Cushla's 2012 Challenge - Part 1

I'm back for 2012. I'll be back to post something coherent in a few days when we have internet again - should happen on Thursday but I'm not holding my breath. Till then, I'm getting onto the internet for about 10 minutes a day which is just not long enough when there are tons of new threads to discover!

Books read in 2012

January
1. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - 5 stars
2. Tolstoy Lied by Rachel Kadish - 3 stars
3. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle - 4 stars
4. Rondo by Kasimierz Brandys - 4 1/2 stars
5. Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn - 3 1/2 stars
6. Requiem for a Mezzo by Carola Dunn - 3 stars

February
7. The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence - 4 1/2 stars
8. The Book of Fame by Lloyd Jones - 3 1/2 stars
9. Murder on the Flying Scotsman by Carola Dunn - 2 1/2 stars

Currently reading (yes, this really is up to date!) The Great World by David Malouf

maybe Great Expectations...

Books bought in 2012...

Um. Not many. Really. So far, all Kindle deal of the days and one Euro each. Total cost: 5 Euros.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection
Cover her Face by P D James
God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens
Requiem for a Mezzo by Carola Dunn
Tortilla Curtain by TC Boyle

Welcome back!

Hi, Cushla.

Noticed in your intro that you wanted to read more Classics - the 12 in 12 Challenge has a scheduled read of Great Expectations in February and are planning Don Quixote not scheduled yet (you don't have to be a group member to join in the group read) and the Highly Rated Book Group are reading the Count of Monte Cristo in the first quarter. Maybe one of those will interest you.

Happy reading in 2012!

Hi Cushla! Dropping in to leave my star

Hey there, thought I would drop by and see if you'd alredy posted for next year! Haven't quite decided whether to join you yet, but will certainly be watching what you're reading as I don't have you down the road any more to keep giving me books to read. Happy reading :0)

Gotcha.

Hi Cushla, I'm back to follow your reading adventures. Hope you're settling in to your new home and finding a little time to relax.

*STARRED*

Welcome back!

Looking forward to sharing your reading journeys in 2012.

Starred :)

Here's to fabulous reading in 2012, Cushla! Hope you enjoyed North and South over the holidays.

Checking in, Cushla! Glad to see you back for 2012.

Hi everyone! Great to see your stars.

#4 Cheli, I am definitely keen on Great Expectations in Feb - I have bought the Penguin version. I might start sooner if I'm in the mood when I've finished North and South, which I am thoroughly enjoying.

#6 Georgia!!! You have to sign up!! (OK, you don't, but you will like it if you do. Nobody cares if you don't get near 75, and nobody cares if you don't have enough time to keep up with tons of threads. And you can get indoctrinated into the TIOLI challenges and spend a day a month going through your books looking for strange things. And I need to keep up with what you're reading!)

#8 Lynda, I am getting tons of time to relax even though we are kind of still camping here. Teachers' College starts in 3 weeks, and my reading diet will have to change to a few educational psych textbooks. I'll make sure to read the full book so that I can count them...

Hi Cushla, I am looking forward to your 2012 reviews. Happy New Reading Year!

Cushla, you are starred once again. Maybe 2012 will be the year that we will read The Magic Mountain. Or, maybe not, with school in your future. Best of luck with your studies.

Hi Cushla. Hope the teacher training goes well and you and your family have a wonderful 2012!

Happy New Year, Cushla! Can't wait to keep reading about your new adventures this year as you start your new career and your family settles in NZ.

oh... and I want to hug your Internet guy too for finally hooking you guys up! ;-)

Cushla look forward to keeping up with you again in 2012. Hope to get to NZ around Easter and will try to arrange at least one LT meet up. Happy new year!

Hi Nathalie, Dee, Donna, Paul and Caro! Happy new year everyone! It's breakfast time over here and time for a wrap-up of 2011.

2011 was a great reading year for me. Here's my list of top 10 books:

Non-fiction:
1. Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed - who knew that central banking could be so exciting? (actually I think I said that last year and the one before)
2. Germany 1945 by Richard Bessel - a gut-wrenching look at Germany after the war that ends with threads of hope
3. Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin - the author, a white journalist from Texas, injects himself with pigment and tries to experience life as a black man in the American South in 1959. Would fit the January TIOLI challenge really well. Amazing story and a courageous author.

Fiction: (in no order)
- War and Peace - it took me ages, but it was worth it!!
- Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson - an antidote to War and Peace. Must find the sequel in 2012.
- The Warden by Anthony Trollope - the first book by him I've read. Looking forward to Barchester Towers some time soon.
- The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst - sprawly novel of upper-class English family from WW1 up to today. Should have made the Booker shortlist.
- The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes - very happy that this won the Booker!
- Sovereign by C J Sansom - the second in the Matthew Shardlake series. One left to read!
- Silesian Station by David Downing - the second in the John Russell Series. Next one out in May... if you like spy novels and reading about Berlin during the Nazi regime, you will probably love these books. (Do I sound like the LT recommender doo-dah yet?)

Right, back to North and South... 33 chapters down, 19 to go. After that I'll see what books will fit into this month's TIOLI and have a look at big books for 2012 (Donna, I still want to read the MM!! I just don't know if it'll happen this year though.)

Hope those of you celebrating New Year's Eve are having lots of fun.

I loved Miss Buncle's Book too, Cushla, so I am glad to see the book has another fan.

Happy 2012!

Great list of books, I'm looking forward to following your reading this year.

Hi Cushla! Hoping you have a great New Year!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, dear Cushla!
I'm bringing a star and a hope that 2012 bests 2011 in wonderful books and conversation!

Happy New Year, Cushla! Wait...it's probably Jan 2 by now in New Zealand, right? It's hard for me to fathom that you are 17 hours ahead of us on the US East Coast.

Looking forward to reports of teacher training.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Cushla - looking forward to your 2012 books :)

Happy New Year, Cushla! Wishing you all the best in 2012!

Happy New Year, Cushla! Hope 2012 is a year full of blessings for you and yours. xo

Hi Cushla! Great list of 2011 favorites! Several of these went right to my TBR list.

Hi Cushla, happy new year and a great list to round out your 2011 reading.

Happy new year everyone - I can't believe how busy it is in the group so far!

Darryl, it is quite odd being so far ahead of the East Coast after 2 years of being in a different pattern! I used to be on here in the mornings quite often, and it was very quiet, especially because Switzerland was an hour ahead of the UK. There'd be a flurry of posts when the Brits woke up then more just before I went to school to pick up the kids. Now I have no clue who is where, except my NZ mates are on here at the same time as me and that's nice! It's 10.00 on the 3rd here now.

I finished my first book for 2012 and it was the lengthy and 5-stars-of-excellence North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.

I'm choosing this cover because I *think* my hard copy has it... it's on the boat still. I read a very cheap e-version of the book, which had an 800 page history of England tacked on the end (and no I did not read it).

The first Gaskell I read was Cranford, and I enjoyed that, but didn't love it as much as this one. North and South was a great blend of a Jane-Austenesque romance with plenty of material about the industrial revolution, the development of Manchester and the cotton industry, and attitudes of the less-industrialised southern upper classes. It was a real page-turner especially in the second half.

I'm not doing a review for this because there are tons of other ones. I loved Margaret and her principled, strong-willed personality, and Mr Bell, her father's old friend from Oxford, who was really funny at the expense of her neurotic London aunt and the new vicar's wife. The first cover that LT threw up for the novel was this one, and it just fit the book!



Not sure what's next up - I am skipping between a few books before settling into something.

Congratulations on finishing North and South, Cushla. I loved the book and I've got it on my re-read shelves and my plan is to read it all in one go ... during the next snow storm.

You're off to a good start for the year. I've still to read something by Gaskell and have this one on my bookshelves.
I'm hoping to get to Wellington sometime this month, but only a brief visit, my husband has some paperwork that needs a stamp of approval from the Israeli embassy so we thought a road trip might be fun. I'm hoping we include a drive through the Urerewa National Park as it's been years since I went through there.

Hi Cushla, so delighted you enjoyed North and South as much as I did! I'm presently re-watching the BBC Adaptation which is also fabulous!

Happy New Year Cushla!

I loved North and South too--it was a great way to wrap up my "Literary Heroines" category for the 11 in 11 challenge.

I see at least 4 books (Lords of Finance, War and Peace, The Stranger's Child and Sovereign) on your 2011 favorites list that are on my informal "must read in 2012" list.

Austenesque huh? Okay, you got me, I need to track that one down. I do have the 2 dvd's on order from Fatso though but I want to read the book first.

Hi Cushal, I'm glad that you liked North and South so much. Isn't it great when the first book of the new year is a 4 or 5 star read?

Re. timezones: I haven't yet got used to your being how many - 12 hours? - ahead. On the afternoon of New Year's Eve I thought that you are already in 2012 which sounds somewhat strange (in my head you are still my neighbour in Switzerland, it might take a while).
In his book In a Sunburned Country Bill Bryson travels from the US to Australia and loses a whole day - he starts on January 3rd, arrives on the 5th and the 4th has never happened in his life. Okay - he gains a day back on his return, but still it's a strange idea.

Hi Cushla, I found your thread and you were choosing Gaskell again. I think that was our first serious exchange ;)

I started a new thread and there you may find an update on Suki. Thanks for thinking of her.

oh, und gutes Einleben in Neuseeland

Happy New Year Cushla and so glad you enjoyed North and South. I'd like to read more Gaskell this year.

Just stopping by to wish you a happy new year and to drop a star :-)

Happy New Year, Cushla! North and South sounds really good. I've never read anything by Elizabeth Gaskell. Maybe, now I've read all Jane Austen's major works, I should move on to her...

I ditto Nathalie's comment - it is great to start the year on a high (I'm another lover of North and South). I was so happy to be able to give 5 stars to my first read too.

Congratulations on your reading year getting off to such a terrific start, Cushla!

excellent to start on a 5 star book for the year. I disliked Cranford so I'm glad to hear that North and South was more Austenesque (whom I love).

Add me to the list of people still struggling to cope with the fact that you are still further away in both time and space! Is this pretty much the maximum distance possible -- unless I move to Greenland? Sigh. I'm going to have to get on a flight to NZ sometime, aren't I? I've been postponing this for decades, mostly because even the transpacific flights now give me the claustrophobic heebie-jeebies, and I'm not sure what 24 hours in a flying tin can would do to me. But I've been meaning to go to Australia/NZ since, oh, about 1981...

What a great start to the year with North And South Cushla, I think I'll be adding that one to my list as well.

Ow, my first visit to your new thread, and many book bullets. Fortunately, a couple were already on my list.

Looking forward to following your reading and all that's going on with you in 2012!

Re: time zones....Now I have no clue who is where, except my NZ mates are on here at the same time as me and that's nice!
Im never sure when everyone is posting, or even myself when I see the time box!

Great that you loved North and South.....Im still trudging along looking forward to the second half....

Way behind, but dropping a star! Happy New Year, Cushla!

Cushla we finished North and South at about the same time. Liked and admired it rather than loved it. Thought it was an important book and the parts relating the strike and the factory system were very good and enlightening as well as perceptive and anticipatory. Agree with Calm that it all concluded rather rapidly and some of Margaret's opinions and attitudes to men could be a tad irritating. I gave 8 out of 10 which means strongly recommended, but for me, it was less than perfect.

I'm back - I have been trying not to be on the laptop or the ipad much! And I'm finding the pace of the group amazing, even more than last year, although it seems to be calming down a bit now.

I'm doing the readathon that PersephonesLibrary is organising because I have **one child** for the next two days, and he is lying in the living room reading and does not want to go out. (It's the 4th Charlie Bone book and he has 400 pages to go so we should be set for a while.)

#34 Caro - Hope you get your snow storm soon (and a day off work) for a re-read.

#35 Kerry - ooh, you can trace Man Alone on your way through the Ureweras! Have PMed you my phone number.

#36 and #38 Leonie and Nancy, I will have to watch the movie (especially after the pic you posted on the Group Read thread Nancy.) Leonie, your message sent me to investigate Fatso but I am resisting so far. Is it good? I never watch movies... I just don't seem to make time for them. We will probably get Sky once life goes back to normal but don't have any TV yet.

#37 Anne, as I said on your thread, you add so much to my WL! I hope you get time to squeeze those 4 in this year (but at 236 books in 2011 you have a good chance.)

#39 Nathalie, I've read half of that Bill Bryson book and remember laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face at his description of - I think - the national archives or a national library in Canberra. It was the book I used to take down to the work gym late at night and I never did finish it. I just can't read while I'm on the treadmill! But yes, every time I do the skip-a-day or vice versa it is a bit weird. We're 12 hours ahead at the moment.

#40 Paul, I'm really glad Suki is getting better. Und danke noch einmal fuer deine Freundschaft in Basel. Ich hoffe, dass ihr alle eines Tages nach Neuseeland kommt!

#42 Heather, have you read Wives and Daughters yet? I might have a look for it. I liked Cranford quite a bit less than N&S, as I probably said upthread. I'm also tempted by your ToTC tutored read and have been watching the thread about it. I'm useless with group reads - my contribution is often "yeah it was really good!" - but on the other hand I am keen to read more classics based on how much I've been enjoying the ones I've tackled. Oh, and I started a Sherlock Holmes thanks to you - the first one - and am really enjoying the style.

#43 Hi Alana, happy new year! I need to go and have a look in the 12-12 group for your thread, now that the craziness here is nearly over. Hope you like N&S too.

#44 Rebeki, I need to read some more Jane Austen. I'm pretty sure I haven't read Northanger Abbey yet, and I can't remember Emma. I know I liked Mansfield Park not much but really really liked P&P. But they all kind of blur... (please do not throw tomatoes across the oceans.)

#45-47 Bekka, Stasia and Lisa, there is sadly no chance that book 2 for the year is going to be 5 stars... So far it's on the boundary of keep-reading-or-chuck-it-in.

#48. Suz - Australia and NZ are far but IMHO well worth it, but only for a decent holiday. You need to find a freelance project down here! It'd be about 20 hours from NY. Is it all flying that you don't like, because of the cooped-up-ness? I used to hate it and still don't love it - I did a fear of flying course about 10 years ago and it was fantastic and meant that for once I looked forward to all of it. But now I'm back having to talk myself out of panic attacks during turbulence and am thinking about redoing the course (but it is just one thing on a looooong list of projects!). In the US and Canada there's one called SOAR that has excellent web resources and if you were going to do a big trip I'd recommend it. Either that or drugs, which I have never done!

#50 Hi Lisa - glad some of the bullets went into existing bulletholes...

#51 Megan - are you into the second half yet? Do you like it more now? Hope so.

#52 Hi Deb, nice to see you over here!

#53 Paul, I didn't mind the rapid ending - I was just so happy with her getting Mr Lennox out of the way and sorting out Mr Thornton's woes and the rest of their lives in one go . I'm a sucker for a good romance novel really!

OK so now for the short rant about the latest book. It's called Tolstoy Lied (that's Lied as in Told a Fib, not Song) by Rachel Kadish, and it's reminding me why so many of my book recs these days are from you guys. This one was an accident. I was looking for books by Ismail Kadare for the RG theme read, in line with my great intentions for 2012 (which have yet to be written up on here!). It had a great cover and good blurbs and it's set in a) New York, b) a university (the English Dept of NYU or Columbia, I think) and is about a woman in her 30s (almost me). Anyway, I did not see the words "romantic comedy" in the blurb. And it's like Shopaholic Takes Manhattan Set in Grad School, and I am torn between enjoying it and finding it wordy and predictable, and begging to be made into a TV movie. Tracy is about to get tenure when she meets a guy. (Don't all go running to the bookshop before it closes.) With luck I will get the next 200 pages read by tonight!!

I promise the rest of my posts this year will be shorter...

And I'm finding the pace of the group amazing, even more than last year, although it seems to be calming down a bit now.
I'm hoping it's like the aquafit class at the Y, Cush: all the Resolutionists were out in full force but they dwindle away by the end of the month. hehe I can't begin to follow it all. Richard's thread alone is a full-time job. No way I can begin to keep up and have a life! Love the laddie with the book not wanting to go out because he wants to read.

I just looked on the group page and we have had over 8000 posts in the past week. No wonder I am exhausted! lol

>55 tiffin:: Our local gym is a madhouse, too. I agree it's a similar phenomenon here. I'm really glad, though, that Jim didn't create the group until Boxing Day. I think that helped, and it does seem to be settling down a bit now. I think I've starred most of the threads I want to follow so I'm back to my old thread-reading routine.

8000 posts in a week! geeze that's a lot!

Hi Chelle!

Funny about your gym and pool Tui and Laura - I have been a Wii Fit Plus Resolutionist since Jan 1 so nobody notices that I too will dwindle... It definitely seems to be calming down now on here and I am hoping to have a leisurely read through lots of threads today.

Just bought the first PD James Adam Dalgleish novel for one Euro on my Kindle. I love the Kindle deal of the day - the German store, not surprisingly, doesn't have the same books as the UK one.

I've never read any Gaskell, although I've heard great things and enjoyed the BBC miniseries of North and South years ago. I am trying to read some classics this year, so maybe I can get to that one!

I am a Wii Fit Plus Resolutionist as well, Cushla, although so far I haven't been very good about it since we got a new TV after the flood and I couldn't figure out how to hook it up until today lol.

Hi Cushla...Im well into the second half now and am finding myself more willing to read it :)

Hi Cushla, I'm glad someone thinks things are settling down but I'm still completely overwhelmed. Anyway, I have North and South on my shelf and, as usual, you have managed to make me want to pick it up ASAP.

#61 Megan I'm glad you're enjoying N&S a bit more now.

#62 Bonnie, I hope you like it when you read it!

# 60 Marcia, I love the Wii - the only thing is that the kids (esp my daughter) usually mean I don't get a really good workout. Today I managed 3 lots of the boxing, which is my favourite, and then 5 of my favourite songs of Just Dance, which I also love. But that was a very good day. I'm going back to reread your thread to see about the flood - I missed that totally when I was reading earlier today.

Disgusting weather here - gale force winds, bits of trees blowing down, and pouring rain for 15 hours already. Ick.



***

I finished Book 2 - Tolstoy Lied by Rachel Kadish and took longer than usual to decide on how many stars. I've settled on 3 because in some ways it was a really good book, but in others it thorougly annoyed me. I liked it enough to read it till 1 am though.

Why I read it now: it was in the library and Kadish is next to Kadare.

Do I recommend it? Yes, if you like funny romance novels that are a bit more serious than chicklit. This was a bit wordy, much like this review, but well written and very funny in places. Also recommended if you have just got tenure in a US university - but do not read it if you are in the middle of the tenure process. Nasty stuff happens in the second half that will cause you stress. And if you like American lit and will get a kick out of lots of literary references, you will probably like it.

Tracy Farber is 33 and an assistant prof in English Lit at a good New York university. She's on track to get tenure soon. She's single, has been single for ages, and is pretty happy with her life, except for being single, but she doesn't expect to find a man any time soon. She has lots of friends who get love life advice from her, and she is planning a post-tenure-project looking at why most literature shies away from happy endings. We meet various Faculty members, and Elizabeth, who's almost finished a brilliant PhD dissertation (Tracy is her adviser).

Then she meets George, who is The One. George grew up in Canada in a fundamentalist Christian family. Tracy is a non-practising Jew. Much passion and trouble ensues - I don't want to put a big spoiler in here - but this was the reason I dinged the book down to 3 stars. I also felt like some of the academic politics was a bit hard to believe, especially some of the stuff that Joanne (one of the tenured Faculty) said and did.

And bonus - it's a library book!

Hmm, can't decide if I want to read Tolstoy Lied or not... I do like funny romances but I don't know if I can stand all the academics. I guess if I see it at the library I will give it a try but probably won't go out of my way to look for it or buy it anywhere.

And don't worry about the flood stuff, Cushla! It probably wasn't even in this year's thread, as it happened in September. We just got moved back into our house 3 weeks ago though and are still in the process of finishing remodeling/moving in/unpacking.

I think I will pass on Tolstoy Lied for now.

I hope you enjoy your next read more, Cushla!

I think I skip that book as well. I like (sometimes) literary references, and the Christian-Jew situation, but the way you mentioned that and the tenure part is not exactly my thing.

Greeting from rainy and windy Basel.

Ick, 15 hours of rain?! Isn't it summer down that way, Cushla?

Congrats on starting the year off with a 5 star read.
As for Tolstoy Lied, I saw that mentioned in the WSJ a little while ago and seemed like one I'd like to read someday and although your review doesn't give it accolades I think I will still keep it on the wishlist.

Hope your next read is more to your liking.

The first Adam Dalgliesh novel and one of the most recent ones have both been on special offer on Amazon UK. I think it's about publishers' willingness to be involved and what they offer - Faber seem to like offering great discounts for a short time.

Nice review, Cushla. Convinced me not to go running off to the bookstore in a wild frenzy. ;-)

Thanks for your comments on North and South. One day I'll get to that one. I did like Cranford when I studied it at uni.

#54 I haven't read Wives and Daughters yet Cushla. I've got that and Mary Barton on the wishlist after the N&S group read although I have a collection of Gaskell's short stories/novellas in the back of my edition of Cranford which I still haven't read...

I'm useless with group reads - my contribution is often "yeah it was really good!" - Me too! I think I sign up for too many and then don't take the time to think about my reactions properly. Sometimes I don't post anything at all...
So glad you're enjoying Sherlock Holmes :-)

#68 Do the publishers get any say in the Amazon kindle deals Luci? I assumed that unless they were one of the ones that have fixed the price of all their ebooks, Amazon just discounted however they pleased and paid the publishers the wholesale price (even if it means Amazon make a loss).

Cushla,

Just posting to let you know I've starred your thread as it looks like we like a lot of similar books. Miss Buncle's Book was also one of my favourite books for 2011 - my sister bought it for me for Christmas last year and this Christmas she's followed it up with Miss Buncle Married so I hope to be reading that soon.

Yes, I'm sure publishers do have some say. First, I read an article about ebook price fixing earlier today which mentioned most of the biggest publishers other than Random House (inc Vintage, Transworld, Jonathan Cape, Harvill Secker etc) - but I think Random House are also being quite tough on pricing too, and Weidenfeld & Nicholson, although Random House are apparently better on librar ebooks. In all the sales I've bought from so far, and the daily deals, many come from the stronger, better known indie publishers, the ones who can afford it presumably, like Faber, Quercus, not to mention Amazon's own publishing operation.

Yes, the publishers (so far) have won the e-book pricing battles. Wonder what will happen as e-books become a bigger phenom.

OK, have added Tolstoy Lied to my library list of books to get, as it looks as if it's the kind of book that will be a great rainy-day-and-I'm-grumpy kind of book.

Re airplanes, I'm not really phobic; I did go through a phase in the 90s where I really hated to fly, but not so much any more. But I'm very claustrophobic, so much so that even the mention in passing of a crime in which someone is buried alive makes me break out in a sweat and gives me a panic attack of kinds. I couldn't go into the pyramids as an 11 yo because even then I would have had to bend over in a tiny little corridor, with lots of people ahead & behind you. I'm sure if I could ever afford business or first class, I'd have no problem doing the trip, so maybe it's a matter of saving my pennies for that. I can get to and from Europe, no problem. Asia is bit more of an issue, and it's a real problem on the direct NY to Tokyo/Taipei flights. Given that it's claustrophobia rather than fear of flying, not sure that therapy would help all that much, esp as it's reasonably mild. (i.e. you could put me in a closet and I'd be fine and I don't panic on elevators.)

Hi Cushla! Suz I am also not consciously frightened of flying and I do have to do a fair bit but I have noticed that I do become far more religious in the few moments between taxiing and take off. God is most certainly great at that moment!

#65 Stasia, I think I'm safe for this book - it's Sherlock Holmes and it's great!

#66 Paul, has there been any snow at all yet? I am still reading the BaZ most days online!

#67 Lynda, I think I was a bit harsh giving it 3 stars - after all I did stay up very late finishing it. Hope you like it more than I did.

#68 Luci, interesting about the publishers being involved - I hadn't thought about it much except to enjoy the deals. It really warps the bestseller tables for Amazon Germany's English books - I've noticed some rather obscure titles then realised they have been free a few days earlier.

#69 Hi Lisa! I'm sure if you look hard enough on all the threads something else will send you to the bookshop...

#70 Hi Joyce, I don't think I've found your thread yet - are you in CR again?

#71 Heather, you put tons of comments in the GR thread and they are all so friggin'well thought out!

#72 SandDune, welcome and thanks for saying hello - I am about to go and look at your library and find your thread. Am looking forward to seeing what you think of Miss Buncle Married.

#74 Suz, you might love Tolstoy Lied so I'm glad you're going to put it on your library list - it'll depend on how you feel about some of the big things that happen (argh, I can't tell you any more without ruining it, but I'd like to see if I'm out on a limb reacting how I did, so please go and find it and report back!!) Big chunks of it are very clever. On the flying thing, mine is a dose of claustrophobia and a dose of totally irrational I-am-not-in-control-of-this. We flew Air NZ's premium economy (in between business and economy, but really like business except for no totally flat beds) and it was well worth it so sounds like saving up is the way to go.

#75 Paul, take-off is the bit that worries me the least - it's bumps when you have 10 hours left of the flight that make me very wobbly. And it's definitely one of those times when I would prefer it if I was a believer in someone up there!! (Anyway no planes for a while. Just Wellington cars and buses.)

Am still reading Sherlock Holmes but hardly at all today. Before it's February, here is a quick update on my reading goals for 2012:

- more books from countries other than England and the US

- at least one book for each Reading Globally themed read, because I love the group but was useless at either posting there or sticking to the themes last year

- some NZ and Australian fiction, because I really liked what I read last year

- a pile of books about Russia (thank you Lisa and Rebecca for all the recs so far)

- some Dickens, starting with Great Expectations in Feb

- a bit more non-fiction, although at 13/71 last year I read more of these than it felt like at the time

aaaaaaaaaaaaannnnddd...



twelve new full-priced books all year.

Kindle dollar a day books do not count. Let the scoffing begin.

It's funny you mention Russian books. I'm just starting Life and Fate tonight. It's one Rebecca recommended. :-)

Hi Joyce, I don't think I've found your thread yet - are you in CR again?

Yes I am -- you can find me here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/128278

Twelve new full priced books all year

My reading of that means the door is still wide open for books on sale and 2nd hand books, and potentially books you can get online for cheaper than the in store price. Plus Kindle books. Seems like a decent plan to me!

OK.... I'll be a bit tougher on myself! Apart from the 12 books, I'm putting on a limit of NZ$10 - that lets me spend up large at the 3 big charity bookfairs here, but won't get me much in a secondhand bookshop I don't think. And the Kindle books (the full priced ones, not the deal of the day ones) are going to count in the 12 full priced books.

Really it is tragic if I can't cope with Wgtn library and the zillions of TBRs I have here. And a husband prodded for birthday presents. And it's our wedding anniversary tomorrow so maybe he will buy me a book!

Good luck with your many reading resolutions, Cushla. I'm looking forward to your list of NZ and AU fiction, hoping for some recommendations.

I think I'll also pass on the Tolstoy book, although it sounds interesting. After North and South I am taking a little break on the romance front. Btw. are there any romance novels where the heroine is already in her 40s and childless? (It seems to me they are either in their late 20s/ early 30s, i.e. best years to have children, or they are much older, then widowed or divorced, but with grown-up children)

Oh - and re. romance: Happy Wedding Anniversary!!

Congratulations! How many years have you been married?

Happy anniversary Cushla and Tim! Fingers crossed there was a book involved...

Thanks! Fourteen years, and it's gone fast!!

Nathalie, Thr Idea of Perfection is excellent - have you read anything by Kate Grenville? The main characters are in I'd say their 40s. Maybe their 50s.

Heather we cross posted. I suspect no book...

congratulations on 14 years :-)

Happy Anniversary, Cushla!

Happy Anniversary.

I'm also looking at reading more books set in Russia this year. I noticed that I've read a lot of French lit in the past two years so need to make a conscious effort to go further afield. I mentioned in my santathing comments that I would like to read magical realism set in Russia and while I didn't receive anything like this I got several interesting suggestions from lovers of Russian lit that I'll be following up.

Happy anniversary!

What's that phrase -- there are no atheists in foxholes?? Sounds like Paul in planes...

That said, I'm told that takeoff and landing are by far the riskiest parts of air travel. The most terrified I've ever been in flight was a short hop within Laos, which has lots of mountainous terrain and no in-flight navigation aids. Didn't help that I was in the front row and saw the pilot take his hands off the controls to try and swat a fly.

I feel as I have big holes in all kinds of reading. German, French, Russian, etc. etc. Sigh, but sometimes I simply don't feel like reading something Important and Literary.

12 full priced books all year? Wow... That will take discipline! I hope for your sake that the library adds new books to its system frequently and promptly!

Happy Anniversary - hope the weather has improved for you!

Thanks everyone for the anniervsary wishes and Bekka yes, it is a lovely day here - it really changes very quickly.

Suz that Laos story is awful. I have a friend who has a very bad Aeroflot story in which seats weren't assigned and people were wandering round the plane! (This was going back 30 years though when he was a kid.) And I know what you mean about Important Literary Works - I will be mixing it all up with all the series books that I have started, plus my course reading. (lots of ed psych stuff to start with which looks quite good.)

and Wellington library really is enough to keep me going - esp after 2 years away from it. Every time I go in I come out with new random books, and Teresa has 37 kids books out on her card at the moment (thank goodness for LibraryElf!!).

Kerry I'll look forward to seeing your Russian reading. I ended up sending The Concert Ticket back to the library but still want to read it.

Congratulations to your anniversary, too. Hope the weather has improved - ours is cold, wet and windy (no snow in Basel).

This 'Sounds like Paul in planes..' is no reference to me? We had rough weather when flying back from Lithuania. I guess the pilot was looking for holes to fall into... my stomach was changing places with my throat or vice versa. They delayed the beverages and the snacks (that was a good idea). But all went well

My oddest flight was when I was seated between two men who had each survived an emergency crash. I wasn't sure whether to feel secure or really scared.

Nope Paul it's a reference to The Other Paul! Urg to your flight back from Lithuania - our flight from HK to Auckland was a bit like that.

I've started a thread for the kids' books this year, before I think of it halfway through the year. I'm curious about what and how many we end up reading, and want to keep this thread for me! It's over here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/130736

Happy Anniversary Cushla! Hope it was a good one.

My airplane story--for the first leg of our trip to Australia/New Zealand last fall, we had to fly from Seattle to LA. The plane was literally feet from the ground on landing when it had to rev up and get up into the air again soon. Apparently there was another plane on the runway the pilot had to avoid! I had always thought that smaller airports were more dangerous, but now I'm not so sure.

Happy 14th, Cush! I don't want to hear bad airplane stories. I'm painfully aware how far up in the stratosphere above the Atlantic I am and don't want to think about me and my little red suitcase feeding the fishes.

LOL re Aeroflot! My bad story about them is flying back from Moscow to Brussels. The pilot nearly landed in Amsterdam by mistake. We could see it was the wrong city from the windows...

Uh oh, scary flight stories.....I have to contribute.

Im not scared of flying in the least, but once flying from Hong Kong to Taipei I had a mild panic attack while the plane was trying to land in thick fog/cloud. It didn't help that less than an hour before takeoff I was taken up the control tower (by my uncle who is an air traffic controller- this was before 9/11!) in HK to see a plane taking off or landing every minute.....and also not helping was that the week before a plane had crashed into an apartment building while landing in cloudy weather.

Out the window it was block grey, and I was thinking we should be landing at any moment. But we were actually circling and circling and waiting to land. For some reason I had it in my head that collision with a building was inevitable. I was so so rattled when I got off the plane (safely) that I was shaking all the way to baggage claim. I feel sorry for people with flying phobias!

Cushla - happy double anniversary (LT and your wedding although not necessarily in that order!). Paul sorry for the confusion about the names; it is surprising that there aren't more such confusions - at least there is only one Cushla!

Thanks for all the anniversary wishes- going out to a restaurant that's opened since we left NZ tonight, and really looking forward to it.

Paul, my LT anniversary is in September I think but thanks for the early good wishes for that too!

Right, y'all can stop with the so bad they are funny aeroplane stories thank you, although the funny thing is that reading them doesn't bug me - down here on the ground I know it is statistically extremely safe. Megan, your description of your panic attack is like what happens to me - I get it into my head and then it's there, unless I do a heck of a lot of talking to myself (including reminding myself how bumpy the trams and trains can be in Europe) and a lot of fiendishly hard Sudoku puzzles.

Nothing read at all for myself today... I thought I had finished Sherlock Holmes but now I have the whole of part 2 to read!!

*Caught blushing at stupid mistake* Anyway Cushla at least I got in first!

You sure did - and you reminded me that that'll be another 6 books right there on September 26!

Congratulation and happy anniversary Cushla! Hope you enjoy your night out.

Cushla, I was by your thread a couple of days ago and somehow bumped my computer and lost the message. Anyhow, I wanted to tell how much I've loved every book about Adam Dagliesh by P.D. James . I hope that you do too! On the subject of Russian books, I just finished reading The Siege about the Siege of Leningrad . It was a fabulous read and shortlisted for the Orange prize some years back. Perhaps another suggestion for you? I was so taken by it that I am reading a second book related to the first - Betrayal which takes place in Leningrad after the war, but while Stalin is still in power. Fascinating and well written.

And Happy Anniversary!

Hi Cushla, I'll add some belated anniversary wishes. And it's never too early to start planning your Thingaversary, especially when six books need to be bought! I get to do just that on March 25.

I have managed to stay away from the Kindle book of the day deal. So far I've only read one book on the iPad. I still prefer turning those pages but I'll probably use the ebook feature more as my library adds more titles. I also might start picking up the occasional random book at the library. I used to love the serendipity of new discoveries, but lately I've just used it to reserve books recommended here. I think I'll be a bit more daring in 2012!

#84: Thank you Cushla, I just read the amazon info and it really sounds excellent. And it's less than 10 USD on Kindle. I might get it for my TA this month

There is nothing quite like the experience of coming towards a runway and realising that the items scattered on either side are pieces, and wrecks, of rusting aeroplanes and helicopters. Such was the joy of landing in Outer Mongolia nearly ten years ago.

Almost matched by the taxi with no windscreen that drove into a field when the road was blocked by a horse and cart. Buddhist monks collecting vast boxes of electronics in baggage claim. And the highlight: getting a kidney infection and having to pee in a jam jar - and discovering afterwards that there was no toilet paper or running water in the room.

The planes were the most surreal though!

I've always been ok on planes but the stories on here are starting to make me change my mind...!

>100 cushlareads:, haha, enough plane stories Cushla? I was only just getting started! Just joking, I only have the one. But it is a good conversation starter by the looks of things.

>107 lunacat: Mongolia sounds.....um....rustic?! It is a place I have always wanted to visit, might have to make do with camping in a yurt at a non-traditional camping ground up a valley near my city. Til I win lotto that is.

Just don't fly to Mongolia and you'll be fine Heather.

>109 LovingLit: come to Switzerland, there you can hire a yurt on the mountains near Lake Geneva - lots of snow, great scenery

#109

Definitely rustic. But incredible. Just the kind of place I could see myself vanishing to, with a yurt full of books and nothing else. Would love to go back, but money says no! And after ten years, I'd be a bit worried about the infiltration of the 'real world'. It was on the cusp when we were there.

Happy Anniversary Cushla! My plane story is actually on a small plane flying into Wellington on a VERY windy day and we were buffeted around like dust on the wind. There was a 2 year old boy who was giggling and yelling out very loudly "Daddy, I've got butterflies in my tummy!" Very cute but it was scary. The poor pregnant lady on the plane didn't hold her breakfast poor thing.

No "scary" flight story from me, although I hate flying, and am secretly convinced I'll have a crash whenever I get on a plane. Throughout the flight I have to stop myself imagining that some crucial screw in the plane is just right now loosening and will cause a crash. When I am in a plane I am actually so paranoid that I believe my thoughts might loosen that one important screw.

I tried a pill once and it helped. It helped so much that I became all euphoric and - wanting to celebrate that wonderful flight - drank one glass of wine. Not a combination I can recommend. My body produced a panic reaction (sweating, pulse racing) and it took forever to get back to normal.

Edit: I read the test chapter of The Idea of Perfection and bought the book right away as one of my TA books! It's just what I needed - thank you!

#54 - You're in luck, Cushla, as my aim is extremely poor! I like all the Austens I've read, but there must be a reason P&P seems to be most people's favourite. Actually, I have a real soft spot for Northanger Abbey. I found it lots of fun and a little different from the other novels.

A belated happy anniversary! Did you receive any books? I'm actually instructing my husband not to buy me books these days, as the size of my TBR pile is bothering me.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Sherlock Holmes. I'm watching the latest BBC series and it's making me want to read the stories (provided they haven't been totally spoilt for me).

Happy Belated Anniversary ...... sorry been AWOL from LT this week

btw I will not create a "Books bought this year list" - it will already be embarrassing .....

Hi Alana, Donna, Deb, Nathalie, Alex, Rebeki, Jenny, Leonie, Megan and Heather. Thanks for the anniversary wishes - we had a fantastic dinner at a place called Ortega Fish Shack, which I recommend highly to all of you for when you come and visit! After 2 years of being far from the ocean, we're loving having really fresh fish again.

Sorry for disappearing on my own thread (and most of yours too) - internet time has been scarce again, and looks like staying that way, since my uni course starts this coming Friday. I think my thread is going to be much quieter this year!

Deb, The Siege is on my WL already but even more firmly now that you've loved it too. Have you read The Madonnas of Leningrad? I really enjoyed that one.

Nathalie, I'm really glad you're enjoying The Idea of Perfection! I've read two others by her. The Secret River was fantastic, and its sequel, Sarah Thornhill, was very good. Kate Grenville is apparently coming to Wellington for Writers and Readers Week, which is part of our bi-annual International Festival of the Arts in March - the full programme isn't out yet but the preview looks great. Tom Friedman is also here (but I suspect sold out already - have to find out) and Alan Hollinghurst and Jenny Erpenbeck. I wonder if I can read Visitation in time...

I finished my 3rd book - A Study in Scarlet by Sherlock Holmes - 3 1/2 stars.



I will be reading more Sherlock Holmes - I really, really enjoyed it and loved Dr Watson's voice. The structure was different from any other mystery I've read, with the case, then a big back story, then another bit at the end. I enjoyed the story about why the murderer had done it - it was like a trip into the Wild West. But I should warn you that if you're a Mormon you are unlikely to enjoy this part of the book.

Now I'm 100 pages into Rondo by Kasimierz Brandys. Here I was thinking this might be a great library find - it was on a display case, looked interesting, and is by a Polish author. It did sound vaguely familiar and when I put it into LT bingo - it's one of the novels that Suz totally raved about last year!! There is no such thing as serendipity at the library any more... anyway, I am loving it too, but it needs a ton of concentration to figure out what's going on.

Hope you all have good Sundays!

Another belated anniversary wish, but no scary airplane stories.

I was just reading your 2012 goals, and see that we will both be reading Russian books. It will be interesting to see what's on your pile--I have a long list of reads and re-reads I'd like to get to this year.

I also noticed the 12 book limit on new, full-price books, and no, I'm not scoffing, but wondering whether that wouldn't be a good goal to adopt for myself.

Anne, I read your thread last night and saw your goal and considered switching mine over to some kind of 1:1:1 thing! Very cool that you're going to be reading Russian books. Here's my little pile from the boxes I've unpacked so far:

Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (tr. by Bethell and Burg back in 1968 when the novel was first published)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn (tr. by Hayward and Hingley)
Smoke by Ivan Turgenev
Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy
Archangel by Robert Harris

All 5 of these are from the secondhand book fair here - Smoke and Resurrection are beautiful fake leather editions in great condition. Cancer Ward is yellow and a bit musty. I'll probably start with One Day in the Life because it is a nicer copy than Cancer Ward, and it has lovely big print and isn't huge! I really don't know how I'll get on with these books yet. I have Life and Fate coming on the ship, and Tim's nice copy of Anna Karenina.

Got to go, kids are fighting over the Thomas train set that has just been given back to us after 2 years. (Big sigh.)

I also rated A Study in Scarlet at 3 1/2 stars when I listened to it a couple of months ago! If the mystery thing hadn't worked out so well for him, Doyle could have been successful with Westerns.

One of my favorite flight experiences was on my trip to Mexico for my brother's wedding. My dad & I traveled with my brother's two best friends, one of whom is an airline pilot. I had the seat next to him on the return trip and learned lots of interesting things about flying. I decided not to worry too much about the things he pointed out that didn't meet regulations since they didn't seem to worry him, and I wouldn't have known about them anyway if he hadn't mentioned them!

Oh, hello at last, Cushla - it has taken me ages to catch up. The weekly posting figures in this group have gone down to under 5,000 now, but it's still a lot to keep up with, isn't it. Still, at least I see you on Facebook when I remember to check in there.

Some of our reading goals for the year are eerily similar - especially 'read more from countries other than England and US', and 'read a bit more non-fiction' - though like you I didn't do as badly as I though on that score last year, still could be better. I'm also hoping to get to the odd Dickens or two in this bicentenary year, as well as continue to read other free 19th century classics on my smartphone.

Good luck with the book purchase limits in particular. I've gone for a slightly different approach, since I rarely buy brand new books unless I'm spending book tokens or ordering things for professional use. So I'm simply aiming to acquire (whether new, used, Bookmooch, free ebook or gift) no more than 60 books in the whole year, ie approximately half as many as I expect to read). But so many people in this group have decided to impose some book buying restrictions this year, I suspect we may have an impact on the global book market!

No, I have not read The Madonnas of Leningrad. That sounds interesting , I will have to look into it. Many years ago I did read Cancer Ward and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich many years ago. My dad was big fan of his writing, so I was introduced to it fairly young, probably too young to fully appreciate it.

Carrie, that's a good aeroplane story. I'm looking forward to more Sherlock Holmes for light relief and will be watching your thread to see if you read any more soon.

Genny, hi!! I am not keeping up at all but I've noticed the pace slowing down heaps this week. I have a 4000 word essay due on Feb 7 so I'm going to be vanishing from LT till I've got a fair chunk of it written... the course only really starts on Monday, EEEK! Am looking forward to following what you're reading this year and really glad we will be overlapping lots - although my goals may go out the window if the course is as full on as it looks. 60 books over the whole year sounds reasonable and I know you are restrained with new ones. I've nearly given up on Bookmooch now that the points are 3 for international mooches. I must have another look though.

Am STILL reading Rondo and still confused, but getting less so - 80 pages left.

only 80 pages to go! The race to the finish....maybe itll all come together on the last page?

Megan, just when I think there will be no more surprises there are. 70 pages left. I am really enjoying it, it's just not relaxing reading - but as a picture of Warsaw during World War 2 and afterwards it is excellent.

I am deeply saddened about Janet. Woke up, logged onto LT before I'd got out of bed, and saw 12 messages on her 2011 thread and hoped she was back. I'll be thinking of her as I read the last 70 pages of Rondo, because it's the kind of hard book she would have liked and written tons of insightful witty comments about! Her comments on War and Peace last year and God's Philosophers were fantastic, and when I eventually read some Middle East books I'll be digging out her thread.

I found the picture of her at our London meet-up last year. That's her on the right.

Hi Cushla. Thanks for posting the picture. Like you, when I saw all the posts on her 2011 thread, I was hoping she was back. I'm so glad you got a chance to meet her.

I also looked at the meet-up pictures today and reread parts of her threads and some of her comments of our long W&P group read. It's wonderful that you had the possibility to meet her in person.

#125 Thanks for posting the picture Cushla. I saw the sad news thread before I saw the activity on Janet's old thread so I'd sort of guessed what had happened from the title. Sad, sad news.

I agree, Cushla. I came across Janet's 2011 thread when there was only one new message -- the one notifying us of her passing. I was so excited to see a new message there, until I read it. I've felt sad all day.

Thanks for putting up the photo Cushla.

>129 lauralkeet: I have felt sad today too thinking about Janet and her family, I hope she knows how much we all think of her!

Thanks for posting the picture, Cushla! We will all miss Janet.

#76: twelve new full-priced books all year. You can do it, Cushla! I know you can!

#125: Thanks for sharing the picture, Cushla. I know that Janet is greatly missed here in the group. I wish I had gotten a chance to meet her in real life.

Thanks for sharing the picture, Cushla. I'm so glad you got to meet Janet. I know she's in a better place now and that eases the sorrow a little.

From her posts, and from our all too brief meet up with her, Janet just wasn't anyone's idea of a victim. She was coming through a horrendously difficult experience but she was talking about books, about her family, about political stuff. I remember, before and after the Arab spring, that she was interested in reading/learning more about the region.

Luci, you said that so well. I am still feeling sad, but love Darryl's memorial idea and will try to read of the books we share. I had forgotten that Janet was a Donna Leon fan so it will probably be some of those - my brain is full of my teaching course at the moment and I am seeking extremely light reading for the next weeks!

I did manage to finish Rondo and gave it 4 1/2 stars. I suspect Janet would have loved this book.



A coherent review is beyond me right now, but if you are at all tempted then go and read Suzanne's - it is excellent even by her standards. Rondo was published in Poland in 1982. Europa Editions published the English translation last year - The narrator, "Tom", is finally pushed to record his memories of life during World War 2 and his part in the Polish resistance. An article has appeared in a journal by Professor Janota in which the secret resistance organisation called Rondo and its role in the war is discussed, and "Tom" insists that it is all wrong, and that he invented Rondo as a device to try to protect someone he loved.

The writing in the book is amazing - the characters leap off the page and have stayed with me for days. "Tom" is now an old man, but in the 1930s he was a law student in Warsaw with a school friend called Wladek who had an acting job in the theatre. You need to read the book if you want to find out more, but Tom's obsessive love drives the story.

It is also the most challenging book - in terms of knowing what on earth is going on - that I've read in the last few years. If you like Chess Story or Pereira Maintains you will probably like this one, but don't read it if you're looking for something fast. You will want to keep reading. "Tom" tells the story as if the reader already knows the public version of events. I felt like a strong wind was pushing me over every few pages! You might also want to have a quick look at Wikipedia if you don't know anything about Poland during WW2 and the uprising. I waded through Norman Davies' tome on how Poland got done over by the Allies a few years ago, and it helped me a lot, but I don't recommend that book unless you are REALLY into the detail.

Nice to hear from you, Cushla. Warm thoughts coming your way from snowy Seattle.

Rondo sounds right up my alley and onto the pile it goes. I may wait a bit before reading it though; I am still digesting Life and Fate.

ETA: I hope you add your review to the book's work page. There are currently no reviews, and yours is just the type that I, for one, appreciate.

Lisa, hi!! Ooh,. You've finished Life and Fate... I am so behind on here that I haven't read your thread for a few days. In the words of the LT recommended, Cushla predicts that you WILL LOVE thus book (prediction confidence: medium). But not for a while because Poland on top of Russia in WW2 would be too much for me. Poland's 20th century history is so utterly depressing - maybe I need to find a modern, optimistic chick litty Polish book.

I finished the first book in the Daisy Dalrymple mystery series, Death at Wentwater Court' by Carola Dunn and really enjoyed it. It was exactly what I needed, even though I usually read less cosy crime books. I found it in Karori library on Friday after I bought the third in the series for 1 euro as a Kindle deal of the day last week. It's set in England in 1923. Daisy is an upper class young woman who's got far too much personality to wait around for a husband, so she gets a job writing articles on stately homes for Town and Country magazine. On her first assignment she goes to Wentwater Court, where there are several other guests. One of them gets murdered, and a dishy Scotland Yard inspector turns up. I expect they will get together some time in the next 18 books...

Edited to add that I will put my Rondo comments onto the review page, and that Suzanne's is posted on Amazon not here, but is well worth the trip over there. I think it's on her blog too.

#136: I put Rondo in the BlackHole when Suz reviewed it, but I just checked and my local library still does not have a copy. I am glad to see you enjoyed it so much, Cushla!

#138 I started the Daisy Dalrymple series over the Christmas holidays - I'm up to book 4 - and they were perfect for the time of year. I'm having a rest from them for the moment but I can see myself going back periodically when I want an easy and enjoyable read.

#135 Yes indeed.

And another request to add your review of Rondo so that I can thumb it please. Chess Story and Pereira Maintains are still on my wishlist so perhaps I will read those first. I think Chess Story will be one of my Janet memorial reads this year as I remember Janet in particular recommending Zweig to me as an author.

Hope your teaching course is going well - light reading sounds like a good idea while you settle in.

Stasia, I hope your library gets it one day!! (Not that you are going to run out of books though, especially this year with your course.)

Kerry I might be up to the 4th one by tomorrow - they are SO fast to read! Maybe I will make 75 books this year after all...;)

Heather, I have posted the review now that I'm off the ipad. i love the ipad, but basic laptop things like copying and pasting are really annoying. I had the first day of my course on Friday and loved it. The real work starts tomorrow but I have nearly finished the readings and am feeling good about it. Our first placement of 7 weeks in a high school is at the end of March, so I've been spending some time this weekend figuring out which schools I'd most like to get placed in - there are no guarantees but we do to express our preferences. There's a huge range, obviously, and I am angling for some of the good schools in very low socio-economic areas to see how I'd go there with a real job.

Hi Cushla, added another book to my ever-growing WL with Rondo. I enjoyed both Chess Story and Pereira Maintains, so it will be a sure 'Like'.

I felt like a strong wind was pushing me over every few pages!
What a great metaphor. I've been exactly there with the Pereira book.

Wish you a great week at school!

Nathalie, I tihnk you'll like it too!

I had fun reading Death at Wentwater Court a few weeks ago. It's a series I plan to continue. Somehow it manages to be fun while still acknowledging the personal losses of the Great War.

Reading along but nothing to say.

Tui, I'm waving at you over there in rainy Canada! I am behind on your thread AGAIN. I'm up at 5.30 doing reading for my lectures this week. With a bit of luck I will have time for some more of Requiem for a Mezzo (the 3rd Daisy Dalrymple book) before 9.30...depends if the kids wake up soon or not. I'm really enjoying the course readings and am trying to get a bit ahead in them.

Carrie, I agree about Death at WC - there isn't much direct reference to WW1 but just enough to pervade the story. Have you read Maisie Dobbs? I liked the first one, but I think I prefer Daisy to Maisie. But there was quite a lot more WW1 sadness in the first Maisie book. I have the second Maisie on my Kindle but I'm not racing to read it.

wow, a placement already, they dont rely on teaching theory then do they? Sounds like a busy wee while for you then! Glad you liked your last book, a few more like that will keep you going.

19 more Daisy books, now, Cushla - or at least #20 is due out next week. I've read the first 2, have 6 more in paperback in the shed which I need to find and 11 more on bargain Kindle. I need comfort reading right now...

I've read all of the published Maisie Dobbs series. The next installment will be released in a couple of months. I like Maisie, but Daisy is a lot more fun. I'm not sure "fun" is in Maisie's vocabulary!

Who is this Daisy? I've read all the Maisies.

Tui - Daisy Dalrymple! Death at Wentwater Court. And Luci if there are 21 they will keep me going a while...

Carrie, you're right about Maisie having not much fun about her compared to SPIFFING Daisy!

Megan - the placement isn't till March 25. We do 4 weeks of (full on) ed psyc theory, then an exam on that, then 2 curriculum studies papers (Maths and German for me) and another theory/teaching practice paper before we get let loose on the youth of New Zealand...

Hello Cushla! Happy New Year! Your families must be thrilled to bits to have you home! Ah the joys of relocation...thank you so much for your support, condolences, and good wishes...you LTers are an extraordinary lot. Lucky you to have got to meet Janet in person. Such a loss. Thank you so much for posting the picture...oohh come visit my new thread some time...haven't finished the decorating, but I have moved in anyway!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/131513

Prue!! Happy new year! I'm so glad you're back on here - I've checked your 2011 thread a few times.

Looks like you have a very full year ahead of you Cushla, great that your enjoying your course though. That always makes things much easier!

142: Our first placement of 7 weeks in a high school is at the end of March
Yikes, that's quick. Then you would move into a full time job for the next school year?

Thanks, Cush. Off to hunt down Daisy Dalrymple.

Hi Alana!

Katherine, no the course is a one year one and runs right through till the end of December. I have two placements and a ton of coursework - second placement is august/September. I will hopefully be teaching in a real job starting next Feb. The course is for graduates with a degree in two teaching subjects. It's 6.30 and I am up doing my reading!

Tui have fun with Daisy. I think you'll enjoy the series for some light relief.

Is February the start of the school year in NZ? Just wondering whether the reversal of summer/winter also means a reversal of when new academic years begin ie after the summer is over?

Genny, yes - we have our big holiday in December and January when it's summer (well summer in theory!)

Just finished book #6 - Requiem for a Mezzo, the third Daisy Dalrymple mystery. I haven't read book 2 but it didn't matter. I enjoyed this one, but didn't care quite as much about whodunnit. I wonder if her murder victims are always as unlovable as the first 2?

Don't know what's up next but maybe something a bit meatier, once I have got through the week's readings for Teacher's College (interesting, but quite a lot of them... but I'm on top of it so far.)

So glad that you liked Rondo nearly as much as I did. It completely blew me away, from the first pages, when I picked it up just to skim and ended up sitting down on the stairs to read. When I met the Europa editor at the BookExpo last May, he also raved about it and said it was one of his personal faves and that he really wished it had caught on more. Maybe we can change that, collectively! He also recommended Eros by Helmut Krausser, though I didn't like that quite as much.

Will flag your latest murder mystery, am trying to steer clear of reading outside my comfort zone as it never seems to pay dividends :)
(Phew, finally one I dont need to add to my WL)

#136 - Hi Cushla, Rondo sounds really interesting and has been added to my list of books to read. I finally starting noting down all the books my fellow LT-ers have been reading that I, too, would like to read. It's now an overwhelming four pages long...

Hope the course is going well!

Cushla
Thanks so much for posting the photo wherein Janet is smiling.

How blessed to know you met her!

Hi Cushla -- finally all caught up here! I enjoyed your "Best of 2011" list. I've had Miss Buncle's Book on my wish list for ages, and with all of the wonderful comments on your thread, I hope I come across a copy! I also read my Trollope (also The Warden) this year, and I loved it. Mine was an audio, which was wonderfully narrated.

Rondo looks fascinating, but I appreciate your caution about being able to follow the text. With everything I have going on right now, I'm not sure I could give the book the attention it would require. It's still going on the list, though:)

Hi Cushla, the Daisies and the Maisies are both on my wishlist. One day I will get to them but I want to finish my Wimseys and Campions before I tackle any more long crime series.

And well done for being on top of your school reading :-) When do you find out where your placement will be?

Hi Suz, Megan, Anne, Linda, Rebeki and Heather - thanks for visiting! I've been swotting and lurking on other people's threads.

Anne, I would definitely wait on Rondo till you are in the right mood. I hope you can find Miss Buncle's Book - that's one book that is right for almost any time! Have you read Barchester Towers yet? I have it on my Kindle and keep reading the first chapter or so, liking it, then leaving it too long and needing to go back to the start.

Heather, I'm the other way round - no Campions or Wimseys till i'm done with Maisie and Daisy. Although I am just not finding myself wanting to read Maisie #2 - I have it on the Kindle but it's not what I'm after (plus too much Daisy - I don't want to get stuck in post-WW1 England again.)

Rebeki, I think when you join LT you go through cycles of adding things. To start with I found I was adding almost everything friends on here liked to my WL but then it jsut gets mad. Now I've slowed down, but I am still adding at a faster rate than I can read. I'm finding the book ban helping quite a lot - I haven't bought a physical book in ages now. We have just got all our stuff though, and don't have room for all the books I bought in Switzerland - I don't get it, because we had room there and we had just enough room for the old books here, and we've brought back all the new shelves... eek.

Heather, I find out where my placement is just before I go on it - it starts March 25 and they tell us the week before. I've just done my first test, and am ploughing through essay 1 (3000 words about my own educational history and my metaphor for teaching and learning). It's a huge change from economics but I am really enjoying it, even the metaphor part.

I'm determined to read some more of the books on the overloaded shelves, espeically my many Viragoes, and am well into the Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence. It's excellent so far and I know has tons of fans on here.

Hi Cushla, I've had Rondo on my WL since Suzanne reviewed it last year so I guess I should make a bigger effort to find it after your terrific review (I loved Chess Story, BTW. And I do have the first Daisey Dalrympel sitting on my shelf so must get to that.

It is a while since I delurked Cushla - glad to see yo are settling back in at home. Will be in NZ in late March and early April and hope to organize a couple of meet ups while I'm travelling both islands.

Heavens, I need to read The Stone Angel. If I don't, they'll revoke my Canadian citizenship.

So, what IS your metaphor for teaching and learning?? I'm sure that giving us the 25-word version will help you formulate your thoughts for the essay, no??

Bonnie, I think you'd like Rondo - but it is hard to get through all the book recommendations on here!

Paul, i saw on Megan's thread that you had booked your tickets - cool! Is Wellington on the itinerary or are you mostly doing the South Island and flying in and out of Auckland? If you get to Wgtn it would be lovely to meet up.

Suz - I'm sure there are alternative citizenship tests. Like eating lots of poutine and saying eh all the time. (I just googled "funny canadian food" and came up with this link, which is pretty funny even for someone who has just had a husband who lived in Ottawa for 3 months... http://members.shaw.ca/kcic1/canisms.html)

And my metaphor for teaching and learning is the New York Marathon and a page of photos from it... here's the short version: the main theme is of strength through running in the group, personal challenge, and growth through high expectations. Only the individual runners can put one foot in front of the other for 42 kms, just as only the learner can construct knowledge. (Piaget...) Some runners - and learners - will have got to the marathon on their own. But most will have run with friends (Vygotsky's idea of learning as a cultural process), had support from families, and run in clubs with a coach. A good running coach can get the best out of the runners no matter how fast or slow they are. He or she can motivate them, get them sharing their knowledge, and teach them new techniques to go further or faster or have fewer injuries. Etc etc for 1000 words and with a lot of links to the literature on learning, teaching, and learners in New Zealand... (I nearly did the New York marathon way back in 2002 but had achilles trouble, so I stopped at 3 halfs. I'd still love to do one, but am back to runs of around 3-5 km at the moment!)

Heavens, I need to read The Stone Angel. If I don't, they'll revoke my Canadian citizenship.

I'm with you on that one! It's been on my shelf for years, but hasn't trickled up yet.

Cushla - we have just over three weeks so I want to do as much as I can. Wellington will probably be on the list. I also want to go to Wanganui as the person who got me interested in New Zealand was from there - that's not far away is it?

Some runners - and learners - will have got to the marathon on their own.

I'm glad to see you give a nod to the learner who works better on her own, or with a coach, than in a group/team. I have been reading about a new book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. It's about how undervalued introverts are in American society. It's often labeled a problem if you are not a loud, communal worker or learner. The first and loudest answer is not always the right answer. Probably way off topic, but it's on my mind.

Interesting, Cushla! The best learning experiences I had were those in small groups, where I was able to follow where my curiosity led and where the teachers were comfortable with that, where the teachers saw themselves as guides rather than instructors. That was the case in my English school (where I suspect rather few teachers had professional teacher training) and later in grades 11 and 12 in Belgium, with a few teachers -- our common goal was the IB exam. But then I'm probably not a typical student; I'm hyper-focused on language and words, will read anything, and am intensely curious. I'll learn in a vacuum, simply out of curiosity. That said, I've definitely had teachers and learning environments that have been alienating for different reasons. It's not needing to be engaged in learning that has been the issue, it was having teachers who for whatever reason ended up actively discouraging me.

Can someone be taught to teach vs. classroom management skills? This is a question I've been pondering since rooming with a B.Ed. student in my first year of college. So much of what she was learning seemed to be theories of teaching, and practice, vs. the material itself.

Paul, I think Wanganui is about 3 hours from here by car. Not a day trip, but you could do it overnight. 3 weeks is a good length for the trip - you'll see heaps!

Lisa, that book is already on my radar from on here, and I may buy it for my husband soon. He's an introvert, and I have learnt to see the world through his eyes - and even become more of one myself, especially since I had kids and now value peace and silence so much more than I once did. I've done the Myers-Brigg (the full version) 3 times over 25 years and every time I turn out to be an ENTJ, with the E and J about as extreme as you'd get, so we have frequent discussions about how much time we are spending with other people at the weekend etc.

The course so far really emphasises the diversity of learners and one of the first learning theories we've looked at is Piaget, for whom all learning is done by children (that's who he studied) experimenting with their physical environment. There's not much room for teachers and group work in his story. It fits me pretty well - I might be an extrovert socially but I find learning on my own usually the most effective way, and Suz I like how you said it about the teacher being a guide more than anything else. I do think it depends hugely on the child and how much they want to learn though and if there are things in their way for which they need some modelling (e.g. in maths many children will need a teacher to work through problems first to give them techniques).

Suz I don't think you're a typical student but you sound a lot like me - ultra-engaged unless the teacher hit a magic "off" switch. Odd about your roommate - did she not already know the content knowledge (e.g. the maths or science or whatever she was going to be teaching?) For our course, everyone has an undergrad degree and must have their main teaching subject to 300 level (roughly senior year in a US college) and a second subject to 200 level (junior level). Our curriculum courses will identify gaps (e.g. for me, I haven't looked at complex numbers much in 20 years, but I knew them inside out way back and am confident that they will come back in an hour or two) but it's mostly about the best ways to teach the material. The ed psych stuff is mainly in this 4 week block course.

I have just sorted a mountain of laundry and am going to go and read the Stone Angel. Not at all recommended if you have an elderly parent but otherwise a great book so far! Joyce, I am really surprised you haven't read it, but then I have read hardly any New Zealand classics either.

Your course sounds really interesting Cushla, as is the discussion going on here. I like your metaphor too.

Myers_Brigg done that a few times myself - there is no doubt I am down the introvert end, suspect we maybe polar opposites there ...... funny hearing about piaget haven't heard that name for some time now ( before you ask i don't use my degree in my job ..)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your metaphor--or metafer, as Northrop Frye pronounced it. I'm a bit like Suz in my style of learning, which is why Trent Uni worked so well for me as an undergrad. Small seminar style learning with students doing the seminar presentations and the profs as guides. Glad too that you are reading Margaret Laurence, Cush. Hagar Shipley is one of my favourite literary characters. Margaret Laurence was the writer in residence at Trent U when I was a student there. She was shy - would actually tremble when she had to speak to our 4th year honours class. We were encouraged to take our writing to her, as WinR, and she was so very kind and supportive about it. She lived in the next village over from where I live, perhaps 10 minutes away. One of my heroines.

Just catching up here Cushla but have to say also thanks for posting Janet's picture. She was a very interesting lady who will be missed. And the teaching course sounds good, it sounds like you've settled back into the kiwi life just fine.

Hi Cushla. also a belated thank you for posting Janet's picture. I've never seen her but her post and answers were very interesting.

You miss all the snow over here. The streets of Basel are full of it. Its snowing and snowing since yesterday, and its freezing cold (minus 9° C at the moment). Keep warm....

Hey Cushla, I've done a clean sweep of your thread and you've got me thinking about looking for Rondo at my local library. Even if I can't get to it right away, I'll be assured it's there when I do have time.

Wishing you continued success with your studies!

Whew, am here, but just. My LT (and FB) time has plummeted to maybe five minutes a day.. should improve once the essay is handed in on Tuesday or maybe before if i can get into shape earlier. Thanks for visiting me when the host has left the party again.

Alana I'm glad you like the metaphor. I have now identified all kinds of problems with it, which is good, because that is the second half of the metaphor part of the essay!

Alex ok I won't ask how you know about Piaget then...

Paul, yikes -9 is really cold. I loved thed snow though and might not tell Teresa that it is bucketing down. She will be sad. Mind you she also says she is missing Coop - there's no accounting for taste!! (I am not at all, not that there is anything wrong with Coop, just that i seemed to be there almost every day! )

Tui that is a great story about Margaret Laurence. I didn't know you'd taken creative writing at uni! I am really enjoying the Stone Angel and have the next one in the trilogy here. Hagar reminds me of my mother's mother near the end of her life - Nana would wander off from her retirement village (well, we used to call it wandering off but who knows what she was really intending...)

Linda I hope you find Rondo in the library.

Leonie, we are settling in well but I would like a few more hours in every day. The boxes are mostly emptied now, but their contents are everywhere. Can't wait to get the kids back to school and I don't usually say that, but I think they are over hanging out with each other - it's been more than 2 months one since they finished school in Basel. roll on Tuesday!!

Not creative writing, English Lit. Good to see you!

>180 tiffin:: Tui, what a coincidence. The Stone Angel just landed in my mailbox this week thanks to a bargain sale at Betterworld Books. I purchased it completely on impulse, just because it was a Virago that I didn't have. Now I see I have stumbled on a winner. Your praise for the series and the personal connection to Margaret Laurence have vaulted this one to the top of my Virago tbr!

Laura, you are in for a treat (well unless the last 80 pages let it down - but I doubt they will). I'm just about to get off the computer and try to finish it in one go.

I have written 3500 words of my essay, so just need to cut 200 out and edit and do reference checking. It's not due till Tuesday so with luck I'll be able to squeeze in some reading over the weekend.

Hurrah for you! I'm afraid I was never very good at being done early, which may explain why I'm five books behind in reviewing. :-(

There's snow in Basel, snow in Florence, snow in Milan, snow everywhere in central Europe, just not in my little Alpine town. I can even see the snow clouds, but they just stop before they get here.
*sigh*

Happy weekend, Cushla. I hope you'll get to some reading. Good luck with the essay!

There are actually 5 Manawaka chronicles.

Oops. 5 it is then! I have three of them.

Another fan of Margaret Laurence. I've read the first two of the Manawaka cycle and have the third one on my shelf. I think she writes about loneliness and alienation better than anyone I've read. Lovely, lovely prose.

Bonnie, I've just finished The Stone Angel and loved it (I was just looking and you gave it 4 1/2 stars, which is what I've settled on.) It's one of the best books I've read with an elderly main character and one of the saddest. Sometimes I find that I forget books a few months after I've read them, but I think Hagar will stay in my memory for a long time. And I really hope I drop dead in a bookshop one day of a heart attack, instead of suffering dementia and a wasting disease. I've seen all of my grandparents die slow deaths and reading The Stone Angel brought it back - both grandmothers suffered from dementia like Hagar (although hers seemed mild) and Nana from Alzheimer's.

It's been ages since I read a Virago and we are in the middle of unpacking boxes and boxes of them. Dinner will be late... I've picked up another one - The Quest for Christa T. and will see how I like it. And I took this photo of Teresa. It was unposed!! She came over to the bookshelves and started trying to sort out the green apple books.

Cushla , so delighted you enjoyed The Stone Angel. Hagar is a character who has stayed with me, too. I should re-read - it's been a long time.

Love the pic of Theresa! Love you LONG bookshelves - how wonderful!

Nancy, have you read any of her other novels?

Tim built those bookshelves soon after we moved into the house. I love them too! They are fantastic but we are still doing a big book cull - I have filled several boxes for the Downtown Ministry bookfair.

Bookshelves? Book WALL! Great looking one too Cushla, you'll be pleased to have your books back around you again.

3500 word essays..... reminds me of university. I was u-s-e-l-e-s-s at essay writing. Poor you, sounds like you've got it in the bag though by now. Well done.

Overwhelming book wall envy...

what is it about book walls/shelves .....

Book wall envy here too :-)

Used to love writing essays, just not as much as I enjoyed the beer when I was a student!

Lovely photo of Teresa, Cushla - finally getting around to sorting out your book collection.

Delurking to say that i *love* the bookshelves - and the cutie-patootie next to them! :)

We are renovating a small room in our house and have been wondering what sort of floor to ceiling bookshelves to get. I showed my husband your shelves in the photo in post 193, and he liked them too. He's off buying the supplies now! Thank you for ending a discussion that has been going on for two months. :-)

Yet another person over here with book wall envy!

I also enjoyed the essay writing at uni, but I'm impressed yours is done with so much time to spare Cushla. If I ever had time to spare after finishing an assignment I couldn't help but sit there and tinker with it some more.

Ditto on the shelf envy. I love them, so many shelves, overflowing with lovely books, just the perfect thing to have in a home. And yes, your Teresa is seriously cute.

I've got lots of fab bookshelves purchased at a former shop known as Workbench. They are incredibly stable, room for two rows of books -- and the store went bankrupt and closed. And now I need more bookshelves, and can't get 'em! Over the years I accumulated 7 of them that are 30 inches wide x 84 inches high. Hmm, maybe should check out Craigslist and see if I can find some there.

Love the bookshelves too. Can we have another photo, just so Lisa's husband gets them right.

Great photo, Cushla! Thanks for sharing :)

I'm ridiculously behind, but thought I'd stop by and say hi!!! Glad you enjoyed The Stone Angel so mcuh, as it is a Canadian offering :) I fear that I have not read that one, but I have read The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields and enjoyed it. Sometimes I get mixed up with CanLit - too many Stones...;)

Yes....there's also The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart. I guess we have a lot of rocks in Canada.

Hi Cushla, I totally "got" your learning/ marathon metaphor without ever having the desire or drive to be a runner. I AM a life-long learner, however, and admirer of those who go back to school to make their dreams come true. You go!

That is a lovely picture of Teresa. I too couldn't help but have a bit of library envy! All those lovely books...

And yes I'm severely jealous of your book wall too!! Mine will be all back in boxes for the foreseeable future now we're back in the UK. Still plodding my way through Crime and Punishment at the moment. Am determined to finish it before I start on any more of your recommendations, only trouble is which one to pick when I do!

Hi Cushla--showing up very late to say I too like your marathon metaphor and am curious where you ended up taking it. I need to seek out The Stone Angel myself, I keep hearing wonderful things about it.

Wonderful picture--So Teresa besides being cute is a book sorter?

Hej Cushla, I am behind with reading (threads and books). I like the picture of Teresa sorting out books. Here a picture of cool Basel.

I've been sucked into a black hole called First Week of School And A Huge Reading List And Friend Here From Germany For Dinner and might be back down it soon - test on Monday then exam the week after! I have read about 2 pages of The Quest for Christa T. this week and it is the wrong book for no reading time - dense and hard to work out why I should care, but I will persevere to get an insight into (East) Germany in the 1950s and 60s...

Thanks everyone for visiting. Tim is quite pleased with all your bookshelf compliments! Suz, I'm pretty sure we used to go to Workbench when we lived in New York.

Deb and Joyce- maybe you should start a list of Stone books by Canadians for TIOLI!

Georgia - how far through are you on C&P? Is it readable? Hope all your stuff has turned up and the snow has gone.

Paul - lovely photo, hope it is warming up by now in Basel? For everyone else, it's the Tinguely Fountain in Basel and in winter it freezes over. It has lots of cool mechanical sculptures that move in funny ways. Teresa fell in during our first summer there and thought it was hilarious!

I have read about 2 pages of The Quest for Christa T. this week and it is the wrong book for no reading time - dense and hard to work out why I should care, but I will persevere to get an insight into (East) Germany in the 1950s and 60s...

That's exactly how I felt about Christa Wolf when I read her for university! I won't be picking up anything by her in the foreseeable future.

The Stone Angel sounds well worth reading.

Joyce, I am going to finish it, I am I am! Do you remember what you read?

Ren, it is excellent - hope you like it when you get to it.

Do you remember what you read?

Yes, Cassandra. it was a retelling of the Greek myth. Way too much work for what I got out of it.

Cushla, I wasn't happy with my read of The Quest for Christa T. 2 years ago. It had the benefit of being short, and it certainly isn't a bad book, just as you said 'dense and hard work' (and joyless).
Now I am dreading Patterns of Childhood which has been sitting on my shelf for over a year.

Exams already?? Good luck to you! Or better: Viel Erfolg!
(Stupid question for the future German teacher: can I say 'good luck' in English? Because 'viel Glück' in German should better be substituted with 'viel Erfolg'. When you use 'viel Glück', it is implied that you think the other person needs the luck, while 'viel Erfolg' means she/he is very well prepared and will pass without any problems. I just don't know an English equivalent)

#214 Paul - beautiful picture, makes me really nostalgic for Basel. Snowing here again in the UK, which means everything will grind to a halt again.

Cushla, thankfully everything has now turned up before the next lot of snow arrived tonight. Making headway on the unpacking as Mum has arrived to help with the kids as it's school holidays here next week. Sounds like you're enjoying the study, although it looks like a lot of work!

I'll let the others have the bookshelves Cushla. I'll take the cutie pa-tootie perusing the shelves;-)

Oooh, TIOLI with Canadian novels involving rocks, logs and other natural resources. through black spruce would qualify... and surfacing by margaret atwood (water.)

You used to live in New York Cushla? Wow, you sure are an international family, when were you there? Was it for Tims work?

Nathalie: yes you can say good luck, and it doesn't imply that I need it! Interesting - I think I have been saying Viel Glueck instead of Erfolg. oops...

Joyce - right, no Cassandra for me. At the rate I'm going, I'll be hitting about 8 books for 2012, because today I have read ZERO!!!

Georgia - we have to skype!! (once you are unpacked.) Say hi to your mum from me and I hope the snow is lovely but doesn't stuff everything up.

Bonnie, thanks - yes she is very sweet. And she's loving school, so we have had a good week.

Megan - New York was for me, but we both got jobs there - I went to the NY office of the investment bank I was with here in NZ and worked my butt off for 2+ years. It was character forming. I loved many aspects of it, but the killer hours were too much and I had 9 happy months off at the end - I quit the day the bonus hit my bank account. That was before we had the kids. Tim's job was much more reasonable.

Suz I haven't read either of those - there you go! You can add it to your list of potential TIOLIs challenges. I have hardly looked at this month's. I think things will calm down again with juggling everything, just not sure when.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Cushla, I've not visited your thread for ages - now I have, and I see that you have been mostly elsewhere too. Sounds like a very full and busy life what with essays, visiting friends and books to unpack among many other things. (Love the bookshelves too). Like you, I've hardly looked at TIOLI this month - I've been having a rather stressful time at work and I'm barely getting reading done, let alone worrying about challenges. I've read about the same number as you so far - not many, but I'm hoping to focus on some reading at last in the next few days when I go on retreat.

What a great picture of Teresa, Cushla. I've been behind on the threads but I think I'm just about almost caught up. :-)

Caro, I am WOEFULLY behind on the threads. I don't even know what country you're in!

Genny, I caught up on your thread last night. I just posted over there but I hope you have a good time away and with a few days the work situation improves a bit.

I am officially abandoning The Quest for Christa T - I need good books at the moment, since I am getting about 10 minutes a day to read. I'm halfway through the 4th Daisy Dalrymple and at this rate it'll be a good star below the other 2 - Alec the dishy detective did not appear for 40% of the book, and the murdering family is rather unlikable.

I love the photo of Teresa shelving books!

I hope your transition to your new place is going well.

Hi Cushla - good luck with your tests and exams (and that's good luck in the sense that I don't think you'll need it!)

Just popping in to say hiya - hope all is going well.

Hi Bekka, Linda and Heather! Thanks for your good wishes. Linda, the transition is going well considering Tim and I are both flat out between work and teacher's college. Heather, exam study is going ok but I am sitting on 50 points before I sit it, so I am taking the night off study tonight!

I finished a book and it was good - The Book of Fame by Lloyd Jones, the author of Mister Pip. I enjoyed it and gave it 3 1/2 stars. It's the story of the legendary New Zealand All Blacks team in 1905 on their tour to the UK and France. Out of 35 games, they won 34. The book is written in bits of poetry and short phrases, and I loved this. I'll try to write a review tomorrow, but right now it is 9.00 and I am crawling into bed and not reading any more textbook!!

Am going to finish the Daisy Dalrymple book - and hope it picks up - then maybe try Great Expectations, since it was meant to be a Feb read.

Oh, thank you for reminding me of Margaret Laurence. What a wonderful writer! And I think I might be starting on a year of Canadian fiction.... I'm British-Canadian and originally from Vancouver.

Cushla, your school schedule sounds exhausting with all the other things you have to do. I'm glad you're getting in a wee bit of time for recreational reading. It's a good way to pep up tired brain cells after studying math books. Hang in there!

ditto what Donna said!

Book 8 The Book of Fame by Lloyd Jones
3 ½ stars, nearly 4.



Why I read it now: I felt like a short New Zealand book, and I’ve owned it for at least 4 years.

In August 1905, the All Blacks went to the United Kingdom to play rugby. This book is Lloyd Jones’ fictional account of that tour. If you’re a New Zealander who isn’t a rugby fan, fear not – neither am I and I really liked this book. He makes rugby beautiful and poetic. Anyway, there is surprisingly little direct commentary on rugby things, and when there is, it’s exciting. It’s much more about the reception the All Blacks got when they started walloping every team they played for the first 30 or so games, becoming celebrities, and being in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales at a time when New Zealand’s ties to those places was so strong but very few New Zealanders got the chance to go back there. The writing style is sparse and it’s written from the point of view of the whole team. I loved the style. I would have liked more character development and a bit more about what happened once they came home.

Here are a couple of excerpts to give you an idea of the style. (It was hard to pick – there are lots of good bits!)

“There are other moments that need to be acknowledged, spoken of, catalogued. Moments that simply occupy time between conquests.

The walk along the chalk cliffs
he snare of history
in the whitish air
No one talking, and
because of it
quite naturally our thoughts
turning to
Vikings.

Or at Scarborough, the striped deckchairs
the ferris wheel
the buttoned-up English
Tyler’s throwing a dart
and winning a stuffed rabbit
and us throwing it round a bit
until Jimmy Duncan scratched his chin
and thought he’d mention
an error he’d seen creep into our play.”

Recommended if you… are a rugby-lover, interested in how New Zealanders’ sense of identity has developed, or like poetry in your novels. I will be moving Jones’ other books up Mt TBR.

Beeswing, thanks for visiting - I am going to find your thread once I've finished breakfast.

Linda and Donna, yes it is nice to have a tiny bit of reading time coming back. No maths books so far - I find them pretty relaxing so am really looking forward to that part of the course. So far, it's all theories of learning, motivation, human development etc. Very interesting, and I'm getting it, but out of my comfort zone compared to the maths and languages teaching material that will be coming up in a few weeks.

Hi Cushla - I *waved* to you when I was in Wellington ever so briefly earlier this week. Sounds like you are very busy with study and family. I managed a visit to Pegasus Books just off Cuba Mall, coffee in Floriditas and about 10mins in Weta Cave before heading home.
Loved The Book of Fame too and am not at all a rugby fan. I should also move more of his books up my Mt tbr, I have his Hand me down world set aside for my 12in12 challenge.

Hi Kerry! Sounds like a great flying visit. I nearly went into Pegasus Books a few weeks ago but knew my book buying limits would be in trouble if I did, so I stopped at the frot door. Hope you had a good trip back.

The Lloyd Jones one looks like a surprise good read. Nice one.

Cushla and Kerry I hope you enjoy some more Lloyd Jones when you get the chance. I didn't love Mr Pip, but I don't think I was in the right mood to read it, I did love Hand Me Down World though.

Nice review of The Book of Fame, Cushla; I'll add it to my wish list.

I've been enjoying catching up on your thread, Cushla, after being off LT for about three weeks.

I'm also envious of your bookshelves and love the photo of Teresa.

Re #219 and #224, I'm now worried I've been going rounding insulting people by saying "viel Glück", but am glad Nathalie's made us aware! I once remarked in French to someone from central Europe (not Germany) who'd just got a good job that he was lucky - I meant it more in terms of timing, i.e. that things had worked out well for him - but he seized on the word "chance" and told me that it wasn't luck but that he'd earned it. This sounded pretty arrogant to my ears (though I've no doubt the man in question had worked hard and did deserve the job), but once I got over that I realised that in English we use the word "luck" where there's a bit more to it than luck (and when we feel obliged to be modest about our achievements). Anyway, I shall just say that I hope it's all going well!

Oh dear. I have The Quest for Christa T at home and in German too and no one's said anything to make me want to read it! I've taken note of your experience and will make sure I pick the right moment...

>235 cushlareads:: I am going to dash out and get that one for my formerly rugby playing lad with an English degree! It sounds like something he would love. Having watched both lads play rugby all through high school, I think it is a game which lends itself to poetry. And we love the All Blacks in this family. Loved your review, Cush!
ETA: it's on the way from the BookDepository.

Tui, that's great - I think he'll love it. I know you are a rugby fan and you should steal it when it arrives before you give it to him!!

HI Cushla! Just popping in to say hello :)

I finished my first course!! The exam was this morning. So now I have 12 days off before the next 3 papers start and I will be catching up on here soon.

I discovered that the T Coll library is fantastic for non-teaching books and have got a few out, including another Lloyd Jones one - Biografi, about Albania at the end of communism. We'll see if I get to it before it's due back. Alana, I saw Hand Me Down World there too and will try to read it soon.

Darryl, I think you will like The Book of Fame. Just think of it as American football but without the protective gear!

Rebeki, it's nice to see you back on here - and I was kind of hoping you would tell me you had read and LOVED the Quest for Christa T., but no... and I'm not sure if I managed Erfolg this morning but we will see in a few weeks when the results come out. I've been saying the wrong thing forever too!

chelle, hi! I am going to read your thread (threads, probably) when I'm home from getting the kids. Hope moving plans are coming along nicely.

Oh and I finished a bad book - the latest Daisy Dalrymple, Murder on the Flying Scotsman.



Whatever you do, do not start with this one. I gave it 2 1/2 stars, but still got the next 2 out of the library the following day.

>235 cushlareads: “There are other moments that need to be acknowledged, spoken of, catalogued. Moments that simply occupy time between conquests.

SOLD!!!

Hi Bonnie! I think you'll like it. And I loved your Max Hastings review - read it last night and will be looking for the book. I read another by him in 2010, also on WW2, and loved it - will have to check which one.

Hey there!! I'll have to try the Lloyd Jones book -- I really liked Hand Me Down World, am not that interested in reading Mister Pip but want to read more by the author. Did you see that Lehrter Station is coming out soon????

So, one of the most fun guys competing at this cocktail competition I was just at in Puerto Rico (featuring Bacardi rum...) was a New Zealander competing on behalf of Ireland, where he works. He made it into the finals with his "colonial cocktail" -- yum! The winner was a Japanese working in NYC!

Hi, Cushla! Just spent the last hour catching up. What a busy last six months! And you sounded so consistently cheerful as you made your way back home. And now you're back in school too. Amazing! Which is more challenging for you? Being the teacher or the learner?

I pretty much agree with you on all your ratings of the books we've both read, so know I can count on you for some good book recs. I'm going to try to get through my TBR pile this year, but am enjoying your reviews and adding to my wish list.

Suz - hi! and now I didn't know about Lehreter Station... I will be buying that one as soon as I see it. And I'm glad you met a nice NZ cocktail maker on your Bacardi trip.

Am doing pretty well on the buying limit (see post #80) but yesterday went into Pegasus Books ready to splurge. I found lots of Viragoes I didn't own but was restrained and picked out two - Winter Sonata by Dorothy Edwards and Mary O'Grady by Mary Lavin. One was $8 (under my self-imposed limit) and one was $10, so had to count towards my limit of 12 books in 2012. I got to the counter, remembered I had a card there where they add up your purchases, and both books were free because I had spent $200 altogether so get $20 free credit! So I think I'm still at 0 full priced books.

Bonnie, I have already said it over in CR but I'll say it again - it is so cool to see your name back on LT again. And you wouldn't have said I was cheerful if you'd seen me yesterday morning. I was being truly horrible to the whole family before my exam. I think they've forgiven me. The move home has gone really well and it helps that I don't mind chaos and a messy house. The kids are loving school here, and it is a huge relief for me to be back to a school that I feel very comfortable in and with better curriculum than our posh but IMO not great for some learners one in Basel. (I am missing all my school friends from over there a lot though.) I'll PM you about Fletcher's reading too - he is no longer a reluctant reader and it's now a battle to get the light out before 9.30 on school nights. I found your traffic light words that you'd sent me when I was packing up in Basel - thanks for helping us when it was a real effort for him to read. And I am loving T Coll - it is funny being a learner again but I am remembering how to do it. The first 4 week course was educational psyc, theories of learning and development, lots and lots about culture and teaching Maori kids, and it was fantastic. Next up we do 3 papers - maths, German and another ed psyc one - then have our first placement at the end of March.

Oops, 7 am and school lunches not even started. Not good. And I'm going to start a new thread.