not to even know his name. He has been hired by a biotech company to hunt down the last remaining Tasmanian tiger or thylacine. He is to stay with a widow and her two children when he is not hunting in the wilderness. M is a loner; he knows it is dangerous to care for anyone. Will he let this family in or will it be too late?

The descriptions of both the Tasmanian wilderness and the lost town M uses as his base are perfect.

You will not like this book though if you like lots of plot development, lots of things happening. This is definitely more a descriptive character study of one man and the wilderness he inhabits.

The Tasmanian tiger has become an important Tasmanian story. Officially the last thylacine died in captivity in 1936. But there are plenty of sightings still reported and much debate that there could still be groups living deep in the Tasmanian wilderness.

>250 pamelad:
>251 JayneCM:

Our state (population 1 million) had 1700 cases last week with 600 hospitalized. Of the 600 hospitalized, 599 had NOT been vaccinated. Sigh..........

>253 Tess_W: Our numbers are certainly miniscule compared to that - that is so terrible. Victoria has a population of 6.7 million and our case numbers today were 29. Much as no one likes being in lockdown, it certainly works, as does compulsory mask wearing.
I hope your state can get on top of it soon. The hospital systems must be overloaded.

>251 JayneCM: Happy Birthday to your son for tomorrow. Enjoy your family celebration.

>253 Tess_W: The whole of Australia has been united so far in aiming for zero transmission and stopping every outbreak, so it has been really depressing to see that the outbreak in NSW is getting worse and their leadership is talking about "living with the virus", which means the opposite. The stats in your state are horrifying, particularly the rate of hospitalisations. There isn't enough vaccine available here to immunise everyone, so many people can't choose to be immunised.

>255 pamelad: Yes, it is horrifying. The newspaper just reported that over 600,000 immunizations were trashed due to the expiration date....that's just in one State! Our national rate of vaccination is 56%, not enough for herd immunity. I am really sick of the anti-vaxxers who are now protesting and rioting due to the fact that some schools are requiring masks to return to school later this month.

>255 pamelad: Thank you! I am not expecting great numbers tomorrow for us, but hopefully it will not be too bad.

>256 Tess_W: I have had one dose of the vaccine but they are now extending the time for the second dose to enable more people to get the first dose. I think it will be many months before we are even up to your rate - we are currently about 18% national rate of vaccination; hoping to be at 80% by the end of 2021.

>257 JayneCM: Extending the dose interval to get more people their first dose was the strategy Canada ended up following (also because there were supply issues). Once there was sufficient supply, they were able to get people their second doses more quickly. I hope you'll be able to get your second dose sooner.

>255 pamelad: I wish Canada had gone for the zero transmission strategy across the whole country. Every province seems to have done it differently, with the Atlantic provinces forming their own bubble and aiming for zero, and Alberta being more like NSW and saying we should "live with" the virus (and they are now basically declaring the pandemic over, no contact tracing, no self-isolation, no masks, no distancing).

>258 rabbitprincess: The entire US is like NSW and Alberta! Crazy! The anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers are in control!

>259 Tess_W: There are little pockets of anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers here in British Columbia too. In a town near where I live there were 28 new cases last week (almost the same as the state of Victoria), much more than there were at the height of the pandemic.

>245 JayneCM: I took a BB for Seven Brief Lessons on Physics. I did take a number of physics courses when I was a student many years ago, but I really enjoy physics (and other science) books for the non-specialist. I find that, in studying the equations, I sometimes missed seeing the big picture and the connections to the real world.

I hope your son had a happy birthday celebration. My daughter also had to celebrate two pandemic birthdays at home, but we tried our best to make it a joyous occasion.

>261 mathgirl40: Thank you! He was able to go for a bike ride at least which he enjoys doing.

Book 86. How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino

June AlphaKIT letter D

This book came to my attention as Hayao Miyazaki is making a movie based on it, which will be his last movie. Do not ask how sad I am that Studio Ghibli is closing down!

It was originally published in 1937 as the last book in a sixteen book set for Japanese youth called A Library For Young Japanese Nationals. It is a beautifully written book, as relevant today as it was then. In some instances, sadly so, as it shows that the human race still hasn't solved many of its issues.

It is especially poignant when you think where the world would be within two years of the publication of this book.
Near the end of the book, Copper writes:

"I think there has come a time when everyone in the world treats each other as if they were good friends. Since humanity has come so far, I think now we will definitely be able to make it to such a place. So I think I want to become a person who can help that happen."

If Copper was a real teenager writing this in 1937, he would more than likely have been fighting in the war in a few short years.

This book combines philosophy, science, history, the arts, with the story of fifteen year old Copper and his daily life navigating school, family and friendships.
I adored it but I think I will be even more appreciative of it as a book for my boys to read. My library has put it in adult fiction but it definitely needs to be in the middle grade/young adult section as a wonderful book to help that age group with the questions of life. As the author states at the end of the book,

"And now I think I want to ask all of you a question.
How will you live?"

Came to finally catch up on your reading. So many interesting books! I made a note of a few of them.

Hope your lockup ends soon.

>264 hailelib: Hope you enjoy them!

Our lockdown ends tonight - as I live in a regional area, we have 'escaped' early. Melbourne will remain in lockdown though.

>265 JayneCM: Very glad you're allowed out! Even though Melbourne is still staying at home, the easing of the regional restrictions is a promising sign.

>266 pamelad: Hopefully you are allowed out soon!

Book 87. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

June SFFKIT It's About The Journey

Time travel to the past - I'm there for it! Time travel has always been my favourite, since I read books like Playing Beatie Bow, Tom's Midnight Garden and Charlotte Sometimes when I was a kid.

This is planned time travel. Kivrin is a history student in Oxford in 2048 who is sent back to the Middle Ages. Of course, all does not go smoothly.
The book was written in 1992 and as I do not like to read too much about a book before I have read it myself, I was not prepared for the 2048 parts of the book, in which there is a pandemic, which reads spookily like the 2020/2021 we have been living.

It was a slow burn but once it got going, I had to race through to the end. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the Oxford Time Travel series.

>268 JayneCM: Glad you liked this one. It's been on my ereader for years! Getting it out of the cloud!

Book 88. Cheerful Weather For The Wedding by Julia Strachey

Random Reads

Such a quintessential English family! This was quite the hilarious read as all the characters were so exactly who you expected them to be. Plenty of words such as 'splendid', 'ghastly', 'beastly'.
It reads almost as though it is a play, and it would work perfectly as a play.
The descriptions of both landscape and characters are wonderful and the ending was not quite what you would be expecting. It did finish quite up in the air but that suited the story.
An enjoyable read, but nothing really jumped out and said 'wow' to me.

>268 JayneCM: So glad you loved Doomsday Book! Connie Willis is so good.

>270 JayneCM: I enjoyed that book too. There's a pretty good movie version with Felicity Jones and Luke Treadaway.

>268 JayneCM: I have had the Connie Willis time-traveling books on my shelf for quite some time. Your review makes me think that I should make them a project for next year!

>271 christina_reads: I enjoyed the movie as well. I have a real soft spot for quirky English family as a theme!

>272 DeltaQueen50: My library doesn't have the whole series (why do libraries do that?!) so I have them on my books to buy wishlist.

>268 JayneCM:
I'd forgotten about the part of Doomsday Book that you put in spoiler tags! Fascinating. That kind of stuff seems to be appearing in all kinds of fiction these days (probably just noticing more because I'm sensitive to it). I'm very glad you enjoyed it. That was, I think, my first introduction to Connie Willis, and I promptly went out and read so much more by her that I can now rattle off her favorite themes and authorial habits. ;)

>274 pammab: This is my first Connie Willis, but definitely not my last. I agree we are more sensitive to things like that. I recently read Station Eleven and it felt so much more realistic than it would have previously.

Book 89. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie - finished 13th August 2021

June MysteryKIT British Golden Age

I must admit to not being much of a mystery reader until I joined the Category Challenge a few years ago. Well, except for when I was much younger and used to save up my pocket money to buy the next Nancy Drew!

I am so happy that MysteryKIT has led me to Agatha Christie! How could I have not read her before?!

I was thoroughly entertained by the wit of Poirot, and of course his cleverness. I didn't work out who the murderer was!

>276 JayneCM: I'm so glad you enjoyed your first Agatha Christie mystery. I've been reading them since I was about ten or eleven. I was finding it difficult to find good mysteries for kids that were not silly and thankfully my dad recommended Christie. I've been reading them over and over ever since.

>277 VivienneR: I have And There Were None on my pile of books next. It is always exciting to have a new body of work to read through!

>268 JayneCM: When I read Doomsday Book last year, I couldn't stop reading! I'd like to read more of this series too.

>276 JayneCM: You have so much good Christie reading ahead of you! One of my favorites is Death on the Nile.

>278 JayneCM: And there are so many Christie's waiting for you! Though to be honest, she wrote some pot-boilers (her own words) just to make enough to live on during a lean time.

Book 90. Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud

Random Reads

This is the story of a mother who takes her two young daughters to Morocco in the hope of finding herself. It is based on the author's real life experiences as a child when her mother did the same.
There always seem to be discussions around a mother's 'duty' to her children compared to her right to be herself. But this mother seems to have little or no consideration for her childrens' welfare and puts her own search for spiritual enlightenment (or her men!) before her daughters.
Another question is the one of the balance between adventure and freedom for children and the discipline and structure they need.

At one point, the two sisters are talking:

" "Bea, would you like to be a shepherd?" I asked her.
"No, not really."
"What would you like to be then?"
"I don't know. Normal, I think." "

Book 91. Pelagia and the White Bulldog by Boris Akunin

May MysteryKIT European Mysteries

Definitely a slow burn - and I had to take half a star off for the long-winded descriptions of Russian provincial politics. While interesting, it was a real slog to get through some of it!

But Sister Pelagia is a joy - "she was not really cut out to be a nun: far too lively, fidgety, curious and undignified in her movements." But she is clever! And as a knitter, I've got to love someone who stabs her assailant with her knitting needles!

The book raced ahead in the last section and it definitely ended on a lead-in to the next book.

An interesting read but not a quick paced, read in one session book.

Book 92. Lonely Castle In The Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

August SFFKIT Female Authors

If I could give this book ten stars, I would! Loved it from start to finish! Although it started out slowly, the last section just has to be read in one sitting, at a furious pace, as the story all comes together and you have to keep reading to find out all the twists.

As the main character says when she is contemplating whether to enter her mirror for the first time, "How could a portal into a different world not be appealing?" I agree - ever since reading Narnia as a child, I have been WAITING for my portal to appear! :)

This is the story of seven teenagers who each are 'called' to enter a castle through mirrors. It takes a while for them to work out their connection to each other and why they particularly have been summoned to the castle. The girl in the wolf mask is there when they arrive to offer advice and set out the rules.

Although this is a fantasy novel, the author wrote it as a book for teens in Japan who have suffered from bullying in an attempt to open debate on this often ignored problem. In a note at the back of the book, it says that Japanese children were ranked second-to-last in a group of thirty eight developed and emerging countries in the area of children's mental health.

Early on in the novel, one of the characters says at school how she loves the smell of the rain and is ridiculed for it. She says, "School wasn't a place where you could speak honestly."

This is the second Japanese book I have read this month that was written in Japan for middle grade/teens but my library has classified in adult fiction. I would absolutely recommend this for middle grade/teens to read and I wish it was put in the correct section of the library so they would find it when browsing. If I saw that book on the shelf, I would pick it up for the cover alone.

Some may read it thinking that the language is stilted, or that this is not the way teenagers speak. But Japanese children really are that polite!

Highly recommended!

Book 93. A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch

May Challenge in a Challenge - read someone else's latest read

I hovered between 3.5 and 4 stars for this. But I had to take off half a star as there is not one character who is not despicable. I know that is the point of the book but it can be a hard slog to read a book where there are no characters to care about!

It does make you laugh with the farcical nature of all the relationships between the characters - I mean how many relationship combinations can you possibly come up with?! It was written in 1961 after all!

We know from the start that Martin, the narrator, wants to have his cake and eat it too. And he is totally oblivious to his self-centredness, indeed even commends himself for it.

"In almost every marriage there is a selfish and an unselfish partner. .... In my own marriage I early established myself as the one who took rather than gave."

A charming character indeed! And every other character is almost as selfish, although in different ways and for different reasons.

>284 JayneCM: - Well, I will NOT be taking a BB for this. I agree that it's hard to read a book where you don't like anyone. I've read one or two of those also and ended up wondering why.

>285 dudes22: I read it as it is on the 1001 Books list; I have found quite a few of the books from this list have not been favourites. Sometimes it feels like 'reading medicine' - books I should be reading.

>286 JayneCM: - "reading medicine" - probably why I've not made a conscious effort to read the 1001 list.

>287 dudes22: That being said, I have also found some real winners that I would not otherwise have read. For example, Lolita - the subject matter (uuggh!) had always made me avoid this book like the plaque but it is amazingly beautiful.

>288 JayneCM: - I read that for - I could have sworn I had read that but I can't find it in my list of books at all/anywhere, so I must be thinking of a different book. Unless it was before I joined LT. Yes - there are books I've read where the subject matter was disturbing, but the writing was great . One I always think of when I say that is Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

ETA: I was updating some stuff in my library so the new "Charts and Graphs" would be more accurate, and I think the book I was thinking of was Reading Lolita in Tehran.

>289 dudes22: Well, that is on the 1001 list so I will be getting to it at some point. :)

Book 94. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

August AlphaKIT letter V

I read Passing by Nella Larson last year and this is very much like a modern version.

Desiree and Stella are twin sisters. As they grow up, their lives take very separate paths as Stella 'passes over' and lives her life as a white woman.
I was interested in the small Southern town the girls grew up in as it was a town dedicated to the lightening of its citizens over the generations. And they were just as rascist to who they perceived as 'black'.

The book explores whether it would be easier to accept your black heritage and all that goes with that or to hide as Stella did and deal with the deception and the continual fear of discovery.
Stella is never able to rest, never able to let her guard down, and this adversely affects all her relationships, particularly with her daughter. She can never truly have friends or feel safe.

"At first, passing seemed so simple, she couldn't understand why her parents hadn't done it. But she was young then. She hadn't realised how long it takes to become somebody else, or how lonely it can be living in a world not meant for you."

It also included a story of a young woman transitioning to a man, another character who had to hide who they truly were.

>291 JayneCM: - I have both of those books on my list as BBs for others and hope to get to them soon.

>292 dudes22: Both good but I enjoyed Passing more.

Book 95. The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison by Meredith Jaffe

BingoDOG type of building in title V

This was an fun and enjoyable read, like Shawshank Redemption but with sewing!

The men of the prison sewing circle are just keeping their heads down, just trying to survive their prison term without drawing attention to themselves.

And poor Derek has no respect as his crime was a white collar crime.

"Stealing money to chuck it down a poker machine's gullet isn't a crime, it's pathetic."

Derek has had no contact with his family since his term began, but then he finds out his daughter is getting married. The men decide to make a wedding dress for her.

It is such an Australian book, with characters like Dezza and Shazza, Maccas for McDonalds, Brissie for Brisbane. And even a mention of the childhood school lunch staple of those of us of a certain generation - "a pathological hatred of white bread, devon and tomato sauce sandwiches."

And a gorgeous cover - it is hand embroidered.

>294 JayneCM: I've put a hold on this one. It's very popular - 14 weeks!

>295 pamelad: Yes, I waited about that long as I put it on hold as soon as the library said they were buying it.

>294 JayneCM: - This goes onto my list too. But it will have to wait awhile as I see it is not available at any library in the state.

>297 dudes22: I guess being a new release Australian book, it may not get to your library system for a while?

>298 JayneCM: - Probably not - and it's rather expensive for a paperback on Amazon so I'll put it on a list and check periodically.

Book 96. Joan Makes History by Kate Grenville

August HistoryCAT - Read about your own country

I wanted to love this but I really felt just half-hearted about it. The author seemed to equate all women's experience to have to do with sex. I just felt the book would have been stronger with less emphasis on this aspect.

The premise of the book is that we all make history, and in particular, that women are the forgotten makers of history.

"What of those who lived here before us? What of all the people who will melt away like mud when they die, remembered in no book of history?"

It reminded me of Orlando, in that Joan encompasses the history of Australia over two centuries, spending time as both a woman and a woman dressed as a man (she doesn't actually change sex though).

Interesting, but didn't grab me as I was hoping it would.

>294 JayneCM: I'm longing to know what "devon" is. I asked my husband who lived in Australia for a few years but he didn't know either. Of course, he didn't go to school there so didn't experience any school lunch staples.

>300 JayneCM: I started Joan Makes History but gave up on it because it wasn't factual enough. Too subjective and emotional. I much preferred The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka. I've only ever managed to finish one Kate Grenville book, Lilian's Story, and didn't like it much.

>301 VivienneR: Devon is also known as (or perhaps closely related to?) pork strasburg (pork straz), and is a type of sausage. Like a big, ultra-bland salami, a little bit like mortadella.

>302 pamelad: Bologna (boloney) is also a big, ultra-bland sausage. Maybe similar?

>301 VivienneR: >303 NinieB: I'd say similar to bologna. Very bland, very processed meat in neat little circles!

>302 pamelad: I agree - I was expecting much more from it. Lilian's Story is the first book in a very loose series as Lilian is Joan's friend from university.

Book 97. The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

Prize Winners - winner of 2020 Costa Book of the Year

Aycayia is not your typical mermaid. She was a young woman a thousand years ago, of the Taino people, the indigenous people of the Caribbean and Florida. She was cursed by the jealous women of her tribe to live as a mermaid forever.
She is not your pretty Disney mermaid! She is fierce, covered with her tribe's tattoos, with matted dreadlocks. She is enormous and could easily break the boat of the men who captured her.

This is her story of capture and rescue, transformation and love. But can love save her?

I adored the writing is this book. It is so evocative of place and people that you could see everything clearly. I loved how it alternated between the narrative, taking place in 1976, the mermaid's voice and David (her rescuer) writing a journal in 2015.

And the cover design is perfect!

Book 98. The Proof of Love by Catherine Hall

Read Around The World (England)

This was an enjoyable read; by giving it three stars, I am in no way saying it is terrible and not worth reading. It just wasn't a stand out. It was a good read to while away an afternoon in lockdown. I must say, it did speed up towards the ending but it was all fairly predictable.
The characters were all pretty standard fare and the story was, as I said, predictable.
I chose the book for the setting - a remote village in the Lake District - as if I could visit, I would love to go there one day.

This book was for my Read Around The World category. But when I was entering it, I saw the map only has the UK as one choice and I am going to read a separate book for England, Scotland and Wales.

One interesting tidbit I picked up from this book is that the song A Whiter Shade of Pale was based on Bach's Air on a G String. And when I went back and listened to Bach, I heard how obvious it was. Why hadn't I noticed that before?!

>268 JayneCM:

I liked Doomsday Book but my favorite by her is To Say Nothing of the Dog

I went and listened to A Whiter Shade of Pale which I had almost forgotten about.

>307 hailelib: I am certainly looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.

Book 99. Heart of the Grass Tree by Molly Murn

Read Around The World - Australia

Australian book covers are just so beautiful in the last few years!

This book used one of my favourite writing techniques of multiple time lines. We are following Nell in her youth, her daughter and granddaughters as they prepare for her funeral, and the Aboriginal women of the 1800s whose history Nell has been researching.

The setting is wonderful - Kangaroo Island is such a quintessentially Australian setting, very similar to Storm Boy as it is just across a small section of the Great Australian Bight to the Coorong (the setting of Storm Boy. So there are pelicans, my absolute favourite bird.

It highlights a forgotten part of Australian and Kangaroo Island history - the kidnap of Aboriginal women by the sealers who lived on the island on and off before official white habitation began there. These women were kidnapped from the South Australian mainland around the Coorong as well as from Tasmania.

"But what is it to be a man? Does it mean everything is yours for the taking, even the light of hope from the eyes of another?"

Beautifully written; the sense of place and nature is so evocative.

>309 JayneCM: Next year I'm bouncing around the idea to read Asia, Australia, and Africa. I'm making a list and this one goes under my list for Australia. I'm sure I will be asking you and Pam for more suggestions!

>310 Tess_W: Sounds great! I will look to your lists too as I am still working on my read a book from every country category.
I guess your problem will be availability of Australian books. Online reading will save the day there!

>309 JayneCM: - I'm going to put this on my recommended list and hope it will be more available in the US soon. That is a great cover too.

>310 Tess_W: Happy to contribute, and maybe some books from New Zealand as well. I like having the all-year GeoKIT, and hope it's a goer next year too.

Thank you for visiting my thread, and apologies for not returning the favour sooner.
I love the sound of >294 JayneCM: but I think it is going to take a while for me to get hold of a copy. I went through a bit of a phase (3 books?) of reading NF about prison libraries and reading groups. Found the subject fascinating, but the books a bit hit and miss.

>314 charl08: I hope you can find it!

Book 100. The Midnight Watch by David Dyer

Apr-June KITastrophe Transportation and Maritime

This is a book about passivity, about the ship that watched the Titanic sink and did nothing. It is written as a novel, from the point of view of John Steadman, a fictional journalist. After the sinking of the Titanic, he attends a press conference held on the Californian in which only the captain speaks and claims they saw nothing. Yet John senses there is a story here, that something is being withheld.

Since that day in 1912, there have been two distinct factions, Lordites and anti-Lordites, so named for the captain of the Californian, Stanley Lord. Lordites claim his innocence, that his testimony was correct; some anti-Lordites go so far as to call him a sociopath. He died in 1962, having never once shown remorse or sorrow for the fate of the Titanic.

This book sits somewhere in between. It mainly focuses on the second officer, Herbert Stone, who was standing the midnight watch that night. It appears that there was a personality clash between the two men - could this have been why the captain ignored Stone's messages from the bridge?

"So responsibility for action fell like a snowflake from the sky, landing gently between them, touching neither. And in this concentrated moment in history, nothing was done."

September 2021

101. The Romanov Empress: A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna by C.W. Gortner - finished 3rd September 2021 - June HistoryCAT Military, War and Revolution
102. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo - finished 4th September 2021 - Read Around The World - South Korea
103. Strait Is The Gate by Andre Gide - finished 5th September 2021 - August 1001 Challenge Random number generator
104. All The Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter - finished 6th September 2021 - March SFFKIT Fortune and Glory
105. The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld - finished 8th September 2021 - Prize Winners: 2021 Stella Prize
106. Boys and Girls Forever by Alison Lurie - finished 9th September 2021 - September AlphaKIT letter F
107. The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden - finished 10th September 2021 - April HistoryCAT Ancient 8th C BC to 6th AD
108. The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera - finished 11th September 2021 - Read Around The World New Zealand
109. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - finished 11th September 2021 - March MysteryKIT Locked-room mystery
110. The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud - finished 13th September 2021 - July ScaredyKIT Ghosts and Hauntings
111. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys - finished 14th September 2021 - June RandomCAT Everything Old Is New Again
112. On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta - finished 16th September 2021 - August AlphaKIT letter J
113. Changi Days: The Prisoner As Poet by David Griffin - finished 18th September 2021 - BingoDOG Arts and Recreation
114. The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin - finished 19th September 2021 - Jul/Sep KITastrophe Weather/Geological/Fires
115. Spring Magic by D.E. Stevenson - finished 21st September 2021 - July GenreCAT Romance
116. Picnic At Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay - finished 23rd September 2021 - BingoDOG Southern Hemisphere
117. Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge - finished 24th September 2021 - July SFFKIT Historical Fiction
118. The Tale of Holly How by Susan Wittig Albert - finished 25th September 2021 - August MysteryKIT Cosy Mystery Featuring Animals
119. She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan - finished 27th September 2021 - April SFFKIT Series
120. The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets by Nancy Springer - finished 28th September 2021 - September GenreCAT Children/YA
121. The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud - finished 29th September 2021 - October GenreCAT Horror/supernatural/paranormal
122. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager - finished 30th September 2021 - September ScaredyKIT The Dead, Their Habits and Abodes

122/185 = 65.95%

Read Around The World 7/10 = 70% Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, The Whale Rider
* Prize Winners 5/5 = 100% The Bass Rock
Wartime 3/5 = 60%
1001 Monthly Challenge 7/12 = 58.33% Strait Is The Gate
The Apple Isle 3/5 = 60%
Woolly Ones 1/5 = 20%
BingoDOG 20/25 = 80% Changi Days: The Prisoner As Poet, Picnic At Hanging Rock
RandomCAT 7/12 = 58.33% Wide Sargasso Sea
GenreCAT 7/12 = 58.33% Spring Magic, The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets, The Whispering Skull
HistoryCAT 5/12 = 41.67% The Romanov Empress, The Falcon of Sparta
AlphaKIT 18/26 = 69.23% Boys and Girls Forever, On The Jellicoe Road
MysteryKIT 8/12 = 66.67% And Then There Were None, The Tale of Holly How
ScaredyKIT 8/12 = 66.67% The Screaming Staircase, Home Before Dark
SFFKIT 7/12 = 58.33% All The Murmuring Bones, Fly By Night, She Who Became The Sun
GeoKIT 6/7 = 85.71%
KITastrophe 3/5 = 60% The Children's Blizzard
Random Reads 7/8 =87.5%

You're killing me, Jayne, with all the BB's!

>318 Tess_W: Sorry! I must admit, August was a great reading month for me. And as we have at least another three weeks of lockdown to look forward to, I am thinking September will be as well.

>319 JayneCM: We're going to be in lockdown forever! Happy reading!

I've just been for a second walk because it's so warm and sunny. Fortunately nearly everyone is wearing a mask, even though they're outside and a long way apart. It would be good if the masks protected against pollen as well as Covid. Hoping that the Shepparton outbreak will be completely shut down and Covid will stay out of the rest of regional Victoria.

>320 pamelad: It does seem like forever! At least my daughter and family had their 'freedom' test yesterday and were negative and cleared for release. Although she said she is a bit reluctant to go anywhere.
Glad you are enjoying the lovely weather.

My son found this on TikTok (not a platform I am familiar with!) I just found it on Youtube as it has gone viral, as they say, here in Australia.
I have never seen a more seamless sentence remix - just shows exactly how monotone Gladys is, when you can take bits from all her press conferences and splice them together.

Just a little lockdown humour, for those of us stuck at home!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLTGXblgUoc

It certainly feels like we will be in lockdown forever!

>322 JayneCM: That was blackly funny. Made me laugh. Do you remember the Christmas lights synchronised with Dan's Get on the Beers?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UONGxcKJ5gY

And that's good news about your daughter and her family.

>323 pamelad: Oh yes! Get on the Beers was a great one; who knew it would be a hit song?!
I think there are a lot of people with far too much time on their hands. It is good to get the feelings out making things like this - and it makes us all laugh.

>322 JayneCM: - Someone put a lot of work into that. I even showed it to my husband.

>325 dudes22: It is a help to be able to laugh at lockdown. Gotta laugh or you'd cry! Although I am getting a lot of reading in, which is a bonus.

Book 101. The Romanov Empress: A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna by C.W. Gortner

June HistoryCAT - Military, War and Revolution
Magical Readathon - The Novice Path Entrance - book with a map

I have always been fascinated by the Romanovs and Russia in general. This book was particularly interesting as it covered such a sweep of Russian history from that period. Particularly interesting was the beginning of Nicholas's relationship with Alexandra and to see all the events, from then and previous, that led to the inevitable fall of Imperial Russia.

Maria Feodorovna was the mother of Tsar Nicholas II. So we follow her from just before her arrival in Russia in 1866 to her departure in 1919.

Such an interesting book! So many complicated marriage relationships to follow! In the afterword, it noted that in 2018 it was revealed that Prince Philip's DNA had been used to identify the remains of Alexandra as they are related through Philip's maternal grandmother.

This was my first book by C.W. Gortner but I can see more in my future as he written about some other fascinating women in history.

>327 JayneCM: I'm glad you liked this as much as I did. I'm surprised I don't see his name more often on LT. I haven't read all of his books but what I have read keeps me reading them.

>323 pamelad: very amusing!

>327 JayneCM: I love books on the Romanov's! This is now on my WL!

Book 102. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo

Read Around The World - South Korea
Shorty September - read a book set in another country

This is a novel about a young South Korean woman and how she navigates being female in South Korean culture. From birth, females are made very aware that they are inferior and all throughout her life, Kim Jiyoung has experienced this.
The novel is interspersed with facts and notations to back up the experiences of the fictional character, such as the gender pay gap being the worst of any OECD country at 63%.

There are a number of experiences that convey just how women are considered in South Korea.

On being harassed and followed home by a man - "Jiyoung grew up being told to be cautious, to dress conservatively, to be ladylike. That it's your job to avoid dangerous places, times of day and people. It's your fault for not noticing and avoiding."

On the formation of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in 2001 and thus its effect on Jiyoung deciding whether to go back to work after the birth of her child - "But in certain pivotal moments in women's lives, the woman stigma reared its head to obscure their vision, stay their hands and hold them back. The mixed signals were confusing and disconcerting."

On being a high-achieving woman, either in education or the workforce - "Companies find smart women taxing."

This book had a profound effect when it was released in South Korea and has now been translated into eighteen languages. I think this is because although the book is about South Korea which has a particularly poor record, women in pretty much any country have experienced some of this issues.

I particularly liked the irony of the last section where the psychiatrist who is treating Jiyoung for depression talks about his wife's work situation after their son was born and then a female counsellor at his office who is pregnant. The last words in the novel are his about this employee:

"Even the best female employees can cause many problems if they don't have the childcare issue taken care of. I'll have to make sure her replacement is unmarried."

I get the feeling the author doesn't think change will be coming to South Korea anytime soon!

Book 103. Strait Is The Gate by Andre Gide

August 1001 Challenge - random number generator
Shorty September - read a translated book

I am not sure what to say about this book. I found it to be beautiful and pure but nothing really happens.
It is the story of two cousins, Jerome and Alissa, who from their teen years seem as though are in love and will marry. But Alissa becomes increasingly more focused on God and feels that their earthly love is tainting Jerome's faith.
It is a classic story of crossed lines and suppressed emotions which does not all come to the fore until the end of the book.
It may be too slow for many readers and there is much 'woe is me' and overly emotional outpourings, at least to our modern sensibilities. But it was first published in 1909, when less was definitely not more.
Overall a quiet and gentle story.

Book 104. All The Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter

March SFFKIT - Fortune and Glory!
Bookopolathon - book with a blue cover

You may have noticed I love books about the mer! Not pretty mermaids but the traditional mer. This book has many of the traditional water creatures - the mer, rusalka, kelpie.

It is the story of Miren, the last of the O'Malleys. Her grandmother is determined to return the fortune and glory of the family but this involves reinstating the family tradition of sacrificing a child each generation to the mer. Miren is just as determined to avoid this fate.

As the quote on the cover says, "this is the grim, fairy-tale gothic you've been waiting for." Yes, please!

It started slowly but I loved all the twists and turns and the addition of Miren telling the ancient tales. Very atmospheric.

Some more lockdown humour!

Our state premier has promised us a 'treat' when we reach 70% vaccination milestone. But what constitutes a treat?!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1435161527082881035

>335 JayneCM: Too funny!

>334 JayneCM: Yep. A normal would be a treat now. Meeting friends for lunch in a beer garden on a sunny day?

>336 Tess_W: Gotta laugh!

>337 pamelad: It seems that we will be 'released' earlier than Melbourne, although it is not a huge change. The best thing is that the library will reopen on Friday! Hope you are keeping well.

Book 105. The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld

Prize Winners - winner of 2021 Stella Prize
Magical Readathon - Ashthorn Tree - book on top of your TBR

I have been meaning to read this book for so long. I have heard people rave about it, but I am not sure what to think of it. In some ways, it reads as hot mess of jumbled thoughts and events, in others it is a scathing analysis of toxic masculinity. It almost seems as though the gothic elements (which seem to be the main spin put on this book) are just an extra.

The book is the story of three women over four centuries, who are all connected to the Bass Rock and the vicinity of North Bewick. Interspersed through their narratives is the story of an unknown woman - her story begins and ends the book but we know little about her. This is a device to enable us to see that to men, women are often nameless objects to be used.

There are definite elements of The Yellow Wallpaper, particularly in Ruth's story.

I was not a fan of the fact that all the women characters seemed to take to drinking to cope with the way they have been treated by men. But I think the author is saying that is the truth of the world - maybe there are more women bowed down by their treatment than there are those who are strong enough to stand up to it. Maybe women have spent too long coping and covering up and so they are unable or don't know how to stand up for themselves. It is so ingrained in society that it just the way things are.
Maggie seems to be the only character strong enough to take a stand but she is just seen as crazy.

Book 106. Boys and Girls Forever by Alison Lurie

September AlphaKIT letter F
Book Covered Book Club - book with a book on the cover

This is a collection of essays, most of which originally appeared in the New York Review of Books.
I enjoyed the first group of essays as each one was a chapter about an individual author and their books, such as Tove Jansson's Moomintroll books, Dr Seuss, Louisa May Alcott, etc.
But then the essays ventured more into analysis - of childrens' play, the rhymes they invent. Although this was interesting, it was not what I picked the book up for.

Book 107. The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden

April HistoryCAT Ancient 8th C BC to 6th AD
Magical Readathon - The Mist of Solitude - read a standalone

It seems that the Spartans are well known for winning through in hopeless situations. This is historical fiction based on such an incident.

The book is based on The Persian Expedition by Xenophon, which describes events that occurred in 401BC. Prince Cyrus of Persia wished to kill his brother King Artaxerxes to claim the throne and employed many Greek mercenaries, including Spartans, to further this plan. Cyrus fell in the battle and the main story is about the remaining Greeks and their struggle to return home while being pursued by the Persian army.

This is definitely only for you if you like lots of descriptions of ancient warfare!

Book 108. The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera

Read Around The World - New Zealand
Shorty September - book made into a movie

I love the movie of The Whale Rider but had never read the book. I love books featuring a culture's mythology and folklore and the Maori people have a rich culture. The whale rider is an ancestor of the author and he was inspired to write this novel in 1987 when his daughters questioned why all the heroes always have to be boys. Why can't a girl ever save the day?

When he was a boy, the author used to constantly visit the meeting house in Whangara where the carving of Kahutia Te Rangi (the ancestral whale rider) is located.