flissp flits into 2011 a couple of weeks early

Okey dokey, here's my first thread for 2011, updated, complete with plans so far (more to be added)...:

Here's the ticker (arbitrary goal of 125 again):




Reviews for 2011:
The Last Dragon Slayer - Jasper Fforde
Jane Austen, Selected Letters (edited by R. W. Chapman)
Ghost of a Chance - Rhiannon Lassister (ER)

...and I'm going to keep track of how many books I buy this year too - with the aim of buying no more than an average of 1 per week. Already over the limit, but I did have a book token...:




I'm a member of the LT Early Reviewers group, so I'll link to my reviews here:

...and my list of goals for this years reading:

Goal 1: Non Fiction - same as 2010 - to read 10 non fiction books (excluding travel guides):

i) Galileo's Daughter: Dava Sobel (March TIOLI) - Thread 1, Msg203
ii) The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh
iii) Last Chance to See: Douglas Adams (Reading)
iv) An Angel at My Table: Janet Frame
v) In Cold Blood: Truman Capote
vi) My Childhood: Maxim Gorky
vii) Allotments - Jane Eastoe (January TIOLI) - Thread 1, Msg114
viii Jane Austen Selected Letters - selected by R. W. Chapman - Thread 1, Msg247
ix)
x)

Goal 2: Group Reads:

i) Austenathon
- Sense & Sensibility (15Jan11) - Thread 1, Msg86
- Pride & Prejudice (15Mar11) - (March TIOLI) Thread 1, Msg227
- Mansfield Park (15May11)
- Emma
- Northanger Abbey
- Persuasion
ii) Beowulf - Seamus Heaney - Thread 1, Msg60
iii)

Goal 3: Books to read:

i) Oscar and Lucinda: Peter Carey
ii) Catch 22: Joseph Heller (because it's my sister's book of the moment)
iii) The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles: Haruki Murakami
iv) Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe
v) Something I haven't read by Kazuo Ishiguro
vi) The Double: Fyodor Dostoevsky
vii) Moon Palace: Paul Auster
viii Schindler's Arc: Thomas Keneally
ix) Troubles: J. G. Farrell (February TIOLI) - Thread 1, Msg161
x) Something I haven't read by by Christopher Isherwood
xi) Sylvia's Lovers/Ruth: Elizabeth Gaskell
xii) The Children's Book: A. S. Byatt

Goal 4: Unfinished 2010 fiction Goals & Christmas Reading:

i) Les Miserables: Victor Hugo (Reading)
ii) I, Claudius: Robert Graves
iii) The Magic Mountain: Thomas Mann
iv) L'etranger: Albert Camus (in French)
v) War and Peace: Tolstoy
vi) Wuthering Heights: Emily Brontë
vii) Grapes of Wrath: John Steinbeck
viii) Vilnius Poker: Ričardas Gavelis
ix) The Master and Margarita: Mikhail Bulgakov - Thread 1, Msg60

Goal 5: Re-reads (because why not!):

i) All the novels of Jane Austen (see above) & The Watsons (JA + another - I've only ever read Jane Austen's fragment, never one of the finished off versions) (2/7)
ii) The Princess Bride - William Goldman (because I had pangs for it all last year)
iii) The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

I shall update this map with each author's origin as I read:


8 states (3.55%)
map

...and here are links to my previous threads:
Thread for 2010 pt4
Thread for 2010 pt3
Thread for 2010 pt2
Thread for 2010 pt1
Thread for 2009 pt2
Thread for 2009 pt1
Thread for 2008

Best New Read of the Month:
January: Case Histories - Kate Atkinson
February: The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok - Richard Matheson
March: Puss in Boots - Diana Wynne Jones
April:

My TIOLI challenge books:

TIOLI Books from July, August & September 2010
TIOLI Books from October, November & December 2010

JANUARY 2011: (4/4)
1) Read a Book with a 3.8 to 4.2 Star Rating:
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (4.8) - Thread 1, Msg86 & group read
2) Read any first book in a series: - thread
Case Histories - Kate Atkinson - Thread 1, Msg86
4) Read a Book that pre-dates the printing press: - thread
Beowulf - Seamus Heaney - Thread 1, Msg60 & group read
5) Read a Book You Received for any Christmas: - thread
Allotments - Jane Eastoe - Thread 1, Msg114

FEBRUARY 2011: (3/5)
1) Read a book with an embedded word in the title (min 5 letters & 2 words):
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce (Finished in March) - Thread 1, Msg186
3) Read a 75 challenge 2010 favourite: - thread
Troubles - J. G. Farrell
11) Read an author new to you from China, Korea, Mongolia or Vietnam (or related communities):
I can't seem to come up with anything that I've already got (which I try to do with TIOLI books) that I feel like reading, so I'm skipping this category after all, but I'm going to keep an eye out as it's occurred to me that I haven't read very much from this part of the world.
14) Book with a Valentine
Harlequin Valentine - Neil Gaiman - Thread 1, Msg149
15) Second in a Series
Fool Moon - Jim Butcher - Thread 1, Msg149
One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson - not going to get to.

MARCH 2011: (4/7)
1) Read a book with a city (or town) named on page 17:
Galileo's Daughter - Dava Sobel (Florence) - Thread 1, Msg203
4) Main title words (not a, an, etc.) increase or decrease by 1 letter count:
South Riding - Winifred Holtby 5:6 (Reading) - still reading
7) From the LibraryThing's top 50 wishlisted books: - thread
Either Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury, Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov or maybe The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami (haven't decided yet - depends on how I'm feeling when I get to it!) - didn't have time!
8) Read a book of short stories:
Firebirds Rising edited by Sharyn November - Thread 1, Msg186
12) Read a book about philosophy:
Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder (because I got half way through years ago, before getting distracted by something else). - not going to get to.
15) Read a book with 17 letters in the title:
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - Thread 1, Msg227
18) Read a YA book in the fantasy/sci-fi genre:
Sabriel - Garth Nix - Thread 1, Msg208

APRIL 2011: (10/10)
1) Read a book with striking cover art): - thread
The Snow Goose - Paul Gallico - Thread 1, Msg258
8) Read a book by a Japanese author/takes place in Japan:
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea - Yukio Mishima - Thread 1, Msg258
11) Read a book on the Orange 2011 longlist: - thread
The Seas - Samantha Hunt
13) Read a book published before you were born
South Riding - Winifred Holtby - seeing as I didn't finish it last month! - Thread 1, Msg247
15) Read a book by Diana Wynne Jones
I'm planning on reading everything she's written in publication order anyway, so I'll see how many I get through! To start with:
Changeover (1970) - Thread 1, Msg258
Wilkins' Tooth (1973) - Thread 1, Msg258
The Ogre Downstairs (1974) - Thread 1, Msg258
Eight Days of Luke (1975) - Thread 1, Msg258
Cart and Cwidder (1975) - Thread 1, Msg258
Dogsbody (1975)

MAY 2011: (?/?)
1) Book with a 5 word title (& 1 word from previous book):
Need to work on this one.
6) Top left hand corner challenge:
This is problematic - it's "Ara 13" who is on my wishlist and not someone I actually own...
7) Book by a Beat author:
On the Road - Jack Kerouac (I've been meaning to read this for ages)
8) Graphic Novel:
To update.
13) Repeating vowels:
Mansfield Park - Jane Austen

For my own reference, some links:
First page of the January TIOLI Wiki
First page of the February TIOLI Wiki
First page of the March TIOLI Wiki
First page of the April TIOLI Wiki
First page of the May TIOLI Wiki

a place to hold... ahem, what was I thinking...
Oh yes, a place to be starred, THAT was it ;-)

Welcome back!

Goody good, Fliss, now I don't have to fly to England and hunt you up so's I can smack you with a mackerel.

If the mackerel is cooked and includes chips you can smack me with it!

Hi Fliss!

*Waves*

Glad to see you back, Fliss!

Hey Fliss! I lost track of you in the 2010 group but I found you here. :)

Hallo everyone! Looking forward to seeing you all here (or on your own threads I trust) next year! I probably won't come by much before Christmas - and those of you with ridiculous length threads already, I'll also probably only be checking in to your second threads at this rate...

#5 & #6 Now you're just being silly, people. Tradition says it should be a kipper.

Hey, Fliss! I'm with you on the "not participating too much in here before christmas", but needed to star you...and of course to say Hello!

Have a lovely day:)

Fliss you are an inspiration, so organized!

Fliss you are an inspiration, so organized!

Thank you! I'm not sure I really am though ;o)

Hallo one and all - good to see you back - I shall be looking for you all over Christmas, when I plan a proper catch up...

Looking forward to following you again :)

So, if there's a burst of people slapping each other with kippers, we shall now on whom to blame it?

Happy new year's reading!

An EXTREMELY belated HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!, it's lovely to "see" you all - and welcome to my new thread - I'm looking forward to catching up properly with everyone!

...Particularly looking forward to catching up on your own threads (although not until I'm back at work), which I at least have some chance of now it's a new year. I'm giving up on the threads from last year...

Hopefully I'll have my internet back soon too (fingers crossed - ever the optimist).

Soooo. I've been in a big reading slump lately. I'm still reading The Master and Margarita and Les Misérables and didn't even get around to writing my usual list of "stuff I want to read over the holidays". I think I need to jump start my new year... Enjoying The Master and Margarita, but I do need to psyche myself up to read Les Mis, if I'm honest. It's probably going to be a long haul book.

I'll be updating my last thread from 2010 at some point soon with a sum up of everything, but in the meantime, I've had a think about the books I want to read this year, so I'm going to update my first post above with my goals for the year - a work in progress...

#16 Terrible waste of kippers I say ;o)

...and to you!

I'm in the library at the moment and my time allotment is running out, but I'll be back and more talkative soon, I promise... If nothing else, there will be neice photos to post before long hopefully!

ETA: OK, I would have updated my goals for the year, if I could find the list of books I carefully wrote on the train the other day! Clearly, it will have to wait for the next time I can get at some internet...

In the meantime, I found the quote from Bliss that I was looking for last year (don't suppose anyone remembers this any more!) - although I think it probably only makes sense if you understand the awe with which the narrator had described the process of peas "uncurling through red soil". It's a bit of a context quote, but it touched me.

"And now there is not much more to say about these lives, not, at least, in a book that will be sold mainly in cities and to strangers at that. There were days, nights, meals, storms, fires, trees, bees, many things that were tedious, repetitive, as expected as peas uncurling through red soil."

...now I really do need to log off. Back soon!

Happy New Year, Fliss! Good to see you back, but I do hope for a resolution of the internet connection!!! This is getting very old, isn't it?

Thanks Roni and **** yes it is... I don't understand why it seems to be so complicated! ;o)

Right. I'm checking out again for now....

Happy New, Fliss!

hi Fliss, Happy New Year!!!!

After we moved here, 5 years ago, we had endless trouble with our internet connection, it was terrible... finally we moved to a more costly but better service.

I hope your problems will be solved better and sooner ;-)

Happy New Year - here's to a 2011 with a working internet connection!

"Particularly looking forward to catching up on your own threads (although not until I'm back at work), which I at least have some chance of now it's a new year"

Ha - no chance. I don't think I've ever been more behind with all the threads - there are twice as many to catch up on now!

Sorry to hear about the reading slump though :-(

Welcome to 2011 and I hope you sort out the internet.
I've made my start on Les Miserables, only 80pgs into it, but will read lots of other books while tackling it. My plan is a minimum of 100pgs per week - that means 12 weeks to finish it.

Happy new year, Fliss!

Wow, so much to catch up on in here already! Have a wonderful day!

Still no working internet? This problem seems to be taking an awful long time to fix! I hope it is resolved soon.

Happy New year to all of you too!

...and the internet connection thing is hopefully going to be in hand shortly. I contacted someone I've been recommended over Christmas, but it's a part time thing for him, so he's taken rather a long time to get back to me. I suppose Christmas - New Year is always a bad time to actually get anything done... I'm back at work now at least, so I can check in after work.

#22 "Ha - no chance. I don't think I've ever been more behind with all the threads - there are twice as many to catch up on now!"
- gulp. Yes, I think you may be right. I dropped by lots of threads on Tuesday, just to say hallo to people, not so much to catch up properly, but I've already lost track of them again. Maybe it'll calm down a bit when the thrill of the new year starts to die down!

#23 Kerry, you make it sound so manageable like that! I'm about 500 pages in now, but the real problem is that other, more urgently appealing books keep on coming in and interrupting me ;o) I'll take my time and see how it goes. I had rather a lot of tomes on my list of things to read last year and I seem to be carrying most of them over again!

I've now updated my Goals for 2011 properly - and also the a brief summary of my 2010 reading on my final 2010 thread if anyone's at all interested (I mostly do these things for my own reference!).

These were my top five new reads for 2010 (in no particular order, except the first):

Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Maus - Art Spiegelman
Room - Emma Donoghue
The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter

LOL I love that Wuthering Heights is on your TBR list for another year! You are very persistent :)

#26: the internet connection thing is hopefully going to be in hand shortly.

Woot! I certainly hope so!

Hi Fliss. Nice goals. Speaking of persistence -- I see Galileo's Daughter is on the list again as well. I hope you get to read it this year.
So, the holidays are over... do you have internet service yet? (jk)

Hello Fliss, hope the internet is getting sorted. I like your goals for 2011. Have you read Never let me go by Ishiguro? That was one of my best reads of 2010.

I agree with Genny regarding Never Let Me Go. It is a great book!

Hi all - internet now all fixed - woo!

Also, as of 7.44pm yesterday, am now an auntie - double woo!

#27 ;o) I am nothing if not stubborn!

#29 Yep, I was annoyed with myself for never getting to Galileo's Daughter last year - it was on the almost-list for Christmas, so I'll probably read it quite soon.

#30 & 31 Actually, Never Let Me Go was the first Ishiguro that I read (when it first came out). To be honest though, while I thought it was beautifully written, I absolutely hated it I'm afraid!!

Congratulations on finally getting it fixed, Fliss!

Yay for the fixed internet and becoming an aunt. Commence spoiling of niece/nephew.
I was underwhelmed by Never Let Me Go. Possibly I've read too much scifi, but, the big reveal wasn't unexpected and not all that shocking.

Welcome back online, you've been missed. And congratulations - any more details of baby? Danny adores his auntie (my baby sister).

#34 Re Never Let Me Go - yes, I think that that was a problem for me too (too much sci-fi). I'd read Spares by Michael Marshall Smith not long before then too - certainly my big complaint about the book at the time was that that story line had been a bit done to death... On the other hand, for me, the book was more about Ishiguro's writing style, which, despite my general dislike of the story, really did pull me in. It definitely made me want to read more of his stuff bizarrely.

Re my niece (*smirks*), I haven't met her yet and they're being abnormally slow to put up anything online (I was expecting my brother in law to put photos up almost instantly - but then he did say she was a bit purple as she ended up needing forceps).

She's (probably) going to be called Isla Rose and she was only 6lb2oz (bizarrely, despite my brother in law now being 6'7" (ie 2m) tall, apparently, he was small too), but everyone is healthy and good and I'm almost certainly going to meet her on Wednesday (so as to stagger visiting a little bit - my mum is going down today, the mother in law the day after).

There will be photos.

Re my back online-ness, seriously, PHEW. About time too... It may take a little while for me to catch up again properly though...

Isla Rose is a gorgeous name :) and a purple baby sounds cute to me....but then it's not my kid, and I'm not a mother kind of person so perhaps my view is wrong.

Will be great to have you back around. And Never Let Me Go underwhelmed me as well. What did you think of Spares?

Congratulations on becoming an auntie!

Congratulations, Auntie!

I guess I didn't read Never Let Me Go as sci-fi, and in fact already knew the basic plot before I read it, so what I liked about it was more about the writing and the way he explored how the characters themselves grew into consciousness of what was happening to them and how they were affected by it.

Love the name Isla Rose .... although I don't know ..... with a purple baby they didn't want to go with Isla Violet? ;-)

#40 *SNORT!* Well, they wanted a one syllable middle name (surname is two), so how about Isla Mauve? ;o)

#39 Thank you!

Yes, this is the reason that, despite disliking the story, I was glued to the book and knew I would have to read more Ishiguro, even though I shall never pick up Never Let Me Go again.

#38 Thank you!

#37 Ah, all babies are pretty ugly really (obviously, I won't be saying this to my sister) ;o)

Spares I enjoyed a lot - Michael Marshall Smith doesn't write great literature, but he's great at pace (which is why I wish he'd go back to sci-fi/fantasy again). It's been a long time since I read it though, so I don't know how well it would stand up to a reread.

What a relief to have you back on the Internet again!! And congrats on becoming an aunt!

#42 thank you on both counts! (and look, you got to be post 42 ;o) - always an important number...)

I keep forgetting that I meant to name and shame the books I obtain this year (that really wasn't meant to rhyme) - in an effort to make myself read the ones I already own (hence the counter also, although I won't include gifts for that).

So.

Christmas haul (Cambridge):
Allotments - Jane Eastoe
Birds: The Art of Ornithology -Jonathan Elphick
Andrew Duncan's Favourite London Walks
The Big Bang: Christmas Crackers 2000-2009 - John Julius Norwich
National Geographic Simply Beautiful Photographs - Annie Griffiths

...plus a book token which helped to buy:

05-Jan-11 (South Bank, London):
The Humbling - Philip Roth
One Thousand and One Ghosts - Alexandre Dumas
Memoirs of the Life of Monsieur De Voltaire: Written by Himself - Voltaire
The Double - F.M. Dostoevsky

OK people, my sister has just put up some photos, so here's one of hers (expect at least one more tomorrow):



VERY big hands but I like the quiff the best. My sister's comments when I said she'd have to be a rugby player: "you guys *have* to see her feet. They are like flippers. It is hilarious." We are not a sentimental family in many respects ;o)

Fliss, she is adorable. Isla Rose really suits her.

What a cute little niece! Congrats, auntie!

After re-reading the line that confused you in my Sense and Sensibility review, I altered it to be more clear. I think you were right that it confused the issue. Thanks.

But I still don't like the sister's relationship in the book. Everyone on the spoiler thread says that it is more realistic for its strained nature, but Elinor and Marianne seem to like so few people, each other included. Just me probably.

Congratulations on your new niece. My niece has just had her second child, Rain Promise. To be honest, I like the name Isla Rose more.

#44: Great picture, Fliss! Congratulations, Auntie!

A couple more pics!:





Thanks people. If I'm honest, at the moment, she looks much like most babies do when they're only 3 days old, but she has the longest fingers and toes and the funniest expressions...

#47 You've got an interesting point about the sister's relationship BDB - I remember it as something I liked about the book, but it really has been a while since I last read it, so I'm going to keep in mind what you said when I reread it (I've nearly finished The Master and Margarita now, so that'll probably be soon) and I'll get back to you. This is the great thing about group reads though - seeing how differently people interpret the same book. ;o)

#48 ...and congratulations to your neice too!

Nice pics Aunt Fliss. Ilsa Rose is very alert looking for a 3 day old.
At work we always laugh about the babies who have toes as long as their fingers. Are those marks from the forceps or just shadows? If forceps, ouch, poor baby.

Oh, she is so adorable!!:) I had to skim through all the Never Let Me Go posts (plan to read it this year), and nearly missed the name conversation. Knew I had lost something when I saw the pics!

#48: Finished with Sense and Sensibility already, Mac? Is it safe to read the review? Or should I wait until I'm done myself?:) I'm not overly familiar with the plot in that one.

#51 She's also already holding her head up quite well on her own - very impressive - but then, I'm biased ;o)

Re the marks - it's funny, I also noticed them in the photo, but hadn't in the flesh. I think it's just shadow, but she did end up being a forceps baby...

#52 :o)

Re S&S & BDB's review (which is great), you should probably wait to read it until you've finished the book - although it doesn't give too much away, if you don't already know the story, there are a couple of spoilers.

Lovely photos - and you're entitled to be biased! But with feet like flippers, perhaps she'll be an Olympic swimmer rather than a rugby player??

#54 My response to that comment almost exactly! She can be both. I'm not fussy. I was also thinking maybe a guitarist? ;o)

Speaking of Never Let Me Go, there is going to be a preview screening of the film at my local Arts Picturehouse, including a (live satellite) Q&A session with Kazuo Ishiguro! I was going to skip the film (given my comments above), but I can't miss the Q&A session seeing as I'm around in Cambridge that day - yay! So, if anyone has any questions they'd like me to pose...

Oh, what a beautiful beautiful wee one! You must be a very proud auntie.

Congratulations, Fliss! She's a cutie.

The first thing my family (siblings) did when they brought my grandson out for the first time at New Years was to look at his feet. "Yep," they said, "he has Allman feet." (which incidentally are the ugliest feet you have ever seen in your life). I escaped that fate--my sons did not.

Love the pictures, Fliss! Thanks for sharing them.

Reminds me of the tales told of my feet....I have normal sized feet but really long toes, with my third toe longer than the others. My mum had me by emergency C-section so she wasn't awake when I was born. She said she knew when she first saw me that I was the right baby because I had her and my grandfather's toes.

#56 Thank you, am indeed!

#57 Snicker. Yep, she'll either be very tall (not unlikely given her Dad's height and half her Mum's genes), or have a future career as a clown. I'm hoping not the clown as I've always found them a mite sinister...

#58 There will be more ;o)

#59 Heh heh heh... I'm sure a long middle toe must be useful for something? Prodding the floor? ;o)

Actually, it's been rather a worrying weekend as little Isla is still not feeding properly and had to be taken in to hospital over the weekend as she'd become dehydrated. She's come off the drip now though and is back on the regular wards with my sister this afternoon, where they'll keep an eye on her overnight and see how it goes. Sounds like everything is going to be fine anyway, which is a relief - and my brother-in-law got to catch up on his sleep so now sounds almost human again ;o)

So... Books... I can't believe it's taken me this long to actually finish a book this year - usually I read loads over Christmas!

1) The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
Goal 4: Unfinished 2010 reads
(?2003, Cambridge)

Satan arrives with his retinue in a corrupt and cynical Communist Moscow and instantly causes havoc.

Bulgakov's satirical novel of the suffocatingly bureaucratic and sometimes sinister Soviet regime was not at all what I expected. I enjoyed this immensely - a very good start to the year (or, alternatively, finish to the year, depending on your perspective!). Although a different animal, it reminded me in many ways of G. K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday in the almost insane pace and surreal story - at any rate, both of these books I know I'm going to have to reread at some point to get the best out of them as I'm sure I whisked past much of the subtlety.

I'd like to note also that the edition I was reading (Penguin Classics) has particularly good notes - not overly extensive, but informative and full of interesting tidbits - for example, did you know that, apparently, the Russian for the verb "to sit" also means "to sit in prison" (Bulgakov plays on the double meaning)? It brings a whole new meaning to my GCSE Russian classes (our teacher used to enter the classroom in a whirlwind, shouting "садитесь, пожалуйста" (sad-eet-yeh podge-al-oo-esta; sit please) as she came in every lesson. Ah she was an odd one (and one of my favourites I should add).

...and, for this one at least, I'm going to take a leaf out of Bente's book and give you a representative song. In this case, "Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones, which, it occurred to me half way through the book (at the line, from the Devil, "Pleased to meet you, I'm sure you've guessed my name" - or something like that), given the lyrics, has to have been inspired by this book. Wikipedia says only that this has been suggested but that Jagger originally said he thought the idea came from Baudelaire, or another French author - well, if that's the case, it's a very big coincidence!

2) Beowulf - Seamus Heaney
Goal 2: Group Read; January TIOLI: Predates the printing press
(Nov 2010, Cambridge)

Seamus Heaney's wonderfully vivid translation of the Old English poem telling of Beowulf's victory over the monstrous Grendel in his youth and his death, in old age, in the slaying of a dragon.

I enjoyed this - more so, in fact, than I enjoyed the Aeneid last year. As a non classicist who is not very good at reading poetry, I've got a lot out of reading these together on LT, although, I have to say, Heaney's translation is extremely readable. I've already commented over on the group read (link above - I may link to my comments later) and I plan to add more now that I've finished, but I'm off home from work now, so I'll return a bit later (and probably come back to summarise here too).

I'll also note that Seamus Heaney's introduction was very illuminating for me, reading the poem for the first time (I knew the story from Rosemary Sutcliffe's novel, which I read when I was little) - and thanks to Piyush Chourasia who sent me a copy of the Tolkein essay he mentions, which was also interesting.

Msg69 below, has links to most of my comments on the group read (mostly for myself) and a few more thoughts.

(ETA: some links to replace touchstones that weren't working)

I've just been updating my TIOLI reads and I noticed that I can add Case Histories by Kate Atkinson as one of the challenges (first in a series), so I shall probably do that. However, I also noticed that someone had put Day of the Triffids as first in a series...

Now, I know I haven't read everything that John Wyndham has written, but I have read quite a lot of them and, Triffids being one of his best, I'm sure I would have spotted if there had been a sequel. I didn't think that he had written any series... Anyone else know? Because if there is a sequel, I'd definitely like to read it... I should probably go in search of the appropriate thread, but I'm still swamped with unread threads...

A couple new books to add to these.:

12-Jan-11 (Cambridge)
Must Love Hellhounds - Charlaine Harris etc
14-Jan-11 (Cambridge)
The Last Dragonslayer - Jasper Fforde

#61> I looked at the series page, Night of the Triffids is by Simon Clark. I would presume that it's not a series but a 'fanfiction'.
Btw, I'm currently listening to The Chrysalids and enjoying it. I'm reminded of another book which was set in New Zealand and dealt with telepathy. I'll think of it eventually.

How did you like The Last Dragonslayer, I'm waiting for my library to process their copies so will be reading it soon I hope.

edit: just looked at the wiki plot for The Chrysalids and it features New Zealand, now I'm wondering if I've already read this one or there is another out there!

Re Night of the Triffids - ah. How disappointing. I'll maybe google around a bit later on, see if I can find anything else.

Re The Last Dragonslayer, funnily enough - I started and finished that last night! I enjoyed it very much (but more on this at lunch time...)

The Chrysalids is my favourite John Wyndham novel - are you enjoying it? The book itself never really pins down where anything is relative to the present day (it being post apocalyptic - probably nuclear fallout although it's never stated). There is a "Sealand" mentioned however (to say how would be a spoiler), which I always assumed was New Zealand, so it's interesting that you say that - I read it first when I was at school, so there was no such thing as a wiki plot at the time ;o)

#64

Oh dear. I just went to put The Chrysalids onto my wishlist and discovered that I actually own it. God knows where it might be in the boxes of tbr books though :/

#65 Actually, Jenny, now you mention books in boxes, I was just wondering if you remembered that you still have my first two Sandman comics? I'm very happy for you to hang on to them until you get round to them, no rush (as I now have Absolute Sandman), just didn't want you to forget as I'm quite attached to them ;o)

I hope you manage to find The Chrysalids - definitely worth the read. Have you read any others by John Wyndham?

OK, so quick book update (I'm going to post this as a review too I think as there is only one other):

3) The Last Dragonslayer - Jasper Fforde
(Jan 2011, Cambridge)

Jenny Strange is a foundling, working out her indenture at Kazam Mystical Arts Management in Hereford. With the decline, worldwide, in magical potency, the business has hit hard times - former Sorcerers to Royalty are reduced to installing fuss & damage free new plumbing and wiring; flying carpets to delivering pizza.

But Big Magic is on the way and it seems to coincide with the prediction of the death of the Last Dragon at the hands of the Last Dragonslayer.

This is Jasper Fforde's first children's book, but really, I would say that this is only because the main protagonist is not yet 16.

The unUnited Kingdom in which the book is set, while not exactly the same, is very recognisable from his previous series - particularly Thursday Next - an altered version of the UK in which the big corporations have controlling interests in every little thing. His novels are always exuberantly fast paced and imaginative, full of tiny silly quips. This is no different, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a point to make. It's interesting that he's returned to a female viewpoint too, told in the first person and convincingly - plenty of people do very badly when writing as the opposite sex.

A very enjoyable read. I've never been carried away by the Nursery Rhyme books for some reason and, as I've mentioned before, I think it's time for him to leave Thursday Next alone too - the more recent books just don't live up to the first. But both Shades of Grey and The Last Dragonslayer have felt like a return to form - I'm looking forward to sequels for both (if not for ages)...

No, I didn't forget, they're sitting on my shelf right now! I've read the first but not the second. I'll send them back to you if you want them back now, I know I've had them forever. I'm so hopeless sometimes - I forget to do something and then it looks at me, I feel guilty, and then I avoid it more and more cos I feel bad and so the cycle continues.

Nah, don't feel guilty, or bad - and hang on to them for as long as you like. I just know what I'm like when I lend things out - I've lost quite a few books because I've forgotten who I've lent them too. Not an issue with the advent of LT as I have them tagged in my library, but I still have a terrible memory ;o)

Let me know if you want the next couple...

...and, rather than writing everything again, here are links to my thoughts on Beowulf, from the group read:

Msg60, Msg85: on the translation of "Hwaet" to "So" at the start of the poem - I liked the informality of it.

Msg106: Having read The Aeneid so recently, I found myself comparing the two epics quite a bit, even though in many ways, they're quite different. I definitely preferred Beowulf, although I'm still not quite sure why. I think maybe because the whole thing just feels more informal, more relaxed. Also, while I admired Virgil's descriptions of the carnage of battle, I can't say I enjoyed reading them very much. There is gore in Beowulf, but nothing like so much - and a lot less boasting about it too.

Virgil also spends quite a lot of time describing the various deeds of what feels like every last man in his poem, whereas, although there are definitely some (sometimes almost incongruous) historical passages in Beowulf, there is a lot less detail, for which I am thankful. Oh, this sounds as though I didn't enjoy the Aeneid and that isn't true. There were certainly bits I could have dropped, but the sacking of Troy and Aeneas' entrance to the underworld are wonderful.

Msg114: Concluding comments - basically, I thought that there were some wonderfully succinct, but vivid descriptions in this and I would be interested to know how much of this is down to this particular translation. It certainly feels well done - I shall have to compare it.

Some favourite quotes:

"In off the moors, down through the mist-bands
God-cursed Grendel came greedily loping."
(pg24: 710-11)

"The hell-dam was in panic, desperate to get out,
in mortal terror the moment she was found."
(pg43: 1294-5)

"I have never seen mead enjoyed more
in any hall on earth..."
(pg64: 2015-6)

He rippled down the rock, writhing with anger..."
(pg73: 2288)

I'm nicking this from Heather's thread:

List of the 75 Book Challengers' favorite books from 2010:

Nonfiction
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
84, Charing Cross Road
My Reading Life
On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery
Packing for Mars
The Devil in the White City
Mountains Beyond Mountains

Fiction
Bury Your Dead
Room
Harry Potter (series)
Middlemarch
Fingersmith
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
Wolf Hall
Cutting for Stone
The Lacuna
The Imperfectionists
Soulless
Doomsday Book
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
The Graveyard Book
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Help
Matterhorn
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Shades of Grey
The Siege
Troubles
The Uncommon Reader
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Crossed out books - already read - and I enjoyed all of them, apart from The Elegance of the Hedgehog (sort of) - I just don't get why people think it's so fantastic. Once I'd got over my initial dislike of it, I did end up enjoying it, but there was quite a big hurdle to be got over in the first instance. I really must get round to writing up my comments on that one, because it is one I want to leave a review for.
Italics - currently on my TBR list.

The only one of those that has made my "top 5 of the year" from that list is Room, although Middlemarch would have done if I'd been keeping that kind of record at the time I read it.

I have Where the Mountain Meets the Moon very close to the top of my tbr pile. Think I will get to it soon, the top book on my pile keeps changing, you see;)

Me too - funny how that happens ;o)

I liked your quotes from Beowulf. I must move that up in the TBR pile and actually read it this year!

Your niece is a cutie-patootie!

#60: I need to read The Master and Margarita this year! Thanks for the reminder, Fliss.

Hey sweets -- nice list of books :)

#72: I blame all the fantastic good book tips I receive here at LT. They keep distracting me, though I do not mind it at all ;)

#73 Recommended (and thanks)!

#74 Also recommended!

#75 Hallo Susan (*waves*)! Hopefully... ;o)

#76 This is it exactly - along with mood swings...!

I'm feeling a bit guilty, I had a massive gig & theatre booking session today, which, to add to the booking session I had over the holidays has made my diary - and my bank balance - look very busy. Why is it I go for weeks at a stretch with nothing at all appealing to me and then loads of stuff comes along all at once?

Rather excited about the line up though, so I'm going to share it all with you (plus links):

Sat 05 Feb: A Flea In Her Ear (Old Vic, London) - this is for my Mum's birthday...
Sun 06 Feb: Never Let Me Go Q&A (Arts Cinema, Cambridge) - OK it's a film, but Kazuo Ishiguro is the Q&A!
Mon 07 Feb: Kassidy (Camden Barfly, London) - random band I saw in Edinburgh, who were better live than I'd expected
Fri 11 Feb: The Bravery (Haymakers, Cambridge) - speculative
Tue 15 Feb: Teddy Thompson (Junction, Cambridge)
Thu 17 Feb: The Hold Steady (Junction, Cambridge) - speculative
Sat 19 Feb: Frankenstein (NT, London) - Produced by Danny Boyle (matinee!)
Sat 19 Feb: Gruff Rhys (St Paul's Church, Cambridge) - speculative. Yes, I am aware that's 2 in one day ;o)
Sun 20 Feb: Ben Folds (Hammersmith Apollo, London) - he's always fantastic live
Sat 26 Feb: Season's Greetings (NT, London)
*Brief break to go to Budapest for a long weekend ;o) ...and catch my breath*
Wed 16 Mar: The Decemberists (Hammersmith Apollo, London)
Fri 18 Mar: Malcolm Middleton (Haymakers, Cambridge) - writer of the best miserable Christmas song ever
Sat 19 Mar: The Wonder Stuff/The Levellers (Brixton Academy, London)
Sun 20 Mar: Interpol (Corn Exchange, Cambridge) - probably - I haven't booked it yet. Speculative.
Tue 29 Mar: Patrick Wolf (Koko, London)
Sat 02 Apr: The Unthanks (St Paul's Church, Cambridge) - speculative
*Pause, followed by a more relaxed pace...*
Fri 29 Apr: Terminus (Arts Theatre, Cambridge)
Wed 11 May: Avenue Q (Arts Theatre, Cambridge)
Wed 25 May: Eliza Carthy (Junction, Cambridge)
Sat 11 Jun: Erasure (Bedgebury Pinetum & Forest, Kent) - Don't laugh.
Sun 03 Jul: Pulp (Wireless Festival, London)
...and probably Benicassim (Valencia) in mid July - partly to make up for missing Arcade Fire at the Reading Festival last year (because I was feeling too rough to stay), partly to see Elbow again, somewhere other than an arena.

Woo! Can't wait!

Wow, you sure have a busy winter and spring! Sounds like a very interesting season. Hope you get some reading done in between;) Actually, my brother and sister in law are planning to go to Benicassim as well. Have you ever been there before? They wanted to try something new since they've been to Roskilde several times.

Gah, I'm so jealous! Looks like you are going to see some great shows! I'd love to see The Decemberists live but they almost never come to the southeast US and if they do, they go to Atlanta so I'd have a 2 1/2 hour drive in heavy traffic.

You're going to be seeing The Decemberists and Eliza Carthy? I'm so jealous. I'm guessing you liked the Eliza Carthy stuff that you downloaded. Enjoy!!

I'm envious of seeing Eliza Carthy - I saw her briefly at a festival but she handed over to a Finnish band we'd never heard of - though actually Varttina live were a fantastic experience even though no one could understand a word of it! The Unthanks also seem interesting - I have a couple of records in the name of Rachel Unthank - I understand her younger sister also sings on them but has only just decided to commit to a career, hence the change to recording as the Unthanks.

You are going to be busy!!

There's a 50/50 chance I'll be in the UK at the end of March -- may go to the Skoll social entrepreneurship conference in Oxford (yes, I know, not Cambridge, sigh...) Will get in free, as I have connections to the Skoll folks, but need to line up some assignments so it becomes tax-deductible... Fingers crossed!

Goodness, you are going to be busy! Quite a mix of stuff lined up there, too.

Wow, you do look busy. I've seen the Unthanks a couple of times at various folk festivals and they're wonderful to listen to. There might even be some clog dancing if you're lucky!

#78 Well, hopefully there will be some reading on the train to and from London for half of them anyway (or for at least the journey in, given my propensity for picking return trains that are, in fact, replacement bus services - reading on which makes me feel sick).

Re Benicassim, nope, I've never been, although it's one I've meant to get to for a few years now (as is Roskilde in fact). Maybe you should join them!

I'm ashamed to say that I've never been to any official music festivals outside the UK. Mind you, there are such a lot of them here (and more and more in recent years) - I've been to Glastonbury (twice); V festival (twice); Leeds; Reading; Secret Garden Party; Camp Bestival; Big Chill; Camden Crawl (twice); Cambridge Folk Festival (three times); Lattitude; Witness (well, I suppose this one was in Ireland); Wireless (three times - London twice, Leeds once); T on the Fringe; Phoenix (now extinct); Essential Festival; Strawberry Fair (numerous times) and various other much smaller festivals and I've still barely scratched the surface, even if I have been to most of the big ones. ;o)

#79 Hee hee. Although, to be fair, re The Decemberists, I've been waiting a rather long time to see them live (this will be the first time). I suppose though, over here, places are much closer together and I'm only 1hr from London (although, in fact, it takes about 2hrs to Hammersmith as it's the other side of the city)

...and the thing that I was really gutted about last year was the the Dresden Dolls reformed for a one off tour of the US but, despite Amanda Palmer's habit for being permanently on tour, didn't make it outside... Swings & roundabouts ;o) (or is that swings in roundabouts?)

#80 Hee hee! I'd forgotten that you recommended Eliza Carthy ;o) I'm undecided - I've been listening to "Dreams of Breathing Underwater" (and love "Oranges & Seasalt") on Spotify recently. My big tell as to whether I'm really going to get into a band/singer is to see them live and the Junction is very close to where I live...

#81 The Unthanks are another band that I'm going to see speculatively. I'm only recently coming round to folk music - at heart I'm a great believer in the electric guitar ;o) I think they should both be good though, I'm looking forward to them all!

#82 Certainly am! I shall be needing a breather over the summer I think ;o)

The Skoll social entrepreneurship conference sounds intimmidating! Woo for Oxford and tax deductible though... Even though I'm a Cambridge person, I can admit that Oxford is a lovely place - although I do occasionally feel the need to leap to the defence of Cambridge, given both my parents and my sister were at Oxford ;o) I shall cross my fingers for you.

Well, if you have an extra day spare, maybe you can make it in to London - there has been talk, over on Heather's thread about a possible LT meet up there around then!

#83 Yes, it is quite an eclectic mix. Probably because there are quite a few reformed bands gigs there, so there are a lot of blasts from the past. But I like to try to push my boundaries musically. Doesn't always work.

#84 Ooooh, clog dancing?! Good good, glad I bought the ticket - it was one of those "why not?" moments - probably I wouldn't be going if I'd not bought it before all the other tour dates were announced as I am spending a small fortune. Good job I've got airmiles to use up this year...

Right. I really need to leave the house at some point today, if nothing else than to get a passport renewal form! I'll be back...

4) Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
Goal 2: Group read. January TIOLI: Book with a 3.8 - 4.2 rating
(Sept 1997, Bristol/ Jul ?1992, Cambs)

My main comments for the group read are here. *NB Spoilers.*

I don't have much to add to these, I've read this several times now and, while I enjoy it, particularly two wonderful scenes in London (to avoid spoilers here, see my link, if you're interested) and some beautifully caustic, off hand comments, it's hard for it to ever live up to Persuasion or Pride and Prejudice in my eyes really.

5) Case Histories - Kate Atkinson
January TIOLI: First in a series
(Nov, 2010)

I was going to read this last year as it was part of the "Cambridgeshire Book of the Decade" competition last year (an odd selection of books), but I was going through a bit of a book slump (only just coming out of that actually).

1970, 1979, 1994. Three girls, three crimes, two of which remain unsolved. Jackson Brodie, ex-army, ex-cop, private investigator, is asked to investigate all three, many years later.

All I can say is this is a lot better than the book that actually won the Cambs book of the decade prize. Real, if broken, characters and a plot, told from 3 points of view, that swiftly whisks you along with it (even if you're mostly anti crime fiction like me). Theo Wyre is a character I will remember for quite some time I think.

Cambridge and it's suburbs is a real character in this too, which is appealing to me anyway - I like reading stories set in places I know, (even if they do involve murder!). ...and Kate Atkinson is very good at that. She describes my Cambridge - the one in which the non students, non tourists live (even if there are a couple of characatures that I found harder to believe). I assumed that she must have lived here at some point, although I can't find it in her biography, so she must at least know people who do, or done her research well. The only thing that really gives her away are some unlikely routes between places, which is pretty forgivable.

Definitely going to have to read One Good Turn anyway, as it's set during the Edinburgh Festival (and she does actually live there). Can't decide whether to read it now, or wait until I go up in August...

Now for another neice photo as one of my sister's mates just posted a really lovely one:

Outside of the UK, a lovely free music festival is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in October in San Francisco. It's sponsored by an eccentric billionaire - one of the regular singers at it, Hazel Dickens, likes to sing songs criticising his type, as well as songs of Virginia mining disasters, poverty and the class struggle. Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle are better known regulars, and the year we went to most of it, Elvis Costello and Richard Thompson were on the bill. I did have some agonising choices as there were 5 stages and lots of clashes of good musicians.

The second time we went we had baby Danny with us and no buses appeared for ages, but we got there in time to see Steve Earle.

Love the picture, Fliss! Thanks for sharing it with us.

She's precious!

>85 flissp:: You have quite an impressive festival record, Fliss! I have only been to a few local ones, so I can only qualify as a beginner;) I'm not really a tent person...I don't know...maybe one day!

Your niece is sooo cute:) It's fun being auntie Fliss, right? Then you can just hand her back when she starts crying or need a diaper change:D

Oh, what a beautiful little thing! Thanks for sharing the picture!

Well, we completely agree on Case Histories.

Your niece looks as if she's saying, OK time for my first book; hand it over and I'll get reading!

Love the photos of that incredibly beautiful baby!

You have some great gigs lined up. Are you on some special mailing lists to find out about these, or do you just trawl around looking for them? We often find that by the time we have heard about the gigs they are sold out.

As for a London meet up, there has been conversation on several threads recently. Maybe we do need a London Meetup Thread, but I'm afraid I can't volunteer to manage it, given my hospital record. Anyone?

Hey Fliss, drive-by hug, and more compliments to Miss Lady the niece!

I'd be interested in a London meet up, as I'm pretty sure that I'll make at least one trip to the capital this year. However, due to a sticky situation at work (that doesn't directly involve me) I'm not sure when I'll be able to go. Ideally I'd like to come sometime between September and November.

#87 Sounds like fun Luci, what time of year is it on? San Francisco is definitely a city I will continue to return to (although probably not this year).

#88/89/91/94/96 Thanks all! I thought that that one was particularly sweet. I'm going to see them all again this Saturday...

#90 Bente, I'm OK with tents as long as there isn't too much mud, but somehow I've been miraculously lucky on that front, although there have been a couple of close shaves - and the last time I was at Glastonbury there was one pretty miserable day. Fortunately, the sun then came out blazing, so although it was very muddy, it was no longer miserable.

I have cheated a bit though - for quite a few of those listed above, I've only bought a day ticket - not completely through choice - sadly, I've always had far too few mates who enjoy the camping/festival thing, even though a most of them are as passionate about music as I am.

Re little Isla, that's the plan! ;o)

#92 BDB ;op

#93 This is also the plan Suzanne ;o) I've already provided her with Noisy Nora and am itching to stock her up with more, but maybe that's a leeetle bit too soon. Definitely going to be book-giving-auntie. My sister has also raided our childhood bookshelves. She will have no choice in the matter, she will just have to read them all.

#94 Thank you Linda, not sure she truly is just yet (don't tell my sister!), but she does have lovely big eyes. As well as feet ;o)

#95 Looking forward to them all!

Yep, I'm on several mailing lists (I have an email account I use mostly just for this purpose, to avoid junk mail), but I also have spates when I spend a few hours trawling around. I'm on mailing lists for most of my favourite bands and favourite venues and a site called efestivals, which is excellent for UK festival info (and some overseas). I've also got one or two facebook "friends" for this - although that is mostly the local music scene. In Cambridge, there is also an events organiser (Green Metropolis) who book a lot of the better acts at a range of venues (mostly pub gig size - which is my favourite size of gig anyway).

I used to regularly buy the NME - not so much for the articles (it's frequently very irritating - very faddy and arrogant), but because they have a section devoted to tour adds and most new bands/indie bands will advertise there.

I'm now a lot less dedicated to this kind of trawling than I used to be though, hence the bulk buys ;o)

#95/97 Re The London meet up, I am, as ever behind on everyone's threads again, but I remember that conversation - was it on Heather's thread? I'd be happy to set up a London Meetup Thread unless anyone has already begun it - although I may need help keeping up with the posts!

#96 *waves at Richard's tail lights*

#97 Woo! Well summer is always so busy, September - November sounds like quite good timing to me.

Hmmm. I'll go and set up a thread in a minute and post it back here...

Incidently, found this, I think, on Luxx's thread:

Top of the UK charts on the day of my birth: So You Win Again - Hot Chocolate

...and the theme to "Rocky" in the US!

Hi Fliss

Checking in to see if there are any more photos of that beautiful little baby.

Hugs to you.

6) The Forgotten Beasts of Eld - Patricia McKillip
(Jan 2011, Cambridge)

I think I came across this one on Jenny's thread a year or two ago? Anyway, it's been on my Bookmooch wishlist a while now and finally turned up the other day.

Sixteen year old Sybel lives alone on a mountain, surrounded only by the magestic, fantastical creatures she, her father, and her grandfather in their time have called to their home, under their control. Her only wish is to call the Liralen, a beautiful white bird, to fly with. However one day a man shows up with a baby, son of a king and asks her to take care of him, changing her life irrevocably.

This was a swift, enjoyable read, with strangely blunt text. That sounds bad, but actually worked rather well - you expect a certain degree of flowery language in a book like this and, while there were some lovely descriptive passages on the animals, mostly, it was to the point and for me, this made it a much more interesting read. However. I don't know - there was something about this that occasionally made me cringe. I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it was that Coren is just a little bit too good to be true, or that everyone seems to fall in love with Sybel. It might be that the pervasive feel of the book is one of gloom, even in the bits that should have been joyful - everyone is so earnest.

I don't know. Whatever it was, something stopped me from being truly carried away with the story - and this is the kind of story that you should be carried away by. Still, as I say, an enjoyable read, but one which left me wanting to reread The Last Unicorn for some reason - possibly because there is a lot more humour in the characters who are, after all, in a not dissimilar world.

Luci beat me to it with the London meet up thread, which, for those of you interested, is HERE

Hugs back Linda, no photos yet, but I promise some more at the weekend ;o)

>100 flissp: I read that so long ago...and I enjoyed it back then for the precise reason you bring up, the lack of Prosody Most Purpuraceous. But I don't like fantasy fiction much at all, so the fact that I remember reading this is a minor miracle.

#103 Yes, this was it's best feature for me too and I do read a fair bit of fantasy. Definitely a good sign if a book sticks in your memory I always think... Unless it's because it's incredibly annoying I suppose (taking a, ooh, ever so random example of The Da Vinci Code).

...and, as I have to confess to The Forgotten Beasts of Eld being a new book, I should probably own up to the fact that I've received another couple of books in the meantime too and have a couple more on order (won't be listed till they arrive):

22-Jan-11 (Cambridge - bookmooch)
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld - Patricia McKillip
24-Jan-11 (Cambridge)
Kean - Satre (this one is Suzanne's fault)
25-Jan-11 (Cambridge - bookmooch)
Renfield - Barbara Hambly

Not doing too well on that "only 1 book per week" promise, but I suppose at least I've read two of the nine - and these three were very cheap. Although... I was congratulating myself on finding Kean so cheaply (everywhere else, it seems to be going for ~£17 on it's own), until I received it and realised I'd accidentally bought a copy in French. Hmph. Well, it seems to be fairly straightforward French so far, so maybe that was actually serendipitous...

7) O Pioneers! - Willa Cather
(Jan 2011, C. Central Library)

Having read and very much enjoyed My Antonia last year, last time I was in the library, I picked this up. I wasn't disappointed. The story of Alexandra Bergson and her family trying to make something of the untamed land of the Divide in the early days of it's settlement by farmers, following the death of her father.

As with My Antonia, this book is really a hommage to the land and the people of the land - the Swedish, Bohemian, German, French immigrants whom she knew from her childhood. A simple - and simply told - story that absorbed me completely and made me long to see the places she describes so lovingly.

The funny thing with this author is that I'm not sure that I want to read anything that she's set elsewhere!

The February TIOLI page is up and in action now, so I've taken a look and here's my (rather sparse) preliminary list:

1) Read a book with an embedded word in the title (min 5 letters & 2 words):
Working on it!
3) Read a 75 challenge 2010 favourite: - thread
Troubles - J. G. Farrell
11) Read an author new to you from China, Korea, Mongolia or Vietnam (or related communities):
Again, working on it!

#105: I enjoyed that one by Cather too, Fliss, although My Antonia is still my favorite.

A belated congrats to the new auntie! She is so cute!

I think I have The Forgotten Beasts of Eld on my TBR bookcase. I'll have to get to that one sometimes this year!

fliss, you rally have to try Death Comes for the Archbishop

Funny you should say that. I intended to reread My Antonia but someone here mentioned Death Comes for the Archbishop. My library had it so I started it instead. My kids and I traveled through New Mexico a few years ago so it makes it even more special! (We spent a week at Philmont Scout Ranch.) We visited the Kit Carson museum and even saw ruts carved by wagon wheels that are still visible!

#106 I think I enjoyed them equally (I say think because my opinion frequently changes over time after I've mulled books over)...

#107 Thank you! Here's another pic from the weekend ;o)



#108 Definitely worth a read!

#109 BDB, Ok!

#110 Ah I love about places I'm visiting (eg Cannery Row when I was in Monterey last year) - I wish I'd known about Willa Cather when I was travelling round the US at the end of my gap year...

8) The Humbling - Philip Roth
(Jan 2011, London South Bank)

The title says it all really - an aging actor, star of the stage, suddenly finds himself unable to act causing his life to fall apart.

This is the first book I've read by Philip Roth and I can't say it was a particularly cheery experience. He writes absorbingly, but I'm not sure that this will stick with me particularly and I can't think of much to say. My brain kept comparing it to A Single Man, which, although dissimilar in many ways is also about an aging man struggling with life. Isherwood's writing style just seems to resonate much more with me.

I'll give something else by Roth a go though at some point - does anyone have any recommendations?

9) Even the Dogs - Jon McGregor
(Jan 2011, Cambridge)

I picked this up at the station on the way down to London on Saturday as I realised I'd probably finish The Humbling on the way down. I have to say that Cambridge station WHSmith has a pretty shocking selection of books and there were very few there that I hadn't already read that I would want to read. However, I picked this up as I very much enjoyed Jon McGregor's If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things when I read it years ago. He has an unusual writing style.

Starting with the discovery of the decomposing body of a man in a flat and ending with the inquest into his death, the story of how he came to die alone and what actually happened is slowly revealed in a stream of consciousness by the people he knew. In the process, his and their life stories unfold.

As with If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, the writing has a very dreamlike quality - the attention to detail, drifting off all over the place, even when this morphs into the view point of individual characters. This makes it a little hard to get into initially, but once I had, I was completely wrapped up in following the unreliable viewpoints and lives of a group of people who have fallen through the cracks into lives of alcohol and drug abuse.

Pretty depressing stuff though. I've stated something fluffy to follow up those two...

I just love that face, Fliss! Thanks for sharing the pic!

The McGregor book sounds interesting. I will have to see if the local library has a copy. Thanks for the recommendation!

Nice review of Even the Dogs, Fliss. It was possibly the grimmest book I read last year, but it did seem to accurately portray the lives of homeless addicted people.

Cute baby photo!

I had all these hopes of keeping up with everyone's threads this year, but I can see that it's clearly not going to happen. Ho hum.

#113 Thanks Darryl - yep, grim would be the word!

#112 I hope you enjoy it Stasia.

10) Allotments - Jane Eastoe
January TIOLI: Book received for Christmas
(Dec 2010, Cambridge)

Another gardening book to add to these - and to be honest, it doesn't add very much to them. It's a sweet little book and looks very nice, but there's not enough of it to add anything useful to the books I already own (apart from a few tips on pumpkin pie making that I might amend my Aunt's recipie with). Carol Klein's book is still the most helpful I've found so far, although I'll be looking around for something on fruit and rose pruning this year, so I'll add it to my gardening book list.

I received my first ARC of the year through the post yesterday too - Ghost of a Chance by Rhiannon Lassiter (oddly enough, it's the January one I won - I did also win one in December, but it hasn't appeared yet). I'll be giving it a go this weekend anyway, although it is my Mum's birthday tomorrow, so we're all going down to London to see my sister + family for lunch, followed by A Flea in Her Ear at the Old Vic in the evening, which should be fun, but won't allow much reading time...

Also, wooooo, the 6 Nations kicks off tonight - yay!

So. New books to the flat (these lists are really for my own benefit - I'm reasoning that if I keep track of what I buy/receive this year, I may be a bit better about reducing my TBR pile. Hmmmm. You never know):

29-Jan-11 (Cambridge)
Even the Dogs - Jon McGregor
03-Feb-11 (Cambridge)
Ghost of a Chance - Rhiannon Lassiter ARC (but it still counts)

I am keeping track of how many I buy this year too, Fliss. I am trying to keep it under 10, which may very nearly kill me :)

Well I've already lost that one ;o) - and bought more books than I've read!

#116: I am blaming my book buying ban on Linda. It is just easier that way, lol.

drive-by hug, Fliss

Hallo Richard! Actually, thought you'd like to know, I'm currently reading The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok on your recommendation - it's definitely returning him to his rightful place in my mind (after the dreadful Somewhere in Time reading last year). Hilarious!

Good! I am so pleased! Somewhere in Time *ickshudder*

ARCs don't count (do they????? alarmed at the very possibility...)

Must read Cather.

Did you notice that your niece is going to be a thinker? Look at that pose! Postiively Rodin-esque.

#120 Shudder indeed... Slush.

#121 "ARCs don't count (do they????? alarmed at the very possibility...) - usually I'd say no they don't, but the last time I checked, nearly 20% of my library is unread (and this is ignoring my wishlist, which is also huge), so I'm trying to work on reading the books that I already have before obtaining new ones - by whatever method.

It's not working. I don't even feel that guilty yet ;o)

Definitely do give Willa Cather a go if you haven't yet.

I did indeed notice the "Thinker" pose ;o) It made me giggle quite a lot - I'm afraid my sister and I took far too many photos of that look (well, my sister took most of them - that's my boob she's leaning on, which made it hard to take the photos...)

Can I share with you all the new-found joy of being able to watch the rugby at home on a TV which I don't have to sit 2" from to see the ball? The novelty! (I should point out that my old TV was a 14" and I've finally upgraded to a 22" - may not seem big to most people, but it makes a huge difference!)

Johnny Wilkinson needs a haircut. Brian Moore should be banned from commentating. Mark Cueto is my hero. Martin Johnson still looks odd in a suit. ...but most importantly, England beat Wales ;o)

Oooh and, I'm going to see Never Let Me Go on Sunday, despite major misgivings - basically because Kazuo Ishiguro will be doing a Q&A over satellite (woo!) - anyone got anything they'd like me to ask?

Hi, Fliss! I have Never Let Me Go in my tbr pile. Hopefully I'll get to it some time this year. Can't really remember if you liked it or not. Is it the film that has gotten some bad critiques? As far as I can remember I've only heard good things about the book.

Oh, and I added If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things to my wish list. Hope your day was good and that you will have a enchanting weekend! :)

When are you guys going to Norwich?

#123 Bente, Never Let Me Go was the first book I'd read by Kazuo Ishiguro and I thought that the writing was wonderful and knew I would have to read more of his stuff, but I absolutely hated the book, I'm afraid. I'm not sure I wholly understand why, because I've read very similar story lines before. This is the only reason I didn't want to see the film - I haven't actually heard/seen any reviews yet.

I actually thought that the film was very well done. Doesn't mean I liked it any more than I did the book, but I thought it was well filmed and had some great acting (particularly from the children). There were one or two things I might have picked at - for instance, the big reveal comes much earlier in the film than the book - but hearing the director and Kazuo Ishiguro talking about this afterwards, made this make more sense, if that follows.

I would find it very hard to discuss the film without major spoilers for the book (and I do think you should read it before seeing it, because the book is much more subtle), so I'm not going to, but anyone who's friends with me on facebook, can see my opinion...

The Q&A was very interesting. ***SPOILER*** It seems that Kazuo Ishiguro actually thinks that the ending is fairly upbeat, which is quite revealing - it may be sad to us, but we're all going to die and these people, in the end, all get what they most want from life. I hadn't really thought of it that way. ***END OF SPOILER***

What was quite amusing was that, following the US test screening, they added some text on at the beginning of the film, to hint that it wasn't a reality, because they'd actually had people asking if this really happened in the UK. Worrying!

Oh and Kazuo Ishiguro had pictured Tommy looking like Wayne Rooney, which is an odd image...

Re Norwich, Jenny and I are going to this weekend. Is there anywhere in particular you'd like us to check out? ;o)

Annoyingly, I'd not noted the 6 nations fixtures in my diary (fool, fool!), so it means missing the rugby, but at least we're only playing Italy. I'm sure I'll survive ;o)

11) Ghost of a Chance - Rhiannon Lassiter
ARC - review (to be added)
(Feb 2011, Cambridge)

This is just a place holder as this is an ER book, so I'll need to have a little think before I write a review and I'm just about to head off to London... Actually, it's going to be quite a busy week, so I may not write a review until Sunday - we'll see how I do.

#122> It was a good match! Good to see the team playing better than they have done for a while and I think Toby Flood is coming on very nicely. His conversion by the touch line was amazing and he set up the play for so much of the good stuff that happened. I agree on Johnny Wilkison's hair :-)

I'm not a friend with you on facebook, so can't see your views, but you can tell me on sat ;)

I was very interested to hear interviews with Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan on Radio 1, as it was obviously a 'film' oriented discussion rather than looking at the book. I'm not sure whether it made me more or less likely to want to see it, but I like hearing that the reveal came earlier. Somehow, that seems to fit much better.

And the idea of happiness vs sad. Intriguing. I can definitely see his point.

Cool event....jealous. My only Ishiguro was When We Were Orphans but I've been collecting others because I liked it a great deal.

BTW, watched Sense and Sensibility and the movie version characters are much more likeable than the novel version....probably has something to do with Thompson, Winslett, Grant, and Rickman. Still think it is the inferior book. :P

Will be interested to see your views on Ghost of a Chance - you got to read that one quickly! I'm reading my November one which arrived in mid-December, and I have another ER book too. I suppose if I do squeeze it in this month I can put in for touchstone confusion - there seem to be more than 50 options, none of them right.

Catching up because I got almost 100 posts behind on your thread - sorry :-(

#32 Woo for internet and auntiedom!

#36 Re baby size, my husband is 6'5'' but was only 2lbs when he was born because he was very premature. Isla Rose is a lovely name.

#43 One Thousand and One Ghosts sounds interesting. I've been meaning to read more by Dumas. I loved The Three Musketeers and enjoyed the sequels and The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favourites but I still haven't read any of his other books.

#44 Cutie!

#60 Sorry to hear Isla and Mum had to go back into hospital. Hopefully they are doing better now?

#66 I'm considering buying The Last Dragonslayer with the new Thursday Next book later this month (21st Feb) although I thought TN5 was the weakest of all his books. Glad to know The Last Dragonslayer is a return to form.

#70 Yay! Happy to be nicked from :-)

#77 Er, wow! That is one busy social calendar. I live so near the London theatres I really should make more of an effort to keep tabs on what's on.

#86 Glad you enjoyed Case Histories. One Good Turn will count for February's TIOLI challenge if you can squeeze it in this month as it's the second in a series and some other people have listed it so there will be points!

And another cutie baby photo!

#124 "What was quite amusing was that, following the US test screening, they added some text on at the beginning of the film, to hint that it wasn't a reality, because they'd actually had people asking if this really happened in the UK." Eeep - really? Very worrying.

I just noticed that there's an author chat with Rhiannon Lassiter here this week.

I must look at the Rhiannon Lassiter thing, though I think I probably won't get to Ghost until next month, I have other review books to go first.

I'm sorry, I missed the reference to dehydration - that happened to me with Danny, and Conor lost weight and they wouldn't let us out until he started gaining again. If your sister wants advice re feeding issues still, she should contact her local NCT group - online, Mumsnet is a good source of advice and support.

One of my mates, currently in Boston, just posted on facebook to say that he had breakfast at a table next to Jake Gyllenhaal this morning. Not fair.

On the other hand the same mate also works in Pfizer's R&D place in Kent (having made it successfully through several rounds of redundancies prior to the point the stupid company decided to close down the whole place), so maybe it's Karma...

#131/128 Luci, having found the Ghost book a bit clunky initially, I ended up enjoying it quite a bit as a fast paced bit of fluff, it's quite a quick read.

Re dehydrated Isla, I think they're all sorted now and she has finally put more weight on and, if not as heavy as they would like, at least healthy. Thanks for the recommendations though, I'll pass them on. I think that the thing they have realised is that it's actually very common - people just don't talk about it much until it happens.

#130 Thanks Heather, yes, I had an email from the group as I had her book in my library. I've been keeping an eye on it, but haven't really had time to check in properly. I'll be doing lots of catching up on Sunday...

#129 Don't appologise - I'm permanently behind on at least half of the threads I particularly want to keep up with, let alone the ones that it would just be nice to keep an eye on...

Re baby size yes, I think she'll probably turn out quite tall like her father as she is very long. Hopefully not over 6' as a girl though!

Re One Thousand and One Ghosts, I'll keep you posted - I have very similar Dumas feelings - I plan to read it fairly soon...

Re #77 ...and I've added one or two more since ;o) ...but I go through phases. If I had my way, I'd go to a lot more shows and gigs, but it does get a bit expensive - particularly the London ones now that train prices have gone up (I frequently end up paying more to get to the gig than for the actual gig... Not so much the case with the theatre)

Good point re One Good Turn - I shall add it to the list this weekend!

#127 BDB, re Kazuo Ishiguro - I've been doing the same (although from a different starting point!) - I love his style.

If it makes you feel any better about the event, what I hadn't realised when I booked the ticket that the Q&A wasn't actually in Cambridge, it was just streamed in live from another preview showing in London. That was a bit disappointing - on the other hand, good questions were asked, so it wasn't really an issue. Still...

Re the Ang Lee Sense and Sensibility film, I agree, it's very well done - it makes the best of/removes the less good bits/small parts very well and is (for the most part) wonderfully acted.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the P&P reread, being my second favourite of the lot...

#126 Jenny, I'm only visible to friends of friends on fb, so you while you can't search for me, you may be able to find me through other LT people. But as you say, I can give you my lowdown on Saturday ;o)

...I also agree with you (happiness vs sad) - it was an angle I hadn't really thought about prior to that point, but it was definitely an interesting point.

Re Saturday, I remembered that I needed to drop into the Library this weekend as I couldn't last weekend (or a book I've held will go back to where it came from). Unfortunately, the library doesn't open until 10am, so I won't be able to leave Cambridge before then. This will mean I probably won't get to you until 10.45 - 11am - I hope this will be OK? I will come bearing Patrick Ness books to make up for it ;o)

#125 Hallo archerygirl - it was indeed a good match! Seconded re Toby Flood.

I'm very annoyed with myself, for some reason this year, I failed to put the dates of the 6 nation fixtures in my diary in advance, so I'm doing things round the edges nearly all of the England matches (the most annoying of which being England vs France on the 26th and England vs Ireland on the 19th). I can see I'll be searching out random London pubs showing the rugby on both dates so that I don't miss the matches in transit...

(Note to Jenny, I don't mind watching England vs Ireland behind the times at all as it's less of a crucial one...)

OK, belatedly, I also need to update on:

12) The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok - Richard Matheson
(?Dec 2010, Cambridge)

On the recommendation of Richard, in an attempt to take the nasty taste that a certain piece of slush (not to be mentioned again on this thread) left in its wake.

A completely different kind of novel to all three other books I've read by Richard Matheson, this is, purportedly James Butler Hickok aka Wild Bill telling the story of his life to an audience he never expects to read it, in an attempt to correct the myth of his brave, lawman status.

Both very funny and also strangely touching, I enjoyed this immensely - and was glad to read something that rectified Richard Matheson in my eyes...

>124 flissp:: Nope, I just want you to have a great time, and show me some pictures afterwards!!!!:) *Sigh...dreams of going to Norwich*

"*Sigh...dreams of going to Norwich*" - now there's a phrase you don't hear too often round these parts! ;o)

Haha, well, I don't really know how it is in Norwich, never been to England at all;) Maybe you need to enlighten me!

Well, Norwich is where "the other woman" in Edward IV's life -- the one who caused so much trouble posthumously -- is buried. I know this utterly irrelevant factoid because if I ever write a historical novel, it will be about her.

A former colleague of mine became VERY anti-breastfeeding after his child had major dehydration problems. I think it was an over-reaction, but agree that this kind of thing is more common than we realize.

Here is a map I have made (yes I'm a geek sometimes) over all possible bookshops/interesting book places we could go.

Of course, no time for all of them I shouldn't think, but I thought I'd share anyway! I shall be bringing a copy!!

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?gl=uk&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=2036567512...

#124 That's funny about the extra words added to the US screenings of the film!

#137 - nice map Jenny. What's Tombland? Nothing come up when I clicked on the drop.

I hope you both have a fun time and buy lots and lots of books!

136: What's frightening about babies is just how many stories there are about this kind of things, how many people have said to me they had some version of my experience. But it's not bf that's the problem, it's postnatal care and suport.

What a cool book Richard recommended to you with The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok. The only Matheson I've read was I am Legend, with a few shorts that were included. I loved them, and I am a fan of Westerns. So, I'm looking for that one.

#141 Definitely recommended in that case!

#140 Yep. All well now anyway...

#139 Tombland is an area - I the old bit from what I could tell, but I'd have to look it up properly for details.

#138 Not just added to the US screenings, added to all of them ;o)

#137 Looks like we overlapped with the maps!

#136 Oooh, write that historical novel, write that historical novel!!

#135 Well, I think I probably need to revise my opinion of it as a fairly unremarkable old market town. It's been a few years since I was last there and I've never really done the touristy thing. I shall be returning as it also had several excellent looking independent music shops that need to be explored. ;o)

So. As promised, Jenny and my Norwich bookshop visit. Via a ferry that was not a ferry (we got a little lost en route - ring roads should be banned). And a disused Eastern Electricity building painted with the entirety of Thomas More's Utopia:



...a church filled with lots of random stuff:



...and some excellent street names (sadly, no photo of Rampant Horse Street as it was a bit disappointing to look at):



So, following Jenny's independent bookshop map, we started at Book Man (2nd hand books). Looked good from the outside, but to be honest, it was a little disappointing. Still, I came away with: A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man (I've been looking for a copy) and a mini, pocket sized Twelfth Night that I couldn't resist.

Next stop was the Oxfam Bookshop. It's impossible to walk past an Oxfam Bookshop - they've almost always got a great selection - the one in Cambridge is also pretty good and the one in Saffron Walden is even better. I came away with a nice Penguin copy of Claudius the God (for when I get round to I, Claudius and, very fortuitously, "The Gardener's Guide to Pruning" - may sound boring, but it's going to be very useful.

Next up, was the much touted Book Hive. A lovely shop, with an extremely eclectic selection. Not really a place you'd go to find specific books without preordering them, but a great place to browse some lovely editions. We left fairly quickly - I think it could have been absolutely fatal to the bank balance... I can imagine it being a great place for readings (also, lots of lovely hidden corners. I wouldn't mind living there).



Next on our list, via the Cathedral (which we both thought was a little disappointing) and a very tall arch, was The Tombland Bookshop. I think that this was my favourite. It smelt wonderful. Definitely the kind of place that contains books that you mostly can't afford (mostly antiquarian books - beautiful editions, first editions, etc). Just a place that's wonderful to browse and dream of a time when you can afford a £129 pair of books with beautiful engraved pictures of the Cambridge colleges... I did, however, spy a much more affordable old Penguin copy of Utopia, which naturally, had to be bought - I couldn't have left it on the shelf ;o)

Pit stop for a massive doorstep sandwich in a lovely, almost hidden tea shop, with very friendly people. Also to walk down the street that appears in the film of Stardust (going to have to watch that again tomorrow I think).

...Then on to the 2nd hand bookshop with possibly the best name:



Also highly recommended - and, fatally for me, it had a rather large selection of the old orange Penguins that I love, so I came away with a copy of The Trouble of Lichen (I really must stop buying old Penguins of books I already own) and a Christopher Isherwood I hadn't previously come accross (The World In The Evening). I was actually very restrained...

...and, final bookshop stop, "City Books" (I can't immediately find a link for that - it just turns up lots of Norwich city football pages...). A rather Ikea-like shop with another surprisingly eclectic collection (I liked the two copies of books on pet monkeys the best). A lot of local interest books.

...oooh, and I nearly forgot the market stall:



It's a disturbingly organised market place. Oddly, the stall separated out the male and female writers, which I thought was a bit short sighted.

Final stop was the new Library, which Jenny fell in love with, and then we headed home - in my case, with rather more books than I'd intended buying. This is why I try to avoid more than one book shop in a day ;o)

Lots more photos here...

What a great day out. Love your photos and sounds like you got some lovely books. I'm also a sucker for old Penguins.

Great pictures, Fliss! Thanks for sharing.

Ooh bookshop porn, lovely. Thanks for sharing your report and the pictures.

Great pictures and bookshop recommendations - I suddenly have an overwhelming desire to visit Norwich! Glad you and Jenny had a good time.

#132> I'm going to be at a science fiction convention during the England-France game. Such bad timing! I'll have to hope that nobody tells me anything (unlikely) or that I can grab some quiet time to watch the match, although knowing how these things work out the match will probably be on right when I'm supposed to be speaking on a panel :-( It always seems to work out that way!

This week's England match was great, thoroughly enjoyable - so good to see the team performing well rather than saying "oh, it's just Italy" and getting themselves into trouble. I managed to catch the France-Ireland match, too, which was the best of the weekend and thrilling to the end. It's reminding me why I love rugby :-)

#143 It was fun - we plan a trip to Blickling Hall next - apparently it also has a great used book section (and I want to get a bit more use out of my new National Trust membership...)

Re the old Penguins - I don't know what it is! I frequently find myself buying second copies of things I already own - usually not even first editions - I really do find them incredibly hard to resist. The Dormouse Bookshop had old Penguin copies of all of John Wyndham's major novels - I had to exercise a lot of restraint not to buy more of them (even though I already own 2 copies of some of them).

#144 Thanks Stasia! I've been wondering if I should set up a "bookshop travels" thread, where people can tell us of their bookshop (& unusual highlights) sightseeing - I love getting insider tips about places I'm visiting...

Would anyone be interested if I did that?

#145 ;o)

#146 Actually, it did make me revise my opinion of Norwich - there's a lot more there than just the shopping centre and dodgy clubs (which would probably sum up my previous limited experiences). I'm going to go back at some point to do a proper tour of the independent music shops.

One thing I didn't say is that, although there's a lot of car parks, if you're going to visit on a Saturday, I'd recommend taking the train. The traffic is not good.

#147 Oooh, which science fiction convention?

Yes, somehow, watching matches after they happen, even when you don't know the score, is just not quite the same. I'm missed far too much of the 6 nations this year (and will continue to do so), I just seem to be doing far too much running around all over the place at inopportune moments...

ETA that I'm not actually nearly as obsessive about rugby as I used to be these days - I used to watch a lot of club matches too (when they were playing on terrestrial TV). I suppose it's a good thing that I have other interests besides just music, books & rugby these days!

So, an update. I still need to write a review of Ghost of a Chance, but I just haven't had really had a moment to think about it properly. I'm not a very good reviewer and it doesn't come naturally, so I do feel I should at least ponder ER books a bit before commenting on them... I don't think I'm going to get a chance to do it at the weekend either, but I'll see how it goes.

It's all these plays and gigs ;o)

Went to see The Hold Steady last night. It was one of the many "let's-give-them-a-go" gigs I've got lined up. The sound at The Junction isn't always that great, so I think I would have enjoyed it more if I'd known their stuff better. On the other hand, it's always strangely pleasing to see a band full of non-beautiful people and the singer is so enthusiastic it's infectious. Definitely a good thing.

It was an odd contrast to Teddy Thompson on Tuesday. Also a "let's-give-them-a-go" gig. Musically, it was very meh. I like his voice, but the only track that really stood out was "In My Arms" (the link) and their cover of ABBA's "Super Trooper" (very funny) - on the other hand, he's extremely good at the banter and I was giggling away for most of the gig, so I actually enjoyed it more.

The Bravery the Friday before had a great pub crowd, which makes all the difference - if everyone around you is excited, it's hard not to get excited yourself, even without knowing many of their songs.

Kassidy (last Monday) are an odd band I suspect, but are musically very tight, which is always impressive live (particularly when they're singing several part harmony, occasionally a capella). It's been such a long time since I've been to the Barfly in Camden as well - it used to be a regular haunt of mine - so it was good to be back.

Both Teddy Thompson (English) and Kassidy (Scottish) sing very American country sounding music though, which I find quite odd. I never understand why people don't sing with their own accents.

Oh, and anyone who's in or around London and enjoys a good farce should go to see A Flea In Her Ear at The Old Vic - it was very funny (and I'm not usually a fan of slapstick at all). We love Tom Hollander ;o)

What else, oh yes, books!

13) Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
February TIOLI: Second in a series
(Feb 2011, Rock Road Library)

I've been pondering giving Jim Butcher another chance (not having thought much of Storm Front) as he seems to be very popular on LT and someone (shockingly, I can't remember who it was right now) reminded me of this the other day when they read Fool Moon, clearly for similar reasons.

Well. It's very silly, isn't it? ...but I did enjoy it much more than I enjoyed Storm Front, which I just found too clichéd and very mediocre. Maybe I just prefer werewolves to vampires (or whatever it was - you see, I can barely even remember the story - although admittedly I read it several years ago). Maybe my not-so-secret love of Ilona Andrews extremely clichéd and completely ridiculous Magic Bites series has warmed me up to this particular genre.

Whatever the reason, I will continue to get the rest of the series from the library as they're supposed to get better as they go along.

14) Harlequin Valentine - Neil Gaiman
February TIOLI: Book with a Valentine
(?2002, Cambridge)



I'm not sure if it's worrying that it seems to be becoming a tradition for me to read this every Valentine's day? I think perhaps it might be ;o)

Neil Gaiman's short story/graphic novel (illustrated by John Bolton) based on the Commedia dell'arte and Harlequinade pantomime. It's has gorey tinges and isn't a particularly "nice" story, but it's also oddly touching. Particularly if you "read" the graphic novel version.

#148: I love the idea of the 'bookshop travels' thread, Fliss!

Is the Harlequin Valentine in the graphic novel the same story that was in one of his short story collections, Fragile Things I think? If it is, that was one of the ones I really liked and I'll need to look for the graphic version.

I think a bookshop thread is a great idea!

Sounds like a bookshop thread is a possible then!

#151 Kittybee, yep, it was indeed reprinted in Fragile Things - Amazon UK are currently selling it for about £9...

My niece everybody:



*snort* Starting to look more like her mother every day ;o)

#148: I'm going to Redemption '11: http://www.conventions.org.uk/redemption/

It's a really fun convention, with loads of panels and workshops and silly games. This will my fourth (or is it fifth?) time of going to that one, which shows how much I love it. There is a thread of panels on books that always sends me home with a ton of things that I need to check out and I'm speaking on a couple of things as well as running a workshop. So it's going to be really busy :-)

I'd also be interested in a bookshop thread, despite the potential for badness inherent in providing discussion on yet more places to acquire things.

Fliss, I also enjoyed the Norwich photos, and I love your idea of a bookshop thread.

The photo of your niece is hilarious! Hmm, I wonder if Prozac has been approved for young infants.

Love the photos from Norwich, Fliss. It's years since I was there. (About seventeen of them, come to think of it. Scary.) Glad you managed to find some nice books.

I'd love to know what prompted that expression on your niece's face. She looks most disapproving. *grin*

#153: I think she looks terrified - as if someone is going to drop her. Love the pic, Fliss!

#148 "I've been wondering if I should set up a "bookshop travels" thread, where people can tell us of their bookshop (& unusual highlights) sightseeing - I love getting insider tips about places I'm visiting...

Would anyone be interested if I did that?"

Me, me!

#149 I have Fragile Things in my TBR pile, so I will try the non-graphic version of the story first. Except I'm not going to read Fragile Things until I've read American Gods and I still haven't read that either!

#154 Looks like fun!

#155 ;o)

#156 Probably the expression on her parents faces! ...alternatively her digestive system ;o)

#157 Don't worry, she's perched on someone's knee. Made me laugh anyway!

#158 Heather, I found Fragile Things to be a bit of a mixed bag although there is some good stuff there. Re reading it after American Gods, I wouldn't worry about that too much - the only one you should maybe leave out if you do read it before hand is the final story, "Monarch of the Glen", which takes place after American Gods, although there would only be one spoiler in it, which has probably already been spoiled if you've already got Fragile Things, if you see what I mean (if not, ignore me and just don't look at any part of the story!).

I am WAY behind again and I did mean to do lots of catching up at the weekend, but it somehow didn't happen. Instead, I went to see "Season's Greetings" at the NT (fun, but not life altering) followed by the rugby (wooo!) in a nearby pub, then on Sunday had an Anglesey Abbey amble followed by some allotmenting (the bulbs are coming up!). Oh, and I finished off Troubles and started A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (which I'm probably not going to finish tonight, but you never know). So. No LT time.

I'm going to Budapest for a couple of nights on Thursday (very much looking forward to it) and will have the day off on Monday, so maybe I'll do some catching up then.

In the meantime, I still need to catch update "Ghost of a Chance" and will need to update on Troubles, Yes, Dear and The Skiver's Guide...

...and I'm going to set up a "Bookshops of the World" thread right now... ;o)

OK, here's the BOOKSHOP TRAVELS thread

15) Troubles - J. G. Farrell
Goal 3: Books to read. February TIOLI: 75 Challenge 2010 favourite
(Oct 2010, Cambridge)

To be updated.

16) Yes, Dear and Skiver's Guide - Diana Wynne Jones
(Feb 2010, Cambridge)

I need to update my books bought this year counter ;o) I'm going to club these together as both are very short and by the same author.

Comments in Msg163

I do seem to have been reading incredibly slowly recently. Looking forward to going on holiday on Thursday though, should be able to get some quality reading time in then, given how cold it's going to be ;o)

#159 I'm afraid I have no idea what you mean but I have American Gods on my to read list in March (again - I think it could be the book I've planned to read most times)

#161 Intrigued by the DWj which I hadn't heard of before and your review of Troubles when you get a chance.

And Budapest! Woo! Have you been before? I love European cities, haven't seen very many of them yet but one day.... And reading? Surely you'll be far too busy seeing all the beautiful things in the city?

I did go to Prague once in February and it was apparently a lot milder than it usually is (it can go down to -20C!) but it was still very cold and my friends and I had lovely red noses in all the photos!

Hi Heather!

Re Fragile Things vs American Gods & the no idea part - good good - just stay away from "Monarch of the Glen" until you've read American Gods ;o)

I enjoyed American Gods much more than Fragile Things though (just a warning ;o))

The two DWJ books are fairly minor things - Yes, Dear is a young children's book that I mostly just bought for completeness sake as I've read everything else (bar Skiver's Guide), but it's really quite sweet. I'm going to loan it to my sister until Pea/Isla is old enough to a) read it, b) be bored with it I think.

Skiver's Guide is a sort of non-fiction, jokey book aimed at pre-teens on (how did you guess?) how to skive. I've steered clear of it for years as I don't really like this kind of bathroom book. It's fine, but doesn't really match her fiction.

(hmmm, I may well cut and paste those comments as I don't have much more to add).

Troubles, I shall comment on properly later, when I've gathered my thoughts. Darryl reviewed it properly (here it is) last year - I'll come back to link to his review.

Nope, never been to Budapest before - really looking forward to it (particularly as I'm stayingn somewhere (hopefully) much nicer than I would usually, because it's all booked with airmiles (woo!).

Certainly do intend to spend as much time as possible sightseeing, but, having been on holiday in that kind of area before at the same time of year, the days are quite short. The thing about travelling alone is that, you don't go out in the evenings quite as much and there is lots of nice reading whilst eating time ;o)

I was also in Prague at a similar time of year a few years ago - it's a great time for visiting isn't it? Shorter days, but a lot fewer other tourists!

...ah, it's been a while since I've been abroad somewhere new - very much looking forward to it! I've selected my books:

Mr Norris Changes Trains - a book I always forget I haven't read.
Galileo's Daughter - been on the "to read" list for quite a while now.
Firebirds Rising - found via another big DWJ fan's library (the one at the top of the list - I'll have to double check her user name) - it's a collection of fantasy stories with lots of great names in. Should be good train/plane reading.

I've also got a couple of short story type books I've put in in case none of the above grab me... ;o)

...ooh and, I shall also take Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man to finish off, but definitely not Les Mis as it would probably take up my entire handluggage allowance on it's own ;o)

...Right, I'm off to see elbow do their warm up gig at the nice and small Junction, before they head out on their far-too-horribly-big stadium tour (*smug grin*) - a slightly miscalculated ebay purchase, but sooooo looking forward to it - excellent start to my holidays!

Hi Fliss. I hope you enjoyed the gig. I've never heard of elbow.
I know what you mean about having plenty of reading time on holidays. When I travel by myself, esp in cities, I usually return to the hotel early. Unless I have something planned for the evening - concert, fireworks, the northern lights, outdoor movie- I tend to do everything early in the day, find food and return to the hotel.
Have a great time in Budapest!!

Hope you enjoy your time in Budapest.
I always meant to go back and reread that story in Fragile Things now that I've read American Gods.

#165 Very famous over here VB - won loads of awards for their last album and have suddenly been bumped up from usual tour circuit to Stadium-sized. While it's great for them, from my point of view, it's a bad thing - I hate area/stadium gigs - it takes away most of the atmosphere and all of the intimacy for me. This is why it was so fantastic to see them at the Junction, 5mins down the road from where I live - a smaller venue than they last played in Cambridge.

Actually, given that they're from up North, I've no idea why they chose Cambridge to do their warm up in - unless it's the fact that it's a student town, so bigger on the tour circuit than the size of the town (and it's proximity to London) would make likely and that they sold out in Cambridge on their last tour before the album went stellar...

...anyway, elbow have some wonderful tunes and Guy Garvey has fantastic stage presence (he's a funny bloke - no pretensions) and has written some lovely lyrics - you should give them a listen (try the link I put in #164 under their name, or this is the one that everyone knows and is turning up on TV all over the place)...

...on another note, you've seen the Northern Lights?! I'm sooooooo jealous - it's something I'd truly love to see one day, but it seems to be so hard to plan unless you're able to drop everything and go when you know there's going to be a lot of solar activity (and clear nights).

Yep, that's the kind of thing I usually end up doing - I'll probably have a late supper, but when I've spent all day walking around (and I try to start our reasonably early), usually I want an early night. I've probably walked miles these last few days, so, although I was planning on checking out this place (music) yesterday evening, my feet were so knackered, I just couldn't face walking any further and went for a (very tasty) meal round the corner instead. I shall have to come back to try it out next time - preferably with an afternoon in one of the spas too ;o)

#165&6 Thank you both! Have been. Am now waiting in the hotel lobby for the shuttle bus to take me back to the airport - boooooooo. Glad I took tomorrow off work too though, so expect to see some photos soon!

Hope you have a safe and enjoyable journey!

anxiously awaiting photos.

Have just caught up on 90 posts, eek! Hope you have a great time in Budapest and post some photos when you get home.

Hey fliss - did you make it home safely?
It is sort of bittersweet when ones favorite bands make it big. For years you have no problems getting tickets to see them at SROs and small clubs. Then, suddenly they're famous and you're not fast enough to beat the crowds to get seats to see them at a large stadium show.
Oh, I've tried to see the northern lights - multiple times. I always have bad timing. The Icelanders always say Last week was spectacular. You just missed it. Doesn't stop me from continually trying to catch a glimpse.

#168 - 171 Thanks, yes had a lovely time and got home safely - woo/sob! The problem with long weekend type holidays is that, beyond ridiculous quantities of emails, it feels like you've never been away when you get back!

#171 re bands - yep - although, I'm usually quite quick off the mark with gig tickets for bands I like, I just spend too long umming and erring about the stadium gigs. I just really don't like them very much - to the extent that I've skipped seeing favourite bands touring only stadiums (as I would have done for elbow) in the hope that they'll be playing festivals I can get to instead....

re the northern lights - booooo. I've never really made a concerted effort to try to see them - when I first went to Sweden, I drove quite far North in the hope that I might but didn't really expect to and it wasn't the point of the trip. I should really investigate more - although I've heard that it can be very much as you describe. Ah well VB, I'm sure we'll both get to see them one day!

A quick photo tour of Budapest:







More visible on facebook and even more on Flickr.

The weather was, surprisingly, a lot less cold than I was expecting (when not in the shade anyway) and beautifully sunny (until the Sunday when I left), so I spent most of my time happily ambling around, destroying the soles of my feet. It was quite hard to force myself inside, so I only made it inside the National Gallery of Hungary and St Stephen's Basilica as, not being a touristy time of year, everything opened late and closed early. I'm going to have to go back to see the couple of places I made it to too late...

I also made it to both to Treehugger Dan's Bookstore & Cafe (both bits) and The Red Bus Bookstore.

The two Treehugger Dan's have lots of potential, particularly the larger one which also has a cafe, free wifi and (good for future reference) also hires out bikes (bike tours available). The larger one also has a lot of local info - free magazines, cards for tourist attractions, restaurants etc. However, the books in both stores did seem to be predominantly thrillers and beach reading, which isn't really my thing most of the time. The smaller (original) store did have a very good travel section, with pretty up to date guide books for a 2nd hand bookshop.

I would add a proviso that this really is one of the problems with 2nd hand bookstores - the stock is constantly shifting, so it may just be that I picked a bad time of year for interesting stock...

The Red Bus Bookstore is attached to a hostel and has a much better selection, including multiple copies of a lot of current bestsellers and award winners as well as some interesting, less current books. Someone has been doing a lot of careful selecting of their stock. Of course, they do have the advantage of being affiliated with the hostel (hostel's are great places for finding and exchanging interesting books currently doing the rounds, because if you're backpacking for a reasonable length of time, you don't want to hold on to too many books at once and there's always a very transient population).

They also had a "recommended" section, which I'm always a big fan of in any bookstore - I like book sellers who have an opinion about what they're selling. Also importantly for me, there were quite a few translations of Hungarian authors, if not any of those few I'd specifically selected (well, that was fairly unlikely in a 2nd hand bookshop!).

My one nit-pick is that on week days, the shop doesn't open until 11am, which is bad timing if you're wanting to do touristy things (unless you're actually staying there). Saturday's they open at 10am (a bit better), but close at 2pm.

Books to update on next post:

17) A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man - James Joyce
18) Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr (one of my bookshop buys - a bit of fluff, having picked it up at a rather frustrating part of the Joyce)

Also currently reading (finally!) Galileo's Daughter, which I'm a bit less than half way through and enjoying so far and Firebirds Rising - again, about half way through and enjoying very much.

I've realised that although I'm keeping track of what I've been reading myself, I haven't done the thing I did the last couple of years of summarising the books I've read each month. I think I'm going to skip that this year until the half way and final point. I will however list anything I've reviewed and my favourite for the month. So, here's backdating:

JANUARY (10)
Favourite (new) read: Case Histories - Kate Atkinson (this was a tough one - it's very closely followed by The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov, and that by Beowulf - Seamus Heaney)
Reviews: The Last Dragonslayer - Jasper Fforde
TIOLI: 4/4
1) Read a Book with a 3.8 to 4.2 Star Rating: Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
2) Read any first book in a series: Case Histories - Kate Atkinson
4) Read a Book that pre-dates the printing press: Beowulf - Seamus Heaney 5) Read a Book You Received for any Christmas: Allotments - Jane Eastoe

FEBRUARY (7)
Favourite (new) read: The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok - Richard Matheson
Reviews: Not yet, but I need to add "Ghost of a Chance"
TIOLI: 3/5
3) Read a 75 challenge 2010 favourite: Troubles - J. G. Farrell
14) Book with a Valentine: Harlequin Valentine - Neil Gaiman
15) Second in a Series: Fool Moon - Jim Butcher

...I also need to update my "books bought" counter. I've a worry I'm very close to my limit for the year ;o)

...and here are my March TIOLI plans:

1) Read a book with a city (or town) named on page 17:
Galileo's Daughter - Dava Sobel (Florence) (Reading)
4) Main title words (not a, an, etc.) increase or decrease by 1 letter count:
South Riding - Winifred Holtby 5:6
7) From the LibraryThing's top 50 wishlisted books:
Either Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury, Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov or maybe The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami (haven't decided yet - depends on how I'm feeling when I get to it!)
8) Read a book of short stories:
Firebirds Rising edited by Kara Dalkey (Reading)
12) Read a book about philosophy:
Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder (because I got half way through years ago, before getting distracted by something else).

I love your photos of Budapest. I did the guided tour of the Dohány Street Synagogue when I was there a couple of years ago which included a lot of history of the fate of the Hungarian Jews during WW2. Did you eat anywhere interesting? We went to a couple of the more opulent cafes for coffee and cake.

Nice pics. Budapest sure is pretty.
I checked out your pictures on flickr and left comments on a few. So, if you see a name you don't know that starts with a K -- that's me.
How are you liking Galileo's Daughter so far? I found it dense with information. I took it on holiday as my beach read in the DR. Still hadn't finish reading the book when it was time to go home. I loved it though.

Gorgeous photos and I loved the bookshop write-ups - you're making me want to go! (So are you Kerry with the talk about coffee and cake, not that I am short of cake here, but...)

Those photos are A-MAZING! I want to go Europe again!

A couple of additions to add to my March TIOLI plans - I can't believe it escaped my notice that I could include P&P!:

15) Read a book with 17 letters in the title:
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
18) Read a YA book in the fantasy/sci-fi genre:
Haven't picked one yet but, given my usual reading habits, this one shouldn't be too hard to fill!

#175 Thanks Kerry. I intended to go into the Dohány Street Synagogue on my last day, but unfortunately didn't quite have enough cash to go in and it didn't seem worth getting out more given I was flying home in the afternoon. Another one to add to the list of things to do next time. I did visit the Holocaust Museum however, which was pretty distressing. I should also like to visit the House of Terror next time too (Communist Regime).

Re foody stuff, I'm very bad at eating at regular times when I'm on holiday - I usually end eating at very odd times of the day. However, I did go to a couple of places in particular that I'd recommend. The first, Fülemüle a family run, local food type of restaurant was very tasty and also very reasonably priced. Definitely the best food I had the whole trip. The other, "Múzeum Cukrászda" (no link: VIII, Múzeum körút 10) where I stopped for a late sandwichy type lunch is actually a cafe, near the Museum. Very friendly and again very reasonably priced. I didn't really do the coffee and cake thing, although I meant to - again, I have a couple of places lined up for next time ;o)

#176 Thanks VB and yes it is indeed. Found you and (hopefully) "friended" you on Flickr ;o)

I'm very much enjoying Galileo's Daughter - it is indeed quite dense, but I'm not finding it at all hard to read (which is good as I'm usually very slow with non fiction). I do wish I'd read it before all the hype I've seen though as I expected to be much more blown away by it than I have been. This hasn't stopped me finding it very absorbing though! I also wish I'd read it before visiting the Vatican the year before last as I now keep wondering about all these changes that Pope Urban made and which bits they were...

#177 Thanks cmt - definitely recommend the visit! It was a good time of year to go as well as, although the opening hours were quite short, there really weren't very many other tourists (I had the Holocaust Museum completely to myself for the first hour and the parts of the National Gallery I was actually in also for most of the time). Also not nearly as cold as I was expecting...

#178 Thanks Rachel! Come, come to see us ;o)

Live news on the earthquake in Japan and the resulting tsunami Just aweful.

Just had to put a link to Robert Mitchell performing "Flashdance" on my thread - it's one of the funniest things I've seen in a while!

I love his Flashdance!

HAHAHA.

#182: Hahaha, that was a treat;) Brighten up the day a bit! We had a similar thing at a Norwegian program a while back... dancing to Single Ladies by Beyonce, you should check it out!!

I absolutely LOVE your pics from Budapest. Looks like you had a wonderful trip! I want to go there some time :)



Oh, and about the northern lights, I have to admit that if you get a proper view it is amazing. I have grown up with sporadic visits from the light, but since I don't live in the northern parts of Norway, it does not reach us a often as up there. But I do have good childhood memories of lying on a snow covered field with a black sky, lots of stars and the green light dancing across the sky above us. It is very serene and (though I have never tested it myself) very romantic;) Now it has been a few years since I last saw one, due to very few solar storms/explosions, but I think it did increase a little this last season. Unfortunately it has always been cloudy the times it reached us, though I have not totally given up hope of seeing one this year:)


Check out this little clip taken in Tromsø last year

Hope you like it:)

#183-5 ;o)

#185 Wonderful Northern Lights photos and clip - thank you! Very jealous of you being able to see them from home, however infrequent!

Yep, the increase in solar disturbance this year meant that they were supposed to be visible in a little bit of the Northern part of the UK this year as well as Scotland (where you can sometimes see them) - certainly not as far South as I am though - and the cloud coverage was such that no one really saw anything anyway. Sigh.

I'm still not proposing to comment on Troubles or "Ghost of a Chance" today (must get round to that - I'm usually much more on the ball with ER books). However, a mini update on the rest:

17) A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
(Feb 2011, Norwich)

This was one of my February TIOLI books, but, unfortunately, I didn't finish it in time.

James Joyce's semi-autobiographical telling of the youth of "Stephen Dedalus". This was an odd one that I've been meaning to read for ages. In many ways, it was fascinating - an interesting follow on from Troubles in that historically and politically, it predates it (one of the important early moments in Stephen's life is following the death of Parnell). Having grown up when I did, I could hardly be unaware of the IRA, Sinn Fein and the "Irish question", but I know far too little about the era Joyce lived in (or that Farrell describes for that matter). I need to root out a book on this that I borrowed from my mother years ago.

In addition to this, it was interesting that the description of an Stephen's teenage years in many ways could be transplanted to today (the emotional swings, fervor, lusts and questioning), but in many ways really couldn't (I think you would struggle to find a teenager that naïve these days).

I also found myself wondering in the opening chapters, given the prose style, how much Roddy Doyle has been influenced by the book, given Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

...and yet, I have mixed feelings about the book. Whilst being intriguing and, in many parts, amusing, it also failed to completely hook me. Mid way through, there was a whole portion when I constantly found my mind wandering and it never really completely returned.

SPOILER ALERT (The part I'm referring to is when he becomes obsessed with religion and punishing himself for his sins - I actually found myself wishing he'd go back to the prostitutes!) END OF SPOILER

18) Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
(Mar 2011, Budapest)

This was one of the books I picked up in the Red Bus Bookshop in Budapest (the fluffy one - the other, Embers, I intended to read while actually still in Hungary, so will have to read soon).

Aislinn has lived her whole life seeing fairies, but has been brought up by her Grandmother (who also can), never to let the fairies (who are dangerous rather than beautiful), or anyone else in fact, know that she can. Unfortunately, she has caught the eye of Keenan, the Summer King and ignoring them soon becomes very difficult.

Fluff was what I was in the mood for and fluff it was - enjoyable fluff though, I'll probably read the sequel at some point, although, less than a couple of weeks later, the plot already requires dredging out of my memory.

19) Firebirds Rising - edited by Sharyn November
March TIOLI: Short stories
(Feb 2011, Cambridge)

A collection of YA fantasy and sci-fi short stories, including "I'll Give You My Word" by Diana Wynne Jones (which was the reason for purchasing the book in the first place).

I'm unusual in that I've always enjoyed short stories and this was a great selection. Given that there are multiple authors, inevitably, there were some I enjoyed more than others (and some which were better written), but there are definitely some people that I'm going to follow up on and you could tell that thought had gone into the compilation.

High points were "I'll Give You My Word" (obviously ;o)) and "In the House of the Seven Librarians" by Ellen Klages. There was only one I really didn't like (I think it was "Hives" by Kara Dalkey, but I'll have to double check).

20) Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life - Bryan Lee O'Malley
(Mar 2011, Cambridge)

I loved Edgar Wright's film adaptation of this series of graphic novels, so, when I bumped into this at the weekend, I thought I'd pick up the first volume and see what I thought.

Scott Pilgrim is a 23 year old bassist, "seeing" a 17 year old high school girl, when Ramona walks through his dreams and he becomes obsessed. But to date Ramona, he first must defeat her 7 evil exes...

I don't know why I should be surprised that Edgar Wright sticks incredibly close to the original graphic novel (right down to Scott Pilgrim's Smashing Pumpkins T-shirt at the start - I saw that tour ;o)), given the geeky tendencies already seen in "Spaced". Anyway, it's true homage to the comic, so, the latter had me giggling throughout. Looking forward to the rest. Wonderfully surreal.

For my own reference - more new books to my flat:

02-Feb-2011 (Cambridge)
Yes, Dear - Diana Wynne Jones (I'm a completist - I can't help it)
15-Feb-2011 (Cambridge - Bookmooch)
The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole (well, it's for Northanger Abbey, honest!)
18-Feb-2011 (Cambridge)
Faulks on Fiction - Sebastian Faulks (this was a present from my Dad, so it doesn't go on the counter ;o))
22-Feb-2011 (Cambridge)
Firebirds Rising (see Yes, Dear comment - for a DWJ story!)
The Skiver's Guide - Diana Wynne Jones (see above!)
27-Feb-2011 (Anglesey Abbey)
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea - Yukio Mishima
05-Mar-2011 (Budapest)
Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
Embers - Sandor Marai (well, I had to buy something by a Hungarian writer)
07-Mar-2011 (Cambridge)
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life - Bryan Lee O'Malley

This name-and-shame method to prevent myself buying books really isn't working, is it? I suppose that at least they're coming in dribs and drabs...

#187: Is The Castle of Otranto mentioned in Northanger Abbey? I ordered The Mysteries of Udolpho last week (preparations for NA, of course!). Maybe I need to get this, too?;) I read NA last year, but is this essential for the deeper understanding of NA?

Looks like you like Wicked Lovely a bit better than I did. Maybe you can tell me how it goes!

#188 I don't think it (The Castle of Otranto) is mentioned in NA (from what I recall anyway) - as you say, The Mysteries of Udolpho is the main one mentioned, but Catherine does read a lot of novels full stop.

...and nope, I don't think either Otranto or Udolpho are essential for the deeper understanding of NA, I just think that it's worth having read some Gothic fiction as a genre in general as it makes Austen's satire more obvious.

I've only read Evelina (in between my two readings of NA) and I have to say that I got a lot more out of NA the second time round than I did the first, partly as a result (prior to that, it was my least favourite) - so I just wanted to expand on that. I'll probably give Udolpho a go at some point too, but I've heard it's a bit cumbersome...

Re Wicked Lovely, I think I was just in the right frame of mind for it (much as I was for the 2nd Harry Dresden book - I seem to be stumbling a bit again with the 3rd) - there were lots of plot holes and irritating features, but I wasn't feeling picky, so didn't mind them much. Sometimes my brain wants fluff ;o) (I read it along side the Joyce and Galileo's Daughter)

I guess you are right, but I think I will add them both to my list. Important to expand my reading I guess. Btw, what does cumbersome mean? Difficult, slow?

Fluff can be good at times! I'm reading fluff at the moment. Hehe, warming up to P&P...it's called Me and Mr. Darcy. I guess you can guess by the title what the book is based on;)

The dictionary.com definition for cumbersome: 1. heavy, weighty, onerous. 2. awkward.

Basically, I meant that it's supposed to be a bit hard work to read.

Evelina is fun, if rather silly - I think that Gothic fiction as a genre isn't really for me, unless I can laugh at it (I think this is one of the reasons I have a bit of trouble with the Brontes - they're just a bit to OTT).

>191 flissp:: I'll definitely try Evelina then. Not really sure if I like gothic or not. I've only read NA and sn't that supposed to be some sort of parody of the gothic novel or at least a satirical view on it? Well, maybe we should take that discussion when NA comes up in the Austenathon:)

Of the Bronte sisters I've only read Jane Eyre. I found a little more heavy, than Austen's novels, but I did like it very much. I think I read somewhere that the Bronte sister were not particularly fond of Austen's writing.

Re NA, yep, that's exactly what it's supposed to be ;o)

I admit, the only Brontes I've read are Jane Eyre and Agnes Grey, but I keep trying (and failing) to read Wuthering Heights (I will read it this year).

I know you can't lump 3 different authors together like that and I actually quite enjoyed both Jane Eyre and Agnes Grey, but there were aspects of both that I really didn't like - and that was all to do with the airy fairy over the top romance (hence I actually preferred the latter). The best bit of Jane Eyre, for me, was her childhood - where she's much more down to earth and less caught up in her whimsical imagination. I'll keep trying them though (where I would give up on other people), because I feel I need to give them more of a chance.

Yep, you're quite right, Charlotte Bronte was very rude about Jane Austen...

>193 flissp:: Perhaps we can spot a tiny bit of jealousy? Or maybe it is the simple explanation that everybody can not like the same person/author/literature. Well, personally I still prefer Austen to Bronte, of course based on the little I'v read of Bronte of course!;)

Maybe I should put Agnes Grey to my wishlist, I've actually never heard of it before. Wuthering heights is neatly placed in my bookshelf. Don't think it will be read this year, due to a year filled with classics already:D

#194 Rather than jealousy, I think that it's more that Charlotte Bronte is, in many ways, the antithesis of Jane Austen ;o)

Hmm..I guess you're right! Never thought of it though. It might sound weird or like a laim excuse, but for some reason I have a harder time comparing authors/genres etc when I read books in English rather than in Norwegian. Well, classics mostly. Since thhese two are from (almost) the same period of time, I just mentally place them in the same category. *shame on me*

Well, given the only word I know in Norwegian is "takk", I'm impressed that you can read in English at all, let alone for pleasure! I find it far stranger that people would describe Jane Austen's work as "chick-lit" ;o)

Thanks! I guess it has something to with us having English in school since we are 8 or 9, and that we hear it on tv every day:) I have to admit I needed to practise reading books in English at first (Harry Potter helped a lot!), but now it is mostly fine. I have friends who are pretty good at English, but they do not read English books at all. I guess we are all different:) The good thing is that I get to read the books sooner than others, the backside is that the bookshops in Norway are crap when it comes to English literature and I am therefore addicted to online shopping;) which is dangerous!!

Ooooh, Jane Austen's work is definitely not chick-lit. Well, not in my eyes at least:)

Lovely photos of Budapest and I've enjoyed reading yours and Apolline's discussions on Brontes vs Austen :-)

#198 Harry Potter should be used as a translation book in schools worldwide ;o) - the first two were the first two full books I've read in French also. They're good because J. K. Rowling's writing style gets more complex as Harry gets older - so the first is very simple. ...of course, it also helps having read them all in English too, making any guesswork needed much easier!

Ah, online book (and music/ticket) shopping is my downfall!

Back on the topic of Budapest - I've very seldom seen a city with so many bookshops so close together. Maybe it was the area I was in, but it was very lucky that I can't begin to understand Hungarian (I carefully didn't enter any of these, in case there were foreign language sections...)!

#199 Hallo Heather - good to see you!

I much prefer Austen's work to Jane Eyre, though I want to read Charlotte Bronte's less famous works. On Anne Bronte, I found Agnes Grey very disappointing, as I read it after the wonderful The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - I had no idea anyone had written about the issues dealt with in that novel in the 1840s.

Yes, I really must read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall too - I've a suspicion that Anne Bronte is more my cup of tea than Charlotte or Emily.

On another note, I went to see The Decemberists at Hammersmith Apollo last night - and realised that I lied when I said I hadn't seen them before. I had forgotten (probably because I didn't know them very well at the time) that one of the reasons I got interested in the first place was that I went along to see them locally at The Junction in 2007 - and thought they were fantastic live. To be honest, that was a better gig, even though some of my favourites were yet to be written. It was an enjoyable enough gig last night though (I always love bands that banter!), but it won't go down on my favourite gigs of the year list... It's quite a gig-full week actually, I'm going to see the wonderfully miserable Malcolm Middleton tomorrow night and, with some mates, the (shamelessly nostalgic & cashing in) Wonder Stuff & Levellers on Saturday...

Anyway, Hammersmith involves lots of train and tube, so I got to finish up Galileo's Daughter en route to & from:

21) Galileo's Daughter - Dava Sobel
Goal1: non fiction; March TIOLI: Book with a city named on page 17
(Dec2009, Cambridge)

A few years ago, I saw Simon Russell Beale in Brecht's The Life of Galileo at the National Theatre and was blown away - one of the best things I'd seen in a long while. But it left me wanting to find out more, particularly, funnily enough, about his daughter and their relationship.

Dava Sobel's book is not quite what I was expecting (although, in retrospect, I'm not quite sure what I was expecting - perhaps a bit more detail on the father-daugher relationship) and maybe, for me, didn't quite live up to the hype (this is the problem with hype). On the other hand, I did find it very absorbing, more so the further in I got in. As I've said many times, I'm not good at reading non fiction, so anything that manages to keep my attention enough to not want to put it down has got to be good. I find the changes in attitude towards science over the last few centuries utterly fascinating. In fact, serendipitously enough (is that I word? I'm going to make it a word if it isn't), there was a very interesting "In Our Time" on Radio 4 this morning, discussing the origin and nature of medieval universities (it'll be online for 7 days) - predating Galileo by a couple of hundred years, but, academically, more recongisable to him than they would be to us. Actually, Radio 4 has been on top form this week, given a very interesting physics & universe based "Start the Week" program on Monday* - which also fitted in well to my thoughts as I read Galileo's Daughter, if not in quite the same thread (although there was mention of science vs religion and of his observations on motion).

It is always a reality check to read the letters of (or, in this case, to) famous historical figures, particularly to family - they just become more human and, well, real. Dava Sobel interweaves a biography of Galileo with letters from his remarkable eldest daughter (Suor Maria Celeste), whom he clearly loved very much.

Galileo himself, sometimes (and to my mind, with good reason) called the Father of Modern Science, was an interesting individual, who, (according to Sobel) struggled to reconcile his deeply held religious beliefs and his very forward thinking science in an age when they sometimes appeared incompatible - a very interesting era in itself. I may have to go back to read The Life of Galileo as Brecht presents Galileo and his daughter quite differently.

Equally interesting, but in a different way, was the depiction of a C16th/C17th convent, which appeared very different to that described by Victor Hugo in Les Mis (in very great detail)! While they lived in poverty and seemed to spend a large part of their time begging for money, they also appeared to live a much more interesting life.

For me, honestly, the parts I enjoyed the most were Suor Maria Celeste's letters during Galileo's "imprisonment" - keeping Galileo up to date with home affairs and his wine ;o) Frequently had me smiling.

Beyond this, having finished the book, I find myself very disappointed not to find out more about Galileo's younger daughter, Suor Arcangela, who clearly (reading in between the lines) was not at all happy to become a nun and was rather irascible. The fact that Suor Maria Celeste actually convinced the Convent's Mother Superior (? I can't remember the term used) to alter Suor Arcangela's turn on cellar duty, because she didn't think she'd a) be conscientious enough and that b) she'd help herself to too much of the wine amused me greatly - throughout the book there were these little hints that Suor Arcangela was rather difficult and probably also a very interesting character!

* For anyone who listened to this, Brian Cox struck me as a great advert for physics and science in general - so enthusiastic - I'm definitely going to have to check out his "Wonders of the Universe". However, I very much disliked Brian Greene's comparison of a finite pack of cards with an infinite universe. Anyone out there listen to this and have any thoughts?

Far too far behind on your thread... I loved the photos and report of the Norwich visit. I've been there many times, but never with time to explore any shops; maybe next time.

Budapest photos great too - nice way of displaying them. And good discussion of Brontes v. Austen. I think it is probably unfair to lump all Brontes together as someone said earlier. I've never re-read any of the Brontes, but of the ones I've read, I do remember particularly enjoying Tenant of Wildfell hall so I'd second the recommendation for that one.

I need to say thank you to you. I followed your link for Robert Mitchell's dance and proceeded to loss 3 hours of my life watching all the other great performances on Comic Relief Let's Dance or whatever it is called. Why can't we have stuff like this on American television?

I'm sorry Galileo's Daughter didn't live up to the hype for you. I agree, that is the problem with hype. It's so much better to discover a good book unexpectedly on your own. I read the book many years ago with my then book group. It was an all female group and our discussion pretty much centered around Sr Maria Celeste, what an amazing woman she was and what she might have accomplished if she had been born in a different era. I loved that their remains are buried together. My book group wanted to know more about Sr Arcangela as well. Too bad she didn't write letters like her sister. I agree, she was not at all happy to be a nun. How horrible to have your only options in life be either the convent or the brothel. Now that I wrote that I'm remembering a special I watched last week about girls born into families that run brothels. I guess it's better than the brothel being your only option.
Sobel collected the letters of Sr Maria Celeste in a book called Letters to Father. The left side of each page is a facsimile of her original letters in Italian with the English translation on the right hand page.
I'll have to find the Brecht book to compare.
Enjoying the Austen vs Brontes discussion as well. I have never read any of them, although I once started Emma (in 1982).

#204 Thanks (both counts) - and me neither until that point! That reminds me, I was planning a music shop visit in the not too distant future...

You're quite right, it is completely unfair to lump all the Brontes in together (I think it was me who said that earlier ;o)) and I usually resist that kind of thing fairly solidly - but they do seem to have had a fairly similar ethos in many ways and (in the very few I've read to date/heard about) appear to share a tendency towards melodrama, which is something I'm not a huge fan of when it takes itself seriously.

I'm afraid I find it quite hard to separate them in my mind anyway - but I shall continue to work at that. I definitely plan to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall at some point anyway (thanks for the doubled recommendation) and, I imagine, something else by Charlotte (not sure what yet).

#205 A pleasure ;o) Comic Relief/Red Nose Day is a charity thing that happens most years - a bit like Live Aid, only with comedy instead - hence the tongue-in-cheek celebrity* "Let's Dance" (which is another one of these talent). So it was a bit of a one off - but I'm sure that you have that kind of stuff on TV somewhere with all those channels! ;o)

#206 Re Galileo's Daughter - it didn't live up to the hype, but I still very much enjoyed it - would hate for you to think I didn't... Sounds like you had an interesting discussion with your book group - actually I think it's probably a very good book for that - a lot to discuss.

Thank you for the heads up on Letters to Father - I may have to search that out at some point. Re the Brecht - I've a feeling it might be one of those plays that is much better seen performed, but maybe that depends on how you are with reading plays in general (I find some very much easier to read than others personally).

You're right about finding books unexpectedly on your own. It's one of the reasons why I'm not very good at reading reviews. I actually prefer not to read too many...

Haven't read any Austen since 1982?!?! Please give Pride and Prejudice a go? ;o)

* possibly only UK celebrities - even I didn't know who all of them were! Big fan of Robert Webb (just realised I got his surname muddled up with David Mitchell co-Peep Show person's above...) and Noel Fielding though.

22) Sabriel - Garth Nix
March TIOLI: YA fantasy/sci-fi
(Borrowed from work)

There's a cafe at work that has a couple of shelves for book exchanges. Every now and then I glance at it, but usually there isn't really anything that appeals. However, serendipitously, I happened to notice this there the other day, so picked it up as lots of LTers have enjoyed it and it fits one of the March TIOLI challenges...

The reason I've steered clear of Sabriel up to now is that I read Mister Monday a year or two ago and thought it was pretty rubbish. So, I decided that even though everyone was singing the praises of Sabriel, I could probably hold off on it for a while as there are plenty of other things I want to read.

Sabriel's father, the Abhorsen is a Necromancer - but unlike others, his job is to keep the dead, well, dead. Something happens to him and she has to return to The Old Kingdom (the place where she was born and lived as a child, but hasn't seen since) in order to search for him and prevent the evil dead (*smirk*) from finding their way back to life.

This was fun - a very much better read than Mister Monday - a lot less clunky than Mister Monday - an original and unusual story, although there were aspects, in particular the character of "Touchstone" that were fairly familiar, if not to the detriment of the story. Speaking of Touchstone - I was fairly amused that, in what is clearly a completely different universe, Shakespeare still exists (Touchstone is an assumed name - he feels the need to punish himself...) - unless there's supposed to be some alternative writer who's written an equivalent Touchstone over there...

Anyway, I liked it well enough that I've requested Lirael from the library - although having now realised that the story centers around another character, some time in the future, I'm less enthusiastic. I'm not the greatest fan of sequels that move on to the next generation - I want to hear more about the characters I've just read about... We'll see.

...Have also started to read South Riding, which I'm enjoying so far. I'm borrowing it from my mother, so it's a 1970's edition - I was quite amused to see the quote that they picked for the inside cover - in order to sell the book (depicting Sarah Burton lusting after her dancing partner). I imagine that they were trying to sell on shock value... Not really the one I would have thought described the story myself (having just watched the recent TV adaptation anyway) - we'll see!

P&P has been postponed another weekend, but I always race through it, so should be able to read it before the month is up. I've read it enough times that I can't remember how many anyway (well in to the double figures), so I have and shall be continuing to chime in on the group read whatever happens...

I'm glad you liked Sabriel. It's one of those books I probably never would have read if it hadn't been for the 75ers last year! On the subject of the sequels - keep reading, familiar characters do show up.

#207: Nope don't really have anything like that, at least not on the channels I get. I don't have cable and the pickings are pretty slim on the 7 channels I do get. Thankfully I can get the good stuff on the internet or netflix! :)

Actually, I like Lirael probably better than Sabriel, and fear not, the two story lines definitely come together!

Too long since I read the Sabriel books to make a comment except to say I loved them. I see you mentioning the convent in Hugo's Les Mis in your review of Galileo's Daughter, so does this mean you're making progress? I finished a couple of days ago and will read the introduction essay at some point but right now am satisfied to just savour the story.

#209/211 Good to know, thank you!

#210 Ah, the internet is a wonderful thing ;o)

#212 VERY SLOW progress on Les Mis, although it is still pottering away in the background - the convent is about as far as I've got to date. It makes quite good lunchtime reading at work, but gets postponed by other books every now and then (Galileo's Daughter last week Selected Letters of Jane Austen this week).

It's definitely not a book I can read exclusively anyway. I am finding it absorbing, but I find the massive digressions a bit annoying - that said, as I think I mentioned above, the digressions have also contained some of the best bits so far, so I'm withholding my judgement - despite being about a normal books worth through the book, I still feel like I'm in the preamble, before the story gets going...

I know the feeling, I had to push myself as well, I did feel that I understood the Battle of Waterloo a lot better after reading Hugo's blow by blow account. I just puttered along reading my 100pgs per week and hardly ever read past that point until this week when I was on the home stretch. The story starts to come together a lot more after the convent, but the digressions continue. Just don't give up!

Shan't do - but it may well take me all year! Thanks for the encouragement though - good to know...

Agreed on Waterloo - although it fits in quite well with all that Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe series reading I did last year - I love it when books come together like that - they're from completely different perspectives (and I think Bernard Cornwell was also quite thorough in his research). It's also interesting to bear in mind that Persuasion was written not long after Waterloo. Completely different world...

Am feeling very, very sad. Just discovered that Diana Wynne Jones died yesterday.

She will always be my go-to author for sad days, or days when I'm just feeling the need of something cosy.

Honestly, it feels like I've lost a friend.

I know exactly what you mean! I plan on pulling one of my DWJ books off the shelf when I get home and reading in her memory. She was such a wonderful author!

Me too!

#200: I agree! Bring HP to school;) And good thing about not knowing any Hungarian! Close call, that one! What if you had known?:)

I'm sorry your favourite author died a couple of days ago. I've heard you guys talk about her so much, I nearly feel I know her too! Well, I guess I need to get to her books soon:)

Have a wonderful day, Fliss!

#217/8 Yep, I was thinking I might start a reread of everything in publication order. May take a while though and I'd have to have an intermission for Earwig and the Witch, which comes out soon!

#219 "Close call, that one! What if you had known?:)" *snicker*

I think the thing about DWJ is that I've been reading her nearly my entire life - she was so prolific, right up to the end, so it feels like she's part of it, even though I never knew her. ...and, while "place" doesn't enter into much of her writing, when it does, it's always places I know - in many ways, I've followed her (completely unintentionally) around the UK. Ho hum.

#220: Must be nice to "have known" an author for that long, and to be able to enjoy the books as an adult. I can not think of any author I have such a close relationship to. At least you can enjoy the books endless of times. Is any of her books been made into films?

Howl's Moving Castle has been made into a film - I have the DVD but have yet to watch it.

#222 I very much enjoyed the film of Howl's Moving Castle (actually, I the only time I've seen DWJ talk was at a prerelease of it at the Cambridge Film Festival - I was to shy to ask any questions, which I regret) - particularly the depiction of the Witch of the Waste, who was wonderful (if nothing like her character in the book).

It doesn't bear a lot of relation to the book though - it takes the idea and runs away with it in it's own (very enjoyable, if rather sentimental) way. The only thing I disliked was the way he'd interpreted Howl, which just felt all wrong to me. Worth watching anyway.

#221 You know, after I'd typed that, I realised that there really is noone else I've been reading continuously as long as I've read Diana Wynne Jones. Jane Austen comes close (I first read Pride and Prejudice when I was 9 I think), but there is less to read and (obviously), it's slightly different not having lived at the same time as her! Everyone else that I've known since I was small, there have been big gaps between reading/rereading them. I suppose it's quite unusual in many ways - I'm very lucky to have discovered her when I did. I suppose those people (like my younger cousins) who grew up with Harry Potter probably had a similar(ish) experience for a while.

Anyway, there has also been a BBC Children's TV serialisation of Archer's Goon. I'm not sure if it's generally available, I suspect not as it was on while I was still at school (pre DVD - a lot of stuff from that era didn't make it to video). It wasn't badly done and has a good cast, but, being from that time and place, it's very low budget.

I may be wrong, but I think there may also be something else in the works...

fliss, I'm sorry to hear about Diana Wynn Jones. {{hugs}}
I'm glad you liked Sabriel. You should know that Lirael and Abhorsen are basically two parts of one long book. Enjoy!
I actually do plan on reading Pride and Prejudice. I just bought the new annotated version. It looks really pretty.

#223. The BBC version of Archer's Goon not being on DVD continues to frustrate me. I've got a really bad quality download of it, that I suspect is a digitalisation of a recording of the original broadcast, and I love it because it was done well with great actors. I just wish they'd put out a DVD!

Note to self: hit up Abebooks for a second hand copy of Archer's Goon. Why is that one out of print? Argh!

I was so sad to hear of DWJ's death. She was such a wonderful author and I've barely scratched the surface of her books.

There is a DWJ challenge in next month's TIOLI.

#226 Wooo! I'll go and check it out in a minute!

#225 Yep, I had a search around after posting that - apparently the BBC aren't even thinking of releasing it sadly. I found a couple of clips though - I'd forgotten just how low budget those children's BBC serials were, but it didn't really matter, did it?

Oh archerygirl - you've still got more DWJ to read?! I envy you the joy of reading the rest of them for the first time.

I'm looking forward to Earwig and the Witch very much, but, at the same time, it's very sad as it will be the last of her novels I've not read. Finally got a copy of her retelling of Puss in Boots the other day though (see below), which was fun and I've got a short story in what looks like a very good short story collection (edited by Neil Gaiman) yet to read, but beyond that, the only thing (beyond her essays) that I've never got around to reading is The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, which I've had for years, but never seem to get to (this will be the year).

#224 Thanks VB. I suppose it's silly to be so sad about someone I never knew really!

Lirael turned up at the library last week, so I'll probably read it this weekend - thanks for the warning, I'll put Abhorsen on hold now!

Hope you enjoy Pride and Prejudice - it's a good starting point - even after all these rereads, it's still wonderful and my second favourite (pipped to the post by Persuasion).

23) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Goal 2: Group Read. March TIOLI: Book with 17 letters in the title
(Oct 1996, Bristol)

I've no idea how many times I've read this now, but it's easily into double figures. It was the first Austen I read and I still get something new from it every time I read it. I was thinking this time round that it's probably the wittiest of her novels. Anyway, my comments on the group read thread here, (here), here, here (sorry for the list, it's mostly for my own reference!)

24) Puss in Boots - Diana Wynne Jones / Brave Magic - Geraldine McCaughrean
(Mar 2011, Cambridge)

Well, you all know how I feel about DWJ and this, with Yes, Dear (see above) is one of her stories that I've never read to date, because they're meant for younger readers. I thought it was high time I did and this edition was coupled with Geraldine McCaughrean's Brave Magic (I think they're part of a fairy tale retelling series for children?).

The thing about pairing anyone up with DWJ is that it will show them up. Brave Magic was fine - I didn't know the stories before, I probably won't reread that part of the book. Puss in Boots on the other hand - well, we're all familiar with the story, but DWJ retells it in her typical, warm, humourous way that makes the story her own. I'll be lending this one to my niece too.

Morning, Fliss! I am just checking in and am not even attempting to catch up.

Afternoon Stasia! I'm way behind on absolutely everyone's threads at the moment, so completely understand! Been a tad busy...

I didn't do so well with my TIOLI picks last month, so I'm trying not to pick too many for April:

1) Read a book with striking cover art): - thread
I'll take a look this weekend
8) Read a book by a Japanese author/takes place in Japan:
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea - Yukio Mishima
11) Read a book on the Orange 2011 longlist: - thread
Again, I'll take a look this weekend.
13) Read a book published before you were born
South Riding - Winifred Holtby - seeing as I didn't finish it last month! (Reading)
15) Read a book by Diana Wynne Jones
I'm planning on reading everything she's written in publication order anyway, so I'll see how many I get through! To start with:
Changeover (1970)

I've still got loads of DWJ to read, and looking forward to it immensely, when I get through other stuff. I thought of you as soon as I found out she had died.

I think we all have authors or series that we grow up alongside, and mine will always be HP, the first being published when I was eleven, so I literally grew up with the stories and characters. They will always be a defining part of my progression to adulthood.

Other things like the Laura Ingalls Wilder books do the same, but take me to different places, as my mum and grandmother also continued to revisit them as they introduced them to the grandchildren - it gives such a strong sense of place and time to me! Age allows such a wide variety of responses to books from person to person.

#223: Wow, I can't even imagine reading P&P in Norwegian when I was 9. I was probably preoccupied with the Bobsey-twins or something similar:)

#227 - I don't think it's silly at all. In your life time you've probably read thousands of books. DWJ was one of your few go-to authors whose books you pulled off the shelf when you needed to feel good. That touches your life in a big way. Authors probably dream of meaning that much to readers.

There's something too about DWJ - all the obituaries I've seen (I must post the links to the Telegraph and Indie ones, as well as to the piece by Neil Gaiman who did know her well and got a lot of support from her when he started out) suggest there were a lot of people who felt a real loss somehow personally.

I feel I've missed out on DWJ - I read one book of hers as a child, but was probably just a bit too old to catch the bulk of the beginning of her publishing period. People have been mentioning her so much on here that I've been meaning to read some more soon. Oddly, I'd just found one of hers, Homeward Bounders, in a charity shop a week or two ago, before I'd heard that she'd died, so I've started reading that one now. It's not one I'd heard of before (not sure where it comes in the publication order - I must check that out).

At least there is some comfort, when favourite author dies, that we still have all their books to read and re-read...

#235 Oooh, I hope you enjoy Homeward Bounders Genny, it's one of my favourites. It was published in '81, so one of her earlier ones.

She started writing before I was born, so I already had quite a few to catch up on when I first discovered Charmed Life (would have been about '84), but of course, the internet not existing at the time and various of her bits and bobs being out of print/not listed in her books that I did read, I had the wonderful discovery of quite a few I'd missed when Wikipedia arrived. I've been on top of everything ever since then though ;o)

"At least there is some comfort, when favourite author dies, that we still have all their books to read and re-read..." - this is very true - particularly for someone as prolific as DWJ!

#234 How true!

#233 Thank you for saying that! ;o)

#232 To be fair, the second time I read P&P (a few years later), I realised just how much of the humour I'd misunderstood the first time round - eg I found Mr Collins and his letters incredibly boring when I first read P&P!

I also read it following on from an abridged Jane Eyre and from the Little Women books, which are all much more earnest and I think also explains a little why I read it in a completely different way.

#231 Well Jenny, if there are any of her books you'd like to borrow at any stage, I have the lot ;o) ...

I can imagine HP being similar, if not quite the same in the end (as DWJ continued to publish regularly throughout my life), DWJ didn't progress the characters she wrote about more than once in the same way that JK Rowling has, so you don't age with them in the same way, but she does write for a broad spectrum of ages (and I discovered her teen books at just the right point). I remember discovering the first 3 HP books in (I think) Chicago while I was on my gap year travels (I'd missed the hype, as always) and feeling a bit of a return to the feeling I had when I first discovered DWJ and thinking how wonderful HP must have been to grow up with.

Re the Laura Ingalls Wilder books - I never read them, but I have similar feelings about the Anne of Green Gables, Chalet School and Sadler's Wells books - I remember exactly where I was the first time I read a lot of those...

Jenny, I'm way behind with the threads of other people at the moment as have been rather busy (should be able to catch up a little in April), but I've seen your fb posts - I'm so sorry about the jobs - how is it going otherwise? What about the legal action. I shall continue to cross my fingers for something to turn up for you soon. Just let me know when you fancy that Blickling Hall trip and we'll try to sort something out!

Here's a summary of my March reading:

MARCH (10)
Favourite (new) read: Galileo's Daughter - Dava Sobel
Reviews: Not yet, - I still need to add "Ghost of a Chance" (feeling v guilty)
TIOLI: 4/7
1) Book with a city on pg17: Galileo's Daughter - Dava Sobel (Florence)
8) Book of short stories: Firebirds Rising edited by Sharyn November
15) Book with 17 letters in the title: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
18) YA book in the fantasy/sci-fi genre: Sabriel - Garth Nix

After hearing all the talk about Archer's Goon I might have to try and read that one in April as well as Fire and Hemlock.

I somehow managed to miss all of Diana Wynne Jones' books when I was a child but I've really enjoyed reading them since I discovered her last year.

#237 Yes, yes, do Heather! ;o) Woo for a DWJ convert!

I don't usually post pictures of actual people on LT (privacy and all that) and my sister would probably kill me for posting this one, but I just had to, despite the fact that it's not the most flattering of any of them:



...Four generations of my family - 103.5 year age gap ;o) !

(Leftish to right: little Isla (born Jan 2011), Granny (born Aug 1907), my sister and my Dad)

Awww, how lovely. What a fab picture to have.

I agree with Jenny. Those 4 generation pictures are priceless!

Agreed! My brother was able to get a picture of himself with our dad, our grandmother, and my niece in one sitting.

Nice picture. I like that they're all focused on little Isla and not the camera. Although, if my sister posted a picture of me where I appeared to be adjusting my bra straps (like your sister) I might be a little peeved. (But in comparison to the pictures of me looking fat in a bathing suit in the Bahamas that my sister has posted on facebook, I guess I wouldn't complain too much)
What are you reading these days?

#239 Lovely picture :-)

That is a priceless photo, Fliss. Thank you for sharing it with us!

That pic is a keeper for sure. Should I try to scrap it? Wonderful.

I'm finding it very difficult to find the time to keep track of LT at the moment. This is good in a "real life" sense, but I hate losing track of you all ;o) ...and I still haven't written a review for "Ghost of a Chance" (and in the meantime have received 2 further ARCS - woo, but argh)

Anyway...

#246 That's so kind of you Susan! I'm not sure my sister would forgive me for it though (it not being her best photo) and I'd want to show her. I'm going to make every effort to get a better one and then I will take you up on your offer ;o)

#240/241/244/245 :o) I just wish I had a better black and white photo to develop and enlarge for everyone - unfortunately, I've processed my film in the interim and, although I've got lots of other lovely photos, all the ones with my family in haven't turned out well enough. I think there's a gremlin somewhere in my SLR camera that prevents me taking decent B&W photos of my family! (...or it could have something to do with their lack of patience waiting for me with my completely non digital camera...)

#243 I like that too - although as you say, I think my sister mightn't like to know that this is here - I won't tell her if you don't ;o) I will get a decent one!!

I have a new one to add of Isla + one of my sister's friends and a very prominent glass of wine, but nonetheless showing that even at 3.5 months, she's getting her priorities right:



So. What have I been reading you ask, VB? I can't seem to shake this reading slump I've been in ever since November, so I really haven't been reading that much, or particularly interestingly, however, since I last posted, here's what I have finished (I had a lot of books on the boil at once):

25) Summer Knight - Jim Butcher
26) Grave Peril - Jim Butcher
(Mar 2011, Rock Road Library)

I actually read these before finishing Pride and Prejudice, but forgot to list them. The next couple of books in the Dresden Files series - silly fun. I enjoyed Fool Moon a bit more though. I'll probably continue to read them, but they really don't stick in my memory (as witnessed by the fact that I forgot to list them!).

27) South Riding - Winifred Holtby
April TIOLI: Book published before you were born (1936)
(1973, borrowed from Parents)

I confess that part of the reason I read this was down to the recent TV adaptation (which, I have to say, was a tad unfaithful to the book, even if I did quite enjoy it).

In the early 1930's the idealistic Sarah Burton returns to South Riding and the town in which she grew up, to take on the position of headmistress in a run down school for girls. She is determined to make something of both the failing school and the girls it produces, despite opposition from less progressive locals. Nearby, local landowner Robert Carne tries to keep his estate from going in to bankruptcy whilst bringing up his excitable daughter and paying to support his wife in an exorbitant insane asylum. In the background, both corrupt and idealistic individuals try to deal with poverty and progressed in an area feeling the effects of depression.

It took me a while to get in to this, but when I did I really did enjoy it. At one point in the middle, there is a chapter effectively describing Sarah Burton's ideals, which are basically my ideals and this resounded with me quite a lot. There are some beautifully drawn characters (even the horrible Midge). But at the same time this is more than just a love story (despite the blurb for the 1970s version that I was borrowing from my mother!) and there is a lot of political comment which, all these years later (and bearing in mind this was published in 1936 - after the death of Winifred Holtby in 1935), I found it fascinating just how far seeing she was. Of course, I should have known this, given the fact that she lived with the extremely politically active Vera Brittain and her family (I really must reread Testament of Youth at some point).

28) Lirael - Garth Nix
29) Abhorsen - Garth Nix
(Apr 2011, Rock Road Library)

Sequels to Sabriel, focusing on the next generation (so slightly disappointing for me because, although Sabriel et al turn up, there's a gap of 20 years). Nonetheless, good enjoyable fun. A not dissimilar story, just a bigger, badder evil requiring two books to overcome rather than one ;o)

30) Jane Austen Selected Letters - Jane Austen
Goal 1: Non fiction
(Jul 1996, Bristol? Cambs?)

I got about 2/3 of the way through this years ago and then put it down and forgot about it for some reason. I have absolutely no idea why, because Jane Austen's letters are extremely entertaining.

Mostly consisting of the minutiae of daily family life written to travelling/at home relatives (particularly her sister Cassandra and her niece Fanny), but (particularly latterly) also with tantalising glimpses of her thoughts on her books (her books were her children, she loved Lizzie Bennet, thought P&P better than MP, knew exactly what Mrs Bingley would look like and the reason why she couldn't find a decent portrait of Mrs Darcy etc). I will definitely have to find a full collection at some point.

What is interesting about this edition is that it was originally published in 1955 and it is clear to me that attitudes have changed considerably in this time. The introduction is interesting, but (largely) presents a common view of a completely different image of Jane Austen to that in my mind. R. W. Chapman feels the need to defend Jane Austen as when the letters were originally published, they caused uproar:

"The letters transgressed against the received notions of what a great writer's letters were like; more particularly, they were not what 'gentle Jane's' letters should have been like."

He goes on to defend this (her acerbic wit and the fact that these were not letters written for publication, unlike those of eg Scott, which definitely were) well, but at the same time with this image of a "gentle Jane" in mind.

What I can't understand is how anyone who has read Pride and Prejudice could possibly think of Jane Austen as "gentle". She was clearly a very intelligent, sharp woman - not unkind, but with a wicked sense of humour - and I'm very glad this is the case, or she really would be just "chick-lit" as some people (completely erroneously to my mind) try to describe her.

There are, oh, so many things I'd like to quote, but the one thing that I will is this (in response to her niece, who had made someone read her Aunt's books and he didn't like them):

"Do not oblige him to read any more. Have mercy on him, tell him the truth & make him an apology. He & I should not in the least agree of course, in our ideas of Novels and Heroines; pictures of perfection as you know make me sick & wicked - but there is some very good sense in what he says, & I particularly respect him for wishing to think well of all young Ladies; it shews an amiable & a delicate mind"

I'm so glad I read this ;o)

I have read Jane Austen more often than any other author, (bar Diana Wynne Jones) and her letters truly do bring her more to life (while at the same time supporting my idea that her personality seems to shine through everything she's written) - what a shame (and yet how completely understandable) that Cassandra burnt so many (and all of the more personal ones).

One big nit-pick I have with this collection is the notes, which are abysmal - very few and far between and seemingly completely randomly picked - one apparently obscure thing will be explained, while another will not. I think this edition could seriously do with updating!

I've been looking around for a biography to follow this up with (although I do have that of Elizabeth Jenkins as I borrowed it years ago from my parents and never read it), but the reviews seem widely different, so instead, I'm going to look for Jane Austen in Context - a selection of essays written by many people, collated by Janet Todd first as it appeals to me much more.

OK, beyond these, I'm currently rereading Changeover for my April TIOLI list (and my own personal decision to reread all DWJ's novels in publication order) and also an ebook ARC, "Evil Genius", by Patricia Rice (which I'm not particularly impressed with so far.

I'll try to update again over Easter, when I start to catch up with everyone else's threads

Hi, Fliss! Glad you see you back:)Missed you around here! I guess RL has the higher priority most of the time, and that is how it should be. We'll be here when you have more time for LT!

Loved your comments on Jane Austen's letters, they are safely added to my wishlist. I'm with you, btw, after reading Jane's books, gentle is not the first word coming to my mind.

Have a lovely weekend:)

I also really enjoyed your comments on Jane's letters and shall add them to my wishlist. Indeed, you are SO right that Jane's quite acerbic wit is not at all gentle and is why I like her so much.

Hmm, to me, chick lit is really a shorthand way for describing books that deal with issues that are of importance to women, and with women as protagonists, that don't aspire to being Great Literature. (I wouldn't put Virginia Woolf or Holtby in this category...) Austen may not be chick lit, but I think a lot of chick lit authors are really just updating the themes and types of characters introduced by Austen for the modern era. Few, alas, have her pitch-perfect voice and sometimes acerbic wit...

Must read South Riding...

So you do think I should tackle the historical novel on Eleanor Butler? She's really quite fascinating. All the fuss over Elizabeth Woodville and Richard III, and here is this woman who was a niece by marriage to Warwick the Kingmaker, perhaps the wife or betrothed to a king; her younger sister married the Duke of Norfolk (the last Mowbray one) and was basically forced to marry her very young (age 5) daughter to the younger son of that same Edward IV who probably jilted her sister! The young Mowbray heiress died before her young husband became one of the princes in the tower. The irony is rich here: the reason the prince ended up IN the tower was that his aunt-in-law was said to be the true wife of his father, making him a bastard. It was certainly a small, small world in medieval England. But the point is that Eleanor Butler was anything but an obscure figure -- her father had been one of the great English heroes of the 100 Years' War, a kind of model of chivalry.

>250 Chatterbox: sounds like a soap!

#247 Nice review of Jane Austen's letters. I got a copy of her letters for my birthday this year which I should really bump up the pile.

#251 -- it does, doesn't it?? I was stunned when I realized all the links, and their implications, despite knowing a reasonable amount about the era. Creates a lot of room for a fun novel, filling in all the gaps between what is known & what is possible.

#248 Thank you Bente - I did indeed have a lovely (and very hot) weekend - hope that you did too!

#249 Me too ;o)

#250 I think that probably half my problem with chick lit is that it should be categorised like that in the first place (says she who just did) - I really dislike categorising books at all, but there is something so derogatory about the phrase.

That said, I still wouldn't class Jane Austen as chick lit, but maybe that's because my definition differs from yours - to me chick lit implies light, romantic fiction - nothing with any depth. Maybe this is my own false assumptions - I admit that I steer clear of anything described as chick lit (if I know it in advance) with a very long bargepole - however, I'm sure that there are some very well written books out there that really don't deserve to be written off with such a dismissive term.

Jane Austen's books have a lot more to them than just romance, as I'm sure you'd agree - there's a lot of social commentary and satire there, if not as obvious or as serious as the work of your examples (actually, I've never read anything by Virginia Woolf - I made a start of To the Lighthouse years ago, but got distracted - I must rectify this) and this is the main reason why I'd never class her as chick lit.

Re the historical novel, oooooh yes! That sounds like it has a huge amount of potential!

#251 Hallo susan! Agreed ;o)

#252 Thank you Heather - I'd definitely recommend them - I'm going to have to find a complete collection myself at some point as this just whetted my appetite for more (although apparently they're mostly quite well selected, if missing one or two more obvious ones) - you'll have to let me know how well you think it's edited.

#253 I'm going to watch this space! ;o)

I'm going to create a Goal 6 for the year: to re-read all the novels of Diana Wynne Jones, in publication order (just because I want to and I read them very quickly anyway):

I'm going to exclude The Skiver's Guide and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland (although I probably will read the latter at some point in the not too distant future) as non-fiction and as I've already read the former not long ago. Also excluded are Hidden Turnings, "Fantasy Stories" and Now We Are Sick as collections of short stories that she's edited as there's only 1 of her stories/poem in each and, in the first two cases, they're both in other collections.

Changeover (1970)
Wilkin's Tooth (1973) (aka Witch's Business)
The Ogre Downstairs (1974)
Eight Days of Luke (1975)
Cart and Cwidder (1975)
Dogsbody (1975)
Power of Three (1976)
Drowned Ammet (1977)
Charmed Life (1977)
Who Got Rid of Angus Flint (1978) (in Stopping for a Spell)
Spellcoats (1979)
The Magicians of Caprona (1980)
The Four Grannies (1980) (in Stopping for a Spell)
Time of the Ghost (1981)
The Homeward Bounders (1981)
Witch Week (1982)
Archer's Goon (1984)
Warlock at the Wheel (1984) (short story collection)
Fire and Hemlock (1985)
Howl's Moving Castle (1986)
A Tale of Time City (1987)
The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988)
Chair Person (1988) (in Stopping for a Spell)
Wild Robert (1989)
Castle in the Air (1990)
Black Maria (1991) (aka Aunt Maria)
A Sudden Wild Magic (1992)
Yes, Dear (1992)
The Crown of Dalemark (1993)
Hexwood (1993)
Everard's Ride (1995) (in Unexpected Magic)
Minor Arcana (1996) (short story collection)
Deep Secret (1997)
The Dark Lord of Derkholm (1998)
Puss in Boots (1999)
Mixed Magics (2000) (short story collection)
Year of the Griffin (2000)
The Merlin Conspiracy (2003)
(Unexpected Magics (2004))
Conrad's Fate (2005)
The Pinhoe Egg (2006)
The Game (2007)
House of Many Ways (2008)
Enchanted Glass (2010)
Earwig and the Witch (2011)

I'll post a reading update at some point today or tomorrow ;o)

Hi Fliss! Welcome back. It appears that this is the year of the reading funk. Everyone's in some kind of funk. Although, real life happenings are the best possible excuse for not having time to read. I've been reading the same book for 2 months now. I'm torn between wanting to read new books (and get them off the shelves ) and wanting to slowly re-read some favorite books.
Enjoy re-reading all your DWJ books. I favorite-d the above post so that when I finally get around to reading more DWJ (I've only read Howl) I'll know in what order to obtain them.
You actually managed to read a lot of books during your reading funk.
I like Lirael and Abhorsen better than Sabriel. But I think it has a lot to do with the Library of the Clayr (I want to work there) and the Disreputable Dog.
Great pic - little Isla looks very happy with her book. Oh, and I promise I'll never tell your sister about that other pic.

Hi VB, well, I admit that children's fiction is always my go to in a reading funk as they're always quite quick to read. I'm struggling to get on with anything a little more complex most of the time though. However, given my DWJ kick, I really think I should start making inroads to my other goals for the year ;o)

If you've only read Howl, you've got a lot to look forward to, how envious I am! I've decided I'm going to keep a record of all the DWJ novels as I read them over in the DWJ group (which, to date, I haven't checked in to much, I'll admit - it's not a very active group), but I'll link to it in my next post (next reading summary!) - I hope it will be helpful in picking your next one ;o). DWJ is always brilliant for a reading funk, so I've been whisking through them and am not far off the seam of most of my favourites. Expect me to read nothing else at that point!

"I'm torn between wanting to read new books (and get them off the shelves ) and wanting to slowly re-read some favorite books." - I know the feeling! Almost a third of my library is unread books, so there's quite a lot of guilt there too. On the other hand, I'm a great believer that you have to read what you're in the mood for - there are books that have been completely spoilt for me because I've read them at the wrong time. It's why I'm not too stressed about reading Les Mis so slowly (I guarantee this is going to take all year!).

I also had a very similar thought about the Library of the Clayr ;o)

31) Changeover - Diana Wynne Jones (1970)
Goal 6: DWJ in publication order, April TIOLI: Books by DWJ
(Feb 2005, Cambridge)

DWJ's first published book and the only one truly for adults.

Completely different from most of her fiction in many ways, but in the humour, very familiar.

It is the 60's and the small African country of Nmkwami (those who know a little Latin might spot a deliberate joke) is preparing for independence. Harold, a rather pathetic junior aide to the current Governor, brings up the question of how to appropriately mark the changeover. The Governor, however, completely fails to understand who this Mark Changeover could possibly be and why he needs to be executed. Within hours, the entire country is searching for the mysterious communist, anarchist, terrorist Mark (or is that Roger?) Changeover, to prevent him blowing up the forthcoming celebrations.

An extremely silly, but enjoyable and fast paced farse that, while recognisably a first novel, is still great fun to read.

32) Wilkin's Tooth - Diana Wynne Jones (1973)
Goal 6: DWJ in publication order, April TIOLI: Books by DWJ
(Jul 2010, Cambridge)

This is one of the ones I borrowed from the library when I was at school and have only recently bought for myself as it's for younger readers (there are quite a few of these - particularly as a lot went out of print and have only been re-published over the last few years).

In order to raise a little pocket money over the holidays, Frank and Jess set up a business, "Own Back Ltd" - revenge arranged, price according to task. Unfortunately, their first job is for the local bully - to get a tooth from Vernon Wilkin, who dared to punch him back. It swiftly becomes very clear that they've let themselves in for a whole lot of trouble with someone who really shouldn't be meddled with.

This is what DWJ is so great at - original ideas, amusingly told, but topics that, if you stop for a bit, will make you think a bit. After all, does revenge ever really help anyone? This is not one of my favourites - mostly because the ending feels as though it needs a little bit more TLC, but it's still a fun read, with likable characters.

33) The Ogre Downstairs - Diana Wynne Jones (1974)
Goal 6: DWJ in publication order, April TIOLI: Books by DWJ
(Jul 2010, Cambridge)

See the first paragraph for Wilkin's Tooth!

Caspar, Johnny and Gwinny are having a hard time accepting their new step family - in particular, their new father, the "Ogre" - after all, they were quite all right as they were before he and his two sons came along. In an apparent effort to win them round, the Ogre has given Johnny and his younger son a new chemistry set to play with. But this is no ordinary set of chemicals.

This is an interesting one - with 16+ years of repeatedly reading many of DWJ's novels, there are certainly some stock characters that come up - always likable, or suitably villainous, but nonetheless, recognisably from the same mold. This one is a bit different - the central kids are recognisable, but the rest of the family are more complicated and there's a lot more grey than there is in a lot of her books geared at younger children (although it abounds in those aimed at older readers). Again, the ending feels a little rushed, but (and you're just going to have to start taking this as read with all DWJ's books:) an enjoyably feel good story.

34) The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea - Yukio Mishima
April TIOLI: Books written by/about Japan
(Feb 2011, Anglesey Abbey)

A very random purchase from a second hand bookshop. I thought it was time to tear myself away from DWJ, albeit very briefly (I'm going to struggle to wean myself when I reach the end of this list), so I picked this up as being on my TIOLI list.

13 year old Noboru spies on his mother having sex with a Ryuji, a sailor, that she met only 2 days previously, but who is destined to become his new father. Until then, Noboru had worshiped Ryuji, but now he is disgusted with him. However, he hides his contempt until their engagement, when he takes a list of "charges" to his elitist gang of friends, determined to teach him a lesson.

I did not enjoy this at all. If it hadn't been such a short book and one of my TIOLI picks, I probably wouldn't have bothered to finish it. Yet it seems very popular here on LT. I've honestly no idea why. For such a short book, it was really quite a slog to read, with completely unconvincing characters (except, perhaps, for Fusako, Noboru's mother - interestingly, given this was written by a man). Probably I have a very low tolerence for people who think that they're better than everyone else. Maybe I'm missing something - anyone else out there read and enjoyed this?

35) Eight Days of Luke - Diana Wynne Jones (1975)
Goal 6: DWJ in publication order, April TIOLI: Books by DWJ
(?Jul 2010, Cambridge)

...and back to DWJ again!

To my mind, this is the point at which she starts to hit her stride.

David comes home for the summer holidays to stay with his unloving relatives. Unusually, they've failed to book him on an Educational Tour or into a Holiday Camp, so instead of being sent away again, he's stuck at home in a miserable household, with no other kids nearby to play with and expected to be grateful. But then the mysterious Luke turns up, claiming that David has released him from prison and needing his help to avoid the people who want to put him back there.

Messing around with the characters from Norse myth, DWJ takes the familiar Gods and makes them very much her own.

36) The Snow Goose - Paul Gallico
April TIOLI: Books with striking cover art (I like it because it's simple but bold - I need to find the thread and upload the pic)
(Jul 2010, Cambridge)

It seems that I bought a lot of book in July last year!

Two short stories, modern fairy tales by Paul Gallico.

The first, and my favourite, "The Snow Goose" is a sad but very atmospheric little story of a humpbacked painter, a recluse, living in the Fens, painting the wildlife he loves, but steering clear of the superficially judgemental world around him. Then one day a young girl turns up at his door with a wounded Canadian goose and his life is never the same again.

The second story, "The Small Miracle" is (as is also the case with "The Snow Goose") a bit of a character study. A young, orphaned boy makes his living near Assisi with his inheritance, Violetta, a donkey with a Mona Lisa smile. He adores Violetta and, knowing himself to be fortunate in having her to help him make a living, is very happy. But one day Violleta becomes ill - Peppino must take her to the Crypt of St Francis of Assisi to help her get better, but first he must convince the Pope.

37) Cart and Cwidder - Diana Wynne Jones (1975)
Goal 6: DWJ in publication order, April TIOLI: Books by DWJ
(?2008, Cambridge)

Another one I originally borrowed from the library and fairly recently obtained (but I'm not sure when).

The first in the Dalemark Quartet, I think I actually read it third (this is what happened before the internet existed ;o)). I've always loved Spellcoats, but the rest of the Dalemark Quarted grabbed me less. Funnily enough however, the more I read them, the more I enjoy them - I'm looking forward to coming to the rest of them again.

The story is of Moril and his family - travelling musicians who are amongst the few permitted to travel between the restricted South and the more open North - two parts of a country very close to war with each other. It is a happy life, but Moril can't wait to get home to the North, although he hadn't reckoned on his father picking up an irritating passenger en route. Not long after, tragedy strikes and their lives are turned upside down.

A very simple and, in some ways, introspective story, but no worse for that. How I would love to be able to play any instrument that way!

I'm recording all the DWJ books HERE also, as I read them.

I'm ashamed to admit that I've only read 5 of DWJ's works. I might do the same and work through them in publication order, though from the library. Lack of funds is increasingly frustrating!

May I highly recommend The Man Who Was Magic by Gallico. It was a childhood favourite and I guess one of my first foray's into a fantasy scenario. I hadn't realised until I looked to check the title how much Gallico has written - I shall have to add others of his to my every growing list.

#259 Well Jenny, if you ever want to borrow one, just say - I know I can trust you to take care of the books I lend you ;o) (and unlike one of my sister's friends, who I bought a second hand copy of Howl's Moving Castle in order to not to have to lend mine!). Which have you read again?

Thank you for the recommendation - I shall investigate - I'd never come across him before now...

Finally, a review for Ghost of a Chance by Rhiannon Lassiter:

Eva Chance wakes up on the morning of her 16th birthday with nothing to look forward to. To make matters worse, her thoughtless relatives are all descending on the crumbling old mansion that she has lived in with her Grandfather since her birth and the death of her mother. They all know that they could run the dilapidated building better than they can, but are never around for the day to day upkeep when the building is closed to the public.

Something is not right however, her relatives notice her even less than usual and, over the course of the day, Eva realises that she is, in fact a ghost. She's always known that there were nasty dark spots in the building, but now there seems to be something more malignant pervading the whole place. Determining to solve her own murder, she may have something worse to fight against than the machinations of the person who killed her.

My first impressions of this young adult book weren't great - most of the characters seemed a bit cliched and two dimensional and I could see where the plot was going. I'll stick by the 2D characters, however, the more I got into the story, the more I enjoyed it and I ended up whisking through fairly speedily. I wasn't wrong about where the plot went, but this didn't spoil the anything as the getting there was the important part.

Don't expect a work of deep literature, but read this book for what it is - a fast paced supernatural mystery and you'll probably come away happy.

A last note that I won't post on the review as it seems unfair, but as I was reading, I did keep finding myself comparing the book unfavourably to a childhood favourite, Remember Me by Christopher Pike - another YA book with a similar theme (ghost tries to find own murderer), it's also pretty light weight, but somehow packs a lot more emotional punch and definitely made me think a bit more. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoyed "Ghost of a Chance"

38) Dogsbody - Diana Wynne Jones
Goal 6: DWJ in publication order, April TIOLI: Books by DWJ
(1988, Herts)

This is amongst the first DWJ's that I read, so, while it is no longer one of my favourites and it's been quite a while since I last reread it, it does have a very special place in my memory.

Sirius, the Dogstar is on trial for the murder of a minor luminary and the loss of a Zoi. Found guilty, the judges pass an unusual sentence on him - to be transferred to the body of a creature of the planet on which the Zoi was thought to be lost, with the task of finding it, within the space of that creature's natural lifespan.

The next he knows, Sirius awakes confused and blurry in the body of a newborn puppy. He is rescued from drowning by a young Irish girl, Kathleen, staying with unkind or indifferent relatives in England, while her father is in jail back in Ireland, on terrorism charges.

I should reread this one more often - I always forget how much I like it because of the animal angle (I'm not usually a fan of anthropomorphised animals). A meloncholy story, but also a heart-warming one (I don't know why, I hate the description "heart-warming" - probably because it is overused - but it does fit in this case, so I shall use it whilst cringing.

39) The Seas - Samantha Hunt
April TIOLI: Orange longlist
(Apr 2011, Cambridge)

I had a bit of a mini Orange longlist book buying binge yesterday, whilst the Royal wedding was happening (I've only ever seen Cambridge that deserted on a miserable day in September when all the tourists and students are gone and school's back ;o)).

I also read this either side of a rather strange play last night ("Terminus"), which had a similarly dreamlike quality to the writing style of this peculiar and mildly disturbing novel and may have warped my perception a little as I'm afraid for quite a while they were interwoven in my mind.

With a cast of broken characters, this is written from the point of view of a 19 year old girl, in love with a war veteran 14 years older than herself, who won't accept her approaches. Separate and unusual, she believes herself to be a mermaid. Her mother worries about her, but, still fixated on her husband who disappeared into the sea 11 years ago, she isn't the best example herself.

An interesting and atmospheric story, this didn't quite whisk me away with it as much as I expected, given how easy it was to immerse myself in the flow of the writing, however, well worth the read.

Hi Fliss. I love your idea of reading through DWJ's books in publication order. There are still so many I haven't read that I think I'm just going to carry on reading them as I come across them but it's really interesting to see your thoughts about how she develops as a writer.

Of your recent DWJ reads I haven't read Changeover, Wilkins' Tooth or Eight Days of Luke.

I've got your thread in the DWJ group starred too.

#261 And I enjoyed your review of Ghost of a Chance. I remember reading Remember Me and I did enjoy it at the time although I suspect I wouldn't enjoy it so much now. Was it part of the Point Horror publishing series? I remember everyone at school was reading those books although some of them were better than others.

#264 Oh yes, you should definitely read them as they occur to you. I'm not sure how inciteful I'll be as I find it very hard to be objective about DWJ - most of these I've been reading on a regular basis for years. ;o)

Re Changeover, I think that it tends to be one of those that only die hard fans will have read as it's not at all typical and was out of print for years. Both Wilkins' Tooth and, Eight Days of Luke, like Charmed Life are aimed at slightly younger readers and I wouldn't class them as favourites, but they're still fun.

I'm not far off hitting a streak of my absolute favourites (starting with The Spellcoats), which may mean I go out of circulation for a short while ;o)

Re Remember Me, yes, I think it was part of the Point Horror series (it certainly had the same packaging) - I didn't read most of them, but both my sister and I went through a massive Christopher Pike phase in our teens. For teen horror fluff, he was a surprisingly memorable read - while a lot of them were very silly, there were several that really did get me thinking. Remember Me was my favourite by a long way though. He wrote a couple of sequels to them quite a while after. I skim-read the first of them - I don't know if it was just because I read it when I was past the target age, but it was one of those sequels you really wish you hadn't read as it almost spoils the first book...

I'm thinking that I should set up a new thread for the next 3rd of the year, but in the meantime, here's my summary for the month:

APRIL (13)
Favourite (new) read: Jane Austen Selected Letters
Reviews:
Jane Austen, Selected Letters
Ghost of a Chance - Rhiannon Lassiter
TIOLI: 10/10
1) Read a book with striking cover art): The Snow Goose - Paul Gallico
8) Read a book by a Japanese author/takes place in Japan:
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea - Yukio Mishima
11) Read a book on the Orange 2011 longlist: The Seas - Samantha Hunt
13) Read a book published before you were born:
South Riding - Winifred Holtby
15) Read a book by Diana Wynne Jones:
Changeover (1970)
Wilkins' Tooth (1973)
The Ogre Downstairs (1974)
Eight Days of Luke (1975)
Cart and Cwidder (1975)
Dogsbody (1975)

To update:
Naming the Bones - Louise Welsh (ER ARC)
Power of Three - Diana Wynne Jones

Currently reading:
Evil Genius - Patricia Rice (ER ARC)
Drowned Ammet - Diana Wynne Jones
Cyclling in the East of England - Vincent Cassar
Man in the Dark - Paul Auster