Tiffin for 60+ in 2008

and off I go!

You Go Girl!!!!!!!!!!

1. Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? by Anita Rau Badami
My Review

432 pages

Okay, I've found your 2008 thread and will follow right along behind, tiffin. It may cost me (in all the books I must end up buying), but I will certainly enjoy reading your responses to your books. Sixty should be a good goal, considering your 58 last year.

2. Troy Chimneys by Margaret Kennedy
My Review

245 pages

3. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
A cookbook, love story and fairy tale all in one. A sweet read (pun intended) although I hated Mama Elena more than I've hated a character in a book in a long time.

246 pages

Great review on Troy Chimneys, tiffin. Looks like a fascinating read.

I love the review too, tiffin! I must go get my copy of Troy Chimneys and jump into it!

Well, if one of you gave me a green thumbs up, Kambrogi or Aluvalibri, thanks so much! I just love getting those thumbs.

And you will get many more, I am sure, tiffin!
:-))

I believe I did, tiffin. I seldom get them myself, and always feel a little sad about it! (Sniff.) But yours was very much deserved.

kambrogi - you've been thumbed.

I noticed, teelgee -- were you the mystery thumber? It appears I only needed to ask!

#12 "more than once"

Oh, bless you all!

I have thumbed you too, Kambrogi! You must be positively foxed by now.

I'm feeling rather ... uppish! Thanks, guys. I actually don't read a lot of reviews that aren't on the thread itself (they often have too many spoilers), so I have not been a big thumber in the past. But I suppose one often wants to receive even if one has not given! In future, I shall give more.

Give and you shall receive....my thumbs were all well deserved though -- I don't thumb lightly.

4. The Shutter of Snow by Emily Holmes Coleman
My Review

219 pages

5. A House in the Country by Jocelyn Playfair

My Review

264 pages

6. The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym

My Review

208 pages

7. Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris

Advanced Reader Copy
My Review

304 pages

8. Black Ships by Jo Graham

Advanced Reader Copy
My Review

448 pages

9. Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters

Sometimes in February, when you have a touch of some kind of bug or low level malaise, just hunkering down under the covers to read one of Peters' Egyptian series about tombs and archaeology is just what the doctor ordered. I was more interested in the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb than I was in the mystery aspect of the book, however, which seemed wobbly. No review, it's just a fun read.

382 pages

I just heard a disturbing thing: an LT friend (who shall remain nameless) reviewed a book on their personal profile page (which shall also remain unnamed, book AND page) which was getting a lot of hype in the press and, not having enjoyed the book in the least, said so, explaining why in careful detail. This individual received a very vitriolic note in response to this review which, in my reading of it, bordered on harassment; it said that my LT friend had no right to post a negative review of this book, claiming that negative reviews would damage the author's reputation, chances of success, etc. The writer of this note also inferred that my LT friend should desist from posting any further such reviews, as well as presuming to comment on my LT friend's supposed lack of professional credentials to make such an assessment.

I was appalled by this degree of narrow-mindedness and hostility. My LT friend's review was well-considered, comes from a background of extensive personal reading, was not slanderous or vicious but spoke directly to the text involved, and was supported with examples of why the book frustrated and disappointed so much. It is irrelevant whether my LT friend has a Ph.D. in literature or reviews books regularly as part of their professional life or is someone sitting at home reading a book with thought, intelligence and care.

Art is a subjective medium. This includes a response to reading a book. If you do or don't like a book, you are allowed to say so and to say why. When an artist puts their work out into the public domain, they know that some will love it, others will not. That's the risk they take in going public.

In the spirit of freedom of speech - and indeed, of thought - I will continue to post reviews of the books I read. So far I have been blessed to have read and posted reviews about (mostly) wonderful books but should I happen across a book which disappoints profoundly, I have every right to post a review saying so and saying why. As another LT friend has pointed out, if we don't speak our minds freely, then all we have any right to expect is mediocrity.

Edited to clarify a couple of points (e.g., this was not an early reader review but a personal one).

As another LT friend has pointed out, if we don't speak our minds freely, then all we have any right to expect is mediocrity.

Well said.

Well said, tiffin, brava! It is frightening to think that someone would try to censor anyone on this site for stating their opinion about a book. Isn't that why each book page has a box called 'Your Review?' I would hope that conflicting opinions about a book or work of art would spur some intelligent dialogue rather than vitriol and hostility which essentially stops the dialogue before it even begins. That sort of response is totally inappropriate here on LT - and in most other places as well.

Write on!!!

Was it the author who supplied the vitriol or a fan of the author, or the publisher? Was it an Early Reviewers book?
I have read many unflattering reviews, and written some myself. I think we should all say exactly what we think/feel. If an author publishes, he or she takes their chances on hostility and rejection in addition to praise and fame.

I've written some quite negative reviews, myself. Even handed, I hope, but negative just the same. And as far as Early Reviewers books are concerned, where what I say might actually mean something, I have yet to give one a glowing testimonial. Some mighty ignorant people get paid to review books (and don't even get me started about movie reviewers)--"credentials" can be subjective too.

Thanks, avaland, teelgee, almigwin and laytonwoman. I'm afraid my hackles get right up when annoying finger-wagging crosses the line into censorship and infringes on someone's right to freedom of speech.

tiffin, I'd be upset and offended too. I'll jump in in saying that I've written some very negative reviews, including on early review books (though I admit that one of them didn't seem to be reviewed positively by Anyone). If it truly was offensive, I believe I'd report the message to Abby, or at least let them know. This site has been a great experience for me, but that's due to the willingness of everyone sharing their honest opinions and discussing differences--personal backlash for honesty shouldn't be encouraged or, if I can be so brave to say so, tolerated, since it might well scare less long-term users away from the site. In my opinion (and yes, I write too), any material is up for anyone's opinion once it is in the throws of publication and open to the public view. Well, I guess that was a mini-rant on my part too lol--sorry about that, but it's really disturbing to me to think that users might be subject to a message like that just for a review they wrote. I think feeling strongly about a book--good or bad--should be all the more reason to let everyone else know.

Thanks, whitewavedarling. Your "feeling strongly" underlines the other LTer's comment that when we don't say what we really feel, we get mediocrity. Life's too short to waste it on the mediocre! ;)

10. A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark

An excellent read.
My Review

189 pages

11. The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters edited by Charlotte Mosley

My Review

Can't get the touchstones to work for this no matter how I try fiddling with the title - annoying because it's one way on the cover and another on the frontispiece, with no punctuation. It's a Harper Collins, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-06-137364-0

864 pages

Your number eleven looks very interesting, Tiffin. I am quite enamoured with the Mitford girls and I am wondering if the Mosley editor is a daughter of the one that married a Mosley? Is this a good read? I am always rather reluctant to read letters, as I can sometimes find them mundane.

The book is fascinating, the letters are wonderful: poignant, funny, bittersweet and a tremendous insight into the times. The personalities of each of the sisters comes out very strongly and, despite their sometimes killing differences, the depth of their affection is clear - although some never resolved their differences, most made the effort. The letters really do tell the story of their lives.

And yes, Charlotte Mosley is Diana Mitford's daughter-in-law. She also edited A Talent to Annoy: Essays, Articles and Reviews by Nancy Mitford. I have to say that I didn't find a single letter mundane - a tribute to both the writers and their editor.

Edited to fix a misleading wording about Nancy Mitford. Despite the difficulties of others' lives (Jessica (Decca) and Diana (Honks) in particular), I got the distinct impression that in many ways Nancy's was the saddest and loneliest.

12. Civil to Strangers and other Writings by Barbara Pym

388 pages

karenwardill (#35), the Mosley editor must be either wife of one of Diana Mosley's sons (two of them), or her granddaughter. Diana had no daughters.

Tiffin, your reviews are brilliant -- beautifully written and so insightful. Some are almost mini-essays. It would be nice if Tim added a place for mini-essays on the book's page -- more substantial commentary that people could read after they read the book, allowing for comment, discussion, questions, etc. I often look for something like that in LT when a book I have read puzzles or excites me, or I want to discuss it -- without starting a whole new thread for a short discussion.

This is not to imply that your reviews are not also perfect as reviews. They offer the depth that a professional review does, and that is a wonderful bonus over the shorter ones.

As to the negative review issue that has been discussed, I often think of the poor writer who might read or be affected by my negative comments. But one need only look at the reviews for ANY book to see that opinions vary, and even the most marvelous books often have admirers and detractors. I vote for free speech. Otherwise, the whole idea of the review is pointless.

Thank you, Kambrogi. What a kind compliment. The challenge is not to put spoilers in but teases, which might make someone else want to read something I like.

The challenge is not to put spoilers in but teases

And that is so much appreciated! I wish I could send everyone to the "Tiffin School of Reviewing."

oh Pshaw (I've always wanted to say that) but thanks, Medellia!

13. In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor

My Review

A good read!

224 pages

Thanks for the great review, Tiffin. I have only read one of Taylor's books, A View of the Harbour. I did not find it as compelling as other people, so have avoided other titles. I will definitely go back and revisit this author, now.

It isn't what I would call a serious read, karenwardill, or even a heavy one in any way. But there is a deftness here, which gave me pleasure.

I know what you mean, I think, Tiffin. Competence in the writer somehow wins points, even if their message is not so important. I must read something by ET.

14. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming
A very satisfying mystery.

My Very Short Review

384 pages

Thanks for the Spencer-Fleming review, Tiffin. It looks like another book is flying into my internet basket. I wonder if you picked it based on the title - given the winter you have had??

No, karenwardill, it was based on recommendations from a couple of other LT readers. The entire series plopped into my internet basket too! I have to know where it's all going next. Apparently there is one more due out in June but I'll wait for the paperback. Sometimes nothing will do but a good mystery.

So is this title the first of a series - Tiffin?

Watch out for low flying books!

#50: yes karenwardill. One is due out in June but I'm hanging in for the paperback.
#51: it's a hazard of the addiction, teelgee!

Here's another vote for Julia Spencer-Fleming, karenwardill. I enjoyed the first one, and bought the second one immediately. Note I do NOT say I bought the entire series to date...I exercise more restraint than some people *wink, wink*

I'm not sure if that subtle winking is aimed at me - which I doubt because everyone knows of my bridled restraint wrt to book, flying or otherwise...... or is Laytonwoman referring to the thread's owner?

If the brogan fits... ;>)

15. The Arthurian Omen by G.G. Vandagriff

An Advanced Reader Copy, which is the only reason I finished it.

My Review

320 pages

16. A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming

my new fave comfort read mystery writer. Reverend Clare Fergusson is a wonderful protagonist. After reading the first book in the series, I ordered the whole set and am charging on to book three. This isn't Nobel prize stuff but after six months of solid winter and tons of snow, ice storms, six foot snow banks and leaden grey skies, this well written mystery romp will do just fine, thanks awfully. Clare Fergusson is a very compelling character, who says things you'd like a priest or friend to say.

ETA the rather dramatic titles are taken from hymns or the like, which Spencer-Fleming always puts in full on the frontispiece. The main protagonist is, after all, an Episcopelian priest.

400 pages

17. Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Carrying on with the Reverend Clare Fergusson series (because after reading the first one, I ordered the whole available set). So far Spencer-Fleming manages to weave a plot which is different in each book, very believable and exciting, as a good mystery should be. The sub-plot, the simmering love story between Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstynd, is as tantalizing as ever. Oh where will it all end!

432 pages

Yea for the comfort read, Tiffin.......

18. The Leopard by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa

Five stars and a wonderful read.

My Review

255 pages

Glad you liked The Leopard,Tiffin. I really enjoyed it too ......

(and this will bump you up!!)

Thank you, karenwardill! By gum, I was stuck!

19. Imagined London by Anna Quindlen

No review. Just to comment that this was an enjoyable read. I am hoping to see London very soon and appreciated Quindlen's comments about the architecture, history, secret nooks and crannies of this remarkable city. She has inspired me to seek out Ackroyd's "London", as she claims it is an invaluable resource. I found this book a very calming read in bed at night in a particularly harried time of my life and bless the kind friend who sent it to me.

ETA Honesty compels me to say this wasn't a particularly challenging read, however. It was just light, easy and chatty. At times it seemed more about the author than London, but that's ok, I didn't have any expectations.

192 pages

Oh, karenwardill, you beat me to it! Love your Leopard review, Tiffin. Totally agree.

Oooh, we were posting simultaneously, tiffin.

20. At Large and At Small by Anne Fadiman

A beautiful book of essays, modelled somewhat after Charles Lamb's "The Essays of Elia".
At Long Last My Review

240 pages

There seems to be a problem getting to some of the other pages of this group (at least I had a problem). But I see you are already here, so I'm not going to worry about it. It's nice to see what you are reading, tiffin.

Tiffin, I warmly recommend London, the biography by Peter Ackroyd. I like his style very much, descriptive and informative and very interesting.
The man can write practically everything and about everything!

I agree with aluvalibri, tiffin--although I did find London: The Biography very slow-going. I also thought it was invaluable as background for books set in London.

I have his bio of Chaucer and really enjoyed it. I have been trying to find others he has written. Chapters has his book about the Thames but it was nearly $60!!!

Look on Ebay, tiffin, or on Amazon or Abebooks or Alibris (are these enough? ;-))

I have great admiration for Peter Ackroyd and have never met anyone who disliked London.

This should be of interest: Dickens' London

Thanks, cabegley, aluva, amandameale and kambrogi. I intend to read as much as I can before I go there so that the city can speak to me in the short time I'll have to listen to it.

ETA I'd hate to be one of those tourists who stand in Buckingham Palace and say "I'm glad I don't have to clean this!"

But are you going to try to make the guards laugh??

#71 Touchstone is wrong. Check #67 and 68 for the correct one.

21. Deceived with Kindness, A Bloomsbury Childhood by Angelica Garnett

My Review

184 pages

Thanks for the review of Deceived with Kindness, Tiffin. It was excellent.

I enjoyed the book also - although I came out of it at the end wondering if Angelica had really sorted out her true feelings. Her admiration was strong for her mother, yet resentful. For her husband, I never really elucidated her true inner feelings, except that she felt it was all predestined. I think the biggest thing to pervade her story was a lack of control over her life, perhaps?

tiffin, I really enjoyed your review of Deceived with Kindness. Excellent!!

I couldn't decide, karenwardill and aluva, whether I thought she had had a wonderful childhood for the era - very unlike most Victorian upbringings! - or whether it was just awful. She was left so vulnerable with it all.

tiffin, I think it might have been both. Wonderful for being so unconventional, and yet awful because it was actually a 'lonely' childhood, if you know what I mean.

Great review, Tui. It sounds so good, and yet you gave it less than full points. Where did it fall short, do you think?

22. Miss Mole by E.H. Young

Wonderful story!
My Review

288 pages

#81, Kambrogi: I know but I honestly couldn't give it 4 stars or more because it didn't resonate that way with me. I think part of it was that I felt the book was a very introspective and personal one, a coming to grips with what had happened to her but also because I felt there was a dimension to her which didn't seem to accept much responsibility for her own decisions. That kind of being swept along by older people, other forces, in an otherwise intelligent and creative person, left a certain flatness for me. I wanted more resolution out of the story and, failing that, more of Bloomsbury!

Tiffin, I got Miss Mole just the other day. I eagerly await your review!

I just loved it, christiguc. I do plan to review it. It's a funny sideways little book which catches you off guard with its quirky start. But Hannah Mole captivated me as a personality and had me cheering her on once I "got" her.

Tiffin - you might enjoy Elders and Betters by Quentin Bell. this is a biography of the Bloomsbury crowd. Quentin was Vanessa's son and his biography of the family is quite good.

Vanessa's grandson, Julian Bell, has written some quite good art history books and is a well-known art scholar.

(Come over to the gathering place to introduce yourself to other groupies here!!)

I've read Quentin's bio of Virginia...have the two book set and got it the minute it was published! Maybe once I retire, kiwidoc. I don't need to get sucked into anything new just at the moment!!!

23. A Thatched Roof by Beverly Nichols

A comfort read. My Review

300 pages

That sounds rather delicious, Tiffin. I just read your review. I think another one hit my TBR pile!

24. "London" an Insight Guide

I have read all 352 pages cover to cover and some parts several times over. This includes pouring over maps. It divides London into its areas, discussing each one in detail. But it also has a history lesson at the front, with good information. Full of tidbits of information, gorgeous photographs, it is an excellent guide for the newcomer to London, England, taking the reader off the beaten path (although this path is discussed too) into some of the quirkier and more interesting parts of London.

I have come to the conclusion that London would never reveal all of its secrets, even if I were to live there and explore daily for a solid year.

oops left the bold on...

Jealous, jealous, jealous and envious also!!

kiwidoc, it might be good to read Down the Garden Path first because then you get a sense of the order of things. It was written in 1933, so it definitely has a "between the wars" sensibility...in A Thatched Roof a word was used which would NEVER be used today. But he is loads of fun otherwise.

I was born in the wrong century anyway - Tiffin - so I would enjoy a visit back in time....

After watching Cranford last night I realize I am more of that age than this - and my son needed an interpreter to understand it which astounded me!?! It was great to watch it.

I know exactly what you mean, kiwi. This era moves too swiftly for me. I like to savour things. I like to write with a real ink pen. I love a well turned sentence, crafted as beautifully as the leg on a Queen Anne chair.

Fancy the role of an Edwardian woman of letters?

p.s. finally did a review of the Fadiman book, another person who likes to savour things.

25. The Master by Colm Toibin

This is, so far, the best book I've read in 2008. Wonderful writing. A signed copy!

338 pages

26. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
My review:
It was like watching a movie from the 40s in word form. Lots of quick repartee, fun visuals, romping action and everyone dancing off into the sunset, drinks in hand, all with the right partners. But in the midst of all this lightness and fun, certain parts really jarred: elements of racism really stuck in my craw, as did the assertion that it's acceptable to hit or shake a woman who misbehaves in order to smarten her up.

Now I know that this was the 30s. I had no problem with accepting that the poverty and hopelessness of Miss Pettigrew were saved by the love (and wealth) of a good man. And I know that (theoretically) a reader shouldn't condemn a book from the position of hindsight granted by our era looking back on the one in which it was written but some things just aren't on for me (can't read about slavery, concentration camps or the Scottish clearances either). There is just no charm and certainly no humour for me in a man hitting a woman around, as Miss LaFosse was shaken and hit to get her to shape up, however whimsically the deed is written. It tainted what was otherwise a really sweet book. Darn! I really wanted to like this book too, because I did like the story and the writing. Well, maybe another reader will be able to overlook what were big dips for me.
256 pages

Edited to fix a verb

>25 tiffin: I, too, loved The Master. It is in my Top Five picks for the year so far. I do so want to read some Henry James when I get enough free time to do justice to him.

I read Henry James years ago but can't really remember any of it, Donna. Maybe when I whittle my TBR pile down, I could reread some of his work.

27. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

A beautifully written book of short stories which were poignant, thought-provoking, or exquisitely sad portraits. Each tale left an imprint which lingered for a long time after, so that they couldn't be read all at once but had to be savoured slowly before attempting the next one.

208 pages

Yes, I so agree re: Interpreter of Maladies, tiffin. I'm so curious why I keep putting off getting back to Unaccustomed Earth. Well, it will be there when I want it!

28. The Brontës Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson

I didn't want it to end.

272 pages

Mmmm yum, a book a day! Nice to see, tiffin!!!!!

making up for lost time, teelgee! I lost April & May, pretty much, through work, and bagged out for most of June, so I've got some 'splainin' to do, Lucy! Also have about five I started and just put down, so hope to get myself back on track vis the 60 challenge. Should be past 30 by now.

tut tut tut -- no shoulds here. You're right where you're supposed to be.

You are so right! Shoulders back, chin up, deep breath....

Some great reads there tiffin! Glad to hear you enjoyed the Lahiri.

I am SO far behind with posting here. Plus, I've been unfocused, flitting in and out of books, starting one, putting it down, starting another, putting it down. I put it down to post-retirement syndrome: unable to settle, all my rhythms thrown off. Ok, these three were read yonks ago in June:

29. To Darkness and to Death by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Another in the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery series. The mysteries themselves are well written but it's the main characters which provide the hook - what is going to happen next!

432 pages

30. All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming
more of the above but this one was a hard one - incredible cliff-hanger ending, hopefully to be resolved by the next book.

400 pages

31. I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming
I thought this might be the conclusion of the series but it looks as though it is going to go on - it MUST go on, because we were left dangling here! This particular book is a very special one as it was a gift from a friend AND it is signed by the author! But oh, Spencer-Fleming isn't making this easy for fans of her characters, as she doesn't entirely resolve things. Cripes, where next?

322 pages

32. The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart
A thoughtful gift from a friend. Perfect reading while nursing some family members who are going through rough patches.

224 pages

33. An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym

Another wonderful Pym tale. Just about perfect.

256 pages

34. The Watercourse, Poems by Cynthia Zarin

I discovered her in the Knopf poetry month, getting a poem every day by email. I have sipped bits of this over a month or so and have enjoyed her thought poems.

96 pages

I'm finally getting around to finishing up those dozen or so books I started, stuck a bookmark in and walked away from.

35. A Village in a Valley by Beverley Nichols

Another gentle read from Nichols. One more still remaining of his on the TBR pile. Very English, very Victorian. A friend of E.F. Benson's.

304 pages

36. Music & Silence by Rose Tremain

This was a well told story with excellent characterisations. She took the bare bones of history and fleshed it out, made it real. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

485 pages

37. Jenny Wren by E.H. Young

A wonderful book. My Review

352 pages

This is so weird: if you click on my review above, the title shows up as Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood but all the info underneath is about Jenny Wren, including another review by MaggieO. I've alerted Abby about this.

That is pretty strange! How'd you do that?? ;o)

Thanks Tiffin! Your review of The Ya Ya Sisterhood was so good that I went out and bought it!! ;) It better live up.

38. The Curate's Wife by E.H. Young

I want to read everything she wrote now. Another winner!

336 pages

39. Symposium by Muriel Spark

Well, that was odd. I picked up Muriel Spark by accident, meaning to pick up Margery Sharp (whose name had gone right out of my head so I got what I thought was the right author). I didn't like any of the characters in the book (I don't think we were meant to) and yet kept reading it because it was such an uncanny story. A strange little story about evil and mental illness living amongst us undetected until it's too late. I can't say I enjoyed this book, not my kind of story.

192 pages

Tiffin, I recommend you read A Far Cry from Kensington. It is hilarious!
:-))

Spark and Sharp are sort of similar names, but quite different writers, aren't they!

I like them both very much, don't you?

I have read A Far Cry from Kensington Aluva, AND reviewed it, which makes the whole thing even funnier. I just got in the library and blanked. I was after less Spark and more Sharp.

I like them both, too, aluvalibri, but for different reasons.

Out of curiosity, I started totting up the # of pages read to date. After 39 books, I have read 12,233 pages so far in this challenge. Wonder how many there will be by 60?

Isn't that funny---I always have to stop and think whether I mean Sharp or Spark. Except for their names, they really aren't alike at all. I identify Sharp with the children's tales my daughter liked when she was little---Bianca and that lot --what were they called? And Muriel Spark will always be the creator of Miss Jean Brodie, that tangle of contradictions and pronouncements so gloriously portrayed by Maggie Smith. "Give me a girl at an impressionable age..."

I read most of Muriel Spark's books when I was in my 20s/30s and loved her wit and humour. I intend reading them again now that I am 60 to see if they have the same impact on me plus those I have not read yet.

I just stumbled on A Far Cry from Kensington yesterday and had to pick it up because of marise and aluvalibri raving about it.

he he he he he......

>127 teelgee: Oh good! It's very fun. :)

AND it appears you have the same exact edition marise and I have!

It's a hardcover first American edition.

Read my review about it, teelgee! I'm a fan too. And oooh re the hardcover 1st ed.

Same as mine, first American edition.
:-))

Ha! Got my copy of that book in Hobart. It's just an ole Avon paperback, but I enjoyed reading it.

40. Death of a Gentle Lady, A Hamish Macbeth Mystery by M.C. Beaton

A quick, fun, Hamish Macbeth read.

245 pages

12,478 pages total so far

41. Olive Kitteridge: A Novel in Stories by Elizabeth Stroat

A really well-written, fascinating look at the central personality, Olive Kitteridge, using stories surrounding this character as the device to expand the character but also the personalities in the town around her. Sometimes her name was only a mention in one of the stories, at others she featured largely.

I didn't much like the personality of Olive but I respected the writing of her character a great deal, if that makes sense.

288 pages
12,766 total pages to date

42. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I really enjoyed this book. Written in the format of letters exchanged for most of the book, the story of the people of Guernsey and their experiences in WWII is told carefully, with humour and respect. Throw in a love story as well as the kind of literary society you would love to attend and you have the makings of a very good story.

277 pages
13,043 total pages to date

Glad you liked that one! I thought it was delightful.

43. Elizabeth and her German Garden by Elizabeth Von Arnim

How refreshing to read a book by someone who loved her garden as much as I do. I just wish I could have the staff she had! Oh wait, maybe not. Her gardeners kept scarpering off to marry cooks or planting things in rows when she wanted clusters. A delightful book.

207 pages
13,250 total pages to date

You've read two really wonderful books back-to-back there, tiffin. While different in content, the style is similarly light and enjoyable , don't you think?

Thanks, lindsacl. Yes, the lightness was really good right now. I really did like the Guernsey one. I wonder if the number of visitors to the island has sky rocketed since its publication? It made me want to go there!

Me too tiffin. I knew nothing of the history during WWII. I loved the way it was presented, a gradual opening, like a bud rather than hitting the reader over the head with it.

I'll have to get ahold of Elizabeth...

44 & 45. The Semi-attached Couple & The Semi-detached House by Emily Eden

Two delightful novels in one book somewhat in the manner of Jane Austen with their wry look at upper crust society in 19th C. England. A really pleasurable read.

*touchstones not working

287 + 256 pages Don't know if this should count as one book or two? Have decided two.
13,793 total pages to date

I like the sound of the Garden book - shall check it out.

46. Garden Open Tomorrow by Beverley Nichols

This is a real gardener's book because he doesn't just describe in a generalised way how his garden was being formed, he gives real plant names (and in Latin!). I loved it but then I love how he gardens, how he describes creating a garden, how he describes actual plants themselves. This isn't a dry garden book, this is written by a gardener who has an emotional response to plants, both positive and negative (he is very funny on the subject of hybrid tea roses). It is his design and colour tips I love the most. There are page points bristling all through this lovely Timber Press rerelease. I'm buying up all of these Nichols' rereleases, as they are very fine editions. It's very English, very 30s between the wars, writing.

266 pages
14,059 total pages to date

15 books to go before the end of December. I have been having a hard time settling on any particular book for several months now. Rather like a butterfly unable to settle on a particular flower for a feast. Retirement, travel and a bad flu bug have derailed me. It will be interesting to see if I make the 60!

GO, Tiffin, GO!!

You can do it. Stop thinking about it as a challenge. Turn to your favorites---find a Pym, or a Spark. Even a re-read. You'll settle in.

Yes, it sounds like you need a good "comfort read" to keep you going.

Yes, I agree with them. Time to read The Shuttle.

Edited to fix touchstone.

You're right, Aluva! The Shuttle it will be.

47. The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Well, that was fun! A surprisingly strong female character in the form of Bettina Vanderpoel, the requisite broad shouldered love interest, Lord Mount Dunstan, a dastardly bad guy, Lord Nigel Anstruthers and his downtrodden wife, Rosalie - all thrown together back and forth across the Atlantic with a soupcon of typhoid tossed in for good measure to make this a galloping romp of a read.

This 1907 edition was even more charming to read because dried four leaf clovers kept falling out of its pages (presumably put there by Fred W. Carpenter of the nameplate with "audaces fortuna juvat" under the racing whippet - rather apt, given the conclusion of the book). Very interesting look at the wealth of young America funding the failing fortunes of the dissolute titled classes of England.

512 pages
14,571 total pages to date

I told you that it was fun, didn't I?
:-))

You did, you dear! And it was.

48. Mary Lavelle by Kate O'Brien

Well, I haven't had such a quixotic reaction to a book in a long time. The problem for me was the main character, Mary Lavelle herself. The story is an innocence to experience tale, with the protagonist throwing off the naivety of her youthful life in Ireland as she crosses into the world of experience in Spain. Mary has suddenly decided to leave her family home and the predictable comfort of a future with her fiance, John, precisely to get some more experience with life. So she takes on the position as a teacher of English to the children in a wealthy Spanish family becoming "the Miss" for the family.

There were beautiful passages where the writing was wonderful. O'Brien's descriptions of Spain, the Spanish people, the bullfight, the sad clique of the other Anglo/Irish Misses were all exceptionally well done. But there was something about the drawing of the character of Mary herself which left me unsatisfied and at times somewhat dubious about her. I didn't believe in her, as though she always remained two dimensional for me.

That said, it was a good book and an interesting read. I'm not dismissing it out of hand. It just didn't sit comfortably for some reason.

345 pages
14,916 total pages to date

49. Lost, a Memoir by Cathy Ostlere

In 1995, Cathy Ostlere's brother, David, set out with his girlfriend, Sarah, to sail from Ireland to the Madeira Islands. They did not make it. This book is Cathy Ostlere's own voyage, which begins at the point of having to reveal the secret of his voyage to their family - a secret he had forced on her so as not to worry their mother. Always very close to her brother, Cathy herself becomes lost in a strangely parallel way, as she attempts to unravel what might have happened to her brother, his beloved Sarah and their boat.

The story covers approximately a full year and moves through several stages of grief to a final acceptance, however hard, by the family that David won't be coming back. I don't normally read this kind of book but the opening paragraph drew me in, particularly the sentence "We are a prairie family - there is a certain dryness to us.", so I knew this wouldn't be a maudlin wallow but something thoughtful, different. It was. Her writing is beautiful, raw, honest. It was also philosophical, exploring how we live and the meaning of life, as she shows us David's approach to the matter, comparing it to her own and others around her. Never preachy, always deft, although the reality of the tale at the heart of this book is one of extraordinary sadness and loss, the book itself is paradoxically very beautiful. Not a particularly easy read emotionally but recommended.

240 pages
15,156 total pages to date

Note: touchstones are wonky...hope they work.

50. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

I absolutely adored this book.

97 sweet, wonderful pages
15,253 total pages to date

51. The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield

This Virago Modern Classics edition had The Diary, The Provincial Lady Goes Further, The Provincial Lady in America and the Provincial Lady in Wartime. For the most part I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although at one point in The Diary I felt a bit irritated with her as she seemed to be complaining a lot about nothing (with maids, a cook, umpteen guest bedrooms, governesses and gardeners to give her ample time to write, I found her egocentricity a bit tedious). This is a relatively small complaint, however, compared with the overall enjoyment the book gave.

529 pages
15,782 total pages to date

52. Shakespeare's Wife by Germaine Greer

I wanted to read something new but nothing really new here. Detailed and researched, yes. Lots of hypotheses, full of "mays" and "mights". And, as a friend wittily observed, Greer always leaves you feeling as though you have been sprayed with spit while reading her. But it didn't pick me up and twirl me about as I hoped it would.

356 pages of text; 388 pages with end notes and works cited...won't count the latter, as I didn't read them
16,138 total pages to date

It looks like you've found your reading groove again, tiffin. Some interesting reads there!

Thanks, teel but you know, I have been feeling like I haven't been reading at all. These logs are excellent for reminding us of the reality, aren't they. When we are just plotzing away at books, not devouring or being devoured by them, we feel like we aren't reading? For instance, I am struggling to stay involved with Sea of Poppies. Think I'm still in a disassociative state from retirement. Stella hasn't found her groove yet, methinks.

I find myself, three weeks into retirement, just sitting and staring at nothing for awhile. I have been able to immerse myself in some books though. Transitions are funny times, aren't they?

Great reading, Tiffin.

I have picked up the Greer book several times and laid it down again. My thinking has been, what new thing can she tell us? I would be persuaded to read it if I felt there was some great literary merit to her writing, yet it does sound tempting. I do like 'what ifs' - so maybe I will get to it in the end.

Teelgee - you have to get to the last quarter of the book for the speed of the Poppies book to pick up. There is a lot of concurrent stories to deal with before then and it can bog you down!

Hello tiffin, what an excellent update! Interesting comments on Provincial Lady. My edition of "Diary" is one of those beautiful VMC 30th Anniversary volumes -- and it's only the first book in the series. I enjoyed it a great deal, but sounds like reading all of the volumes in one go is a bit much.

#157 Somehow I thought you were one of the people who introduced me to 84, Charing Cross Road. I'm surprised to find you've just now read it. Hmmm. Wasn't it a treat?

#164: it's perfect going to sleep reading as there is nothing there to disturb or upset. So I just read it in sips each night. It didn't seem too much that way.

#165: No, I don't think it was me. I had only read excerpts before. It was lovely to see the progression from formal customer/clerk to friend. Bless her heart for helping them through the war with food the way she did.

I'm giving up on A Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh. The story never captured me, never drew me in. I've read about half of it and sped read some more but I'm not going to count it. I didn't enjoy his Glass Palace either. Just not my kind of writing, I guess.

I always think the thing with Ghosh is that he has really interesting stories, but he can't do people at all - especially women. Which usually means that I'll read his books once, but not keep them. The exception was a memoir-cum-history he wrote called In An Antique Land, which was fascinating.

Thank you, Wandering. I agree re interesting stories but the people are flat. Couldn't quite put my finger on it but you just did. If I ever see the memoir, I'll give it a try.

>167 tiffin: Tiffin, I didn't enjoy Sea of Poppies much either. After a few chapters I switched to the audiobook version but I found the characters and sub-plots pretty distasteful. I did finish it but promptly moved on to Pym and Wodehouse :)

Oh digi, excellent antidotes to just about anything.

53. Embers by Sandor Marai

An excellent book. Beautiful writing. Full marks, too, to the translator, Carol Brown Janeway.

213 pages
16,351 total pages to date

Embers is high on my TBR list--I hope to get to it before the end of the year. I've heard nothing but good about it.

In my opinion, one of the best books I have ever read.
Since I have at least three other books by Sandor Marai, I think I shall read at least one during the Christmas holiday.

54. Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood

Sent to stay with her Great Granny Webster in Hove, Brighton, to recuperate in the fresh sea air after surgery, the young author instead spends two months entombed in Mrs. Webster's villa, rarely venturing out for either sea or air. So begins this deliciously acidic look at a family riddled with mental illness, bizarrely quirky characters (Granny's servant Richards with her eyepatch), and mouldering ancestral homes. A quiet young women, the narrator is in the position of being able to observe the eccentricities from a front row position but also because she is used as a confidante by some of the wilder family members like Aunt Lavinia. There is much black humour here. But there is also tremendous sadness and loss, hidden under or conveyed by that humour.

96 pages
16,447 total pages to date

55. Tea with Mr. Rochester by Frances Towers

I felt as though I had crossed into some sort of faery realm while I was reading the nine short stories in this book. Reality rippled and shifted, slanted eyes and sharp cheekbones floated through cool rooms, things and people were not what they seemed. Quirky, odd, delightful and otherworldly. Not a book for those with no sense of the fey.

178 pages
16,625 total pages to date

Glad you thought Great Granny Webster worthwhile, Tui. I am also trying to get around to her other book, Corrigan.

Having experienced the upper crust English upbringing in the late 50s and 60s, I recognized some of the social expectations and attitudes towards children and offspring at that time (to be seen and not heard, deal with your own problems, lack of emotional embroidery/emotional restraint, absolute authority of elders, etc). Things that my own elders expressed towards me. I really identified with the book that way.

It resonated with me that way too, Karen. Very much my experience on my mother's side of things. But the acid observations! *whew* I didn't know whether to laugh or wince.

56. Ella Minnow Pea: a Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

A very timely and important look at the perils of totalitarianism and censorship. When the letters of the alphabet start falling off of a memorial statue to Nollop, the man who purportedly invented the sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog", the council of Nollop decides that this is Nollop's voice speaking to the citizenry from beyond and bans each letter from use as it falls. Through the subsequent restrictions of both language and life on the island of Nollop, Dunn shows us the perils of this kind of totalitarianism, using gentle humour to talk about something very serious indeed.

This reader didn't have to look too far to find examples of this globally. The terrifying thing is that its potential exists at the snap of a finger - or the fall of a letter from a statue - even in countries which fancy themselves as enlightened global leaders. This book reminds us that vigilance is necessary, as courage will be should such dark stupidity be allowed to get a toe hold. Dunn conveys this with humour and a light touch, an excellent way to get people to think. Recommended.

208 pages
16,833 total pages to date

That one sounds interesting, Tui.

You are reading up a storm here, whipping through the books. I love reading your thread - such very interesting reviews.

oh kiwi, I feel like I'm just stodging along, no storm for miles. Four more to go and I've hit my target...have until January 2nd...or 4th if I cheat a bit. I should be able to read more once Christmas has passed. I think I'm going to start the New Year with a big fat lazy book. But thank you for your kind words.

So glad you enjoyed LMNOP tiffin. I love your review. I felt the same about the book - a fair warning! And it seemed light hearted first but felt quite dark after a bit.

You know, some of us have read a few good and short graphic novels as we approach our goals (not mentioning any names *cough*kiwi*cough*)

oh, well, if that's the case, I've also read:
57. A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol I by Alan Moore and A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol II by Alan Moore

Lots of literary references and a fun two-volume set. Won the Eisner Award, apparently. Pre-reading Christmas gifts. hehe

No idea of the # of pages yet. Have to do some hunting to find this info.

Vol I: 176 pages
Vol II: 228 pages
Total # of pages to date: 17,237

Lift those pages with a gloved hand, Tui. No creasing that spine either!!!

(I'm not talking to Teelgee - she is a snitch).

58. The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper

My Review

509 pages
Total # of pages to date: 17,746

59. Diary of a Bad Year by J.M. Coetzee

Coetzee uses the interesting device of splitting his page in two or three sections so that you can follow the literary work and more "academic" thoughts of Senor C., an older author, who is writing a book on the state of the world. The other sections are his thoughts about a co-resident in his apartment complex, the beauteous Anya, or Anya's thoughts about him and her erstwhile lover, Alan, as well as (occasionally) Alan's words. So you can either read the book down the page, as per usual, or read across each section to stay in the moment of each section. This reader did a bit of both, charging ahead when curiosity got the better of her.

It's a story of ideas, of the mind, but also of the emotions, the heart, as we follow the writer through a year of producing the book about the state of the world while following the complex set of emotions about Anya - and Anya's emotions about him. A very good read.

227 pages
Total # of pages to date: 17,973

I enjoy authors who take a more inventive approach to novel structure. The Coetzee sounds very worthwhile.

The book I just finished, The Mezzanine, uses extensive footnotes to give the book a feeling of academia in keeping with the subject.

Ah! One more to go tiffin! Oh ye of little faith.

The Coetzee sounds like something that might frustrate me, like lots of footnotes.

I think I'll end the 60 challenge off with the ARC we got, Kiwi. Then I'll dive into my Christmas reads. *shiver of anticiipation*

60. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

I forgot to put this in way back in January - it was a reread of one of my all-time most favourite books.

So I've done my 60 challenge. And I have my nose in two books right now as well. I think I'll tag those for the 75 challenge, as one will carry into 2009.

Congratulations on reaching your target!

Thanks, er60! I had to go back to a group read to see when we read The Master & Margarita as I suspected it had been in Jan-Feb. Huzzah!

Brava tiffin!!!!! 75 for '09 eh? Great goal.

Congrats, tiffin! What a lot of great books you have read. Be sure to put a link to your new thread, and I'd love to see your top 5 or 10 picks of the year.

*beet red face* I don't know how to do the link thing, kambrogi. Maybe teelgee or lindsacl would do that for me.

What are friends for?
Tiffin's 75 for 2009

Thanks, chum! OK, this thread is now history.