Helenliz gets crafty again

I'm Helen and I'm head of quality in a small firm that makes inhaler devices for delivery of drugs to the lung. It's a small team and I love my job. (Usually)

I'm expecting 2024 to be rather busy, so I've cut back on some of the categories. The bellringing organisation I am secretary of celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2024, and we've got events every month to celebrate. 2024 could get a bit hectic. Add that to the fact that his mother recently died and we have a very full (like extreme hoarders level full) house to deal with in the first portion of the year.

I was feeling rather uninspired for categories, so I'm just using images of things I have sewn (with one notable exception). Maybe I will find time for sewing and crafting again - it;s a good indicator of my mood. I can't sew to relax, I have to be relaxed to sew. Let's hope I have some new finishes to share with you this year.

The List

January
1. Death on Gokumon Island, Seishi Yokomizo, ***
2. Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor, **.5
3. Coraline, Neil Gaiman, ****
4. Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller, Nadia Wassef, ***
5. The Night Hawks, Elly Griffiths, ***
6. A History of Treason, The National Archives, ****
7. The Seabird's Cry, Adam Nicholson, ***
8. Supporting Cast, Kit De Waal, ****

February
9. Offshore, Penelope FitzGerald, ***
10. Sylvester, Georgette Heyer, ****
11. The Fairytale Hairdresser, Abie Longstaff, ***
12. Happiness, a Mystery. Sophie Hannah, **
13. The Weird Sisters, Eleanor Brown, **
14. A Three Dog Problem, SJ Bennett, ***
15. Pearls before Swine, Margery Allingham, ***
16. Farewell Fountain Street, Selçuk Altun, ***
17. Ragnarok, AS Byatt, ***
18. We are Displaced Malala Yousafzai, ***

March
19. Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney, ***
20. Antarctica, Claire Keegan, ****
21. English Animals, Laura Kaye, ***
22. Plain Murder, CF Forester, ****
23. Get in Trouble Kelly Link, ***
24. Misjustice, Helena Kennedy, ****
25. After the Mourning, Barbara Nadel, ***

April
26. Before the Queen Falls Asleep, Huzama Habayeb, *****
27. The Man who mistook his Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks, ***
28. More work for the Undertaker, Margery Allingham, ***
29. The Lies we Sing to the Sea, Sarah Underwood, **
30. Thunder Bay, Douglas Skelton, ***

May
31. Venetia, Georgette Heyer, ****
32. Murder most Royal - SJ Bennett, ***

Category 1: Women Authors
Wisteria Fairy, an elegant lady for my books by ladies of all descriptions.



1. Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor
2. Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller, Nadia Wassef
3. The Night Hawks, Elly Griffiths
4. Offshore, Penelope FitzGerald
5. Sylvester, Georgette Heyer
6. The Fairytale Hairdresser, Abie Longstaff
7. Happiness, a Mystery. Sophie Hannah,
8. The Weird Sisters, Eleanor Brown,
9. A Three Dog Problem, SJ Bennett
10. Pearls before Swine, Margery Allingham
11. Ragnarok, AS Byatt,
12. We are Displaced Malala Yousafzai
13. Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney
14. Antarctica, Claire Keegan
15. English Animals, Laura Kaye
16. Get in Trouble Kelly Link
17. Misjustice, Helena Kennedy
18. After the Mourning, Barbara Nadel,
19. Before the Queen Falls Asleep, Huzama Habayeb
20. More work for the Undertaker, Margery Allingham, ***
21. The Lies we Sing to the Sea, Sarah Underwood, **
22. Venetia, Georgette Heyer,
23. Murder most Royal - SJ Bennett,

Challenge 2: New Authors
My oldest piece of stitching. Sarah Ann Skelton is an ancestor. So it makes sense (in a twisted way) to use this for my new authors.


1. Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor
2. Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller, Nadia Wassef
3. A History of Treason, The National Archives
4. Supporting Cast, Kit De Waal
5. The Fairytale Hairdresser, Abie Longstaff
6. Happiness, a Mystery. Sophie Hannah
7. The Weird Sisters, Eleanor Brown
8. Farewell Fountain Street, Selçuk Altun,
9. English Animals, Laura Kaye
10. Plain Murder, CF Forester,
11. Get in Trouble Kelly Link
12. Misjustice, Helena Kennedy
13. Before the Queen Falls Asleep, Huzama Habayeb
14. The Man who mistook his Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks
15. The Lies we Sing to the Sea, Sarah Underwood,
16. Thunder Bay, Douglas Skelton

Challenge 3: Translations
Pooh bear has been translated into many languages - I have a copy in Latin (that I can't read). I'll use this for my books that have been read in translation


1. Death on Gokumon Island, Seishi Yokomizo
2. Farewell Fountain Street, Selçuk Altun,
3. Before the Queen Falls Asleep, Huzama Habayeb,

Challenge 4: Heyer Series Read
The 12 days of Christmas might be viewed as a string of related items, so it fits my Heyer series read.


Finished
✔️ The Black Moth (g) 1921 Finished 01Jan18, ****1/2
✔️ Powder and Patch (g) 1923 Finished 05Feb18, ***
✔️ The Great Roxhythe (h) 1923 Finished 30Apr18, ***
✔️ Simon the Coldheart (h) 1925 Finished 7May18, ***
✔️ These Old Shades (g) 1926 Finished 31May18, ***
✔️ The Masqueraders (g) 1928 Finished 17Jul18, ****
✔️ Beauvallet (h) 1929 Finished 08Sep2018, ****
✔️ The Conqueror (h) 1931 Finished 25Dec2018, ****
✔️ Devil's Cub (g) 1932 Finished 31Jan2019, ****
✔️ The Convenient Marriage (g) 1934 Finished 12Mar2019, ****1/2
✔️ Regency Buck (r) 1935 Finished 08May2019, ****1/2
✔️ The Talisman Ring, Georgette Heyer Finished 10Aug2019, ***
✔️ An Infamous Army, Georgette Heyer Finished 13Oct2019, ***
✔️ Royal Escape, Georgette Heyer Finished 14Feb2020, ***
✔️ The Spanish Bride, Georgette Heyer Finished 28Mar2020, ***
✔️ The Corinthian, Georgette Heyer Finished 17Jun2020, ****
✔️ Faro's Daughter, Georgette Heyer Finished 25Aug2020, ****
✔️ Friday's Child, Georgette Heyer Finished 10Oct2020, ****
✔️ The Reluctant Widow, (r) Finished 24Jan2021, ****
✔️ The Foundling (r) 1948 Finished 21Apr2021, ****
✔️ Arabella, (r) 1949 ****1/2 Finished 19Jun2021
✔️ The Grand Sophy, (r) 1950, **** Finished 25Jul2021
✔️ The Quiet Gentleman (r) 1951, ****1/2 Finished 24Sep2021
✔️ Cotillion (r) 1953, **** Finished 15Apr2023
✔️ The Toll Gate (r) 1954, **** Finished 31May2023
✔️ Bath Tangle (r) 1955, Georgette Heyer, **** Finished 10Sep2023
✔️ Sprig Muslin (r) 1956, ****, Finished 23Sep2023
✔️ April Lady (r) 1957, *** Finished 17Nov2023
✔️ Sylvester, or The Wicked Uncle (r) 1957, *** Finished 02Feb2024
✔️ Venetia (r) 1958, ***** Finished 03May2024

To be Read
The Unknown Ajax (r) 1959
Pistols for Two (short stories) 1960
A Civil Contract (r) 1961
The Nonesuch (r) 1962
False Colours (r) 1963
Frederica (r) 1965
Black Sheep (r) 1966
Cousin Kate (r) 1968
Charity Girl (r) 1970
Lady of Quality (r) 1972
My Lord John (h) 1975

Challenge 5: Non-Fiction
A rainbow heart, nothing fictional about rainbows. Keats complained that Newton had destroyed the magic of the rainbow by explaining it. I disagree. Knowing how something works just gives you another level of appreciation. And, unlike Keats, I'm all for learning new things. So I'll put my non-Fiction here.


1. Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller, Nadia Wassef
2. A History of Treason, The National Archives
3. The Seabird's Cry, Adam Nicholson
4. We are Displaced Malala Yousafzai
5. Misjustice, Helena Kennedy
6. The Man who mistook his Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks

Challenge 6: Audio
These five ballet dancing bears clearly have music in their ears. This is where I will put my audio books.


1. Death on Gokumon Island, Seishi Yokomizo
2. Coraline, Neil Gaiman
3. A History of Treason, The National Archives
4. Supporting Cast, Kit De Waal
5. Offshore, Penelope FitzGerald
6. The Fairytale Hairdresser, Abie Longstaff
7. Happiness, a Mystery. Sophie Hannah
8. A Three Dog Problem, SJ Bennett
9. Ragnarok, AS Byatt,
10. Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney
11. Plain Murder, CF Forester,
12. Misjustice, Helena Kennedy
13. The Man who mistook his Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks
14. The Lies we Sing to the Sea, Sarah Underwood,
15. Murder most Royal - SJ Bennett,

Challenge 7: CATs
If this year is anything to go on, me sticking to CATs is about as likely as finding a unicorn, so these merry monocerous will house the CATs I do manage to participate in.


January
AlphaKit - A & Y - Death on Gokumon Island, Seishi Yokomizo, The Seabird's Cry, Adam Nicholson,
RandomKit - Birds - The Night Hawks, Elly Griffiths, The Seabird's Cry, Adam Nicholson, ***
February
AlphaKit - E & F - Offshore, Penelope FitzGerald, The Wierd Sisters, Eleanor Brown
RandomKit - escape - We are Displaced Malala Yousafzai
March
AlphaKit - R & H - Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney, Misjustice, Helena Kennedy
RandonKit - Wildlife - English Animals, Laura Kaye
April
AlphaKit - O & U - The Man who mistook his Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks, The Lies we Sing to the Sea, Sarah Underwood,
RandomKit - Garden Visitors
May
Alphakit - N & P -
RandomKit - Art & Architecture

Challenge 8: BingoDogCOW
well it's an animal and its square, but that's probably all I can find to link BingoDog and my image of a cow cushion!


1. Food or cooking
✔️2. An ugly cover Plain Murder, CF Forester,
✔️3. Only title and author on the cover Get in Trouble Kelly Link
✔️4. Features twins Sylvester, Georgette Heyer
5. A topic about which you have specific knowledge
6. Publication year ending in -24
7. Epistolary or diary
8. Big or Little in the title
✔️9. Book from an LT Similar library The Night Hawks, Elly Griffiths
✔️10. About friendship Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney
✔️11. 3 word title Pearls before Swine, Margery Allingham
12. Paper based item in the plot
13. Read a CAT
✔️14. Short story collection The Fairytale Hairdresser, Abie Longstaff,
✔️15. Person's name in the title Coraline, Neil Gaiman
✔️16. set in a city Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller, Nadia Wassef
✔️17. less than 100 copies on LT A History of Treason, The National Archives
✔️18. POC author Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor
✔️19. Author 65 or older Ragnarok, AS Byatt,
✔️20. featuring water The Seabird's Cry, Adam Nicholson, ***
21. warriors or mercenaries
✔️22. Re-read a favourite book Venetia, Georgette Heyer,
✔️23. Written in another cultural tradition Before the Queen Falls Asleep, Huzama Habayeb,
✔️24. set in multiple countries Supporting Cast, Kit De Waal,
25. current or recent bestseller

Happy new thread, Helen!

Happy New Thread and happy reading :-)

It was lovely to scroll through your needlework again - great stitchery!

At the National Gallery in Canberra I saw a jigsaw and thought of you. Blue Poles, 1000 pieces. Looks impossible.

Happy new thread! Always a joy to revisit your craftiness!

>14 pamelad: >:-o Blimy that looks rather too difficult for my taste.

Thanks all. I've got a few days off prior to Easter, as his holiday year runs from 1st April and he had some days to use up. May as well use it as lose it. Getting lots of admin, ironing & tidying done.

Baby blanket now has a recipient, she was born today. aww.

7 flowers and 9 bears done.

I knew my thingaversary was around now, but I wanted to check how many books I'm supposed to be buying.
LT seems a little confused on the subject:

I'm thinking you are "required" (!) to buy 12 books (11 years +1). Am I misreading? Happy thingaversary!

Happy Thingaversary! I am anxiously awaiting your list of purchases.

>17 Helenliz: I read it to mean that you can buy 13 books - 1 book for each year = 12 plus 1 more book to grow on = 13 total. Of course, it is not a set rule - you can buy as many or as few books as you want!

Happy Thingaversary! Enjoy your time off.

Book: 25
Title: After the Mourning
Author: Barbara Nadel
Published: 2006
Rating: ***
Why: Library book
Challenge: woman author
TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book where there is at least one embedded word of 3 letters or more in the author’s name

This mystery set in the East End during WW2 has as it's lead character an undertaker who is half Indian and suffers from what we'd now call PTSD after having served in WW1. In this book, we find Frank Hancock burying a your gypsy woman, from a group of gypsies in Epping Forest. Her sister sees a vision of something and this is interpreted as the Virgin Mary by the people who are living in the forest to avoid the bombing. Mixed up in this is a Romany of German extraction and a relic. Someone wants to get their hands on Martin and the relic, but is there a more sinister motive? There is a lot going on in here, maybe a bit too much, and it gets a bit frantic at the end.

It's the date that LT's getting wrong. I joined on 30th March 2013, so on the 29th March 2024 my 11th Thingaversary is 1 day away. I posted to bug collectors and it seems to be a hard coded 365 is a year, which fails in a leap year.
>18 Tess_W: that is what it should be saying, yes.

I am writing my list of books*. It also happens to be my birthday mid April, so I will combine tat into one glorious book shopping expedition.

* feel free to add ideas to said list!

>21 rabbitprincess: Thanks. I've got through lots of jobs, got to the bottom of the ironing pile and today plan to tackle the spare room - aka dumping ground...

Having finished both audio & paper book in the last day or so, it's afresh new start.
The Man who mistook his wife for a hat in the next audio book, while Before the Queen Falls Asleep is my next paper book.

March's round up, as I won't finish either of the books I have on the go before April starts.

Read: 7 (25)
F/M: 6/1 (18/5)

Audio: 3 (12)
Paper: 4 (13)

Owned: 0 (6)
Library: 7 (19)

New authors: 4 (7)
New books: 7 (25)
Re-reads: 0 (0)

March's reads
19. Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney, ***
20. Antarctica, Claire Keegan, ****
21. English Animals, Laura Kaye, ***
22. Plain Murder, CF Forester, ****
23. Get in Trouble Kelly Link, ***
24. Misjustice, Helena Kennedy, ****
25. After the Mourning, Barbara Nadel, ***

A bit of a better month. Raspberry to Conversations with Friends & English Animals.
Best of the bunch were Antarctica, Plain Murder & Misjustice, making for a good listening month.

I was very disappointed by Conversations With Friends as she was already getting quite a lot of attention and I couldn't really see why - I like Sally Rooney's other work much better, though I can see why others don't like any of her books much.

I enjoyed English Animals more than you though.

>26 elkiedee: I'd agree that the other of hers I'd read was better.

English animals was well written, I just felt it was a series of set pieces with no real narrative thread to string them together into a coherent whole.

>23 Helenliz: Congratulations for getting to the bottom of your ironing pile! My son still laughs at my ironing pile that was nearly as big as the "mending" pile. He claims if anything went into either pile, it was lost forever.

>28 VivienneR: Thanks! I got lots of jobs done that had been hanging around for a while. What with dealing with his mother's house, I'd been doing enough ironing that we needed, but it had built up. I've also cleared the guest room & dining room (mostly) which had turned into dumping areas. Feels good to get all that cleared.

The mending pile has more items in than I'd like, mostly trousers where I wear out the inner thighs and they need patching. But it's not *that* big a pile (fortunately).

>23 Helenliz: Hope the list building is going well for the book purchases. And happy new thread.

Two filler squares, that go either side of baby's name.


>30 charl08: much mulling is happening...

I'll post this on a couple of threads, I'm looking for ideas of poetry,readings etc that feature bells &/or bellringing.
Any ideas, throw them my way.
Thanks

>32 Helenliz: Wondered if this search might throw up something useful?
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/search/Bells/in/poem/

Or this one?
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/search?query=Bells

>32 Helenliz: Have you already thought of "The Song of the Bell" by Friedrich Schiller? It is rather long, but maybe you can use just some stanzas if it is too long for the purpose.

>33 charl08: that's a good shout, will have a browse.

>24 Helenliz: that's one I don't know, I will have a look, thanks.

I threw out a few ideas on my thread for you, Helen.

Hope your weekend is wrapping up well!

Book: 26
Title: Before the Queen falls Asleep
Author: Huzama Habayeb
Published: 2019
Rating: *****
Why: Shelterbox book club
Challenge: new author, woman author, translation, bingo
TIOLI Challenge #8. Read a book with the word 'family' or 'families' on the cover

This was excellent. It is a life story, as told by a mother to her child. It is not necessarily in chronological order, the tale jumps about a bit and concentrates on the mother's youth and the child's first 2 years. It is told with such love and compassion for each of the family members and the found family that they acquire. the chapter on names and how they affect lives was exquisite. Not being in order, it is a little confusing at times, the child's father only makes an appearance very late, but that is how you'd tell a life, it would leap around, one thought following on from another, rather than being in strict order.
This is infused with love and it is beautiful. I was swept away by it.

>37 Helenliz: I just added this to my wishlist recently, I think I got a publisher's email. I was going to be good and hang fire, but seeing as you've recommended it....

>38 charl08: seeing I got you, do you want my copy?

>39 Helenliz: No, you're OK - I've got £10 off at Waterstones to spend. Thank you though!

Book: 27
Title: The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat
Author: Oliver Sacks
Published: 1970
Rating: ***
Why: Needed an O book
Challenge: new author, Cat, non-fiction, audio
TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book in honour of my dad (you learn something)

I'm not sure what to make of this. At one level it is very interesting, how damage or negative impact on the brain can present itself in so many and varied ways. And yet it feels a little bit like a parades of freaks. They are being presented to us as an exhibition, almost. The language, at times, feels dated. It is also very dense and technical, which for a non-specialist made this hard to follow at times. I can't help feeling a bit uncomfortable at having acted the voyeur at someone else's troubles.

So, I'm here, really. Very busy weekend. Saturday was our 4th ringing society event, the Spring Meeting. I always think naming anything Spring runs the risk of it not being very spring like, but the weather was surprisingly good, all things considered. It features a bell ringing competition on 6 bells, where different bands ring at the same tower after each pother, and their accuracy is marked.
In the last 2 years we've had 10 and 6 teams. The most we've ever had (since 1986) was 17. This year we had 21 teams. Yup, that made for quite the challenge. We were able to split the competition into method & call changes, so we had 9 and 12 teams to manage. Better.
We also had a new trophy for the call change teams, that I'd had made. It was rather well received.
The hosts catered for ~120 people and the church was packed for the results. I managed to rack up 3 times my usual daily steps and the first time I really sat down was in the pub at the end of the event, with a glass of red wine that very rapidly turned into 2 glasses of red wine. Deserved, I felt.
Linky thing for pictures of the trophy being presented. https://pdg.org.uk/latest-news/spring-meeting-results
It's the top one that is the new one.

Unsurprisingly, not a lot of reading's happened. I'm in the middle of More work for the Undertaker in print and Lies we Sing to the Sea on audio. Looking for a nice calm week...

I'm glad you had such a successful event. And yes, the wine was well deserved!

>42 Helenliz: That sounds very busy indeed. Hope your week proves as calm as hoped!

Wow, what an amazing event. I had gathered you were involved with bell ringing but mistakenly thought it was a handbell choir. I'm not familiar with church bellringing at all so it was interesting to read more about it on the website.

Congrats on a successful event!

Helen, I learnt today about a book coming out in June which I think you might well like: https://www.littletoller.co.uk/shop/books/little-toller/a-sculpture-that-sings-b...

>47 Jackie_K: ohhhhhhhh! that does look good.

>43 katiekrug:, >44 charl08:, >45 lauralkeet:, >46 MissWatson: thank you all. Need to write full report next, but we've had nothing but positive feedback so far.

On a less cheery note, today marks 20 years since Dad died. No, can't believe it's been that long either. Still miss you, Daddy. Work today, which will be the best thing, keep me busy and my mind active on something else. Then the gym tonight.

>48 Helenliz: Hope you are good and busy today Helen.

Do you read at the gym? I used to precariously balance the kindle on the bike but imagine tech has moved on since then.

>48 Helenliz: Good memories of our Daddies, right? I think of and miss mine every day. It will be 15 years in June since my daddy died.

>49 charl08: I still read on my Kindle when I am riding the exercise bike at home! It does not have a book rack.

>50 LadyoftheLodge: Yes, lots of good memories. I'll think you you in June.

Gym fail, I was rather too efficient and put a load of washing on today - including my gym bra! Not going sans bra and thought a wet bra would be rather unpleasant. So no gym tonight. But I have been very efficient and got a load of stuff done for ringing, writing up the weekend's events, posting team lists and photos and stuff. So it's not been wasted.

No, I don't read at the gym, I'd fail to concentrate and just pootle, I suspect. Tend to do a walk to warm up and then weights rather than the bike.

>42 Helenliz: So jealous of your bell ringing! My church started a bell ringers choir about 2 weeks before Covid hit in 2020 and then the church was closed for months. The bell ringers lost their director and there is now not enough interest. ( I was C4 and D4 for 2 practices)

Book: 28
Title: More work for the Undertaker
Author: Margery Allingham
Published: 1949
Rating: ***
Why: Next in the series
Challenge: Woman author
TIOLI Challenge #15. Read a book you've owned for more than 10 years or that's been on your TBR list for more than 10 years

This got rather complicated at times, with an extensive cast of characters and a very eccentric house at it's core. Campion wasn't going to get involved in this one, but there comes a time when it's clear that fate wants you to take a hand and when 3 separate ties pull him in, well he gives in and gets involved. The Palinode family houe is now owned by Renee, and old friend of Campion's who has a stage past. The family still live there, as lodgers, and with the elder siblings having died, we start with Ruth being exhumed and found to have been poisoned. Campion takes up residence as a lodger and starts to investigate the rather eccentric cast of characters that people the house and the street on which they live.
It's a complicated plot, involving smuggling things in coffins - because who would be so rude as to open a coffin accompanied by a grieving widow? It's a neat ruse, but the cause of the deaths is a different story.
There's a large cast of characters and working them out took some time - still not sure where some of them fit. Having said that, it was enjoyable enough and the end slid to a speedy conclusion.

Next up on paper is Thunder Bay. I must have reserved this form the library for some reason, but for the life of me, I can't remember why.

Still listening to Lies we sing to the sea.

Book: 29
Title: The Lies we Sing to the Sea
Author: Sarah Underwood
Published: 2023
Rating: **
Why: AlphaCat
Challenge: Woman author, new author, audio
TIOLI Challenge #14. Read a book with magical realism, fantasy, alternate history or humor as a tag

This is a let down, save yourself the bother. The blurb compares it to Madeline Miller's Circe and Song of Achilles, trust me when I say it is nowhere near that league on any level.
This takes two short lines from The Odyssey, where one of the 12 maids who are hanged by Odysseus is named as Melantho, the only one who is given a name. From this, the author invents what might have happened next. In this case she invents a curse on Ithaca, where they hang 12 girls every year at the Spring equinox in order to placate the sea god. The girls are marked by a ring of black scales around their necks and if they aren't hanged, the sea comes and gets them anyway.
Leto tried to get away from the hanging, but was hanged anyway, and finds herself on the island of Pandu, where Melantho has lived for 3 centuries or so. Every now and then, Poseidon gives back one of the hanged girls, who takes power from the sea and goes back to Ithaca to kill a Prince of Odysseus' line, 12 of them have to die to break the curse. Leto is the 12th girl who Poseidon has given back.
Leto & Melantho go to Ithaca and find Mathias, the current Prince of ithaca, and things become complicated when Leto falls in love with him too.
The problem with this is that it is all very amateur. There is little to no character development, the emotions displayed are childish and immature, swinging wildly from extremes - and yet you never actually feel that they are doing anything more than playacting. The romantic interludes do little to develop the character or advance the plot.
The language also suffers from being used unimaginatively, all the characters are beautiful as if that's the only adjective the author knows. It becomes very repetitive on that basis, limited vocabulary used in a book that is overlong.
I'm not sure that the 3 voice structure added anything to the book (apart from unnecessary length). Telling the story from 3 voices that all sound the same adds nothing in terms of the dramatic potential, especially not when all 3 adopt the same childish tone. There are lots of huffs and sulks when people don't listen or make themselves clear.
There are some good elements, The idea is inventive. Both the start and end are strong, it's the overlong middle that lets it down. One the better chapters was the one when Melantho explains how the curse came into being, had the book been more in this style, it may have been a better experience.
It reads a lot like a book aimed at a teen market and I think they're being sold a dud - there are much better books in this vein out there.

We had a work away day, went to Cambridge. Had a walking tour, then were punted up & down the Cam. Went into King's college chapel - first time I've been in - it is an amazing space.
A couple of times the guides asked a question, which I answered and they were clearly not expecting an answer. Several of my colleagues asked me how I knew so much, I said I read things and know stuff. Another said that they want to be on my team if we have a quiz!
Good day all round.

Also, started Venetia in paperback, as by current book wouldn't fit in the small handbag I wanted to take.

>56 Helenliz: - That sounds like a really nice day out!

Book: 30
Title: Thunder Bay
Author: Douglas Skelton
Published: 2019
Rating: ***
Why: Someone hit me with it (Richard, I think)
Challenge: new author,
TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book in honor of Mom and Dad's 65th wedding anniversary in April

This is set on the Island of Stiorm, the location of which is Scottish, but that is as far as I could go in locating it. Rebecca Connolly is a reporter on a Scottish weekly newspaper, and she goes to do some investigative digging when she is alerted to the fact that Mary Drummond has died. She is the mother of Roddie Drummond who was found "Not Proven" of murder of Mhairi SInclair, It will be his first time back on the island on 15 years. This acts as a trigger for Rebecca asking questions and uncovering various truths and secrets that have not been shared in that time. In the present day she also comes into a project the Laid has to turn the house into a hotel, exclusive of course and only likely to bring menial jobs to the locals. This involves some of the same characters as are involved in the murder and there are old animosities stirred up there too. There's a lot of violence in here, and threat. both in the past and the present. What there isn't is a tidy ending, there's no justice and there isn't what one might call a satisfactory resolution of all of the story lines. The characters involved are mostly flawed, and some are particularly unpleasant. Having said that, it rolls along at a pace and makes for a good read.

>56 Helenliz: Your day in Cambridge sounds lovely, Helen. What amazes me about old cathedrals like Kings, in addition to their astonishing beauty, is the sheer effort of building them back in the day, without the use of modern machinery. I just can't imagine how they did it.

>59 lauralkeet: It was a good day out. I love Tudor fan vaulting. It looks almost like it is floating, then they tell you that the bosses are 3 ft in diameter, 5 ft tall and weigh a ton each. All moved by people power. It did take 100 years to complete the chapel; we tend to want things finished a bit quicker these days.

>57 katiekrug: it was an excellent day out. Team away days can be a bit tortuous, depending on what it is. This was a nice, relaxed one.

It's that time of year, I get to send a copy of our bell ringing group's annual report to the British library.
I like sending that letter. >:-D

>56 Helenliz: I love punting. Actually, I should correct that - I love being punted. Mr SandDune is quite good at it. We tend to go most summers.

>62 SandDune: It's nice being punted, I agree. I've had a go before. Not terribly successfully. Last time we went as a group and we all had a go. I got up on the platform and promptly turned the boat in a complete circle. I suspect I am a better passenger than I am punter. Several people were clearly having a go, some with more success than others. I had a lot of sympathy with the chap who managed to get his punt broadside across the river.

Hello Helen and so impressed with your many accomplishments! The baby's blanket is lovely, and I can't wait to see what other stitched elements you'll add to it. Love the variegated flosses as well and how each overdyed company had its own look to its work.

Congratulations on the successful bell-ringing competition; like one of your other friends on this thread, I had not realized it's not hand-bell ringing, but church/cathedral bell ringing. That second glass of wine was well-deserved!

>56 Helenliz: A work away day. How does that work?

>56 Helenliz: What a lovely work away day! Any that I had were boring by comparison.

>65 Tess_W: we all get together and do something that's not work. We've been to the theatre, done cookery class, escape rooms, all sorts. It's an opportunity to meet colleagues and socialise on work time.

>66 VivienneR: we do tend to do something interesting. Cambridge was between the two offices, so makes for a good travel choice.

>64 threadnsong: Thanks. I need to get back to the baby blanket. I've now got thread for all the numbers, so those might be next.
Yes, it's church bells, not hand bells. rather a different scale of activity!

>67 Helenliz: Well, several of us do that, but not during work time!

>68 Tess_W: We're a small business, it's important to us that all of us are together a couple of times a year.

April's round up, seeing it is now May.

Read: 5 (30)
F/M: 3/2 (21/7)

Audio: 2 (14)
Paper: 3 (16)

Owned: 2 (8)
Library: 3 (22)

New authors: 4 (11)
New books: 5 (30)
Re-reads: 0 (0)

March's reads
26. Before the Queen Falls Asleep, Huzama Habayeb, *****
27. The Man who mistook his Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks, ***
28. More work for the Undertaker, Margery Allingham, ***
29. The Lies we Sing to the Sea, Sarah Underwood, **
30. Thunder Bay, Douglas Skelton, ***

I could rave about Before the Queen Falls Asleep for ages. Lies that we Sing to the Sea gets a great big raspberry.

The day away trip sounds lovely. Thanks for sharing that event with us, even though it is just in my imagination. I have read enough novels set in Cambridge to have a decent mental picture of your trip.

Book: 31
Title: Venetia
Author: Georgette Heyer
Published: 1958
Rating: *****
Why: Heyer series read
Challenge: woman author
TIOLI Challenge #3. Read a book with a girl's name in the title

Re-read.
I remembered the first part of this far more clearly than the second. I still find myself cheering Venetia on as she sets out after what she finds her heart desires. Excellent all round.

>61 Helenliz: Now you will live forever in the archives :-) I love that there is still a requirement to send everything to the British Library, even with all the other sources of information available nowadays.

Book: 32
Title: Murder most Royal
Author: SJ Bennett
Published: 1958
Rating: *****
Why: next up in the series and someone reminded me of it.
Challenge: woman author, audio
TIOLI Challenge #4. The "In Honor of My Mother" Challenge: Read a book to to spell out MOTHER

the third entry in the series featuring HM the Queen as an amateur detective, working through her Assistant Private Secretary is set at Sandringham at Christmas. A severed hand is washed up on the beach and the Queen identified the likely victim as Ned St Cyr. The family hold lands in the vicinity and there is a family friendship. The case is complicated by the friendship and the rules of inheritance while it takes on a darker hue than previous books in the motive. Rozie discovers the joy of wild swimming as part of her investigation, dedicating herself to the cause so much as to immerse herself in a Norfolk river in January - brrrr!
It's an affectionate portrait of a missed monarch.

>73 susanj67: I know, it's a nice thing to know is there. I had to send 21 reports off to various people (the diocese get some) but that is easily my favourite one to send. I'm in there already, as they also hold a copy of my PhD thesis. Should more than 5 people in one year ever want a copy of it, I'd get royalties - I never have!

>71 LadyoftheLodge: Cambridge is nice to visit, glad you enjoyed your virtual trip with us.

>74 Helenliz: - I might look for this series on audio. It sounds like the kind of thing I like best in that format.

Have a lovely weekend, Helen!

They work well, don;t need masses of concentration.
There are 3 set in the 2010s with Rozie as the APS. The 4th is set in the 1950s, not tried those and not sure I will.

You too. Bank holiday here, so Monday's a day off. Weather, as is traditional, not supposed to be stunning, but a day off is a day off.

>75 Helenliz: I didn't know about sending PhD theses to the British Library! I had to submit a copy (paper and electronic) to my university library, but that was it. I can't imagine ever getting royalties from mine either though!

>78 Jackie_K: I had to submit a bound copy to my university for their library and a loose leafed copy for the British library. I presume they had their own binder. It was 1997 so things may have changed since then.

For some years after I used to use it as a search term that I knew would have hits when showing people how to use the BL catalogue. (eta, just checked, I'm still in there)

>74 Helenliz: I've had the fourth one on my Kindle for awhile. I've thought I would start it a couple of times but then put it aside. I want to like it and do have doubts. Amazon ratings are high but I don't always agree with those. A fifth one is due out before year end.

>80 clue: I think I'm just happy to leave the series there and not go on to further books. I might have felt differently has she started with the younger queen.

>79 Helenliz: I had to submit a bound copy of my dissertation to my university and they are supposed to keep it "in perpetuity." I receive an email every so often telling me how many people have downloaded a digital copy too. Usually there is a (very small) flurry of downloads shortly before the ends of terms. I could probably check on it in Dissertation Abstracts International.

>82 LadyoftheLodge: Impressed that yours gets requested, that's got to feel good. I doubt mine has ever been requested, it was rather niche. I didn't have to submit an electronic copy. It was stored on 20 floppy disks for quite some time, until I no longer had a machine that could read them. Now it only exists on paper.

>83 Helenliz: Hi Helen, you might find it has been uploaded to the BL's etheses project. Although I'm not sure how that's been hit by the BL's recent hack. My understanding is that all the universities are part of the project, so the new ones are automatically there. It was a godsend when I was looking for more obscure research. Unsurprisingly, lots of people in my field didn't go on to have the perm ac job and the incentive to publish as a book. I'm wondering how with "open science" people won't be book publishing from PhD at all.

>84 charl08: the catalogue entry didn't refer to an electronic version, so maybe they're working back to it. Mine wasn't the kind of thesis you'd turn into a book!

Book: 33
Title: Sidesplitter
Author: Phil Wang
Published: 2021
Rating: ***
Why: shelterbox book and I needed a P for alphakit.
Challenge: new author, non-fiction
TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book that you acquired in 2024

This can best be described as a series of essays, using personal experience to discuss the experience of being a mixed race, British/East Asian man in both Malaysia and Britain. Like any essay collection, it has its ups and downs. The author is a stand up comedian and at times I felt that he was trying too hard to be funny in print. Some of the tales would, I fell, be more funny when told than when read. It was patchy with some areas that felt like gross generalisation and others where there was a nuanced argument at work. I would never have picked this up if it had not been the Shelterbox book club pick. It was worth reading (I nearly skipped it, but I needed a P for alphakit), as it made me think about some of my ideas on some of the topics raised, but I imagine that this probably appeals to a relatively limited audience.

>86 Helenliz: Oh, I'm sorry this one wasn't better. I have enjoyed watching him on Taskmaster (despite the awful jumpsuit).

>87 charl08: I think it's very much a case of didn't fit me, rather than it is awful. For the right reader, I imagine it would have far more resonance & relevance.

Busy weekend. I am still here. Saturday we had the May even on our 100th anniversary. A tower open day. In this we arranged 30 churches to be open across the diocese, and charged people an amount for each tower or a day ticket which allowed them to visit all of the churches. They turn up, ring and move on to the next one. There's a timetable and each one is open for an hour. It's utterly mad, in my opinion, but each to their own. I'd had that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach for days about this, worried how many people would turn up, that something awful would go wrong etc etc etc. Not helped by a call Thursday that one set of locals, who were supposed to look after the tower had decided to go away. Well the weather decided to be nice, which makes things just so much nicer, and we had a good stream of people at the towers. As a helper, I had 5 towers to visit & look after over the day and a very long day it was too. Sunday's mostly been about not having a nap on the sofa, as otherwise I'll not sleep tonight! Surprisingly enough, little reading has taken place in the last few days! Heading to bed early and aiming to get at least a chapter done before dropping the book on my nose as I fall asleep >;-)

In other news, I have managed to make some progress on the baby blanket, we now have half the numbers done.