Chatterbox Indulges Her Bibliomania: The Second Episode

I can't believe that the month isn't even over, and I'm on to my second thread already...

For those curious in my comments on what I've already read, here is my first thread; the full list of the books, along with my ratings, can be found below.

Here's a running tally of the total number of books I've read so far in 2011:




Last year's tally hit 506 books; you can see the highlights on my profile page, along with the highlights of this year to date (a shorter list, sadly, at least thus far.)

And here's the number read for this challenge:




(I don't count books read for the 11 in 11 challenge toward this second total, though they will show up in my overall ranking. But I'll comment on all the books, whether for the 11 in 11 challenge or the 75 challenge, in these threads.)

As always, my reading is going to be eclectic: brain candy, novels by Nobel winners, mysteries, serious history tomes, current affairs tomes, "chunskters" and short stories. All I want is something that captures my interest and is well-written for its genre. So a "thumping good read" may get as high a rating from me as an acclaimed work of immense literary merit.

I rate my reading using fractions (eg 1.7, 3.9, etc.) and it's basically to try and capture the nuances. Some guidelines:
1.5 or less: A tree gave its life so that this book could be printed and distributed?
1.5 to 2.7: Are you really prepared to give up hours of your life for this?? I wouldn't recommend doing that...
2.8 to 3.3: Do you need something to fill in some time waiting to see the dentist? Either reasonably good within a ho-hum genre (chick lit or thrillers), something that's OK to read when you've nothing else with you, or that you'll find adequate to pass the time and forget later on.
3.4 to 3.8: Want to know what a thumping good read is like, or a book that has a fascinating premise, but doesn't quite deliver? This is where you'll find 'em.
3.9 to 4.4: So, you want a hearty endorsement? These books have what it takes to make me happy I read them.
4.5 to 5: The books that I wish I hadn't read yet, so I could experience the joy of discovering them again for the first time. Sometimes disquieting, sometimes sentimental faves, sometimes dramatic -- they are a highly personal/subjective group at the top of the pile in my judgment.

Here's the list...:

1. Party of One by Anneli Rufus, **** STARTED 1/1/11, FINISHED 1/3/11 (non-fiction)
2. The Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent, **** STARTED 1/1/11, FINISHED 1/2/11 (fiction)
3. The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine, ***, STARTED 1/2/11, FINISHED 1/3/11 (fiction)
4. Pierre Elliott Trudeau by Nino Ricci, ****, STARTED 1/6/11, FINISHED 1/7/11 (non-fiction)
5. Kean by Jean-Paul Sartre, ****1/2, STARTED 1/6/11, FINISHED 1/7/11 (drama)
6. A Flaw in the Blood by Stephanie Barron, ***, STARTED 1/9/11, FINISHED 1/10/11 (fiction)
7. Crash of the Titans by Greg Farrell, ****, STARTED 1/6/11, FINISHED 1/11/11 (non-fiction)
8. Die with Me by Elena Forbes, ****, STARTED 1/10/11, FINISHED 1/12/11 (fiction)
9. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood, ***1/2, STARTED 1/11/11, FINISHED 1/12/11 (fiction)
10. The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer, ****1/2, STARTED 1/4/11, FINISHED 1/13/11 (fiction)
11. My Reading Life by Pat Conroy, ****, STARTED 1/14/11, FINISHED 1/15/11 (non-fiction)
12. By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham, ****, STARTED 1/13/11, FINISHED 1/15/11 (fiction)
13. The True Memoirs of Little K by Adrienne Sharp, ***1/2, STARTED 1/15/11, FINISHED 1/16/11 (fiction)
14. The Trinity Six by Charles Cumming, ****1/2, STARTED 1/15/11, FINISHED 1/17/11 (fiction)
15. Fly by Wire by William Langewiesche, ****, STARTED 1/16/11, FINISHED 1/17/11 (non-fiction)
16. He Who Fears the Wolf by Karin Fossum, ***1/2, STARTED 1/17/11, FINISHED 1/18/11 (fiction)
17. Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household, ****, STARTED 1/18/11, FINISHED 1/19/11 (fiction)
18. The Great Silence by Juliet Nicolson, ****, STARTED 12/10, FINISHED 1/20/11 (non-fiction)
19. Welcome to Utopia: Notes from a Small Town by Karen Valby, ***1/2, STARTED 1/17/11, FINISHED 1/19/11 (non-fiction)
20. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova, ***, STARTED 1/19/11, FINISHED 1/21/11 (fiction)
21. Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt, **** 1/2, STARTED 1/17/11, FINISHED 1/22/11 (fiction)
22. Blue Latitudes by Tony Horwitz, ****1/2, STARTED 1/21/11, FINISHED 1/23/11 (non-fiction)
23. Fame: What the Classics Tell Us About Our Cult of Celebrity by Tom Payne, ***, STARTED 1/14/11, FINISHED 1/26/11 (non-fiction)
24. The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman, ***, READ 1/25/11 (fiction)
25. Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff, ****1/2, STARTED 1/27/11, FINISHED 1/31/11 (non-fiction)
26. The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller, ****, STARTED 1/28/11, FINISHED 2/2/11 (fiction)
27. Swiss Watching by Diccon Bewes, ***, STARTED 2/1/11, FINISHED 2/4/11 (non-fiction)
28. I remember Nothing by Nora Ephron, ***, READ 2/5/11 (non-fiction)
29. The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd, ***, STARTED 2/4/11, finished 2/5/11 (fiction)
30. A Man in Uniform by Kate Taylor, ****, STARTED 2/4/11, FINISHED 2/6/11 (fiction)
31. Darkness in Zennor by Helen Dunmore, ****1/2, STARTED 2/6/11, FINISHED 2/7/11

Hi Suz! Am I first???

Eta...Woohoo! Yes I am. :) I thought someone would post while I was typing...

Am I second?! I need to try harder next time.
BTW: I'm glad you listed a number of interesting financial books on your previous thread. I have one more Lowenstein to read and then I'll put in a request at the library for something else.

I like your more nuanced ratings, Suz. I ought to try that. At least in quarter star increments.

I'm planning to read Emily Lambert's book about the futures markets sometime in the next few months, Lynda; if it's good, that might be something a bit different but still in the same vein for you to peruse!

I think I should get more nuanced too.

#5 Great, I'll be looking forward to your comments, Suz.

Hi Suzanne, back to the old thread and the Lisa Genovese discussion: I think she probably did what many authors do when they have a really good debut and that is rush the second book just to get it out while their name is still on everyone's mind. It happens with so many authors.

Greetings, Suz ... found and starred your new thread.

I had to add The Great Silence to my obese wish list.

How are you holding up with the snow and ice?

I'm here I'm here!

Nice to see you all!! *waving*

Snow and ice I can cope with -- kinda, sorta. It's the bone-chilling weather that I find daunting right now. Have to schlep out to the suburbs tomorrow for a friend's long-postponed Boxing Day party and all I want to do is curl up by the fire and read. Well, not by the fire, since there are books in front of the fireplace, and the cats would probably try to immolate themselves, but you know what I mean...

Clear the fireplace now! It is worth the effort..
Fire and books.. ahhh lovely.. but stick the piles behind a chair.
Have fun at the party.... but if it were me I would stay home! lol

I have been cold for DAYS.

Hi Suz. Hope it warms up soon.

Stay warm, Suz. I was reading the other day that Boston has had twice as much snow as Chicago this year and New York City has even had a bit more than us. Amazing!!

Hi, Suz! I hope that you're staying as warm as possible today.

Ditto!

Hi Suzanne!

*waves back*

just got back from the 'burbs; tired and headachey so I'm going to curl up with some dinner & some cats & some books. 'later...

Cats and books, but which books?

Robert

Well, I finished Blue Latitudes by Tony Horwitz for this challenge and The Orchid Affair by Lauren Willig for my 11 in 11 challenge, but will report back on those later, when the head is back to normal. Now alternating between Defiant Spirits (no touchstone) by Ross King and As I Lay Dying, but I'm going to have to add something lighter or the 2 a.m. heeby jeebies that woke me up are going to haunt me all week, I'm afraid.

Realized that one of the resident felines stepped on the extension cord while I was out, cutting off the power to the space heater upstairs (and numerous other things). No wonder the temp was only 46 in the living room!! Just v. relieved that I didn't blow a fuse or something.

I enjoyed Blue Latitudes, Suz. I hope you did too.

Hope the headache leaves soon!

Oh ye gods...I've missed this entire thread until now! *smacks forehead*

I expect I'll see you Thursday, Suz...I plan to drive in with Stella if auntie's still in the hospital, and train in if she's out, though that will mean TDM misses the circle. (She hasn't read the book, so she's not that keen to come.)

Tell TDM that the book is a very quick read... Are you bringing Stella to the meeting??? :-) Mind you, she may be able to contribute some thoughts on the treatment of animals in the book...

I think she's so stressed that socializing is not fun for her right now. (TDM, not Stella.) The issues around her partner's death are now coming in to roost, plus the auntie situation is hard on her, plus she's got some really good stuff that is reaching critical mass but is ill-timed from an emotional resources point of view....

Bone, in case I haven't mentioned him lately, has been completely eviscerated and is now a green-and-white version of Squirrel, but has retained his hold on Stella's affections. She and I played Bone for a half hour this morning, post-train station.

Am completely in love with auntie's heating pad! Since she isn't here, I'm vampiring its heat on my achy, achy joints.

Quick books report, in the nine minutes before I have to do an interview:

1. Blue Latitudes by Tony Horwitz. I once joked, at least half-seriously, that if the price of being able to write like Tony Horwitz was to blow up some unknown people at the other side of the world, I'd probably push the red button. That's because he has an unfailing knack for the perfect deadpan comment and telling anecdote, whether he's writing about job creation or Captain Cook's South Sea voyages. The latter are the focus of this book, which jumps back and forth between a look back at Cook's experiences, through the eyes of someone who is at once an admirer of Cook and a pragmatist who recognizes that Cook paved the way for the near-destruction of indigenous cultures pretty much everywhere he set foot on land. What I like about Horwitz is that the parts of this book that are about his own travels following in Cook's wake are neither ponderous and pompous (as Theroux and Thubron can be) or the kind of silly post-Bryson prose (ooh, look at the disasters I encountered, being eaten by fire ants and falling overboard!) that has become such a popular part of travel journalism these days. Both extremes annoy me, and Horwitz avoids them, focusing instead on the story he wants to tell and making even the gritty details about 18th century navigational techniques lively and intriguing. Really enjoyed this book and I have no idea why it took me so long to read, other than the fact that I'm just not that intrigued by the South Seas, generally. This doesn't quite measure up to Confederates in the Attic by it's still a solid 4.25 stars. TIOLI for the "colors" challenge.

2. The Orchid Affair by Lauren Willig. OK, the latest installment of the "Pink Carnation" series of romantic adventure novels is anything but literature. But it can be very silly and funny and thus good for the winter blahs. A case in point: "Three whole days with Colin’s charmingly dysfunctional family was not my idea of a romantic weekend. It was, however, my idea of an Agatha Christie novel," muses modern-day heroine Eloise Kelly, still sleuthing into the spies of Regency England. In the historical part of the narrative (which makes up about 80% of the book), Laura Grey is undercover as a governess in the household of a member of Napoleon's police force. "One could hide an army in the Hôtel de Bac and still have room for an amateur theatrical troupe, a haberdashery, and a few aspiring sopranos," Laura muses. A goofy approach to writing like that tells me Willig isn't taking herself too seriously, which wins her marks from me. What loses some marks is that this time, the past and present narratives are so loosely connected as to make me wonder why she bothered with the Eloise story when the real meat lies in the historical adventures. Cotton candy for the brain, but fun escapism. 3.4 stars, TIOLI for the ranking below 10,000 challenge.

So, I signed up for NetGalleys, and was approved to read 4 books. Now -- should I get a Nook so that don't have to read them on my PC or laptop??? (Because of the DRM thingummy, they aren't Kindle-approved.) I may bite -- in part because I could also use the Nook for library books.

26- Let us know what you decide.

I got an email from NetGalley, telling me they weren't making any books available for Kindle at the moment, but that they hoped it would be back soon. Is that the 'DRM thingummy' to which you refer? I was disappointed by that.

I'm shocked to hear myself say this, but I'd be willing to have a Nook in addition to my Kindle at some point in the future. Prices are dropping so it's more affordable, I may fill up my Kindle one day, and it would make more books available to me thru trading with other Nook users, library books, etc.

>26 Chatterbox: I vote "yea" on the Nook. Color! Liberry books! Magazinees! And goddesses know they're cheap enough these days. When I get paid for my freelance job, I'm gettin' one.

I think the same books are available to trade, so it just depends on whether your "counterparty" is a Nook or Kindle owner! I probably will do this -- it makes more sense than trying to read on a computer. If it were just the NetGalleys, or just the library books, probably not; but both together means it would pay for itself quickly. The Kindle would still be my primary e-reader, though.

ETA: Would it kill you if I DIDN'T do color, Richard??

With the prices coming down, I've considered getting a Nook, too.

My library still doesn't have e-books but I might consider it more carefully when they do.

I have both the Kindle and the Nook Color. Library books played a role in that decision.

I'd dowloaded NetGalley books to the Kindle before the DRM issues began, but find the process much easier on the Nook.

Generally speaking, however, I prefer the Kindle reading experience. This may partially be because I have the Nook Color which is backlit. I'm not enamored of the touchscreen and find it doesn't always respond when I want to turn the page. I just bought my first magazine so I can't comment on that. I do like the library/NetGalley capabilities and that I can get kids books. I'm probably going to jailbreak it sooner or later and then I'll be able to use it for Google apps as well.

ETA: I do think the Nook Color I got will pay for itself very, very quickly. I've had it since right before Christmas and I've read three library books (current bestsellers). I have two more in the queue.

OK, I now have a Nook -- the plain vanilla variant, not the Color, as I don't like backlighting and don't need the bells & whistles. When it gets charged, I'll tackle the downloading of the Net Galleys.

Isn't it amazing how many ways I can find NOT to work on book revisions???

I like how Nook is competing, a great many things about the Kindle irritate me -- I'm still 'watching and waiting' but the Nook is sounding more like a possibility.

#32 - So, is the regular Nook lighter than the Nook Color? My partner is always geeking out over the latter, but he says it's far heavier than my Kindle.

I can't do backlit, either. But I also don't read magazines, so black and white always works for me!

Hallo Suzanne!

#32 Now that was a swift decision - much quicker than mine - I'm still umming and erring (there seem to be an equal number of advantages and disadvantages in all camps and I don't think we have the Nook over here yet).

28 books already? Seriously, how do you and Stasia do it? I could probably just about read an average sized novel a day but only if I did absolutely nothing else and I don't think I read that slowly... ;o)

Can't resist horning in on your discussion of Nooks and Kindles -- not to be confused with nooks and crannies.

I just recently downloaded the Kindle software from Amazon to my laptop to see how I liked doing the e-book thingy. I am quite impressed. Gosh, I just don't want another device. I've already got two computers, so the laptop solution seems just the thing for me at this time.

The main thing that struck me is how much faster I seem to read on the Kindle/computer. I've got the Kindle software set with fairly large print type, and I'm making notes and highlighting on the margin which makes the reading page much narrower, so the eye fairly flies down the page. I read one book in just a couple of hours, and I'm almost through a second one after just an hour or two. These are both nonfiction -- thus, the notetaking. My only complaint is that the notes can't be copy/pasted to another document. I think I understand why, but it's a minor annoyance just the same.

Since I'm not out and about much, the lack of portability that a much smaller Kindle or Nook would provide is not a problem -- yet.

Bottom line -- I like it.

Suzanne/Poquette, aka my alter ego -- you can go to Amazon, get the highlighted stuff from the "manage my kindle" section, or from this web address: http://kindle.amazon.com. It collates your highlights and notes and you can "cut and paste" from here to anywhere you want. (I've done it in reviews, for instance.)

Still don't have the Nook set up for NetGalleys; if anyone has done this, could they please PM me and tell me how??? Barnes & Noble don't seem to have a clue and the NetGalley instructions have big gaps.

ETA: The Nook touchscreen is a NIGHTMARE.

Hey Suzanne/Chatterbox -- thanks so much for the tip. I'll check that out immediately. Way cool.

Now trying to figure out if I can/should hightail it down to DC tomorrow eve so that I can go to FCIC press conference Thursday morning -- and still make it back in time for book circle on Thursday early eve. ARGHHHH. (This could be useful input for the book, but no guarantees; the trip would be $200 on the train plus hotel. Cost/benefit analysis...

Having read all but the last chapter of your book, noting that you have some hope for the reporting out of FCIC, and knowing that the press will likely cover the press conference, I think that there could be some serious benefit to your being there. I do believe that your in person take on the gestures, stutterings, and other mannerisms will influence, to our advantage, your take on the content.

I'm thinking I'm going to have to read the paperback revisions or updatings.

Robert

Suz, you may want to check the weather forecast before you decide to go to DC. Another winter storm is on the way to the Northeast from the South (it's been raining all day here in Atlanta), and the major NE cities are supposed to get six or more inches of snow, starting tomorrow afternoon.

#40 - Our area (I'm 30 minutes from DC) is supposed to get 4-5 inches, and we're not great at handling winter weather

This is from The Weather Channel:

Yeah, I'm having second and third thoughts about this, too. Plus the fact that if any media wants me to comment on the FCIC report, I need to be in NY, not on a bus or train trying to get back here. So I'll get what I can off the webcast...

Book du jour:

Under Fishbone Clouds by Sam Meekings, which I read for my 11 in 11 challenge, was an ARC that I got via the Amazon.com Vine program. Sadly, it promised more than it delivered. It's the story of Junyi and Yuying, a couple who endure the horrors of the second half of the 20th century in China. On the surface, the book has a lot going for it, from a great backdrop to wonderful writing. But the way the author chooses to recount this saga is awkward and disruptive, and prevented me from ever really engaging with the characters or believing they were "real". A full review is posted on the book's page.

Actually finished this VERY early this morning; I'm no so tired after reading too late that it's going to be an early night for me (by my standards, at least!!)

Hi Suz,
Just got a note from amazon that Cleopatra: A Life, Kindle version, had some errors and is being updated.
I hope you didn't start reading it, because when it's updated, they say we will lose all our highlighting and notes.
I think it will automatically update if you have your wireless on.
Did you get an email too?

We actually had a weather delay this morning for last night's snow, which turned to ice and now slush. It's raining, and if temperatures drop tonight I think we're in for trouble. Thanks for the map, Darryl; I think I may be in for another snow day tomorrow.

Very glad I'm not going anywhere today, except to get my hair cut. We have four or five inches of white stuff outside already!! and I don't trust buses or trains not to be delayed in this weather. Train would be too expensive anyway, and I don't want to be on a slippery road on the Megabus -- oddly enough.

Angela, the notification probably went to you as the person who purchased it. I'll turn on my Kindle and update if I can. I have started reading it, but don't think I had used highlights/notes. Tks for letting me know!

Definitely not weather to be travelling in, by the sound of it. *shiver*

Are you having anything interesting done to your hair?

(Aha! Haircut! I knew there was something I had to book! *scribbles note in diary*)

49- Suz, I think YOU are going to have to request the updated Kindle version of the Cleopatra book. I got the email notification, and I responded to it, saying YES, send the update. But they responded and said "We're sorry, we can't find any record of that book on your account!"
Which is pretty funny, considering they were the ones who contacted ME about the book, haha...
So I think the request is going to have to come from your end. Sorry.

>49 Chatterbox:: Yes, you were smart. I'm an hour outside Philadelphia and we had about 4" too, with more expected overnight.

Just had my hair chopped back, nothing exciting. First time since after Thanksgiving, however and in that period of time, my stylist has (a) gotten pregnant, (b) gotten engaged and (c) gotten married. Seriously. All in the last 10 weeks. She's due in the summer -- a boy.

#53 Wow and I thought I had news the last time I went for a haircut. My stylist got engaged. (But not pregnant or married.)

That's an eventful 10 weeks for sure.

OK, an overdue book update. Or rather, an update on a bunch of books, a couple of which I've been reading for a week or more and just finished. Here it goes!

1. Defiant Spirits by Ross King. King is the author of several well-known books about art, architecture, etc., such as The Judgment of Paris about the rise of French Impressionism. There's no touchstone for this book, which hasn't yet been released outside Canada, and probably has a smaller audience than King's other work: this time, he has crafted a group biography of the early 20th century artists (largely landscape painters in the Post-Impressionist tradition) who collectively came to be known as "The Group of Seven". Given that the book is co-published by the McMichael Collection (an Ontario art gallery that is largely devoted to works by this group and their contemporaries and heirs) it's a very even-handed look at the artists, their works, their attempts to craft an identifiably "Canadian" school of art in the midst of widespread public indifference to the arts and a widespread Canadian quest for a national identity. Not surprisingly, both the artists' careers and the issue of national identity got a big boost from the horrors of World War I, documented by some of the painters and in which Canadian soldiers stood out for their bravery in some of the fiercest battles. That segment, in which King examines the way the war galvanized Canadians in different ways and ties it to the art being produced by group members, is perhaps the strongest in the book, although the whole thing is a very, very intriguing look at the attempt to craft something truly "independent" on the part of painters like AY Jackson, Tom Thomson, Lawren Harris and J.E.H. MacDonald. As King points out, the painters are -- ironically -- now seen as old-fashioned and conservative. He notes that they were never as entirely revolutionary as they claimed to be, but also does an excellent job of pointing to the ways in which they did recraft and reinvent techniques and approaches to painting when tackling the Canadian landscape. It's a great story, an intriguing book about the birth of an artistic movement, and will go on my "memorable books" list. Even if you're not interested in reading 420 pages about these artists, it's worth checking out the paintings next time you have an idle moment in front of the Internet. Recommended to anyone with an interest in art or to any Canadian with an interest in the perennially pesky question of "who are we, really?" 4.3 stars, TIOLI for a book about art, for my 11 in 11 challenge.

2. Fame: What the Classics tell us about our Cult of Celebrity by Tom Payne was deeply disappointing, given the author's obvious erudition, knowledge of the classics and core idea -- that nothing about the concept of "fame" today, from self-destructive behavior to self-promotional excesses, is all that different from the way fame was seen in the ancient world. The comparisons he draws between famous individuals of several millennia ago and Britney Spears and Demi Moore today are thought-provoking and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, but they are buried in rambling and opaque prose. I sometimes felt twisted in knots and spent too much time re-reading in order to untangle my brain. So, too frustrating to be satisfying; and for anyone who is familiar with the classics and has ever pondered this subject, there's probably not that much that is really new. Anyone without an interest in the classics is likely to shrug and say "so what?" For a really fun take on the classics, try Bernard Knox instead. (The Oldest Dead White European Males is great; I'd also recommend Backing into the Future.) Giving this 3 stars, but only because the author knows his stuff -- sadly, he can't communicate it clearly enough to hold my attention for long. A hard book to plow through.

3. The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman. For those like me who discovered this author via her stand-alone novels, like the excellent and suspenseful Life Sentences, this was an underwhelming novella. Featuring Tess Monaghan, the detective around whom Lippman has built a series of mysteries (which I haven't read yet), this is a slim volume in which Tess, confined to bed rest while pregnant, tries to solve a mystery -- the apparent disappearance of a girl in (surprise, surprise) a green raincoat, whose dog she spots -- abandoned -- in the park outside her window. It's a riff on Rear Window and The Daughter of Time -- a debt Lippman openly acknowledges -- with a not-too-surprising twist at the end. My reaction was meh -- maybe it's great for the fans of Tess and the series, but this was my introduction, and it was too skeletal a plot and story to intrigue me much. 3.2 stars, TIOLI for a book with a color in the title.

Finished As I Lay Dying. It's for my 11 in 11 challenge, but since it's for my real-life book circle, which doesn't want us to discuss books ahead of the meetings, I'll postpone any commentary until after the meeting tomorrow evening. I'll just say it was my first Faulkner; 4.5 stars.

#57: I have not read that one by Faulkner yet. Maybe this will be the year. I need something better to read by him than Sanctuary, which has left a bitter taste in my mouth.

#53 Wow, that's swift work!

Although I have an almost-as-whirlwind romance story in a mate of mine who also went to the wedding I went to in Chicago last summer. He spent a few days in New York after the wedding and met someone. Came back, was miserable for a few weeks then, on a whim and a small fortune, bought a flight back out to New York for the weekend. They've been flying back and forwards once or twice a month ever since and got engaged over Christmas! I've never seen him so happy.

Ah, I've been umming and erring about As I Lay Dying for a while now - I've never read any William Faulkner and have been a bit daunted by his depressing reputation...

BTW, thanks for the facebook link to your Kindle/Nook thoughts - looks like a very useful comparison, although I've only skimmed it so far. I need to have a long sit down and read that and all the advice posts this weekend...

>59 flissp:. As I Lay Dying is one of my favorites of Faulkner's. Do you mean that you're daunted by his reputation for writing depressing things or you're daunted by his reputation for being a depressing human being? Don't be put off by his personality, if that's what it is. His main problem was that he drank--a lot, even compared to everyone around him, at a time when everyone drank. His works are well worth anyone's time.

I've decided that 2011 will be my year for re-reading American classics. I've just finished Huckleberry Finn and was going to start Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, but maybe before I get into that I'll read some Faulkner--probably this one or maybe The Sound and the Fury.

P.S. I have the newest Kindle and love it. I also had version one. The battery life of one month on the new one is amazing. So is the crystal clear, super-readable display. I know there are "issues" with both the Kindle and the Nook, but at this point I wouldn't trade my Kindle.

>57 Chatterbox:: I'll just say...I think you liked your first Faulkner. As I Lay Dying was my second Faulkner but the first one I liked; i.e., understood. Then I read Light in August which I adored. It made my Top Ten list for 2010. Thanks for reminding me that I need to get back to my Portable Faulkner so I can work my way up to a reread of The Sound and the Fury.

Well, it's going to take a team of huskies and a sled to get me to the book circle meeting tonight!! *eyes roll* So glad you folks contributed to my decision to stay put and not venture to Washington; this is nearly as scary as it was after Xmas.

I should probably add Cather to my 11 in 11 challenge (Great American Novels). I think I started one of hers decades ago but never finished.

#61 labwriter, more the former (daunted by his reputation for writing depressing things). This said, I've read plenty of depressing books, so I'll probably get around to it at some point ;o)

Suzanne/Chatterbox/soul mate, from the other Suzanne! Everybody else, cover your eyes.

I'm about to expose how new I am to this group (and it's been years since I engaged in chat way back when in the good old days of AOL), but I have a question (so embarrassed, my face is red) What does TIOLI mean?

#65 No worries. TIOLI=Take It or Leave It.

This is a monthly challenge run by SqueakyChu (Madeline). She picks a challenge and you can either take her up on it or select your own challenge (or another person's).

Suz, can't remember which one you suggested for Jan, but my TIOLI challenge was to read a book with a duplicate word in the title.

Any time now, Madeline will create the February thread and the fun will begin. Questions/new participants are always welcomed.

Ahhhhh! All is clear -- thanks, Linda!

Suz.. you are going to / @ / book group?

I was away for far too long, Suz .... almost a week... but I'm back again .. hoping to gain some sanity among my dear LT pals.

Yes, was at book circle. Back now.

Just having a super weird/stressful week. How bad is it? So bad that I'm going to spend the night cleaning out my bedroom & living room completely. Rather than sleeping or reading. Yup, that bad. Beats weeping fits, though.

(edited for grammar. yup, that's how bad it is!)

#70: Glad you made it back and forth safely, Suz!

Sorry to hear that you are having such a stressful week.

Glad you made it home.. hope you feel better today..
:(

Hoping you have a stress free weekend, Suz.

Awww....too bad about your awful week! :(

(((HUGS)))

Barkley, Ms. Stripes, and the new stray send warm fuzzies...

Ugh, does not sound good. I vote you follow up all the cleaning with a long bath with a big glass of wine, relaxing music and a good book...

Hope there's a good nap in your future or at least a good book (and lots of satisfaction with a clean house).

No better shape, but a cleaner, more organized bedroom! When that's done, it will be on to the living room...

Scored a copy of Caveat Emptor by Ruth Downie from ER! Now all I need to do is (a) catch up with the other ER books I haven't read yet and (b) read the first three books in that series... :-)

Suz, did you get Afraid of the Dark from vine? LT says you have it.. I got mine from the targeted newsletter in Jan. From the leftovers I have Bitter in the Mouth By: Monique Truong and Regarding Ducks and Universes by Neve Maslakovic . Couldn't resist that title.

I scored Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon, from LTER..

Kath, no, I got Afraid of the Dark from NetGalley, where I signed up last week, along with the new Jacqueline Winspear book. (and several others, to boot!) I opted for Colin Thubron's book about Tibet, and something likely to be deeply silly, as I'm in need of that: Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee. I enjoyed her two most recent books, including The Devil in the Junior League and could use another flippant idiotic book of that stripe.

Silly fun books are good for chasing doldrums... especially when wine is added.
NetGally sounds great! I look forward to reading your thoughts ... Jacqueline Winspear sounds familiar but??

Oh dear, Suz ..... I've just spent an entire hour on Netgalley. Needless to say I've registered and I can see my poor Kindle exploding if I am approved for all the requests I've made just today! But thank you though ... this looks like a really interesting free e-book site .. I just hope they won't laugh at my reviews and then cancel my registration.

Can you get Netgalley books on the Kindle yet? It used to work, but then they had to put the Kindle arrangement "on hold". When it gets going again, I am SO going to spend hours on netgalley!

Whoops, forgot what I came here for:
Suz, thanks so much for the loan of the Margaret George book. I finished it last night (1 day ahead of schedule, woot!) I enjoyed it and it was a non-intimidating starter book for a Tudor newbie. I even cried toward the end at Brandon's funeral, which surprised me. Obviously I became emotionally involved, which is a sign of a good writer, imho...

Now I'm wondering what book on the subject to tackle next. I think I need to try a non-fiction one. Possibly Henry VIII by Alison Weir??

Happy Almost Birthday to you Suz!

I hope Feb. 1st is a special day for you

Tks, Linda! Love the gif; the cats will love the mouse...

Angela, yes, give the Weir a shot. Or the book by Derek Wilson about Henry VIII and his court. Move away from the wives for a while and see what else you can find that's interesting.

Not many of the NetGalley offerings appear to be Kindle-able -- that's why I got the basic Nook (and was bashing my head against a wall trying to get it working.) So far, I've been approved for everything I requested; one book is Kindle-able, and I haven't actually been able to get to it that way. May be forced to read it on my computer, or print out 278 pages of PDFs... For anyone who is curious, I've created a separate category in my library for NetGalleys, so you can find them that way.

Jacqueline Winspear is author of the Maisie Dobbs mystery novels, Kath. They are usually quite good.

Doldrums still present -- does anyone know the steps to the anti-doldrum dance and care to share???

Just follow the steps, Suz. . .

Then move on to Dance #2, Suz ...

Flash mob anti-doldrum dance......

glitter-graphics.com

There's lots of doldrums around these days...I'm wondering if a small part of it isn't lack of bright sunshine. We've been getting so much snow, and lots of clouds - maybe we should all go sit under a bright sunlamp for a little while and see if that helps! I know a few people who have seasonal depression and they are taking it really hard right now.

Hang in there Suz... If those dances work, let us know! :)

Thanks for the dances, folks! (The moves in Lynda's offering appear a little hard to follow, but I think I can manage Caro's and maybe Stasia's, if one of the felines will cooperate...)

In return, here's a second batch of lendable Kindle books. I'll post them on the Wiki as well. Same rules apply: first come first served; each book can be loaned only once, for a 14 day period.

The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier
Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson
Still Life by Louise Penny
Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo
The Scientific Revolution by Steven Shapin
The Book of William by Paul Collins
Hurting Distance by Sophie Hannah
The Road to Financial Reformation by Henry Kaufman
Place of Execution by Val McDermid
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis
Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander
Ha'Penny by Jo Walton
The Coffin Trail by Martin Edwards
Chinese Whispers by Peter May
Paganini's Ghost by Paul Adam
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Silesian Station by David Downing
The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato
Mr. Market Miscalculates by James Grant
Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert by Georgina Howell
Match Day by Brian Eule
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
The Devil in the Junior League by Linda Francis Lee

Happy Birthday a day in advance, Suz! Let's hope the day finds you coming out of the doldrums at last.

Good grief, that's a lot of books :)

Oh, I've many more still to come, Kath...

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay was good.

Birthdays are always fun! Have a great one tomorrow, Suz. Do something decadent.

I don't want to forget for tomorrow..
and besides.. all things considered.. no reason not to start celebrating today, right?Happy Birthday!!!

If I wish you a happy birthday today knowing that your birthday is tomorrow does it expire at midnight? I hope you have a happy birthday.

Robert

Robert, probably not -- thanks for the thought! Though I figure it's probably better to hope for a good year than a good day, right?? :-)

Happy Birthday (-1), Suz! I hope that your day is filled with fun, good books, and a crepe or two.

I just received my Kindle within the past hour (woo!). Can I borrow Match Day?

Happy Birthday Eve, Suz.

The only one I want to read from your list is Winter Solstice and I already own a copy.

Darryl, congrats on your new Kindle!!

But of course, Darryl! I figured it might be up your alley when I put it on the list... When do you want it delivered? Remember: you get 14 days from the day you receive it (and a few days from the time you're notified of the loan until you must activate it) to read a borrowed book...

#102: Anytime would be fine, Suz. I'll probably read it this week, possibly as early as tomorrow.

Done, Darryl. You should have an e-mail from the wizards of Seattle (aka the Amazons...)

I promise I will catch up on everyone else's thread shortly -- really, truly!!

In the meantime, here's my second-to-last book for the month:

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson is a book that more than lived up to everything I've heard about it. It's a novel that is really about a collection of mysteries; a mystery story that's really a novel about a host of characters. Amazingly, Kate Atkinson manages to pull it all together and pull it off beautifully. Her style is effortless and witty -- "Well, that was the end then, she was Americanizing words. Civilization would fall," muses one character. Or: "Novels gave you a completely false idea about life, they told lies and they implied there were endings when in reality there were no endings, everything just went on and on and on." I relished this book; didn't care that I had figured out who one of the characters was (if not all the incredible last-minute twists). I found the structure -- the different cases all converge in different ways, as they end up falling into the lap of investigator Jackson Brodie -- worked wonderfully. All in all, 4.8 stars, highly recommended and onto my best books of the year list. I've already downloaded #2 onto my Kindle...

I'm so glad you loved it! I did too.
BTW there has been occasional talk of a Jackson Brodie Fan Club.

Happy almost birthday!! I adore the Jackson Brodie books, glad you do, too.

>105 Chatterbox:: another Case Histories fan, yay!
And happy birthday ... 3 hours away now!!

I loved Case Histories and One Good Turn.

Wishing you a Happy Birthday and an early Spring!

Yes there has been talk of a Jackson Brodie fan club and I want to be in it. Lucy I believe you're the President. Anyway Suz I'm reading One Good Turn for the TIOLI 2nd in a Series if you want to join me. Oh and Happy Birthday!

Bonnie, I've already signed up for that book! :-)

>110 brenzi: I should do that too! I could do it if I could only finish something on my bloated currently reading list before February is gone.
I will wait to add my birthday wishes until the day arrives.

Happy Birthday Eve.

May your day be bright, sunny and filled with delightful surprises.

Yes, Suz, wishing you 'sunshine' tomorrow...even if it's not literal sunshine! :)

What a great list, Suz. I'm so tempted to head over to the wiki and 'borrow' one from you. What did you think of The Glass Blower of Murano? I read that I think 2 years ago and I remember enjoying it.



The gang couldn't wait another minute to wish you a Happy Birthday, Suz!

Eat cake..
Order in :)

Happy Day...happy year.. and lots of prosperity and good stuff.. !

Wishing you a Happy Birthday!

I don't normally read mysteries/crime fiction but Case Histories sounds really interesting. I might have to check it out.

Felicem Natalem!! Happy Birthday, Suzanne!!

glitter-graphics.com

Happy birthday!

Jackson Brodie #4 Started Early, Took My Dog was one of the fairly small number of books I bought new in hardback last year - Waterstones were offering it a very reasonable price - at least I read that one.

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite LTers!



The mice also wanted to express their gratitude to you for giving them a warm and cozy place to live (although they wish you would do something about those cats).

Have a great birthday tomorrow Suzanne! And hooray for another Case Histories fan. I might add One Good Turn next month too, not sure yet. Or the 2nd Philip Kerr one. Or the second C J Sansom one. And 2 of those are from your thread!

Happy Birthday, Suz. Enjoy your special day!!

Delurking to say Happy Birthday!

ETA: And glad you enjoyed Case Histories so much. I'm another person who has just joined the Jackson Brodie fan club and have added One Good Turn to the TIOLI wiki.

Awww shucks, folks.... thanks... for all the lovely b-day wishes!

The plan this eve did involve a mystery trip outside the city; that is obviously not going to work given that there is ANOTHER winter storm warning in effect, involving snow, sleet AND ice, with about a half-inch of ice expected to build up overnight. *eyes roll* So no idea what I'll be doing to celebrate, although I do have a meeting scheduled at the Plaza with some representatives of the Saudi investor prince. Never a dull moment around here...

Happy Birthday from the President of the Jackson Brodie Fan Club...... Good luck getting in and out of town today!

Happy Birthday (only a tad late).

I love the Jackson Brodie mysteries glad to see another fan being brought aboard.

A quick update re my final book for January.

Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff was a lively and entertaining biography of a woman, the legend of whose life has long since transcended the realities of her life. Schiff sets out to redress the imbalance, and although she's handicapped by the fact that Cleopatra was "a Greek woman whose history fell to men whose futures lay with Rome", and that Rome had a vested interest in scorning her and limiting their view of her to that of femme fatale who had bewitched both Caesar and Mark Anthony. Schiff tries to wade through what documentation is available to get to the truth of the Egyptian queen's life, painting the portrait of a woman who was a capable and wily ruler but whose fate was sealed when she allied herself too closely with the less canny Mark Anthony and proceeded to alienate many of his Roman supporters. Ultimately, Schiff tells the story of lapses of judgment that would have catastrophic consequences. This may not be a superb academic biography -- I'm not qualified to judge -- but it's lively and vivid and far more readable than many of the scholarly biographies I've been reading lately, including Goldsworthy's tome on Caesar himself. She describes Alexandria as "an excitable city of short tempers and taut, vibrating minds" and devotes attention to the world Cleopatra inhabited as well as to the (rather well known to history buffs) story itself. "Cleopatra’s country had been in the hospitality business long before the rest of the world so much as suspected gracious living existed," Schiff writes of the impression that traveling Romans had of Alexandria's glories. Nor does the mundane escape her: "Teething trouble? The standard cure was to feed the child a fried mouse. Excessive crying? A paste of fly dirt and poppy could be counted on to silence the most miserable of infants." While the broad outlines of the story weren't new to me, this was a great read, lively and interesting. Recommended, TIOLI for a Christmas gift (thanks, Angela!), 4.4 stars.

Thanks for that review. I've been eyeing that book and now I know for sure that I want to read it!

And may your birthday be filled with lovely words and unexpected adventures, and may you get lots of books.

Happy Birthday. Have a Great Day

Happy happy birthday!

I hadn't really been planning on reading Cleopatra: A life, but your comments make me want to revisit that...hmmm. Will ponder adding it to the TBR list.

I hope your birthday was a good one even if you can't get out of town. Our part of the non-blizzard is slowly blowing its way toward the northeast. It will be another "piece of cake" for you experienced New Yorkers.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Check your email.

xo

I did -- smooches back to you & Ms. Stella!!

glitter-graphics.com

Happy Birthday for sure!!! Stay in and pet the kitties.

I read an excellent review of Cleopatra: A Life some time ago and just keep hearing good things about it. It's now on my wish list !

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Heck no -- am not staying in. Am at a friend's; we're going out for dinner. Not sure where, but definitely NOT out of town given the weather!

Even the Saudis wished me a happy b-day... They did their research!

#139 That's impressive about the Saudis but a little scary. Have a great birthday dinner!

Can't wait for my contest win of the audio of Cleopatra to arrive. It is something nice to look forward to when i return home in 3 weeks. Glad to see your great review.

Hope you had a great birthday, Suz!

Dropping in to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to a fellow February girl. Hope it was a good one! If you were snow bound and bummed about it, just imagine you were me - ice bound with 3 kids...

Is it good that the Saudi's know it's your b-day?

Happy Birthday, good reading, and a prosperous and positive year!

Happy Birthday Suzanne.

Hiya all, well dinner was... OK. But then my dinner companion (who only a few weeks ago was the kind of person who would check in to make sure I got home safely) waved goodbye at the restaurant and only called me at home later to tell me he'd finally located a file that he'd misplaced and he'd been stressed about. And of course, I DIDN'T entirely make it home safely -- I slipped on some ice and wrenched my ankle badly. It's the same blasted one that I had a stress fracture in a few years ago (twisted it and then walked around on it for two weeks until it was in bad shape.) So, I figured it would be one of those stupid short-term things; got home, put ice packs on it, propped it on a pillow and popped some anti-inflammatories. But now it's worse -- painful enough to wake me up in the middle of the night literally crying with pain. So it will be off to a doctor tomorrow; am feeling v. sorry for myself and slightly idiotic.

Aw, poor Suz, that's no way to wrap up your special day! Treat yourself to a good book ... Ok? Seriously, hope you heal quickly.

>146 Chatterbox: Oh OW, and I thought my fall on the ice was bad. (I only have a slightly sore elbow and a bruise on my butt the size of my hand that makes it...er...slightly uncomfortable to sit down.) I hope your ankle feels better soon and it's nothing too serious/long-term in recovery.

It is an avulsion fracture, apparently, which I now keep thinking of as an avuncular fracture. Heaven knows why. Relatively minor, though the doc is worried that I'm developing arthritis in this leg, where I've had not only the previous ankle problem but a fractured kneecap and the hip stupidity last summer. Oh well, getting old... So just need to stay off it, ice it and keep it wrapped up to get the swelling down & no standing on it until that happens. Not really bruised, oddly, but quite painful.

I just googled 'avulsion fracture,' and if it's avuncular, it's from a dutch uncle. I hope you can get about, at least enough.

Robert

Ice is the worst. Sorry to hear about your ankle. Hope the pain goes away SOON!

#150, Robert, I don't want to google it; but judging by the doc's description, you hit the nail on the head! Happily, he thinks just rest and ice and stuff will do the job, assuming I don't do anything stupid. Which may be a giant assumption, of course. Am about to down a painkiller, which should help.

Hope those painkillers are helping. I couldn't help but giggle at the phrase "relatively minor" coming right after "avuncular fracture". Heehee!

Hope you'll be up to snuff as soon as possible Suzanne; adding Cleopatra to the pile.

No touchstones anymore I guess.

So sorry about your fall, Suzanne. What a disappointing end to your special day. You will be remembering it for all the wrong reasons now. Here's wishing you a quick recovery. Yay for pain pills!

This is too bad -- not fair! Thank heavens it wasn't a worse injury or re-injury.

Ouch, a fracture?! I'm so sorry to hear that. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Oh dear, sorry to hear of your fall - ice sucks. I hope you're getting around ok!

Well, it's been hard to focus, but I have finally crossed the finish line with another book. So the book du jour is:

The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller. (the touchstones do appear to be all on strike at the moment.) This was my first book from NetGalley.com -- it won't be available until July! -- but I urge any of you who have read or enjoyed novels from Charles Todd or Jacqueline Winspear (the post WW1 mystery series featuring, respectively, Ian Rutledge and Maisie Dobbs) to keep an eye out for this very good mystery novel (feels like a stand-alone book). Laurence Bartram, like so many other still-young men, is back from the trenches and their horrors, but only to find a very different kind of muted horror in postwar life -- the difficulty of adjusting to "normality". The only memory of his former life is the piano that his wife Louise once cherished; she and their infant son died on the same day he went "over the top" in a particularly memorable and horrifying attack. Now, the sister of a schoolfriend, John Emmett, approaches him for help understanding why her brother has killed himself. The plot is fairly predictable -- he finds himself drawn to Mary, he discovers a series of other mysterious deaths that seem to be connected to a particularly horrifying event that took place at the height of the war. But while Laurence's friend Charles may be a stock character (like Poirot's buddy Hastings), there's no distinctive element to the story (like Ian Rutledge's shell-shocked mind and the presence of the invisible Hamish) and the twists and turns prove rather predictable, Speller has done an excellent job capturing the environment of the immediate postwar period, and the way in which even fully functional veterans like Laurence struggle to adapt themselves to the changed world. At times, the writing is very good indeed, and it's always solid. I was grabbed by this book at the outset, and while it's not a distinctive novel, it exemplifies what I think of as a "thumping good read." 4 stars; TIOLI for ghosts of past TIOLI categories. Recommended! (and check out NetGalley for it...)

Suz

So sorry about your fall...ouch..ouch..ouch.

And, I'm sorry your birthday wasn't as bright and sunny as you deserved.

Hugs

... but all the birthday greetings did really brighten it, even if it fell flat (like I did myself!) later in the day!!

Awww, Suz. Sorry to hear about your fall and injury. I always worry about falling on ice.

The ridiculous thing was that I was sliding one foot ahead of the other, very slowly, aware that the ground was treacherous and not wanting anything to happen. Then these 20-somethings start goofing off and running around and sure enough... Tried to avoid the collision, but nope. Would have fallen in the attempt to avoid a collision anyway, I suspect. Six of one, half dozen of t'other. Feel VERY stupid. Especially after nearly going splat three other times during the day.

Sorry to hear about your avulsion fracture, Suz. I have an old avulsion fracture of my right(?) ankle, which probably happened during a lunchtime pickup basketball game at work in the late 1980s; I suffered what I thought was a severe ankle sprain, and my ankle turned all sorts of unnatural colors and swelled up like a balloon. I didn't find out about it until a couple of years ago, when I had an X-ray of my ankle done for calcific Achilles tendonitis; the fracture showed up on that film. It's normally a tiny fracture, where the tendon pulls off a fragment of a bone, usually the prominent portions of the ankle that are known as the lateral malleolus and the medial malleolus. At the time of the injury I wrapped it and used crutches, and the swelling and pain gradually went away. They generally don't need casting or surgery, just ice and a firm (but not overly tight) wrap.

I hope that you have a better night tonight, with much less pain than last night.

I've got it wrapped, Darryl -- not so tightly as to cut off circulation! -- and my handful of Vicodin are dealing with the pain tonight, if making me a bit addled. No unnatural colors -- that would be fun! -- just some mild bruising, but definitely the balloon phenomenon!!! My ankle is the size of my knee... Not going to use crutches, but have a walking stick from last summer that will help me keep weight off it. I don't have to do much walking for the next week, really, or at least not much that I can't avoid.

Hmm, instead of an avuncular fracture, maybe I should start thinking of this as a revulsion fracture? (sorry, this is how Vicodin-brain thinks...)

I'm glad you liked the Speller, Virago published it last year and then I found a copy in a secondhand shop which often has copies of review books - I have yet to read it as it's a chunky hardback but it does sound good. She has a new book coming out from Virago this year.

OW - sorry to read about the bad fall and fracture. Hope you got some sleep.

And I'm going to add your latst book to my WL - sounds like my kind of thing.

Hmm, instead of an avuncular fracture, maybe I should start thinking of this as a revulsion fracture? (sorry, this is how Vicodin-brain thinks...)

Funny Suz, I was thinking revulsion even before you mentioned it. I 'spose I have a vicodin brain all the time :}

Anyway, so sorry to learn of your fracture, I hope those 20somethings, at least, offered you some help getting home.
Sending healing thought bandages your way.

Actually, the person who helped me get on to the subway was in their 50s, at least! The 20-somethings had long since picked themselves up and dashed off again...

Am trying to read the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report, and failing miserably.

Am trying to read the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report,

On to the wishlist it goes.....NOT! :)

It's my concentration that's at fault, Lynda, not the tome itself. That said, you've now read so much about all this that it would likely be redundant!

169: That figures. The most likely people to offer me a seat in pregnancy were 50+ women, and I only showed much when I was very pg indeed.

Had a conversation with a friend just now that reminded me that ankle fractures, writer's block and the whole nine yards are just a drop in the ocean. Of course, her problems don't remove any of mine but I have not had to deal with the mental illness and complete breakdown of a spouse (including his disappearance to another country...) Her divorce came through last week -- at his demand. His mother had the same illness, and killed herself. Please, remind me not to whine again for at least a week!

PS: With a nod to Bonnie (brenzi):

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Looks like I'm going to get paid for reading!! Just heard I was selected as a first-round reviewer/judge for the Amazon "ABNA" book awards -- it means reading and reviewing 40 10-page excerpts of works in progress submitted for the competition. Compensation? A $350 Amazon gift certificate... :-D

Congratulations. That sounds like a dream job.

Hope the ankle is feeling better today.

Ankle is MUCH better, thank you. The swelling is going down, and it was never v. bruised. I'm hoping to be able to walk on it by Sat., when I'm supposed to be going to a movie. Fingers crossed, but not toes (still a bit too painful!)

I'm reading the FCIC report, alternating with the third Ruth Galloway mystery by Elly Griffiths, The House at Sea's End. Needless to say, I'm preferring the latter.

Glad to hear that the ankle is doing better, Suz! Terrible birthday present to yourself though, I must say :)

Thanks for the recommendation of The Return of Captain John Emmett. I will have to look for that one.

Stasia, you should definitely check out NetGalley. You can move the content on to your Nook...

>174 Chatterbox: NICE!!

I have the first Ruth Galloway book still unread. I need to get to that one. The Speller book looks promising.

#178: Oh, I am member of NetGalley already. The problem is that I download the books and promptly forget to read them :)

Ouch, Stasia!! Can't you download them again, or re-request them?? The Speller book is certainly available, and it gives you 60 days...

I sent a request for the Speller book. I hope they approve me :)

OK, my brain forced me to finish reading The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths before I went to sleep. It's the third mystery featuring Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist who works at a fictional university along the bleak coast of Norfolk, and I've devoured them all in the space of only about six weeks, leaving me waiting anxiously for #4 -- for another year?? Horrors... This mystery looks fairly straightforward -- six dead bodies are found buried in the shifting sands, and the forensic evidence appears to tie them to a mysterious incident during WW2. Then there are some modern deaths -- but who is the link? I find the character of Ruth -- smart, awkward and gawky, a new mother -- particularly appealing and well-crafted, as is her strained relationship with the (married) detective who is her daughter's father. There are few perfect characters in this series, but also few false notes in the writing or characterization. Highly recommended series, 4.2 stars, TIOLI for the embedded word challenge.
ETA: This is for my 11 in 11 challenge.

#183: I wish my local library had the books in that series. It sounds right up my alley!

174: That sounds exciting.

#174: Whoa, that's great! Congrats!

>183 Chatterbox:. I just put all three on my wishlist. Thanks for the mention. I'm in serious need of something like this right now, but I've told myself that I have to finish at least one book for Feb. before I start a new one. Take care of the ankle.

Good morning, dear madam. Are you well? I am still in full rest and pinnipedesque repose mode. (Read: I'm lazy and walrus-like.)

Glad you're better, have put the Griffiths onto the list.

That is so cool, Suz. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts about the works submitted...if you're allowed to share. Judge McGee has a nice ring to it.

Boo for the ankle! YAY for the books & the Amazon GC! You certainly don't have a quiet life. More hopes that you will feel like going to the movie tomorrow with panache. (I started to add, "or whatever his name is," but my jokes have lately fallen so short in RL that I'm trying not to bother people with them.)

Sorry to hear about your ankle (and that your dinner companion wasn't more concerned!) But congratulations on the amazon paid position - woo hoo!

I think I'm going to have to read that Cleopatra book sometime. I almost got it for myself when I ordered yours. I think I'm starting to crave biographies...

I'm also going to check out the Captain John Emmett book. Looks good!

That's great news about the Amazon judging and the book voucher! And I had the same thought as Donna - is the judging secret or public?

Cushla, I've no idea whether it's secret or not. The e-mail didn't tell me to keep it hush-hush (the fact of judging), but I would imagine that they don't want us blurting out that so and so couldn't write a coherent sentence if his life depended on it. I may just make some general comments. If the Amazon threads on the subject are anything to go by, there will be a heck of a lot of fantasy novels in the offing!

I'm not a big biography fan; some are great, many are just "meh". But that one was particularly readable. Another one that was v.v.v. good was Hermione Lee's bio of Virginia Woolf - massive, dense but excellent. I have her Wharton bio, but I'm still in recovery from the Woolf. On the other hand, while I'm interested in the subjects of Goldsworthy & Everett's books about ancient Rome, I find them "grey" writers -- lots of facts, not very lively to read. Very.... worthy.

Go say hi to my RL friend "chexmix", who I prodded into joining the 75ers... I must go feed felines. Had the best night's sleep in weeks, largely because there's no loud bangy thumpy construction noise coming from next door!!!

Goo goo g'joob!

*fingers in ears*
la, la, lalalala...
Gonna go listen to some Ned Rorem to get that song OUT of my head.

I seem to rmember some talk by other judges on the Vine Forums.. in the dim past . I don't go there any more.. or, at least not unless I am looking to find an answer to a question. Then I flee. (ugh!)

Got my first royalty statement today, for the period ending Sept. 30. Still very far away from earning out my advance, far less earning royalties. If it weren't depressing, it would be amusing! Special thanks to the 17 Australians who ordered copies in this period!!

I have no idea how these things work but does buying it on Kindle count towards anything (even though the price is less)?

Absolutely! And as of Sept. 30, 1,037 kind people had downloaded an e-book edition. For the first 5,000 copies, my royalties were $2.70 a copy; for the next 5,000, $3.18 and for e-books, the rate appears to be HIGHER! Go figure... But then, I think I'd need an advanced mathematics degree to sort this out.

OK, books du jour. Neither are terribly compelling, albeit for very different reasons.

1. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report. This is the final report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, and to anyone who has been following the deliberations and reading about the issues, it's as dull as ditchwater. On the other hand it's worthy, as it serves as a record of what happened and why. (I'm in general agreement with the thesis that the crisis could have been avoided.) But the final verdict is that the report spends too much time focusing on what was known (and adding to the level of detail) and less time on those details -- the e-mails, the comments, by people in positions of power that signal just what happened and how they were thinking the way they were, etc. Rather than rehash the details of the collapse of Bear Stearns or Lehman, I would love to have read more about the commission's conclusions re Richard Fuld or Jimmy Cayne. Now I'm going to have to go and read all the background materials instead. Valuable for what it is, frustrating for what it isn't; recommended only to those who need to read it or haven't read the first thing about the crisis and want to understand it. 4 stars, despite my reservations. For my 11 in 11 challenge.

2. Swiss Watching by Diccon Bewes. Oh dear. This book feels like a weird combination of letters written by someone to a friend thinking of moving to Switzerland and the stuff that goes into a Lonely Planet guidebook around all the recommendations of where to stay and eat and what hours the museums are open. Looking back, I find I did learn a lot about Switzerland, some of it very intriguing, but I didn't enjoy the book as a book. Bewes appears to believe in telling people rather than showing them; the reverse of the best way to write a travel book. Moreover, the Swiss are never allowed to speak for themselves; all we get are the author's opinions and theories and ostensibly witty asides. (Of one former red-light district, he observes that now the only tarts there are of the apple and plum variety, guffaw guffaw; he writes of an early Protestant leader that “Zwingli’s revolutionary ideas spread across the country like runny cheese, though, as this is Switzerland, there were some holes" and comments later, in connection with a discussion of Swiss politics that "the gravy train" may be the only form of transportation not readily found in the country.) Such labored humor and faux-chatty style (is it ever appropriate to refer, in print, to a scorned politician as being "not a happy bunny"??) grated on me throughout; so, too, did the banality of some of the observations, such as the fact that the Swiss don't like small talk and are tyrannical observers of the Sabbath. That irritation made it harder for me to detect and appreciate the real insights, such as the complicated relationship of Switzerland with the wartorn 20th century, since it didn't participate in those wars and profited from them. But even then, the author backs away from real confrontation with some tough and interesting issues. Why not include some conversations with real Swiss about what they actually think about the fact that they had no "lost generations"? Or talk to some of the immigrants about the fact that it takes 12 years, at least, to become a Swiss resident? Ultimately, this struck me as a facile and not terribly well-written book, although I suppose it would be amusing for anyone pondering moving there or doing business there. But it's definitely not the travel narrative I had hoped for. 2.8 stars, TIOLI for a travel book. This was a NetGalley.com offering.

Curses -- are the touchstones down again???

#201: OK, skipping Swiss Watching. It sounds terrible.

Last month's reading report:

January was a bit of a slow month, at least by my standards. Finished 35 books, of which 11 were non-fiction of various kinds and all but one of the remainder were novels. (The outlier was a play.) Sadly, in that bunch there were only five memorable books: The Invisible Bridge, Ravel by Jean Echenoz, Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, Kean (the play) by Jean-Paul Sartre and Defiant Spirits by Ross King (no touchstone.) I have to wonder if that's just my selection process?

Anyway, as some other folks are doing, I'm listing my planned reading for February. Of course, the best-laid plans run amok, but here they are...

Library books:
The Great Influenza by John Barry (reading now)
I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron (will start tomorrow) READ
The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd (started Friday) READ
Sourland by Joyce Carol Oates
Union Atlantic by Adam Haslett (due back soon!)
Death of the Liberal Class by Chris Hedges
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
Beijing Coma by Ma Jian

Review books:
The Secret Soldier by Alex Berenson (ER)
To a Mountain in Tibet by Colin Thubron (Vine)
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino (Vine)
Little Princes by Conor Grennan (Vine)
The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair (NetGalley)
A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear (Net Galley)
The Quest for Anna Klein by Thomas H. Cook (NetGalley)
A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism by Peter Mountford (NetGalley)

Fiction I've been looking forward to:
A Man in Uniform by Kate Taylor (will start Saturday) READ
Zennor in Darkness by Helen Dunmore READ
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton

Non-fiction
Lastingness: The Art of Old Age by Nicholas Delbanco (starting in the morning) - READ
London Orbital by Iain Sinclair
Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier
Crash Into Me by Liz Securro
The Burden of Responsibility by Tony Judt
The Possessed by Elif Batuman

Mysteries:
The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg
The Delicate Storm by Giles Blunt
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
Medicus by Ruth Downie

I know I won't make it through all this list, but it's worth a shot! (And I also know that other books will creep their way onto the list...)

OK, off to read myself to sleep...

35 is a slow month?! Wow, you sure set high standards for yourself, Suz!

January was a bit of a slow month, at least by my standards. Finished 35 books

I had to laugh at this because there is no way I'd ever be able to read 35 books in a month even with nothing else to do. Whenever friends marvel at how much I read, I always tell them about you and Stasia. You guys do your part to bring up the average books read by the rest of the population!

ETA: Alot of your books for February I haven't read or heard of. I'm particularly interested in what you think of Union Atlantic, Death of the Liberal Class, The Lacuna, Travels in Siberia, The Burden of Responsibility and Lastingness: The Art of Old Age. Sounds like a good month.

Well, I'm judging by last year, during which I read a total of 506 books. That would average out to a bit over 40 a month! Admittedly, that's heavy reading, but... It's not so much that I'm setting standards for myself, more wondering what my "normal" reading rate actually is, especially since last year was the first year I tracked my reading. Moreover, I also had very few re-reads, which is unusual for me.

The mere mortal gazes up in envy and admiration. And the thing is, Suz, that you appear to have a life too! I'll be especially eager to see what you have to say about *Suspect X* - you should polish it off in a couple of hours and about The Lacuna and Medicus.

Well, this year looks as if it will involve more "life" than last, which, as far as reading is concerned, is a mixed blessing! I've finished I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron and am finishing The Bricklayer; both moderately amusing but nothing that compelling, really. A Man in Uniform, on the other hand, is shaping up very well, if somewhat different in tone from Taylor's debut novel, Madame Proust and the Kosher Kitchen, which was one of my fave reads of 2010.

Subject for debate: are books a way to escape reality -- a kind of drug, an alternative to alcohol? Is bibliomania destructive to social relationships, or can it be? And at what point does one cross the line -- does it involve the # of books, the time spent reading, the kinds of social events one passes up? Discuss, please...

>208 Chatterbox:. You could turn your question around and ask, "Is bar-crawling destructive to social relationships, or can it be?" Yet somehow, because it's an extroverted-dominated world, that sort of question doesn't get asked. Many of us here at LT probably have tapes running in our heads of parents encouraging us to "Get your nose out of that book and go outside," or some version of that. Yet what did I do with my little friends when I went outside? I went trash-can-hunting in the alley. I stole gum from the Piggly Wiggly grocer. I got into hair-pulling fights with my nemesis, Mary Jean DeVoe. Half the time after being sent outside, I would as a consequence of some anti-social behavior be sent to my room--where I would read. Heh. The real punishment would have been to take my books away.

As an introvert, I am quite content with going to an occasional party or making a date for lunch with a friend a few times a year. My "social calendar" would feel like a social straight-jacket to an extrovert--it would be truly horrifying and probably be seen as the very definition of "mental illness." Do I feel like I'm passing up something if I don't go out to lunch or other social events multiple times a week? Absolutely not. That sort of schedule would leave me feeling like a franticky mess.

So I guess my answer to your question, "At what point does it cross the line" is that the "point" is very individual and personal. Are you happy with the amount of reading you're doing? Are you a problem to yourself or others? Do you occasionally do a reality check using questions like the ones you pose here, being honest with yourself about the answers?

Books as a kind of drug? Well, I'm of the opinion that most people self-medicate with something--food, booze, exercise, mall-crawling, spending, gambling, etc. It seems to me that if books are an alternative to alcohol, then that's a pretty good alternative!

And lastly, here's something that may get me in trouble, but the truth is, I usually feel like I'm my own best company. I have a very few friends I enjoy seeing on a semi-regular basis. Otherwise, I really do enjoy the kinds of solitary activities that I've deliberately made a big focus of my life. Do I need to get out more? Maybe. But if/when I do, it's going to have to be something awfully compelling. Nothing drives me crazier than to come home from some social "thing" and to say, "Well, that was a waste of time."

Interesting points! Yes, I don't think all socializing is de facto good; there's nothing I hate more than to realize in the middle of an evening out that I'd really rather be curled up at home with a book. I think the question that I'm wondering about -- and it may be unanswerable -- is whether by opting out, I'm making it less likely that I discover something even better than an evening with a book? Perhaps that is always going to be unknowable.

OK, books du jour:

I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron. Mildly amusing, but rather thin -- both literally and rhetorically. I found some of the snippets in this book intriguing, especially Ephron's riff on her love affair with journalism and the story of her mother's run-in with Lillian Ross. And yes, she's very witty. But ultimately, these essays and commentaries aren't memorable and are rather stylistically heavy handed; I definitely preferred I Feel Bad About My Neck. So, 3 stars, and a giant shrug of the shoulders.

The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd wasn't that much better. Read this (library book) on the recommendation of the owners of Sleuth of Baker Street, a Toronto mystery bookstore that I've been patronizing for as long as it has been in business (two decades or so??) Either JD or Marion loved it; for me, this is the kind of book for which the word "meh" was invented. Former FBI agent is roped in to solve impossible puzzle, thinks out of the box, plenty of twists and turns -- allegedly. The problem? Boyd never engaged me in the book at all. The crimes were simply a device for the characters; the characters were one or two-dimensional at best. I'm a bit annoyed as I now have the second in this series here from amazon Vine; I'm going to bump it waaay down the list. 2.9 stars, TIOLI for ghosts of past TIOLI categories.

Happily, A Man in Uniform is looking as if it will break the book funk. To be clear, Ephron's book wasn't bad, just skimpy; when an allegedly suspenseful novel is skimpy, however, that makes it bad.

I am rather notoriously, not a social being. I prefer hearth, home and furkids to other beings most of the time. This is much more of a problem for other people than it is for me. IS it making me odd? Am I less likely to go out for an evening or event the less I venture out? Well, maybe so.

But as has been mentioned, when I ask if it is harmful to others or myself, the answer is no. I just enjoy my books and home. Books as a drug? Books to escape reality. Probably so in my case. SO what? I am happy enough here. :)

I am decidedly not a social being either. I am perfectly happy being an introvert and have been known to take a book along to a party and read while everyone else is carrying on.

I brought a book to an office party some years ago - an office party I did not want to go to, but was browbeaten into going by my friends - and you would have thought from the reaction that I'd brought a dangerous and poisonous snake with me! Hey, I wasn't bothering anyone. If I HAD to be there I at least wanted to have something to do. (It was one of those awful loud parties with an obnoxious DJ - it wasn't as if anybody was able to have anything approaching a decent conversation.)

I have done that as well. But more often I avoid the whole party thing. I used to
have to go to the Christmas parties for the animal clinic.. browbeaten is the kind word for what got me there. I always avoided the summer picnics though.

Our society has little patience for those who for whatever reason go against the tide.... sad.

I think the question that I'm wondering about -- and it may be unanswerable -- is whether by opting out, I'm making it less likely that I discover something even better than an evening with a book? Perhaps that is always going to be unknowable.

At this point in my life, that's not a question I would be asking myself. So maybe your answer is found within the question itself. The very fact that you're asking this question implies the answer--that perhaps, for you, there might be something better "out there," and therefore the thing to do is to continue your search. Just my opinion.

I have been lucky enough to be able to go....decide if it was worth my time...and if not, I could head back home and curl up with my book again.

Finally caught up here! A belated happy birthday - kind of cool being born on Imbolc or St. Brigid's day! A belated aw about your ankle and glad it's improving.

And another vote for a straightforward lovely evening in with a good book over the ritual mingling of the loud and inebriated pretending desperately that they are having fun. Dinner with friends, with good food and good conversation, people you like and love - quite another matter. I used to have to do social events as part of my job so now that I'm retired and can choose what to do with my time, I do what I have always wanted to do all these many years: curl up with an afghan and read, and 'let the mad world spin'.

I've never felt books were an escape from reality, especially when what you are reading might be searingly real...I've felt every emotion possible while reading. If you run into a book you don't like, you can throw it down and take it to the used book shop, moving on to a better one without a twinge of conscience or social reprimand, whereas it is still considered rude to spin on your heel and walk away from a crashing bore or a crushing boor at a party. Nope, with only so much of me to go around, I like to expend it thoughtfully....and as I get older, even a bit selfishly.

and as I get older, even a bit selfishly.

Yes, I relate to that and everything else you said as well.

As Becky knows I believe people talk too much and make problems for themselves and others as a result. Reading is a good cure for that. It is not bad manners in our family to whip out a book and sit somewhere, maybe near others, but not participating unless you feel like it (if there is conversation, that is). Usually we all turn up with a book in our hands, and if we talk, fine, if not, fine and nobody cares if you get up and leave and find somewhere to read. I generally have a peaceful and harmonious family life. My solution to must-socializing is make a cameo appearance, make an effort to talk to everyone I think I should talk to briefly, then I leave. I like small dinner parties with other people who love to read and we usually talk about....... well, you can guess what! Otherwise I am a hermit!

This ancient conundrum lives with us: How much is "enough"?

Do you feel you life is out of balance? If so, this issue needs addressing. If not, okay, no need to fuss and pother over some social beau ideal. I remind myself, when the comforter is a little too seductively draped, the light is a little too seductively aimed, the dog is temptingly warm and sleepy, that a night in bed with a book can be overdone, too. I'm a lot more social than some reporters above, though I crave and need and demand lots of time alone. I still like having fresh faces and new points of view on all topics because otherwise I myownself begin to feel stale and bored of myself. (I also love to flirt and the dog has limited patience for it.)

So once in a while, I haul myself up and trudge out into the spinning mad world to get some novelty. Once gotten, I come home happy and contented. Like going to Sagamore Hill recently...social, in company, had fun, got a cute guy's phone number in the gift shop (married, boring; sad)...or even just stopping in the train station to have a little flirt with the lottery agent I chat with there.

So these are the means I use to balance the endless, enveloping comfort and joy of reading with my own somewhat low requirement for social stimulation. I work on the balance by always staying alert for the earliest signs of restlessness, using them as a signpost to change directions.

(I also love to flirt and the dog has limited patience for it.)
*unladylike snort*

I think the question that I'm wondering about -- and it may be unanswerable -- is whether by opting out, I'm making it less likely that I discover something even better than an evening with a book

Suzanne! Are you alright, running a fever? Perhaps a bit dizzy?
I'm all for being sociable when obliged to be but I rarely if ever seek out the company of others. I'm just not the extravert I'd like and have tried to be. I only make a fool of myself. I'll take reading over anything else and at my age I know what I'm missing and it's not much. However, there are people who need the company or validation (I'm not sure if that's the word I'm looking for) approval? of others.

Lynda, yes, your point makes sense -- some people need the validation of others more than the rest of us, and can't understand why others are far more self-reliant; the person who has been challenging me on this issue is probably definitely among that group. On the other hand, there may be a kernel of truth to the argument; that by continually opting for the safe haven of books, I'm closing off other options, not taking risks, etc.? I suspect it will remain a conundrum, and I'm hardly likely to cease being a bookworm!!

True Grit was OK, but later watched an on-demand movie nominated for best film, an obscure little gem called "Winter's Bone", based on the novel of the same name (which I promptly downloaded on my Kindle.) Go see this... Go read this... (well, I can't really recommend the book until I've read it, but the film is superb, if bleak.

I was sorry that Winter's Bone didn't get more attention from the various awards. I also recommend the movie; I don't think I need the book.

Robert

I reserve the right to try and persuade you otherwise, Robert, if I fall in love with it!

I'm finishing A Man in Uniform by Kate Taylor, which is good, if not quite as good as her debut, Madame Proust and the Kosher Kitchen. Will report back on that when the migraine leaves. Begone, foul head-banging scary thing!!

May pick up something light and silly next, or read the Delbanco book about creativity in old age. Since I'm en route there at far too rapid a pace!

ETA: the ankle is a LOT better. A little more puffy and sore this evening after actually using it on Saturday, but I'll rest it in the next few days. I can walk without visibly hobbling, which is a good thing... And I'll keep my fingers crossed that I don't end up with a stress fracture again!

Hi Suzanne, I think at my age I've earned the right to do what I want which precludes a whole lot of socializing except when I feel the urge. I've always been an introvert, it's just that now I have a much easier time turning down invitations I once would have grudgingly accepted. The couch and the afghan and the book present such a magnetic pull for me :)

I am happy to know that I am in such esteemed company as all of you when I am choosing to stay home..

Dancing the 'go away migraine' dance. . .

I want to come back here and shore you up a little -- it's harder I think for gregarious people to 'get' the solitary types; guess why? I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I think gregarious folks can be that way because they are less 'sensitive' to stimuli of all kinds, or if they are sensitive, they are better at blocking out what they need to when they need to -- that's all an introvert is, in my view, someone who takes it all in. I remember reading somewhere (ha!) Edith Wharton saying that for her one social encounter, say, for tea, could last her for a week. None of the truly gregarious people I know ever worry about the kinds of things that bother me, and I know they find me puzzling. But I think it is how I am put together. Books, I don't know where I'd be without the refuge and resource -- And the thing is Suzanne you are a person who reads and collects information, then you are willing to sit down and take the time and make the effort to make sense of it for others. You can't be both! So revel in being yourself!

>229 sibylline:: well said! As someone with cilia on every nerve ending, I couldn't agree more.

Hi Suzanne!
Just delurking to say:
1) I'm here finally- you've captured me! - trying hard to avoid new-to-me threads (can't keep up with them all), but yours is enticing, irresistable, and full of my LT favorites.
2) I love the insights and acceptance of introverted personalities above.

Hope you can take it easy today and let that ankle heal! :)

I absolutely LOVE this discussion, and I agree with mostly everything that the other bookworms have said. :)

I think I may be trying to answer the same questions you are, Suz.

I think what it boils down to is...are we truly happy and content when we stay at home with our books? Some of us are, which is wonderful. Or are we using books to distract us or hide us from something we really should be dealing with?

If we are truly content and at peace, why mess it up going out and searching for something else that might not bring contentment? But if there's something we are trying to avoid, then it's probably not good for us to just stay at home with our books forever.

Interesting. I'm both gregarious and introverted. Does that make sense? Sort of an outgoing introvert.

People who know me think I'm an extrovert. People who know me well know that I'm an introvert.

Suz, I hope your ankle continues to improve.

233- That's exactly the way it is with me! (the extrovert/introvert issue)

Wow, that generated an interesting debate!

I think part of my question to myself (and I'm a notorious "overthinker") is whether there might be things out there that I don't know about and can't imagine and will never discover if I simply rely on what I know. In other words, that I'm not being adventurous or risk-taking enough; that I can't identify the rewards. I can see that would be a more volatile existence, but...

Anyway, as I said at the outset, much of this is probably ultimately unanswerable!

Book du jour:

A Man in Uniform by Kate Taylor is a good novel, but I can't describe it as excellent after having read her debut, Madame Proust and the Kosher Kitchen. In this, Taylor imagines a plot around the bare bones of France's infamous Dreyfus affair, in which a Jewish army officer is shipped off to Devil's Island after being framed as a spy. That's the history; Taylor's story begins a few years later when a mysterious woman dressed in widow's weeds appears in the office of a lawyer, Maitre Dubon, to ask for his help in overturning the verdict on Dreyfus. Dubon -- a former radical -- finds himself caught up in the case, often against his better judgment. The book is an odd mixture of excellence and potboiler -- it's got a femme fatale, elements of betrayal, mysterious deaths, etc. But there are also underlying themes that are very intriguing -- relationships between men and women in the France of the 1890s (a world Taylor captures with incredible detail); the compromises involved with age; the line between one's duty to oneself and family and to broader ideals. Taylor has a keen eye for detail and a keen ear for dialog, making this a delight to read even when it didn't altogether live up to its potential. (I kept wondering if someone had suggested that she might want to make this second novel "more accessible" to the general reader.) Too many of the plot twists are too pat for me to be wildly enthusiastic about this book, but there's enough that's good that I can recommend it wholeheartedly to most readers. But if you're looking for something that dives very deep; that is a truly literary novel, this isn't it. I'll still be very interested to see what Taylor comes up with for book #3... 3.9 stars, recommended with a few reservations; TIOLI for a second book.

I'm now reading Zennor in Darkness, which is shaping up to be a memorable read of the year thanks to Dunmore's sense of place and her peerless style. I have to stop every few pages just to ponder how she has described something.

I already have A Man in Uniform in the BlackHole. I will be interested in seeing what you think of the Dunmore book when you are done with it.

I hope the migraine is gone?

Migraine is gone for now, Stasia -- thanks for the dance!

Claudia, I'm flattered and shall try to live up to your expectations... *gulp* (the responsibility...)

Sadly, can't take it too easy. Am struggling with book revisions. And I do mean struggling.

Glad the migraine dance helped. Wish I could do something to help with the book revisions :(

UGH! REVISIONS ARE THE DEVIL'S OWN!

Easier to write a new book and call it the same thing. Have you thought of trying to sell your editor on ~300pp of AAs?

Richard, I may actually impose on you to cast an eye over my new foreward. It's no longer making sense to me. Do you have an ARC of my book or the hardcover???

At least I heard from my doc & he's phoned in an emergency refill of my migraine meds. Will go pick those up shortly.

Alternating bits of Helen Dunmore's book with revisions. Finicky work, not nearly as fun as reporting or coming up with something new.

Sure, send it to me. I had an ARC. Good news re: meds!!

Lucy... if I give you a phone number, will you explain that someone at work for me ?

good news re:meds Suz

Richard, check your PMs. You don't have the forward on the ARC, so I'll try and find a way to send that to you.

Good news for migraines, ankle, meds, Dunmore. Sorry about the revisions, but that's what you get for writing, I guess.
I have to launch my own reaction to reading vs. whatever it is that other people do that makes them happy. (Friday evening I had to put in an appearance at a humane society dinner, and I begrudged every minute of it although it was pleasant enough.) I have no problem staying in at night to read. It's just that I want to read during the day too, and I could actually be doing somebody some good during the day, so I feel guilty. I figure I probably have to feel guilty about something......

Pooh, there was a miscommunication between the pharmacy and the doc, so I've got the generic version. The good news is that they are significantly cheaper (only $77 vs $250 or so); the bad news is that they make me much groggier. I'll have to tough it out until the real prescription arrives in the mail...

However, I did finish another v.v. good book today after a bumpy 10-hour stretch of book revisions.

Zennor in Darkness is Helen Dunmore's debut novel, and viewed in that light, it's extraordinary. In any light, it's a very, very good novel -- perhaps a bit rough around the edges but compared to so much else I've read, it's excellent. She certainly reached a pinnacle with The Siege, but this novel, while different in tone and focus, already was signaling what she would be able to produce later. The story revolves around Claire Coyne, daughter to a Cornishwoman and the Roman Catholic gentleman she married. Clare's mother is dead; she lives in a villa outside St. Ives, near to but slightly removed from her mother's extensive Treveal clan. It's spring, 1917, and her cousin John William is returning from the front to be sent to officer training courses. On the surface, the plot is very basic -- their reunion and its consequences; Clare's acquaintance with the notorious writer, D.H. Lawrence and his German-born wife, Frieda, who have come to live nearby in an isolated cottage near Zennor. Dunmore sketches the links between them, exploring the way these oddly-assorted individuals are tied to each other in unexpected ways, even as the relationship that should be most straightforward -- that between Clare and her father, Francis Coyne -- proves the most complex and muddied. Set against the backdrop of war, this is a wonderfully vivid novel that succeeds in letting the reader know just what it's like to be on the inside of a tightly-knit community like that of 1917 Cornwall. (To hear incomers tell it, it's still the same...) There are moments of sheer delight in the writing, where the words almost shimmer on the page. That isn't consistent, but it's there when Clare describes her first encounter with Lawrence on the cliffs, or the feeling of dashing into the cold sea water. Highly recommended to anyone who has enjoyed Dunmore's two best-known books, the Leningrad 'series'. I'll be looking out for her other novels now (a few are on Paperbackswap.) 4.4 stars, on my best books of the year list; TIOLI for ghosts of TIOLI past remix category.

I'm glad you liked Zennor in Darkness as I think I was going to try and reread it for TIOLI a couple of months ago - I read that and Burning Bright more than 10 years ago and liked them both, and have bought most of Helen Dunmore's adult books at some point ever since, but have only read the two other novels - Siege and Betrayal - and one of her short story collections. Must catch up.

Luci, I think it was you who drew my attention to the book in the first place! I'm not a big fan of Lawrence's novels (I blame overexposure in my teen years) but what impressed me was the extent to which Dunmore was able to slip in many of his themes and even a bit of his style in the parts of the novel involving him and he and Frieda. Very deftly done, I thought.

Have just finished Lastingness: the Art of Old Age and am VERY underwhelmed. Will report back o it tomorrow as right now I'm just irritated by it. Off to read a potboiler of some kind to remove taste of the pretentious, tendentious and flimsy work from my mouth. And it should have been so intriguing...

Adding Zennor in Darkness to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Suz. Sorry to hear that Lastingness: The Art of Old Age was such a bad read.

I hope the problem with the migraine meds gets straightened out quickly!

I remember being quite entertained by DHL's purple prose in The Rainbow and Women in Love as a student but I'm not a great fan, but as real people go he's quite a good one for fiction, lots of material there.

Confusion in pharmacies makes me very, very, very nervous. Glad you're out of horrifying excruciating pain, but sorry about the groggery.

Have emailed you.

e-mail received; battling my way through the groggery. It's amazing how much more manageable things seem now that I have a stapler to use, however.

It's amazing how much more manageable things seem now that I have a stapler to use, however.

That sentence fills me with fearful foreboding.

4.4 on the Dunmore sounds pretty good to me since I gave The Siege 4.5 so I'm off to PBS to WL it. Hope you get the migraine under control Suzanne.

Richard, LOL -- it just means I can staple together pages of notes that belong together, so they're not all flying off in different directions or vanishing altogether. It gives me the illusion of control.

Book du jour:

Lastingness: The Art of Old Age by Nicholas Delbanco doesn't seem to have a touchstone. That's OK, because I really wouldn't recommend this to anyone! Some great artists – Monet, Goya, Liszt, Yeats, Hardy – continue to work well past the age of 70 – a phenomenon Delbanco refers to as "lastingness" and sets out to analyze in this slim volume. But why? The answer seems to flummox Delbanco himself, judging by the way he dances nimbly around it. The book ends up feeling largely like a rehash of the events of some lives of several artists, some better known than others. That’s interesting enough, especially to anyone unfamiliar with them, but it’s not enough on which to base a book. At times, this reminded me of the potted Ladybird biographies of famous composers that I read at the age of 8 or so.

What’s really missing is some theory underlying Delbanco’s observations: that some artists stop producing great art; others shift their focus and still others continue to forge ahead despite the physical limitations that age imposes. Why the differences between them? There’s a cursory discussion of aging and the brain, but it’s never really linked to creativity – I’ll have to look elsewhere if I want to find out if there are scientific studies being done on this subject. He observes that some artists seem to create for themselves – but why? Perhaps Delbanco is too ambitious; he needs a narrower focus to explore a part of his theory first. Ultimately, this ended up shedding no fresh light on the subject for me. There’s also a lot in here that is actively irritating. Delbanco muses that Wilfred Owen was killed in the final months of World War I while Robert Graves survived the trenches and died at 90. “Had the trajectory of enemy bullets been infinitesimally altered, the fate of these two poets might have been reversed.” Well, yes, of course. And the point is? We’ve all mused on the random nature of circumstance; few of us try to write books based on those musings. Delbanco says J.D. Salinger’s late work, never seen by outsiders, may be worse than his early promise indicated. Or it may be far better. Again, stating the obvious. Add to that some excessively florid turns of phrase, unnecessary anecdotes (I didn’t really care much about the author’s success in finding four-leafed clovers and found it didn’t add to his central argument) and the occasional glaring error (he describes Napoleon’s brother, briefly king of Spain as “Joseph Napoleon” – he was, in fact, “Joseph Bonaparte”) and the book became harder to struggle through to the end. I’ve rated it 2.5 stars only because Delbanco has the wit to ask the questions in the first place and I imagine this will find many readers among those who are interested in learning more about the arts on a basic level. But it doesn’t deliver what it promises, by any stretch of the imagination (artistic or otherwise), and I can’t recommend it. For my 11 in 11 challenge; TIOLI for the first challenge (embedded word.)

I'm fairly sure I have a copy of Zennor in Darkness so will have to do a little book search for it.
Harking back to Decorating with Books I came across this link to Duncan Fallowell talking about his books in his London apartment which seems to be all library.

OK, off to new quarters as I can hear the heavy tread of the thread police approaching. You can find me here!
*exit stage left, pursued by a bear*