Jen's 75 Book Challenge for 2011

Looking forward to reading loads of new stuff and favourites in 2011.

Seems like an idea to reduce all those book stalagmites clustering beside the bed.

And of course, once they're all read, I've GOT to buy more - don't I? Or at least swap the books on the shelf with the books in the loft.

Bring on January 1st!

(And if I've put this in the wrong place, please let me know because I'm new to this.)

I think you are doing it just right, but I am not "the judge". I just read threads which look like fun. I enjoyed reading your introduction and as one of my goals is to read more childrens' and young adult books this year, I think I'll star your thread and follow what you are up to. I am not always able to keep up with all of it but I'll try to post a comment from time to time.

Remember the main goals is to enjoy your reading and your thread.

Book stalagmites!

Welcome to the group, Jen!

Welcome to the group Jen - I have starred you as we have similar interests :)

Hi Jen...I just finished library school, so we have some common interests. I like reading both children's and young adult literature, but mostly by American authors. I plan on scanning your library to find some new to me U.K. authors. All the best with your tower of books! Michelle

Hi! I'm looking forward to seeing what you read.

Oh, and I meant to ask, have you read Doomsday Book? It's the first science fiction/history crossover that comes to mind.

Yeah I thought of the Doomsday Book too, plus most other books by Connie Willis. Also The Sterkarm Handshake by Susan Price - it's kind of like Cross Stitch but YA. Not sure if this is the kind of sci-fi/history you're looking for? Anyway, being a school librarian sounds great - I'll be following your thread.

I have Sterkarm Handshake as well as The Sterkarm Kiss in my library. They have intrigued me for some time. I will put them on my must read list. Thanks for the reminder.

Welcome!

Thanks to everyone's who's posted and for all the welcomes!

I often don't get time to do more than skim the books as they whizz past through the cataloguing process, but then you find something intriguing ... let's just say I need to catch up with my cataloguing :-)

Sterkarm Handshake is in the "must read when I get round to it" mental list but I'd not noticed Doomsday Book so thanks for that! It looks brilliant.

Still completing two from last year: Pure dead brilliant by Debi Gliori (reading the whole Strega-Borgia series with my daughter - highly recommended by both of us) and Journey of the Magi by Paul William Roberts, which is melting my brain.

1. Journey of the Magi by Paul William Roberts

Where do I start with this book? It covered what I expected, but then went far, far, far beyond that, literally over the dunes and far away.

Take a decent mix of archaeology, language, history and travel, cover it all up with religion, sprinkle on a sense of humour and just the slightest touch of flagrant stupidity. Add superiority and condescension to taste.

The premise is simple: the author spots a mention of the Wise Men from the Nativity in an account of Marco Polo's travels that sparks off an interest in where the story comes from and who these Magi might have been. As a result, and after a great deal of research, he ends up travelling the route that he believes they took to reach Bethlehem, through Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Along with his physical journey, Roberts also wanders through what feels like every major religion and cult that ever saw daylight in the Middle East. Since I'm intrigued by connections, it was interesting to see how he linked various ideas together, but sometimes he stretched his links too far for credibility: no need to drag leprechauns into the mix!

It's the sort of book that should really be full of footnotes and maps and glossaries or at least annotated, but instead all the annotations are in the text, which makes keeping up with him pretty difficult at times as he attempts to cram as much evidence together as possible.

On the other hand, it's crammed with fascinating places that we only usually hear about in negative reports, lived in by people who are gentle, wise, and sometimes downright horrible, and full of so much myth, legend and storytelling that Scheherezade would have given up.

Will I read it again? Probably not, but I'm pretty sure that I'll refer to it over and over again as I try to find out more about the places mentioned.

2. Rory and his shooting star by Andrew Wolffe and Tom Cole

No apologies for including picture books in my list: they're as important as any other kind of book. This was my son's choice for tonight.

The Rory Stories are a series about a wee boy who lives on a Scottish island with his parents and dog, the brilliant Scruff McDuff. They would be great for new readers, and offer ample opportunities to practise lots of different Scottish accents - easy for me to say perhaps :-)

Each episode is very simple with a full page illustration, showing our hero with his spiky red hair and tartan trousers, off in various locations round the island - this child has a lot of freedom to explore by himself. In this one, Rory sees a shooting star one night and goes to find it on the beach the next day.

Now, since I really don't want to spoil the ending for you, I'll leave the rest to your imaginations.

I like Roberts' writing, though his information can be wildly inaccurate (his Egyptian history owes rather more to fantasies of sekret ancient knowledge and less to methodical Egyptology) but he can be wildly funny, very evocative, and can spin a good yarn. I enjoyed Journey of the Magi, though I wouldn't bet my savings on its accuracy.

Hi There. Welcome to the 75 challenge group.

Too bad the Roberts book is not available at my local library. It looks like one I would enjoy.

It looks like your reading year is off to a good start, Jen. Congratulations!

Thanks, folks.

>alcottacre: Journey of the Magi has also been published under its subtitle, In search of the birth of Jesus if that helps.

>Cynara: Totally agree. I wasn't surprised to see Colin Wilson and Graham Hancock listed in his thanks. I'm always intrigued to see their latest theories, but they always get to a point where research vanishes and "inspiration" takes over. Got to have that 99% perspiration too.

The ruins of Palmyra look absolutely magnificent though.

#19: I appreciate the info about the other title, but my local library still does not have it :(

If you enjoyed Journey of the Magi, I recommend River in the Desert. I can't read Chapter Four, which is out-and-out fantasy about priestly pyramid mystic etc., but the rest of it is a great read. I don't always agree with his depictions of modern Egypt, either, but they're riveting reading and often very funny.

Well I (mostly) liked his sense of humour so I'll keep an eye out for it. Cheers :-)

Been reading too much to write, so a quick catch up.

3. Mr William Shakespeare's Plays by Marcia Williams

A brilliant book, part graphic novel, which my daughter got for Christmas. Marcia Williams is a fantastic illustrator and has really captured the essence of some seven plays Romeo and Juliet, Winter's Tale, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and The Tempest, together with little asides from the audience clustered around the frames of the illustrations. There's a short text in modern English with the characters providing brief explanatory exerpts from the original.

I think it's a wonderful introduction to Shakespeare for kids. Daught is already trying out some of Shakespeare's words for herself. Her favourites are Winter's Tale, Tempest and Midsummer Night's Dream.

Marcia Williams' second volume of Shakespeare is definitely on our wishlist.

4. Moon Stallion by Brian Hayles

This is a novelisation of an old BBC children's drama from the 1970s. It's probably one of the first things to spark my interest in ancient Britain. It's also an intelligently written novelisation, unlike most others.

Set in southern England in the early 20th century, it touches lots of ancient sites, mixing chronologies all over the place, but I don't care in this instance - and I had to be gagged when I saw Braveheart - because it's a cracking story.

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Halfway through Sense and Sensibility and loving it. So long since I read it, I'm finding my memory of the book has been altered by the wonderful film by Emma Thomson and Ang Lee.

Got to say though that Jane Austen has a definite genius for bitches. Such viciousness!

5. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

NB Includes spoilers

My memory had definitely been altered by the film. I didn't remember ANY of the last few chapters.

I suppose it has its moments, but it's not a patch on Pride and Prejudice (or even Mansfield Park), but then P&P is far more familiar.

What I did love about SS was it's supporting characters - except Edward, who needs serious leading man lessons. I know he has to be nice, and respectful, and honourable, but can he please grow some character as well. Colonel Brandon is much more like it.

I wonder if Jane Austen knew a lot of her characters in real life as relations or neighbours, especially the women. Who did she know as catty as Lucy Steele? Was anyone as wound up in her own opinions as Marianne? I did read somewhere that one critic believed Marianne to be Jane's own self portrait, but I'm not overly convinced.

I think my favourite character throughout has to be John Dashwood. He might be a bit one dimensional in his meanness, but I do love how he always manages to convince himself that he's doing right by everyone.

Overall, a decent wee read, but not my favourite Austen.

Journey of the Magi sounds like fun. Too bad it doesn't have more respectable scholarship, but I think it might be an entertaining read anyway.

Definitely entertaining, and there's certainly lots of threads that I would follow up and read more about.

6. Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood

A YA title, shortlisted for our local teen book awards.

This is one of those books that you really can't explain to someone else without their eyebrows reaching into their hairline, and then you explain a bit more to try and calm their reaction and eventually, you've given away the entire plot, and it still sounds ridiculous.

Jessamine and her father live in the ruins of an abbey in Northumberland.her father is a herbalist, obsessed by the knowledge once owned by the monks, then lost when the soldiers tore down the monastery hospital. How far will he go to discover the secrets of his poison garden? Well ...I'm saying nothing more, because this is where the eyebrows go into orbit.

It feels a little like someone running into you at full speed, and charging off immediately: you're left wondering what just happened. Because the thing is, some of the places it went to were unexpected. Strange powers? Fine with that. Delusions? No problem. Nasty fathers? To be expected. And yet, somewhere it lost me, or at least I lost it. The wires on my willing suspension of disbelief snapped.

It'll be interesting to see what the pupils make of it.

Fallen back into the habit of reading too many books at once, and not managing to complete any.

Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace is a YA book. It feels dangerous from the start, although the constant looking back with regret is getting more annoying than tension building.

Lord Arthur Saville's Crime by Oscar Wilde is proving to be fun. A great wee book to pick up for a quick refreshing story.

And I'm still plodding through The New Road by Neil Munro which is proving to be hard work so far. There are obvious comparisons with Kidnapped and Stevenson's winning hands down so far.

I've been dipping into a couple of books about tucked away places in Britain in the hope of finding inspiration for holidays. Ending up dipping so much that I read them cover to cover.

7. Britain's countryside: a walker's guide by Geoffrey Young is fascinating although it covers a lot and I'm left wanting to know more detail, particularly on the subject of old roads.

8. Mystical Britain and Ireland by Richard Jones suggests lots of fascinating places, but is tending to err on the New Age side, complete with spooky photography and recommendations for time to day to visit for the ultimate 'feeling'. Good grief!

Seriously, if you're not going to be impressed when you visit a stone circle, then the time of day isn't going to help much.

edited to add numbers

#29: I think I will give that one a pass! Too bad it was not a better book.

Don't think you'll be missing anything major :-). Shame, because it promised a lot.

9. Out of shadows by Jason Wallace

This has been nominated for and won more awards than I can keep track of and I can see why. It raises such a range of emotions and feelings that you just have to share it with someone else.

Robert Jacklin's family has just arrived in Zimbabwe, seven years after the war that saw Robert Mugabe take control from Ian Smith. The war is still fresh in everyone's mind, and people are split between hope for a future of greater equality and a desire for revenge. At boarding school, Robert makes choices to protect himself, but it's made clear throughout that he regrets them.

The constant referring back does get annoying, because there's no need to build tension: there's already a sense of impending doom throughout and obviously most readers will know what happened and is happening in Zimbabwe.

This hindsight adds an interesting layer of complexity to the book. Most of the white Zimbabweans in this book are racist, violent, misogynist thugs, but we also know that their predictions about Mugabe will often turn out to be correct. It also makes Robert's actions difficult to take. At school, he's constantly bullied as the only British boy, and he's no hero, and is far more inclined to keep his head down and ignore what's going on around him, even though he knows it's wrong, even turning his back on a real friend in the process.

On the other hand he knows himself, and dislikes himself for it, which does add a layer of understanding - not sympathy, but you can see where he's coming from.

Definitely worth a read, but Wallace does not hesitate to share the violence of his setting, so be prepared.

I needed something more upbeat after Out of shadows so I've gone back to The Nursery Crime Division books by Jasper Fforde. I would totally recommend them to anyone with a child's knowledge of nursery rhymes and fairy tales, which are beautifully spun into detective fiction, and set loose into a mad world where all the best crimes are written up for publication in magazines.

There's only two so far: The Big Over Easy (about the death of Humpty Dumpty) and the Fourth Bear. The next is loooooooong overdue.

I love Jasper Fforde. The Thursday Next series is my favorite, but I also enjoyed the Nursery Crime Division. Have you tried Shades of Grey yet? It's a bit darker than his other books, but I ended up enjoying it just as much as his other work.

I only found out about it last night when it appeared as a touchstone. It's definitely on the purchasing list.

I absolutely adored all the Thursday Next books, except for First Among Sequels. Maybe I just need to read it again, but it did nothing for me first time round.

And I detested the audio versions- I thought the reader was completely wrong for Thursday's character, and worse, the actual reading was terrible. We had to turn it off before I broke a speaker!

I feel the same way about First Among Sequels. I was so excited to find it for a dollar at Books a Million, but I quickly found out why I got it for such a bargain. I know series have to evolve over time so they don't become stale, but one of the best things about Thursday's world was that everyone was crazy about books. To have that replaced with reality television seemed way too much like the world we live in now.

Audio books are such a gamble and I've found so few that I actually like. I owned the physical book of Graceling and I liked it fairly well, so I decided to give the audio version a try. The narrator for the main character was so awful that it made me hate the book and I ended up getting rid of it on Paperback Swap. If you want good audio books, try Leviathan and Behemoth. They're both narrated by Alan Cumming and he's fantastic. The audio for Thirteen Reasons Why was also really good.

Alan Cumming is wonderful. I think he really puts some work into it, rather than 'just' reading aloud.

I noticed Crocodile on the Sandbank on your list. I am a complete Peabodyphile, (and the gorgeous Emerson, naturally) but a major part of that is listening to the fabulous readings by Barbara Rosenblatt. I can't praise them highly enough. I actually heard Peabody before I read her so I already had her voice when I found the books.

Me and Mr Jenn tend to listen to audio books as we drift off to sleep - it started as a compromise as I always liked to read in bed and he couldn't sleep with the light on :-). Works out great if it's a good reading, but it's bad it's a nightmare.

It seems such a straightforward process. Get a good book (A), find a good actor (B). Get B to read A into a microphone. I tend to avoid most of the Terry Pratchett audiobooks because the various readers just don't seem to get it. And Bill Bryson is a funny, funny writer, but not when reading his own works. Oh dear.

I'll definitely keep a lookout for the two you mentioned. Cheers!

10. The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

I've lost track of how often I've read all of the Jasper Ffordes. I even called my blog after a line in this book, but there was something missing this time.

It was still funny, I still smiled at the jokes (too familiar for laugh out loud any more) but occasionally lines jarred: "He thought this was real police work" for example. That's second rate secondary school writing.

All the same, I still think it's wonderful, still love his silly puns and jokes and general playing about with language until it breaks ... maybe I just wasn't in the right place this time and missed some of the sarcasm or something.

I was going to move on to The Fourth Bear next, which I usually like even better, but I think I should perhaps leave it for a while and read something completely different.

Good fun at work today helping 1st year pupils find suitable reading material for their Reading Trail. Most just want a decent book, but some are more demanding:

- I only like realistic books...
Suggested Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Three seconds later she came back.
- ... but I don't like depressing books. This would make me too sad.
A non-depressing teen fiction book? Is there such a thing? Suggested Adele Geras, Jean Ure. Took ten seconds this time.
- Actually what I like is fantasy. Fantasy but realistic.
So I handed over The Neverending Story, which she's trying, but personally I think I hit paydirt with The Wild hunt of Hagworthy by Penelope Lively. Certainly, young Emma's eyes lit up at the title.

Got a long weekend, so I had a quick look on the shelves for myself and came away with The Seven Professors of the Far North by John Fardell (although I've just noticed that I don't have number 2 in the series, only number 3, The Secret of the Black Moon Moth) and The Sterkarm Handshake by Susan Price.

Looking forwards to lots of reading over the weekend.

I have not read any of the books in Fforde's Nursery Crime series. I will have to see if my local library has them.

11. The Seven Professors of the far North by John Fardell

This is a brilliant piece of children's fiction. It was funny, exciting, and completely unbelievable but I didn't care a bit. I smiled the whole way through and laughed out loud in a couple of places.

There are so many wonderful ideas crammed in here - like inflating a dinghy for your guest to sleep in. The only down side comes occasionally with the children, who just happen to have expertise in whatever is required at the time, but overall, you won't really care becuase you're having such a good time reading it.

Breathless escapsim for your inner or not-so-inner child.

12. Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney

I've read Beowulf in translation and (very, very slowly) in Old English many, many times, but while I admire Mr Heaney's artistry, for some reason, it just doesn't touch me.

Maybe the hours I spent trying to translate it affected how I read it, but this translation just doesn't have the right voice for me.

#43: That one does look fun! Thanks for the recommendation, Jen!

#44: Sorry you did not like that one more. I hope your next read is a better one for you.

I took a wander up to the loft last night to find something I hadn't read in a while. Five boxes later, I discoverered that water was coming through the roof onto my books! Fortunately, the books were stored in a plastic box for once, but all the posters in the next box were sodden.

I've still to check out lots of other boxes though, and I'm dreading what I'm going to find.

13. Mystical Scotland by Ann Lindsay Mitchell

For some strange reason, this actually reads in places as if its been translated into English from another language. Maybe the editor took a nap on occasion? Nevertheless, this is an entertaining if slightly strange meander through Scottish folklore and history.

I also get the impression that she undertook a lot of library research, she didn't always follow it up in the field. I was particularly intrigued by Granny Kempoch, a standing stone described in the book as,

"standing proud and watching over the Firth of Clyde, clearly marked on maps close to Greenock"

which I took to mean on a clifftop somewhere. In fact, the stone is cordoned off by an iron fence on a residential road behind the main shopping street of the town (although it is on a steep hill to be fair). Hmm.

Additional added 10th February
I stopped halfway through my thoughts so I just need to add a couple of additional comments.

There's lots of interesting information in this book that I'd never known about before. There are lots of 'bits', which is fairly common in books of this kind, often because there's insufficient evidence still surviving, but ... I just don't know how far to trust her research.

Given that's the case, it's a good wee books of anecdotes covering a wide range of different time periods.

Oh no! I hope the rest of your books are undamaged. How disappointing.

clearly marked on maps close to Greenock
I took that to mean that the maps were located near Greenock.

#46: I hope there is no further damage, Jen!

Only to my bank balance, but since it looks like an entire new roof is required, that'll be pretty substantial.

Thanks for the good wishes.

#48 "maps close to Greenock"

Interesting thought, Cynara. I checked the book again and the grammar is as stated. Still think it 's meant to mean that the stone is standing close to Greenock, on maps.

If I'm correct, then I can add bad grammar to the list of issues with the book :-)

I'm going to go back and add some extra to the review, since I had to stop halfway through, just to add that there's lots of interesting bits that I'd never known about before. I just don't know how far to trust her research.

Now reading:

On the trail of Scottish myths and legends
Lost lines
Natural history of man in Britain

Wow,. I haven't been here in ages. Been too busy reading and blogging and removing books from the loft before the roof is replaced - you can't just stick a book of books in the corner without opening it after all, and once you've opened it ...

The majority have been local history material (there are times when I love eBay) that I'm just going to bung together, but there's also been some teenage fiction.

And sadly, one of my parents' friends died suddenly, but I was asked if I wanted any of his books. Since we had similar reading tastes in fantasy and local history, I suddenly had several bagsworth of material to sort through.

Does make you wonder what will happen to your lovingly crafted shelf residers once you're gone. Hopefully, someone else will appreciate them, whether they're passed on or found on eBay :-)

"Does make you wonder what will happen to your lovingly crafted shelf residers once you're gone. Hopefully, someone else will appreciate them, whether they're passed on or found on eBay :-"

This comment reminds me that I need to designate who gets my books. They are precious to me and I want them to be passed along to someone who appreciates them.

#55 Great idea.

14. The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey

Simple, uncomplicated storytelling. Nothing that made me think, Wow, but once I started it I didn't stop which is unusual at the moment - I'm three quarters of the way or less through approximately twenty books, but can't force myself to finish any of them.

I usually love Anne McCaffrey's storytelling, but I've never been pulled towards this series. I certainly wouldn't seek out the rest of the series, but I reckon I'd still read them if I found them somewhere. If that's all a book asks of its readers then fine. But there's a subtle nag from my gut that it wanted steak and I gave it a cheeseburger.

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I doubt any one person will want all my books - I'm going to have to draw up a list of people who should be invited to take what they'd like and a good cause for anything worth selling.

#57: That is probably what I need to do too, Luci.

Long time, no here!

I've been spending too many evenings photoshopping and updating blogs, and watching documentaries. It feels like I haven't been reading much at all - I even missed out on the group read of Pride and Prejudice! - and time for reading is pretty much restricted to the occasional long hot bath, but I've also somehow managed to finish a lot of books that have been 3/4 finished for an awfully long time.

Firstly, there's a bunch of titles about old transport routes.

15. Exploring the Edinburgh to Glasgow Canals by Hamish Brown
A local history / walking book. Old transport routes are fascinating, and this book is a great guide to all the little clues that bring the history of the place alive. From North Lanarkshire Libraries.

16. The Forth and Clyde Canal: a history by T J Dowds
Reads like a dissertation in places, with lots of references to primary sources and a feeling of a carefully structured argument (but without the argument), but interesting nonetheless to watch the various vested interests squabbling over where the canal should go and why.

17. Forgotten Railways: Scotland by John Thomas
More old transport routes, more squabbling, more vested interests. A bit like a 18th/19th Monopoly Board with more railway stations. I used to play along a dismantled railway line behind my granny's house, jumping from one sleeper to another. It's obviously been a major influence on me!

This little volume is a wonderful collection of anecdotes: the "lovable eccentricities" of these defunct companies' daily operations. If any Brit wanted to know why Health and Safety came into existence, this would be a useful book to read!

Similar is 18.A regional history of the railways of Great Britain: Scotland the Lowlands and the Borders by John Thomas which firmly establishes the railways within their historical context. The coming of the railways could lift isolated communities only to abandon them again when the various companies' wranglings came to their conclusions. Should be required reading for anyone studying for an MBA.

19. Along lost lines by Paul Atterbury
Thomas' books have some black and white plates and an occasional line drawings, but Atterbury's is full of glossy colour photos of the current state of the UK's old railway lines, running through gardens, made into cycle lanes and lost under industrial estates, along with plenty of archive material from the railways in their heyday. From North Lanarkshire Libraries.

20. Roads and tracks of Britain by Christopher Taylor
Far more academic in its purpose, I found it absolutely riveting. He has two main points to make: firstly that old roads can be so ancient that they predate humankind, and their subsequent use is no accurate guide to their genuine age; and secondly, that roads are a valuable tool for watching the historical development of the settlements they link.

For many nights I sat with google maps and one of these books trying to trace old railways, tracks and canals. Pretty geeky perhaps, but who cares? I had a blast :-)

The other set of books that I've read have been those on the Catalyst Book Awards list, which is our local teenage/YA book prize.

21. Dead Boy Talking by Linda Strachan
Last year's winning author has certainly created another gripping story - I was on the edge of the seat waiting for the cavalry to charge to the rescue - but for me, the main character's voice is very similar to Spider's (from last year's winning title). It could almost be the same person in an alternate timeline. It's certainly going down well with the pupils at school, but I'm not sure it has the oomph to push itself onto the top three.

22. Grass by Catherine MacPhail
This is an example of the hot competition faced by the novel above: a novel of life in a town ruled by fear, where you really don't want to end up owing the wrong people favours. It is probably the most popular book of the longlist so far, so popular that someone has 'borrowed' one of the copies and isn't returning it! (yet).

It's not a style of the book I would choose personally - I'm living through the present with all its problems, so I prefer to read outside of my own time to find out about existences of the past or the future - but it's beautifully written and I knew it would certainly be lapped up by many 14 year olds. Sadly, that may be because they recognise the run down town with the closed factories and unemployed parents from all too personal experience.

23. Firebrand by Gillian Philip
I was told I'd love this, which always seems to put pressure on a book to perform. You have to be careful about landing a book with this weight around its neck.

Scottish folklore is another passion of mine, so the background and characters are ones that will appeal. I loved her casual and realistic use of kelpies and faeries. The writing is glorious and reads mostly as historical rather than fantasy.

Unfortunately, the setting is the Reformation, with all the paranoia and witch burning that went with it. I cannot bear grisly events, and the torture and execution of so many innocent people is so truly horrifying that I had to deliberately put the book away several times and pick up something else. I am afflicted with such a vivid imagination that I often force myself awake from the events in my head and read something innocuous to soothe myself back to sleep. Reading something like this late at night was asking for trouble.

By the way, while the atrocities may worry my dreams, I still give full marks to Gillian Philip for writing about them, and drawing a bad chapter in Scottish history to young people's attention.

Moreover, there are few books that leave me dumb-founded, having to reread and reread the final sentences, and even fewer that make me cry. What made this so oustanding for me was that once I took in what had happened, I realised that she'd told us beforehand that it was going to happen. Absolutely devastating.

The others on the shortlist have a long way to go before they knock Firebrand out of my top three.

24. The Returners by Gemma Malley
I know many people have enjoyed this, but it's not for me. It's well written again, and the beginning and the ending appealed with the story of a boy who keeps seeing strange, sad people, making him doubt his sanity.

Unfortunately, the story of the strange, sad people themselves stretched my incredulity a bit too far - and my imagination can go a long, long way. The idea is interesting, but my willing suspension of disbelief got twanged too hard.

And again, there are lots of atrocities which turn my stomach, so it really wasn't my cup of tea.

#59: For many nights I sat with google maps and one of these books trying to trace old railways, tracks and canals. Pretty geeky perhaps, but who cares? I had a blast :-)

I share your geekdom! It sounds like a cool idea to me!

#61 Then welcome, gentle geek, and be at peace :-)

25. Made in America by Bill Bryson

Bill is always at his funniest and most entertaining when he's talking about language, even if he does get carried away with the examples sometimes - it's ok to leave some out you know, Bill.

#64: I have not read that one by Bryson yet. I need to get to it.

Congratulations on making it 1/3 of the way through the challenge, Jen!

#65 Cheers! I'm a bit behind schedule, but I'm pretty sure I'll still hit 75. You know what it's like when you suddenly get back into your stride, and you're just reading constantly. I just haven't had the opportunity of late.

26. Kit's Wilderness by David Almond

After his Grandma’s death, Kit and his family return to the village his family first came from to look after his Grampa. As Kit settles in, he also begins to discover the connections with his new home that help him realise his role in this place, in the present and across time.

But this is a world grounded in the reality of everyday life. Ancient spirits might exist, but they were people, not gods or legends. Sacred places are old mines. Mystical writing is names on a pit memorial. Magic is just an illusion.

What holds everything together throughout is the power of storytelling, whether between Kit and his Grampa, or Kit and Agnew; even Mr Dodds’ geography lessons on tectonic plates.

Story is the real magic, and Almond proffers ample evidence of its powers to heal and to harm. Meanwhile, hovering in the background remains the suggestion of something extraordinary, something strange and possibly even paranormal that skips out of sight whenever you try to look at it directly.

In some ways Kit’s Wilderness reminded me of The Dark is Rising, The Box of Delights and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with its sense of ancience (yes I know it’s not a word, but it should be) especially as it’s embodied in deep winter. It reminds me of walking home under the blue gaze of Orion while the world sparkles darkly all around. Nights like that feel as if they’re special and important in the life of the world.

I also loved the family histories, and the acknowledgement of how they can still affect the present, but most of all, I loved the relationship between Kit and his Grampa. Wonderful stuff.

Edited to add touchstones.

#65 Thanks alottacre!

I realise I'm a bit behind, but I reckon I'll still make 75 by the end of the year. I just need to take more baths so I can lie and soak and read!

27. Along the green roads of Britain by J H B Peel

The green roads of the title turn out to be anything that's not tarmacked, from old drove roads and prehistoric trackways to the path up a mountain and the towpath of a canal.

The author's love for walking along quiet country lanes is obvious from the start, and he loves finding things out about the places he's visiting, and sometimes perhaps, he likes knowing a lot about the places he's passing through, but he is a grumpy so-and-so. Very entertaining, but basically, anything modern gets a tongue-lashing. And by modern, we're talking about anything after the Norman Conquest.

I got the feeling that the later chapters were there to fill the space, as if he should have walked in other places and chosen the walks he got the most from, but I still really enjoyed it.

Thinking back over the book, the bits that stand out to me are his discussions with strangers he meets on his travels, particularly the ancient chap whose daughter would bring him out to the old road so he could get back to a place he loved just for half an hour's peace before collecting him again.

Oh yeah, and I really wanted to hear more about his dog, because that sounded like an interesting relationship.

28. A natural history of man in Britain by H J Fleure

I have had this book on my shelves for about twenty years (I think it was a Christmas present). I finally got old enough to read it and while the earlier chapters were interesting, to be honest it's just too vast a topic to be able to do justice to in a single book. Plus I thought the themed chapters were extremely boring.

It can now go live in the loft and commune with the dust.

It can now go live in the loft and commune with the dust. Sounds like a deserved fate!

That's quite a lot of (mostly) interesting reading about roads and railways etc - the one about the green roads sounds good, in parts at least.

#67: I liked that one too. I am glad to see that you enjoyed the book, Jen.

#71 I love old roads and railways, although that might be blindingly obvious given my reading :-). There's a dismantled railway right behind my Granny's house, and I always wanted to solve the mystery of where it went to.

I'm not particularly interested in the mechanics, although steam engines are gorgeous creatures, it's more an archaeological lumps and bumps and lines in the landscape sort of fascination.

#67 Been on a bit of a David Almond spree since we're taking some kids along to see him in the new term, and Kit's Wilderness is by far my favourite. I need to catch up with my reviews :-)

#74: I enjoyed Kit's Wilderness a lot too. My least favorite of his is Raven Summer.

#75 I've not heard of Raven Summer. That's two I need to buy for the library then :-)

29. He shall thunder in the sky by Elizabeth Peters (audio book)
30. Lord of the Silent by Elizabeth Peters (audio book)
31. Children of the storm by Elizabeth Peters (audio book)
32. The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters (audio book)

I keep forgetting to include the audio books - probably because we listen to them when dropping off to sleep.

We've been on a complete Peabody-fest of late. Barbara Rosenblatt does such a great job of the narration that they're a joy to listen to.

Although they're great mysteries, the main characters' idiosyncracies are established within the first book and didn't change much over most of the series. These books however are set just before and during World War I and the "children" are now grown up. Much of the story now revolves around them and their parents learning to treat them as adults.

Not quite as good as the earlier books in the series perhaps, but listening to a Peabody is just like having an old friend round for a cosy blether.

33. A breath of Border air by Lavinia Derwent

My Mum has had this book and its sequels sitting on her shelves for as long as I can remember, but I never actually picked one up.

Now that I have, I absolutely love the mix of childhood anecdotes and tales of the Borders in the early twentieth century. There are plenty of amusing bits and pieces, but it's not a 'funny' book.

For example, having been dragged to church so often as a child, I totally empathise with her description of sitting through the service, with only a pan drop to keep you going. She describes how the minister would "give God his orders ... help the sick .. look after the poor .. " etc which is a good example of the sort of childlike insight that runs throughout the book.

As a memoir of childhood, it is naturally extremely self-obsessed, but there's plenty of interesting people to meet and places to investigate. Naturally I've been Google mapping trying to figure out where everything is, which gave me chills when I realised what road she was walking to school. Certainly the traffic has changed completely since she was a child, and hopefully, not that many four year olds have to walk themselves to school two miles away these days, but the thought of any child strolling along the A68 is terrifying.

That if anything, brings the realisation of just how alien this landscape is to us now, which also makes her tales that bit more precious. Not for everyone, but a joy for some.

#77: Barbara Rosenblatt does such a great job of the narration that they're a joy to listen to.

Doesn't she though? I love Rosenblat's narrations!

#79 My mum is a real audio book freak - it's almost the only way she 'reads' now, and she discovered Peabody and got me to listen and I introduced them to my husband. My daughter's started asking about them too, so that's three generations so far :-)

34. Wilderness by Roddy Doyle

A children's book with teenage angst thrown in for good measure, it certainly reflects a lot of families with older child belonging to previous marriage and younger kids to current marriage.

The book has a stunning picture of a husky's face on the cover, which totally grabbed me, so well done publicity / marketing / front cover department.

I still love the cover, but the book itself was a cheerful blether at the bus stop with a stranger: it left me with friendly feelings, but I wouldn't worry about ever seeing it again.

And that's strange because it's about children and mothers, which usually has me sobbing sentimentally within thirty seconds, and more importantly, the possibility of losing them forever, which I wouldn't touch with a bargepole.

There is genuine danger here, but it doesn't feel dangerous, which might be down to the short, clipped sentences: This happened. He said. She looked. It was like this. Yuck.

Overall, a nice kid's book, but nothing to get excited about.

#80: that's three generations so far - Terrific!

#81: I think I will be giving that one a pass. I do not care for Doyle's adult books, so I doubt I would like his children's books either.

#82 Being a school librarian brings me into contact with stuff that I wouldn't wander anywhere near, especially since we have a competition that allows the pupils to select some of the library stock.

I've also tried Roddy Doyle on many an occasion and it's not for me. Whatever his sense of humour is, I'm not getting it.

35. Marco's pendulum by Thom Madley

I'm a bit confused about this one, which is a sort of fantasy thriller set in the real world, I think. I started reading it in the middle of cataloguing and got about 100 pages in before I thought I'd better get back to work pronto. Caught up with it when I was tidying up on Friday afternoon and put it straight into my bag to bring home. I've been drawn to it all weekend and finally finished it tonight.

Set in Glastonbury, it's the story of Marco, whose Dad dumps him with grandparents he's never met, so he can vanish off, probably to be with his new girlfriend. Meanwhile, Rosa is also new in town with her fundamentalist Christian father, who is determined to root out the 'evil' in town. They become caught up with a fight over the future of Glastonbury, a struggle that goes deep.

Setting the story in Glastonbury allows for a lot of shortcuts - it already has a reputation for weird happenings, hippies and shops full of psychic rubbish. All opinions are treated seriously, and all opinions are mocked, but the sense of good versus evil lingers throughout, without being clear who belongs to which side. All the usual suspects of ancient Britain turn up: the Grail, the Tor, Joseph of Arimathea, the wild hunt, mazes, King Arthur etc but for the generation who know Glastonbury purely from the music festival, it's probably completely new to them.

Marco and Rosa are not perfect children either, both suffering from imperfect family lives and appropriate psychoses to go along with them - although I was surprised that the book says they're 13 as I felt they were older, and the author allows them the traditional freedom to get out on their own and wander about, almost completely free of parental oversight.

It has an occasional jarring modern reference e.g. to Harry Potter (which the publisher should be shot for allowing) but overall, the book is intriguing. You genuinely want to know what happens next, and there are plenty of cliffhanger chapter headings. Horrors are explained away in one sentence, only to become more chilling in the next.

And yet I'm confused about whether I liked it or not, or whether it's necessary to get off the fence, which is ironic when the book is definitely about people on one side or another. I'll have to find some pupils to read it for me so we can discuss it. Maybe they can enlighten me.

Oh and there's a sequel, Marco and the blade of night, which is an extremely silly title, but I'll still see if I can get it for the library.

36. The thieves of Ostia by Caroline Lawrence

My 11 year old daughter recommended this to me and I really got caught up in it. The writing is very simplistic and the chapters are irritatingly short, but then, it's not aimed at me :-) I was going to give up on it, but very glad I kept going - even though I guessed the baddie almost immediately - as it was very entertaining. I would definitely have read these if they'd existed when I was a kid.

Nice reviews of your last two reads. Sometimes I like books I can't put my finger on or decide what I think about them, books that I am not sure if I like or not. I do find they get me talking about them and thinking!

#86 I know what you mean. I do often think more about the books that trudge through rather than those I take at a gallop.

First pupil I handed Marco's pendulum to was very confused because he didn't realise that it was being told from two separate viewpoints. Oops!

37. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

This has been on the TBR list for as long as I can remember, one of those books where you know the basic outline of the plot, the first line, the characters; you might even have seen a film version (Hitchcock in this case), but the book eludes you.

Well, I can strike it off the list now, so was it worth it? Rebecca is a favourite of many people, but I found it just a little irritating. The narrator is so insipid she may as well have not been there; her husband is practically invisible throughout, despite being the centre of her world. Even the infamous Mrs Danvers, although creepy and weird, isn't the stand out character that I thought she would be.

I think this is one of those cases when popular culture has exaggerated the villains, whereas in the book everything comes through the eyes and imagination of the narrator, and it's fairly obvious to the reader that her fears and inexperience are distorting the true picture. She really needs to pull herself together.

It's all terribly proper and stilted, even in the narrator's darkest despair. The only signs of life in this whole affair appear in the landscape (some of the descriptions are absolutely stunning).

Overall, it wasn't the masterpiece I was expecting, but I'm aware that my view has been skewed by knowing about it from elsewhere.

Feel free to disagree :-)

38. Me and ma Gal by Des Dillon

Two wee boys, running around Coatbridge in the 50s, with dangers all around them: trains, pipes, sewage, bings and homicidal maniacs, all treated with the same mixture of terror, mythology and playground banter.

The action all takes place on a single day, with mentions of previous incidents woven into the narrative. Written in Coatbrig-ese, some readers might struggle with a wee bit of the vocabulary, but it's so rich that it's worth diving in.

I should add that the Gal of the title is actually one of the boys, Stephen Gallagher, and not a girl, as many people have assumed.

39. Passenger steamers of the Glasgow & South Western Railway by Roy Wilson

A nice wee book about the continuing cut-throat shenanigans of the Scottish railway companies in the 19th and 20th centuries, this time with reference to the steamers they took on to woo customers.

The steamers later went to war, mistly as mine sweepers and met with mixed fates. There's something quite melancholy about these little passenger ships, built for fun, all being dragged away from the Clyde to be bombed and shot at.

There's only one steamer left on the Clyde now, so it's amazing to see little piers with several ships pulled up at them.

40. The savage by David Almond

A beautifully illustrated book about a child's inner thoughts as he tries to deal with the local bully following the death of his father.

I luvd the Savij's fonetic spaelling and the illustrations were beautiful.

It's not a very long book, but it is a lovely object.

41. In the footsteps of Caesar walking Roman roads in Britain by Helen Livingstone

There are more Roman roads remaining in the UK than you'd think, and even where the road itself has vanished, there are enough indications left to show where they existed. I like old roads so I've seen a lot of books like this and this has a lot to recommend it.

Roads all over the place are listed and there are plenty of walks to choose from, which have plenty of detail to help guide you along.

Unfortunately for me (and quite common with books covering the whole of the UK), there's not a lot of Scottish material. Naturally the book is trying to cover the whole country, but it's a shame really, because lowland Scotland (Caledonia) was a militarised zone and only for a short time, so there's a different feel to Roman reamins in Scotland: less of the elegant villas and more of the turf walls.

Having said that, it's still a great book for dipping into, and especially for following the routes with Google maps :-).

42. Archaeology around Glasgow by Susan Hothersall

A guidebook to fifty sites, and directions to others nearby. 'Around' is taken to mean within a 20 miles radius, and (although I know of several that have been left out) it's a gem of a book, and long overdue.

An absolute gift for anyone interested in Scottish archaeology or local studies in Strathclyde.

43. When I was Joe by Keren David

Ty gives an eyewitness account of a murder to the police, who put him and his mother into the witness protection programme. Ty's story comes out slowly, both of his life before the murder and the crime itself, and it becomes clear that he's a different person to the one he's trying to be or even claiming to be.

It was a brilliant story, but I'm annoyed again by the constant references to cultural references that are so up-to-date that the book will be useless within a couple of years. Why?

This is one of the finalists of our local teenage book award, so I'll get to meet the author and ask her!

44. Maps of my life by Guy Browning

The original blurb makes much of the maps in this book. Well, forget it. Another blurb written by someone who's obviously not read the book.

What you are getting is a decent and occasionally laugh out loud memoir of growing up in a typically insane family. You're just invited along to share in the madness.

Having said that, driving up and down volcanoes does strike me as being particularly mad, although I love the idea of the car appearing out of all the smoke to the astonishment of the local village.

My daughter pointed out that I still hadn't included all of the audio books that I listen to, so here goes.

45. The amazing story of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo (audiobook)

There's a village in Devon called Chillington that had to be evacuated so that the Americans could practice for the D-Day Landings. This is the fictional story of one of the children involved and how her life was affected by having to move, not just at the time, but even into her old age.

It's a lovely story because the protagonist, Lily, is a particularly normal child, and holds grudges and misunderstands at all of the appropriate times, and doesn't think too hard about the things she wants to do, like rescuing her cat. She doesn't ignore the risks - they may as well not exist.

And it's nice to have lots of the little minutiae of everyday life still going on while the war roars on all around.

Edited title

46. Thief of time by Terry Pratchett (audiobook)

This Pratchett is different in the sense of darkness closing in: appropriate for a book about the end of the world. There's menace from the Auditors, bickering and back-stabbing from the History Monks and dancing about in the midst of it all are the wonderful Susan and the glorious Sweeper, Lu-Tze, and his Way of Mrs Cosmopolite.

I think its genius comes from the characters that are brought together and their interactions. Lady LeJean and Jeremy are very annoying characters, but that seems fair enough given their roles in the plot. And it's a journey down from the mountains (I love the scenes with the Yeti) to the big city while Lobsang learns what he's capable of, and Susan tries to work out what's going on.

Meanwhile, we have insights in the meaning of being a person as the human-inspired Apocalyptic Horsemen reunite for one final gig, and the Auditors take on human bodies for their invasion.

And of course, you can't forget Nanny Ogg's cameo, and the dangerous effects of chocolate. Spice all of that up with a dash of surrealism, Buddhism, relativity theory and dairy produce, and you've got one of my favourite Discworld novels.

And it's all beautifully read by Tony Robinson, the best narrator of Discworld there has been.

Now can we have more about the Yetis please?

Edited title

47. The miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith (audiobook)

This is another great series to listen to in audio format. The readings by Adjoa Andoh add so much to the characters that I'd recommend them to anyone.

By this stage in the saga, Mma Ramotswe has settled down into married life with Mr J L B Matekoni, and the foster children, Motholeli and Puso. Cases trickle into the agency, enough to keep them ticking over (but without making a profit) and now they are receiving hate mail.

These are gentle stories, even when extreme violence or heartbreak is involved and the personality of McCall Smith's Botswana shines through (although I know some Botswanans have complained that it's nothing like the real thing). There's lots of tea drinking and homespun philosophy and memories of long gone loved ones between the usually rapid solution to cases. I hope Mma Ramotswe charges for thinking time.

Edited title

48. Portrait of the Clyde by Jack House

A wonderful wander from the source of the river to the sea, this takes in every little crumb of history and legend that Jack House can find along the way. I'm assuming that this book would mean more to you if you live or lived near some of the places involved, but anybody would be charmed by Jack House's storytelling style.

My version comes from 1974, and as someone who crosses the Clyde everyday heading for work, I'm both saddened and cheered by the changes that have taken place on the river since then. Actually I should say, on the banks of the river, because like most books about The River X, it's actually more to do with the settlements round about it.

There are also a couple of little historical inaccuracies, like the description of the Roman Bridge as Roman (it's not, it's just called that) but the truth may not have been generally known at the time the book was published, so I can forgive them :-)

I would in fact give him full marks for his research because he walked as much as the distance as he could in person, and spoke to as many people as he could, as well as studying his subject in depth (that wasn't meant to be a pun by the way), and although I know the stories, places and legends of the Clyde Valley fairly well, I was delighted to learn more through this book.

49. I was a schoolboy bridegroom by Alex Shearer (audiobook)

I laughed a lot throughout this story. Two British families try to get their not so perfect offspring to knuckle down through an arranged marriage. Meanwhile they are pretending to each other that they have the perfect child. When the children meet, they fall into detestation at first sight and rather than attend the engagement party, they decide to run away.

Unfortunately for them they end up running away together - to a caravan site in the middle of February.

As their story continued my husband and I ended up laughing ourselves silly, exchanging meaningful glances, and even wiping away a tear on occasion. What started off as a silly premise developed into something much more and surprised me a lot. My only issue was the age of the children: they seemed to be top primary age to begin with but they seemed much older by the end.

Recommended.

#97 I do like hearing Tony Robinson read the Terry Pratchett books. The only minor negative is that they're generally abridged versions and I always miss whatever they've left out so I end up reading the print version afterwards!

#100: That one sounds funny--I've never heard of Alex Shearer. Thanks for the recommendation.

50. Snuff by Terry Pratchett

Wonderful as always. This is a Guards book, with Vimes being forced on holiday by Lady Sybil. But of course, being Vimes, he is truck by two things: firstly, that he is totally lost and unrelaxed inthe countryside; and secondly, something's going on.

Every Pratchett has its little nuggets of wisdom and truth, and this one is no exception. There are fewer laugh out loud moments, which at least makes it easier to read in bed when your husband's sleeping without waking him up with stifled giggles, but there's more philosophy.

I loved it, although I thought Vetinari was a bit out of character.

#102 Alex Shearer is brilliant. Look out for Bootleg which is about a government ban on chocolate. Eek!

51. Tennant's Stalk by Nancy Crathorne

This is an absolutely fascinating book which profiles one family's rise from being Ayrshire tenant farmers to the absolute tip of political and mercantile power in Great Britain. Written by a descendane of the family in question, the Tennants, it is naturally a little short on the harm done to the rest of the population along the way and focuses on the achievements instead. Nevertheless it's an incredible story.

In the first chapter, it turns out that Robert Burns was a close friend of the family and even wrote poetry about them. There's lots of valuable insights into Burns life from this point of view.

Then the action moves to the chemical works in Glasgow and the action really takes off, along with the pollution. The Tennants were not the worst of bosses, building the Stalk of the title, a massive chimney, to carry the worst fumes higher into the atmosphere. They also built schools for their workers, but they were not saints by any means. They were men and women of their time, if apparently a little more thoughtful.

If you're interested in Robert Burns, the history of Glasgow, the Industrial Revolution, the Chartists, Gladstone, Asquith, mining, chemical works or dyeing, then there will be something here to interest you.

If not, it's still worth a dip into for the doings of a real life dynasty.

(Edited for typos)

52. Old Govanhill by Eric Eunson

One of the series of books which collects old postcards and photographs of an area and publishes them in slim volumes, along with some useful history.

There's not a lot of reading in the text, but the pictures are fascinating if you know an area, and even if you don't, they're great for a quick look as suggestions for where to go and explore next.

53. Myth and magic by Joyce Miller

A wee book that reads a bit like a dissertation, and a little like a list of notes for that same dissertation, because a ot of the scholarship is badly needing to be completed.

The subtitle is "Scotland's ancient beliefs and sacred places" which suggests a massive tome, but instead you get annoying little snippets as the author slips past on her way elsewhere. Now, to be fair, it could be that the little snippet is all that is known about this location, but it actually feels as if there was just too much information for the space she had and she was trying to shove as much in as possible. Some decent editing definitely required.

I still found plenty of information that I didn't know though, and this is where the lack of a decent bibliography really annoyed me. There is mention of a well in Airdrie, the Virtuewell, known for healing scrofula and other skin complaints, but that's the only mention of it. Argh! No idea where this item of information came from, no idea where the well was or is, nothing. I've since had fun discovering it for myself.

Problem is that I've also noticed a couple of mistakes, including one that was copied down in all sorts of books across the 19th century, about the naming of a Lanarkshire well. And I only knew about it because I had researched it myself and found the original guilty culprit who caused the rest of the errors.

Smug? Me? As if I would! :-)

But that leads me to question whether this book was ever properly researched or whether it's always just been little snippets copied down unquestioningly from wherever they've been found. It wouldn't be the first book of its kind but it's still irritating. I should just stop buying stufflike this, but in the back of my head is that little doubt that there might just be something new that would make it worthwhile to read.

So, if you're interested in a bunch of places across Scotland that have some connection with the past, particularly those that are connected with beliefs from previous generations, then this will suit you beautifully. There are basic maps for most of the places mentioned in the text (but not all) and a simple outline of what was going on. If you want more in-depth discussion and thought, look elsewhere.

(Edited for typos)

54. Mysterious Scotland by Michael Balfour

I only have myself to blame. Nobody is forcing me to buy this stuff, but someone should jump in front of eBay every time I see something like this, waving a red flag and shouting, "NO! This isn't the book you're looking for! You can go about your business!"

The main differences between this book and the previous one are the height, and the illustrations. This is a beautifully glossy book, which helps you to overlook that it was cobbled together from scraps of information without much thought about the order they were going in. He starts a discussion about the druids, then abruptly swaps to stone circles, jumps in with the 'fact' that "Celtic druids, with their knowledge of the zodiac, certainly performed idolatrous ceremonies to the stars". Assuming this is true for a second, idolatrous according to whom?

This setting down of information as fact when it is at most a hypothesis, occurs and recurs throughout the book and the sheer number of inaccuracies on subjects that I know a little about is horrifying. Maybe I was unlucky and happened to know more about the stuff that he was a bit shaky on, but it makes you doubt.

I love Scottish history and archaeology, and soak up any information about prehistoric and early medieval society I can lay my hands on and the one thing that can be said about those times without a doubt is how little is known that isn't doubted. It's the mystery that draws me, and I'm well aware that other people would find these ties boring for the same reason.

This was a former library book. I hate that people may have read this and believed some of the rubbish printed in these pages without realising how vague some of "facts" actually are.

And more to the point, where are the books I'm looking for?

(edited for spelling)

I've never bought a book on eBay. I like ordering from Amazon where there is usually a lot of information and reviews for books. You could at least look on Amazon to see what you can learn about a book before buying it on eBay. Maybe that would help you buy only the books you want.

In the meantime, you must be building quite a library on books about Scotland! I love Scotland. I was there when I was a cadet on a training ship. A friend and I were walking through a park and I commented on a flower I saw. A man that was passing by stopped and gave us a dissertation on that flower in the thickest brogue I had ever heard. All we could do was smile and say "Thanks!" It was interesting to go in the churches and look through the books with the names of dead soldiers and see my family's name there which is very uncommon here in the States.

#109 That's very sweet of you to suggest that. I usually do look around, including Amazon, so I've a decent idea of what the books' subjects will be, but unless there are decent readers' comments, it still doesn't help with the mince that's being written! ('Mince' is current Scottish slang for 'rubbish' by the way :-))

There are some parts of Scotland that I would struggle to understand the accent too, but it is very Scottish to blether to total strangers. We do it all the time, at bus stops, on trains, standing in a queue - we do it all the time. Any excuse, really :-)

Whereabouts in Scotland did you visit?

I sympathise too on the badly written, poorly researched kind of books on Celtic this and Mysterious that! I've done a fair bit of reading around early medieval history and literature, and early Christian and pre-Christian periods - and it's very frustrating to find so much rubbish written and repeated about some of this stuff...

#111 It's nice to know I'm not alone, gennyt. Take a shadowy cover, preferably peering round the corner of a stone circle, and slap the world 'mysterious' on it somewhere in a vaguely medieval style font and you're sorted.

55. On the trail of William Wallace by David R Ross

A tour around all of the places associated with William Wallace, described with just a touch of bias (well, ok, a huge amount of bias) by a huge Wallace fan.

Actually, David Ross does try to give the other side and quotes the English chroniclers' views of Wallace before explaining why they were wrong.

Good fun.

56. Fieldwork in Local History by W.G. Hoskins

Absolutely fascinating, if a little out of date (published 1982). This is the exact opposite of all of those annoying books claiming to unfold all the mysteries of the universe.

Academic, intricate and extremely detailed, microscopic local studies. Having said that, there are a couple of issues that had the eyebrows reaching for the hairline.

One is his suggestion that you ask total strangers to peruse the inside of their houses for traces of old history. Hmm, not sure he would be recommending that nowadays.

The second was his assertion, via a colleague, that hedges can roughly be dated by the number of shrub species within them. Well, I was one of those strange chldren that notice lots of little details of the landscape around them (as opposed to noticing people, usually) so I know for a fact that the vast majority of hedges around here are made up of privet, beech and hawthorn. Are they really 300 years old? Really?

Could be of course, that it only applies to certain areas of the country (a bit like the book). I'm pretty sure I'll be dipping into this one again.

57. Family life by Sally Magnusson

A friend loaned me this during the summer holidays and I've just finished it. This is not a reflection on the quality of the book, but it does reflect its format.

Originally these were weekly columns, written with a child simultaneously being bounced on a knee. I've tried doing this in the past and it never worked, so hats off to Sally for accomplishing it.

Some of these stories are funny, some sad, and most are drawn from the saga of a busy family with two working parents and five children. They are all relatively short, ideal for picking up and putting down again, or for brief reading before dropping off to sleep. It might be about someone else's children, parents, pets, visitors etc, but so many stories mirror my own life, they sort of turn into everyman material.

And I'm pretty sure it's owner will be relieved to get it back.

58. Mondays are red by Sally Morgan

Teen fiction from a brilliant Scottish author.

Luke wakes up in hospital with synaesthesia, although he doesn't know that's what it is, and a strange being called Dreeg living inside his skull. Turns out he's almost died and as he struggles with returning to normality, he's also struggling with Dreeg and his hatred for his sister.

The plotline keeps you guessing throughout: who's real, who's imaginary? who's genuine? what is his sister up to? and can he really fly? And throughout, the language is phenomenal (as you'd expect from a book about synaesthesia - and incidentally, Luke is the perfect name for someone who sees the world in a wholly different way).

So, I liked it but can't deny it left me a bit confused, so I think I'd have to read it again.

Just been told that Anne McCaffrey died earlier today. Can't believe such an amazing imagination has gone between.

I know what I'll be reading for the next few weeks.

RIP Anne, and thank you for endless hours of fun, pleasure and escape x

Sad news indeed. She was not a great writer in terms of style, but I love the world and society and characters she created.

Absolutely. Reading through the Pern books was watching the creation of a civilisation. I always wondered if Anne McCaffrey reinstated the SF element in to Pern because so many people called her a Fantasy writer. She always said she was a Science Fiction writer. Not that I thought it was such a terrible slur.

And I can't reach any of my books in the loft because our boiler crashed and we had to get new central heating installed. EVERYTHING had to get packed away, so it all went into the loft. And now all of my books are underneath everything else.

Annoying that I can't reach the McCaffreys right now, but it's a great excuse for buying more books :-)

59. Dark Age Britain: what to see and where by Robert Jackson

Well, it was interesting, but it wasn't what the title suggested. What you've got here is a basic history of what's now England, with lots of pictures of churches and occasional grey boxes explaining where you can see early medieval remains. The pictures and the grey boxes are not connected. The captions for the pictures of the churches are often talking about something you can't see in the picture.

This is a book desperate for a makeover, or maybe just better editing, and definitely a different title.

For example, there's only a brief nod to other areas of the British Isles at the end with two short chapters on the Picts and the Scots. Folks from Welsh and Irish areas get an occasional mention, but only really as someone for the Saxons to beat or be beaten by.

I know that the information divide reflects what was known about each area in 1984, but to be honest, there's so little not in Anglo-Saxon areas, it's hardly worth it.

60. Sacred waters by Janet and Colin Bord

A guide to the holy wells and lakes of Britain and Ireland, with occasional suggestions as to how this might reflect pagan water cults.

This is much more like it: fantastic research, loads of information, no major extrapolations of theory and absolutely fascinating throughout. The Bords do tend to the more esoteric side of reality, but they've held the wilder ideas in check in here.

There's an impressive bibliography and many stories are specially sourced, so the occasional jump into the unknown can be forgiven.

26 days left of December, 15 books to go: can it be done?

Well, if the weather stays snowy, it won't be a problem, because I won't be at work. If I don't get to 75, I won't be disappointed. It's all about the books, not the numbers, and this is more fun than writing it into a diary :-)

61. Nimisha's ship by Anne McCaffrey

Well I wanted to find a McCaffrey to read, and this fell into my lap out of a box (if such a thing is possible), and it reminded me why I never read every book she ever wrote. It was, frankly, pretty nondescript. Not boring, because I wouldn't have continued reading it, but there was nothing to savour.

The McCaffrey genre is normally heavy on character and plot, and just a great read; perfect bathroom fodder. Every now and again a more promising thread would appear, but there was nothing that made me wonder, nothing that set the imagination into gear. It almost feels like a first draft that's been accidentally put into print.

Shame really. I think a lot of people reading this book first would be completely put off McCaffrey and there are so many magnificent worlds and people that leapt from her imagination.

62. The children of Green Knowe by Lucy M Boston

A much loved favourite from when I was wee, this is one of my winter books. Not because I read it every winter, but because it has a deep, ancient, wintry taste to it. Incidentally, some of the others are The dark is rising, Kit's wilderness, and The lion, the witch and the wardrobe so that might give you a feeling for what I'm talking about.

It's always surprising what sticks with you from a childhood book. In memory, Tolly was a child, but not as young as seven, which doesn't seem much, but it does have an impact on the narrative. And many of the events are explained away, something that I didn't really remember.

But the magic is still there: the house cut off by floods, St Christopher, the evil Noah tree, the stories of Feste and the children and the sparkling Mrs Oldknowe, Tolly's greatgrandmother. And ofcourse, the deep, deep, silent , timeless snow.

#124 I read that for the first time last year and also found it magical. And it does have the same feeling as The Dark is Rising and The Lion, the Witch etc. I've been meaning to read the other Green Knowe books too.

Never got round to reading them either. More for the long term tbr list.

63. Celtic journeys by Shirley Toulson

Interesting wander around Scotland and the North of England with various Celtic missionaries and churchmen: Ninian, Kentigern, Columba, Cuthbert and their contemporaries.

No complaints about the information, which is fascinating, and describes a period primarily between 4th-11th centuries, covering the arrival of Christianity in Scotland until the loss of the Celtic Church in Britain. This early medieval period doesn't have a lot of written sources, so there's a heavy dependence on placename evidence, legends and archaeology. Most of the time, this is used sensibly, but there is an occasional lapse when the evidence is twisted to support ideas that it just shouldn't.

The book is also described as a series of tours, but it's not a tour that I'd recommend. I tried following directions on Google maps and gave up pretty quickly. It bounces across the country like a pogo stick, talking about routes that the saints might have taken, old drove roads and all sorts of directions, only remembering occasionally that most of the time journeys would have been made by water, not overland. Directions to many of the places mentioned are reliant on particular businesses and even on the type wildflowers growing nearby! Given that my copy comes from 1995, it's doubtful how many of those landmarks still exist.

Good read if you're interested in the period though.

I loved The children of Greene Knowe too, and read one or two of the others. I know what you mean about the winter feeling.

Glad its not just me :-)