Chatterbox Indulges Her Bibliomania: The Seventh Episode

OK, I'm starting a new thread already -- under a bit of duress! You'll just have to be patient with me, as this will include the final bit of my second 75-book challenge and the beginnings of a third, and thus two longish lists....

Here's the poem to accompany this thread. It's by Louise Bogan, an American born in 1897, who lived until 1970. She was heavily influenced by the metaphysical poets (eg John Donne), and was seen as an elegant, almost classical poet. I first discovered her work at a wonderful New York Public Library exhibition (at the fab building with the stone lions outside!) back in January 1997. The following poem was first published in 1922.

Leave-Taking

I do not know where either of us can turn
Just at first, waking from the sleep of each other.
I do not know how we can bear
The river struck by the gold plummet of the moon,
Or many trees shaken together in the darkness.
We shall wish not to be alone
And that love were not dispersed and set free—
Though you defeat me,
And I be heavy upon you.

But like earth heaped over the heart
Is love grown perfect.
Like a shell over the beat of life
Is love perfect to the last.
So let it be the same
Whether we turn to the dark or to the kiss of another;
Let us know this for leavetaking,
That I may not be heavy upon you,
That you may blind me no more.

Without further ado -- here are the books!

I'm now on my second batch of 75 for 2011; for those curious about what I read in batch one, you can turn to my fifth thread
here; the full list of the books, along with my ratings, can be found there. My last thread, #6, can be read here

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 the second challenge of 2011; you can find them listed below and see my comments on my fourth thread (link above):




I'll discuss every book that I read on this thread, even if it doesn't count toward this challenge but belongs over in my 11 in 11 challenge. The number above and the list below refer only to the 75-book challenge, which doesn't include the "11 in 11" books.

Be prepared for some truly eclectic reading, ranging from intense non-fiction reads and literary novels to brain candy and mysteries; from short stories to "chunksters." 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 second 75:

1. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson, ****1/2, STARTED 4/3/11, FINISHED 4/6/11 (non-fiction)
2. Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin, ***, STARTED 4/2/11, FINISHED 4/7/11 (non-fiction)
3. Afraid of the Dark by James Grippando, ***1/2, STARTED 4/4/11, FINISHED 4/6/11 (fiction)
4. Silent Mercy by Linda Fairstein, **1/2, STARTED 4/29/11, FINISHED 4/7/11 (fiction)
5. The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen, ****1/2, STARTED 4/5/11, FINISHED 4/8/11 (fiction)
6. When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Penman, ****, STARTED 4/4/11, FINISHED 4/10/11 (fiction)
7. By the Time You Read This by Giles Blunt, ****, STARTED 4/9/11, FINISHED 4/11/11 (fiction)
8. The Magicians by Lev Grossman, ****, STARTED 4/11/11, FINISHED 4/12/11 (fiction)
9. When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson, ****1/2, STARTED 4/12/11, FINISHED 4/14/11 (fiction)
10. The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan, ****1/2, STARTED 4/14/11, FINISHED 4/15/11 (fiction)
11. The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald, ****1/2, STARTED 4/15/11, FINISHED 4/17/11 (fiction)
12. A Writer's Diary by Virginia Woolf, ****1/2, STARTED 4/17/11, FINISHED 4/20/11 (non-fiction)
13. The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok, ****1/2, STARTED 4/18/11, FINISHED 4/19/11 (non-fiction)
14. April in Paris by Michael Wallner, ***1/2, READ 4/20/11 (fiction)
15. The Panic Virus by Seth Mnookin, ****1/2, STARTED 4/21/11, FINISHED 4/22/11 (non-fiction)
16. The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer, ***, STARTED 4/20/11, FINISHED 4/22/11 (fiction)
17. Rosa by Jonathan Rabb, ****, STARTED 4/19/11, FINISHED 4/24/11 (fiction)
18. Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson, **** STARTED 4/16/11, FINISHED 4/24/11 (fiction)
19. The Black Tower by Louis Bayard, ***1/2, STARTED 4/22/11, FINISHED 4/25/11 (fiction)
20. Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie, ***, STARTED 4/25/11, FINISHED 4/26/11 (fiction)
21. When I Am Playing With My Cat, How Do I Know That She Is Not Playing With Me?, ****, STARTED 4/24/11, FINISHED 4/28/11 (non-fiction)
22. Time Was Soft There by Jeremy Mercer, ***, STARTED 4/28/11, FINISHED 4/29/11 (non-fiction)
23. The Garden Party by Sarah Challis, ***, STARTED 4/24/11, FINISHED 4/29/11 (fiction)
24. Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden, *****, STARTED 4/26/11, FINISHED 4/30/11 (fiction)
25. Love You More by Lisa Gardner, ***1/2, STARTED 5/1/11, FINISHED 5/2/11 (fiction)
26. A Covert Affair: Julia and Paul Child in the OSS, ***, STARTED 5/1/11, FINISHED 5/3/11 (non-fiction)
27. Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie, ****, STARTED 5/2/11, FINISHED 5/4/11 (fiction)
28. Death to the Dicatator by Afsaneh Moqadam, ****1/2, READ 5/4/11 (non-fiction)
29. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch, ***1/2, STARTED 5/4/11, FINISHED 5/5/11 (non-fiction)
30. Treason at Lisson Grove by Anne Perry, ***1/2, STARTED 5/2/11, FINISHED 5/6/11 (fiction)
31. The Informationist by Taylor Stevens, ****, STARTED 5/6/11, FINISHED 5/7/11 (fiction)
32. The King of Diamonds by Simon Tolkien, ****, READ 5/7/11 (fiction)
33. America Pacifica by Anna North, ***, STARTED 5/7/11, FINISHED 5/8/11 (fiction)
34. Carbonel, King of the Cats by Barbara Sleigh, ****, STARTED 5/9/11, FINISHED 5/10/11 (fiction)
35. Now You See Me by Joy Fielding, **, STARTED 5/9/11, FINISHED 5/10/11 (fiction)
36. The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb, ****, STARTED 5/8/11, FINISHED 5/11/11 (fiction)
37. Crime Machine by Giles Blunt, ****, STARTED 5/10/11, FINISHED 5/12/11 (fiction)
38. The Kingdom of Carbonel by Barbara Sleigh, ****, STARTED 5/11/11, FINISHED 5/12/11 (fiction)
39. Gossip by Joseph Epstein, ****, STARTED 5/12/11, FINISHED 5/13/11 (non-fiction)
40. Carbonel and Calidor by Barbara Sleigh, ***1/2, READ 5/13/11 (fiction)
41. Tragedy in Crimson by Tim Johnson, ***, STARTED 5/13/11, FINISHED 5/15/11 (non-fiction)
42. My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe, ****, STARTED 5/14/11, FINISHED 5/15/11 (non-fiction)
43. Blood Count by Robert Goddard, ****, READ 5/15/11 (fiction)
44. Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts, *1/2, STARTED 5/17/11, FINISHED 5/19/11 (fiction)
45. Dreams of Joy by Lisa See, ****, STARTED 5/20/11, FINISHED 5/21/11 (fiction)
46. The Instigators by David Wolman, ****, READ 5/21/11 (non-fiction)
47. Malled by Caitlin Kelly, **, STARTED 5/21/11, FINISHED 5/22/11 (non-fiction)
48. My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira, ***, STARTED 5/19/11, FINISHED 5/22/11 (fiction)
49. Chasing the Devil by Tim Butcher, ****1/2, STARTED 5/21/11, FINISHED 5/23/11 (non-fiction)
50. Strawberry Fields by Marina Lewycka, ****, STARTED 5/22/11, FINISHED 5/24/11 (fiction)
51. Body Line by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, ***, STARTED 5/24/11, FINISHED 5/25/11 (fiction)
52. A Woman of Consequence by Anna Dean, ***1/2, STARTED 5/24/11, FINISHED 5/26/11 (fiction)
53. In Defense of Flogging by Peter Moskos, ****1/2, READ 5/27/11 (non-fiction)
54. The Deadly Kingdom by Gordon Grice, ***1/2, STARTED 5/28/11, FINISHED 5/29/11 (non-fiction)
55. A Cup of Friendship by Deborah Rodriguez, **, STARTED 5/29/11, FINISHED 5/30/11 (fiction)
56. The Devil's Light by Richard North Patterson, ***, STARTED 5/28/11, FINISHED 5/31/11 (fiction)
57. Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore by Stella Duffy, ****, STARTED 6/1/11, FINISHED 6/2/11 (fiction)
58. The Stone Cutter by Camilla Lackberg, ****, STARTED 6/1/11, FINISHED 6/3/11 (fiction)
59. Inheriting the Trade by Thomas DeWolf, ***, STARTED 6/3/11, FINISHED 6/4/11 (non-fiction)
60. The Piano Player in the Brothel by Juan Luis Cebrian, ***, STARTED 6/3/11, FINISHED 6/5/11 (non-fiction)
61. Hidden Depths by Ann Cleeves, ****, STARTED 6/5/11, FINISHED 6/6/11 (fiction)
62. Tick Tock by James Patterson, **, READ 6/6/11 (fiction)
63. (a) Board Room Babies by Stanley Bing, ***1/2, READ 6/8/11 (non-fiction)
(b) Three Cups of Deceit by Jon Krakauer, ****, READ 6/10/11 (non-fiction)
64. Fore! by P.G. Wodehouse, ****1/2, STARTED 6/6/11, FINISHED 6/8/11 (fiction)
65. Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin, ****1/2, STARTED 6/9/11, FINISHED 6/10/11 (non-fiction)
66. Heat Wave by Nancy Thayer ***, READ 6/10/11 (fiction)
67. Postcards From Tomorrow Square by James Fallows, ***1/2, STARTEd 6/11/11, FINISHED 6/12/11 (non-fiction)
68. The Gallows Bird by Camilla Lackberg, ***1/2, STARTED 6/10/11, FINISHED 6/13/11 (fiction)
69. The Catwings series of 4 short chidlren's books by Ursula LeGuin -- ****/12, READ 6/15/11 (fiction)
70. Red Wolf by Liza Marklund, ***1/2, STARTED 6/13/11, FINISHED 6/15/11 (fiction)
71. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, ****1/2, STARTED 6/14/11, FINISHED 6/15/11 (fiction)
72. Eyes Wide Open by Andrew Gross, **, STARTED 6/9/11, FINISHED 6/16/11 (fiction)
73. SS-GB by Len Deighton, ***, STARTED 6/16/11, FINISHED 6/19/11 (fiction)
74. This Little World by Imogen Parker, ***, STARTED 6/17/11, FINISHED 6/18/11 (fiction)
75. Indigo by Catherine McKinley, ****, STARTED 6/13/11, FINISHED 6/18/11 (non-fiction)

Hi Suz- Looks like I'm 1st! Yah! Thanks for sharing all the Three Cups of Deceit info. I need to get to this one. I love Krakauer and I really enjoyed Three Cups of Tea. What a shame!

I might have weighed in second...but i have my favorite GIF here:


glitter-graphics.com

**neener neener*

;-}

I'm here too!

¡Hola!

No message here.

Ad sum.

So, this weekend I got an e-mail from someone I don't know -- a PhD with an expertise in developing theories around nonlinear events. Turns out she is trying to model events leading up to and during the financial crisis -- and basing her analysis on my book! I'm oddly flattered (it beats the woman I wrote about who died of cancer and was buried with a copy of my profile in her coffin...) but alas, can't understand the mathematical analysis in her blog, so I'm flummoxed as to how to reply.

From her blog: "We're about to start a detailed walkthrough of applying a "simple" statistical thermodynamic model to the Wall Street players in the 2007-2009 timeframe. The two kinds of information that I'll be joining together for this will be a description of Wall Street dynamics, based largely on Chasing Goldman Sachs (see previous blogposts for link), and the two-state Ising thermodynamic model that I've been presenting over the past several posts."

Wonder if anyone will model my bibliomania one day??

Oh, them quants! Such cut ups.

Robert

OK, books du jour. I was going to wait, but decided I was awake enough (barely) to do this now.

The Gentlewomen by Laura Talbot -- for my 11 in 11 challenge, in the "you must read this" category as it was suggested by Sibyx/Lucy. I think Lucy & I ended up with the same opinion of this Virago Modern Classic, although I think I may have taken a more jaundiced view of some of the characters. It's essentially a case study in snobbery, a snapshot of how it rules the lives of a collection of women (many of the men are elderly, or off at war -- the time frame is roughly the summer of 1944) in an England where class issues are about to be even more challenged than they already had been, by the high cost of peace. Roona Bolby -- Miss Bolby -- goes off to be a live-in governess at the home of Lady Rushford; she is ecstatic to leave behind her lower-middle class existence at a Birmingham boarding house and return to the aristocratic milieu where she feel she belongs. Miss Bolby -- through whose eyes we seen a large part of the plot develop -- is an unreliable narrator, and one of those individuals who, if you saw their activities televised, would make you recoil and wince in embarassment for them. She draws attention at the drop of a hat to her sister's marriage to a man who becomes a knight and a general; to the role she played in another noble household, to the bracelets she wears that were allegedly presented to her mother by a Rajah. But were they really? That is her public claim, but so many of her other claims are so patently unlikely, that the reader ends up questioning even that. Initially the reader's instinct is to have compassion for someone whose sense of identity is so fragile, who has never been allowed to let her natural talent for singing flourish, whose mother has bent and twisted her sense of what is right and appropriate, and who at heart is so fearful. But over time, we realize that just as others can be harsh and scornful of Miss Bolby, she in her turn can cause incalculable damage, behaving almost like a tank in her single-minded determination to claim the respect she believes she is owed for her status. The only character here that I see as "above" class snobbery of all kinds is Reenie, the new kitchen maid who has never been "in service" before and cheerfully admits she has no idea of what to do. She does, however, know instinctively how to relate to everyone she comes across as individuals, not people of a certain status, and she is the only person here to do so. She's also the only one who seems comfortable in her own skin, not needing the protective coating of a defined class position. Particularly intriguing: the author of this was the sister of a member of the English aristocracy, so she knew whereof she spoke. Recommended; it might feel like a women's novel, but then the role of women in shaping class considerations can't be ignored and this had ripple effects throughout society for generations. I was left wondering whether any of these individuals, however pleasant some seemed, would be able to survive in a classless world. Intriguing; 4.1 stars.

Postcards from Tomorrow Square by James Fallows is a collection of the author's articles for The Atlantic from 2006 to 2008, when he was posted to China as the magazine's correspondent. The problem for anyone reading this is that China changes so rapidly, that by now some of the stories don't seem as fresh, or else have been superseded by other newer ones, just as intriguing, highlighting other dimensions of China. So even if you hadn't read these when they were published, it's not going to provide a definitive picture of China. (To give him credit, Fallows never intends to do any such thing.) There are two articles in the collection that are must-reads for anyone who isn't familiar with more than the basic fact that there's an important policy issue at stake, one on China's economic reliance on factories producing export goods, how that works and what it means, which is intriguing to even those familiar with the issue and its related debates; the second revolving around the balance of payments issue -- or rather, the imbalance, with China owning such a massive chunk of our debt and essentially curbing its own citizens' ability to live well to finance our lifestyles. Both would give the newcomer to these topics a great, thoughtful overview. Recommended to those curious about China and interested in going beyond the news headlines; those who have already done so will probably find it less compelling and even a bit dated and self-evident in parts. This was 3.5 stars for me, probably higher for many readers, though.

Am nearly finished with Berlin 1961 by Fred Kempe -- another 75 pages or so to go. Raced through the exciting parts surrounding the building of the Wall; now it's back to diplomatic positioning and jockeying, which is intriguing but makes for less dramatic reading. Hope to finish this tomorrow; will probably finish the fourth Camilla Lackberg mystery tonight.

...and one more, so I won't feel that I'm falling behind!

The Gallows Bird is the fourth book in Camilla Lackberg's series of Swedish mysteries, and I'm starting to feel that the balance is starting to shift in favor of the reasons not to continue reading the series. The novels are set on the west coast of Sweden, and involve interesting main characters and snapshots of small town Sweden -- that's good. But the mystery element is irritating. On the one hand, Lackberg crafts fascinating scenarios -- in this case, the murder of a reality show contestant and the death, at first deemed accidental, of a woman from the community. On the other, the detectives, led by Patrik Hedstrom, are apparently dim-witted -- or else I have read FAR too many mysteries and watched FAR too many crime dramas on television. They react to obvious clues with devastating slowness, and keep having moments where something niggles at them, doesn't feel right, or is obviously wrong. Someone they are talking to turns white and becomes distressed when they ask him a question and they think, hmm, that isn't quite right -- but leave, without asking more questions! Gah. I've got the next book on order from Amazon UK, because the theme is family history and the nasty surprises it contains, but I suspect that it will be it as far as the series goes. This was 3.3. stars, recommended only to mystery buffs and those who've read up to #3 in the series and wonder what my problem is. I think I'll check out Henning Mankell instead...

And a final note for the day: I need to decide on a blog title and URL. A lot of the ones I like most have (of course!) already been nabbed. Here are some contenders, in roughly the order that I like them. Thoughts, please? Other suggestions? The URL is the hard part; the title can be the same as the URL or different; it doesn't need to be unique.

1. Uncommon Reading
(the title would play with the idea of a common reader -- pace Virginia Woolf -- and an uncommon range/amount of reading, somehow)

2. A Room With Many Books
(the title could be books to the ceiling -- citing a quotation, a whimsical poem.)

3. A Thumping Good Read
(dunno what I'd do for a title)

Thoughts? Suggestions?

11: I have not read James Fallows' book, but I do read his blog (http://www.theatlantic.com/james-fallows/), and I read his wife's book Dreaming in Chinese -- she is a linguist, and this was her response to an assignment that wasn't necessarily her choice. It didn't quite resonate with me, I've never been to China, but my sister-in-law lived in Taiwan for a year and said just reading the chapter titles evoked memories. Now I've added his book to my wishlist. (I am, however, not at the book-a-day level.)

>9 Chatterbox: wow! That sounds really special.. you have really inspired her :)

I myownself am very uninspired when it comes to blog titles..
as can be noted from my own title.. I can't help, but I can wish luck!

The analysis sounds really interesting. Have they discussed with you how they go from a non-quantitative book to something that can be quantitatively modeled? Do you have a link to her blog or did I miss it?

I like Uncommon Reading a lot. I also like The Eclectic Reader. Neither is in use. 'Bout time you had a book blog!

I've just come from reading your review of The Gentlewomen and then rereading my review -and while I think your interpretation is understandable I am convinced Talbot was pushing harder than that, adding another layer, that a new sort of person was emerging who would consider themselves equal to anybody. I think the girls (who call their parents by their first names, another clue about 'equality') don't care about appearances and seek and respond to people who are straight with them -- demonstrated for me in the way the girls are with the 'other' gentlewoman', the secretary, (who, while utterly different from Reenie, and from a very similar background to Bolby's own - is genuine and the girls like her and treat her well). Their relationship with the old nanny is part of the older order but they seem tolerant of her rather than anything more. I feel strongly that Reenie represents something new, real change, and something so ..... overdue, so necessary that they all fall in with it except Bolby who is an inflexible person. I thought that Talbot was showing some of the ways she was seeing women of the 'upper and upper middle' mostly were responding to the real changes -- Lady Whatever is also struggling -- trying to figure out which things she has to abandon and what will work best for her household in the new order.

I was struck in a book I recently read how people 'read' each other by their clothes, how the hankie was folded, shoes polished, all that -- if someone passed the clothes, vocabulary, and accent test then you simply accepted them as being one of your own and even if you met them on a park bench you might feel perfectly confident about inviting them for tea or something -- the class 'signals' were that secure. Bolby goes by appearances whereas everyone else is struggling to move on and judge people more by what they do or don't do -- by necessity in part, but also recognition that things change whether you like it or not.

I'm dithering on. That was a very good readathon and thanks for linking us up to the NYPL effort.

I think you're right about Talbot's emphasis on a new kind of person, but in some ways I think she was also pointing out that the new kind of person might be forced into that (Lady Rushford), act on it and yet feel a kind of nostalgia for the old (Jessica wanting to cling to Rushford the place), etc. I wonder if she wasn't suggesting that new class models were emerging, rather than that a kind of classless person was emerging? I think the calling of the two parents by their first names could have been an example of rather practical eccentricity -- and eccentricity is just fine when practiced by the upper classes. (In the middle classes, however practical, that approach to a blended family might have met with horror...)

A while ago, a friend of a friend of mine, married to scions of the monied upper classes and, more recently, the landed gentry, told me how, in the days of anybody being able to attend Oxford and Cambridge and their ability to speak readily without a distinguishable regional or "lower-class" accent (the accents have really become democratized!) she figures out what class someone belongs to. She simply asks them what time they have dinner. To someone not out of the top drawer, dinner is the main meal taken at midday, you see... (Ah, snobs, they are still out there...)

#14 -- quebo -- I read Deborah Fallows' book late last year, I think, and really quite liked it. It was a more general focus and a fresher, more personal kind of book, rather than just a collection of articles.

OK, the blog is going to be Uncommon Reading. The Eclectic Reader is also a great choice, but I could just see myself having to spell it out over and over. This has the advantage of brevity and simplicity. I've got the basic format done, but now need to figure out what to do with graphics & that kind of stuff. I promise I'll let you all know when it's up and running!

Oh yes, certainly, nostalgia. It wasn't such a bad life for them at the top of the food chain, wot!

Hmm, I suppose it might be 'charmingly eccentric' to call step-parents/parents by their first names but..... even a few years earlier it would have been unthinkable for any one of any class. And, however it starts, it has an effect of leveling differences.

That's very funny about the dinner hour test.

Grrrr, who knows how to shrink a digital photo to a size where it can be put on a blog??? Is there anyone out there who blogs who would give me a quick phone tutorial on the basics out of the kindness of their heart?? (my call, my phone call dime, needless to say...)

Lots going on!!!
I appreciate your discussion with Lucy about the Talbot, and for a wonder, I have absolutely nothing to say!

The 'dinner' thing caused confusion frequently at my theological college where the students were a very mixed bunch in terms of age and background, from 20 something university graduates to 50 something people who'd been working in a variety of professions and occupations, and from all across the UK. Fixing a meeting, someone would say 'let's meet in the hall after dinner', and half would turn up at midday and half at 7pm, and not understand where the other half were.

I'd thought of this more as a north/south thing than a residual class thing, but it may be a bit of both. Certainly both what time people have their meals and what they call them do vary greatly in different parts of this country and among people of different educational and occupational backgrounds. But how reliable any of this is as a 'test' I am not sure. I'm a dinner in the evening girl, but I doubt I'd be considered 'top drawer' by those who are concerned about such things!

Suzanne,

I'm no expert, but I blog all the time and I have my own family website. Are you using PC or Mac, since I'm a PC person and know nothing about the Mac.

If you're using a PC, you can right-click on a photo and open it with Microsoft Office Picture Manager. Click "edit picture" on the toolbar. That will give you a menu on the right side. Click on "compress pictures." Click on the radio button that says "Web pages." That will compress the file format for on-screen display.

Of course there are lots of applications out there--like Photoshop--that will do a better job. But the Picture Manager is free and pretty much foolproof if you're just wanting to compress the size of an image for a blog.

And of course you can also use the same application to resize the photo, if that's what you're wanting to do--make the canvas smaller. Compressing the image size and making the canvas size smaller are two different issues--probably you know that.

Thanks, Becky! That is helpful going forward -- I seem to have this problem a lot as the pics I take myself I tend to shoot at relatively high resolutions... Just spent ages on the phone with Kath, who VERY kindly walked me through all the necessary steps (and put up with digressions ranging from me mucking up favorite pair of pants by sitting on piece of BBQ lunch dragged onto the sofa by a cat, to a conversation with Theo the 3-year-old upstairs, at my window). So, if all goes well, I should have a FUNCTIONAL BLOG by tomorrow!

Yes, Genny, I'm not too sure how well Camilla's little stunt actually worked in practice, but the important thing for her seemed to be that she felt, somehow, as if her life was more under control this way. *eyes roll*

Back to add I am looking forward to reading your blog!

OK, the blog is (more or less) ready for prime time, thanks largely to Kath! You can find it at www.uncommonreading.blogspot.com. It's still a work in progress, and you won't find much there right now -- and nothing that you haven't already read -- but it will be "home" for most of my "public" reviews.

Book du jour:

Berlin 1961 is one of those iconic books about diplomatic history. We may look back today at JFK as a statesman, but this chronicle of his foreign policy missteps during his critical first year in the presidency may cause the reader to re-think this and other assumptions. Kempe (who I worked with when he was editing the WSJ Europe, but who did not ask me to review the book or send me a copy) has done a great job drawing on a wide range of contemporary accounts to build up a picture of JFK as a man who had never yet met someone he couldn't charm or a problem he couldn't de-fuse -- until Khruschev. The story takes the reader from JFK's assessment of geopolitical realities at his inauguration -- and missed opportunities to build a rapport with Khruschev -- to the twin disasters of the Bay of Pigs and the Vienna Summit, both of which persuaded the man in the Kremlin that he could take a hard line without risking nuclear war. As Kennedy himself later told his aides, "a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war." The wall in question, of course, is the Berlin Wall, set up (a barbed wire version thereof) almost overnight one summer Saturday morning in that critical year, setting the stage for a tank-to-tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie that autumn. This is excellent diplomatic history, if not always gripping reading on a page by page basis for the general reader (although the account of the wall going up, and the confrontation that autumn, both had me turning pages feverishly.) I also appreciated the way Kempe breaks up the narrative with three- or four-page anecdotes that illustrate the issues and the stakes from the perspective of participants such as a Miss Universe, a Berlin student, and others affected by the division of Germany in two. This is a chunkster, but if you're at all interested in the period, the personalities or the issues, you'll want to read all 502 pages. 4.5 stars. This was for my 11 in 11 challenge.

Oh -- and this was the 200th book of the year for me!!

Cool beans about hitting 200, Suz! Cool beans about the blog too!

I just added your blog to my Google Reader!

Ditto.

Me too. And Berlin 1961 went onto my WL - sounds really good - but I am NOT BUYING IT!

PffffffffT! I did nothing more than chat while you worked :) and watch the progress :)
Glad it is up and running.. it looks great!

off I go to investigate the blog.

Remember, the more FOLLOWERS are there (thanks, Lucy! Kath! Jude! and bookaddict777...) the better the giveaways will be... *grin*

Off to do some work now. The kind that will earn me moolah and keep a roof over my head.

>35 Chatterbox:: the more FOLLOWERS are there ... the better the giveaways will be...
*presses "Follow" button*
:D

I'm following, I'm following!

... and please, if you can, follow visibly -- publishers don't see invisible followers, so I can't claim 'em! Thank you all VERY much!

Not following invisibly! I am visible, just faceless :)

I reviewed Sketches from a Hunter's Album...other thread, post #109.

Checked out your blog and it is quite impressive!!

I don't know if you are interested...but, when i started my Blog i was totally clueless and joined this site:

http://bookblogs.ning.com/

I learned a lot, that I haven't really put into practice....since my blog is pure Self Indulgence ...i don't do giveaways or Memes or any of that lot....just post reviews...I do have Followers, to whom I am grateful....but the fare there has been pretty skimpy of late...

At any rate...I wish you luck and will visit as often as I can

;-}

I tried posting a comment on your blog today, Suz, but it kept directing me in effing CIRCLES to sign in and then verify and then sign in and then verify. So I gave up.

Sorry, Richard... I've not had troubles but then I'm the administrator or summat like that which maybe makes it easier. Perhaps try using a different browser?

Jude -- thanks so much for that link!!! I'm sure there will be plenty of stuff there to help me.

I am VERY excited today as I just read (hey, I'm slow) that the favorite book from among the 40 excerpts that I read for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award WON the whole shooting match (in the YA category). I hope Amazon doesn't blast me for posting this, but I couldn't resist. I'm delighted for the author, because it was a gem of an excerpt, and a wee bit smug...

Tks for the link to the review, Richard...

Just posted a COMMENT on the blog...with no trouble...but, then, I am already on Blogger with a Google ID......I'm using Safari as a browser...

I hope Amazon doesn't blast you either.....enthusiasm , for books, should not be curbed!

;-}

I completely agree. I'd never mention any of the books that didn't win. This was the standout of the excerpts I read, by far, but there were some other interesting ones that just didn't make it despite their potential.

I always have terrible trouble trying to leave comments on Blogger blogs in Firefox. Even mine, on the exceedingly rare occasion that I actually post anything on it. I sometimes give up and use IE, which I never use otherwise.

OK, time to catch up on the BOOKS!

Tried a new Swedish crime novelist, reading Red Wolf by Liza Marklund. As I noted on my blog, I wish I could say this was a great discovery, but I can't. The underlying plot line has potential: the journalist heroine is investigating a 1960s terrorist attack that may have been committed by local Maoists -- hey, it was that era, after all. One mysterious death follows another, and Annika ends up as a kind of lone crusader, betrayed by all those who are closest to her in one way or another. So far, so OK: it's kind of the standard crime template, which, in solid hands, can make for a rewarding read. But the book ends up as being only so-so, partly due to its characters. Some are stock personalities; others are simply not believable. (The female characters, in particular, seem to have so many dizzy spells and feelings of being ill, I wanted to ship them off to a doctor.) And the writing is sometimes clunky, though it's hard to say how much is due to the author and how much the translator. For instance, what does "hair like an apple" mean?? I did pass an entertaining few minutes pondering what the woman being referred to might look like with a juicy McIntosh, Spy or Granny Smith perched atop her neck and shoulders, at least. The bottom line: this isn't bad, but with so many good mystery series competing for our attention on the shelves, I wouldn't really recommend it. 3.3 stars; I'll try the next one that becomes available here just in case part of the problem was jumping into the books midway through the series (several don't seem available on this side of the Atlantic; I'd have to order them from the UK and I'm not impressed enough to do that.)

Read The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, which was the perfect antidote to mediocre Scandi-crime! I have long adored the film of this, and the book is just as good, with a few twists. Lotty and Rose, wearied in unsatisfying marriages and coping with grey and gloomy London in February (the novel is set in the early 20s) spot an ad for an Italian castle, offering wistaria and sunshine. They leap at it, but to make it work financially, must extend the offer to two others. Enter Mrs. Fisher and Lady Caroline Dester, who initially behave in ways Rose and Lotty are bemused by -- they arrive early, annex the best bedrooms (and the elderly Mrs. Fisher nabs one of the sitting rooms for her exclusive use), move surplus beds into the rooms to be occupied by Lotty and Rose, and generally make themselves very much at home. But there's some kind of enchantment at work at San Salvatore, and by the end of the book, everyone is somehow softer, kindler, gentler versions of themselves. I loved this book -- it's comfort reading of a kind, but also a snapshot of changing times in the post-WW1 environment. Highly recommended, especially to fans of the Virago modern classics series (of which this is one.) (although I read a NYRB version.) 4.7 stars; only falls short of being 5 stars because it occasionally tiptoes too close to the edge of being a bit too sweet. Think of it as a fable, though...

Finally, I'm lumping all the Catwings books by Ursula LeGuin together as a single book; they are delightful short little books (four of them), each dealing with the adventures of a family of kittens who have wings as well as paws. My favorite is probably Catwings Return, in which James and Harriet rescue a little black kitten with wings from a building about to be knocked down. These would be delightful for young children; in fact, I'll probably buy copies for my niece and nephews to read. I find the cat's eye view of humans particularly amusing -- they are Hands (with a capital H). Recommended to cat lovers & their young friends (and not to Richard!!!) 4 to 4.5 stars.

Now struggling to install Google Analytics on the blog.

Jude, your website link may turn out to be invaluable, if slightly overwhelming at present!

I enjoyed The Enchanted April too, Suz. I am glad to see it was a good antidote for the bad book.

I will have to give the Catwings books a try.

I know.....Once you join Bookblogs......the people come out of the woodwork pretty fast......just go at your own pace and keep your eyes open..there's a lot of good information there.

;-}

The Catwings books are favourites of my youngest daughter, I enjoyed them too. I've enjoyed all of LeGuin's books that I've read. Enchanted April has been a longtime resident of my tbr pile, probably since I first saw the film, will have to move it up.

I posted comments about your fab reviews of Berlin 1961 and To End All Wars on your even more fab blog, using the latest edition of Firefox. I signed in with my Google account.

just popping in to keep up ~

Hi Suzanne, just delurking to say I love your blog too and just became a "follower." Now I'm off to WL The Enchanted April.

I loved The Enchanted April, Suz. Did you see the movie version too? I wasn't too bowled over by the movie actually ... partly because I had a different vision of the characters in my mind when I read the book.

By the way, have you read Tears in the Darkness by Michael and Elizabeth Normal? It's about the Bataan death march the Japanese forced surrendered Americans and Filipinos to take during WWII, and the central focus is on Ben Steele, an American POW, what he went through and his determination to survive.

I'll gush about The Enchanted April: movie and book are sort of different experiences, and I love them both without detracting from either. It's probably a 5 for me because I don't mind fairy tales.

ETA: I thought I was following the blog, but I wasn't, and now I am.

Just catching up with you after being awol for a while. :) I followed your blog too, and yours is the first one I've ever followed, so that's cool! Happy reading...

Thanks, Angela! I had noticed you hadn't been around (also lunacat -- does anyone know what's up there?? I have some stuff to send her but no address...)

I'm just very reserved with my 5 star ratings since I shifted to decimal points! I'm hanging onto them for books like Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden.

Well, here's one that certainly won't get 5 stars. The only reason I finished it was because I thought it might be a good summer thriller, and requested the ARC from Amazon Vine. Eyes Wide Open is by Andrew Gross, and it combines a personal tragedy (the death of his nephew, bipolar, like the nephew of the book's main character) with a really weird twist -- the possible comeback of a family of 60s lunatics with an uncanny parallel to the Manson family of "Helter Skelter" infamy. I've read one or two of Gross's novels in the past and there has usually been enough there to keep me reading; some decent suspense. Not this time. I had figured out one of the major plot twists well over a hundred pages before "our hero" did and there isn't a cliche that Gross doesn't use with great affection. Sigh. He even commits the cardinal sin of ending the story with a twist that foreshadows a new book -- or just leaves us in suspense. Indeed, Gross commits so many crimes in this thriller, it's depressing to list them. Just avoid. 2.3 stars.

It's a good thing that the other Vine book I've been reading, while very different (and an appallingly-edited ARC; I really hope they catch all the typos and style errors before publication!) is particularly good. It's Indigo by Catherine McKinley (no touchstone yet), and I'll probably finish it tomorrow. Although I'll also probably make you all trek over to the blog to read about it!! (anything to boost those page views...)

I'm at three dozen followers!! Now, multiply that by five, and I'll be at a level where I can think about giveaways... So tell your friends and family!

Caro, I haven't read Tears in the Darkness. Is it good? I could get it from the library when I get back from California, perhaps, although it seems a bit bleak...

One of the library's I use has The Enchanted April on the shelf. I'll try to pick it up over the weekend. Thanks for the rec. Have you read S.J. Bolton's latest, Now You See Me? It's pretty good.

Your blog looks great - congratulations! I'll follow it as soon as I figure out how - I've never done that. (Right now I have a cat on my lap who's holding down my left wrist with his paws and head so maneuvering is difficult.)

#58 -- ha! I know the problem with cats and paws and force majeure... When you are able, just click on the little button on the right side atop all the pictures that says "Follow with google friend connect" and just follow the instructions -- it's actually fairly intuitive!

btw, have finally written up a review on the wondrous novel by Kazimierz Brandys that I finished early this month, Rondo. It's a rave -- and it's on the blog. *grin* Go take a look -- http://uncommonreading.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-to-which-no-review-could-do.htm...

Joanne, I'm glad to hear the Bolton book is good. It was an ER win for me, and I'm hoping to read it soon. If it is good, it will help wash the taste of this one -- which was an Amazon Vine offering -- out of my mouth!

Sorry to hear about Eyes Wide Open. Thanks for the heads up about it though, Suz!

Suz- Just swinging through to say hi! Looks like you've been reading some hits & misses, hopefully the hits take a commanding lead. I'm loving Thousand Autumns.

Suz, that was a great review on your blog.. I "shared" the link.. and I am going to have to get that one..

Great review of Rondo, Suz. On the wishlist it goes.

Mark, yes, it's been kind of a bar-bell month -- the good and the downright ugly, with not much in between!

Well, for a brief moment I was ahead on followers on the blog vs Twitter, then I got two new followers on Twitter, so the score now is 49-47! LOL...

The good news is that in the last week I have scored three free books, two from Twitter giveaways, and one that arrived without notice from a Goodreads giveaway (the publishers forgot to inform us and I was left staring at this book in bemusement...)

#64 I followed the blog; if I follow on Twitter as well, will that set off some sort of highly dramatic matter/anti-matter reaction as they offset one another? ;)

(ETA I did, and the internet is still intact, so apparently not. *grin*)

Caty, you have been reading waaay too much Connie Willis!!

*grin*

(Actually, I haven't. Unless one is too many. I keep meaning to read more. Maybe this is a sign that my brain works the right way to appreciate her.)

A bookblog and a new thread with 67 messages. I've missed a lot around here.

Congrats on the new bookblog. I'm a follower.

Thanks, Linda & Caty! Hopefully the blog will help you add still MORE books to your teetering TBR stacks!

Speaking of which, I was accepted into something known as the Simon & Schuster Galley Grab (found the link via the book blog site that Jude referred to above). Just got my first list of options and nabbed SIX interesting books! Makes up for the fact that this week's Amazon Vine list was a real dud, and next week's may not be much better. (I only know of two books on others' lists that appeal to me, so if they aren't there and other stuff isn't available... I'll just have to make do with my NetGalley and Galley Grab offerings!)

OK, off to finish my book about indigo before my grocery delivery arrives and I have to stop reading to sprint to laundromat. It's a dog's life, I tell you...

ETA: the ratio is now 52 to 49, still in Twitter's favor!!

I was going to comment on your WW1 books post but my google blogger thingy doesn't seem to let me post any comments besides anonymously.

Thanks for the WW1 book recommendations. In a year or two, I intend to make WW1 a category (12 in 12, 13 in 13?). Rites of Spring looks especially good to me.

Interesting, the UK list was a bit rubbish as well, I went back to last month's as I knew there were quite a few I fancied there.

I think it's much easier to follow on Twitter, though I find your Twitter page totally unreadable, as most of the text is too light in colour to show up. In fact, I'm actually "following" your blog using my Twitter login, since I don't have IDs set up for most of the blog places.

I actually came to your thread to ask if you'd seen this, and what you think:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/16/amazon-top-customer-reviewers_n_878262....

Luci, that is v.v. weird about the Twitter feed, as it just looks like this type face, on a white background. That white background is flanked by a blue column, and backed by a design, but the text itself is actually black! I just went to check it, and I actually couldn't make it blacker. It looks like my word template, or like the way the text shows up on this page. Might it have something to do with the contrast?? I think I can change the text color in the links, the @ and hash marks, however; I'll try to do that.

Yes, I saw the HuffPo story; Gawker has picked it up and snarked. It's as if everyone is surprised, shocked, astonished that publishers want to get people to review books and will give them free copies! One wonders if they have looked in their own backyards -- after all, every newspaper in the world functions in EXACTLY the same way, getting free review copies. The difference? I don't think many general folks realize this, because it ISN"T DISCLOSED! The implication of reviews being bought & paid for is a bit repugnant, since most Vine people I know bend over backwards to be honest. (Hey, I just gave a Vine book 2 stars -- and got a positive vote on Amazon in return!) There are also lots of little errors, like the description of a classic reviewer. Every reviewer has two ranks, one being the classic and the other the new reviewer rank. So I'm 67 under the new ranking and 1,026 or something under the classic ranking. I review almost exclusively books, so I'm not sure if I'm reflective of their findings at all -- in fact, I fly in the face of most of them!

ETA: Ratio update 53:51, still in favor of Twitter!

I just had a look and I can actually read your Twitter page from here, the text is pale green and the links are dark green (it was the non-linked text I had trouble with before).

That is weird, Luci, as the color theme I chose is blue (the wallpaper) and white. No green anywhere to be seen!

>69 Chatterbox: You have your groceries delivered??? Oh thou art a Lucky Dog! The only way I would get such service is if I were seriously homebound and much older....so, I have to schlep the vittles in myownself...BUT...i get to go to the Amish farms for fresh produce..

I didn't know there was an "option" for Twitter pages...until I read about it here...mine is various shades of RED...too much BLACK everywhere else

;-}

I pay for the delivery, mind you... It's reasonably common in NYC, where so few people have cars. I rarely use it, except when I have lots of heavy stuff and even the shopping cart wouldn't be enough or would be too tough to get home.

Will update reading later; my head has been banging away all day; I've just cancelled my dinner with a friend tonight, and I haven't packed. Flight is at 7:30 a.m; about 15 hours. Gah.

I know that deliveries come with a price tag!!!! Even here in the Boonies...

Hope the head settles itself..at least unto a dull roar...Have a safe trip....

;-}

We order a regular supermarket delivery online, though I tend to do one big order a month and we supplement with Mike's visits - we could probably do with a more frequent big order to be honest now there are 4 of us (or 5 including the cat, her tins are heavy but we can stock up in this order because it keeps well) but I prefer to have one per credit card bill and then I pay off before paying interest. The charge is not that big in comparison to the size of the order and we certainly couldn't get those orders home without a car.

xoxo for headache-b-gone purposes and safe travels tomorrow!

What Richard said, Suz!

Safe trip, fun times to you ~

Hi Suz!
Just want you to know that I want to follow your blog - and will - but I have to figure out how to do that. Since I am using other laptops than my own (which is still in the Techie Hospital) I'm reluctant to mess around just now. I think I have to join Google or something. I'll figure it out. :P
Safe trip! :)

Will be delighted to have you as a follower as and when that's possible, Claudia!

Some brief notes on my recent reads, composed 30,00 miles above the central US (yes, American Airlines now has wi-fi!!!). Just brief, as I need to get some sleep....

SS-GB was a moderately entertaining thriller based on the idea that Hitler did succeed in invading Britain; it's late 1941, and the plot revolves around a Scotland yard inspector. The usual themes -- the hero walking a perilous path between being seen as a collaborator and doing his job and what has to be done. The plot revolves around the fate of the king and atom bomb secrets. Deighton does an OK job, but it's a convoluted story that isn't always well told; I MUCH prefer Collaborator by Murray Davies, which does a better job of dealing with the conflicting loyalties.

This Little World by Imogen Parker is a kind of chick lit saga, the third volume in a trilogy. Don't bother unless you've read the first two, and even then I'd suggest steering clear. Some of her other books are mindless fun, but this is a meh, once passed the amusing conceit of some of the characters in the book being known as the Prince family and owners of the big hotel in the coastal resort town in which this is set -- and bearing MANY resemblences to the real British royal family (including a son and heir who says "whatever love means" and a fire like that at Windsor Castle. 2.9 stars, it was adequate reading for a busy week, but underwhelming.

The interesting book was Indigo by Catherine McKinley (no touchstone). This is recommended, despite numerous structural flaws and shortcomings in the narrative arc (what narrative arc?? the author rambles...) The author sets forth to discover the story of indigo in West Africa, and it turns into a voyage of the spirit and a search for identity. I'll post a full review on the blog later today, and post a link to that here... 4 stars, despite its shortcomings.

And that brings me to the end of my second batch of 75 books!!!!

#83 "And that brings me to the end of my second batch of 75 books!!!!"

Well done!

***APPLAUSE***

ye gods.. that's a lotta books!

Wow, congratulations on hitting the 75 book doubled mark, Suzanne!

Quick note -- just spotted that Bone Rattler by Eliot Pattison (a mystery set in colonial America by a fairly good author) is available for free, gratis, nothing on your Kindle (and poss. your Nook?) today.

Ooh, thanks for the heads-up, Suz. Bone Rattler looks good and is now on my Kindle.

ETA: Have a great trip!

CONGRATULATIONS! on 75 #2!
And many thanks for the continuing heads-up for free Kindle downloads. I read Pattison's The Skull Mantra and liked it well enough to buy (but not read, alas) the sequel. What is going on with this man and skeletons?

Have you landed yet?

Landed, only to discover that for some reason I can't connect to the Internet in my B&B. Which is a major major headache...

VERY big boo and a loud, sibilant HISS.

I had the same problem on your blog Suzanne. I left a comment last week re: your WWI books and it just wouldn't "take." Anyway, I appreciate the list and will be looking for those books I haven't read---all of them except Testament of Youth.

I went and checked after all the comments, and my comment on Sir Terry DID take. So that's good.

Internet connectivity problem sorted, except that now I'm slowly steaming to death. the B&B is in a historic home, with no A/C, which is usually fine. Except -- not now. I'm up under the roof, with all the windows open and feeling incredibly hot. Hoping it cools off or I won't be sleeping, no matter how tired I am!

Oh you have to watch out for those historic homes; they can be lethal...... Are you working or having fun? None of my beeswax of course!

Lucy, for now it's work -- corporate governance shindig. In San Fran, mostly R&R.

Random notes from the corporate governance fest:

Meg Whitman wants to abolish tax loopholes (directors' faces fall in unison...)

coolest freebie is a reusable, foldable, metallic water bottle from Morrison Foerster (law firm, aka MoFo)

Geena Davis is sitting across from me in the seminar about activist investors. No idea why.

xoxo to Meggers

Who's Geena Davis?

Olympic archer.

Robert

Actress. One of the leads in Thelma and Louise. Lead in A League of Their Own, among others. Also an Olympic archer semi-finalist.

Presumably film stars with the inclination make good activist investors, as it must help to have some spare cash to invest, and they may well also get publicity.

Interesting day today, but I admit I'm exhausted. I've only read about 100 pages of anything since I got on the plane in NYC! Still, the governance schmooze fest wraps up tomorrow, then I'm off to San Fran for the rest of the week. Def. looking forward to the cooler temps (it is baking here...) and smoother Internet access!

>100 richardderus: president

hey... darryl is in San fran.. you know that right?

yup, Kath; he's coming to meet me at the Caltrain station. Assuming I don't fall asleep on the train and get carried back to San Jose

I am???

LOL... (wait -- you're NOT? You're leaving me to my own devices??? You will be responsible for any chaos and carnage that ensues...)

Uh oh...in that case I'd better be there!

Hi Suzanne. Been missing in action for a while. Loved your reviews of Berlin 1961 and Enchanted April. Have long been a fan of Kempe since his days at the WSJ. His articles were always interesting.

Your blog is awesome!

Hello dear. Are you starting a new thread for your third seventy-five, or keeping this one?

Keeping this one, Richard -- unless you think I should change it?? I'm only 100 messages into this one...

In agreement, personally, since it's such a clean slate. Why make yourself nutso over something so small?

Because I'm good at making myself nutso over small things, perhaps?? Just a theory... *grin*

Blech, the cold is back, and I'm in San Fran with a nasty sore throat again. Maybe that will mean I'll get some reading done, though? I'm about halfway through Imogen Robertson's rather good third mystery, Island of Bones. Yes, Richard, you may borrow it when I'm done...

OOO COOL! *smooch*

Gone by my ancestal home yet, on Green Street?

nope, not yet. Do you need a photo??

No, it's a big building now, so I don't much care. I confess to being a little bit curious about the neighborhood, but don't care at all enough to go back.

Been AWOL for a while from your thread ... not for lack of interest but for want of time. Sheesh! Is it me or do the days seem to get shorter the older one gets?

But I did want to go back to my recommendation to read Tears in the Darkness ... 'tis a might bleak at times, but it's also an amazing story of a man's determination not to give up hope and to keep looking for that light at the end of the tunnel.

Suz- Just stopping by to say hi! Sorry, you are battling a cold. I hope you get better soon.

Went and sat in the sand down by Hyde Street pier today, which was fun -- got stalked by a seagull, who was convinced that I MUST have food (after all, I'm a human, right??) until a black Lab came down to play on the beach and ran amok trying to catch the seagulls, even leaping up into the air to try and nab them and looking very disappointed when that didn't work!

Book updates later...

Hope your cold is better!

Salt air + black lab = cold cure!

Ditto what Richard said.

Feeling better today, Suz?

Woke up feeling crummy, felt better as the day progressed, but still a bit iffy. Not congested, but I wake up coughing most mornings and with a sore throat. Meh. Flying home early -- very early! -- in the a.m. Salty fresh air has def. been fab!

Not able to catch up on everyone.. so I am just scanning and saying

Did you meet with Darryl? Glad you enjoyed the air, but sorry about the cold.

Hi Kath! Yes, Darryl & I hung out, although I managed to avoid the fatal-to-budget trips to City Lights! We did, however, see a fab exhibit on Bali at the Asian art museum.

Some quick updates; reviews will go on my blog in the next day or so. I'm battling a migraine (the first real one in about a week...) so will have limited time in front of the computer.

Island of Bones by Imogen Robertson is the third in a very good series set in late 18th century England, and featuring Gabriel Crowther, a natural philosopher with secrets in his past, and Harriet Westerman, an unconventional naval wife. I'll try not to give away too many secrets of the previous two books -- I just saw Instruments of Darkness available in paperback at the airport bookstore yesterday -- but will simply say this mystery ranks as a thumping good read for anyone with a taste for historical mysteries, especially as it deals with an overlooked-period in history. 4.3 stars.

I'm grouping a bunch of Kindle Singles together as a single "book" for the purposes of this 75-book challenge. The first and best of the bunch is Chinese Dreams by Anand Giridharadas, which focuses on a much-covered subject (the rise of China as a superpower) but in a very narrow way. The author tries to come to grips with some of the questions that flow from that success, particularly where there is a "Chinese way" to be a superpower. VERY intriguing; 4.5 stars. Pakistan and the Mumbai Terror Attacks by Sebastian Rotella is made up of the reporting for which the author won an Overseas Press Club Award this year, and is an excellent example of investigative reporting. Perhaps because it's more "what" and "who" rather than "why", it was a 4.2 star mini-book for me. Finally, War Wounds by Jacques Leslie is the story of going back to Indochina with a group of fellow war correspondents to revisit the places where they made their names and sometimes died, and how that looking back can be dangerous. For instance, Leslie must confront, again, the reality that he didn't encourage his translators and drivers in Cambodia to leave the country (he would have been able to facilitate this) and that both died in the ensuing Holocaust. Intriguingly, his own perceptions of the national "mood" of both Cambodia and Vietnam mirror the one that I came away with several years ago after my own trip to the region. Recommended, a more unfocused effort than the others, thus 4 stars.

Finally, Daphne by Justine Picardie, which has been hanging around waiting for me to read it forever. A few brief notes: Picardie is a fanatical fan of Daphne du Maurier; I'm fanatical about the places that du Maurier lived and wrote, like the area around Fowey in Cornwall. Indeed, my dream job would be to own and run the tiny secondhand bookstore, Bookends of Fowey. (And that's been my dream job since, oh, about 1990...) So I had to read this book. Anyway, it's divided into three strands, with the narrative alternating between Daphne du Maurier (as she battles with a personal and literary crisis) , John Alexander Symington (battling with his failure and disgrace as a scholar) and Jane, a contemporary young woman battling to find a place in the world and whose own researches into the Bronte family (Daphne is writing a biography of Branwell, "aided" by Symington) lead her into a minor obsession with du Maurier, to the annoyance of her much-older husband who has married her on the rebound (echoes of du Maurier's own Rebecca here.) 4.1 stars, recommended to du Maurier afficionados.

Those are my first books for the new challenge! Must also get that ticker up and running...

Here's the ticker and the list for my third batch of 75 books for 2011!




1. Island of Bones by Imogen Robertson, ****1/2, STARTED 6/19/11, FINISHED 6/23/11 (fiction)
2. (a) Chinese Dreams by Anand Giridharas, ****1/2, READ 6/23/11 (non-fiction)
(b) War Wounds by Jacques Leslie, ****, READ 6/23/11 (non-fiction)
(c) Pakistan and the Mumbai Terror Attacks by Sebastian Rotella, **** READ 6/23/11 (non-fiction)
3. Daphne by Justine Picardie, ****, STARTED 6/18/11, FINISHED 6/25/11 (fiction)
4. 10th Anniversary by James Patterson, ***, READ 6/27/11 (fiction)
5. French Leave by Anna Gavalda, ****, READ 6/29/11 (fiction)
6. Lie in the Dark by Dan Fesperman, ****, STARTED 6/26/11, FINISHED 6/29/11
7. (a) The Clothes They Stood Up In by Alan Bennett, *** READ 6/28/11 (fiction)
(b) The Lady in the Van by Alan Bennett, READ ***1/2, 6/29/11 (non-fiction)
8. 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson, ***1/2, STARTED 6/29/11, FINISHED 6/30/11 (fiction)
9. Caveat Emptor by Ruth Downie, ***1/2, STARTED 6/28/11, FINISHED 6/30/11 (fiction)
10. The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison, ***1/2, STARTED 7/1/11, FINISHED 7/2/11 (fiction)
11. A Most Dangerous Book by Christopher Krebs, ****1/2, STARTED 6/23/11, FINISHED 7/3/11 (non-fiction)
12. Bloodmoney by David Ignatius, ****1/2, STARTED 7/3/11, FINISHED 7/4/11 (fiction)
13. Stolen Lives by Jassy Mackenzie, ****1/2, STARTED 7/3/11, FINISHED 7/4/11 (fiction)

OK, one more book to add to the list...

Finally finished Elizabeth I by Margaret George, for my 11 in 11 challenge. This was a definite chunkster, a novel focusing on the last years of Elizabeth's reign, from the Armada onwards. In other words, it chronicles (in 680 or so pages...) the gradual process of disintegration as the queen sees her closest advisors and friends slip away, one after the other, and disillusionment and sadness set in. It's told alternately by Elizabeth and Lettice Knollys, her cousin and rival. Will be posting a longer review on my blog this week (and will link to that here); for now, I'll close with a note that this is probably a 3.8 star book, mostly because it's too long. I don't shy away from long books, but this was sometimes an ordeal to read, in part because it felt repetitive at times. Still recommended for HF fans, however.

Harumph, I go away for a week and have oodles of reading on other people's threads to catch up with. And no time to do it in. And a headache. And a quasi-cold that never gets better or worse. Is it any wonder I turned to James Patterson's woman's murder club series? Finished 10th Anniversary, a rapid read and a decent plot that was kind of undermined by the staccato writing and some general weirdness about the characters. (I've never met a journalist who behaved like Cindy, and if anyone referred to me as "girl wonder" I would clock them.) But it was a decent plot, involving kidnapped children and a good whodunnit murder trial. Deserved better writing. 2.9 stars. Back to the library it goes; on to the next book I go.

Oy...the stress of being popular!!!

We should all suffer so...but James Patterson is torture beyond-the -call

I still love ya!!!

and,i just read a "piece of fluff" myself

I'm going to claim self defense -- too much time contemplating Darryl's terribly worthy and erudite books purchased in San Francisco. I had to run very fast toward something completely frivolous to maintain my equilibrium. Now, if my head would just stop pounding, I'll be going back to A Most Dangerous Book by Christopher Krebs, which is, in reality, a most excellent book.

Well, sh***t yes, from Patterson to Tacitus

I'll excuse myself, now.....i am a SMARTY PANTS only, in my likkle mind

You rock, Suze (and i don't type them words for just any one)!!!

Hey, the connection seems logical to me... *grin*

No way I can catch up on 135 messages, but I'll check in once in a while now I've got you ★'d again. :-)

You can also head over to the blog, Ilana -- far fewer messages there to catch up on! :-) And new "followers" greatly encouraged. www.uncommonreading.blogspot.com.

Yeah, ol' Darryl really eats up the four-hankies-and-a-pistol reads. Must be all the mirth and jollity of being a pediatric hospitalist and dealing with all the sick little ones.

Good review, Girl Wonder!

I'm far enuf in the doldrums without any hankies-and-pistols books to contribute further!!

The review of Elizabeth I will be up on my blog later today, along with some summer reading recommendations. Once I get my article finished & filed...

Darling heart, may I be a little bit forward and mention how hard it is to read white text on a black ground against a *highly* graphic wallpaper? I was consuming your summer reading list and had to put a cold cloth on my eyes. Perhaps black on white box? Or a screen of the wallpaper making it about 50% less sharp?

Said ONLY out of a desire to read your deathless prose without death-dealing eye pain!

140: Heh. I had the same reaction, light text on dark background is painful, but now I get the RSS so I don't care :-)

OK, both of those are up on the blog -- check them out at www.uncommonreading.blogspot.com.

Finished both my stories on deadline; now just a story proposal and book proposal left to go! *cue hollow laugh*

I've got to find a better system. Didn't star the new thread or unstar the old one.

So, the three-year-old who lives upstairs has learned how to dial a phone call by himself. The reason I know this? Two cops show up at the front door, responding to a 911 call... I had to laugh; sadly (if understandably) they didn't join me!

OK, I'm just gonna keep on posting on my own thread and maybe someone will come and keep me company... The quiz below is stolen from Luxx's thread:

Favorite childhood book? Anything by Geoffrey Trease, starting with Cue for Treason. But I also loved The Gentle Falcon by Hilda Lewis.

What are you reading right now? A mystery set in wartime Sarajevo, Lie in the Dark, and A Most Dangerous Book, about Tacitus's Germania.

Bad book habit? Insatiable book consumption -- both purchasing/borrowing and reading.

Do you have an e-reader? Kindles generations 1 through 3 (though I don't think gen 1 still works) and a plain vanilla Nook.

Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once? I'll dip into multiples over the course of a day, until one grabs me and I have to keep reading.

Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog? Nope, although perhaps I'm starting to plan my reading more so that there's something fresh to post.

Least favorite book you read this year (so far)? Probably the books I expected to like, but didn't. Inheriting the Trade, The Tiger's Wife, etc.

Favorite book you’ve read this year? Joseph Boyden's books, especially Through Black Spruce.

How often do you read out of your comfort zone? More often than I used to.

What is your reading comfort zone? Mysteries, contemporary fiction, classics, history, current events, a bit of lite philosophy.

Can you read on the bus? I can read anywhere except a roller-coaster.

Favorite place to read? Curled up in a corner of my sofa.

What is your policy on book lending? Occasionally; depends on the book & the borrower.

Do you ever dog-ear books? (Looking guiltily around) It has been known to happen.

Do you ever write in the margins of your books? Sometimes... rarely....

What is your favorite language to read in? English, but I also really enjoy keeping up my French via reading.

What makes you love a book? It has to have a narrative that grabs me and characters that intrigue me (if it's a novel). If non-fiction, lots of "wow, I never knew that, how fascinating" moments.

What will inspire you to recommend a book? When I run across something that makes me go "oh, WOW", of when I know a book will tie to a friend's interests. (Gave a horse-crazed friend Lord of Misrule for Xmas)

Favorite genre? Mystery.

Genre you rarely read (but wish you did)? Probably Victorian-era "classics" -- Dickens, Eliot, et al.

Favorite biography? Tossup: Hermione Lee's bio of Virginia Woolf, Duncan Wu's bio of William Hazlitt, or Peter Ackroyd on Thomas More.

Have you ever read a self-help book? When I was 17, yes. Not since.

Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)? Can't think of one.

Favorite reading snack? Smartfood (white cheddar flavored popcorn) or salt & vinegar crisps.

How often do you agree with critics about a book? When I read the critics, just often enough not to feel as if I'm crazy.

How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews? Not bad at all, unless it's by a friend. In which case, I simply won't review it.

If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose? Other than French, which I do read, German or enough Russian.

Most intimidating book you’ve ever read? Erm, the time I tried to read War & Peace in Russian.

Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin? Ulysses.

Favorite Poet? Yeats, Wordsworth, Al Purdy (great Canadian poet!), Donne, Wilfred Owen...

Favorite fictional character? Hmmm, unclear.

Favorite fictional villain? Ditto.

Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation? Mindless thrillers, mysteries and chick lit tomes.

The longest I’ve gone without reading. Overnight, while I was sleeping? Or perhaps a few hours when very VERY sick.

Name a book that you could/would not finish. I'm stubborn. I can't remember the last one, actually.

What distracts you easily when you’re reading? Phone calls from close friends.

Favorite film adaptation of a novel? Probably The English Patient. Or, for television, Olivia Manning's Balkan & Levant trilogies, The Fortunes of War.

Most disappointing film adaptation? Too many to list. Though the Harry Potter books spring to mind. My imagination is better...

The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time? In one day would be better... It would definitely have been in London or Hay on Wye, and perhaps $400? Don't really know.

How often do you skim a book before reading it? Before buying it, usually. Before reading it, rarely.

Do you like to keep your books organized? I like to, but it almost never happens.

Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them? I am TRYING to give more away. Really, I am.

A book you didn’t expect to like but did? The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

A book that you expected to like but didn’t? Several recently.

Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading? Most recently, re-reading books by Elizabeth Pewsey (the Mountjoy series) or the witty & smart chick lit of Trisha Ashley.

OK, back to the reading!

I'm adding Daphne to my ever increasing tbr. I'd love to do that quiz but it's so long.

War and Peace in Russian? Definitely intimidating!

HI Suzzane

I'm stopping by to say hello. Is your headache better today? Thanks for the comments regarding the Elizabeth George book. I've heard so many good things about it. I've purchased way too many books these last months so I'm waiting to obtain a copy from my local library.

I hope your day is pain free my dear!

Just a quick hello...
The meme is fun to read, but not drawing me in enough to actually DO it..

I loved Trease too! I agree w/Kath. Too much work to do the meme, but fun to read.

I think I can resist the meme too. I was *mightily* impressed that you even attempted W&P in Russian! All those squashed-bug-lookin' things that're supposta be letters, I swaNEE the eyegraine starts now.

Well, I have a migraine just thinking about reading *W&P* in Russian. Since you're not doing it at the moment, I'll hope that you are migraine free. I didn't bother to say the last time I was by, but you got me with Imogen Robertson, and I ordered Instruments of Darkness. This can't go on!
And I enjoy reading other's responses to the meme, but I'm too lazy to do it. AND I'm off to check whether the E the first bio review is up. Thanks, Suz.

> 138...Regarding Darryl's "four-hankies-and-a-pistol".....i prefer "four-pistols-and-a-hankie"....something to mop up the blood spill

;-}

Ha -- no migraines, but then no Tolstoy in Russian! To be fair, I was trying to read it after three years of Russian studies -- our prof had died, so there was no fourth year. That left me to muddle along, the reason why my Russian is essentially unusable today. Richard, the squashed-bug letters are dead easy to learn, really -- I bet I could teach you in two days. I would like to get back to the language, as I think it can be beautiful and it's kinda elegant -- also I have a decent basis in it that seems a shame to waste. Maybe Amazon Vine will offer me the Rosetta Stone Russian series -- so far I've been offered American English (which I took as a tremendous insult) and French. Hmmm. I'd grab Mandarin, Russian or German.

Did the meme cuz I was briefly bored and hot and irritable yesterday.

Today I've been sleeping and reading. Preparing to tackle galleys starting tomorrow or Friday. The good news is that the weather is supposed to be excellent, so I can take them off to Central Park and bask like a lizard in the sun. (yes, with sunscreen!!) Right now, to quote Dorothy Parker, when I look at the galleys, my mind tells me "all I have is a pile of paper covered with the wrong words." To be precise, a pile of paper 2.5 inches tall.

Hey, I took Russian for one year at Antioch...would have done another but, the prof had to quit teaching because he wasn't being paid......ah, the 70s!!

Take care of yourself...and "muscle up" for the galley tackle...Jeesh!!

;-}

I'm following your blog too. My only complaint is that the books you list aren't blue, so I can directly connect them to my wishlist on LT.

Thanks!! I can't really post my first giveaway until I hit 100 followers, and I seem to be stuck at 60 right now, so get your friends and loved ones and other bibliomaniacs to sign up...

Have just posted today's review, which is about Daphne by Justine Picardie.

I'll update my reading a little later today; I've finished Lie in the Dark and a few shorter reads, including French Leave by Anna Gavalda.

Where Daphne review on LT is, pleasing you to tell?

Is not on LT; is being found on blog that is mine.

Oh seeing I am...and for that I am not understand Good Madam for is peoples of multitudes not your blog accessing, is it not? And still of sucha high level is reviewing by you most peoples should be seeing, yes? To post here then please yes? Too?

I will be posting links on review pages, for which the purpose is to propel people to said blog. I have methodical madness, as bard of Shakespeare said memorably in tragical play.

And I HAVE to stop talking like a bad Southeast Asian tailor's shop representative, or I will go completely insane.

>160 richardderus:

Hate to interrupt the Poesy...but...to "comment" on Suze's blog...you need a GOOGLE ID

i got one coz i got a Blog...don't know how non-bloggers do it

*sorry to intrude...but that's my nature*

HI Suz!

I'm follower 61! I figured it out! :D

Whenever you sign up to follow a blog, you can get one. Or if you have gmail.

OK, the review is up, o nagging one.

ETA: Thanks, Claudia!!

Books du jour:

Lie in the Dark by Dan Fesperman is a book by this author that I had somehow managed to overlook. He's become reasonably well-known for his stand alone suspense/thrillers, but this early book is a very good mystery set in wartime Sarajevo. Detective Vlado Petric, who is war weary and apathetic, has little to do at work -- there's lots of death, but too few murders to keep him busy. So he's pleased when a body he himself found -- the corpse of an Interior Ministry honcho shot as if by a sniper -- is passed on to him to solve. Except this was no Serbian sniper's work, and the investigation takes Petric into some literally dangerous territory as he unwinds what led to the man's murder. As Vlado muses, “to survive two years of war only to die investigating a murder would be the height of absurdity.” Fesperman does a peerless job of conjuring up what it might be like to live and work in a city under siege and while a few plot twists tested my credulity, I really didn't mind at all. Even the slightly dangling ending just made me kinda sad that Fesperman abandoned his new creation at birth. 4.2 stars, a "thumping good read." I've read some of his thrillers; it was The Arms Maker of Berlin that convinced me this was an author who could grab and hold my attention.

French Leave by Anna Gavalda is a delightful little bonbon of a novella published by the inimitable Europa Press. Garance, a rather aimless young woman who drives her hyper-organized sister in law insane (among other things, by winning thousands of Euros at poker rather than earning them) sets off to a wedding with brother Simon and sister Lola; then they decide at the last moment to dump the annoy sister in law and set off to visit their brother, Vincent, in a chateau. It's really a quest to return to the ties that have bound them together tightly all their lives. In a way, not much happens, but I really enjoyed the way the author explored the nature of childhood and memory, and the frustrations of being older when life never seems to live up to your dreams. 3.9 stars.

The Clothes They Stood Up In by Alan Bennett started off as an amusing novella in the vein of The Uncommon Reader but didn't really hold up. The uber-stiff upper lip couple of the title return home from the opera to find the entire contents of their flat gone without a trace. No chandelier. No toilet paper. No oven. They just have the clothes they stood up in, and while she kind of likes the changes this brings, he doesn't, focusing instead on the fancy hi-fi equipment he can buy with the insurance money. But the novella drifts off in odd ways and ends up feeling directionless. 3.3 stars.

The Lady in the Van by Alan Bennett is a non-fiction piece, billed as "humor" but that is really the poignant true story of an elderly woman, not "all there" mentally, who lives in a van and whom Bennett allows to live in his driveway for 12 or 15 years. It's really about the ambivalent relationship between them -- he wants to help, but what she wants from him encroaches on his life far too much -- it's about the tremendous demands that someone who is mentally ill can make on the rest of us (and he doesn't know her; isn't related to her.) It ends with a fizzle rather than a bang, but in this case that's precisely what is called for. 3.6 stars.

Am about midway through 22 Britannia Road and The Dew-Breaker, and about to start an ER book that I've sidelined for too long, Caveat Emptor. Will finish at least one before bedtime tonight.

Is starred now being. Thanking you kindly Good Madam.

And I will now *IGNORE* your reviews of the delicious-sounding books above, yes I will I will IGNORE

*sigh*

You need to read the Fesperman book, but I bet you can pick it up dead cheap on Amazon. I read library copies of it and Gavalda, but can loan you the Bennett book(s).

I do really want to read The Lady in the Van. Sounds...I don't know...so quixotic.

I've added French Leave to my tbr, I enjoyed her Hunting and Gathering and still need to get to Consolation, but a novella sounds more doable for me. I'll have to investigate Mr Fesperman too, I find I seldom read mysteries since joining LT.

Suzanne, I really want to catch up, but am about 40 posts behind, and also want to check out your blog, and TIOLI has taken up the entire evening/night so far. So just saying "hi" for now and "I'll be back!". And that's a threat! :-)

Oh, and Richard, I'm going to look into the wallpaper/screen thing. Promise. I'll do some fiddling around.

*and there was much rejoicingyay*

Sigh -- well, I have spent about 90 mins fiddling with it and trying out options, but there's not much that I like that doesn't spoil the background. If I put a lighter colored background, then that is jarring against the rows of books, especially when I add the dark text -- it actually gives me a headache -- dark, then bright, then dark. (I wanted to go for a parchment look background, but it looked dreadful and boxy.) I tried some different "wallpaper", but found little that I liked that worked. What I did was soften the color of the text so that it's not as jarring. I can't seem to make the screen less sharp -- it's now transparent, the alternative would be black -- or a brighter color. But when I tried that it didn't work at all against the wallpaper. And I don't have an alternative wallpaper. Tried a lot of options before settling on this one. So I'm hoping that the change to the text helps.

The text color does appear to make less of a contrast. For my eyes at least, it's a better option, and thanks! Let's see what the Seething Masses think.

>173 richardderus:: Seething Masses vote #1:
I agree with Richard, the color change helps.

If any more of the Seething Masses would like to weigh in, this is your chance... That said, this is not a democracy (the blog, I mean) but a totalitarian regime! Am glad that the text color makes a difference. Glad, because I really couldn't figure out another way to address it!

OK, books du jour report. I've finished two today, and will probably wrap up two nearly-finished books tonight by bedtime.

Those finished already include one that was just ok, and one that I adored.

22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson was an interesting premise, but while the writing was decent, the way the author handled the main plotlines and twists was far too clumsy for me to enjoy. By the time I'd read the first two dozen pages, I had figured out what the main twist (disclosed in the final pages) was, and even my curiosity about how events unfolded couldn't compensate. Basically, it's the story of the reunion of Janusz and Silvana (and their son, Aurek) in England in 1946; since they last saw each other in Warsaw in 1939, both have had experiences that scarred them and have secrets to keep. Of course, the secrets emerge, and affect their efforts at rebuilding a life together. Frankly, I was underwhelmed by this; I felt that everything in it was predictable, as if the author was muttering to herself, "now I need to remember to show what it was like under rationing; to have a character who represents lower middle class housewives..." and so on. 3.4 stars.

The Shadow of What We Were, by Luis Sepulveda, is, on the other hand, a little gem of a novella that won the 2009 Premio Primavera, an award for Spanish literature. I'll be blogging about this and Anna Gavalda's novel (and will post the link here), so I'll just say that this is the story of what happens when some old Chilean exiles return home and have a last chance to make a revolutionary gesture. I loved it; a brilliant novella to which the translation does full justice. I've gotta say, I'm tempted to just order blindly whatever books Europa Editions publish; I don't think I can go wrong. ETA: This was for my 11 in 11 challenge.

OK, off to finish up with Caveat Emptor by Ruth Downie and The Dew Breaker by Edwige Danticat.

Finished the reading for the month!

As hoped, I managed to wrap up reading both The Dew Breakers by Edwige Danticat and Caveat Emptor by Ruth Downie.

The latter, I'll have to review at length for ER, so I'll just say now that it's an adequately amusing book in this series, featuring doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso. After a spell in Gaul, he's now married and back in England, where he's only briefly at a loss for work until his old pal Valens volunteers him as an investigator, probing the disappearance of some tax money and its colllectors. It's fun, with a decent # of twists and turns and a solid portrayal of Roman Britain, but I don't think it's a series I'll have to rush out and follow. In future, these will be library books for me. 3.5 stars.

The Dew Breakers was a puzzling book for me, because the concept intrigued me -- a series of stories linked by the past trauma of Haitians that they cover up in their new homes as expats. And yet, even given that kind of potential drama, I struggled more than I expected to finish a relatively short book -- it was the kind that I kept putting down and not going back to. Part of the problem was that the stories didn't all appeal to me to the same extent, so it was hard to step back and evaluate the book as a whole as it was to read it. Perhaps a book to go back to; definitely I think I'll need to try another Danticat novel to get a sense of her as an author. 4 stars, simply because I don't think for me it was worth more, despite some stellar moments, and not less, simply because there were some stellar moments.

Not sure what I'll read next -- maybe The Sentimentalists in honor of Canada Day tomorrow -- oh, today actually!

Happy Canada Day!

This seething mass likes the new colour better too.

LOL, Cushla!

Ok folks, I'm launching a blog giveaway, aimed at boosting the number of followers. (it's stuck at 61, while my twitter following grows apace -- go figure!)

Details are here: http://uncommonreading.blogspot.com/2011/07/bastille-day-giveaway.html

OK, I'm bummed. The book du jour today was The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud, and I really wish I'd spent my day out in search of poutine or reading Joseph Boyden's short stories, because I feel ripped off. (Even though this was a library book and I didn't spend cash on it, I wuz robbed of my spare time!)

The last two Giller prizewinners have been so stellar (see my blog post here http://uncommonreading.blogspot.com/2011/07/canada-day-sentimentalists-and-gille..., that I felt sure the winning street would continue with Skibsrud's dark horse novel (it had an initial print run of a whopping 800 copies.) It didn't. Now, she could emerge as an immensely talented writer, based on some of the prose in this, but she ain't there yet, by a long shot -- both plot and characters get away from her constantly, and occasionally even the writing left me bemused and bewildered or just irritable. Eg -- "even my sadness I kept to myself and did not allow to blend or to combine in any way: with the sadness of my mother, for example -- also isolate -- as she came out bravely from the house and walked to the end of the drive, to stand beside the window and to kiss my father on the lips, with tears standing in her eyes, though she did not acknowledge them; that by not brushing them away she perhaps intended were not there." Took me three tries to read that sentence, and I'm not sure it was worth it. And that's the problem with this book, in a nutshell. There's a lot of oblique, opaque writing -- but to what purpose? A mildly interesting story of a daughter kinda/sorta/maybe trying to re-engage with her alcoholic and unwell father, who eventually tells her a story about his Vietnam experiences that apparently has haunted him for decades. But I never found this engaging or emotionally convincing. 2.4 stars. I'd say don't bother, but hey, it's only about 200 pages.

Phew. Glad that is out of my system -- I think I'll go dig up a thriller to cleanse my system!!

Suz- Big wave! I have The Dew Breakers sitting on my shelf. It sounds so good. I'll stop by your blog, I commented over there a couple weeks ago. did you see it?
Have a nice holiday weekend!

#180 It reads like a really bad translation of something really good: it's as though there's something profound and lyrical there that's got badly mangled. But since it was written in English (I assume) and about an English-speaking character (I assume), it doesn't seem that it could be a deliberate effect rather than bad writing. Pity.

Wait. I'm totally lost. She came out of the house and down the drive to stand by the window ....? What? *returning to a much easier book*!

LOL! That's a heck of a sentence! Maybe it's just to see if we are paying attention???? Or the father would not drive up, was still in his car - with said window? Or who cares anymore - forgot where this was going???? Well, at least it sounds "sentimental"...

Hi there Suz! :)

I felt sure the winning street would continue with Skibsrud's dark horse novel (it had an initial print run of a whopping 800 copies.)

Why do I think that first printing was self-published? And who was her editor? (That's a rhetorical question—no need to answer.) I'm sorry, but I read that passage you quoted twice, and it sounds like it was written by someone for whom English is not their native language. The syntax and grammar are just slightly out of whack. And even the word choices make me think she has a limited vocabulary: "tears standing in her eyes"??? Nobody talks like that. It isn't even literary. And this won a literary prize? Shocking!

Apparently, the MS was turned down by all the major houses, and then published by this little boutique house. It's not self-published, it's a real publisher, but one of those tiny ones. In some ways, it's like Jaimy Gordon and Lord of Misrule, which was also published by a tiny house and unavailable after winning the National Book Award. With the big, glaring exception that Gordon can write like a demon. Had this not won the Giller, it would have sunk without a trace. Dunno what the jury was thinking.

OK, took that "what your taste in pictures sez about you" quiz:

I've got to disagree deeply with the conclusion that I'm balanced, secure and realistic!
But the following commentary is reasonably on target -- except for the comment that I'm not open to new experiences. Of course, I could be kidding myself on that front! Or it may be becoming more true as I age. Or that their definition of a "new experience" doesn't match mine.

"People that like Impressionist paintings may not alway be what is deemed socially acceptable. They tend to move on their own path without always worrying that it may be offensive to others. They value friendships but because they also value honesty tend to have a few really good friends. They do not, however, like people that are rude and do not appreciate the ideas of others. They are secure enough in themselves that they can listen to the ideas of other people without it affecting their own final decisions. The world for them is not black and white but more in shades of grey and muted colors. They like things to be aestically pleasing, not stark and sharp. There are many ways to view things, and the impresssionist personality views the world from many different aspects. They enjoy life and try to keep a realistic viewpoint of things, but are not very open to new experiences. If they are content in their live they will be more than likely pleased to keep things just the way they are."

Suzanne, I got the same results you did. I resented the fact they left off "intelligent"; otherwise, I would not have disagreed too much! ;-)

Oh well, I guess I'm arrogant & smug enough to take "intelligent" as read!! *grin*

OK, back to the books.

Suzanne, no wonder the used copy of The Sentimentalists looks like it was never read. Looks like it'll be sitting on my shelf for a long time.

I read a couple books by Dan Fesperman including Lie in the Dark but the one I remember as being particularly good was The Small Boat of Great Sorrows. I'm off to see what you're giving away on the blog.

Book du jour: Finished The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison, a short-listed book for last year's (2010) Orange Prize. Again, it left me wondering, "what were the jurors thinking?" By the time I'd reached the final pages, I could guess at the themes that the author was trying to explore that might have made it more than a romance with better-than-average writing, but by then it was too little, too late. The disjointed narrative, replete with characters who didn't belong and just cluttered up the scenery; the repeated and overly-florid reflections on the nature of enduring lurve all distracted from what at heart is the story of the relationship -- perceived and actual -- between a young evacuee in WW2 and the polio-stricken owner of the stately home where she ends up spending the next four years. But that narrative is broken up by the story of Thomas Ashton's relationship with a wife; her relationship with another man; his relationship with another woman; the young girl's (Anna's) mother and HER relationships, and Anna's later attempts to grasp at love. Perhaps I was too harsh early on to call to it an upmarket Barbara Taylor Bradford, but the author's reach certainly exceeds her grasp. If someone is looking for a romantic summer read, it would fit that role neatly, but it never really becomes what it could be. Still, I was quite happy to be distracted from real life for a few hours, and it never annoyed me as much as The Sentimentalists because it wasn't really aspiring to be Great Literature, just a rather conventional women's novel. BTW, is there a good name for a book that isn't quite chick lit; isn't quite historical fiction; isn't quite romance or a saga?? Think books by Joanna Trolloppe and you'll know what I'm trying to describe. The Brits have a good word for it -- an "Aga Saga", but the dearth of Aga stoves here means that's a bit harder to get across.

Will blog about this and 22 Britannia Road tomorrow, I suspect.

Meanwhile, off to read some more of A Most Dangerous Book by Christopher Krebs.

OK, had to jump in again to note that I'm listening (yet again) to the new Madeline Peyroux album (fab voice, jazz standards plus new material) -- and am laughing out loud at a song entitled "Don't pick a fight with the poet".

Finished reading A Most Dangerous Book by Christopher Krebs, a fascinating look at the myriad ways in which philosophers misrepresented and distorted the ideas in Tacitus's ethnographic study of the ancient tribes that inhabited today's Germany two millennia ago to reinforce their own ideologies -- including the idea of the Aryan superman during the Nazi era. Very highy recommended: 4.4 stars.
You can see the full review here: http://uncommonreading.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-happens-when-readers-manipulate...

OK, I'm heading back to the readathon soon...

Sigh, I'm talking to myself again.

OK, here goes. Finished another book, Bloodmoney by David Ignatius. I'd expected a bog-standard spy thriller, but I thought this did a good job of going beyond that. There's even a theme: revenge. As the book opens, Omar witnesses in horror as a Predator drone obliterates his family home -- and his family. Although he's a scholar and an academic, and proud of his status as a modern man, he embraces the idea of revenge, out of honor. "Revenge comes in different flavors. Sometimes it is a swift act of rage that shatters the mask the oppressor has created for you. Other times it is a slow process in which the mask is an essential shield to cover actions that the oppressor could not imagine."

The essence of Pashtun codes of honor and other ways in which Pakistani ethos differs from ours underlies a lot of this book, and it's one of the reasons it really clicked with me -- Ignatius has crafted a book where there are bad guys on both sides, and some of the most complex characters end up as the most sympathetic. Ignatius brings together the world of hedge funds, Pakistani's complicated political and security dynamics, and the idea that there might be a "deniable" spy agency operating out of an office in LA that claims it's actually an entertainment business called "The Hit Parade". But The Hit Parade's agents are being hit -- and taken out of the game -- one after another, and Sophie Marx is assigned the task of finding out just how and why. Nope, this isn't LeCarre, with lots of rich characterization, and it's not pulse-pounding Steve Berry suspense, with a gunshot every two pages. What it is, is an intelligent thriller that really grabbed me, right up until the final pages when the ultimate acts of revenge -- and Dr. Omar's ultimate quest -- gave me a jolt. Recommended to thriller junkies, especially -- a "thumping good read" and a good book for summer. 4.3 stars.

Okay, I put Bloodmoney on my waiting-for-the-paperback wishlist. Government perfidy and revenge, or at least getting even, are both interests of mine.

Robert

Great review of the Krebs book. Adding that one to the wishlist. Thanks.

Happy 4th, Suz. What are you doing to celebrate today?

Loved your review of Bloodmoney and have added this to my obese wish list.

Suz -- I call that sort of novel 'domestic fiction'. I can expand on that idea if you like. I feel I have encountered that term elsewhere, but I also feel that over the years I have made it my own, if you know what I mean. Many many Virago books are domestic fiction. Men write it also -- Stephen McCauley comes to mind. You could say -- the thematic concerns do not extend beyond a certain boundary, so that even though, say, Eliot or Hardy or Woolf wrote about small villages or intimate tiny detailed moments in domestic life, they are holding in mind implications that reach far beyond -- domestic fiction does not seek to do that, but it does seek to be intelligent and to bestow light on emotional and social matters close to home, very much part of daily life of all people. Thirkell. Nancy Clark. Julia Glass. Someone like Laurie Colwin is perched in between. Like all definitions, it can be hard to pinpoint where the shift between one and the other occurs. Well done domestic fiction can last a long time, but I think most of it tends to age after awhile, as much of it is pinned on the way things are at any given moment.

Thanks for the recommendation for Bloodmoney. I just put it on hold at the library. I'm still in a book funk (having only managed to finish one book in June) and I love a good thriller.

I visited your blog for the first time and I loved your review of A Most Dangerous Book. I'm adding it to my ever growing list of books to read. Thanks.

Lucy, thanks -- that is the PERFECT description...

Caro, not doing anything. Aim is to just get through it, frankly!

You are reviewing and posting here DURING the readathon--ah, you are a better woman than I, Suzanne!

Roni, not at all, I've just been procrastinating, that's all... Lack of focus!

Today's book du jour was Stolen Lives by Jassy Mackenzie, the second in what is turning out to be a very good series set in modern-day South Africa and featuring private investigator Jade de Jong. This time around (and the book can be read on a stand-alone basis) Jade is caught up in a case involving trafficked women when her ex boyfriend, police superintendant David Patel, recommends her to an old acquaintance, Pamela Jordaan, as a bodyguard. But is Pamela in danger -- or is she the danger to a host of others and to Jade herself? Some of the events in this books are violent, but the book doesn't dwell on the violence and it's probably (sadly) in proportion to today's reality in this trade. A complex mystery, with lots of twists and turns involving Jade's own history (such as her mother, who died only months after her birth), David's family life and a group of cops in England whose investigations trigger the events narrated in the book. Recommended to those who like gritty mysteries. (If you like Val McDermid's thrillers, this will be right up your street.)

Suzanne

I'm stopping by to wish you a head ache free day!

Thanks Linda! I am headache free, but just generally and inexplicably grumpy. It's probably just work-angst -- the fact that my cash flow this month will be close to zero, while tomorrow I'll have to spend $500 on bills and migraine meds. And yet I keep dithering instead of focusing. Not sure what is amiss, exactly. And I know I've no right to whine about it at all!

You've made me really want to read the Jassie Mackenzie books now - I love the Soho covers too. The first one officially comes out in paperback next month here.

Hope that your finances look up soon.

Suz

You do have a right to whine about it all! I know how expensive migraine meds are. Even though I have a great prescription plan, still I pay a chunk of change every month.

Thinking of you and sending good wishes for a healthier cash flow in July....

Thanks all. The July cash flow is going to be pretty much close to zero; if I'm lucky, August will be enough to cover my rent, but not bills or expenses. Maybe September??? Sigh. This is going to be a bad year, financially.

I just put together a list of my own summer reading plans -- it's up on the blog here: http://uncommonreading.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-ill-be-reading-this-summer.html

Amusing note: discovered this morning that one of my new Twitter followers is, ahem, the Giller Prize...

Suzanne (can I call you Suz too?) I have no hope to catch up on you since my last visit, but have skipped around a bit.

Sorry to hear about your financial woes. I have no right to complain because things are quite stable right now, but I do all the time, mostly because I'm an idiot with my money. Spend it all when it's there, then cry over spent milk and ridiculous debts. But I've had periods in my life when things got so bad that I resorted to desperate measures. Selling some of my art books, I'm not proud about, but that was the least of it. I understand what an uncomfortable position you're in and your need to share your genuine concern. I hope something comes up to help you out soon.

The Giller Prize as a Twitter follower eh? Pretty impressive. Which leads me to my next point. I read your quiz answers (I said I'd like to read in Russian and German too, and... W&P in Russian, REALLY??) and have to say I was shocked to see you read "trashy mysteries" and, can it be? Chick lit too? Now I don't know much about you at this point, but I wouldn't have thought so. I find it reassuring because I read just about anything. Except for romance. Yech. With the odd exception. Though I did read a few Harlequin romances at around 15. My excuse is I was being held captive and there was nothing else around to read...

Thanks for hosting the latest readathon. I wish I'd been able to participate more, but it did help me get ahead a little bit with my GINORMOUS July reading pile!

Give my best to the kitties!

Sure, call me Suz... That really started because I get v. bored typing out my full name at the end of e-mails. The people that call me that IRL are relatively few, and mostly those who have known me primarily through the internet, with only about two examples (a RL friend who's also on LT, and a particularly cyber-savvy friend who does multimedia journalism.) It's interesting, because for decades I never really had a nickname -- I loathe "Sue" and I put the kibbosh on "Suzie" at the age of 7 (although my father's oldest friend and his family still call me that).

Yes, I read anything. At 15, I was reading Harlequins -- or rather, Mills & Boon novels, the British variety -- because I could get them for free from "the swap shop" run by the PTA at my high school in Brussels, where English books (in volume) were v. thin on the ground. Dunno if I'd ever go back and re-read those or the Angelique novels, but I could quite easily see myself revisiting Forever Amber one day! My earliest love in "grown-up" books was historical fiction -- I was about 9 when I read my first Jean Plaidy novel -- and I still read it today. I definitely read chick lit, although I'm reasonably selective about the authors whose books I buy. Discovered James Patterson when I was in China four or so years ago, and realized his books are ideal for long plane flights or other periods when my brain is AWOL. I adore mysteries -- although not cozies, so much, with a few exceptions. That's probably my biggest source of escapist reading.

As for W&P in Russian -- or Voyna y Mir! -- my grandfather gave that to me a long time ago. (I also have Winnie the Pooh in Russian...) After he retired, he taught himself to at least read in German, Italian and Russian, and I tried to learn the language by myself a bit in my teens, then took three years of it in college. As my father was a diplomat, I couldn't get a visa to spend a semester in Leningrad getting any reasonable degree of fluency so I have lost a LOT of it in the years that have followed. I used to be able to read short stories reasonably well, and poetry with a dictionary to hand, but wouldn't want to try that now. When I think about adding a new language, I dither between Mandarin, resurrecting my Russian or finally trying to make sense of what I already know of German (I've twice taken an introductory course, but little has actually stuck.) It's past the point at which I'd think of these as career aides, but I'd like to reasonably fluent in a third language. Sigh...

Commiserating on the financial woes......while i am not a religious person..i give thanks, daily, to whatever is out there..that my finances are stable...and will be for the forseeable future.. but I remember the lean times only too well...

The migraine meds? I know that my brother has to pay over $500/month for his...and he doesn't have to actually "use" them...just have them on hand..."in case".....makes my sinus kerfuffles seem rather puny!

The Jassie MacKenzie books are duly "Wishlisted".....and I love your summer reading plans, as well...given that you will probably read them all!!!

Take care.....

I give people (and myself) nicknames on the net all the time, mostly to save on typing, which is ridiculous considering the amount of typing I do. It's kind of like my approach to finance. I don't hold back on big expenses I really can't afford, but then become incredibly scrupulous about spending on tin foil and string. Or whatever.

My mum is the genius in my family and I learned from her that having something to read is better than nothing and that anything goes, basically. Around the beginning of the year, I joked that to get to the 75 book mark, I would include cereal boxes and shampoo bottle text, because I honestly didn't thing I'd ever get there otherwise, and I do read everything and anything that is within reading sight. The same bottles of product in my bathroom have been read and -re-read many many many times, despite the fact that I have several copies of old Vanity Fair and Vogues in the magazine holder, which have already been read to death too, mind you. She (my mum) also taught herself Russian, though I'm not sure she's all that fluent or that she'd be able to undertake W&P in the original text either. I wish I could, but maybe I should start by reading it in English or French first, as a warmup, like. I started reading "real" literature at age 12 I think, with Anna Karenina which made quite the impression on me. So I guess the Russians have a special place in my heart.

I agree with Jude... I'm not religious either, and I too give thanks daily for my current situation—when I'm not wearing the hair shirt of guilt, that is—and again, I hope things improve for you soon (sending good financial vibes your way).

It's weird -- this is the worst it's been since I started freelancing. Dunno if it's me or the climate. But for 8 1/2 of the last 9 years I've easily earned more than I did on staff. Now I'm making less than I have in 20 years. Another spur to get the genealogy book proposal FINISHED!

Ummm, yeah! Besides the number of people who oh, hey, just might want to read it!!!!!!

So, here's another genealogy story.

I was corresponding with a distant relative to get some conflicting information straightened out. In a reply back to me, he included the sentence, "No, I am Luke's father."

So, of course, my next email started out, "Dear Mr. Vader,"

I got back only a puzzlement emoticon. The guy is 47 years old...not 97. How is this possible?

Ok, I'm 49 -- and it took me a minute or two to get that one, Tad!

:-D

Well, it should have been Lord Vader.

Robert

>219 Mr.Durick:: brilliant.
I'm 49 Tad, and I got it !!!

I'm 66, and I got it.

Well, as a friend of mine insists, I'm woefully out of touch with popular culture. He said that as if it were a bad thing, though??? *puzzled*

OK, 130 pages of the galleys read & proofed -- 1/3 of the way there.

Now off to write some story proposals. Keep your fingers crossed, pls!

I almost never watch movies, and I got it right away!

#OK, go ahead and gloat... *harumph*

OK, proposal filed. Now I can go and eat my just-delivered Indian curry dinner. yum. Well, kinda yum.

#216 Yeah, I'm 41 (for the next week or so anyway), and I got it right away too. Was just puzzled at first at the reference to age, but it's all sorted out now.

*hides in nearest air raid shelter*

I'm kinda thinking about posting a sign on the gate out front. Something along the lines of "If you are entirely comfortable with the certainty that I will overhear every word of the prolonged cell phone conversation that you're about to have, and the possibility that I will choose to record some of it for use in a satirical novel that I plan to write one day, by all means sit down on the brick wall (the fence is set into a knee-high brick wall) and go ahead. If you don't like either of these options, please choose another locale for your heart-to-heart, argument or your rehash of that first date you went on last night. Yours sincerely, Chatterbox."

Thoughts?

>227 Chatterbox: Who is going to read all of that? I think a sign that says "Shut the f**k up!" would be much more effective. ;-)

Wow, i thought that line was as recognizable as 'Play it again, Sam'.

Good luck with your story proposals, Suz.

#228 -- yes, but it would also provoke people into hurling glass bottles against the windows (they don't hurt the windows; they shatter on the bars and must be swept up v.v.v. carefully). It's been tried; oddly, people find it offensive! :-)

#229 -- ya think, Caro? LOL!

On the other hand, there are conversations that one wants to overhear. Such as the one I just heard, in which one cop, preparing to try to jump-start a fellow cop's civilian vehicle right outside my door, says "you realize this is leaking enough acid that there's a chance it will explode?" I choked on my chicken tikka masala.

I'm chortling away here. I GOT it, like SOOO fast. But we did re-watch it all not so long ago.... so even my daughter, 15, would get it, in fact.

I too wish you luck soon with your cash flow woes.

I suggest that you buy concentrated skunk oil (there is, in fact, such a thing, probably for just this purpose) and a squirter/dropper something (maybe a small water pistol) or I suppose you could dump some on a rag tied in a knot and drop it nearby, I think that is what we did, so long ago I can't remember now. Just the bafflement you would cause in Brooklyn would be worth it, eh? Believe it or not I have used it and it is effective. In our old house here in VT 30 years ago we had a youth gathering, drinking, shouting etc. problem late late late weekend nights on this little village green...... and eau de skunk was the cure.

storymojo*whammy*storymojo*whammy*storymojo*whammy*

Hunh?

I am using my inborn power of the Whammy to give Suz story mojo. She is now guaranteed success.

ohhhhhh. I will add my efforts to yours.

Meanwhile here is a link to the above mentioned perfume: here

Keep it short and sweet: "For purposes of quality assurance, all conversations are recorded." I'm thinking the skunk oil would mess with the flavor of your tikka masala. Best of luck with the proposals.

>229 cameling:: A line that actually never appears in the movie, Caroline, despite it being one of the most famous.

(Yes, I am a raving Casablanca addict...)

>238 TadAD:: OK, so I have to ask. My husband, a Casablanca addict but not quite of the "raving" variety, staunchly insists it's a buddy movie (Rick and Capt Renaud). I say it's a romance (Rick, Ilsa, Victor). What say you?

Honestly, without trying to straddle the fence, I think it's both. That's why this movie has become such a classic for us: it has something for everyone. It's an action movie with great suspense. It's a great romance but with enough bittersweet to keep you from going into sugar shock. You just know that Rick and Louis are going to be a great pair against the Nazis from then on.

If I absolutely had to choose between those two, however, I guess I'd go with romance. From the moment Rick sees Ilsa talking with Sam until the end, you could cut the romantic tension with a knife. The buddy movie aspect is much shorter—arguably only the last few minutes though I think you could make a case for it starting when Rick gives Annina the money so she doesn't have to sleep with Renaud, and Renaud realizes that Rick is starting to come back to life.

ETA: And now I feel this compulsion to go watch it again. Fortunately, no time today... :-)

I remember once (decades ago, in college days) being in a huge discussion. The question was: "If Victor had been able to leave Casablanca freely from the beginning, would Ilsa have gone with him or stayed with Rick?"

What was most interesting about it (from my point of view) was that not everyone agreed and, yet, everyone was completely startled that others had different opinions. Almost no one had a "I'm not sure" reaction; everyone was of the "of course, she would <fill in the blank here>" opinion.

I too am a Casablanca devotee, but my favorite scenes have always been the one where Victor gets everybody to sing the Marseillaise to drown out the Nazis and the one where Renaud gets handed his gambling winnings after he closes Rick's down on the grounds that gambling is going on. But it is really all the little moments and touches that I love, like Carl and his wife practicing their English, or Sascha rolling his eyes when Rick asks him to come right back after dropping off Yvonne, or Ferrara having different prices for "friends of Rick" and "special friends of Rick," Rick telling one of the Germans trying to get into the casino that he's lucky they serve him in the bar, etc. etc.

But to answer your question, Laura, I have to agree with Tad that the movie has something for everyone, and I would add that it's also a great propaganda film.

Sorry to hijack your thread Suzanne, and good luck dealing with the loud talkers and your money woes.

>240 TadAD:-242: thanks for your thoughts! DH & I enjoy debating this aspect of the movie, I guess much like the situation Tad described in #241.

"i'm shocked, yes shocked" to find that there is thread hijacking underway here!

I'd call it a "bromance". With elements of romance thrown in

The vibes worked -- have an assignment for the corporate governance story, due July 25, to be published on August 1! Now I'll wait a few days before pitching them on the second story. This will nearly double my August income, hitting the lowest level needed to sustain life chez Chatterbox. So, thanks Richard & Lucy for the voodoo and everyone else for the best wishes.

Now, if only the migraine I woke up with this morning would just vanish, *poof*!

Free Kindle book alert: Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine is now free. It's a book that is a kind of time travel with a few supernatural elements thrown in, originally published mid-80s. The time periods are early 13th century Wales and "contemporary" England (1980s).

Suz, did you notice that All Different Kinds of Free is, in fact, free via Pixel of Ink?

I fear that migraines are beyond my whammying reach. So sorry.

Glad to hear work is looking up, sorry about the migraine.

Congrats, and feel better.

Gah, migraine is worse. So it's back to bed with ice packs and drugs. Good thing I picked the latter up yesterday. The good news is that bec my publishers are moving (to a new floor) on Friday, the galleys aren't due back till Monday. I'm now on page 214 of 386, which is also good, so I can afford to call it quits for the day.

sufficient unto the day, blah blah blah. Back later.

Clapping at the good news that luck has found you.
Sighing at the fact that another nasty migraine is with you today.

Great news about the assignment, Suz!

I hope that the migraine passes soon.

It's moving time again already. You'll find my new residence over here