MissBrangwen's New Chapter - I

Discussie2022 Category Challenge

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MissBrangwen's New Chapter - I

1MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: mrt 5, 2022, 11:26 am



Hi,

my name is Mirjam! I will celebrate my tenth Thingaversary in 2022, but this is only my second year in the category challenge.

I'm a teacher living in the north of Germany with my husband. We have just moved to a new apartment that we absolutely love and I hope that in 2022 we will spend many hours reading there.
Last year, I left the challenge in May because I had so much on my plate, but I am happy to be back because during the five months of active membership my reading was more varied and I was more eager to read than I had been in a long time.

Just as last year, I will start my challenge on Christmas Eve! Hurray!

Regarding the categories, I want to do several of the CATs and KITs, but without any pressure - if I cannot find a book fitting the category in a particular month, I'll pass.
I also have a few personal categories that I will explain further down. And of course I'll be doing BingoDOG!

Books are eligible to count for multiple challenges.

I decided not to list my books read each month and not to do monthly recaps because that puts too much stress on me. Instead, there is one chronological list of all books read.

~~~

Because most of us miss traveling so much and I for one really miss international travel, I decided to use some of my bookish travel pictures from the years before the pandemic in my thread. These are:

1. Leakey's Bookshop, Inverness
2. The Agatha Christie Memorial in London
3. The Albertus Magnus Memorial at the University of Cologne
4. The National Library of Cambodia in Phnom Penh
5. Oxford University Press Bookshop in Oxford
6. English Fine Books in Palma de Mallorca

~~~

2MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: mrt 6, 2022, 6:34 am

Currently Reading


4MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 20, 2022, 3:45 pm



My virtual shelves

The goal is to read a book from every one of my virtual LibraryThing shelves.

J.R.R. Tolkien
Wizarding World
Jane Austen
Bronte Sisters
Goethe
Anglo-Celtic Isles
Australia
Classics – German
Classics – English
Contemporary Literature - German
Contemporary Literature - English
International Literature
Crime
Historical Fiction
Fantasy
SciFi | Distopy
General Fiction
Children’s lit
Autobiography
Biography
Medieval Studies | Faerie | Mythology
History
Politics | Sociology | Critical Theory
Religion
Arts | Music
Architecture | Interiors
Bibliophily
Health
Animals | Nature
Travel
Europe
Africa
Asia
Americas
Oceania
Polar Regions

I leave out shelves that consist mostly of books that you typically don’t read through (such as reference books).

5MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 20, 2022, 9:09 am



BingoDOG

1. An Award Winning book: Black and Blue by Ian Rankin
2. Published in a year ending 2:
3. A modern retelling of an older story:
4. A book you'd love to see as a movie: Death of a Dancer by Jill McGown
5. A book that features a dog: Kartoffeln mit Stippe by Ilse Gräfin von Bredow
6. The title contains the letter Z:
7. Published the year you joined LT: A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen
8. A book by a favourite author: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
9. A long book (long for you):
10. A book you received as a gift:
11. The title contains a month:
12. A weather word in the title:
13. Read a CAT: Nußknacker und Mausekönig by E.T.A. Hoffmann
14. Contains travel or a journey: Auf der Datumsgrenze durch die Südsee by Klaus Scherer
15. A book about sisters or brothers: Abendglanz by Hanna Caspian
16. A book club read (real or online):
17. A book with flowers on the cover: Lesereise Kanarische Inseln - Archipel der Glückseligkeiten by Claudia Diemar
18. A book in translation:
19. A work of non-fiction:
20. A book where a character shares a name of a friend: Nachtfeuer by Hanna Caspian
21. A book set in a capital city:
22. A children's or YA book:
23. A book set in a country other than the one you live: Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
24. A book by an LGBTQ+ author: The Distant Echo by Val McDermid
25. A book with silver or gold on the cover: Der Ritter mit der Web-Adresse - Walisische Panoramen by Michael Bengel

6MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: jan 5, 2022, 8:06 am



CATWoman

January: Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
"Kartoffeln mit Stippe" by Ilse Gräfin von Bredow

7MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 20, 2022, 3:46 pm

AuthorCAT

January: Indigenous Writers
"Tracks" by Louise Erdrich

February: 19th Century Authors
"Aquis Submersus" by Theodor Storm
"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

8MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 12, 2022, 4:17 pm

MysteryKIT

January: Series
"Death of a Dancer" by Jill McGown
"Black and Blue" by Ian Rankin

February: Cold Case
"The Distant Echo" by Val McDermid
"A Darker Domain" by Val McDermid

9MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 20, 2022, 3:48 pm

AlphaKIT

January: H - R
"Nußknacker und Mausekönig" by E.T.A. Hoffmann
"Abendglanz" by Hanna Caspian
"Far from the Madding Crowd" by Thomas Hardy
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
"Der Ritter mit der Web-Adresse - Walisische Panoramen" by Michael Bengel
"Black and Blue" by Ian Rankin

February: A - B
"Lesereise Kanarische Inseln - Archipel der Glückseligkeiten" by Claudia Diemar
"Auf der Datumsgrenze durch die Südsee" by Klaus Scherer
"Aquis Submersus" by Theodor Storm
"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
"A Street Cat Named Bob" by James Bowen

Yearlong: X - Z

10MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 6, 2022, 11:19 am

RandomKIT

January (Home Sweet Home): "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
February (Cats): "A Street Cat Named Bob" by James Bowen

11MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: mrt 5, 2022, 11:34 am

Late CAT

Here I will list books that I read for CATWoman, AuthorCAT and RandomCAT but do not make it in the respective month.

12MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: dec 27, 2021, 6:22 am

"

University Reading List

I studied German Literature at the University of Cologne and we were given a reading list composed of several hundred titles. From day one it was my goal to finish that list (I think I am the only one who really wanted to do so) and I read nearly half of it during my time as a student there. Since then I have only read a few dozens, but I never really abandoned my goal. This year I want to make some progress, too, although it gets harder because by now I have read most of the works that are short, popular or easily accessible. I'll be happy if I read five works this year.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

13MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 20, 2022, 3:49 pm

Rereading fiction

There are some wonderful novels that I haven't read in a decade or more and always mean to read again. I would love to read about five of them this year.
This category is reserved for fiction! Non-fiction rereads don't go in here.

1. "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. "A Darker Domain" by Val McDermid
3. "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
4.
5.

14MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 20, 2022, 3:50 pm

Classics Challenge

I saw the Classics Challenge in MissWatson's 2021 thread and was so delighted by the prompts that I decided to try it in 2022. It is a perfect fit because I used to read a lot of classics but now feel that it is hard to get into them again. My goal is to complete the challenge.

1. A 19th century classic - any book published between 1800 and 1899: Aquis Submersus by Theodor Storm
2. A 20th century classic - any book published between 1900 and 1971:
3. A classic by a woman author:
4. A classic in translation:
5. A children's classic:
6. A classic crime story, fiction or non-fiction:
7. A classic travel or journey narrative, fiction or non-fiction:
8. A classic with a single-word title:
9. A classic with a color in the title:
10. A classic by an author that's new to you: Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
11. A classic that scares you:
12. Re-read a favorite classic: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

15MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: dec 30, 2021, 1:13 pm



The following are not categories per se, but I just want to track how many of these I read this year.

Doorstoppers

All books that have more than 600 pages, or more than 500 if the print is tiny.

1. "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien (1112pp.)

16MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 20, 2022, 3:50 pm

Finally finished

All books that I have started before 2022 but finally finish this year.

1. "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. "Abendglanz" by Hanna Caspian
3. "Auf der Datumsgrenze durch die Südsee" by Klaus Scherer
4. "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

17MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 20, 2022, 9:10 am

Series

All books that are part of a series, plus new series I started and - hopefully - any series I finished or have read all entries published so far.

Ongoing series

Inspector Rebus by Ian Rankin (reading in order)
- Black and Blue (8/23)

Lloyd & Hill by Jill McGown (reading in order)
- Death of a Dancer (3/14)

New series

Gut Greifenau by Hanna Caspian (reading in order)
- Abendglanz (1/6)
- Nachtfeuer (2/6)

Karen Pirie by Val McDermid (reading in order)
- The Distant Echo (1/6)
- A Darker Domain (2/6)

A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen (reading in order)
- A Street Cat Named Bob (1/3)

Finished and up-to-date series

18MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 21, 2022, 12:31 pm



Special Projects

This is a place to track and write about my special reading projects! No specific goals, I'll be happy if I get a bit further with them.

19MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 21, 2022, 12:31 pm

The Tolkien Project
To read or reread the Middle-earth works and accompanying secondary literature in order, and after that most other works and a lot more sec lit)

Dec 30: I finished my reread of "The Lord of the Rings" which is a huge success!

20MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 21, 2022, 12:31 pm

The 19th Century British Writers Project
To read or reread all or most works of Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens and possibly more, and watch the film adaptations

Jan 15: I finished my first Thomas Hardy novel, "Far from the Madding Crowd", and decided to include this author in my project, at least when it comes to his most important works.

Feb 13: We watched the 2015 adaptation of "Far from the Madding Crowd" and I enjoyed it even more than the novel, mostly because of the beautiful cinematography and the actors.

Feb 20: I finished rereading "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen and was mesmerized even more than I was ten years ago.

21MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 21, 2022, 12:29 pm

The Goethe Project
To read or reread most Goethe works and a little bit of sec lit about each work, plus the biographies I own

22MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 21, 2022, 12:29 pm

The Shakespeare Project
To read or reread all Shakespeare plays and some secondary lit, and watch available film adaptations or stage productions

23MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 21, 2022, 12:27 pm



Group read of Uwe Johnson's "Anniversaries" (Jahrestage)

This group read is organized by japaul22 in the 1001 books group.
This huge tome of 1700 pages is on my university reading list and I have owned it for more than ten years, so the group read is my chance to finally tackle it!
I will note down my progress here.

Jahrestage group read thread

24MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 21, 2022, 12:27 pm



Welcome to my new thread! Feel free to join me as I read this new chapter!

25Jackie_K
dec 17, 2021, 1:52 pm

Happy new challenge! :) Hope you have a brilliant reading year!

26majkia
dec 17, 2021, 2:20 pm

Glad you are back and hope you continue to love the new apartment. Happy reading! Good luck on your challenge.

27NinieB
dec 17, 2021, 5:17 pm

So nice to see you back, Mirjam. I hope you have a great reading year in 2022!

28pamelad
dec 17, 2021, 5:38 pm

Wishing you a year of great books in 2022!

29rabbitprincess
dec 17, 2021, 6:28 pm

Welcome back and have a great reading year! Blackwell's is lovely, and I hope to get to Leakey's someday!

30Tess_W
dec 17, 2021, 6:36 pm

Welcome back! I hope you enjoy reading in 2022!

31lowelibrary
dec 17, 2021, 7:42 pm

Love the idea of >2 MissBrangwen: I might have to borrow it for 2023. Good luck with your 2022 reading.

32VivienneR
dec 18, 2021, 12:37 am

Good to see you back, Mirjam! Good luck with your reading.

33MissBrangwen
dec 18, 2021, 5:53 am

>26 majkia: >27 NinieB: >28 pamelad: Thank you all!

>29 rabbitprincess: Oops, I noticed that my caption was wrong and I messed up my pictures - the picture is of the Oxford University Press Bookshop. But I agree, Blackwell's is such a great shop!

>30 Tess_W: >32 VivienneR: Thank you!

>31 lowelibrary: Glad I could provide some inspiration!

34MissWatson
dec 18, 2021, 10:46 am

It's lovely to see you here, Mirjam. I'm also getting my tenner badge in 2022, what a coincidence. I'm curious to see what will go into your University Reading List!
Happy reading!

35Jackie_K
dec 18, 2021, 12:02 pm

>34 MissWatson: You've reminded me that I am another tenner in 2022 (in August). Clearly 2012 was a vintage year!

36DeltaQueen50
dec 18, 2021, 2:05 pm

Welcome back! Enjoy your 2022 reading.

37MissBrangwen
dec 19, 2021, 5:46 am

>34 MissWatson: >35 Jackie_K: So we all joined the same year - that's so funny!

>37 MissBrangwen: Thank you!

38Helenliz
dec 20, 2021, 6:46 am

Hoping that 2022 treats you better. I, too, ducked out of LT one year when life got all too much. Just know that it will not judge you and will always welcome you back.

Looking forward to seeing where your reading takes you.

39MissBrangwen
dec 20, 2021, 2:30 pm

>38 Helenliz: "Just know that it will not judge you and will always welcome you back." It's wonderful, really!

40MissBrangwen
dec 23, 2021, 4:54 am

I decided to join japaul22's group read of Anniversaries (Jahrestage) by Uwe Johnson. It's on my university reading list which is one of my categories, and I've owned it for more than a decade, but I never actually started reading it because it's just so daunting. 1700 pages!
However, Jennifer created a schedule that looks really doable, so I figured that this is my chance to succeed in reading this huge book!

I used one of my extras above to write about this.

Here is the link to the group thread over at the 1001 books group.

41MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: dec 30, 2021, 6:16 am

Just as I did last year, I wanted to start my challenge on Christmas Eve again, because I couldn't wait to be done with 2021 and because I think Christmas is a nice point to start. We are having a very quiet and cosy Christmas again, just the two of us, so it's a very good time to read!
My first book of the reading year is Nußknacker und Mausekönig (The Nutcracker and the Mouse King) by E.T.A. Hoffmann, which I gave as a Christmas present to my husband a few years ago. This was the first time I read it and I have never watched the ballet, although I love the music and I have also watched the 2018 film.



Book No 1

"Nußknacker und Mausekönig" by E.T.A. Hoffmann
First published in 1816
Insel-Bücherei
Hardcover, 100pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Classics - German
CATs&KITs: AlphaKIT - H-R
BingoDOG: Read a CAT

I must say that starting from my impressions of the ballet music and the film, I expected something a little different from this book, although I have read a few other works of E.T.A. Hoffmann, so I should have known better! It was easy to recognize the themes that run through most of his famous stories: Dolls coming to life, the mingling of reality and dreams, the mixing of beautiful and uncanny things.
It was a bit difficult to get into the story itself, because to my mind, some aspects are a bit too over-excited and the storyline is a bit confused.
However, I loved the Christmassy part of the story. The descriptions of Christmas at the Stahlbaum's home is opulent and detailed, and it seems to be an old and traditional Christmas that you dream of as a child, filled to the brim with wonderful presents, lights and wonders, and the most delicious sweets. I also sympathized with Marie, the main character, a lot, and she reminds me of Lucy when she comes back from Narnia the first time.

This edition was published by Insel Verlag as part of the beautiful Insel-Bücherei, and it is so pretty. Apart from the colorful binding, there are fourteen illustrations by artist Monika Wurmdobler. These are not my favorites, but they do enhance the story.

42Tess_W
Bewerkt: dec 25, 2021, 10:35 am

>41 MissBrangwen: Great first read! My reading year runs from Dec 25-Dec 25. I started this so I could get right to the new and shiny immediately!

43DeltaQueen50
dec 25, 2021, 2:54 pm

You are off to an excellent start. My daughter, granddaughter and I went to a performance of the Nutcracker a number of years ago so it holds a special place in my heart.

44hailelib
dec 25, 2021, 5:16 pm

Good start to your challenge.

We are also having a small Christmas, just my husband and myself. We did have a fairly long phone conversation with our son this morning though.

Good luck with 2022.

45MissBrangwen
dec 27, 2021, 3:48 am

>42 Tess_W: Good to learn that you are starting early, too!

>43 DeltaQueen50: That must have been a wonderful experience!

>44 hailelib: I spoke to my mom on the phone, too. We hope to meet next week but we have to wait and see how the Covid situation develops. I hope you enjoyed Christmas nonetheless!

46Crazymamie
dec 27, 2021, 4:37 pm

You are already off to an excellent start! My daughter Abigail loves that ballet. I have read the book, but it was a very long time ago. I should revisit it at some point.

>14 MissBrangwen: I did this same classics challenge last year, and it was a lot of fun.

47MissBrangwen
dec 28, 2021, 1:16 pm

>46 Crazymamie: Oh yes, I'm really looking forward to that challenge! It's great that you enjoyed it so much!

48MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: dec 30, 2021, 2:14 pm

I am very happy to say that my second finished book of my reading year is The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien! Hurray!
This is my sixth read of this huge tome, but still I was rather in awe of it because I hadn't read it for eight years. Although I really wanted to, I never gathered the courage to embark on such a huge project and postponed it time and again. This past September I finally started, though, and read until the Mines of Moria. I stopped because of our move and did not read at all until we were somewhat settled in our new apartment and I had done all the end of year grading of papers and exams. I started a few days before Christmas and got until Fangorn, and from Christmas Eve (arriving in Rohan) I read almost straight through until I finished the appendices today.
My copy is one I bought on eBay for my last reread, because my first English copy is almost in tatters. I have several others, but some of those are too precious to really read, and others are in German and I don't read those anymore (but cannot part with them because of sentimental reasons). So the one pictured here is my actual reading copy.



Book No 2

"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
First published in 1954 - 1955
HarperCollins
Paperback, 1112pp.
Rating: 5 stars - *****

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Tolkien
Cats&Kits: AlphaKIT - H-R, RandomKIT - Home Sweet Home
BingoDOG: A book by a favourite author
My own categories: Rereading Fiction, Doorstoppers, Finally Finished
Part of The Tolkien Project

It is hard to write a review of a book that means so much to me, so I won't attempt it. I chose this book for this month's RandomKIT - Home Sweet Home because that is indeed what it means to me.
I first read "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" almost exactly twenty years ago, shortly before the first Peter Jackson movie came into cinemas, and they swept me away. I had loved fantasy books - especially Narnia - before, but nothing came remotely close to this.
I was fifteen years old and became what today you would call a total nerd. Since then, the books (and other writings of Tolkien) have provided me with refuge and solace and are one of the few constants in my life, and a huge influence as well.
So what now - what did my sixth read of the book that started it all bring?
Once more I was drawn into the story, was moved and touched, and I laughed and cried, admired Tolkien's words, discovered things I hadn't seen before, and, maybe because I am a little older, I enjoyed the language and the literary crafting even more than before. I felt at home and it felt indeed like coming back after a long time.
But much more than this I took hope from the book. Because sometimes I feel like we are going into dark times right now, times that I would never have expected just a short while ago, with a pandemic, right-wing movements on the rise, the climate crisis, so many things changing that I would not have thought possible. And in these times the story of the hobbits gave me courage and brought me light. We have to look at the good that is left in the world.

49Crazymamie
dec 30, 2021, 3:32 pm

>48 MissBrangwen: I love what you wrote, Mirjam. Those books mean a lot to me, too.

50rabbitprincess
dec 30, 2021, 6:10 pm

>48 MissBrangwen: LOTR is the perfect choice for the RandomKIT! I may have to re-read Fellowship of the Ring sometime next year.

51Tess_W
dec 30, 2021, 7:13 pm

>48 MissBrangwen: I'm glad that you enjoy(ed) the book so many times!

52MissBrangwen
dec 31, 2021, 4:29 am

>49 Crazymamie: ♥ ♥ ♥

>50 rabbitprincess: I'm glad you agree!

>51 Tess_W: Thank you!

53thornton37814
dec 31, 2021, 10:40 pm

Happy 2022 reading!

54charl08
jan 1, 2022, 10:56 am

Happy new year. Even though I'm not a LotR fan, good to read about the power of these books for you.

55christina_reads
jan 2, 2022, 3:55 pm

I also love your Lord of the Rings post! It's one of my favorite books too, and you are making me want to reread it!

56Chrischi_HH
jan 2, 2022, 4:26 pm

Happy New Year, Mirjam! You're off to a good start, and I love what you write in your LOTR post. Yes, times are challenging, but there is always something positive. Sometimes we just need to look a bit longer to find it.

57MissWatson
Bewerkt: jan 4, 2022, 2:11 pm

>48 MissBrangwen: Hope, that's a great thing to take away from the book. I think that's why it will endure.

ETC link

58MissBrangwen
jan 4, 2022, 11:44 am

Happy New Year everyone! I went to visit family for a few days, but now I'm back.

>53 thornton37814: Thank you!

>54 charl08: Happy New Year to you, too, and thanks for your comment!

>55 christina_reads: Rereading would be so much easier if it was shorter, wouldn't it??

>56 Chrischi_HH: I'm so happy that you loved my review!

>57 MissWatson: I totally agree!

59MissBrangwen
jan 4, 2022, 12:46 pm

I just came back from a three day visit to my family and am happy that I managed to finish one book while I was away! MysteryKIT's prompt this month is "series" and of course there are so many choices, so I just went with what I felt like most. I decided to go for Death of a Dancer by Jill McGown, the third book of the Lloyd and Hill series. It was also published under the title Gone To Her Death.



Book No 3

"Death of a Dancer" by Jill McGown
Series: Lloyd & Hill (3)
First published in 1989
Pan Macmillan/Bello
Paperback, 263pp.
Rating: 2 stars - **

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Crime
CATs & KITs: MysteryKIT - series
BingoDOG: A book you'd love to see as a movie
My own categories: Series

Trigger warning for references to rape

Lloyd and Hill are two members of the police force who also have a private relationship, so the series not only focuses on their work, but also (although to less extent) on their private lives. I had enjoyed the first two books of this series a lot and was really looking forward to the third one, but was quite disappointed overall.
The case sounded very solid to me: The wife of the deputy headmaster of a public boy's school is raped and murdered in the night of the sesquicentennial ball. Naturally, there are many suspects, and the fact that most of them wore very similar clothes does not make things easier. Lloyd and Hill arrive on the scene, they recently visited the school anyway because of a series of thefts that might or might not be connected to the murder.
What really disturbed me about this novel was that there was too much sex in it. It went so far as to depict verbal abuse, catcalling, victim blaming, discussions about the "thin lines" between rape or no rape... Not only by the culprits or suspects, but by the policemen as well. I don't know if this novel is just showing its age, but I was appalled.
My husband was reading his own novel next to me and it's safe to say that he had a hard time reading because of my angry outbursts while I read chapter after chapter.
While it is made clear that Judy Hill, the female part of "Lloyd and Hill", does not agree with what is happening, she is the only one to stand up, is affected by sexism herself, and time and again finds herself in awkward positions when defending the victim.
In the end the message comes through that too many women are affected by sexual violence and that more should be done about it, but to me this message is depicted in a way that is not appropriate. The novel contains too many harmful positions and statements that are not contradicted or even discussed, and it lacks a strong character supporting Judy Hill in her battle. Maybe the idea was not so bad, but the execution is misleading.
Apart from all of that, the case was interesting and the story became more gripping in the second half when it did not exclusively focus on the sex lives of the characters but on the solving of the case. I enjoyed the sleuthing part of the plot as well as the school setting and was surprised by the actual solution.
I did enjoy the first two books and will continue with this series because I hope that the other books are better and deal with other subjects.

I should also give an explanation about my choice to use this for BingoDOG - A book you'd love to see as a movie. I do think that this series would be a great TV show, similar to Midsomer Murders. I'd love to see the settings, the police station, the homes of Lloyd and Hill, the other characters. I know that there was a pilot movie at one point but that it was not successful and not developed further, so my idea would be to do a new series and probably even transport and update it to the 2010s or thereabouts. Of course, this particular episode would need a lot of rewriting and editing!

60MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: jan 5, 2022, 10:19 am

When my maternal grandmother died I was the one to inherit her small collection of prose works, as I am the person reading the most in the family and the only one to appreciate old and sort of dated or classic books, apart from my mom. My grandmother did not read much apart from her Bible and devotional readings, but she loved stories set in Eastern Germany before World War II because she grew up in Pomerania and was displaced aged fifteen. So I inherited several books by Ilse Gräfin von Bredow, but among them there wasn't her most famous work, Kartoffeln mit Stippe. I thought that I should probably start with that one and ordered it from my favourite online secondhand bookseller.
"Kartoffeln mit Stippe" is a traditional northeastern German dish - as far as I know (I'm not really good when it comes to German food because I don't enjoy most of it), it consists of potatoes with a sauce of bacon, onions and flour. However, when I grew up, my family used the word "Stippe" for mostly any sauce or dip, although it seems that we stopped using the word years ago.
I found out that this book has been translated to English under the title Eels with Dill Sauce, which is a totally different dish!



Book No 4

"Kartoffeln mit Stippe" by Ilse Gräfin von Bredow
First published in 1979
Goldmann
Paperback, 216pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Autobiography
Cats&Kits: CATWoman - Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
BingoDOG: A book that features a dog

This is a somewhat fictionalized childhood memoir of Ilse Gräfin von Bredow who grew up as the daughter of a count in the countryside of Brandenburg in the east of Germany in the 1920s. She did not live in a castle, however - her family was not rich and they lived in an old forester's house in the woods, between two lakes and close to a poor village. The book consists of sixteen short episodes and each tells the reader about a certain incident or topic: Unbidden visitors from the city who were not accustomed to country life, exciting trips to Berlin, visits from eccentric relatives, buying a new horse, the time when all the family suffered from the flu and a strange uncle came to take care of them, the time their maid fell in love etc. Everything is very innocent and it feels a little bit like the Bullerby Children for an older audience. However, I did find it very, very funny and laughed out loud many times because the humor is fresh and honest and the descriptions are very lively. I have three more books by this author, all inherited from my grandmother, and I am looking forward to reading them.

61Crazymamie
jan 5, 2022, 4:45 pm

>60 MissBrangwen: I found out that this book has been translated to English under the title Eels with Dill Sauce, which is a totally different dish! That is so weird. I wonder why.

62Chrischi_HH
jan 5, 2022, 5:15 pm

>60 MissBrangwen: I remember "Stippe", too. Speckstippe cooked by my grandmother, years ago. My boyfriend sometimes uses this word. I think we should use it more often, it's a nice word. The books is also a good reminder to myself to read more about where my grandmother grew up (Königsberg area).

63AnnieMod
Bewerkt: jan 5, 2022, 11:51 pm

>60 MissBrangwen: That sounds amusing. :) In an interesting way.

64Tess_W
jan 6, 2022, 6:34 am

>60 MissBrangwen: So nice to have your grandmother's books. I'm sure you cherish them.

65Crazymamie
jan 6, 2022, 11:37 am

Your Lord of the Rings is a hot review! Just saw it on the Home page.

66hailelib
jan 6, 2022, 11:45 am

>60 MissBrangwen: - I also have some books that came from both sets of grandparents and I love the idea of having them and even read them sometimes. And I somehow ended up with most of the family Bibles!

67MissBrangwen
jan 6, 2022, 1:12 pm

>61 Crazymamie: I think they were looking for a title that sounds more poetic or more "exotic", as Annie pointed out over in my thread at Club Read. But I agree that it is weird and doesn't make sense, because eels with dill sauce are not mentioned in the book at all!

>65 Crazymamie: Thank you for bringing that to my attention! I would have missed it otherwise.

>62 Chrischi_HH: Yes, that's what I thought, too: When and why did we stop using "Stippe"? I think one of the reasons is that it doesn't sound fancy, and most people use dip for similar things now, which might sound more up to date but is not nearly as homely and cosy!

>63 AnnieMod: It is! :-)

>64 Tess_W: I do. They are one of my biggest treasures.

>66 hailelib: That is lovely! My mom has the old bibles for now but I am sure that when the day comes, I will keep most of them to save them from being put to the trash.

68MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: jan 12, 2022, 1:06 pm

I was never much of an audiobook listener, although I used to enjoy listening to nonfiction audiobooks and a few selected novels while doing chores. Last April I decided that I should finally get the audible app and I started listening to a novel I chose (Abendglanz by Hanna Caspian), but I abandoned it when life became too stressful, although I was already about one third into the story. Shortly after Christmas I finally resumed my listening and finished in what for me is a very short period of time!
Because I am not really a listener, I enjoy novels that are not too demanding, but that provide some escapism and that I am able to enjoy and follow while doing something else, like cooking or cleaning.



Book No 5

"Abendglanz" by Hanna Caspian
Series: Gut Greifenau (1)
First published in 2018
Audible
Digital audiobook, 16h 23min
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Historical Fiction
Cats&Kits: AlphaKIT - H-R
BingoDOG: A book about brothers and sisters
My own categories: Finally Finished, Series

The events take place in 1914 in the east of Germany. Gut Greifenau is a large estate, owned by an aristocratic family. The story follows the lives of the children of that family over the course of a few months and until the first days of World War One. They try to find their way in the world, loving their home and the luxurious life which is all they have ever known, but they also fall in love, realize that things will change and that their parents' world is slowly crumbling down, and that they are locked in the proverbial golden cage. While Konstantin, the eldest son and heir, falls in love with the village teacher - and a social democrat! - Katharina becomes attached to a young man from Berlin who is very rich, but alas, he is not an aristocrat.
Yes, some parts of this are very cheesy, but what I liked was the depiction of the epochal change taking place in that period, shown not only through clashes between the classes and political discussions between the various characters, but also in the tensions between the generations, for example in the way that Konstantin wants to buy farming machinery while his father insists on farming in a traditional way. Katharina, on the other hand, wonders why she shouldn't marry a successful and affluent man only because he doesn't have a meaningless title.
Very similar to Downton Abbey, though, apart from these main characters there is a whole ensemble cast of people upstairs and downstairs, and I followed all of their stories with interest. Of course, there are also a lot of family secrets, and when the war starts, things are shaken even more. While many people are dazzled by the prospect of a quick victory, others are afraid of the war and fear for their loved ones and their little slices of happiness.
I loved, loved, loved the characters in this and I already started listening to the second book of the series because I can't wait to see what happens!

69CaptainBookamir
jan 13, 2022, 7:01 am

That does sound like a nice, light, historical read! Not quite a bullet, but I'm definitely grazed. Any idea if they are available in English?

70MissBrangwen
jan 13, 2022, 10:07 am

>69 CaptainBookamir: Oh, I don't think they are available in English. Sorry, usually I include it in my reviews if a book was translated, but I forgot.

71MissBrangwen
jan 16, 2022, 5:41 am

I had never heard about Thomas Hardy until I did a day trip to Dorchester ten years ago, and I wanted to read his novels ever since (and of course bought several of them). When H came up as one of this month's AlphaKIT letters I decided that this was the time to finally tackle one of his books! At first I intended to read The Return of the Native to make it a CATtrick and get both the H and the R, but after doing a little more research, I found that Far from the Madding Crowd would be a better starting point and an easier introduction to Hardy's works. I am also keen on watching the 2014 adaptation starring Carey Mulligan, so that is another reason.



Book No 6

"Far from the Madding Crowd" by Thomas Hardy
First published in 1874
Wordsworth Classics
Paperback, 423pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Classics - English
Cats&Kits: AlphaKIT - H-R
BingoDOG: A book set in a country other than the one you live
Classics Challenge: A classic by an author that's new to you
Part of the 19th Century British Writers Project

In this review, I won't go into the details of the plot because most of you will know them and otherwise they can be easily found elsewhere.
Regarding my reading experience, I must admit that I found it quite difficult to really get into the novel, and it took me about 100 pages to develop a feel for it. Still, there were many scenes I liked and I loved the descriptions of the country and Hardy's way with words. Later on, the story picked up and I read the remaining pages much quicker and without needing to pause so much.
Altogether, I enjoyed this novel and I admire Hardy's quest to depict country life and its hardships. The characters are vivid and interesting, and in the second half I screamed in frustration from time to time. I think that the depiction of Bashtheba's feelings, her plight and her situation, are relevant and timeless, as are the other characters.
Some scenes are described so well that they seem almost cinematic, painted with brushstrokes, and these were the ones that really stood out to me (e.g. the storm and the way Hardy describes the flashes and the shadows).
On the other hand, there was always something missing to me: A character that I could really identify with. I felt like a spectator while reading this novel, like being on the outside and watching something - watching the drama unfold without being involved. This is why in the end, it did not touch me as much as other Victorian novels did.

72Jackie_K
jan 16, 2022, 6:03 am

>71 MissBrangwen: I studied Far from the Madding Crowd at school (back in the Dark Ages!), and found it really hard to get into the book (especially as I would have been 14 when I started it! I remember my whole class struggling with it). However I watched the film with Julie Christie as Bathsheba, and once I'd got my head round the story found the book much easier to get into. Hardy is like Dickens for me - I need to have seen some sort of dramatisation of the story first so I know the gist before I start!

73MissWatson
jan 16, 2022, 6:53 am

>71 MissBrangwen: >72 Jackie_K: Yes, watching the adaptions definitely helps. It's a good thing the BBC does so many of them.

74Helenliz
jan 16, 2022, 7:02 am

>71 MissBrangwen: I studied one Hardy at school Under the Greenwood tree and the experience so put me off that I didn't read anything else by him for 30 years. Having tried again with Return of the Native I decided that he likes the landscape and the idea of the people that populate it more than he actually likes people. Like you, there was no-one I felt that I could really feel for, it all felt like an experiment under glass. Well done on getting through it. Are you planning a repeat visit or was that enough?!

75Tess_W
jan 16, 2022, 8:06 am

>71 MissBrangwen: Hardy is in the top 5 of my favorite authors of all time. I especially liked this book!

76beebeereads
jan 16, 2022, 1:13 pm

>71 MissBrangwen: My RL book club read Far From the Madding Crowd as our December selection. We commit to reading one classic per year. I remember reading it in high school and liking it. Although I really appreciated Hardy's writing and his descriptive style, I was not enthralled with the plot. I did learn a lot about sheep farming though! Every good book teaches us at least one new thing!

77pamelad
jan 16, 2022, 2:24 pm

>71 MissBrangwen: We read The Mayor of Casterbridge at school and after that I read all of his fiction because I'd become a big fan. I couldn't read them now because they're so tragic, but when I was young I was less permeable to tragedy. Jude the Obscure, in particular, stands out as one of the bleakest books I've ever read.

78hailelib
jan 16, 2022, 4:05 pm

Far from the Madding Crowd put me off Hardy when I was a teenager and I haven't touched him since!

79kac522
Bewerkt: jan 16, 2022, 5:43 pm

>75 Tess_W:, >76 beebeereads: I read most of Hardy back in the 1980s and 1990s. I remember enjoying them (mostly). I did re-read Mayor of Casterbridge several years ago, and enjoyed that one quite a bit. Last year I also read Desperate Remedies, which was his first published novel and a bit of a sensation novel.
I'm hoping to start re-reading the rest of the major novels this year, beginning with Under the Greenwood Tree (as soon as it arrives from the bookstore).

80thornton37814
jan 18, 2022, 6:45 pm

>71 MissBrangwen: Congrats on making it through that one. It's one of those books I eventually intend to get around to reading.

81Tess_W
jan 18, 2022, 8:42 pm

>71 MissBrangwen: Just love Hardy. I have penciled that in for one of my cats in 2023!

82MissBrangwen
jan 23, 2022, 5:10 am

Hi LT friends!
I did not read a lot during this past week because I had so much work to do and my mom did not feel well. I started again yesterday, though, and even finished one of my current reads, a short book about Wales.
So many comments about Far from the Madding Crowd! I read all of them with interest.

>72 Jackie_K: I imagine that this is not an easy read for a teenager. I feel the same about some of the classics that I hated at high school but that even belong to my favourites now, such as Theodor Storm.

>73 MissWatson: Oh yes! I am so happy about the BBC films.

>74 Helenliz: I plan to read Hardy's other famous works because although this one wasn't my favourite novel ever, it did not put me off. I think I liked it better than you did.
It seems that Under the Greenwood Tree is generally considered one of his weaker works, so it's probably not the best introduction to this author!
"it all felt like an experiment under glass" - well put, this describes my feelings as a reader very well.

>75 Tess_W: >81 Tess_W: Oooh, I'm looking forward to that if you really decide to do that! Good to hear that you love Hardy's novels so much.

>76 beebeereads: Haha, yes, the sheep farming. I must say, though, that I rather liked how Hardy described the animals in this novel, to me it was very sympathetic and attentive.

>77 pamelad: "but when I was young I was less permeable to tragedy" This is something I understand. Over the last years I have become much more sensitive when it comes to sad stories, maybe because of getting married and because of all the things happening in the world. Although it is different for me when reading classics because they feel more remote.

>78 hailelib: As I wrote above, I think it must be very hard for most teenagers to read this. As a young girl I would have found it very boring. On the other hand I did read The Sorrows of Young Werther aged 18 and loved it, but it was not a school read, and books usually look better if you are not forced to read them!

>79 kac522: What a great reading project! I have not heard about Desperate Remedies, I will look it up.

>80 thornton37814: I hope you like it when you get to it! As one can see from my comments, the reactions to this novel vary a lot.

83MissBrangwen
jan 23, 2022, 12:03 pm

One of my reading habits that I resumed in the beginning of this year is to read a travel book to pick up from time to time when I don't feel like my main read or in-between main reads. I have finished the first one: Der Ritter mit der Web-Adresse - Walisische Panoramen by Michael Bengel. I bought this one in 2017 because I like this publisher series.



Book No 7

"Der Ritter mit der Web-Adresse - Walisische Panoramen" by Michael Bengel
Publisher Series: Lesereisen
This collection first published in 2006
Picus Verlag
Hardcover, 132pp.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - ***°

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Anglo-Celtic Isles
Cats&Kits: AlphaKIT - H-R
BingoDOG: A book with silver or gold on the cover

This book is part of the publisher series Lesereisen ("reading journeys") by the Austrian publisher Picus Verlag. The series contains many, many books on different places in the world, all of them feasible travel destinations, and each book containing essays or short reports about the place written by one contemporary author. I like this series a lot and although it is not my aim to collect all of the books, I often buy books about places I have already traveled to or plan to visit in the near future.
This book is about Wales and while I liked it, it fell a bit behind others I have read before. There are thirteen essays/reports that all have previously been published in German newspapers and magazines.
The essays range from descriptions of activities and places to more historic overviews. Of course, my favourite ones were the one on Hay-on-Wye - the town of books! - and the one on Welsh writers, which was mostly about Dylan Thomas and Roald Dahl. I also liked the chapter on Bodnant Garden because I loved my visit there in 2016.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this, but I would have liked a bit more emotion and a bit more enthusiasm for Wales and the places featured in the book. The reason for this is probably that I enjoyed my two trips to Wales a lot and while the author seems to be fascinated with Welsh history and trivia, I think he should have included more about the sheer beauty of that country and the kindness of the Welsh people - at least that is what I experienced.

84charl08
jan 24, 2022, 3:29 pm

I read Tess of the d'Urbervilles at 12 or 13. Not sure why I picked it up. I remember, because my English teacher that year asked me my opinion of it, then told me I was too young to read it: I got the strong sense at the time that this was because I didn't agree with her view of the book! She was a fan of tragedy. My view was that I was so angry with how Tess was "treated" in that book by Hardy. But I haven't gone back to read it again, and she was probably right (as you say, above, hard going for teenagers).

85MissBrangwen
jan 25, 2022, 12:25 pm

>84 charl08: On the other hand, I'm not sure if someone can be too young for a book if it's their own decision to read it.
"I got the strong sense at the time that this was because I didn't agree with her view of the book!" Many of my students - when I first meet them - tell me they don't like German classes because they feel like it's all about guessing the teacher's opinion, getting right what the teacher wants or what the teacher sees in the text. I always think it's so sad because it totally distracts them from looking at their own feelings, their own reactions to a text, relating it to their own lives.

86MissBrangwen
feb 3, 2022, 10:25 am

Hi LT friends!

I have been absent from LT for a week because we spent a few days on Tenerife. It was our first plane trip - and first trip abroad apart from day trips to Switzerland in 2020 - since the pandemic started. Although of course it is not possible to be safe 100% we took all precautions that are possible and we did feel ok and enjoyed the trip a lot. Tenerife is so beautiful and we definitely plan to return for a longer trip. It was our first time there (or on the Canary Islands in general) and we truly loved it. If only we could have brought the warmth and sunshine with us!

Now I will slowly catch up with the threads here. I can't wait to see what everyone has posted and to get into reading mode again! I am a bit behind on the challenges but I have a few reads going that I will finish soon.

And I wanted to include my favorite picture from the trip, taken at Teide National Park.

87MissBrangwen
feb 3, 2022, 10:58 am

So far, this was the only book I bought this year, and I did so in order to read a little bit about the Canary Islands before or during our trip to Tenerife. I managed to read a few chapters the day before our departure and read the remaining ones on the flight back home.



Book No 8

"Lesereise Kanarische Inseln - Archipel der Glückseligkeiten" by Claudia Diemar
Publisher Series: Lesereisen
First published in 2011
Picus Verlag
Hardcover, 132pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Europe
Cats&Kits: AlphaKIT - A-B
BingoDOG: A book with flowers on the cover

This book is part of the publisher series Lesereisen ("reading journeys") by the Austrian publisher Picus Verlag. The series contains many, many books on different places in the world, all of them feasible travel destinations, and each book containing essays or short reports about the place written by one contemporary author. I like this series a lot and although it is not my aim to collect all of the books, I often buy books about places I have already traveled to or plan to visit in the near future.

What I especially liked about this book on the Canary Islands was the variety of the topics. The author covers all of the main islands and depicts different aspects of them. She writes about attempting to hike El Pico del Teide, about mass tourism in Gran Canaria and Tenerife, but also about historical sites, about local celebrations (carnival and more "serious" religious processions), about the food and about experiencing nature in the more remote corners of the islands. The last chapter is devoted to the little house her family rents every year and that has become a second home for them, offering peace and relaxation. I enjoyed this more private and emotional ending.
I also gained a lot of knowledge about these islands and their history, as well as some information and inspiration for future trips.

88Crazymamie
feb 3, 2022, 11:05 am

Welcome home! Glad your trip was a rewarding one and that you had fun. That photo is gorgeous! Sounds like you had the perfect book for company, too.

89Tess_W
feb 3, 2022, 1:28 pm

It was so nice you could away since being "cooped" up during the pandemic. Glad you enjoyed!

90hailelib
feb 3, 2022, 4:46 pm

Sounds like you had a fun trip.

91rabbitprincess
feb 3, 2022, 7:09 pm

>86 MissBrangwen: Love that blue sky!

92thornton37814
feb 3, 2022, 7:39 pm

Looks like a nice trip!

94MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 4, 2022, 1:19 pm

I read Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich in my second semester, back in 2008, and I liked it but a lot of it went beyond me because I didn't have enough background knowledge to appreciate it more. Nevertheless, when I spotted Tracks on the shelves of ChickLit, a feminist bookshop in Vienna, it was an instant buy because the cover and description seemed so interesting. That was in 2018, and this month's AuthorCAT challenge finally made me read the book.



Book No 9

"Tracks" by Louise Erdrich
First published in 1988
Harper Perennial
Paperback, 226pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Americas
Cats&Kits: AuthorCAT - Indigenous Author

This novel deals with several indigenous families living in North Dakota and covers the time from 1912 to 1924. There are two narrators: Nanapush, an elderly man who is somewhat of a trickster figure, and Pauline, a young woman who has become a very strict Christian.
These two narrators tell the reader about the events in the community, especially about Fleur, Nanapush's adopted daughter. Fleur is a fascinating, yet enigmatic character, one of the most interesting and most present characters I have ever encountered in a novel, although the reader hardly gets to know any real facts about her and does not learn about her perspective at all.

The main topic is the influence of the advance of Western/white civilization on the indigenous families depicted in the novel. This includes Christianity as well as bureaucracy, money and the concept of working for money. I think that these topics are presented in a very striking way and sometimes I had to pause my reading to look up for a moment and process what I just read because the pictures evoked were so strong and my emotions were so intense, feeling the longing of the characters, the wish to keep their way of life, the fear and confusion. This effect was mainly reached by strong metaphors and descriptions that are very poetic - some passages are almost like poems. This is why it took me quite a long time to read the novel. Although it is only 226 pages it was not a quick read for me. It was absolutely worth it, though, because I cannot remember the last time that a novel's language did astonish and move me like that.

The only reason that I did not give this five stars is that I disliked the female narrator, Pauline, immensely, and did not enjoy the descriptions of her religious practices at all. They were too graphic for me and I simply could not develop any form of empathy for her, although it was interesting to gather her perspective on the events and how she perceived Fleur.

I will remember this book for a long time and now I definitely want to reread "Love Medicine", and discover other books by Louise Erdrich.

95MissBrangwen
feb 5, 2022, 3:37 pm

The end of January was rather stressful because work was utter madness, so I decided to read a book that I expected to be easy and gripping, and chose the next book in one of my favourite series: Black and Blue, the eighth entry in the Inspector Rebus series by Ian Rankin. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish it in January because I didn't want to take it with me on our trip to Tenerife, but I am still counting it for the January challenges.



Book No 10

"Black and Blue" by Ian Rankin
Series: Inspector Rebus (8)
First published in 1997
Orion
Paperback, 498pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Cats&Kits: AlphaKIT - H-R, MysteryKIT - Series
BingoDOG: An award-winning book
My own categories: Series

I always enjoy the Rebus novels, and this one was no exception. There is a change of scene in this book because Rebus spends a lot of time in Aberdeen and also in Glasgow and on the Shetland Islands. He is following several cases and one of them is connected to the oil industry, so he even visits an oil rig. All these settings were extremely fascinating to me!
I also thought that this book was very well written and I like the development of Rebus as a character, who reflects a little more on the world and his role in it, and on his work in the police. The cases were exciting, too, although once again it was difficult for me to keep all the men in this novel sorted (all the criminals as well as the policemen - there are just too many characters and they are too alike!). Another thing that I did not like was that the middle part felt a bit lengthy and I think it could have been shorter.
Apart from that this was a very good read and I am looking forward to the next Rebus novel, although I think I will turn to other series in the months to come as this was such a lengthy one.

96MissBrangwen
feb 6, 2022, 11:40 am

I cannot really remember when or how I bought this book, although according to my LT catalogue, which I still kept in order back then, it was in 2016. I know that I had heard a lot about A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen because it was all over the media, so I probably got the book in a bargain sale. I suppose it would have stayed on my tbr for at least another six years if not for this month's RandomCAT - cats!



Book No 11

"A Street Cat Named Bob" by James Bowen
Series: A Street Cat Named Bob (1)
First published in 2012
Hodder & Stoughton
Hardcover, 279pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Nature | Animals
Cats&Kits: AlphaKIT - A-B
BingoDOG: A book published the year you joined LT
My own categories: Series

I am so happy that I finally got around reading this because I seriously loved every page of it.
The author lived in sheltered housing and was a busker on a methadone program, trying to get off heroin, when he encountered a ginger tomcat in the hall of his building, injured, thin and exhausted. Being a cat lover, he couldn't abandon the tomcat all to himself and in the end kept him, which changed both of their lives.
The story sounds so cheesy, which is probably why I never really read this book until now - I love the cover and I love cats, but I did not expect much of this memoir. However, it is told so naturally and in such an authentic manner that I couldn't help but warm to James and Bob from page one. It feels like sitting in a café and just chatting to the author.
I must admit that I cried over a few chapters, for example when he describes how he finally stopped taking methadone and Bob helped him cope with the utterly terrible withdrawal symptoms he encountered during the first days. It is such a poignant story of how much animals can give to humans.
Apart from this, I also appreciated the insides the author gives into his daily life as a busker and later as a seller of the Big Issue, always being invisible or seen as a nuisance or a lazy person, while in truth working hard for a very small wage. This made me reflect on the way society (myself included) sees homeless people. So although this really is a feel good book, it does have some serious topics, but it is very readable because James is such a relatable character in his own story and simply tells the reader about what happened to him without pointing a finger. You cannot help but root for him and this is why I definitely want to read the other two books of this series.

97MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 10, 2022, 8:27 am

I read the second book of the Karen Pirie series by Val McDermid, A Darker Domain, many years ago when I was neither a fan of mysteries nor was I particularly interested in Scotland. I kept the book, but was not enthusiastic about it.
More than a decade later, I do love Scotland, and I love reading mysteries and am especially interested in Tartan Noir. So I decided that I should definitely give this series another try and start from book 1, The Distant Echo. Another reason is that my husband has recently read the first two books and has praised them highly.



Book No 12

"The Distant Echo" by Val McDermid
Series: Karen Pirie (1)
First published in 2003
HarperCollins
Hardcover, 561pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Cats&Kits: MysteryKIT - Cold Case
BingoDOG: A book by an LBTQ+ author
My own categories: Series

It is safe to say that this is definitely among the very best crime novels that I have read so far. It is written so, so well. I just entered the lives of the main characters and I suffered with them, felt with them, hoped and feared with them.
In the centre of the novel there is a group of four male high school friends who study in St Andrews. One snowy night after a party, they find the body of a young girl who was raped and murdered. From now on, they are crucial witnesses - and even suspects.
The novel is not only about finding out who the killer is, but just as much about what the events do to these four young men and to their friendship. Trust, loyalty, truth - what binds us together, and what is the core of a human being when decade after decade goes by and circumstances change so much?
After a leap of twenty-five years, when strange things start happening that seem connected to the murder, which still has not been solved and is under review as a cold case, these questions become even more important.

98MissBrangwen
feb 10, 2022, 8:10 am

Short notice: If you are interested in reading The Distant Echo, don't scroll through the LT reviews, or at least not too far into the past ones. There is one that reveals the killer in the very first sentence. I am so happy that I did not read the reviews before I started the book (which I sometimes do), because I would have been so angry.

99hailelib
feb 10, 2022, 2:10 pm

>97 MissBrangwen: I might want to give The Distant Echo a try. Making a note of it as it sounds a good introduction to the author.

100MissBrangwen
feb 11, 2022, 3:18 am

>99 hailelib: I haven't read anything else by Val McDermid, but I do think this one is a good starting point because the Karen Pirie series seems to be quite popular.

101MissBrangwen
Bewerkt: feb 11, 2022, 7:57 am

I bought Auf der Datumsgrenze durch die Südsee by Klaus Scherer, a travelogue describing a trip to different countries that lie along the international date lane, in the small Buchhandlung Ludwig at Cologne Main Station in 2018. They often have a table of discounted National Geographic travel books, so if I have a bit of time when changing trains I browse them to see if there is anything I would like. This book struck me as interesting because it is about a part of the world that I don't know a lot about so far and because it is an unusual undertaking to compose a trip along the date line!
I started reading this book last autumn and read the foreword and the first two chapters (the start of the journey in New Zealand and the first stop, visiting the Cook Islands), but then abandoned the book. I picked it up in January and read a chapter from time to time until I finished this morning. The chapters are like short essays, so this was perfect.



Book No 13

"Auf der Datumsgrenze durch die Südsee" by Klaus Scherer
First published in 2005
Malik/National Geographic
Paperback, 155pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Oceania
Cats&Kits: AlphaKIT - A-B
BingoDOG: Travel or a journey
My own categories: Finally Finished

Klaus Scherer travelled along the date line as a reporter with his camera man and his sound man to produce a TV documentation about the islands located along the line. Afterwards, he published this book. It is written in diary format, with an entry for each of the 46 days of the trip. They start in New Zealand and travel by plane, stopping at the Cook Islands, American Samoa, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Wallis, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Hawaii.
What sounds like the boasting adventure of three white men who deem themselves "well traveled" is in fact a very thoughtful and reflective text that also provides a lot of information about the history of these islands. Scherer's style is effortless and very readable, and he comes across as someone caring about the people he meets and reflecting both on the places he visits as well as on his role as a traveler and the limits of it. The topics he covers are various: He describes beautiful places and wonderful adventures such as diving with whales, seeing marvelous coral reefs and visiting picture-perfect beaches. But he also does not shy away from the topic of colonization and the effects it still has, from aspects like climate change and pollution, and the consequences of the nuclear tests conducted at the Bikini Atoll. Scherer studied sociology, so the structures of society and family often play a role, too.
Scherer shows that while these islands are often portrayed as a kind of paradise, it may not always be so for the people living there, many of them leaving to Australia and other places to get jobs, and some of them torn between the possibilities, or the lack of precisely those.
The book was first published in 2005, so I was aware that things will have changed since then, especially when it comes to the pressure imposed by climate change, but probably other factors, too. It is also apparent in the choice of some colonial words that probably wouldn't be used today.
Altogether, this was a rewarding read that was much better than I expected and I will look out for more by this author.

102rabbitprincess
feb 11, 2022, 7:32 pm

>97 MissBrangwen: The Karen Pirie series is my favourite of Val McDermid's series! I like the cold cases and the criminals are less creepy than the ones Tony Hill and Carol Jordan encounter (at least in the Tony and Carol books I read).

103MissBrangwen
feb 12, 2022, 3:39 am

>102 rabbitprincess: That's good to know! I think I will only venture into another series of hers when I have read all the Karen Pirie books.

104MissBrangwen
feb 12, 2022, 4:52 pm

As explained in >97 MissBrangwen:, I read A Darker Domain by Val McDermid years ago - I think in spring 2009 which reading-wise is a long time to me. I did a course on Tartan Noir at uni which now would be my absolute dream course, but back then I was totally stressed with all the courses I had to do and all the required reading, and when I discovered that I couldn't use the credit after all because I already had enough credit for that module, I dropped out of the course. I had already read the first two books that were discussed, though, and A Darker Domain was one of them. I did not like it that much, but as I said earlier, I wasn't a fan of crime novels and I had no connection to Scotland whatsoever, so the plot and the location simply didn't interest me that much. As I said: When it comes to reading, spring 2009 is a long time ago for me.
Anyway, I have wanted to reread this novel for some time now, so after I read the first book of the Karen Pirie series I jumped straight into this one, the second book.



Book No 14

"A Darker Domain" by Val McDermid
Series: Karen Pirie (2)
First published in 2008
HarperCollins
Paperback, 392pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Cats&Kits: MysteryKIT - Cold Case
My own categories: Rereading Fiction, Series

I enjoyed reading this novel a lot, but not quite as much as the first book of the series. That is mainly due to the structure - there are a lot of time warps in the first half of the book, the time and setting changes every few pages because there are so many flashbacks. The flashbacks are effectively used to tell the story and convey the emotions of the characters, but I needed some time to get into this kind of storytelling.
There are two cold cases which I found equally interesting:
A woman desperately seeks to save her son who needs a bone marrow transplant, so she is looking for her father, a miner who left without a trace in the 1980s during the miners' strike.
One of the richest men in Scotland is looking for his grandson who was lost without a trace after he and his mother were kidnapped and the ransom delivery went terribly wrong. This happened in the 1980s as well and for a long time there was no hope, until suddenly, some new evidence appears.
Karen Pirie is assigned to the second case, although to her, the first case seems much more interesting and urgent.
I found both cases very compelling, although the novel takes a lot of time in the beginning and the plot could have moved a little faster. On the other hand, the ending seemed a little rushed and I would have liked a few more explanations. It is a bit of a sudden ending.
All in all, I was still spell-bound by this novel, though, and cannot wait to read the third installment and meet Karen Pirie again!

105MissBrangwen
feb 13, 2022, 6:56 am

This weekend I suddenly felt the urge to read something by Theodor Storm, so I picked a novella that corresponds to several of my challenges. I chose Aquis Submersus. I used to own a slim edition of it but gave it away when we moved because it is also included in one of the Storm collections I have, so I read from this one now. It is quite an old edition, published in 1955, and I bought it secondhand for a very cheap price some years ago.



Book No 15

"Aquis Submersus" by Theodor Storm
First published in 1876
Droemersche Verlagsanstalt
Hardcover, 65pp. (part of a collection of ten novellas plus introduction, 481pp.)
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Cats&Kits: AuthorCAT - 19th Century Author, AlphaKIT - A-B
Classics Challenge: A 19th century classic

"Aquis Submersus" is a very dark and brooding tale that even incorporates parts of a ghost story. There is a background story that starts poetic and friendly enough: A man recalls scenes of his childhood in a small town in Holstein, close to the North Sea. He especially remembers a picture in the local church, depicting the face of a small dead boy. When he returns to his home town as a young man, he finds a similar picture in the house of the local baker and discovers a wooden box containing the notes of the painter who wrote down the story of his life and of the pictures depicting the dead boy.
So we go back in time to the 17th century, to a time after the 30 Year War, the landscape and many places destroyed. The notes of the painter relate the story of his tragic love to the daughter of a nobleman, forbidden both because of her status and because her cruel brother hates the painter, a childhood friend. The story spirals downwards and downwards and when you think it cannot get any worse, another blow comes.
Still, I rated it four stars because I love Storm's style and language, and because the novella is well-crafted in all its twists and turns. There is a lot more to it than is visible at first glance.
The ending first left me unsatisfied because the background story is not picked up anymore. I would have liked a nice chat with the baker, then a stroll through the heath and last look at the church... But no, nothing like that. We only learn that the painter wasn't successful after all, his name is forgotten, his most famous picture was destroyed when the church was refurbished.
At first this made me angry, but then I realized that Storm leaves his readers just as the painter: Disappointed, with nothing in their hands and a hollow feeling. A nice and cosy ending including the pretty impressions of the background story would have stood against that.

106MissBrangwen
feb 13, 2022, 1:16 pm

Today we watched the 2015 adaptation of Far from the Madding Crowd and I enjoyed it a lot. The cinematography is wonderful: Many scenes are crafted like paintings, the landscape and country scenes seemed poetic to me.
Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba is just perfect. I did not really warm to Gabriel in the novel and liked him much better in the film as portrayed by Matthias Schoenaerts.
As is expected, the film left out some aspects, but mostly I agreed with it and think that the film is still very true to the novel, concentrating on the core elements. The only thing that I missed was the scene when Bathsheba rescues Gabriel from suffocating in his hut. In the film it seems like they met once or twice and then he proposes out of the blue. To me, the fact that she rescues him is an incident that really makes them bond, so I would have liked to see it in the film.
The stellar music absolutely adds to the film as well, it is beyond beautiful and enhances the emotion of the characters very well.

107mathgirl40
feb 18, 2022, 5:51 pm

>95 MissBrangwen: I too found the settings of Black and Blue interesting. The Rebus series just keeps getting better.

>106 MissBrangwen: I've not seen this adaptation, but as I really like Hardy's novels, I'll have to seek it out. Thanks for the recommendation.

108MissBrangwen
feb 19, 2022, 3:48 pm

>107 mathgirl40: I hope you will like it!

109MissBrangwen
feb 20, 2022, 9:43 am

I completed listening to Abendglanz, the first book of the Gut Greifenau series by Hanna Caspian, in January, and jumped straight into the next one because I liked it so much. I finished today and again, the ending is such a cliffhanger that I cannot wait to get to the third book of the series.
I am not really a listener per se, so I enjoy listening to novels that are not too demanding, but rather look for some escapism. I usually only listen while doing something else, such as household chores.



Book No 16

"Nachtfeuer" by Hanna Caspian
Series: Gut Greifenau (2)
First published in 2018
Audible
Digital audiobook, 16h 17min
Rating: 4 stars - ****

BingoDOG: A book where a character shares the name of a friend
My own categories: Series

Gut Greifenau is a large estate in the east of Germany, owned by an aristocratic family. The story follows the lives of the children of that family. Book 2 starts shortly after the beginning of World War One and ends at Christmas 1917.
In comparison to book 1, "Nachtfeuer" is much darker, reflecting the lives of the people during this difficult time. While the lives of the servants are of course much more burdened, the hardships still don't spare the upper classes at all.
Konstantin, the eldest son, has to join the war, while Katharina, the youngest daughter, is pressured to finally become engaged to the Emperor's nephew, whom she detests. Meanwhile, Albert, the coachman, gets closer and closer to finding out what his roots are, while the other servants have to cope both with their private struggles as well as the changes in their work that are brought on by the war.
Again, some parts are quite shallow and cheesy, but I was surprised by some aspects of the plot that I had not expected in a fluffy novel such as this. For example, one of the main characters realizes that he is gay, while one of the maids decides to go through a horrible and unsafe abortion rather than losing employment. There is also a lot of social conflict as Konstantin and Katharina start to realize their privileges more and more because the war changes their world, something their mother will not accept at all costs.
What I did not like was that sometimes, the political context seemed a bit like a lecture, especially when it came to the Russian Revolution, in which some family members get involved due to their Russian heritage. Apart from that, I loved this book as much as the first one.
While I listened, I grew more and more attached to the cast of characters, and I cannot wait to see where the story takes them.

110MissBrangwen
feb 21, 2022, 2:20 pm

Pride and Prejudice was my third novel by Jane Austen and I read it in 2011. During that time, I read so many classic novels that I hardly remember my initial reaction to this one, although I know that I loved it. Since then, I have watched the 2005 film many times (but not yet the 1995 one).
I have wanted to reread this novel for a long time and attempted to do so in 2018 and 2020, but for one reason or the other both tries were not successful. Now that I have finally done so - and rather quickly, within four days and while also spending time on other books as well - I wonder what took me so long. The experience was so wonderful that it strengthens my solution to reread more and to finally tackle the reading plans that I keep postponing because I am waiting for the "right time".



Book No 17

"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
First published in 1813
Penguin English Library
Paperback, 396pp.
Rating: 5 stars - *****

Virtual Shelf ticked off: Jane Austen
Cats&Kits: AuthorCAT - 19th Century Author, AlphaKIT - A-B
Classics Challenge: Reread a favourite classic
My own categories: Rereading fiction, Finally finished
Part of the 19th Century Writers Project

What else is there to say about this novel, or what can I add to the numerous reviews that have been written already?
Only my own reactions: That I loved rereading this so much, even more than I had expected. It is so lively and witty, so emotional and heartfelt, yet never cheesy or shallow. It is funny and comical, but never unjust in its authenticity. While the story is firmly rooted in its time, the features of the characters are timeless and still true to life. And I do think that Elizabeth Bennet must be one of the best female characters ever written!

111christina_reads
feb 21, 2022, 3:42 pm

>110 MissBrangwen: So glad you loved P&P again! It's my favorite book of all time, and I 100% agree with everything you've said here. I strongly encourage you to watch the 1995 adaptation, even though I know 5.5 hours is quite a big time commitment! :)

112kac522
Bewerkt: feb 21, 2022, 3:55 pm

>110 MissBrangwen: Ditto! I've read P&P probably 20 times or more over my lifetime, and it never fails on a re-read. I love to listen to it on audio; I've got a recording by Juliet Stevenson, but I hear Rosamond Pike does a wonderful reading as well. And I've watched the 1995 version many, many times and it's worth every minute of it. The 2005 version is fine, but the 1995 version is amazing.

113MissBrangwen
feb 22, 2022, 3:15 pm

>111 christina_reads: >112 kac522: We already ordered the 1995 P&P and plan to watch it as soon as we have the frame of mind to do so! :-)

114MissBrangwen
feb 22, 2022, 3:16 pm

I started Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss yesterday, but I decided not to finish it. I don't DNF often, but this novel is just too oppressive for my taste...
The style and language are interesting, but it just darkens my mood so much and today at work I realized that I didn't want to go back to it.

115MissBrangwen
feb 24, 2022, 2:22 pm

Hi, I just wanted to tell everyone that I am going into a little LT hiatus. There is so much going on right now (both at work and in the news) and I feel like keeping up this thread is adding additional pressure which I don't need at the moment...
But I hope to be back soon!

116christina_reads
feb 24, 2022, 2:52 pm

>115 MissBrangwen: Take care, and hope to see you back soon!

117Jackie_K
feb 24, 2022, 4:52 pm

>115 MissBrangwen: Take care - life is a lot right now, we none of us need more pressure on top! We'll still be here when you feel up to it :)

118Tess_W
feb 24, 2022, 5:12 pm

Life happens--enjoy it. We'll be here when you are ready!

119thornton37814
feb 25, 2022, 8:04 am

>115 MissBrangwen: Understood. We'll miss you, but we'll be here when you return.

120rabbitprincess
feb 26, 2022, 8:40 am

We'll keep the thread warm for you!

121charl08
Bewerkt: feb 28, 2022, 1:05 pm

Hope you're OK, and find some lovely books to take your mind off things for a bit.

122VivienneR
feb 28, 2022, 3:30 pm

Take care and hope to see you again soon.

123hailelib
feb 28, 2022, 4:33 pm

Be well and come back when you are ready.

124mathgirl40
mrt 1, 2022, 9:45 pm

Take care of yourself and we'll see you when you get back!

125CaptainBookamir
mrt 2, 2022, 4:43 am

Take care, having some relaxation and fun is much more important than a thread! We'll be here when you come back.

126Helenliz
mrt 2, 2022, 7:41 am

Time out can be good. Look after yourself.

127MissBrangwen
mrt 6, 2022, 5:04 am

Thank you so much for all your comments! I can't believe your kindness - this group is so special for sure!

I am on the mend and I'm slowly returning to LT after a much shorter time than I envisioned, because I already started missing it. And I used my short time away to reflect on my reading and the things that put pressure on me during the last couple of weeks. I think some of you have been there before, too.

I realized that I will never read as much as many other LT members do, not because I read slowly per se, but because I have so many other things I want to do, let alone work and family commitments. But that's ok - reading is not a competition! Plus, the challenges should be a fun way to make it easier to choose what to read, but they should not cause stress or force me to read books that I don't feel like reading at the moment.
Sometimes this is hard for me because I am a completist by nature ("completist" is a word I learned on LT, haha!) and usually I am an "all or nothing" type, so I would like to fulfill all the challenges, read all the threads, get all the BBs etc... But I have to learn that I can't do that and that it's ok!

128MissWatson
mrt 6, 2022, 5:11 am

>127 MissBrangwen: It's good to see you're back. As you said, it's not a competition but about sharing the enjoyment you get out of a book.

129BellaCatt
mrt 6, 2022, 5:35 am

Deze gebruiker is verwijderd als spam.

130beebeereads
mrt 6, 2022, 8:53 am

>127 MissBrangwen: Glad you are back sooner than expected. I have participated in challenges since 2017 and I have never fully completed even one! I say this to support the concept of fun and enjoyment in reading.

The way I approach challenges is to search my TBR for matches, read through suggestions on the thread and then read what I want. My eyes are always bigger than my ability to consume. I read 4-5 books per month including selections for two book clubs. So there isn't a lot of room to work in challenge books. But the hunt is always enjoyable and I often read a book chosen for a particular challenge later in the year (or the next year!)

Hope my personal testimonial will support your plan to continue at your personal pace and enjoy your monthly reading.

131Tess_W
mrt 6, 2022, 2:27 pm

>127 MissBrangwen: Glad you are back. I know exactly how you feel--I'm a completist and also want to participate in everything. Not humanly possible--for me! I even did away with my own personal cats last month--too confining--too driving. I read the Cats/Kits to get ideas--but don't participate overly much. If it isn't fun, we don't have to do it!

132rabbitprincess
mrt 6, 2022, 6:12 pm

>127 MissBrangwen: Welcome back!
the challenges should be a fun way to make it easier to choose what to read, but they should not cause stress or force me to read books that I don't feel like reading at the moment.
I totally agree :)

>130 beebeereads: Seconding this: the hunt is always enjoyable and I often read a book chosen for a particular challenge later in the year (or the next year!)
I still have some challenge books from 2016 that I haven't read yet :D

133pamelad
mrt 7, 2022, 4:30 pm

>127 MissBrangwen: I think that lots of people on LT have gigantic tbr piles and use the challenges to encourage themselves to read a book from the pile. My tbr pile is much smaller, so in the past I've ended up buying and reading books that turned out to be mediocre, just to complete a challenge. Waste of time and money. This year I'm dipping in and out of challenges. If you read a few good books that you wouldn't have thought of otherwise, I think that's a win!

134Jackie_K
mrt 7, 2022, 4:41 pm

>127 MissBrangwen: >133 pamelad: That's pretty much exactly what I do - I decide on a handful of challenges that I'm interested in, and then look to see if there's a book I already own which fits. If there is, great. But if I don't have one which fits, I'll skip that month. I think now that I've hit middle age, being a completist is less appealing! Life's shorter than it was 20 years ago, so I'm going to have fun reading. The way I see it, the challenges are there to help me read more of my TBR, not to dictate the one and only way to engage with reading.

I'm glad you're back, and I hope that you can carry on enjoying the group without putting pressure on yourself! :)

135hailelib
mrt 11, 2022, 1:05 pm

I'm glad you feel able to return. This year I'm focusing mainly on books I already own with the occasional book from the library. If a Cat or Kit doesn't appeal then I'm skipping it and if I take a long time to finish a book, starting and stopping to insert something else for a change of pace, then that's OK. So enjoy what you are reading and choose what appeals in the moment.

136MissBrangwen
mrt 14, 2022, 4:07 pm

Thank you everyone for your responses! It's good to read that I am not alone and that you agree with me when it comes to the challenges. I loved reading your thoughts.

Unfortunately I am not reading at all these days, however. My mom had to undergo another surgery and then caught covid at the hospital. She's fine now, but it was quite scary.
Because of all this stress I have fallen behind on my work and need to catch up with it, so I am not in the right mood to read - but better days will come soon!

137Jackie_K
mrt 14, 2022, 4:27 pm

>136 MissBrangwen: I'm sorry to hear about your mum, that must have been very scary. I'm glad she's better now, and I hope your stress reduces very soon!

138beebeereads
mrt 14, 2022, 4:33 pm

>136 MissBrangwen: Best thoughts for calmer days to catch up, but then take restorative time for yourself.

139VivienneR
mrt 14, 2022, 5:36 pm

So sorry to hear about your mother being ill. That is a great worry and I hope things will improve soon. Don't let the challenges create pressure, it is all intended to be fun. I'm retired so I have lots of time and I also have lots of books so filling a challenge is rarely a problem for me. Wishing you well.

140rabbitprincess
mrt 14, 2022, 7:10 pm

Seconding >138 beebeereads: -- take care of yourself!

141Tess_W
mrt 14, 2022, 7:27 pm

Sorry to hear about your mom--quite scary! Take care of yourself and your mom!

142MissWatson
mrt 15, 2022, 3:46 am

>136 MissBrangwen: I am so sorry to hear that, Mirjam. My best wishes that life treats you much kindlier from now.

143hailelib
mrt 15, 2022, 10:43 am

I hope your Mom continues to feel better. Take care of yourself.

144DeltaQueen50
mrt 15, 2022, 6:49 pm

Best wishes to your Mom, that must have been a scary time for both you and her. Take care of yourself and hopefully the reading bug will be back in no time. :)

145Ann_R
apr 23, 2022, 4:25 pm

Hi Mirjam. I recently joined the group and am stopping by to say hi. Reading through your posts, I have much empathy for you needing to take a break from updating here in February but that's great you are already back at it again. Also, I hope your mom continues to be on the mend.

I enjoyed A Street Cat Named Bob, too. Actually, I'd added the book to my donation box but recently pulled it back out, as I might read it again. May you find some other uplifting and entertaining books to use for your remaining challenges.

Finally, do not be concerned about how many books you read in a month, as nobody in the group really seems to care about that. I think the whole point is to have fun and (maybe) to expand your reading interests, but not to the point of reading becoming a stressor. Wishing you good luck with your remaining 2022 challenges.

146MissBrangwen
jun 12, 2022, 11:24 am

Hi everyone, I wanted to drop by and say that I'm ok! I have taken a long break from reading and being online, but I am truly fine. Now I am slowly getting back into reading and trying to figure out what to do with my thread - I will probably start a new one with adjusted categories etc.

>137 Jackie_K: >138 beebeereads: >139 VivienneR: >140 rabbitprincess: >141 Tess_W: >142 MissWatson: >143 hailelib: >144 DeltaQueen50: Thank you for all of your kind and thoughtful comments!

>145 Ann_R: Nice to meet you here and thank you! I agree, reading should not be a stressor and I think that I have finally reached the point to fully understand that!

147MissWatson
jun 13, 2022, 3:42 am

Welcome back!

148charl08
jun 13, 2022, 2:20 pm

>146 MissBrangwen: Glad to hear it! Sending lots of continued reading good wishes.

149MissBrangwen
jun 13, 2022, 2:57 pm

150Helenliz
jun 19, 2022, 11:38 am

That's the best thing about LT, you can take a break and it will be there, ready for you when you are ready for it.