elkiedee's 4th thread - can I really finish another 75 books?

This is my 4th thread - I've read 247 books so far this year, more than 5 x last year's total, can I really make it to 300?

Here's my first thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/82341

And here's my second: http://www.librarything.com/topic/89459

And the third: http://www.librarything.com/topic/94856

226. Helen Walsh, Once Upon a Time in England

227. Beth Pattillo, Jane Austen Ruined My Life

228. Muriel Spark, The Finishing School

229. Peter Robinson, Bad Boy

230. D E Stevenson, Miss Buncle Married

231. Petina Gappiah, An Elegy for Easterly

232. E Nesbit, Five Children and It

233. Alan James Bradley, The Tolpuddle Boy

234. Curtis Sittenfeld, Prep

235. Leila Rasheed, The World Turned Upside Down

236. Hilary Mantel, Learning to Talk

237. D E Stevenson, Mrs Tim Carries On

238. Laura Wilson, A Capital Crime

239. Katharine McMahon, A Way Through the Woods

240. Cathleen Schine, The Three Weissmanns of Westport

241. Geraldine McCaughrean, A Little Lower than the Angels

242. Joan Aiken, Moon Cake

243. Joseph O'Connor, Ghost Light

244. Irene Nemirovsky, Dimanche

245. Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark

246. ed S J Rozan, Bronx Noir

247. Andrea Levy, The Long Song

248. Sophie Kinsella, Mini Shopaholic

249. Rose Tremain, Trespass

250. Mari Strachan, The Earth Hums in B Flat

251. Leila Meacham, Roses

252. Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr Fox

253. Louise Penny, Still Life

254. Lois Lowry, The Willoughbys

255. Bernadette Strachan, Why Do We Have to Live With Men?

256. Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess

257. Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States

258. Noel Streatfeild, Ballet Shoes

259. Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Last Rituals

260. Sophie McKenzie, Time Train to the Blitz

261. Kate Atkinson, Started Early, Took My Dog

262. P L Travers, Mary Poppins

263. Roald Dahl, The Twits

264. Tom Perrotta, The Abstinence Teacher

265. Deborah Crombie, In a Dark House

266. Jeanne Birdsall, The Penderwicks

267. Jon Blake, The Last Free Cat

268. Hilary McKay, Wishing for Tomorrow

269. Antonia Fraser, Must You Go? My Life with Harold Pinter

270. Francis Spufford, The Child That Books Built

271. Joan Aiken, The Faithless Lollybird

272. Janet Skieslen Charles, Moonlight in Odessa

273. Molly Keane (as M J Farrell), Mad Puppetstown

274. Dalia Sofer, The Septembers of Shiraz

275. Shena Mackay, The Atmospheric Railway: New and Selected Stories

276. Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question

277. Olivia Manning, The Great Fortune

278. Polly Samson, Perfect Lives

279. Studs Terkel, The Good War

280. Dorothy Whipple, High Wages

281. Julie Smith (ed), New Orleans Noir

282. Roald Dahl, The BFG

283. Cathy Marie Buchanan, The Day the Falls Stood Still

284. Antonio Tabucchi, Pereira Maintains

285. Julie Highmore, The Birthday

286. Michael Morpurgo, Private Peaceful

287. Lloyd Jones, Hand Me Down World

288. Nella Last, Nella Last's War

289. Christopher Hitchens, Hitch 22

290. Diana Wynne Jones, The Homeward Bounders

291. Colm Toibin, The Empty Family

292. Michael Bond, A Bear Called Paddington

293. Deborah Crombie, Water Like a Stone

294. Irene Nemirovsky, Suite Francaise

295. Barbara Euphan Todd, Miss Ranskill Comes Home

296. L M Montgomery, Emily of New Moon

297. Julia O'Faolain, No Country for Young Men

298. Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog

299. Lucy M Boston, The Children of Green Knowe

300. Alice Hoffman, Skylight Confessions

Hello, starred and ready!

Oh, I have no doubt you can finish another 75!

starred and looking forward to your reviews.

Catching up. Anxiously awaiting updates....

226. 24/9 Helen Walsh, Once Upon a Time in England 4.2*

TIOLI September "controversial" book (based on very divergent ratings)

A story of a troubled family in 70s Warrington, Cheshire. Robbie is a factory worker who dreams of the musical career he could have had. His wife Susheela is Malaysian but reluctantly accepts a new identity as Sheila, while craving the spicy food she was brought up with. Their children grow up with their own issues. Racism, homophobia, drugs....

Sometimes this was clunky but I thought it was on the whole quite well written and I found the story of the Fitzgerald family very sad - none of them communicated properly with each other, but very moving, and I look forward to reading more of her work. I'm not sure I'd recommend this to everyone because of the content but I liked it.

227. 24/9 Beth Pattillo, Jane Austen Ruined My Life 3.5*

Reviewed for the Bookbag - I couldn't resist the title

I blame Bridget Jones.

Jane Austen's six novels have inspired a huge number of novels about the romantic dilemmas facing bright, educated middle class women. Does adding literary references to chicklit somehow make for better novels? I don't think so, but I do find these books fun, escapist reading, and the title of this one was irresistible.

Emma Grant is an American academic down on her luck. Her ex husband has not only left her for a colleague, they accused her of plagiarism and as a result she has lost her job. When an old lady with a collection of hitherto unseen letters from Jane Austen contacts her, she has nothing left to lose. Although sworn to secrecy, Emma hopes to win Mrs Parrot round and that she will be able to learn something about Austen and publish the letters, to restore her academic reputation.

I thought the story was predictable but fun.

If you've never read Jane Austen and have no interest in her work, this isn't going to change your mind or interest you, but then you probably wouldn't look at a book with this title. If you like your chicklit with literary references, this is an entertaining way to pass a couple of hours.

The full text of my review is here:

http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Jane_Austen_Ruined_My_Life_b...

News from Bouchercon - this is a big event in the crime fiction world, and there are various awards announced there, here are some:

The Macavity Awards 2010 were presented by Janet Rudolph, editor of Mystery Readers Journal, on behalf of the members of Mystery Readers International, who nominated and voted on the awards. Winners were:

Best Mystery Novel: Ken Bruen & Reed Farrel Coleman: Tower (Busted Flush Press)

Best First Mystery Novel: Alan Bradley: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Delacorte)

Best Mystery Nonfiction: P.D. James: Talking about Detective Fiction (Alfred A. Knopf)

Best Mystery Short Story: Hank Phillippi Ryan: "On the House" (Quarry: Crime Stories by New England Writers, Level Best Books)

Sue Feder Historical Mystery: Rebecca Cantrell: A Trace of Smoke (Forge)

BARRY Awards

The Readers of Deadly Pleasures Magazine vote on the BARRY Awards. This year's winners were:

Best Novel: John Hart: The Last Child (Minotaur)

Best First Novel: Alan Bradley: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Delacorte)

Best British Novel: Philip Kerr: If the Dead Not Rise (Quercus)

Best Paperback Original: Bryan Gruley: Starvation Lake (Touchstone)

Best Thriller: Jamie Freveletti: Running From the Devil (Morrow)

Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade: Stieg Larsson: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Knopf)

Best Short Story: Brendan DuBois, "The High House Writer" (AHMM July-August 2009)

Interesting mystery/crime awards! Bradley is obviously flavour of the year (pun fully intentional!) I will have to read the John Hart Book; can heartily endorse the Phillip Kerr books and throw out a cheer for Bryan Gruley, who's a former WSJ colleague. (Well, he's still there; I'm not; he runs the Chicago bureau.)

Thanks for sharing the award winners, Luci!

Well, the literary prizes are always popular, I thought I should start posting the crime details. Think the Anthonys are tonight California time so will post details tomorrow my time.

An online bookworm friend on the britishmysteries yahoogroup posted this:

The CWA Daggers for 2010 were announced on 8th October (I missed the televised ceremony). Details can be found at....

http://www.thecwa.co.uk/index.php

The Gold Dagger went to Belinda Bauer for Blacklands. Yvonne wasn't too
impressed when she reviewed this for rte....

http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=8347

and it is not a book I want to read. I think this is now a hackneyed theme,
though I fear it is exactly the type of book which is likely to win the Dagger (as it has done of course!).

The New Writer Dagger was won by Ryan David Jahn for Acts of Violence which is on TBR shelf.

Val McDermid got the Diamond (Lifetime Achievement) Dagger and Arianna Franklin won the Library Dagger (judged by librarians - I quite like Franklin's work but surely there are better writers than this around?).

The biggest surprise to me was Foyle winning the People's Detective - this is voted for by the public and he was up against Poirot/Marple/Holmes/Frost/Barnaby/Wexford/Lewis/Morse et al. It shows that there is an enormous public attachment to Foyle (which is why ITV had to reverse their decision to cancel the show of course).

Nick.
http://mysterymile.wordpress.com/

My husband and I have been watching the 'Foyle's War' series through Netflix. I enjoy it very much.

More crime fiction award news, posted on the RARA-AVIS email list for lovers of hardboiled and noir crime novels:

from The Rap Sheet, http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/2010/10/shamus-on-you.html

Best Hardcover P.I. Novel: Locked In, by Marcia Muller (Grand Central)

Also nominated: The Silent Hour, by Michael Koryta (Minotaur); Where the Dead Lay, by David Levien (Doubleday); Schemers, by Bill Pronzini (Forge); My Soul to Take, by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (William Morrow)

Best First P.I. Novel: Faces of the Gone, by Brad Parks (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Loser's Town, by Daniel Depp (Simon & Schuster); The Last Gig, by Norman Green (Minotaur); The Good Son, by Russel D. McLean (Minotaur); Chinatown Angel, by A.E. Roman (Minotaur)

Best Paperback Original P.I. Novel: Sinner's Ball, by Ira Berkowitz (Three Rivers Press)

Also nominated: Dark Side of the Morgue, by Raymond Benson (Leisure); Red Blooded Murder, by Laura Caldwell (Mira); Vengeance Road, by Rick Mofina (Mira); Body Blows, by Marc Strange (Dundurn)

Best P.I. Short Story: "Julius Katz," by Dave Zeltserman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2009)

Also nominated: "The Dark Island," by Brendan DuBois (from Boston Noir, edited by Dennis Lehane; Akashic); "Deadline Edition," by S.L. Franklin (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, April 2009); "Blazin' on Broadway," by Gary Phillips (from Phoenix Noir, edited by Patrick Millikin; Akashic); "Suicide Bonds," by Tim L. Williams (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April 2009)

Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert Crais

Congratulations to the winners and nominees both

End quote

I've not read any of these, but have the paperback of Locked In on order; I also like Bill Pronzini and Gary Phillips, and I have the Boston Noir anthology which included a nominated short story. I haven't heard of all the others, but will have to look into them. I feel so out of touch these days.

228. 25/9 Muriel Spark, The Finishing School 3.9

TIOLI September: Education, and a shared read

A couple run a finishing school. The man goes off the rails when one of his pupils finds a publisher for his novel at the age of 17. This isn't nearly as good as The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and must have been one of Spark's last novels, but I liked it

229. 27/9 Peter Robinson, Bad Boy 4*

This is the 20th book in Peter Robinson's long running DCI Alan Banks series about a police detective and his colleagues in the Yorkshire Dales. Unlike the others, it is not a whodunit, but a tale of suspense, as the lives of people close to Banks are at serious risk. I enjoyed this, but would recommend starting with one of the previous 18 novels (#19 was a collection of short stories about Banks), as Bad Boy's storyline will be more interesting to existing fans of the series.

Banks is not even at work for much of this novel, as he has gone on holiday to San Francisco, and the focus shifts to his colleague, friend and sometime lover Annie Cabbot, with strong assistance from Winsome Jackman. I really like Annie, spiky but intelligent and funny. Her character has been developed through the series since she first appeared in In a Dry Season some years ago, and she steps in to the lead role in the crime story in her own right.

An aside: one question I have is why in crime fiction it is still normal to refer to the male detectives by their surnames and their female colleagues by first names - I am doing so in this review because after following the series, I can't think of them as "Alan" or "Cabbot" but I find it a bit irritating. (Interestingly the boss, Superintendent Catherine Gervaise, is referred to normally as Gervaise).

Banks used to live next door to Juliet Doyle, who has come to see him at the office looking for help - she has found a gun in her daughter Erin's bedroom and doesn't know what to do. However, the intervention of an Armed Response Unit leads to tragedy. Police also visit the Leeds flat which Erin shares with two other young women, one of them Tracy Banks. Tracy is in a dead end job, has chosen to call herself Francesca and doesn't tell many people what dad Alan's job is. She goes to warn Erin's boyfriend Jaff that the police have been round asking questions. His reaction is to go on the run, taking Tracy with him, and it soon becomes obvious to the reader that she is in serious danger - Tracy takes a bit longer to realise what a mistake she has made.

I really enjoyed this book while reading it but think it is one of the weaker books in the series. The police work scenes were well done, as Banks' absence gave Annie Cabbot and Winsome Jackman a chance to step into the limelight. I couldn't really understand Tracy's motives for some of her actions - I sympathised with her dissatisfaction with graduate life and not wanting to tell everyone about dad's job, but didn't really understand her motivation for going to tip off Jaff, and I was annoyed by her passivity and rather feeble girly behaviour for quite a long time.

I love San Francisco and it was fun to read about Banks' holiday there, but I think there were too many scenes showing him on holiday, as the narrative regularly shifted away from the police work and his daughter's plight in England. They don't really further the plot at all. He is unaware of what is happening while he is away, and it seems really hard to believe on reflection that he could so remove himself from contact, or that in an emergency, no one would ring him. Also, even when he gets back and finds out that Tracy is in danger, he doesn't let her mum (his ex-wife) know, and the police haven't got round to doing so. Surely the police working on the case would have a responsibility for contacting both Tracy's parents, not just hoping they could sort things out in Banks' absence and never contacting the mother at all?

Despite all this irritating implausibility, Bad Boy is a rattling good read, and I would recommend it to existing fans of the series who have read most of the previous books. If you haven't read Peter Robinson before, the 10th book in the series, In a Dry Season would be a good place to start, as would many of the previous books, or the 12th book, Aftermath, which has just been dramatised for ITV.

I am making my way slowly through the Robinson books. Thus far, I have enjoyed them. I am glad to know that I have more good reading to look forward to!

230. D E Stevenson, Miss Buncle Married 3.8

Miss Buncle has fallen in love and is now married. She and her husband move from his home in Hampstead, north London to another village, where they make some new friends. Has Barbara really given up writing though? She also has a terrible moral dilemma as she has learned something she feels she shouldn't know through no fault of her own.

Lots of social comedy here, and an entertaining story - not as delicious as Miss Buncle's Book but fun if you like the first and can get hold of it - the most recent edition is Large Print and is still difficult and expensive to buy but it might be available in good public libraries.

#23: Dodged that book bullet - I have already read it. I lucked out in that my public library has an omnibus that contains both Miss Buncle books.

231. 27/9 Pettina Gappiah, An Elegy for Easterly 4.3

This is out of sequence for some reason, I finished it before Miss Buncle married

TIOLI September: Compass directions in title

Several people were reading this collection of short stories by a Zimbabwean author in September - I really liked it and will certainly read more of her work.

Many of the stories are about quite deluded characters, many of them have some position of privilege...

Often sad, sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, sometimes all of those.

232. 29/9 E Nesbit, Five Children and It 4.6

TIOLI September: someone else had put it in for challenge with a paranormal being, personal childhood favourite

Turn of 19th/20th century classic. A group of children on holiday meet a Psammead, an ancient animal who can grant them wishes, but.... be careful what you wish for

I didn't remember the Lamb, the kids' baby brother, from earlier readings - he's apparently 2 but the character of this preverbal but loveable toddler is so well done, and he sounds so like my Conor (who is 2 next Feb).

#26: I just finished that one up last week. I had never read any Nesbit until then. I have already started her The Enchanted Castle and bought the next one in the 'Five Children' series since I enjoyed it so much.

I'm halfway through An Elegy for Easterly at the moment and am enjoying it too, when I'm in the mood for a sad book.

I was lucky enough to get An Elegy for Easterly from the Early Reviewers programme last year. I enjoyed it. If you haven't already read it, I would recommend Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana which covers similar territory but was even better in my opinion. It was one of those books (which there seems to be many) that I borrowed from the library but wish I owned.

Thanks sanddancer, I've just added it to my wishlist.

An Elegy for Easterly has been sitting in my TBR pile for a while: I must get to it very soon.

#26 I didn't remember the Lamb, the kids' baby brother, from earlier readings Interesting how different things strike us when re-reading. I guess when we've had new experiences since the last read, we may suddenly notice what seemed less important first time round.

I'm now 40% of the way through my 4th 75 books - I've read 255 books.

233. 30/9 Alan James Bradley, The Tolpuddle Boy 4.1

Non fiction book for children.

The Tolpuddle Martyrs were farm workers in a village in Dorset, England in 1834. They were arrrested for union organisation and deported to Australia, but a working class campaign to overturn their convictions was eventually successful. This tells the story from the viewpoint of the youngest, James Brine aged 21.

Reviewed for The Bookbag:

http://thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=The_Tolpuddle_Boy:_Transported_t...

And another review though not one I'm counting in my reads - my first children's picture book review for the Bookbag is here:

http://thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Meg_and_Mog:_Meg_Goes_to_Bed_by_...

Was very pleased to notice that the price of the copy of Miss Buncle Married in my Amazon basket had dropped by about 1/3, to just over $20, a few weeks ago. Promptly purchased it. Now I'm saving it for a rainy day.

Interesting - Persephone is publishing it next spring.

RIP Eva Ibbotson on 20 October, age 85.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/oct/22/children-author-eva-ibbotson-dies-ag...

#37: Oh, that is too bad! I have enjoyed the few books of hers that I have been privileged to read. Thanks for passing along the news, Luci.

I learned it from a tweet from Rachael (FlossieTeacake) this morning.

#37 Oh, I missed that announcement. :( I've read a few of her books, mostly years ago, and liked them.

#36 Persephone are bringing it out? Excellent! I've been hoping that they would.

Luci, I had misplaced you, and I'm glad to find you again. Thank you a lot for those lists of mystery winners. I've gotten away from mysteries since retirement, and you remind me of how essential they have been to my well-being for most of my life. I didn't realize *Sweetness/Pie* was a mystery, so I'll have to check it out with some of the others that I hadn't heard of.

Finally caught up with you! 247 books (msg 1) is impressive enough but reading 5 times the number you read last year is no mean feat!

Yes, I'm a bit surprised. And it's now 256 books.

Too bad about Eva Ibbotson... I always wished she had written more adult fiction as those that she did write were gentle, imaginative little books. I may have to add one to this month's "in memoriam" TIOLI... It has been years since I read them but I know they are around the house somewhere.

234. Curtis Sittenfeld, Prep 4.3*

TIOLI school challenge

A girl from a small town in the midwest decides she wants to go to boarding school and manages to get a scholarship to this very privileged school. A long novel which details her experiences there. It's quite slow paced but I found it an absorbing and fascinating read, as it portrays a very closed environment and some of the tensions which go on in it.

I did find the main character a bit infuriating though, the way she accepted so much of what happened to her, once she succeeded in getting there. I couldn't quite identify with her need to belong quite so much.

235. Leila Rasheed, The World Turned Upside Down 3.9

A YA story which is probably quite hard to get hold of, which I reviewed for the Bookbag. It was written for the Stratford Literature Festival (the Midlands town famous for Shakespeare). Set in 1642 during the English Civil War and in the present day.

My review is here:

http://thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=The_World_Turned_Upside_Down_by_...

#46: Well, I had no luck with either The World Turned Upside Down or the Jon Blake book. Oh well.

236. 1/10 Hilary Mantel, Learning to Talk 4*

October TIOLI published this decade

Collection of short stories about a girl growing up, with an extract from her memoir.

237. 2/10 D E Stevenson, Mrs Tim Carries On 3.8*

2nd in series - it's now WWII and Tim goes off to fight, leaving Hester on the home front. Again, not quite as good as the first in the series.

238. 4/10 Laura Wilson, A Capital Crime 4.3*

October TIOLI 8: policing; DI Stratton #3

Set in London in the early 50s. DI Stratton and his team investigate the murder of a woman and her baby. Not really a whodunnit as there isn't really a huge range of suspects. A beautifully written historical novel with crime investigation at its centre. Not as good as An Empty Death which was #2 in this series but I recommend it.

Before this series, Wilson's earlier books were all standalones - I liked The Lover which also has a WWII setting - the touchstones don't work but I reviewed it for www.reviewingtheevidence.com a few years ago.

239. 5/10 Katharine McMahon, A Way Through the Woods 4*

TIOLI monosyllabic title

My second book by this author but I have most of her books lined up already to read - she writes historical novels about women and their position in society. This one is set in 1920 and earlier - a woman finds out a bit more about her family's past.

I also have a bunch of McMahon's books here, waiting to be read! Acquired them after reading The Rose of Sebastopol; think that many of them may have been written prior to that & then re-released after that title suddenly won her some attention. Glad to hear you liked it that much!

240. 6/10 Cathleen Schine, The Three Weissmanns of Westport 3.9*

TIOLI: Published this decade

New Books magazine had a number of copies of this to give away in exchange for writing a mini review and thinking of some questions for a reader's guide in a future mass market paperback edition.

This is supposed to be a modern day take on Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, although the characters are much older Jewish Americans.

Betty is 75 - her 77 year old husband leaves her for a younger woman and she moves to her brother's holiday home with her two grown up daughters, Miranda and Annie.

Annie (Elinor) is a librarian, Miranda (Marianne) was a literary agent specialising in misery lit memoirs, but her business has failed when all her clients turn out to be fakes.

I wrote for the New Books mag website:

"The characters are quirky and sometimes rather deluded but I liked them. I enjoyed reading a book in which most of the main characters are a bit older, as so much fiction about women is about characters in their 20s and 30s. I thought it was interesting that Annie and Miranda have both had careers in the book world, but they were very different careers reflecting their personalities.

I did sometimes get frustrated when the Weissmanns, especially dreamy, romantic Miranda, didn’t realise what was apparent to me as a reader. I preferred Miranda’s more practical sister Annie. My favourite character though was the two year old Henry, son of Miranda’s lover Kit.

This is described as a homage to a Jane Austen novel, Sense and Sensibility, and I had fun considering the parallels and differences. I think reading group members who like social comedies of manners and character rather than fast moving plots could really enjoy discussing this book, whether or not they know Jane Austen’s work."

241. 6/10 Geraldine McCaughrean, A Little Lower than the Angels 4.0

October TIOLI 1: Long author surname

Children's/YA historical - setting never stated but perhaps 17th century? Amazon reviews suggest it's medieval. Gabriel joins a group of travelling players. He eventually learns that he is being used to trick the audience and play on their religious beliefs to help make money for the leader of the players, but he and some of the other actors move towards something they're more comfortable with. Some quite thought provoking stuff for more mature readers as well as kids here.

242. 7/10 Joan Aiken, Moon Cake 4.3*

TIOLI: No Polysyllabic words in title

Another collection of her brilliant short stories for kids - that mixture of magic and day to day reality I love so much. I found out that there are far more of these collections than I knew about last year, and partly bought this one for a story about Mark and Harriet Armitage - it's an excellent story too but so are the other 7.

243. 10/10 Joseph O'Connor, Ghost Light 4.4*

TIOLI: No Polysyllabic words in title

This novel opens in London in 1952. Molly is an Irish actress in her 60s, who spends most of her time remembering her younger days over a drink or two. She acted at the Abbey Theatre, where she and John fell in love.

John Synge was one of the co-founders of the theatre and wrote plays including The Playboy of the Western World. When he died of cancer in 1909 aged only 37, he was engaged to an actress called Molly Allgood, stage name Maire O'Neill. O'Connor draws on what is known about the facts of their lives and on published letters from Synge to Molly (her letters to him don't survive) in this novel, but he admits in Acknowledgements and Caveat at the back of the book that he took liberties with the truth and made up a lot of Molly's story completely.

I found the story of their romance moving though sad. Neither of their families approved - he was much older than her, but more importantly, he was the son of a wealthy Anglo-Irish Protestant family, and she was a working class Catholic with what was perceived to be a rather immoral job. These prejudices were to some extent shared by Synge's fellow owners of the theatre, W B Yeats and Lady Augusta Gregory, too (and they might have also worried about the impact on the business of the theatre and its performances).

I think that only having some factual records is an advantage for the novelist in this story, it gives him free rein to create his two major characters the way he chooses to. They are flawed but sympathetic. John finds it difficult emotionally or financially to break away from his mother and incur her wrath by openly marrying Molly. Despite all the difficulties though, the scenes of them together including a holiday together in the countryside, depict a real love affair with warmth and wit, important in making them sympathetic not pitiful characters (especially Molly).

The 1908 story takes place over a year or so, the 1952 story is set over just a few days. Molly's later existence in postwar London is rather bleak and pitiful - she has been married, widowed and divorced, her son has been killed and her daughter has her own life and a husband who disapproves of his mother in law's drinking, and she has fallen out with them. She is now scrabbling around trying to scrape together a bit of money, mainly for the drink. So most of the significant people in her life are dead, estranged or both. I felt sad to read about a character who didn't seem to have moved on emotionally from her early life; though she continued to act, was married twice and had two children, she is still living in her long ago past.

Some readers might find the style of this novel offputting. The narrative jumps around in time and in style. Although much of the novel is in the third person, it opens with a chapter in second person. I wouldn't have thought this would work well, but here for me it did, it drew me into the older Molly's thoughts and feelings.

I thought this was a sad but moving story, and would recommend it to readers who like stories of character and feeling rather than fast paced action. I would also like to read some of Synge's work, or see a performance of one of his plays.

>53 elkiedee: Luci, your review of *3 Weissmans* is much more helpful than the other ones on the book page, I think. I wish you'd post it for prospective readers. I see that you did post the one for *Ghost Light*; thanks and thumb.

#55 Ooh, another Joan Aiken!

I heard about Eva Ibbotson's death from the obituaries programme on Radio 4, where I also learned that she lived in Jesmond, the neighbouring suburb to mine in Newcastle. I've never read any of hers, but have ordered a couple now.

Ooh, I must listen to Last Word, hopefully I'll catch it tomorrow night at bedtime (the kids' bedtime not mine, though I often end up going to sleep for an hour or 2 or 3).

Several of JA's collections are available for a few pounds from abebooks.com or Amazon Marketplace. I bought the ones I didn't have containing Armitage family stories last year, and then found some more this year.

244. 10/10, Irene Nemirovsky, Dimanche and other Stories 4.0

TIOLI: Author with a long first name

These short stories have recently been translated into English, my copy's by Persephone but I understand that NYRB are publishing it in the US.

Short stories about life in France in the 30s and the early years of the war and occupation, including one about a Jewish man who has assimilated meeting one who hasn't, and a couple of stories about living as a Jew in occupied France, which must have been written quite soon before the author was herself deported to Auschwitz where she died in 1942.

I think I will go back to these and reread them at some point.

There's also an introduction which covers some of the publishing history and issues around the stories - many were first published in quite right wing magazines.

#60: Luci, what stories are included in that collection? Just curious as I read one of Nemirovsky's story collections that included David Golder, The Snow in Autumn, The Ball, and The Courilof Affair.

At least three of those stories have been published here as individual volumes - are they novellas rather than short stories?

Here's a link review which details some of the stories: the book (outside the UK) is published by Random House/Vintage not NYRB.

#62: I would have considered them novellas myself, but the way they are put together in the book I read, they were treated as short stories.

There are so many books you have been reading that I have on my 'should read at some point list'!

Briefly:
Learning to Talk by Hilary Mantel
The Mrs Tim books by D. E. Stevenson
Katharine McMahon's books
Laura Wilson
The Three Weissmann's of Westport sounds interesting

#54 I think I may have read that as a child although I only have quite confused memories of it. I might have been too young to understand it properly.

I'm sure I've missed some good stuff! Here I am anyway :)

> 60

I loved that you gave Nemirovsky's book 10/10. Have you read Suite Francaise yet? If not, I recommend that book as well as Fire in the Blood.

Suite Francaise is a novel that portrays what France was like before and during German occupation during World War II. This novel was never finished by the author before she had been deported to Auschwitz, yet the story is fine even without its intended completion.

65: Hi there, good to see you back.

66: No, I rated Nemirovsky's book 4*. 10/10/10 was the date on which I finished reading it.

Several of us have put our names down to read Suite Francaise this month and I hope I can get to it.

> 67

66: No, I rated Nemirovsky's book 4*. 10/10/10 was the date on which I finished reading it.

Oh, okay! I was wondering why you had a 10 point rating scheme. :)

245. Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark 4.5*

TIOLI monosyllabic title

The story of a young woman from a small town in Colorado who trains to be an opera singer. First published in 1915 and set in the 1890s onwards. It's quite long but it's such a good read - as well as the story, I enjoyed the glimpses at life of the time - the contrast between small town and city, the looks at attitudes.

246. ed S J Rozan, Bronx Noir

TIOLI no polysyllables in title

One of my favourite anthologies in this series - a mix of well known and new to me crime writers, a really strong sense of place.

#245: I like that one too, Luci. I am glad you enjoyed it.

Carnegie Nominations for 2011 (children's books)

THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL
Nominations for 2011

Please note we are still checking the eligibility of these titles. For more information about how these nominations were selected see the section on awards process.

Also see the Kate Greenaway nominations

Adlington, L.J. Burning Mountain
Publisher: Hodder ISBN: 9780340956823

Almond, David The Boy Who Climbed Into The Moon
Publisher: Walker ISBN: 9781406314571

Ashley, Bernard No way to Go
Publisher: Orchard ISBN: 9781408302392

Augarde, Steve Xisle
Publisher: David Fickling ISBN: 9780385610612

Beck, Ian Pastworld
Publisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9780747581734

Breslin, Theresa Prisoner of the Inquisition
Publisher: Doubleday ISBN: 9780385617031

Brooks, Kevin I Boy
Publisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141326108

Carrington, Jim Inside My Head
Publisher: Macmillan ISBN: 9781408802717

Christopher, Lucy Flyaway
Publisher: Chicken House ISBN: 9781905294763

Corder, Zizou Halo
Publisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141328300

Craigie, Emma Chocolate Cake with Hitler
Publisher: Short Books ISBN: 9781906021894

Creech, Sharon Unfinished Angel
Publisher: Andersen Press ISBN: 9781849390811

Cross, Gillian Where I Belong
Publisher: Oxford ChildrenÕs Books ISBN: 9780192755544

David, Keren When I Was Joe
Publisher: Frances Lincoln ISBN: 9781847801005

Davies, Corinne V. Ralph is (not) a Vampire
Publisher: RAL publications UK ISBN: 9780955690525

Di Camillo, Kate The Magician's Elephant
Publisher: Walker ISBN: 9781406324471

Dickinson, John We
Publisher: David Fickling ISBN: 9780385617895

Duffy, Carol Ann New and Collected Poems for Children
Publisher: Faber ISBN: 9780571219681

Durrow, Heidi The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
Publisher: Oneworld Publications ISBN: 9781851687459

Fisher, Catherine Crown of Acorns
Publisher: Hodder ISBN: 9780340970072

Gleitzman,Morris Now
Publisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141329987

Grant, Helen The Glass Demon
Publisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141325767

Gourlay, Candy Tall Story
Publisher: David Fickling ISBN: 9780385618946

Haig, Matt The Radleys
Publisher: Walker ISBN: 9781406330281

Hooper, Mary Fallen Grace
Publisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9780747599135

Hughes, Gregory Unhooking the Moon
Publisher: Quercus ISBN: 9781849162951

Jones, Diana Wynne Enchanted Glass
Publisher: HarperCollins ISBN: 9780007320783

Kennen, Ally Sparks
Publisher: Scholastic ISBN: 9781407111087

Malley, Gemma The Returners
Publisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9781408800904

McCaughrean, Geraldine The Death Defying Pepper Roux
Publisher: Oxford ChildrenÕs Books ISBN: 9780192756022

McNish, Cliff Savannah Grey
Publisher: Orion ISBN: 9781842551127

Mills, Sam Blackout
Publisher: Faber ISBN: 9780571239412

Moran, Katy Spirit Hunter
Publisher: Walker ISBN: 9781406317282

Morgan, Nicola Wasted
Publisher: Walker ISBN: 9781406321951

Morpurgo, Michael Running Wild
Publisher: HarperCollins ISBN: 9780007267019

Nelson, Jandy The Sky is Everywhere
Publisher: Walker ISBN: 9781406326307

Ness, Patrick Monsters of Men
Publisher: Walker ISBN: 9781406310276

Newbery, Linda Lob
Publisher: David Fickling ISBN: 9780385610810

Nix, Garth Lord Sunday
Publisher: HarperCollins ISBN: 9780007175130

Purkiss, Sue Emily's Surprising Voyage
Publisher: Walker ISBN: 9781406321821

Rees, Celia The Fool's Girl
ISBN: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9780747597322

Reeve, Philip No Such Thing As Dragons
Publisher: Scholastic ISBN: 9781407114835

Riordan, Rick The Red Pyramid
Publisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141384948

Rosoff, Meg The Bride's Farewell
Publisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141383934

Sachar, Louis The Cardturner
Publisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9781408808504

Saunders, Kate Beswitched
Publisher: Marion Lloyd ISBN: 9781407108971

Scarrow, Alex Timeriders
Publisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141326924

Sedgwick, Marcus White Crow
Publisher: Orion ISBN: 9781842551875

Sparkes, Ali Wishful Thinking
Publisher: Oxford ChildrenÕs Books ISBN: 9780192756114

Summers, Laura Desperate Measures
Publisher: Piccadilly Press ISBN: 9781848120501

Suzuma, Tabitha Forbidden
Publisher: Random House ChildrenÕs Books ISBN: 9781862308169

Temperley, Alan Scar Hill
Publisher: Luath Press ISBN: 9781906307523

Updale, Eleanor Johnny Swanson
Publisher: David Fickling ISBN: 9780385616423

Valentine, Jenny The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight
Publisher: HarperCollins ISBN: 9780007283613

Wallace, Jason Out of Shadows
Publisher: Andersen Press ISBN: 9781849390484

Walsh, Pat The Crowfield Curse
Publisher: Chicken House ISBN: 9781906427153

Westerfield, Scott Leviathan
Publisher: Simon & Schuster ISBN: 9781847385192

Williams, Carol Lynch The Chosen One
Publisher: Simon & Schuster ISBN: 9781847389381

Williams, Rob Luke and Jon
Publisher: Faber ISBN: 9780571249633

Winterson, Jeanette Battle of the Sun
Publisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9781408800423

I'm a bit confused about the Geraldine McCaughrean nomination for The Death Defying Pepper Roux (think it was published in 2009 - I wonder if it's a mix up with Pull Out All the Stops published in October.

I enjoyed reading Beswitched by Kate Saunders.

Thanks for passing the nominations along, Luci!

Rachael posted something on Twitter, I should have mentioned so in my post.

Then 'thanks' to both of you!

#72 Thanks for the list - quite a few of those books and authors are on my wishlist but I don't think I've read any of them yet.

Thanks for the list. The Radleys is being marketed here as an adult title, I have it home from the library and hope to read it soon.

247. 12/10 Andrea Levy, The Long Song 3.9

Oct TIOLI monosyllables

I owe the WH Smith website a proper review of this one, though it only has to be quite short, when I write it I'll post here as well. Set in 19th century Jamaica, it's the story of July, who grows up in slavery but is freed after a slave rebellion, but then, freedom has its limits in colonial Jamaica.

The Long Song is the story of July, a woman born into slavery in 19th century Jamaica.

As an old woman at the end of the century, July is writing the story of her early life, and the narrative switches between the present day of the novel (1898), in the first person, and the past.

Slavery officially ended in Jamaica in 1838, but of course the former slave owners still controlled the plantations and the economy, and the former slaves still needed to work in exploitative conditions for the white people who all too obviously regarded them as an inferior race.

The Long Song is beautifully written and I found it a very readable novel, perhaps deceptively so. Thinking about it again for review purposes makes me want to reread it again more carefully. I was carried along by the story, or stories, July tells – frequently she offers several different versions of what happened, usually a more romantic account followed by one which seems more rooted in the realities of the day.

July is separated from her mother, Kitty, as a child by a white woman who thinks she is cute but is repelled by Kitty. She is not the most obedient or loyal slave (or servant) – at first, she hopes that if she gets things wrong she will be returned to her mother, but she grows up into a woman who tries to stand up for herself. But in this time and place black women have very little power over their lives and her very entertaining attempts at self-assertion often have quite unpleasant results for July.

Some readers may find it hard to like any of the characters, even July – I liked her a lot sometimes and felt some sympathy for her anger at other times.

This is not a feelgood novel about black and white characters getting together to challenge racism. A lot of potential happy endings are briefly dangled in front of the reader before being snatched away. That made me feel angrier as a reader when bad things happened.

The shifts in narrative, tone and style of the book, and the alternative stories offered, make reading this novel a bit more challenging but I would argue that it rewards careful reading.

Recommended.

247. 15/10 Sophie Kinsella, Mini Shopaholic 3.3

Oct TIOLI 21st century

A bit disappointing even as fluffy chicklit. Becky Brandon is an idiot, but I rather liked book 4 in the series, Shopaholic and Sister, and Shopaholic and Baby was a very funny look at the maternity industry, though actually about pregnancy not motherhood. I've been hoping Kinsella would show us Becky as the mum of a baby, but we've skipped forward 2 years and Minnie Brandon is a mini-me, Becky more of an idiot than ever.

Did you like The Long Song? I have it from the library and it needs to go back soon, but on my first attempt to read it, I just couldn't get into it.

Yes, I did - I almost gave it a 4* rating. But I think the odd narrative style may put a lot of people off. The book isn't going out of the way to make itself likeable, but then I don't think that's what it's meant to do. It's not The Help, ie it's not setting out for that easy commercial accessibility/attractiveness.

I must write a proper mini review of it for WH Smith online - their other reviews are barely 100 words.

Perhaps I should send you my spare copy (I bought it months ago and WHS sent me another copy to review), then you can read it at your leisure and pass it on again if you don't feel it's a keeper.

Thanks for the offer. I still have another 2 weeks before it has to go back so I will give it another try with the library copy.

I haven't read The Help yet, but thought it might be a bit too conventional/tug at the heart strings for my tastes.

I'll be eager to read your review of The Long Song, Luci.

Don't get too excited, I probably won't have anything too illuminating to say.

I confess I have given up on the Shopaholic franchise as it is just SOOOOO irritating!

I hear they are making a film of The Help -- no surprise there.

#72 Interesting to see the Carnegie nominations. A friend of mine is one of the nominated authors, John Dickinson for his book We, which I'm hoping to finally read this month; I've had a copy for several months. It's a science fiction book, and aimed at adult readers not children, but his first published books were for YA readership so he tends to get categorised as 'children's' even when the book is definitely not. He mentions his nomination on his blog here.

Review of The Long Song at #78 and on work page.

Response on this has been mixed and I can understand what members of this group who liked it and those who didn't are saying. But there's one review on the work page which just seems to have missed the point - July is duplicitous and the reviewer wants to know what happened to the white characters, obviously seeing them as much more important/interesting.

249. 16/10 Rose Tremain, Trespass 3.3*

I found this quite disappointing - none of the characters really engaged my sympathy. The author was looking at dysfunctional relationships etc, I assume, but however well they're done, it's more difficult for me to like a book if I don't engage in some way with anyone in it.

#88: I am going to pass on that one by Tremain. I loved her Music and Silence but do not think Trespass is for me.

#87 Read and thumbed your review. I haven't read anything by Andrea Levy before but I have both Small Island and The Long Song on the list.

Hi, Luci,

I just posted a review of The Long Song and then saw that you had just done the same! I think we had a similar view of it. Andrea Levy lives around us somewhere, doesn't she?

Does she? It wouldn't surprise me, as she's a north London girl by upbringing.

250. 17/10 Mari Strachan, The Earth Hums in B Flat 4.3*

TIOLI words of one syllable in title

A story about growing up, set in Wales in the 1950s. Gwenni is a dreamy working class girl who loves books. The husband of a woman who has been really nice to her and given her books disappears and is found dead. Gwenni doesn't understand lots of things.

I was rather surprised that so soon after WWII, a school might not think about the risks of teaching the recessive gene, but overall, I really liked this book and look forward to reading more by the author.

251. 17/10 Leila Meacham, Roses

TIOLI book published this decade (2010)

Review book for New Books magazine (www.newbooksmag.com) - you have to select 3 choices for books you might like to review and this must have been my 2nd or 3rd choice.

Review written for that website:

Howbutker, East Texas, 1985: Why did Mary Tolliver change her will shortly before she died? Why did she change her mind about leaving her cotton plantation to her beloved granddaughter, Rachel?

Much of the story is about Mary’s life, her business and relationships, including a number of tragedies. There are also parts of the story told from the viewpoint of her old friend Percy, and at the end, there is Rachel’s story.

This is a quite a long book, but I found it a fast, entertaining read. Though I’ve never had ambitions as a business tycoon I was drawn into the story of the conflict between Mary’s passion for business and the effects on those she loves and who love her. I found the resolution predictable but satisfying and enjoyed reading the book. It reminded me a little of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s A Woman of Substance.

I wouldn’t recommend this as a reading group choice – it’s a bit long and doesn’t really have the social issues or literary substance that make for a great discussion book. But it was fun to sit back with an old fashioned 1980s style blockbuster.

252. 17/10 Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr Fox 4.7*

TIOLI book published in 1970

A reread of a childhood favourite. I remember reading and rereading this when I was 5/6 in our friends' flat in Beijing where I lived with my mum for a year, and being proud when I read it in one sitting (it's actually rather short). Rating as much about nostalgia as about the book, but it's my favourite Dahl of those I've read (though new to me The BFG is also lots of fun).

Mr Fox is the target of three mean farmers, as he keeps taking food from their farm - they decide to wait at the top of his hole and shoot him when he ventures out for food. He and his wife and children face starvation, and he needs to come up with a solution. My imagination as a child was caught by his solution.

#95: I have never read that one by Dahl. I will have to get to it.

I really enjoy The BFG too, Luci.

253. 19/10 Louise Penny, Still Life 3.8*

October TIOLI police story

First in mystery series set in small Canadian town. I enjoyed it and will read more in the series at some point but it didn't make me want to rush off and get the other books right now.

254. 19/10 Lois Lowry, The Willoughbys 4.4*

October TIOLI old fashioned children's story

Zoe mentioned this as the book which had inspired her challenge. It's a delightful romp/send up of such books. 4 children are abandoned by their parents who are quite hostile to them, but they make their own plans with the help of a nanny. There's a 5th abandoned child and a lonely man around too.

A lovely fairytale - this was one of the books that made Zoe's challenge such an enjoyable one.

255. Bernadette Strachan, Why Do We Have to Live With Men? 3.6

October TIOLI no polysyllabic words

Chicklit, reviewed for the Bookbag - not as good as Handbags and Halos but I will still read her other books.

http://thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Why_DO_We_Have_to_Live_with_Men%...

#93 I'll have to get round to The Earth hums in B flat sooner rather than later - seems to get good reviews from most people.

256. Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess 4.8*

TIOLI Old fashioned children's book (thanks Zoe)

A father sends his adored daughter to a boarding school in London, she has lots of presents, then a few years later he loses all his money in diamond mines and dies. Having lost all her money, Sara becomes a sort of servant, though as she is clever she is also used to help out teaching.

But there is a lovely fairytale resolution to come. I loved reading this book, though I also thought there is a tension between the criticisms of how servants are treated but Sara is still really huge class divides away from servant girl Becky.

257. Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States 1492-Present 4.8*

TIOLI: Author who died this year

I've been wanting to read this one for a while, and I wasn't disappointed. This is a big book, about 700 pages, but it's very very readable. Most of the book focuses on the 19th and 20th century, There is lots about the movement to abolish slavery, the Civil War, and the various 20th century conflicts that soldiers were involved in. Zinn was very left wing, but I welcomed the opportunity to read a history book with that bias.

I just bought the Zinn book, so I'm glad you found it to be excellent.

I have several of Howard Zinn's books, but not this one, probably because of its size. I need to read this, so I'll buy it and read it early next year.

258. 26/10 Noel Streatfeild, Ballet Shoes 4.9*

TIOLI old fashioned children's book

Great opportunity to reread a childhood favourite

A man who collects all sorts of things brings 3 orphan babies babies home at various points during his travels before disappearing for several years. The babies are now little girls and they are sent to stage school to train to bring in some money, as their guardians are short of cash. They become an actress, a ballerina, and a car mechanic/chauffeur. I'd forgotten and I really like the fact that Petrova's rejection of a stage career is presented and accepted as just as valid as her adoptive sisters' successes and ambitions. Often funny and moving. I really enjoyed this one!

259. 26/10 Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Last Rituals 3.4*

Mixed feelings about this one. I always look out for crime novels with female detectives or protagonists, and the Icelandic setting was also a draw for me. But I was a bit disappointed. I quite liked the character of Thora, but the writing and/or translation were in quite clunky prose, and everything was overexplained.

Still, I liked this enough that I will probably try to read on in the series - I might see if the library has the next book though.

260. 26/10 Sophie McKenzie, Time Train to the Blitz 3.3*

TIOLI monosyllabic words in title

A boy and girl find themselves travelling back in time to London during the bombing campaigns of WWII. They have just read a newspaper story about a child of their age killed during the blitz - guess who they meet! They are seeking to intervene to prevent a tragedy, but can they make it?

A good storyline for this short novel, but I doubt I'll remember this book for long.

I loved Ballet Shoes, but remember thinking it a tad old-fashioned even before I was conscious of what old-fashioned was -- talking about jerseys and frocks! (I think I read it in 1969, when I would have been seven, for the first time.) Still, loved it; oh, and loved the Arthur Ransome Swallows and Amazons books also. They seem to be unknown on this side of the pond.

Looking forward to your thoughts on Last Rituals; I was a bit underwhelmed...

#105 I don't remember reading Ballet Shoes as a child and at 4.9 stars how can I pass it by?

#108 The Swallows and Amazons books are also favourites of mine.

I love the Swallows and Amazons books too - I really want to read the recent-ish biography of Arthur Ransome - sounds like he had a fascinating life.

Do bear in mind that childhood favourites tend to get a nostalgia factor in the rating - there would have to be something enormously wrong I missed for me to think of something as a favourite and then to say it was total rubbish at this point.... not that that's happened so far.

You've inspired me to start rereading A Bear Called Paddington and I think I like it more now than I did then. Might have to try it on Danny soon!

Glad you're enjoying Paddington! Hopefully Danny will too.

I never read any of Ransome's books as a child or any of the Ballet Shoes series. One of these days I will have to get to them.

There isn't a Ballet Shoes series - there are various novels that have been retitled to make them sound like they're part of a series - so Curtain Up is Theatre Shoes etc. One of the Ballet Shoes characters has a cameo appearance in The Painted Garden later.

#113: Thanks for the clarification, Luci. I thought there was a series.

261. 27/10 Kate Atkinson, Started Early, Took My Dog 4.8*

TIOLI: Published this decade (2010)

Jackson Brodie is one of my favourite characters in crime fiction, a rather hapless sort of private detective with a passion for country music, though that's mentioned less in this instalment (4th in the series) than before. A woman has hired Jackson to find out who her real parents were - there are several missing children in the past and present of this story. His case takes him to my home city, Leeds.

Tracy is a former policewoman herself, and is surprised to find herself handing over money in order to take on the care of a neglected child.

262. P L Travers, Mary Poppins 4.7*

TIOLI Old fashioned children's book

I really enjoyed this reread of a childhood favourite, and plan to read the others very soon. What's striking about this is that Mary Poppins is far from the stereotype nanny with no life of her own, she clearly has a very interesting life of her own. I particularly enjoyed the story of the baby twins who can understand lots of sounds that other humans don't, but will not by the time they turn one.

#115: Another series I keep meaning to get to! One of these days I will.

#115 I didn't realise there was another Jackson Brodie published - will definitely be looking out for that one. I loved Ballet Shoes too - old-fashioned though it was in some ways indeed. So were lots of the books I read as a child in the 1970s, as many were originally published rather earlier in the century. Swallows and Amazons and the rest of that series were also great favourites.

263. 28/10 Tom Perrotta, The Abstinence Teacher 3.8*

TIOLI book about sex

Suzanne mentioned this one and I wanted to read something for that challenge because it was an interesting one. Actually, not that much about sex but an interesting fictional look at abstinence "education" in schools. An odd ending. Not a wow book but I'm glad to have heard of it and read it.

264. 28/10 Roald Dahl, The Twits 3.0*

TIOLI words of one syllable and shared read

I picked this up partly because I was trying to include some shared reads as well as TIOLI books - I hadn't read this Dahl before - I think I'd only read 6 of them as a child - I had a small box set and most were probably published a bit later.

I didn't really like this one. It says at the back Dahl wanted to write something about the stupidity of people with beards. But it came across as nasty, and I also found its unpleasantness about Mrs Twit deeply offputting.

I did like the end of the book a bit better, the way in which the animals organised against the Twits was impressive, and the trick played on them was ingenious, but the start put me off soooo much.

265. 30/10 Deborah Crombie, In a Dark House 4.0*

TIOLI Police detectives

Though Crombie is American and lives in Texas, I think, I like this series - it's one of the few by American authors set here which doesn't read as though it's just written for the US market - I like the settings, the series characters, the stories.

Kincaid is investigating a death in a fire in this one. I found the personal story of the characters as interesting as the professional one, as the family has to go to court to keep the family together (Duncan and Gemma each have a son from previous relationships, Duncan didn't even know he had a son until relatively recently and Kit has come to live with him following the murder of his mum in book 5 in the series, this is book 10 but I think they follow quite closely in time).

#115 I have the first Jackson Brodie book (Case Histories) and will get to it at some point!

#120 I don't think I ever liked The Twits much either. It was too dark and disturbing for me. And why are people with beards stupid?

What do you think of Elizabeth George's books--written by an American, set in Great Britain? Do her books strike any false notes for you? (I've never read Crombie--I assume they should be read in order?)

I wonder if we had the same boxed set of Roald Dahl? It was a Christmas present when I was 6, and I loved all of them except Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. The other ones were the Charlie and the CF, the Magic Finger, Danny the Champion of the World and James & the Giant Peach. And that was all the Dahl I read till I had the kids! (Our latest favourite is The Giraffe and The Pelly and Me. I won't be reading them the Twits now!

124: No, you must have had a slightly later box set, as I'm a couple of years older than you - I might have just turned 6 or it might have been before that - it was when we lived in China which was 1975 (I was 5 when we went and had my 6th birthday there - we came home early in 1976 - mine just had 5 books - Charlie and the CF, Magic Finger, Fantastic Mr Fox, James and the Giant Peach - and one other? No Danny the Champion. I was given Charlie and the GGE a little later, I think and that was it.

You might want to look at The Twits yourself and decide. I think we will read Danny some of them but not that one - probably we'll start with Fantastic Mr Fox and perhaps The BFG although of course that one's much longer. Maybe James.

123: I read the early Elizabeth George and then didn't like one much which was about a murder in the Pakistani community in Essex, and then I did begin to think they were unrealistic. I didn't find out George was American and not resident here until about that point, and it may have brought out some prejudices. It was also soon after that I joined a mystery reading group online and discovered a huge quantity of more authors. I do have the next George I've not read, A Traitor to Memory I think - but I probably bought it nearly 10 years ago - and it's taken me about 5 years to get back to Crombie who I like much better.

266. 31/10 Jeanne Birdsall, The Penderwicks 4.0

267. 31/10 Hilary McKay, Wishing for Tomorrow 3.3

268. Jon Blake, The Last Free Cat 4.2

#127: I am glad to see that you enjoyed The Penderwicks too, Lucy. I enjoyed the second book as well.

269. 2/11 Antonia Fraser, Must You Go: My Life with Harold Pinter 4.3*

270. 2/11 Francis Spufford, The Child That Books Built 4.1*

271. 3/11 Joan Aiken, The Faithless Lollybird and Other Stories 4.7*

New Bookbag review, of a children's book so not included in my 75. George and Ghost is a lovely story about friendship and introducing abstract concepts, but it's simple and attractive for Conor (22 months) too:

http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=George_and_Ghost_by_Catriona...

Luci, I think that you and I are in the minority, but I also prefer Crombie to George. I ate up the first George books, but after Playing for the Ashes, I think, they began to pall. As for reading Crombie's in order, I don't think you have to. My first was Dreaming of the Bones which I enjoyed so much that I tracked down the first ones. She definitely improves as a writer over the series. I still have the latest one, Necessary as Blood to read, and I can't think why I haven't gotten to it yet.

If we're in a minority I would think it's because Deborah Crombie is much less well known in both the US and the UK - her books are still midlist rather than bestseller status. I might have started with Dreaming of the Bones too as it was a group read on 4MA - the email mystery discussion group that was one of my first internet loves (I still belong, I'm just not very active there at the moment).

272. 6/11 M J Farrell (Molly Keane Mad Puppetstown 4.2

TIOLI reprinted classic - VMC - and shared read

273. 6/11 Janet Skieslen Charles, Moonlight in Odessa 4.6

TIOLI alphabet challenge and shared read (I liked it a lot, Suzanne didn't)

274. 7/11 Dalia Sofer, The Septembers of Shiraz 3.9

275. 9/11 Shena Mackay, The Atmospheric Railway: New and Selected Stories 4.7*

TIOLI Alphabet Challenge and review book for the Bookbag

A great introduction to or reminder of Shena Mackay's excellent writing, quirky wit and sharp portrayal of character and place in this collection of 36 short stories - 13 newly collected (6 previously broadcast on the radio and several in magazines) and others from previous collections.

How can you resist titles like Babies in Rhinestones, Dreams of Dead Women's Handbags, The World's Smallest Unicorn? Those are the stories which have given the title to previous collections by Shena Mackay.

http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=The_Atmospheric_Railway:_New...

276. 11/11 Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question 3.0*

TIOLI alphabet challenge and this year's Booker Prize winner.

I never got into it really.

277. 13/11 Olivia Manning, The Great Fortune 4.6*

TIOLI World War books challenge

1st of the Fortunes of War series. Guy and Harriet Pringle go to Bucharest - the war has begun but some people believe for a while it won't come to Romania, wrongly.

278. 14/11 Polly Samson, Perfect Lives 4.6*

The eleven short stories in Perfect Lives are about a group of people living in an English seaside town. Each story of challenged relationships, devastating discoveries and objects and people with a history is carefully and beautifully crafted, stands alone and works well in its own right, but the connections between all the stories offer an extra, fascinating dimension. Each story made me want to look at the others again to understand how they all connect, to piece together the different bits of people's lives in each story. This format also offers an opportunity to see some of the characters from several different perspectives, and perhaps make the short stories more satisfying to those who are dissatisfied by their brevity, as some of the same characters reappear, so offering some of the advantages of the novel while staying in the short story form.

The rest of my review is here:

http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Perfect_Lives_by_Polly_Samso...

And another picture book review:

http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Even_Monsters_Need_Haircuts_...

We all really enjoyed this one.

279. 15/11 Studs Terkel, The Good War 4.4*

TIOLI book about one of the World Wars

A collection of interviews from the 1980s with people who had been involved in some way with WWII.

280. 16/11 Dorothy Whipple, High Wages 4.1*

TIOLI book alphabet challenge

set in the early 20th century (it could almost have fitted the wartime challenge as WW1 does play a part in the storyline), and it could have also fitted the reprinted classics challenge as it's a Persephone.

A young girl pursues a retail career, starting off as an exploited shop girl but moving into her own business. The historical detail is fascinating, and it's a great read which would have been a 4.5* book but I felt very let down by the ending and by the storyline which led to it.

#145: The Good War looks right up my alley. Thanks for the mention, Luci!

Have you not read any Studs Terkel before? He died in 2008 aged 95 (I remember because he'd just stuck around long enough to be excited about Obama, until a couple of days after the Presidential election). He was an oral historian and did collections about Work, Race, The Great Depression, music.... he did a radio show for many years, I believe until soon before his death, but I didn't hear that. I have a lot of his books but would like to own and read them all, preferably in matching editions - most of mine now are the US New Press editions.

No, I have never read anything by Studs Terkel, Luci.

I'm just surprised because you're so well read, Stasia.

I'm admittedly shocked that you haven't read anything by Studs Terkel, Stasia! You must read him; he's one of the greatest oral historians. I've read at least three of his books, Working, Hard Times and Race, which were all very good, although it's been years since I've read anything by him.

Up until LT, I was reading mainly mysteries and romances, so do not be shocked. I am really not well read.

#152: I am really not well read.

With all due respect, I say "Rubbish!" to this comment. You read more widely than I do (since I'm the co-president of the "four hankies and a pistol" book club along with Rebecca), and your reading output is phenomenal.

#153: You can say "Rubbish," Darryl, but it is true. The number of authors and works that I have not yet read appalls me at times.

Darryl says Rubbish, I say Balderdash. We've all got big black holes in our reading. We just aren't all stuffing them up at the rate you are!

I tripped over Polly Sansom's books on Amazon, Luci, and you may have inspired me to wish-list or otherwise seek out that book of short stories.

Re the Deborah Crombie vs. Elizabeth George debate, I have been reading both series pretty much since they began appearing. (I think in both cases, I jumped in around book 2 or 3, and then went back and read the earlier books, and have bought each book in both series since then.)

I have to confess to preferring George's books. By now, the dynamic between the two lead characters in Crombie's books has really palled for me -- there's a lack of momentum there. Also, the plots are more straightforward procedurals, which tend to become tedious for me after a dozen or so straight books.

What I like about George's books are the complex backgrounds. No, they aren't P.D. James, but I like the feeling that they are stories about people that happen to involve mysteries/crime, rather than mysteries that happen to feature recurring characters. There have definitely been books that I didn't like as much (the one where she writes the story through the eyes of the young murderer is a prime example) and most of them aren't really re-readable for me (but then, neither are the Crombie books.)

Re Noel Streatfield's books -- I remember liking White Boots (which probably has ended up in the quasi-series) and Tennis Shoes, which features a family of junior tennis champions/players. I think Circus Shoes was originally The Circus is Coming, which I REALLY enjoyed.

I saw a memoir by Katie Hickman yesterday which is about going to Mexico and joining the circus there - I'm probably going to regret not buying it but it's in a remainder shop which I pass near fairly regularly, so there may be another opportunity or it might also show up in another remainder shop.

I just tried putting Skating Shoes in brackets to see, and it indeed came up with White Boots by Noel Streatfeild.

That's a shame about The Finkler Question but a good selection of other reads to make up for it.

I've fallen a few weeks behind, so I just now read your reviews of the various old-fashioned children's books. I'm glad I've given myself the opportunity to revisit that challenge this month! I still have Ballet Shoes and Mary Poppins sitting on my shelf because I didn't get around to them in October, and I've also never read A Little Princess even though I know I own three copies of it.

I'm particularly glad that you enjoyed The Willoughbys, and thank you for giving me a nudge to get back to all the other ones that I passed by!

281. 17/11 ed Julie Smith, New Orleans Noir 4.2

TIOLI Alphabet challenge

This anthology has a slightly different feel to some of the others in the series. Smith has chosen one story about the author's series character, Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January - and it's historical, set about 200 years ago. Most of the stories though are set in the city post Hurricane Katrina, and offer an interesting sort of fictional take on that situation.

282. 17/11 Roald Dahl, The BFG 4.1

TIOLI same letter at end of first name, start of last name

My 3rd Dahl book in the last few months and my second new to me one - Fantastic Mr Fox was my favourite of his books as a kid, but I think I read less than half of the box set of 16 I have now. The main character is named after his granddaughter Sophie - Sophie meets a nice giant, but they must do something about all the giants who aren't so nice and like to eat children. Very sweet and funny and I think this one would be a good place to start introducing Dahl to children, perhaps I'll try and persuade Mike to start reading such books himself first. (He does sometimes get into reading a series obsessively, and carries round non-fiction books, some more interesting than others, but he's hard to persuade to read new to him stuff).

#160: I love The BFG!

283. 18/11 Cathy Marie Buchanan, The Day the Falls Stood Still 4.4

TIOLI Alphabet Challenge

284. 19/11 Antonio Tabucchi, Pereira Maintains 4.2

TIOLI Alphabet challenge, shared read and LT Early Reviewer book - review to come shortly

Review finally written, very late - writing it has made me realise I need to reread.

This short novel by the Italian writer Antonio Tabucchi is set in Lisbon, Portugal in 1938. Salazar’s government at the time was sympathetic to fascism, as represented by Mussolini’s regime in Italy and General Franco’s forces in the Spanish Civil War.

Pereira is a journalist working for a small evening paper and has been asked to set up a culture section. He does not think of himself as particularly political, just a man getting on with a rather dull, unsatisfying job and mourning his dead wife. Maybe he can promote the literature and values he loves without causing any trouble in his new position – he translates a 19th century Balzac story from French for inclusion in the paper.

Then he reads an article by a young man and offers him work, a decision which is going to shake up his life. Monteiro Rossi turns out to be totally set on writing unprintably subversive articles extolling the revolutionary political views of his heroes. Pereira is soon introduced to his attractive and fiercely opinionated girlfriend Marta.

Pereira quickly finds himself committed to supporting these young dissidents and their views, whatever the cost to him. The story is told using the phrase “Pereira maintains” several times on each page – he is trying to explain what happened, as if he was sucked in despite himself.

I liked this book a lot. There is a lot to think about within it, and it has made me want to find out more about Portuguese history, in the context of Europe in 1938 and the looming war for or against fascism. Pereira has been trying not to take sides, but in the story he feels compelled to take the side of what he feels is right, at any cost. Interestingly, when this book was first published in Italy in 1994, it was taken up enthusiastically by those campaigning against the right wing Berlusconi in the elections there.

I think I will probably try to reread it this year as I’m interested in the themes Tabucchi is exploring and I think I might have missed a lot on the first reading.

This English translation by Patrick Creagh was first published in 1995. This Canongate reissue is a compact and appealing hardback with an introduction by Mohsin Hamid explaining why this is his favourite book, and a lovely addition to my bookshelves - thank you.

285. 20/11 Julie Highmore, The Birthday 3.8*

http://www.librarything.com/work/10634146/book/66688758

Non TIOLI book- reviewed for the Bookbag - I did hope to get it into the alphabet challenge but by the time I got it, I and other people had added a preposterous number of books and I would have had to add more books I knew I wasn't going to read.

Normally Highmore's books are really lovely and enjoyable, I had more mixed feelings with this one as it was about people who've been living with secrets for the whole of their adult lives, and I just found that so frustrating - the next generation were a bit silly too.

My review is here:

http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=The_Birthday_by_Julie_Highmo...

It's not that I don't like books with moral ambiguity, but I think I prefer more literary fiction with that, or feelgood stuff with my chicklit (or henlit - chicks grow up into hens and the main characters are hardly chicks).

The next 15?

301. Poppy Adams, The Behaviour of Moths

302. Stephen Lambert, Eli Holzman and Mark Levine - Undercover Boss

303. ZZ Packer, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

304. Helen Ashton, Bricks and Mortar

305. Claire Letemedia, The Best of Men

306. Bernadette Strachan, How to Lose a Husband and Gain a Life

307. Margaret Maron, Corpus Christmas

308. Anne Fadiman, Ex Libris

309. Francis Marion Beynon, Aleta Dey

310. Rosamund Lupton, Sister

311. Louise Wener, Different for Girls

312. Kate Long, The Bad Mother's Handbook

313. George Eliot, Middlemarch

314. Charlotte Hobson, Black Earth City

315. Joan Aiken, The Winter Sleepwalker

316. Ella Griffin, Postcards From the Heart

317. Curt Colbert (ed), Seattle Noir

318. Alon Hilu, The House of Rajani

319. Laura Lippman, Another Thing to Fall

#165: The next 15?

I have no doubt you will make it, Luci!

Just posted a message and then lost it. I think what I said was:

I haven't tried either George or Crombie, but will keep a look out for Crombie on your and Peggy's recommendation.

#165 - Over 300 books, and the year not finished yet!

286. 20/11 Michael Morpurgo, Private Peaceful 4.5*

TIOLI WW1 story and shared read

A story of two brothers growing up - they are now soldiers in the trenches but an execution is looming - a courtmartial for desertion. Beautifully written but heartbreakingly sad. A children's book but probably best for 10+ - early (or later) teens.

287. 21/11 Lloyd Jones, Hand Me Down World 4.3

Twitter giveaway win and TIOLI Alphabet challenge

Ines' journey from Africa to Germany, looking for her stolen baby, is mostly told through the accounts of others. Another very sad, thought provoking story.

#168: I already have that one in the BlackHole.

#169: Adding that one to the BlackHole. I enjoyed Jones' Mister Pip. Thanks for the recommendation, Luci.

#169: Hand Me Down World is near the top of my wish list, and I'll order it with my first Book Depository order next year.

Hand me down world is getting good reviews, I'm on a longish library queue for it.

288. 22/11 Nella Last, Nella Last's War 4.6

TIOLI world wars challenge

Nella Last kept a mass observation diary and this is extracts from her diaries kept during WWII. Much of her life is quite mundane, but somehow her style makes it all riveting - this is edited from the original eg paragraphs and punctuation to make it easier to read, and it's extracts not the complete text. I found Nella Last's Peace for 50p in a charity shop, one of my finds of the year, and I plan to buy a volume taking her into the 50s.

289. 23/11 Christopher Hitchens, Hitch 22 4.2

TIOLI alphabet challenge

A controversial journalist's memoir. I thought I'd dislike him but although I still don't agree with his views on Iraq, and he is an arrogant so and so, this is a very engaging read. Lots of it is actually about his friendships and friends but it's more than just namedropping though there's an element of that, it offers a perspective on various people I'd not thought of. I might have written a longer review but it had to go back to the library before I got to it.

#173: I need to dig that one out and give it a read!

Still more than a few books to catch up on, and more to finish, as I'd sooner not take big books with me with only a few pages to go, assuming we can travel to my mum's as planned on Wednesday! I'm getting worried.

One of my favourite singer-songwriters was killed 10 years ago today, aged 41, by a speedboat in an area where it wasn't meant to be. RIP Kirsty MacColl.

It seems East Coast trains from Kings Cross are still running with signalling delays - Inverness trains are terminating in Perth (both in Scotland and a long way north of Yorkshire).

Hope you manage to travel ok Luci - where do you need to get to?

Can't believe it is 10 years since Kirsty MacColl died!

I hope that you're able to visit your mother on Wednesday, Luci. When is the snow supposed to end in the capital?

Ilkley, near Leeds - we do have a lot of snow on the ground by our standards, but I expect other parts of the capital are worse affected. Last year the most difficult part of our journey was getting a cab to take us to the station, as the cab company we'd originally booked in advance with didn't honour our booking, or seem to think we had any reason to expect a cab to turn up....

The first day in many years we had snow like this was 2 February 2009 (you will see why I can pinpoint the precise date like that), and all buses in London were cancelled. I had to get a cab to the hospital to discuss what was going to happen as I was 41 weeks pregnant, ie my baby was a week late. While I was there my contractions started, I decided to come home and pack what I needed, talk to Danny etc. We went back in at about 9 pm and my third cabbie of the day was lovely, assuring us he'd delivered 5 babies, 2 in the back of his cab! C was eventually born by emergency cs in the early hours of the next morning.

WHAT a story!
I wish you safe travel and a lovely visit, but I'll likely be back before you leave.....

Safe travels for both you and your mum during the holidays, Luci! I do hope the snow holds off.

Hi, Luci, any word about Miriam yet? Will she be able to make it for Wednesday? Kate got cancelled from DC, but is rebooked to come in Monday night and upgraded to Upper Class, so hopefully she will be ok if the weather holds. Hope you are lucky, too.

I'm looking forward to seeing your thoughts on The Children of Green Knowe.

Miriam is in London where I think she's celebrating her 30th birthday on Thursday a day early, then attempting to travel home. Sian also plans to come up on Thursday.

Have been a bit frantic all day because all the East Coast trains were cancelled today, it looks like they'll run tomorrow but people booked on Advance tickets today have been advised to travel at the same time tomorrow, and the 11.35 is cancelled. We had good reserved seats on tickets booked months ago but I fear they won't put out seat reservations and it will be a free for all. They make us wait on the concourse for a platform announcement and put the cheap advance reservations a way back so if it's a free for all people who least need them, unencumbered by children, age or physical frailty, can grab those seats.

I really enjoyed The Children of Green Knowe reread though I was a bit puzzled by how the family ancestry had been maintained. Good reading at this time of year too, probably even better if I'd read it later in the month.

I just learned of the death of Ruth Park, New Zealand born/Australian resident author of Playing Beatie Bow and The Harp in the South among others. She died aged 93 on 16 December.

Oh, I love Playing Beatie Bow. It somehow never occurred to me that the author had written other books.

Yes, I put a link to her obit in the Interesting Articles thread.

Good luck with the travel.

We made it up! Our seat reservations were, worryingly, not together but we held on to a table anyway (two seats labelled forward facing but actually back were ours, the others were on the other side of the aisle and behind, in handwriting, despite consecutive numbering). I only felt slightly guilty - what is the company doing not putting 4 people travelling together, two of them children, on a Family Railcard - together? I'm quite concerned that they may have done the same thing on the way back.

Glad you made it!!!

On the way back -- possession is 9/10 of the law, aka force majeure. Or, go to the station and put on plaintive pleading expression. Sounds as if the seat reservation system was a bit bolloxed up anyway.

Have a wonderful holiday!! Hope you get some reading done...

Glad you made it, Luci! I hope you have a wonderful family gathering for the holidays!

#191 So glad to hear you made it and managed to get seats together!

Glad you made it there safely!

Seat reservations always seem chaotic, especially at times like this. I'm glad you go there safely - have a good Christmas!

Thanks. Sian and Miriam also made it safely up. Am not getting very much reading done, hope to read a few pages now, but I sort of expected that, really. I'm just very grateful for this Christmas all together, after this year.

Happy Christmas, Luci!

Glad you all made it, and hope you have a really good time together.

A merry Christmas to you, Luci. You've added a lot to my enjoyment of LT.

Merry Christmas, Luci!

Happy Christmas Luci.

Merry Christmas, Luci!

Thanks for all the Christmas wishes - hope you all had or are having a lovely time. Conor took ages to settle tonight so I'm glad my mum stayed up way past her normal bedtime to chat - my brother spent a lot of the day here too which is unusual for Christmas day (he and his fiancee usually spend this day with her family and come out a couple of other times during the holiday, but he's come out twice already since we got here, I guess it's another sign of how relieved we all are to still have our mum here).

The kids have had a great day with pressies, food and loving adults to play with them.

There's no way I'm going to even type out the names of the last 29 books I've finished before we go out tonight - I've read 318 although I've slowed down a bit over the holiday, and might finish no 319.

So Happy New Year all, I'll be posting on this thread for a few days yet for this year's reads, but I'll start next year's thread tomorrow (I can't believe how many threads/posts there are there already, is anyone else other than Richard on thread 2 for next year?)

Happy New Year Luci! I think Mark (msf59) is on his second thread but I am still plowing my way through the 2010 threads I got behind on! Looking forward to your final reviews.

290. 24/11 Diana Wynne Jones, The Homeward Bounders 4.2

I think I must have read this before but had no memory of it. The book uses the idea of different parallel worlds running alongside each other - she does this in other books including some of the Chrestomanci ones. I thought this book was darker, less funny, aimed at a slightly older audience, perhaps. There's some quite complicated stuff going on and a big question is who's using who, raising lots of issues about ethical behaviour and actions. I find it hard to compare with my childhood favourites like The Ogre Downstairs and Charmed Life or with others that I read for the first time or without remembering previous readings like The Lives of Christopher Chant and Dogsbody and perhaps my rating is slightly lower, but I would still recommend this book, perhaps not in quite the same way.

291. 25/11 Colm Toibin, The Empty Family 4.1

This collection of short stories was just published a few months ago and I spotted it on the new books shelves at the library. I enjoyed reading it, two of the particularly interesting stories I remember a few weeks later were set in Barcelona though they were quite different. One is about a woman returning to her family home not long after the death of Franco, after living abroad for years (so it's set in the late 70s).

The other is about a young Pakistani man who comes to Barcelona, where he has a job in a Pakistani business selling cheap phone calls and then phones, mostly to immigrants from all over the world. He settles in to his new life, then he becomes friendly with one of his colleagues and flatmates. He fancies him, but is worried about not just rejection but the repercussions of his sexuality being known.

292. 25/11 Michael Bond, A Bear Called Paddington 4.4*

TIOLI: Alphabetical challenge and shared read

I read this several times as a child and have a few Paddington books from then though not the complete series. I actually think I liked it more now than then though. Paddington the small bear is in fact an economic migrant, possibly an illegal immigrant - he has been sent from Peru by his Aunt Lucy because she thinks he will have a better life in London. The Brown family take him in and he has a lot of fun. I found this amusing and plan to acquire those I don't have and read/reread them all in due course. I also think Danny would enjoy Paddington. There are some stories taken from the books and produced as picture books, if I saw those in the library I'd probably get them out but I've not seen them in ours.

293. 28/11 Deborah Crombie, Water Like a Stone 4.1

TIOLI alphabet challenge

#11 in series featuring London detective duo now living together in Notting Hill with their sons (1 is his, 1 is hers). They go to Cheshire to spend Christmas with Duncan's relatives, but all is not well there. The body of a dead baby is found, and then a local social worker is murdered.

I felt very sad about what happened to a lot of the characters (not necessarily the regular series ones) in this instalment, but it was a good read and I have the next two out of the library. Annoyingly, I can't find the library copy of this one to give it back, if it doesn't turn up when I start my big clearout I may have to pay for it.

294. Irene Nemirovsky, Suite Francaise 4.7

TIOLI WWII

The author was working on this when she was deported to a concentration camp where she died in 1942. One of her daughters was left with a suitcase of papers which she couldn't bring herself to read until some years later (she was only a small child at the time of her mother's death).

The book consists of two completed parts of a novel about the occupation of France by the Nazis, and people fleeing. Lots of the characters are not very nice people, they're hardly romanticised as victims. But it's a compelling read. One of the libraries I use has a French language edition which I may put in a reservation for, not to read but to get a feel for the original writing.

As interesting as the unfinished novel is the long account at the back of what happened to Nemirovsky and her writings.

295. Barbara Euphan Todd, Miss Ranskill Comes Home

296. L M Montgomery, Emily of New Moon

297. Julia O'Faolain, No Country for Young Men

298. Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog

299. Lucy M Boston, The Children of Green Knowe

300. Alice Hoffman, Skylight Confessions

301. Poppy Adams, The Behaviour of Moths

Dec TIOLI, Animal on cover, published as The Sister in the US.

302. 7/12 Stephen Lambert, Eli Holzman and Mark Levine - Undercover Boss 3.7

TIOLI Bookbag review

Book of a TV series (US version) which I've not watched, though I probably would if I found it was on (it had just been shown in the UK when I read the book when I read this but I didn't have time to watch what was available on catchup). I found this a quick and enjoyable read, actually, but am rather cynical about the project.

http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Undercover_Boss:_Inside_the_...

303. ZZ Packer, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere 4.4

Dec TIOLI: TIOLI revisited, coffee in the title

Collection of short stories by an African-American writer, first heard of here because someone else enjoyed them - I think it was Justine (sanddancer).

304. Helen Ashton, Bricks and Mortar 3.3

Persephone novel, TIOLI and shared read

The life of a successful London architect and his family from the late 19th century onwards. I was a bit bored by this one.

305. 12/12 Claire Letemedia, The Best of Men 3.2

TIOLI Dec: TIOLI revisited - superlative in title

Review for newbooksmag.com project - they don't seem to be putting the reviews online - I know another reviewer who felt much as I did about it and I've read her review on goodreads.

I had mixed feelings about this historical novel set during the English Civil War in the 17th century.

To start with I quite liked the dashing hero, Laurence Beaumont, and was intrigued by the story of whether he would agree to an arranged marriage. However, I thought that some of the many plot lines were spun out for far too long in the book’s 685 pages. There were a lot of characters and in this story of espionage and plots against King Charles I, and I struggled to remember the position and role of many of the figures who appeared in the novel’s pages.

Beaumont has returned to England after 7 years abroad, and I found his memories of his days in Spain and of a gypsy woman are rather more interesting than the main storyline. Letemendia introduces a couple of other strong woman characters who attract Beaumont, but they don’t come to life for me. There are some fairly explicit sex scenes, but I didn’t care enough by this point.

Because of length and lack of substance, I don’t think this would be a good reading group choice.

Personal rating: 3

Reading Group rating: 1

306. 14/12 Bernadette Strachan, How to Lose a Husband and Gain a Life 4.1

Bizarre but funny chicklit/henlit novel about a woman finding her feet after a rather dramatic split with her husband. She builds up a new life and makes an interesting mixture of new friends. The 3rd Strachan I've read and I have her other 3 TBR.

307. Margaret Maron, Corpus Christmas

308. Anne Fadiman, Ex Libris

309. Francis Marion Beynon, Aleta Dey

310. Rosamund Lupton, Sister

311. Louise Wener, Different for Girls

312. Kate Long, The Bad Mother's Handbook

313. George Eliot, Middlemarch

314. Charlotte Hobson, Black Earth City

315. Joan Aiken, The Winter Sleepwalker

316. Ella Griffin, Postcards From the Heart 3.4*

TIOLI Dec - review an ARC - reviewed for Waterstones

Postcards from the Heart is about the ups and downs in the lives and relationships of a group of friends in Dublin.

Saffy’s career success in advertising has enabled her to buy a luxury flat where she lives with her boyfriend Greg, an actor in a soap opera. Their best friends Conor and Jess are struggling a bit more, bringing up twins on a meagre income from jobs they hate. The lives of all four are about to be shaken up, though. Saffy is longing for a marriage proposal, but Greg’s big news is much more exciting, or at least, he thinks so. Conor sends his novel to a literary agent where the manuscript covered in food and hamster fur somehow catches someone’s eye.

It took me a while to get into this novel. I really liked the characters of Conor and Jess from the beginning but I disliked the vain, vacuous and selfish Greg and couldn’t understand what Saffy or Conor saw in him. I also didn’t identify much with Saffy’s career ambitions and thought she was a bit unfair to her mum, who brought Saffy up alone. Nearly half way in, the pace and interest really picked up and I enjoyed the second half much more. I could really identify with Saffy’s anxiety when her mum gets bad news, as this reflected some of my own experiences. At this point I began to worry about how everything would work out.Ella Griffin is clearly being marketed to fans of Marian Keyes and the many other writers of commercial women’s fiction in Ireland, of which I’m one. I enjoyed it in the end though I thought it could have been much better, and will look out for her next novel.

317. Curt Colbert (ed), Seattle Noir 3.6*

One of the Akashic Noir series - some stories better than others but little stood out for me compared to some of the other anthologies.

318. Alon Hilu, The House of Rajani

TIOLI Dec - TIOLI revisited - House in the title

To be reviewed for the Bookbag - controversial novel by an Israeli novelist set in 19th century Palestine - it was awarded Israel's main book prize and then the award was withdrawn

Bookbag review now up:

http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=The_House_of_Rajani_by_Alon_...

319. 31/12 Laura Lippman, Another Thing to Fall 3.9*

TIOLI Dec - new book in series

Tess Monaghan #10 about a female PI in Baltimore. In this book Tess is hired to protect a TV star as there have been odd happenings on set. Not the best in the series but I liked it better than most of the reviewers on LT - it was a satisfying read in a series I enjoy to round off the year with.

I like the Tess Monaghan series too, Luci.

Congratulations on a great reading year in 2010! I hope you do just as well in 2011!

A very late early reviewer review of Pereira Maintains at this message

http://www.librarything.com/topic/100468#2350117

and on the book's LT page

http://www.librarything.com/work/142748

That's a good review of Pereira Maintains, I've already noticed a few reviews for it, and will have to wishlist it.

Another review done, this time of a chicklit novel, Postcards from the Heart at Post 221.

Some updates on last year's reads done, more to come.