Cushla's 2011 books - chapter 5

Hopefully this will last me the rest of 2011!

Currently reading:

The Story of England by Michael Wood - p 260
The Calculus Gallery by William Dunham - slooowly with pen and paper - STALLED



Chapter 4 is here.

Chapter 3 is ...here.

Chapter 2 is back here.

Chapter 1 is here.

____________________

I'm leaving in this list of books I made at the start of the year. I won't get through all of them this year, but they're on my radar.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy FINISHED JUNE 2011
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
Nixonland by Rick Perlstein
Rough Crossings by Simon Schama
Citizens by Simon Schama
This time is different by Carmen Reinhardt and Kenneth Rogoff
Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman
Testament of Experience by Vera Brittain
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The rise and fall of the 3rd Reich by William Shirer
Germany 1945 by Richard Bessel -
Masters and Commanders by Andrew Roberts
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
The Children's Book by A S Byatt
Death by a Thousand Cuts by Michael Graetz and Ian Shapiro READ IN DECEMBER 2010

January
1. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson - 4 1/2 stars - Orange January and TIOLI first in series
2. As Always, Julia by Joan Reardon - TIOLI Christmas present - 4 stars
3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - TIOLI top LT books of 2010 - 4 stars
4. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo - 1 star
5. Manhattan, When I was Young by Mary Cantwell - 3 1/2 stars
6. Dissolution by CJ Sansom - 4 1/2 stars

February
7. Dark Fire by C J Sansom - 4 1/2 stars
8. A Fork in the Road: A Memoir by Andre Brink - 4 stars
9. An Unfinished Business by Boualem Sansal - 4 1/2 stars
10. God's Philosophers by James Hannam - 3 1/2 stars

March
11. Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa - 4 1/2 stars (TIOLI Middle East challenge)
12. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - 4 1/2 stars - TIOLI City on p 17 (Split)
13. Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed - 3 1/2 stars - TIOLI City on p 17 (Aden)
14. February by Lisa Moore - 4 1/2 stars

April
15. Sovereign by C J Sansom - 5 stars
16. Revelation by C J Sansom - 4 stars
17. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives - Lola Shoneyin - 3 1/2 stars - TIOLI Orange longlist
18. The Pleasure Seekers by Tishani Doshi - 4 stars - TIOLI Orange longlist
19. A Month in the Country by J L Carr - 4 stars
20. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins - 4 1/2 stars
21. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis - 3 stars

May
22. Children of the Revolution - also known as The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears - by Denaw Mengistu - 4 stars
23. The Terracotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri - 4 stars

June
24. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy - 5 stars
25. Miss Buncle's Book by D E Stevenson - 5 stars
26. Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys - 3 1/2 stars
27. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman - 4 stars
28. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather - 5 stars
29. Every Light in the House Burnin' by Andrea Levy - 3 1/2 stars
30. The Globalization Paradox by Dani Rodrik - 4 1/2 stars
31. Schachnovelle (Chess Story) by Stefan Zweig - 4 1/2 stars
32. Far to Go by Alison Pick (touchstone wonky) - 3 1/2 stars

July
33. Troubles by J.G. Farrell - 4 stars
34. The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri - 3 1/2 stars
35. Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd - 3 1/2 stars
36. The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Armin - 3 1/2 stars
37. Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer - 4 stars
38. The Warden by Anthony Trollope - 5 stars
39. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid - 4 1/2 stars

August
40. The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst - 5 stars
41. The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller - 4 stars - TIOLI unusual main character name
42. City of Thieves by David Benioff - 5 stars - TIOLI 3 words and middle one is "of"
43. O: A Presidential Novel by Anonymous - 3 1/2 stars - TIOLI "one word sounds like a letter"
44. Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed - 5 stars - TIOLI 3 words, middle one is "of"
45. Cooking with Fernet-Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson - 3 stars - TIOLI Europa Editions challenge
46. The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons - 4 stars - TIOLI music in the title challenge

September
47. I'm Not Complaining by Ruth Adam - 3 1/2 stars - TIOLI school challenge - also wins the prize for the most ironic title of the year
48. The Periodic Table by Primo Levi - 5 stars - TIOLI Jewish challenge
49. Man Alone by John Mulgan - 4 1/2 stars - TIOLI NZ/Australia Challenge
50. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes - 5 stars - TIOLI book recommended by tags (etc) challenge
51. Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick - 4 1/2 stars
52. The Death of Faith by Donna Leon - 3 1/2 stars - TIOLI primary colours challenge
53. Zoo Station by David Downing - 4 1/2 stars - TIOLI set in Germany challenge
54. Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville - 3 1/2 stars - TIOLI NZ/Australia challenge

October
55. When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka - 3 stars - TIOLI English reading list challenge
56. The Ghost at the Wedding by Shirley Walker - 4 stars - TIOLI Monster in the Title challenge
57. No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym - 2 stars - TIOLI fewer than 150 conversations challenge
58. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear - 3 stars
59. Germany 1945 by Richard Bessel - 5 stars - TIOLI fewer than 150 conversations challenge
60. A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon - 3 1/2 stars

November
61. Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi - 4 stars
62. Homesick by Eshkol Nevo - 4 stars
63. the Bethlehem Murders by Matt Rees - 4 stars
64. Black Like Me by John Griffin - 5 stars
65. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton - 5 stars

Source of books:
1. Bought in 2010 - 7 (1, 4, 8, 33,44,52, 59)
2. Presents - 3 (2,5, 21,56)
3. Bought in 2011 for book club - 1 (3)
4. Bought in 2011 for no good reason... 27 (6,7,9,10, 11,12,13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27,28, 30, 31,32, 34,35,37,39,40,41,43,46,57,61,62, 63)
5. Bought before 2010 - 7 (19, 20, 24, 29, 36,47,48)
6. Free e-books - 2 (38, 49)
7. Kindle books - 7 - (42,45, 50, 53,55, 58,60)
8. LIBRARY BOOKS!!! - 1 - 54.

Best books for Q3: (July - September)

Best books for 2011 so far:

I've been in a slight reading funk this week. I started two mysteries at once, the 6th Brunetti novel by Donna Leon and the first David Downing book - Zoo Station.

I've just finished The Death of Faith, the Donna Leon book, and gave it 3 1/2 stars, which is what I have given nearly all the books in this series. I really enjoy them and have the 7th waiting here and will try to read it soon. This one was quite a bit slower than the others but there was more character development. Guido's mother's favourite nurse, Suor Immacolata, turns up in his office at the start of the book. She's left the convent. As usual there's tons about his wife Paola and the kids - this time Chiara has brought home her school report and got a bad grade in Religious Education (I do sympathise with her... my report was once ruined by a C in RE. I had coloured in Mary inappropriately and given her a punk hairdo. For a very swotty kid, that was quite an act of rebellion!)

Even though I haven't been reading much I made an exciting discovery on Wednesday... Wellington library has e-books for lending. I had known that for ages but we're over here and I didn't have a Kindle or anything to read them on anyway. I found my old library card, discovered I have $11 in fines so it's blocked, then found the kids' caqrds, without any fines, logged into the library website, downloaded some software and have got the brand new Kate Grenville novel (Sarah Thornhill - sequel to The Secret River) for the next 2 weeks - I am ecstatic!! No more Amazon.de for a while. I don't feel too bad about using the library sub, because we are paying thousands in Council rates on our house while we're here... (I do love my husband because when I rang him at work to tell him the important and exciting news he did not think I was a fruitcake.)

Nice discovery at the library, Cushla. I didn't know they had e-books available. I was even in there tonight and they didn't appear to be advertising it either.

Hello Cushla - enjoyed your reviews on your earlier thread - especially of the Julian Barnes (I give up - will have to get it now!) and the book on North Korea - sounds very compelling.Remind me NOT to visit your thread too often in future - trying to save for my Vietnam holiday (hoping circumstances will allow). Mum is a little better today, so who knows? Still waiting on test results...I LOVED WELLINGTON LIBRARY There are simply no lending libraries in Australia that compare to it! Our reading levels rose dramatically while we were living there...*sigh* How fantastic that you can borrow from o/s - you go for it (and be guilt free - quite right about the rates!)

Great discovery at your library! I smiled at your comment that your husband did not think you were a fruitcake when you told him the news. It is wonderful that we have mates who understand our book obsession.

Though, I admit that I'm pushing the limit with the amount of books in our townhouse. My latest library acquisitions coupled with two bookcloseouts.com orders are really pushing the limit of where I'm able to fit all these books.

Have a happy day Cushla. Thanks for your kind comments posted on my thread.

Hi Cushla, I've been in a thread reading/posting funk, rather than a book funk, and have a lot of catching up to do, including on my own thread. But at least I'm up to date on yours! I like your way of summarising source of books at the bottom of your first post. And I can identify all to readily with the category 'Bought in 2011 for no good reason' - I have lots of those!

Good news about the Wellington Library. My library has started doing ebooks and audiobooks too. Which makes it so convenient to borrow without even leaving the house (rather the more so for you from Switzerland to Wellington!). But I need to finish reading all my physical library books before I start borrowing too many online.

That's exciting - my library does ebooks but I would only be able to read them on my computer which doesn't appeal - I did borrow two books that I was hoping to write reviews of, having read them in print from the library and had to return them before - but I never got to it!

Alana, I think they've had e-books for a while but I'd never really investigated. I had more of a look this afternoon and they have a few hundred either audio or written - and some really good ones, including some pricy non-fiction.

Prue I'm glad your Mum's having a better day,and hope it lasts a while. I didn't know Wellington was better than the Australian libraries! When did you live in Wellington?? You must have told me already...

Linda if I lived in the US I would be out of control with sites like bookcloseouts and even bookmooch, which has so much more for US readers than international ones. When we were in New York we discovered half.com and bought tons of books on it, but it was before LT so I didn't have as bloated a wishlist.

Luci, I wouldn't want to read e-books on a real computer either. I like it on the ipad but am going to get a Kindle once we're home as well - the ipad's too big for reading in bed.

I have finished a second book - the outstanding Zoo Station. I'll be back to write some comments when my heart rate has dropped a bit - the last 60 pages were very very scary.

Genny I only just saw your post!! Cool that your library is doing ebooks too. do you use Library elf to keep track of when the books are due back? It used to save us heaps n fines.

Zoo Station is apparently the first in a series, I think, so far of 4 books. They sound interesting - thanks for another series to read!!

I'm curious about the library ebooks. There was just recently an article in the NY Times about Kindle now accepting ebooks. I haven't heard anything about this from my local library however. But I was wondering about your comment about using "Library elf to keep track of when the books are due back" - don't they just disappear from your computer, Kidle, Ipad? or do you actually have to send them back?

I haven't found that out yet but yes I think they do just disappear. I meant for the physical books but wasn't very clear - sadly the physical books did not disappear except under beds and onto bookshelves! Library elf meant I got more warning when they were due. It's at www.libraryelf.com .

I've just downloaded the second one in the series, Silesian Station. I hope it's as good as the first! (Comments coming after I've cooked dinner, hung out laundry, and set the table, eaten dinner, then got the kids ready for bed and read them yet another chapter of the faraway tree...)

Our local libraries are finally getting e-books. They are expected by the end of the year. I'm very excited!

Cal where are you? In California somewhere?! (ha...)

I'm at work, and luckily have my Kindle with me. Just bought Zoo Station. Love that Kindle!!! But its such an enabler.

Just make sure that when you get near the end of it you have an hour or so of clear reading time. And don't drink any coffee first!

#11 What's library elf?

My library eBooks and audiobooks cannot, it seems, be renewed, and simply expire after 3 weeks. No chance of running up fines with those. My physical library books can be renewed ad infinitum (which is not so good in the end because I am not forced to hurry up and read them - and I do need a reminder because I keep missing the renewal date).

Genny, if you go to www.libraryelf.com you can see if your library is a member. I seem to remember from when I signed up that a lot of UK libraries were. Anyway, you set yourself up an account and load your library card details onto it. Then the libraryelf website checks your account every day, or 3 days, or whenever you tell it to. It emails you to let you know what's coming due - before it's too late! I found it when the kids were very little and we had mountains of books out. It rocks! Definitely would help with the renewal date problem.

thanks for the warning cushla and I'm going to have to see if Library elf is available in the US - sounds like it would help save on fines. But then the fines always help the library buy more books - another enabler!!!

Delighted you've discovered your library's lending of ebooks. Our library is not part of libraryelf; rather it runs with an app/download called OverDrive. I was also SO excited to make the discovery within the last few months. I walk all the time and listen to audiobooks while I'm doing so, so I love the BC's "Library Without Walls" for e/audio!!

Delighted you enjoyed Zoo Station so much!!! The fifth in the series is due out this winter -- I think in the new year? -- and I can't wait. This will be the first postwar one. I think Silesian Station and Stettin Station are the best of the series so far. Downing is one of those authors that drew my attention to Soho as a publisher -- they also have a good international crime series and publish a bunch of intriguing books.

The Brooklyn library is among those that now offers Kindle loans!! I'm VERY excited.

I think I'm going to have to break down and get a kindle. If libraries are now going to carry ebooks, this is just too tempting. But Cush, I do agree about the lack of covers. I loves me a good cover!

Interesting comments re ebook covers. I'm a book cover nut, too! I have an iPad, and I actively download/change covers for the books in my library - change them up, custom do, whatever. I realize it's not like having a paper book w/ cover sitting on my reading table, but at least I have an ecover of my choosing : ). Yep, I'm a little obsessed that way ...

Nancy, I didn't know you could do that (the changing cover thing). Cool!! I will investigate. Overdrive is our libary's system too. Libraryelf isn't for ebooks, it's for helping you avoid fines on overdues. I haven't tried audiobooks yet - I usually can't get through the podcasts I subscribe to so don't need anything else to listen to!

Tui, I have been stunned how much I love the e-books and that's not even with a real Kindle. The LT recommender says you PROBABLY WILL LOVE it!

Book 53: Zoo Station by David Downing - 4 1/2 stars

First, a thank you: Suzanne recommended this to me at least 2 years ago and I went as far as getting it out of Wellington library but only got a chapter in before it had to go back.

When we meet John Russell in a seedy hotel in Danzig (now Gdansk) at the start of 1939 he's already had an interesting life. It's about to get a lot hairier. He's a freelance journalist living in Berlin. He grew up in England and the US, has a German ex-wife Ilse whom he met at the 1924 Communist Party conference in Moscow, and a 12 year old son Paul. His girlfriend Effi is an actress, and he makes a bit of extra money by giving English lessons.. Downing makes the most of all Russell's connections to give a full picture of life in Berlin before the war. Russell finds the Nazis repugnant even at the start of the book, but tries to keep his head down and just be a good Dad to his son, who's in the Jungvolk and a bit embarrassed by his English Dad. His attitude changes as he learns more and more about what's going on.

There is lots of character development in this book, and detail of Berlin. I loved that I had visited quite a few of the places in the book - one of the S-Bahn stations where something happens was the nearest one to my hotel last year so I could picture the different exits. Downing spends a lot of time showing the reader what life was like and it makes for a very tense book. When the police are the killers, there's little chance of a wholly happy ending. As usual, the Jews are like frogs in heating up water, but this book is set pretty late in the 30s so life is unbearable already and the lines at the British Embassy to get exit visas are very long. Felix Wiesner used to be a doctor, before he was banned from practising medicine, and as a favour to a friend in the embassy John Russell starts tutoring Ruth and Martha Wiesner in English. They're a really lovely family and they're trying to get the girls out to England.

Highly recommended if you like spy thrillers. My hands were shaking near the end and I don't remember that happening before! I liked this more than the first Phillip Kerr (it was silghtly more believable near the end). I bought the next one, Silesian Station last night.

Suz, amazon.de is showing Lehrter Station coming out on 8 May 2012 over here. I have 6 months to read 3 of them...

It's my 5 year Thingaversary today - 5 years since I found this amazing place - and I bought 2 books already yesterday in anticipation. Am off to find 3 more!!

Cushla just found your latest thread! Far too much going on in two days to comment on everything - my faves of the year so far would be Child 44, Breathing Lessons, Children of Dynmouth, The Little Stranger and Half of a Yellow Sun in no particular order.

The Downing series looks a sure hit and I think I will follow suit before the year is out for sure.

Happy Thingaversary! 5 years wow! - let us know what books you buy.

Those Downing books look very good .... hmm temptation

Back to Library elf discussions up there...kids books dont attract late fines at our cities libraries, which is so great. But in any case, I pin my library receipts to the notice board and also mark the date on my calendar so that I dont get fines for my books. I hate having to pay!

I found Zoo Station in a charity shop recently.

Fab review of Zoo Station, Cushla! I also love it when places I've visited and know appear in books. Draws me right in!

Happy 5 at LT!! I think Paul said it best, "Happy Thingaversary!" Do let us know what five you buy today!

Great review Cushla and I like the Libraryelf website, it seems all of the New Zealand libraries are on it which is good. My husband has just started using my library account to order e-books for his kindle and I might point him in that direction so he gets reminders. I'm very happy he can't run up fines on my account with these as I am a stickler for always returning my books on time. I was impressed you can access Wellington library from overseas. I guess one more positive for e-books to go on the 'pros' column.

There's a new Phillip Kerr book due out this fall, too... I will be nabbing it from the UK when it's published. Those novels are def. grittier, and I prefer Downing's books by a long shot -- the characters are somehow richer. I was so excited when I was talking to the Soho Press people at BookExpo and they told me there were two more books in Downing's series to come, I started jumping up and down. I think they gave me the ARC of The Boy in the Suitcase just to get me to stop... Which reminds me, I must get around to reading that...

Paul I have had Half of a Yellow Sun on the shelves for about 3 years. It'll be getting let out of its storage box in January and I will be putting it on next year's reading list.

Alex and Luci, I hope you enjoy it too!

Megan, I used to be pretty good with the receipts but not perfect. Cool that you don't have to pay fines on kids' books! Are the Christchurch libraries ok? The main one must still be shut isn't it? I read a long article in yesterday's Zurich newspaper about Christchurch and thought of you (it's in German or I'd post the link.)

Leonie are the e-books he's borrowing in Kindle format, or can it read Overdrive/epub books? Am curious because I'll be investigating Kindles once we're home.

Suz I am 6 behind already in the Philip Kerrs and they are all here on the shelves too. I bought the first Maisie Dobbs books yesterday - funnily enough it is called Maisie Dobbs and see that it's another Soho Press book.

I borrowed another one yesterday, Joel Mokyr's The Enlightened Economy: An Economic History of Britain 1700-1850 and was really happy to find it there. When I was a grad student I read another of his books and loved it, and he was my economic history prof's advisor and one of his favourites.

Nearly everything I'm reading is on the ipad now, which is a bit of a pain because I also use it as a bribe for good behaviour with Teresa! (Youtube Charlie and Lola works very well...).

The Kindle, at least in Canada, does not support public library books, i.e. Overdrive/epub. I know many other ereaders are now supporting library books, so I wonder if Amazon will eventually bow to the pressure? Too big to have to bow?

Chuckled at your actively using the iPad for bribery! Whatever works, Cushla! And it's such a fun toy. Now I will have to find out who Charlie and Lola at Youtube are ...

Nancy when you're finished watching Charlie and Lola you could move on to the Berenstain Bears. I get really sick of their sickly sweet moral tales, but Teresa does not. Ever.

How far through On Canaan's Side are you? I need to pick it up again (it's on the pesky ipad!!). I got sidetracked by the last two crime novels.

Huh - now I'm remember the fuss last week about Kindle doing a deal with libraries.

I'll be interested to see what you think of Maisie Dobbs. I liked it, but also thought I could easily hate it if I decided to let certain aspects bother me. I have read most of the series, but still waiting to find the two most recent ones.

>35 lit_chick:: I wonder if Amazon will eventually bow to the pressure? In the US, Amazon are now offering Kindle lending through libraries that work with Overdrive. Information here. Hopefully this will spread to other countries too!

Laura, that was very funny timing, because I have just finished reading your blog post and the link through to Nomadreader's blog about lending to the Kindle. Thanks! (And another vote for the CJ Sansoms for your 2012 list from me. They are great.)

Congrats on your first five years on LT! I hope we all have many more years of companionable reading.

It looks like I'll have to break down and check out the e-books offered by my public library. I find the concept of disappearing books a little strange, however. I'm definitely old school when it comes to books.

I'm sad that I have only two more Sansom books to read. Thanks for talking up the series on your thread, Cushla. I'm enjoying my visits to Tudor England.

Hi Cushla, I'm about one-third through On Canaan's Side. Have done very little reading this weekend, but have to get back to it, too - it's so beautifully written.

I have the #2 book in the Sansom series on my shelf and I'm tempted to read it right away but I seldom do that with a series. I'm going to check and see whether my library has the rest of the series.

Happy Thingaversary Cushla and I'll be adding Zoo Station to the teetering tower after your terrific review.

the teetering tower Well said, Bonnie! Hear, hear!

Hi Cushla, just on the kindle thing, I think you have to download some software so that the library books are readable for the kindle but I'll check on that.. I'm still very much a supporter of old-school reading but it's a bit cute to see how much my husband loves his kindle. No other piece of technology in recent years has elicited as much praise from him as this wee device.

Happy fifth Thingaversary Cushla! Thanks for the tip on library elf - unfortunately, my library is not included, so I'll have to carry on trying to remember my return dates myself. I do end up paying fines from time to time, but I don't mind that as it all helps to keep the library system afloat!

I use my smartphone (Android) occasionally for reading e-books, but as the screen is fairly small it's not my main preference for reading. But I now have two (free) e-reader apps on it, one from Kindle and one from Overdrive. I've downloaded a few of the free books from the Kindle site, and now with the Overdrive app I can access my library loans, but also it seems I can use that app to get books from Project Gutenberg and other free ebook collections. I think I can resist the temptation to have a 'proper' Kindle or other e-reader while I can get all these for free on my phone.

#15 Cushla, I'm in Central PA. All the surrounding counties' libraries offer e-books but not mine.

Great that they're coming soon! (Sorry, I was guessing that you were from California because of your username.)

It's my initials, the year I graduated and my birthyear. I'm not very creative.

Going back to your last thread Cushla, I really enjoyed the descriptive bits in Man Alone and thought they were very evocative. The only bit I misread was where Johnson enters the bush which for some reason I thought was a kind of sparse desert and not a dense forest/jungle. I think I was getting confused in my mind with the Australian outback landscape. Anyway, a quick google sorted me out.

#4 Fantastic news about the Wellington library - and your husband's reaction. That's definitely the mark of a good husband in my opinion :-)

I don't know why I haven't read any Kate Grenville but I really ought to.

#25 Never heard of David Downing before but Zoo Station sounds good so another wishlist hit for me.

#26 Happy Thingaversary!

#44 Leonie, I'd also love to know what the software is your husband uses to read the library books on his kindle. I've used calibre to convert DRM free ebooks to kindle format but I didn't think that worked with ebooks from the library.

My library just announced that we can check books out for our Kindle. I went through pages and pages of books and found very little (very, very little) that was actually available. I don't know if it's because they're shared over such a large area (N. Calif.) or if they aren't quite up yet.

#49: Heather - it's been a while since I read Man Alone, but if I remember rightly the bush he enters is around the Tongariro National Park which is mostly rather sparse and unfriendly.

I borrowed my first e-book, The Last Hundred Days a week or so ago, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. We now have an iPad so I can do this with an Overdrive app, but still have to find time to read when the device isn't being used by others.
I've borrowed quite a lot of audiobooks and once they've been transferred to my iPod I can keep them without worrying about losing them, which now means I have too many to listen to, and an iPod stuffed to bursting point. I'm making a point at the moment of listening to Kim Hill's Radio NZ literature themed podcasts especially Kate's Klassics as I got very behind on them.

#51 Thanks Kerry. I did try to look up the names of some of the places Johnson visited but I missed that one for some reason. That looks more like what I was imagining.

I used to live just there to the right of that photo!!

Happy Thingaversary, Cushla! Why, you are a veteran! I am sorely tempted to get a Kindle - especially as they are now available from my local supermarket for goodness sakes, so every time I go there, I ponder 'do I? don't I?'. I tell myself it would be ver hand when I am travelling at the end of October - easier than toting books around...but then how will I ever get through the Shelves of Shame if I start on the Kindle? Decisions! decisions!

Ah but the kindle will stop the shelves of shame from expanding and becoming the house of shame - it lets you chip away at the mountain :) Though I still tout my sony e-book over the kindle...

And a bit of a belated Happy Thingaversary Cushla. We're boiling over here - must be crazy hot for you?

#53 It's a beautiful landscape. I don't think we have anything quite like it here although the purplish plants look a bit like heather so it could be Scottish but I don't think the mountains would be so high and so volcano-like. Another thing I learned about New Zealand - I had no idea you had an active volcano.

Heather we have many active volcanos, in fact Auckland city is built on about 15 of them I think! Crazy really but they are all dormant.. for now. The landscape in the photo is dry and rugged and believe it or not there is a sand desert in this area as well which gets covered in snow in winter. The main state highway that goes through here has the alternative name of The Desert Road.

If I'm right, that photo has the cone shaped Mt Ngaruhoe and the smaller one is Mt Tongariro which used to be a cone shape as well. The third mountain just outside shot on the left is Mt Ruapehu and also used to be cone shaped before it blew. Ruapehu has been spewing a bit of ash over recent years but is safe enough for 3 ski-fields to be full of people at the moment!

Sorry.. didn't mean to hijack this thread but I adore this Volcanic Plateau region and it brings back some great memories.

It does look lovely - I've wanted to visit NZ since seeing the Lord of the Rings films. All the advertising worked on me :-)

Gorgeous photo!

And one last comment - Mordor scenes were filmed in the National Park for Lord of the Rings. Mount Ngauruhoe was a stand in for Mt Doom.

Yes, it was the Lord of the Rings films that did it for me, too. Though I'll wait until Cushla gets home and we can arrange a NZ meetup!

I am loving the NZ scenery on here - it's nice having you all chatting about it while I'm running round like a chicken doing jobs!! And I would love all of you to come and visit!!

Heather, that photo of the Central North Island plateau is exactly how I visualised the first part of Man Alone when he's on the run. But when he crosses the main road and it's thick bush, I couldn't visualise it because it's not a part of the country I know that well.

I don't even know what I'm doing - a mix of school stuff, German, getting ready to move - but I am suddenly reading very little. I hope it is just this week. I have two good long train trips in October so am planning some TIOLI reads... Hannover, 5 hours away, and Paris next weekend, 3+ hours away.

I'm going to try to catch up on lots of threads after my German lesson today.

Where else are you going to try to get to before you have to hop the plane back to the Antipodes?

That's about it now Suzanne. We are both feeling travelled out and it's 2 months yesterday till we fly home. Tim's just had 4 days in Berlin, and is going to Weimar this weekend. We'll also try squeezing a few day trips in in November.

I've wanted to visit NZ ever since a colleague about 25 years ago used to spend Christmas there with her daughter every year and showed me wonderful photos. The LoTR films clinched it.

Cushla, how long will you need to get settled before we all descend on you for a visit?!

I'm with Genny Cushla let us know where to pitch the tents! I remember at my middle school aged 12 we had a visit from the New Zealand tourist board extolling the virtues of all things Kiwi. I distinctly remember the person giving the talk was from Wanganui and he left a very lasting impression on me in that it is one place I have always longed to visit but not yet made it. ah....maybe one day.

So Cush, you'll be home for Christmas? ETA: if you do Christmas, that is.

We'll be home at the start of December and I am so excited. Well, we'll be home to my parents' place which is a 10 minute drive from our house. Our tenants get the boot the week before Christmas. You're all invited to put up your tents on the front lawn by January!!

Paul - she must *really* have made an impression...! Wanganui used to have a really good kids' playground when I was little - we would go through there on the way from New Plymouth where we lived to my grandparents' place in Te Horo on the Kapiti Coast (now you can all go and have a look!). It really is a gorgeous country and I would love all of you to turn up one day.

I got some reading done today and am going to try to finish Sarah Thornhill today or tomorrow. It's really good - and it's SHORT!

Kowhai Park is still there although it seems so much smaller now(I was there last year).. my girls loved it though. What part of the country do you call home Cushla?

Ah! Here you are. *star*

Funny so see the reading thread hijacked - of course its all the bests parts of NZ - can you really beat the Volcanic Plateau ?? need i ask that question really ..... Kowhai park in Wanganui did seem so much bigger than that picture when I was younger ..... better go before i start imitating grumpy old men :)

That's a fantastic picture of Kowhai Park - it has obviously been done up since 1975! And Alex I remember that whale being enormous. Must go back before the kids get too big for playgrounds.

Book 54:

I finished Sarah Thornhill and have given it 3 1/2 stars. It's the sequel to Kate Grenville's excellent The Secret River, but I don't think it matters if you read this one first. I had totally forgotten what happened in The Secret River, which is pertty dopy because at the time I loved it and immediately added Kate Grenville to my favourite authors list on here. Not remembering did not detract from the book at all, and if anything made it slightly better because there was clearly a Dark Secret From The Past.

Sarah Thornhill is the youngest of 5 children in the Thornhill family. Her father, William, and her mother Meg were English convicts who were sent to Australia. William is now well-off, remarried to a very unlikable woman, and doing a pretty good job at being upright and respectable. Sarah talks about the "taint" of being an ex-convict though, which is still there. Grenville does a great job again at making you feel like you are back in Australia 200 years ago, up the Hawkesbury River. Sarah grows up and falls in love with Jack Langland, from one of the other farming families in their community. Jack's mother was an Aborigine woman but he's been brought up in the Langland family as one of them, but only up to a point. Jack's best friend is Will, Sarah's oldest brother, and they work on the sealing boats that go to New Zealand. There's a strong New Zealand strand to the story (but I don't want to give away the plot).

As you'd expect in a book set in early Australia the main themes are race and class and the different attitudes of the immigrants to the Aborigines. Mostly though this reads like a straightforward good story of Sarah and how she falls in love with a boy who's not good enough for her parents. I really enjoyed it, but it didn't blow me away like the Secret River did at the time.

Edited to add that I just googled to have a look, and Sarah Thornhill is already #3 in Australia on the bestsellers list 3 weeks after it's published!

#72 Excellent review Cushla. I don't think that's released in the UK until next year but that gives me time to read The Secret River! I also like the look of The Lieutenant.

Heather, I haven't read that one yet but have heard good things on here. The Idea of Perfection was also 5 stars for me. The iPad insists that I call you bather!! stupid auto-correct...

Great review, Cushla! Laughed at your quip, "stupid auto-correct"!! I can relate! I am SO much faster when my computer isn't trying to "help" me!!

Excellent review, Cushla. I love Kate Grenville, too -- also rated The Idea of Perfection 5 stars.

Hmmm - I might give it a miss!

Love that park though - well, my daughter would love it, so big loving by proxy. They are building a new park near(ish) my house with lots of big wooden climbing frames etc - and a prayer tree (not so sure about that yet). Quite excited.

#74 Well bather is better than 'heavier' which is what the predictive text on my phone always suggests!

Hi Nancy, Laura, Heather and Bekka. Haaa Heather, that is dreadful. The predictive text is only on the ipad and I have yet to figure out how to turn it off.

Bekka - seriously, a prayer tree? Is it affiliated to a church? Very cool news though about a new playground.



I have the kids on my own again this weekend but am having a much better run at reading. I downloaded When the Emperor Was Divine yesterday, because it has been on my wishlist for over 2 years and fits the main TIOLI Challenge this month. I finished it this afternoon.

I don't know exactly why, but I did not love this book at all. It's about a Japanese family who gets split up and detained during WW2 and it should have been exactly my kind of book, but the writing made little impact on me until I got to the last chapter, which I liked a lot (and rescued the book from a 2 1/2 star fate - I ended up giving it 3). My main problem, as far as I can figure it out, is that the biggest chunk of the book is told by the 8 year old boy. I have a nearly 8 year old boy, and I don't believe he thinks like this one did. It was all just too fluent and articulate.

Almost everyone else I know on LT who's read this has given it at least 4 stars, so I wouldn't let my opinion put you off the book.

I do want to read some more books on the same subject though. I'm pretty sure New Zealand had its Japanese citizens in camps too but I haven't read anything about it.

Great review, Cushla. I've had more than one experience where a well-loved and highly rated book has done little for me. But it's fun to swim upstream every once in a while non? I think I'd also find sustained fluent, articulate dialogue from an eight-year-old a bit much.

#79 Yup - no church link, I think they just thought it was a good idea! Not sure if it's prayer-prayer or rather a hopes/dreams tree. We will see.

Hi Cushla, no reason to make excuses for not loving When the Emperor was Divine. It was a four star read for me but I could see how it might be less than that for others. I'm now reading Obasan which tells about the Japanese internment in Canada. I'm liking it even more than Emperor.

I've been looking for Obasan and Nisei's Daughter on the Wellington libraries website today and am quite surprised that neither is in their catalogue - doesn't happen very often. Will have a look on BookMooch though.

I also googled to find out what happened in NZ and we did put the Japanese and Germans and Italians in a camp at Pahiatua (originally Somes Island, till the Swiss embassy intervened and said it breached the Geneva Convention because it was a possible military target). There were abotu 200 prisoners. It is terrible to think that we did that (and even worse that some of the Germans were Jewish refugees from the Nazi regime). There's a Maurice Gee novel, Live Bodies, based on one of the Jewish refugees that I'll try to find when we're home. For the non-NZers, Maurice Gee is one of our Famous Authors but of course I have not read anything by him.

That's a piece of our history I didn't know about Cushla, I think I'll look out for the Maurice Gee book - especially since I haven't read anything by him either.

I just remember in 7th form that everyone taking English groaned about Plumb. I didn't take English but it has put me off, probably unreasonably, for 20 years!

I read Plumb last year and I groaned as I read it. It's really good but dull at the same time. I haven't read Live Bodies but have read a few of his other adult books and all of his children's novels. I have a copy of Obasan somewhere, if I can find it you can borrow it from me when you want to read it once you're back in Wellington.

Kerry that would be great, thanks!

Just saying hello as I have no knowledge of your recent reads!

Live Bodies is a Maurice Gee I've owned for years but as per the 'rules' of my house, still haven't read. Why is it that the books we own are always the last ones to get a look in?

Hello Cushla - thanks for sharing the photos! Ashamed to admit I have not read any Kate Grenville - I definitely prefer to visit other places in my reading rather than my own backyard...and as I write this I feel a bit guilty. *must remedy*

I've been AWOL again - real life, mostly good! In half an hour I go to Paris for the weekend, and I've spent a few hours figuring out what we're doing and where we're eating. A good friend from home who lives in Kent is meeting me there so it should be loads of fun! (Plus, 3 1/2 hours of reading time on the train each way.) I see a trip to The Red Wheelbarrow in my future. And maybe Shakespeare and Co... I'm just taking the ipad with me, no real books, because I know I'll buy something while I'm there.

Prue I have just finished another excellent book from your neck of the woods - well nearly, northern NSW - The Ghost at the Wedding. I don't know how long my Australian run will last, but the last 2 have been great! I know what you mean about raeding further from home though, because I haven't been reading much from NZ, but that might change soon because when I do I love it.



Shirley Walker wrote this book as a memoir of her mother-in-law's Jessie's life. There are only 11 LT members who have this book, which really surprised me and is a real shame - it's a very moving story about World War One's devastating impact on one Australian family, and I'd love to see it have more readers.

Jessie Walker was born in 1899 in northern New South Wales, where her parents Tom and Janet farmed sugar cane. Janet's family emigrated to Australia when the Scottish Highlanders were thrown out, and Tom came from Somerset in England. Jessie ended up marrying Eddie, one of three boys born to Harry and Margaret. Harry's Dad emigrated from Sweden and married Margaret, who was Irish. She died of tyhoid fever and left Harry with three kids he couldn't look after - so he left them at the railway station with nuns from the orphanage. Eddie never forgave him. Janet and Tom ended up having 12 kids (I think - I lost track!) and Joe, the eldest and Jessie's best friend, went off to the war. So did Eddie and his two brothers. We follow them through to the late 1950s. There's lots in here about Gallipoli, the Western Front, and later in WW2 the terrible Kokoda Track battle in New Guinea. And you get a really strong sense of how isolated Australia was from the action in World War One, and how the boys left seeking adventure and all who went found futility and despair instead.

The cover picture shows Eddie just before he went to fight in the Australian Imperial Forces. I gave it four stars - I would have loved to have seen Jessie's paintings, which structure the story quite a lot, and I was a little disappointed at the end to read that a couple of people are invented - I like my non-fiction to be non-fiction! (They fitted well into the story, and I think it was just that the author had a gap abuot Jessie's working life that she needed to fill, but still.)

If I have wifi on the TGV I will try to catch up on some threads later on this morning. If I don't, I hope you all have a good weekend and I will eat some gooey French cakes for everyone on here.

*Nom* - gateaux... petits fours... mille feuille... *drools*

Have a greta time in Paris Cushla - take us some photos.

Green with envy Cushla - love train travel especially and miss that somewhat in KL. Have a wonderful weekend in the romance capital of the world

Also green at a 3.5 hour train ride to Paris for the weekend! The ride sounds as wonderful as the weekend in the romance capital of the world Enjoy, Cushla!

Love your review of The Ghost at the Wedding. Sounds like one to explore!

The weekend is with one of my friends - husband is at home looking after F and T!!

Have just had a LOVELY afternoon and am sitting in th Latin Quarter before I head to the train to meet my friend. Paris is still my favourite city, even when it's a bit rainy. Hooray for free wifi in the bar! I spent the afternoon walking down from Place de la Republique where we're staying, through the Marais, and had a long detour at the Red wheelbarrow. Lovely shop. The books were dear but I bought three: Homesick by Eshkol Nevo, an Israeli author , New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani, which has just been translated from Italian and apparently he's well-known in Europe, and No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym for something easier.

Bella STUPID IPAD!!!! Bekka (we can all call you Bella if you like it) I have been good so far - one piece of orange cake, one ham sandwich, and now a bottle of water. will make up for it at dinner though...

Oh you exotic travelling kiwi expat types are always going to Paris for the weekend....
*sigh*
:)

Enjoy your weekend!

#96 Funny!

Love the Paris update, enjoy!

Glad you're having such a debauch good time there in Paris, Cushla. No, really. I am. Glad, glad, glad.

*pokes hot pins into A Certian Kiwi's voodoo dolly esophagus*

Have a lovely din-din!

Very envious of the Paris sojurn -- since my own was less than 24 hours and about 10 months ago!! I love the left bank, esp. the area around the Luxembourg, Odeon, St. Germain, et al. Not to mention the left bank of the Seine. And oh, the giant FNAC bookstore *drooling*
Also drooling at the food.
Ok, am going off to whimper quietly to myself. And see if Kate Grenville's books are readily available at the library.

Hi and it's nice to read your messages. I'm sorry for causing whimpering Suz... Um but I am sitting in Place in your favourite part watching them open up the food market. I'm on breakfast number 1.
Megan this is my last trip and I am saaaaaad!! It'll be ages till we're back. and Richard, please not the oesophagus.

I would like to read my book but there is a tourist at the next table discussing LOUDLY her husband's torn meniscus and the air conditioning not working in their hotel in Zagreb.

rue de Buci?? I am currently an ugly shade of emerald green.

Kate Grenville is not only available at the library, but The Secret River has become my first Kindle library loan!!!

add me to the drooling/jealous list of your visit to Paris .... enjoy now if only we could have a sound blocking device for whining tourists

OK, I'm a little green too, though I spent quite a bit of time on Heather's thread being envious so have it in control now. I hope you enjoy the Eshkol, I read his World Cup Wishes last year and liked it a lot.

Ah, Paris. Thanks for keeping us in touch, Cushla.

Oh. well. ok. grudgingly. have a lovely time in Paris. Ok? What do you mean I didn't sound sincere? You think I'm envious? Damn bloody right I am!! Hope it's a great girl's time!

It's a hard life, sitting in a cafe in Paris having first breakfast (are you secretly a hobbit?).

>107 gennyt:: LIKE!

Haa Genny! That was funny. I think breakfast is my favourite meal of the day.

Back to real life now, in the form of half term break and what seems to be a mild dose of the flu. Ugh. And a book I am getting very sick of - don't all yell at me down the computer because I know a fair few of you love her but... I am on my third Barbara Pym book and I think she's just not for me. This one is No Fond Return of Love and I am finding the main character very drippy and none of the characters likable. Unless it picks up in the last 80 pages, it might be a 2 star for me... unmarried woman stalks loser academic and his family - sigh.

I will try to catch up on threads over the next few days when the kids have their friends over to play!

Sorry you're not enjoying Pym, Cushla! Looking at my ratings for Pym books, No Fond Return of Love appears to be the one I liked best so far. Go figure :)

Oh, how lovely, Cushla! A trip to Paris! It sound lovely! Hmm, I've just read one Pym and it was Excellent Women and I quite enjoyed it. I'm hoping to get to Quartet in Autumn - but as yet it is still languishing on the shelf....

Still haven't read any Pym though I have a couple of her books including a delectable edition of Excellent Women. I'll get there eventually,

I myownself was quite taken with Autumn Quartet. I admit to finding No Fond Return of Love a bit like a stiff-upper-lip (!) British version of "Fatal Attraction" and so not that interesting to me.

Richard, that is an excellent summary of No Fond Return of Love! I've just finished it and it gets a whole 2 stars from me.

Book 57 : 2 stars.

Dulcie Mainwaring is an indexer and goes to a conference of bibliographers. She meets Viola Dace, who's pretty rude and unlikable from her first appearance, and Aylwin Forbes, one of the speakers at the conference. Viola has some background with Aylwin, whose wife has just left him, and is distraught, and wakes Dulcie up in the middle of the night asking her for sleeping pills. Dulcie immediately takes a liking to Aylwin (without exchanging more than 5 sentences with the guy) that develops into obsession within a day or so. Viola ends up moving in to Dulcie's spare room, and so does Laurel, Dulcie's 18 year old niece who's just moved to London.

There were some funny bits, especially in the first few chatpers, but I just couldn't get over Dulcie's tragic-ness and a life so empty that she stalks not only the guy she likes at the conference but also his brother, estranged wife, and mother. I confess to having been quite a good stalker in my day - my finest stalking moment was getting the ticket seller at the Michael Fowler Centre to tell me where Tim was sitting and sell me the seat next to him at a concert, and here we are 19 years later - but Dulcie just felt so sorry for herself I couldn't stand it! I also couldn't stand Viola Dace, and the comments about Bill Sedge, the Jewish refugee from Vienna, being a funny little man got right up my nose. (And I know they were ironic - he ends up being the only likable, normal guy in the book - but by the time I got to that part of the book I had made my mind up!)

Richard, I will try Quartet in Autumn because the other 2 books of Pym's I've rated 3 1/2 stars and there are some things I like about her writing - her characters and description of English life in the 1960s. I think Excellent Women was my favourite of the other two. And Laura, I saw that you liked this one and so did almost everyone else - its average rating is 4.06 stars!!

I think I need a book that is not set in England. I'm nearly finished Maisie Dobbs but that is pretty English too...

#104 Kerry, I started Homesick yesterday just to see what it's like and I'm enjoying it. Did he skip around with narrators a lot in the one you read? It took a bit of getting used to but with a bit of re-reading I think I'm figuring out who's who.

Not really, but I'm working from memory. It's sort of a 'manuscript' by one guy in a group of friends about their lives in the four years since the last World Cup, another friend is editing it and I think he comments from time to time as conversations, motivations are misinterpreted etc etc.

Just had a look - looks good too.

I'll be interested to see how your review of Homesick.

If it's any sort of a guide, Cushla, I liked Excellent Women next-best of the Pyms I've read, and wet, gormless Dulcie makes No Fond Return of Love a grating, impossibly annoying read. I want to wring the enshrouding mist of self-pitying tears out of her, give her a good, hard shake to rattle some spine into her, and then stake her to an anthill in the Moroccan desert on principle.

OK, looks like we have the same ranking pattern. I don't deal well with wet and gormless in RL either!

Now reading Homesick properly - can't get the ipad to finish off Maisie Dobbs...

>120 cushlareads: Amen to that!

*de-lurk*
Quick hello!
*re-lurk*

#122 ditto :)

I think I read No Fond Return of Love last of all the Pyms and by then I was a confirmed fan...I love Quartet in Autumn a lot too, Richard. I think Pym likes to look at all manner of relationships from every possible angle but not everyone will like the perspective she's playing with, I guess.

Cush, you need to read some Canadian lit!

Hello, hello, hello and hello!

Tui, there is definitely something about Pym's writing that I like, even when I can't stand her characters. She really gets into their heads. And yes to more Canadian lit - I was reading quite a lot of it in 2009 before we moved and started a challenge thread over in the read-all-of-Canada Challenge group, and promptly stopped!

I've just finished Book 58 - Maisie Dobbs - a recommendation from Tui's thread and yet another mystery series that I will be continuing with. It already has 83 reviews and 191 conversations on here, so I am late getting on the bandwagon. There are 9 books already!

It's 1929 and Maisie Dobbs is setting herself up as a private investigator and psychologist in London. She's asked to investigate a suspected case of marital infidelity, and trails a woman to a cemetery. She solves this case quickly - and insists that the husband take her advice on his wife too - but it leads her to a bigger one - one so obvious that it's not really a mystery. A good half of the book is Maisie's own story, which I liked but found a little too pat. Maisie entered into service as a housemaid in 1913 when her mother died. Her father, Frank, was a fruiterer who delivered veges to Lady Rowan, a suffragette married to Lord Julian Compton, a senior civil servant. *minor spoilers in next para* Maisie was extremely bright (as well as a very nice person with excellent social skills) and Lady Rowan saw that she got educated by a friend of hers, Maurice Blanche, while she continued to work as a servant. Maisie ended up going to Girton College at Cambridge just as World War One broke out. (I had to suspend disbelief quite a few times during Maisie's story.) She ends up nursing in France and falls in love.

There were a few things that bothered me - Maisie misled the woman she was trailing for a lot longer than she needed to, becoming friends with her and getting her to trust Maisie. I liked her a bit less after this. And it was all a bit good to be true. I want to keep reading to find out how Winspear develops her and the other characters though.

The subject matter in this book is pretty similar to that of The Return of Captain John Emmett and I felt that the writing was stronger in TROCJE. *major spoilers follow for both books so I bet only about 2 people will read the next para!* In both books one of the main subjects is the British Army's policy of executing deserters, in both books there's a mysterious/suspicious home for returned soldiers with horrific injuries and mental illness with a suspect owner or leader, and in both books one of the main characters is in love with a damaged hull of a human being who lives on in a hospital. I wondered if Elizabeth Speller had read the Maisie Dobbs series - I felt a bit funny about so much overlap, as if she must have read it as part of her research, but also felt that Speller did a much better job at giving an insight into what it must have been like to be on the Western Front. *end of spoilers*.

I also felt that Winspear did a bit too much " Look at my research and I will tell you all of it" (e.g. telling the reader that x had been in Craiglockhart hospital and that Siegfried Sassoon had too) but I still really liked the book for the period flavour. 3 stars and recommended if you like reading about WW1 and the devastation it left behind.

With books like this, I find I don't tend to overthink them because I read them for pure escapism. I think Maisie grows as Winspear goes on with her (or perhaps Winspear's writing gets better?) but there are aspects I don't investigate too much (like the meditative and psychological stuff she does with her mentor...blanking on his name right now...and brings to her investigations) because it isn't why I'm reading the story. I suppose there is a good deal of "suspension of disbelief" which might not go on in a more serious work but I do that with mysteries (unlike Himself who furiously tries to solve them half way through). So I find myself saying things like "good fun" or "liked this one" because that's what it is. All of which is me waffling on and hoping I didn't mislead you into thinking this was Great Lit or anything.

No no - you totally didn't mislead me and I have already looked for the second one for the Kindle! (But not before I finish some of the other Kindle books. The Kindle is getting as bad as the shelves...) I want to find out what happens to Maisie. And it was definitely good fun.

Ah, Cushla, delighted you have found another mystery series which has whetted your appetite for more! I know what you mean about The Kindle is getting as bad as the shelves ... . Don't have a Kindle, at least not yet, but I keep running with book tips and loading up the iPad; at the same time, the library is emailing that the books I requested are in, and I've still got two sitting on the table that I haven't gotten to. Seems to be a common disorder among LT types, hehe!

Only Maisie #1 and #6 which I already have in hard copy were available here in Kindle when I last looked. I'm hoping a library reservation for #2 will come through next week, and I brought home #3 today. For TIOLI purposes, Maisie fits into challenges #2 (characteristic work) and #21 (set between 1910 and 1950) but Ilana had already put her in 21.

I seem to have lost your thread for a while, Cushla! Some great reads! Thanks for the warning re :No Fond Return of Love. While I enjoyed Excellent Women - not all books by the same author are created equal!

You're so thoughtful to not only warn of spoilers, but to cross it out too so there is no chance of accidentally glancing at it.

The whole "watch me show off about all the research Ive done" thing is a bit tiresome isn't it.

Very interesting to me how some take that sort of authorial grandstanding as showoffy, and I see it as wet-dog-on-sofa enthusiasm! "Oh look I know this rilly rilly cool fact that sortakindaalmost fits here but it's just SOOO NEAT that I can't help but tell you!"

Nancy, the loading up the shelves and iPad problem has got worse since LT came along, but I read far fewer clunkers now. I don't have a real kindle yet either but will get one once we're home. At least some of the e-books are free...

Lucy, it looks like all the Maisie Dobbs books are available in the German kindle shop (in English). I've downloaded the 2nd - despite my reservations about the first one it is sure to be another enjoyable book and I have lots of train time coming up.

Hi Deb! you never know, you might really like No Fond Return of Love!

Megan and Richard, sometimes I really don't notice it, eg C J Sansom weaves tons of research into the Shardlake books. Here I did. I'll try to cut her more slack in Book 2.

I am enjoying The Age of Innocence for the group read a lot and Homesick Is excellent too, 100 pages in, so I'm having a good reading week so far.

Maybe it's a publisher rights thing and you're getting the American publishers' Kindle editions of the Maisie Dobbs books. I've noticed lots of stuff available in Kindle here that hasn't been published in the UK. as it were.

Must be something like that. Whatever it is, it's great and the books are all about 6 euros.

Another one reading The Age of Innocence and enjoying it tremendously. I downloaded it last night after reading rave reviews at Bonnie's thread. Didn't even know there was a group read ... *scurries off to find*.

Donna's organising it and if you go to her thread there's a link to the first thread... or it's in the wiki. Am on chapter 9!

Hi Cushla. I have been frantically scribbling down all the Paris places mentioned for another visit - sounds like you had a great time!

So sorry to hear about the mild-flu - are you feeling better yet?

The Ghost at the Wedding sounds interesting (and you've reminded me that I still haven't read my copy of Testament of Youth) but it doesn't seem to be available at all in the UK atm. I've only read Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym which I thought was really good. I have two Pyms on the TBR shelves of shame so I will see what I think of her other books.

And Maisie Dobbs, I will get to that series one day... (And TROCJE too)

#129 Luci, it's really funny you saying that because I was sure the first MD book was available for kindle from amazon uk but when I looked the other day they only had books #5 & #6 and I thought I must have imagined it...

I could have sworn it was nos 1 and 6 too. I have #1 from a crime fiction convention goody bag years ago (the US hardback edition) and a paperback edition of Among the Mad.

Heather, I am 100% again and looking forward to the next trip away on Thursday, to Hannover to visit a good friend from home. The kids got sick at the weekend with a spectacular tummy bug, but it meant we had a lovely quiet Sunday with both of them asleep for hours! Normal energy levels have returned though. Sorry you can't find The Ghost at the Wedding in England.

Am hoping to sneak in some more of The Story of England this afternoon... it's very good and I am reading faster now that it's a bit more familiar. I'm up to 1066. It's the story of one English village, Kibworth, quite near Leicester, from before the Romans arrived till today. Apart from a ridiculous lack of maps it's very good and I've learnt a lot about the Mercians, the Danes and now the Normans. I must have read some of this stuff a few years ago in Simon Schama's History of England, but I have forgotten nearly everything.

>140 cushlareads:: I love British history and Schama's programmes were superb! I also really like Michael Wood. I think The Story of England may have also been made into a TV series, but I know I've seen something else he wrote in TV form.

Hi Cushla, I'm glad you're enjoying The Age of Innocence. It's my favorite Wharton book and gives so much to talk about.

To Nancy and anyone else interested in the group read, the link to Chapters 1-13 is here. This is an ongoing discussion --and it's not too late to join in!

It sounds like you are utilizing your iPad to the utmost for reading, Cushla. So far, I've only downloaded a few classics. I'm thinking of getting a Kindle to use exclusively for downloading library books. The price on the basic model is cheap enough to justify an ereader that will easily fit in my purse.

Laura, yes the book's based on the TV series I think. I hadn't heard of him till my friend Georgia gave me the book, but it looks like he's made lots of documentaries. I am hopeless at keeping up with TV but we really like Rick Stein's food series and have bought a couple on DVD - I must have a look on Amazon for this one when I've read the book.

MIchael Wood wrote and presented In Search of Myths and Heroes for TV with companion book. The Story of India was another one of his that I quite liked. In Search of Shakespeare was very engaging, and I'm always up for stories about ol' Willie.

A regular cottage industry, our Michael.

Did you just drop THREE books onto my wishlist?!

*evil Muttley laugh*

I *stopped* at three. Consider the implications of THAT!

You're actually a big softie and not as evil as we think ;)

>147 BekkaJo: WHAT! I categorically deny this slur upon my character! I **am** evil, wicked, mean, and nasty! harrumph Imagine saying such a thing! Really, you Jersonians.

Muahahahahhaha!

Hmm the Maisie Dobbs series sound interesting!

Stalled - on one of your books - don't you hate it when that happens!! :)

Richard your sins (well the last 3 books) are absolved because they are all in Wellington library.

Deb, stalled is ok this time, because I'm enjoying both the books but got sidetracked onto others, so it's not like I got annoyed with them. The calculus book is one that will take ages because there are lots of proofs. I might take Germany 1945 with me this weekend since I'm going to be there. Depends how much progress I've made on The Story of England though! Am running away to read now - up to 1264 and Simon de Montfort and am finally reading a bit faster now that I kind of know what's going on. But there are still 250 pages to go...

Cushla not sure that Hannoverians particularly want to be reminded of 1945 which must be the annus horribilis of their entire history! I must say that on my travels I have always found Germans to be especially easy to talk to about history (with a smidgen of sensitivity of course) and I worked for Siemens for a few years in the early 1990'S which may or may not have help an understanding of the German Psyche. In my experience the post-war generation of Germans are the most peace loving people in Europe and their acceptance of the blame for the war is actually quite dignified. As someone actively pro-semitic it should still be noted that wrongs were done on all sides during the wars and to the victor the spoils and the monopoly on being right I guess. Having read Beevors and Evans on the subject a thought should also be spared for the average German who was also, if less equally, terrified by the Hitler regime and the catastrophe it brought upon them.

Paul, I will be hiding the cover!! And Yes I agree, at least in my experience - my German friends are acutely aware of the war still and it is such a huge part of their consciousness. I read Spiegel and in many if not most issues there's an article on some aspect of WW2. Have you read Every Man Dies Alone? I loved it - made you realize how terrifying life was.

Still haven't read Beevors' book on Berlin but I have it here. I loved his Stalingrad too.

Am up to 1314 and the Great Famine in England in my book. seems wrong to be reading With my latte and marmite toast. will be Internet-less for 4 days because I'm leaving my beloved iPad here with Tim and the kids.... Eeek!

Love my history Cushla as I know you do! Beevors books are very good but the font on my editions are excruciatingly small. I haven't read Hans Fallada 's book as yet but will as soon as I find it (think my copy is in my cases in UK at my mums). My edition is called Alone in Berlin and you have just reminded me to add it to my library!

English history is more familiar to me of course given my schooling and original uni major. The War of the Roses through to the start of the Georgian age is probably my favourite period and you are almost there. Mmm I guess truckloads of marmite and latte would have been gratefully received in 1314 although they may had been a little non-plussed by the trucks and personally I would rather skip the odd meal than suffer marmite hehe! Shouldn't your last sentence have read ...."leaving my iPad with my beloved Tim and the Kids!!! (just kidding I know what you mean!)

Oh yeah.... Good point!

I am hopeless on English history up till Henry VIII then good through till 1689 (We did half the year in 7th form history on Elizabeth I through to the glorious revolution) but love it. right, back to reading about leprosy and typhoid...

*flees in terror from Marmite*

Wait...Marmite *was* a Mongol conqueror's name, right?

Have either you or Paul read Roger Moorhouse's Berlin at War?

One of the things that intrigued and impressed me about Life and Fate, set during the Battle of Stalingrad, is that he even included several sections about the German soldiers. Actually, even Hitler himself had a chapter (as did Stalin).

Luci, I haven't but will certainly look it up. It was in the Literary Review fairly recently and I marked it down then as one for the future. I have a habit of trying to buy up what catches my eye in this August Magazine but I can't keep up.

Grossman's opus is up for me before the year end I am sure. Reading Hemmingway's effort on the Spanish Civil War For Whom the Bell Tolls which must be amongst his best work for the TIOLI and my Nobel reading challenge.

I reviewed Moorhouse for www.thebookbag.co.uk - link to my review on the work page

Luci thanks for that - very interesting site and excellent review.

>154 cushlareads: 155 Alone in Berlin is one of my $2 book sale finds from last weekend....I grabbed it because the cover reminded me of City of Thieves. Ill be bumping it up the TBR list now!

>157 richardderus: a lot of people flee from terror from Marmite. I used to delight in getting Japanese visitors to try both Marmite and licourice......fairly intense flavours for those not used to them!

Now liquorice I do like! There is a home made strawberry flavour available in UK which is worth doing time for - just don't serve it together with the marmite!

I am particularly fond of salt licorice as found in Sweden & the Netherlands...

Am not particularly fond of the Maisie Dobbs books -- I find Maisie herself a bit ponderous and self-righteous as a character, always so focused on doing right by all the people she encounters and solving the world's problems that she irritates me. One of her recent books was better, I thought, but I did like Speller's book more and also prefer "Charles Todd" and that series of books featuring shell-shocked Scotland Yard inspector Ian Rutledge and the ghost of his (deserter!) sergeant, Hamish. And the single best post WW1 mystery I've read was by Rennie Airth.

Oh, I like Marmite, too. And adore Twiglets...

I loathed the first Charles Todd book and haven't tried the series again. I met the son part of Charles Todd, he seemed like a nice guy but it was rather embarrassing when he asked what I thought of the book.

Well there you go. Chacun à son goût and all that. She didn't hit me that way at all. However, while I like the Rutledge books, his constant dialogue with Hamish and his nae sae guid Scottish accent started to grate in the earlier books (he actually had me talking to Hamish, telling him to shurrup). But I with you about the licorice. Must check out the Rennie Airth.

OK, I go away for 4 days and I come back and there are a gazillion recs for new books on here!!

I had a fabulous weekend in Hannover and Berlin and will put up some photos later on, especially because they relate to the Germany 1945 book, which I have nearly finished.

Luci, funny that you mention the Moorhouse book because I went to Dussmann in Berlin on Saturday with my friend from Hannover and she bought it for her husband after I said that I'd seen good reviews for it. I will try to read it in the next year or too - the subject matter is pretty close to my current book though and I have a big pile of unread Holocaust/WW2/aftermath books...

Licorice, ICK! Even the strawberry kind. Maybe especially the strawberry kind.

Am going to investigate the Rutledge books once I've got dinner on. And Megan, well done on finding Alone in Berlin for $2!! I thought it was outstanding.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Germany 1945 I am envious that you get to travel in Germany and meet the people etc at the same time! The total destruction of Berlin as described in the book must be hard to imagine while walking around in modern day Berlin.

I've only read one Pym book, Excellent Women which was actually for the monthly author read group. I enjoyed reading it - in a low key sort of way. There is a challenge in the November TIOLI to read an author you have only read once. I might take the opportunity to read another Pym.

I can't believe I finally caught up with your thread! I always get hit with so many book bullets that when I'm on your thread, I spend half the time adding the books to my TBR pile. It's slow going that way. :-)

I think I'm the only person in the LT universe who wasn't bowled away by Every Man Dies Alone. I must reread it sometime; perhaps I was just being grumpy that week.

A weekend in Paris without the kids... Oh, what I wouldn't give!

>168 kiwiflowa: I thought Alone in Berlin was worth the gamble, plus, published by Penguin and they've got taste even if I haven't!

Hi!! Thanks so much for visiting despite my no-posting. I'm here, just hit by real life - moving jobs galore, Fletcher sick with asthma (ugh how I hate asthma attacks in kids when you think it is much better) and best friend here moving home to England today, so have been a bit sad.

I have started writing a review of the Germany book and wouldn't usually muck around for so long, except that there is only one other review and it's not a good one. (Edited to add that it was a perfectly good review, but by a person who thought the book wasn't very good... not the same thing!!)

Lisa in NZ I hope you like your next Pym too. I have quite a few books that fit that challenge - just started looking at the new TIOLIs last night and there were 80 messages already!!

Lisa in WA it is really nice to see you here and I was lurking on your therad in CR yesterday! Funny about your reaction to Alone in Berlin - we like so many of the same books that it's interesting when you don't. But for me a lot does depend on mood. Megan, have you read it yet? You're right about Penguins too. They're usually a good bet.

The movers are coming in 2 1/2 weeks so I am starting to figure out what books are going to last me from Nov 17 till December 2. I'll have the ipad but it is going to be in high demand while we're on the planes - and it is so hard to read on in bed! I'm in the middle of the 7th Donna Leon book, which is the kind of demanding-ness level I'm at right now. And Homesick continues to be good but I'm not getting through much very fast.

Wow, it seems as if it's only been a few months since I was offering book suggestions for your plane trip from NZ to Switzerland, and now you're going back...

How far along are you with the David Downing books? They will make good accessible reading twixt now and December, or on the plane. Have you thought about buying a Kindle before you go home, and loading it with books that you might not be able to order (copyright issues) once you are back?? I just notice there are all kinds of UK books I can't order from here. Anyway -- back to Downing's books -- Potsdam Station is set in the destructive finale of the battle for Berlin. Won't tell you more than that...

different kinds of book!!!!!!

>171 cushlareads: No I havent started Alone in Berlin yet, but I have (instead of reading) created a new shelf on my bookcase for all my new purchase. Oh how I love to shuffle my books around.....

Suz I know - nearly 2 years have gone so fast. I have loaded up the ipad Kindle a bit, and will try to keep it set to Amazon.de once we're home. I looked into buying a German kindle last week but they won't ship to Switzerland (they had a great 99 euro deal) and I will just get one once we're home (and maybe wait for one of the new models - will see which one - at least now I know that I love reading on an e-reader, so I will definitely get one soon).

I have the second David Downing book and it is definitely going on this month's list - it's on the ipad. So is Still Life, Freedom from Fear, The Age of Innocence, some Katherine Mansfield, Zola's first Rougon-Macquart book, the second Maisie Dobbs, and Barchester Towers. So if I can get the ipad away from the kids for long periods I will be happy!!

#172 Megan - ha ha - shuffling books around is half the fun... I can't wait for a big sort out when we're back! (Might be a capacity problem though because I have bought far more than I expected over here.)

Hi Cushla . I look very forward to your review on Germany 1945. Unlike Paul and many others, I confess to being much more of a science and math girl when I took courses in school. It's really only in the past years that WW11 and WW1 have held much interest for me.
Hmmm I've read a Pym - Excellent Women and I very much enjoyed it. Perhaps I will read Quartet in Autumn if I get a chance.

I feel for you , Cushla, writing your review when there is no other review - or just one other. I know I written a couple of " first " reviews lately -and I really feel pressure to a decent job for the sake of other LT'ers. I hope that your little one is feeling better soon.

Cushla, I second your love of reading on an ereader! Me too! You've got lots of great material in store for your journey home to NZ. Enjoy! I have to put a plug in for Trollope's Barchester Towers : ).

Book 59: Germany 1945 by Richard Bessel - 5 stars



This is an outstanding book about Germany at the end of World War 2 and straight after it.

Bessel uses 1945 as a way to structure the book and keep it manageable - just. Instead of starting at the end of the war and moving onto the later 1940s and the start of the Marshall Plan in 1948, he focuses on Stunde Null (Zero Hour), which is what the Germans called the end of the war. The first 170 pages cover the end of the war, then he moves onto the occupation. It gets 5 stars for me for the depth of his research and the way he brings together many sources and perspectives. The maps and photos are good. It'll also win my 2011 prize for the greatest number of dog-ears I have made in a non-fiction book, because there are only 2 months left and I'm going to be reading fluff from here on. And yes, I know I should switch to post-its or something...

Bessel sums up the impact of 1945 on the German people as follows:

"As a result of the horrors they endured - particularly in the last months and weeks of the war - Germans emerged with a powerful sense of their own victimhood. They did so following a war launched by a Germany which had invaded and conquered much of the European continent, enslaved millions of people, destroyed cities and towns from Rotterdam to Minsk, caused the deaths of millions of soldiers, and murdered innocent civilians on a hitherto unimaginable scale. After the shock of their experiences during the last days of the Reich, Germans became preoccupied almost exclusively with their own problems and sorrows, and hardly concerned the mental energy to concern themselves with the problems and sorrows of others. This enabled them to emerge from the war and Nazism with a belief in their own moral rectitude, despite the crimes that had been committed in their name and, in many cases, with their involvement, whether active or passive. "

A week after I've finished the book, these are the things that have stayed in my head. If you start reading these and your eyes glaze over, this is probably not the book for you.

- the total defeat of Germany, and the desperation of the locals to get on with their lives
- how little resistance there was to the Allied occupation and how relieved many locals were to be free of the Nazi regime; Allied forces went in on the lookout for the Werewolf (resistance) movement but found nothing
- the sense among many Germans that they were victims, and a sense that the Holocaust was nothing much to do with them (this despite a lot of emphasis on forcing them to view concentration camps and acknowledge the depravity)
- the enormous upheaval of people in the wrong place: defeated Wehrmacht soldiers, Allied POWs, refugees fleeing the Red Army just before the end, thousands forced to leave their Heimat east of theOder-Neisse (East Prussia). Overall, 11 million refugees and expellees ended up in the new Germany after the war; Germany lost about 20% of its pre-war territory
- massive regional variation in German suffering: the chapter on the areas that went into Poland east of the Oder-Neisse was horrible to read but really interesting; the south-west corner (the part closest to me here in Basel) came through it easier, not that the French were exactly gentle in their treatment of the locals, but there was less destruction during the war itself
- masses of DPs (displaced persons) and a big increase in typhoid and crime, often blamed on foreigners with limited evidence
- of course, huge differences in policies and attitudes across the 4 zones, e.g. the Russians had already stripped 45% of industrial equipment and capital from their zone and moved it home to Russia by 1946, and they nationalised much of the rest so that what became East Germany started with very little capital
- how difficult it was to run a principled denazification scheme when there were terrible tradeoffs e.g. between having a member of the party advise on laying electric cables vs. not having them laid at all)
- extreme hunger
- George Patton's extreme anti-semitic views: he described the Jews in the DP camps in the American zone as "lower than animals".
- the commander of the Polish Second Army, who said of the fleeing Germans that "One must perform one's tasks in such a harsh and decisive manner that the Germanic vermin do not hide in their houses but rather will flee from us of their own volition and then once in their own land will thank God that they were lucky enough to save their heads. We do not forget Germans always will be Germans." I'd expect to read an SS officer saying this about the Poles; it was jarring to read it the other way round and made me marvel that Germany and Poland are so chummy these days.
- attitudes of the church to their role in resisting the Nazi regime: a real mixed bag, with a strong feeling that Christianity's time was again coming in Germany (and the formation later of the CDU), the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt in which clergy signatories acknowledged that they should have done more to assert Christian values; strong opposition from the Munich bishops (Catholic and Protestant) to the Americans' denazification campaign and the suffering when SS members were uniformly denounced

If you made it through that list, I highly recommend the book!

I only glazed over slightly. This sounds really interesting Cushla. Not the usual battle-by-battle war book but one that really delves into the cultural and societal implications. And I don't blame you for reading fluff from here on out! Between this heavy book and your upcoming move, I can't imagine doing otherwise.

I also finished Book 60 : A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon and enjoyed it - 3 1/2 stars again.



There are 23 reviews, and you either like this series or you don't, so I'm not adding another one. Commissario Brunetti tries to solve a kidnapping case from 2 years ago. There was much less who-dunnit in this one than usual, but I really enjoyed it. This is my favourite series of comfortable yet gritty mysteries, and I'm trying to find #8 on the shelves because I am sure it is here somewhere! I bought this one on the Kindle, but went to give it its stars and found that I own it in hard copy - bought at a second hand book fair back in 2009...

Laura I missed your post above till now. Yes, it was more interesting than a battle history a la John Keegan - I really need to concentrate on those kinds of history books whereas this was dense but flowed pretty well.

I'm happy because I'm 2 books ahead of the end of October last year, when I *just* made it to 75, and I think I should be able to manage 15 between now and the end of the year.

Great review of Germany 1945. That's on my wish list now. It's very interesting subject, I think. I know I'm guilty of not thinking much past the end of WW11 and not how Germany put itself back together.

Germany 1945 has me interested, Cushla--thanks for the great review.

Cushla - great review on Richard Bessel, a topic very close to my heart. Straight into the TBR forest for which I have now got an "LT Recommended" tag. Thinking of having a sub-tag "Cushla", or "Prue" or "Deb" or "Darryl" or "Mark" etc so that I can remember who to blame or praise later on.

Also like the earlier Donna Leon Brunetti series but I think the last two or three that I read are getting a tad complacent. The last three published are still on the shelves waiting to be tried as a result.

Loved your review of Germany 1945, Cushla (and just gave it a thumb). I agree with Deb's comment about not knowing much about Germany after WWII ended and this books sounds like a great way to remedy that problem. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Germany 1945 sounds excellent. I know most of the basics, but it would be interesting to read a coherent book that encompasses them all. I think Anthony Beevor recently came out with a book about Berlin in '45, but after slogging through a book he wrote about the Spanish Civil War that was an exercise in tedium, I've been avoiding reading that. Have you read Richard Evans' massive series on the Third Reich? It also can be a bit overwhelming, but it's good.

I noted on Cushla's other thread but I'll note here too for the record: a worthy companion book might be Embracing Defeat about Japan after WWII. It's dense and hefty, and I've been halfway through for awhile now, not because it's uninteresting but because I despair of my ability to hang onto the details.

Thanks for that recommendation, Catherine. I just put both Germany 1945 and Embracing Defeat on hold at the library. I doubt I'll be able to read both of them at the same time but I love "test driving" books from the library.

Hmmm am just noticing that you have a large number of tags (in My Books) that read TBR (Cushla); from A Dry White Season to Testament of Youth to Zoo Station and now adding Germany 1945 (your list did not make my eyes glaze over at all). Thanks for adding to my pile Cushla. If they're all as good as Testament I'm looking at 5 star reads!

What a great review Cushla. I read the other review before the book and so I thought with trepidation that while it may be on the exact topic I want it may be dry and boring and ill written. The previous review said that the author would repeat himself and wrote in a sort of set pattern - but upon reading it I didn't find that at all.. or maybe it was so interesting I didn't notice? So I'm glad there is now a lengthier more positive review.

Your points were great.. it was like a mini review of the book a few weeks after for me. Before reading this I had no idea about heimat, the massive scale of displaced persons, the massive scale or destruction and the cost it was to the allies to govern their zone. Also re: the holocaust and Naziism: Germans denied being part of it yet before the invading armies made it to their town/city etc they were hastily burning old uniforms and flags.

That's a good review, I've come across lots of the points you make in piecemeal fashion from other reading and also from watching documentary footage of the aftermath of the war so it's great to see that it's all collected together in one volume.
I'm about to read The Brigade which is also about the aftermath of the war.
Embracing Defeat sounds interesting. I remember as a child that my grandmother refused to buy anything that was made in Japan.

Thanks for visiting (and the thumbs) everyone and I'm glad you liked the review - it makes it heaps more fun reading non-fiction when I can go on about it afterwards! Anne and Deb, I hope you like it too. And Pat, it is especially fantastic to see you on my thread again!!

Catherine, I went to add Embracing Defeat to my WL only to find it is already there and I don't know who from. I usually tag WL books with a / then the name of the person, but not this time... Kerry, The Brigade is on there now too. If you really don't like it I'll just take it off, but it looks very interesting - I didn't even know there was a Jewish Brigade.

Paul, good to be warned that the Donna Leon series gets a bit uneven... I looked for #8 today in town but it wasn't there, so I'm going to wait to get it out of the library.

Suz I eyed the Richard Evans series last week in Dussmann in Berlin and didn't buy it, but I have heard of it and will try to get through it in the next few years. And I have Antony Beevor's book on Berlin in 1945, but haven't read it yet. I loved his Stalingrad book but it really was a slog - but I'm not sure that it could have been anything else. I gave up on his Spanish Civil war one the following year. I think I persevered with the grimness of Stalingrad because Fletcher was up feeding in the night and it was very peaceful sitting there in his room for a good half hour at a time reading. (Plus, it put newborn-induced sleep deprivation into perspective!)

Lisa, I'm glad you felt the same way about the book. Sometimes when there are unfavourable reviews of N-F books I wonder if I just don't notice flaws if the subject is interesting enough.

Bonnie I really hope you like the books you've put onto your WL because of me. I was just looking and have 3 tagged ones from you... The Imperfectionists (which I really liked), Every Man in this Village from a few weeks ago and The Lotus Eaters from both you and Suzanne. I thought there'd be a lot more - I open your thread with trepidation when there are tons of new posts on it!! But I've got much stricter on putting books onto my WL in the last year or so.

I have just filled the kids up with candy from a lolly hunt in the apartment for Halloween (have said we are not going out trick or treating...) so am going to try to post some of my photos from Berlin and Hannover because they tie in well to WW2. Back soon.

These first five pictures are from my trip to Hannover. It was 90% destroyed in the war, but still has some beautiful old town left. The first photo is of me outside the house where Leibniz lived - you can't go in and I'm not sure whether this is exactly where he figured out calculus, but for a maths person it was cool to see it.



This one shows the half-timbered old houses:



My friend took me to the local historical museum, which had an excellent permanent exhibition of life during the 1930s, the war, and after the war. The next 2 pics are Nazi-era posters and seeing them was quite chilling, even though I have read tons of books.

The first says "Youth serves the Fuehrer - all 10 year olds into Hitler Youth". The second says "Germay must become a land of children" (but only if you were the right kind...my own kids would not have been eligible for Hitler youth - Hitler would have said that they were the products of miscegenation and I was committing a crime against the Reich by breeding. Ugh.)



Hannover was 90% destroyed in the war by Allied bombing. There is a great model in the old town hall that shows how the city changed over hundreds of years. This pic shows the city at the end of the war.



It was good to see this while reading the Bessel book.

Lolly hunts will free up your iPad for periods of time, too... Just saying... :-)

Fascinating pics... Leibniz is cool for any philosophy geek, too, you know...

What actually is just as chilling as those posters is the idea that one day, this will be as firmly "history" as Napoleon is to us. It's startling to realize that those who experienced those years as adults are now dying at a rapid rate of old age, and soon there will be no first-person testimonies. In contrast, I grew up among people who had fought, been occupied, been in camps, been bombed, etc. I remember meeting an escaped airman who showed me the holes in his leg where the German soldiers hunting for him had driven a pitchfork into the haystack in which he was hiding, and speared him.

It's a good thing that "miscegnation" is now so accepted virtually everywhere; in another few generations, no one will even think it slightly unusual, at least in Europe, the Americas, etc. Perhaps less so in countries like Japan, which has no tradition of it and where people are v. insistent on their identity.

True!! Dentist bills might soar though. They're playing Mario on the wii now...

And now, on an even sadder note, here are some photos from Berlin. I had a day and a bit there last weekend and the photos don't show the fun bits - it was not all Holocaust contemplation! We went to the Berlin Philharmonic on Friday night, had a morning wandering round on Saturday including a wonderful half hour at Dussmann, which has a whole English bookshop within the main store, and a great coffee at a cafe called Bonanza in Prenzlauer Berg, just in case any of you are planning a trip there. Having survived 2 years in the land where the coffee is almost uniformly bad nothing like Wellington's, I would almost have travelled the 6 1/2 hours by train just for that. There was an Australian there, which explains the amazingness of the latte. Also found a very cool wooden coffee grinder from the 1950s for my husband (errr, and me... one of those kind of presents)in a knick-knack shop.

This first photo shows the Holocaust memorial. It's very moving, except when there are tourists climbing from stone to stone... What the photo doesn't show is that you can easily get lost wandering through the stones, and the ground undulates.



These next 2 are from Gleis 17, which is the platform from which 50,000 Berliner Jews were shipped to the camps. It's in a suburb called Gruenewald in the southwest of the city. It was very quiet when I visited.



From Gleis 17 it's a 10 minute train ride out to Wannsee, then a bus trip through a gorgeous leafy suburb past the Lake Wannsee yacht club to the house where Eichmann and various other Nazi dignitaries met in January 1942 to decide on the systematic extermination of all Jews. The house is now a museum of the Holocaust and I spent an hour going through it.



And to cheer everyone up after all that, here is a picture of some friends I met out walking with my poles last weekend:

Thanks for sharing the super pictures, Cushla. You have made good use of your time in Europe. I'll be sad not to get these travel reports, although I know very little about NZ and would love to see that beautiful country through your eyes as well.

Good luck on the upcoming move... always a challenge with children involved. Thank goodness for the iPad. ;-)

Thanks Donna - it has been so much fun sharing the travel with my LT friends. I'll post some from NZ once we're home, now that I've figured out the HTML!! We will be staying put for the next few years...

Hi Cushla - great pics. I'll let you know about The Brigade, I came across it after watching the movie Defiance, which is based on Defiance: The Bielski Partisans (I'll have to read this one as well). My husband's grandfather came to Palestine during the second aliya and served in a Jewish battalion in the British Army during World War One. I wish I'd asked him more about it. When I first met him in 1980, he was able to converse in the broken English he had learnt as a soldier, it was amazing as his recall got better and better. Later I had many conversations with him in Hebrew as I became increasingly fluent.

Cushla, interesting and sometimes quite moving photos from Hannover and Berlin. Didn't realise until the last shot that you had Dr. Doolittle tendencies.

Catherine Embracing Defeat does look a winner as a companion piece to the books on Berlin. Often been intruiged by the ability of Japan and Germany to rebound from the war and to amend the attitudes of its people to the world at large. Certainly the US helped with the Marshall Plan but if the comparative decline of UK and France is considered the post war performance of the two defeated nations is remarkable.

Wow, you hold a comprehensive thread Cushla! Love the big review of the war book and the pictures of your trip. I just listened to a book review on National Radio about 230 French women from the resistance who were sent to Auswitz (sp?). It is about their lives, their survival mechanisms in prison and their intense friendships. Ill have a look on their website and see who wrote it and come back to let you know in case you're interested. (I'll steer clear as it was said that it contains honest and brutal truths about cruelty inflicted upon children, I couldnt deal with that right now I dont think!)

A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorhead was the book...

Thanks for sharing the pics, Cushla! Very poignant.... and I love the cheery cows.

#202: Megan, I've also been seeing good reviews for A train in winter.

Thanks for the photos, Cushla. I would be interested to see what Hannover looked like just before the war.

I read Embracing Defeat several years ago (BLT, Before LibraryThing), and can wholeheartedly recommend it.

Kerry, that is really interesting about your husband's grandfather and lovely that you could talk with him in Hebrew. I just looked and Defiance is already on my WL, I think from Lisa but my WL tagging is pretty erratic.

Paul and Caroline - I really was making "moo moo" noises at the cows to get them to look at the camera, and I hope the locals were all still asleep.

Megan, thanks for the reference to A Train in Winter - I hadn't heard of it. I read another book by Caroline Moorhead a few years back - her bio of Martha Gellhorn - and didn't love it (3 1/2 stars, which is pretty low for non-fiction for me...I usually either abandon NF tomes or have to love them), but A train in winter sounds interesting.

Darryl I didn't take a pic of the Hannover-right-before-the-war model, so you will have to pay a visit to Germany on one of your holidays! Have you been there yet?

I bought a new book yesterday and read it in a day - Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi. I really liked it and gave it 4 stars.



There are tons of reviews already on here, so I'm not adding another one. So many LT friends have recommended this book - Darryl, Nathalie, Suzanne, Kerry, deebee, rebeccanyc - so when I saw it at Bider and Tanner yesterday I grabbed it. Thank you everyone!! It colours in a new country on my European challenge map too: Portugal.

Pereira is the Culture editor for Lisboa, a conservative newspaper in Lisbon, and it's 1938. The book is his testimonial and the style is important for the flow of the book. The subject matter is heavy - Pereira tells how he grew increasingly uncomfortable with the Portuguese government's policies - but the book is hard to stop reading and doesn't get weighed down. He's been widowed for years, still talks to his wife's photo all the time, and lives a predictable life. He eats lots and lots of omelettes (which sounded very yummy to me) and drinks gallons of lemonade, goes to the same cafe all the time, and spends a week at a health camp with seaweed treatments for obesity. Right at the start of the book, inspired by an article he reads, he phones up a guy called Monteiro Rosso and offers him freelance work writing obituaries.

This is a gripping picture of fascism and one man's attempt to figure out his limits at resisting it. The foreword is by Mohsin Hamid, who wrote The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and the book felt a bit like that - very tense, and using a writing style to make it like that. In this book it's the constant use of "{blah blah blah}, Pereira maintains."

And today I bought another book at B&T because my willpower is low and it is such a lovely shop - the first Omar Yussef mystery, The Bethlehem Murders. There is only one person who made me do it - Suzanne, again! It looks good. Am still chugging through Homesick by Eshkol Nevo too.

Pereira Maintains just sounds better each time I hear about it. It's on my provisional provisional 2012 list, so now it moves up to just one provisional!

Hannover - I've been there once, for one rainy Sunday in August 1977. A friend and I were travelling around Europe by train, sleeping on them when we could, as one did. We went from Munich to Copenhagen, but that was more than a night's worth, so we stopped halfway to wait for the next night. It happened to be Hannover. It happened to be raining. It happened to be Sunday. Everything was closed (I know Germany is still like that now, but then..... not even a cafe, as I remember it.) Talk about boring. Worse yet, my poor friend had left his book (Don Quixote) on the train. The one good thing that happened was that the nice station people (at least THOSE existed - bet they don't now) called up the next station and asked them to look for it and send it back (we knew exactly where we had been sitting, as you needed seat reservations) - and, a couple of hours later, it turned up! The kindness of strangers. Too bad about the very boring town, though (probably a little more interesting when it's dry, warmer, open.....)

>207 JanetinLondon: It's on my provisional provisional 2012 list, so now it moves up to just one provisional!
That's too much! lol

I have Pereira Maintains waiting to be read--maybe I will finally read it this month. (or...maybe I will read it tomorrow. I could...)

Hey, I missed a Germany discussion! I don't know if Germany 1945 is the book for me, but I am glad to read that it is such a honest and comprehensive work.

There's so much I'd like to write, but during the last weeks I have been so busy learning Italian that I find my English has become really rusty. I just don't find the words today...

But maybe something: it is true that the post-war Germans tried their best to 'forget' those 12 years, and I'd say it is certainly nothing to be proud of, but in a way it's a normal human reaction (I mean - how could you live with that guilt, even if you 'only' voted for the NSDAP?).
It was the 'critical youth' of the 60s, the ones born after the war or during the last years, who forced that part of history into the public focus again. I myself am very grateful for their efforts, although it meant that from a very early age on we got our yearly dose of Third Reich facts in our history lessons (not to mention the coverage on TV and in books/papers). Sometimes it was a bit weird making those jumps from the ancient Greeks and Romans directly to the Weimarer Republik, but it really turned my generation into a very peaceloving one. Like being brainwashed, but with good results. And then we grew up with the consequences of the war (the separated country) right before our eyes.
All that explains our reluctance to participate in any kind of military action, something that's often misinterpreted as a lack of loyalty to our allies. We are loyal, we just don't want war. (Just writing about my own generation here. I imagine things have already changed for the younger ones - the post-reunification youth - who grow up with the reality of German soldiers being sent to peace(?)-missions)

I haven't been to Berlin for a while now, but I remember it as a city that really breathes the history of the 1900s. It has a strange and often sad atmosphere and I guess it wouldn't be a city for me. A little too much history, maybe.

And I'm glad you liked the Pereira book!

Edited to add that as good Germans we successfully try to ignore the fact that a not-so-small part of the famous German export business is done with the production of weapons. So we don't want to make war, but have no problems selling it.
Suddenly feeling tired.....

Nathalie, I am running past my own thread and trying to get the kids to bed, but I just wanted to say thanks for your post. I will try to post something coherent tomorrow, but for now, it totally came through in the book why trying to forget the 12 years was a rational response and the things that happened at the end of the war were truly terrible for the Germans. I hope I didn't come over as sounding harsh in my summary. I spent most of the book thinking, again, how lucky I was not to have lived through such a time.

And funny you mention the weapons - I just read the first half of a Spiegel article about Germany and selling weapons to... somewhere in the Middle East (you can tell I was really concentrating. I have a habit of reading half a Spiegel article!)

I love Berlin because of its history, but I think if I were German I might find it too much. And I don't think I could live in Wannsee near the house I visited.

Janet and Anne, I hope you like it and Anne it REALLY is fast to read if you're tempted for November. Janet, I laughed reading about your Hannover trip. The weather was gorgeous all weekend and I had friends to show me round, which changes it completely - the Sunday closing thing drives me bananas still!! Plus I could speak real German and be understood without my apology-for-high-German that I do all the time here, which makes almost anywhere in Germany great for me.

I've already got Pereira Maintains in my obese wish list but your review makes me consider making more of an effort to get a copy and add it to the upper rungs of my TBR Tower.

Nice review of Pereira Maintains, Cushla. I bought two other books by Tabucchi, based on how much I enjoyed this one, which I'll read in the near future.

I need to read some more by Tabucchi, but I am not allowed to buy any new books...

I read Caroline Moorehead's book about the women of the French Resistance and found it uneven. The women were too disparate and as a result the book felt as if it jumped from one to the other. Despite the horror of the events, it was oddly impersonal as a result. A pity, because Moorehead's bio of Lucie de la Tour du Pin was amazing. (That's Dancing to the Precipice. I wouldn't recommend this latest one though, unless you're hellbent on reading everything you can about the Resistance and the camps. What I'd like to find is a really solid book about Jean Moulin.

One of the most fascinating books I read about the Third Reich was Gitta Sereny's book about Albert Speer, Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth. I should make a point of re-reading it sometime, although it's a chunkster.

Suzanne I read a book called Marianne in Chains by Robert Gildea a couple of years ago depicting the French under Nazi occupation. Consider myself a francophile but it didn't do much for my opinion of their wartime efforts even though the book trundled along a little bit too much for my liking.

Sorry for vanishing on my own thread. Our move is looming - 1 week till the airfreight goes, 10 days till the movers turn up, then 10 more days till we go - and I am reading more than I expected but posting less as I get more and more preoccupied with things to do at both this end and back in NZ.

Darryl, I'll be looking out to see which Tabucchi book you read next. Wellington library has Indian Nocturne and Little Misunderstandings of No Importance.

Caroline, hi! I am waaay behind on your thread but about to try to spend 20 minutes catching up on here. I think you'd like Pereira Maintains and it is nice and skinny for a plane trip too!

Suzanne and Paul, I've added your books to my WL - thanks. The Albert Speer book was already there thanks to Paul, Suzanne! (I have lost track of who says what around here.)

I've finished 2 good books and they made a great contrast to read next to each other. I gave them both 4 stars as well.

Book 62: Homesick by Eshkol Nevo - 4 stars
Bought in Paris because it looked interesting and had a nice cover.



Homesick was Eshkol Nevo's first novel, and it is set quite near Jerusalem in a little town called Mevaseret. It's a soap opera of a book, but in a good way. Nevo does a great job of making the characters and the place feel very real. It's set in 1995, around the time of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, and lots of Israeli politics and history seeps through the book, but not in a heavy handed way.

Noa and Amir are students - she is in her final year of a photography degree in Tel Aviv, and he wants to be a psychologist and is doing a science degree. At the start of the book, they move in together into an apartment in the Castel in Mevaseret. The town is in between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and most of its population settled there as Kurdish refugees after 1948 (I think - this is the kind of book where you glean bits of info over 400 pages). Noa and Amir's apartment is inside Moshe and Sima's house. Moshe's family is Orthodox, but Sima isn't, and this is an obvious source of tension. Moshe's parents live upstairs.

Across from the house is another family whose first son has been killed in the war with Lebanon. Their second son, Yotam, is about 10 and is struggling to deal with his parents' grief. He and Amir become friends. I really loved this part of the book.

Across the road, a bunch of workers are building a house. Most of the labourers come from the occupied territories, until getting permits to cross the border gets more and more difficult. One of them recognises Moshe and Sima's house from the building site. I'm not going to say any more, but this is a major part of the plot and i thought it was really well written and very disturbing in showing the total distrust of the Israelis of the Palestinians.

The book is told with lots of narrators, and for the first 30 or so pages it's hard to work out who's who. After that it's pretty easy and I really liked the different perspectives. It did feel about 50 pages too long though, rather like this review which was meant to be 3 sentences before I cook dinner, especially the Noa and Amir bits - Noa got quite annoying in the last half of the book.

I'll definitely be looking for Nevo's World Cup Wishes in the library when we're home.

Book 63 was the excellent first Omar Yussef book, The Bethlehem Murders. This time I really am going to write 3 sentences.



1. This is my favourite new crime series, although really there is as much in here about Palestinian politics as there is crime - it's like Inspector Brunetti but grittier and more depressing.

2. Omar Yussef is a recovering alcoholic teacher in his mid 50s at the UN Refugee school in Bethlehem, where he's lived all his life and is a member of one of the most powerful clans in the village.

3. If you like cozy mysteries you should probably not read this book, but if you like Andrea Camilleri you will probably love it.

4 stars, and the next one had better be waiting on the library shelf for me in December. Also, I saw that he's written a non-fiction book on the Middle East that Suzanne gave 5 stars to - I think - and I'll be looking for that too.

Hey - this short review thing is not so hard really!!

I wish I knew where this one is, I have #2 in one of the boxes in the house.

I hate it when that happens! I have the #9 Donna Leon but need #8.

Just to say, I've been enjoying the photos you've been posting of your travels. I hope the move back goes well and that you have a great last few weeks in Switzerland!

Thanks!! going really well so far, much less tricky than moving over, but still lots of little things to do. We sold the car today though, and did some Christmas shopping at Herbstmesse too.

I forgot to say that I was given a German book yesterday from a friend and it looks great - it's Die Mittagsfrau by Julia Franck and it won the Deutscher Buchpreis in 2007. It's called The Blindside of the Heart in the English translation... Looks like the German reviews are better than the English ones on the whole, so will be interesting to see if I like it. It's set in Stettin in 1945 so fits really well with the Richard Bessel book upthread.

Cushla wouldn't like to have to face moving everything from here to somewhere else - good luck with that! What will be the thing (in terms of memory) that you will take back with you from your stay in Switzerland/Europe and what are you looking forward to most about your return?

The Matt Rees series of books are set from an interesting perspective. Liked the first one best and have read the first three, but he is worth following for sure.

The second one wasn't quite as good as the first, but still much better than a lot of other mysteries -- he can write AND tell a good, timely story. I need to read nos. 3 and 4 this month. Also need to check with Soho to see if there is a #5 in the offing. His knowledge of the region -- in all its depressing detail -- adds a tremendous amount to the stories he tells.

He's also written a historical novel, with Mozart's sister as the main character: Mozart's Last Aria - I bought it in the summer sale.

You made me curious... I am usually avoiding the Deutscher Buchpreis candidates and winners (as you know I have a problem with the "anspruchsvolle moderne deutsche Literatur"). But someone else here (rebeki? Persephone?) has been recommending Die Mittagsfrau recently and the book has been quite successful in Germany. I'll wait for your comments on it and then maybe get it from my library.

Well, I love Camilleri, so I will look for The Bethlehem Murders.

#225 Nathalie, it wasn't me, but it does sound interesting!

Hello! :)
#217 love the short review! This one looks like a series I might enjoy

Heavens, Mozart's Last Aria is the same guy?? I have it on hold at the library; only just out here.

I must try The Bethlehem Murders, I just have to get the last two Camilleri books read.

Cush, Himself will LOVE that Germany 1945 book. You've just saved my bacon for Christmas. I was wondering what on earth I could get him this year. xo
Now back up to read the rest.

ETA: I loved others' comments in response to your review. And I too am going to miss your travel pics and travelogues. I do hope you take us around New Zealand with you now and then.

Throwing in Andrea Camilleri and Donna Leon into a review .... clever, Cushla, clever and devious. How can I NOT add The Bethlehem Murders to my obese wish list now?

When's the move?

I can't imagine but that you are going crazy getting ready for your move Cushla. Camilleri, Donna Leon, I have the first two of each series so I must get going on what sound like good books. I never followed any series until LT. Now I'm following Louise Penny, C.J.Sansom, Julia Spencer-Fleming and Jackson Brodie with a few other new ones on my shelf to start anytime. Ain't life grand??

Enjoying your recent reviews, Cushla. I'm very interested in Pereira Maintains; and I loved your "short review" idea of three sentences - keeper! Hope all is as well as is possible in the midst of a move across continents!

I'm doing a drive-by post before I get back to going through 2 years of kids' artwork... Hi everyone! And hi Chelle - I have just found your thread.

Luci, I'll look out for the Mozart book as well. I was GOOD yesterday - I went into Bider and Tanner to buy a friend a birthday present and didn't buy the 2nd book in the Omar Yussef series. (The friend got The Uncommon Reader and A Guide to The Birds of East Africa - one of my many favourite things about this group is that I have much more confidence in what different friends will like, instead of just going on what I liked).

Nathalie, I've put die Mittagsfrau into the air freight shipment that goes tomorrow, so I should read it pretty soon. I asked Tim what my book allowance was and got a definite "FIVE". I didn't argue. So I've put that book, Niall Ferguson's Empire, the 5th Shardlake book, Alex's Adventures in Numberland and the first 3 Bernie Gunther books into the box, and they'll be waiting in NZ in 2 weeks. I won't see the other books till the end of January! (But the boxes in storage will come out, and the library is open 7 days a week.)

Caroline, ha, you have got me often with book bullets! The move is staggered. Air freight on Monday, packers in this Thurs and Fri, then we have a weekend here with everything boxed up except beds and a few kitchen things, then on Monday it all goes on the big truck. We go into a temporary apartment then, and the kids finish school on Weds, which is going to be really sad. And we fly out on Saturday (Zurich-Heathrow-HK-Akld with a night in HK to break it up.)

Tui I am glad you've found a good present for your husband. And yes, there will be NZ updates, but I am not going to be going much further than the middle of Wellington for the next 6 months!

Paul, I think the main thing we're thankful for and will remember is the opportunity to do so much travelling around here - we have really had some wonderful holidays, both with the kids and on our separate jaunts with friends. My 2 favourites with the kids were to Disentis and Hasliberg, which are little known outside of Switzerland but we will always remember them. It is a gorgeous country and the train, bus and tram network deserves its reputation - even on Christmas Eve with heavey snow the bus from our holiday village to the bottom of the cable car was on time and driving round some hairy bends in the road.

Bonnie, I have so many new series on the go since I joined LT. I love it, because they fit around my heavier reading, and are almost guaranteed to be good reads, but I despair of finishing them!

Right better go...

Oh wow, you're leaving... I feel almost as if you were leaving LT, too -- weird! But I can empathize with the continent switching.

One note -- Heathrow has some decent bookshops and bargain-priced export editions; surely Tim couldn't object to one 10 quid book tucked into a pocket of a carry on bag, could he??

Heavens. But at least you'll have the iPad -- when you can get your hands on it, that is.

Cushla, in case you don't get here much, or I don't, I just want to say I hope this week goes well. Looking forward to the new (or anyway, different time of day) postings from you soon.

That was a pretty in-depth drive by post! Nice you can find the time when you have 2 years of childrens art work to plough through, I bet you came across some good memories amongst it all! We use our art work cast offs as wrapping paper for kids birthday presents. Or make them into cards.

Suzanne no he won't object! I haven't seen his choices yet but it had better not include the 900 page Newton book and 1q84... Depends how the kids are behaving. I'm trying not to think about it... It does feel very strange now to be going and I had a dream last night that I was in Wellington 2 weeks early and had to come back here to pack up!

Thanks Janet for the good wishes.

Megan yep lots of art, although a fair bit has found its way to the large round container. But there are some good pictures for Christmas presents.

am going to find my book - I might even finish one before Thursday! The Story of England has picked up the pace now that I'm up to 1400 and know the period a bit more.

Cushla, I am glad you are taking so many fond memories of Switzerland back to New Zealand with you. It seems like just yesterday we were helping you decide which books to take on the plane to Europe! At least with the iPad you won't have to haul a bunch of books with you. I think everyone should get a turn on it commensurate with their age. ;-) Happy travels to you!

Hi Cushla - good luck with your last few days in Switzerland and some more for the flight back to here.

Donna, great idea and I would suggest it to them - but a new ipad access issue has arisen...Fletcher has discovered his Gargoylz books on it, and is now hogging it - 3 hours and 200 pages of Kindle reading so far today!! (I'm not complaining though.)

#242: There's always audiobooks??? do you have a spare iPod to load up, I'm sure Wellington Libraries will have some you can borrow.

Kerry, good idea but I'm fine with my real books - and I've never done Audiobooks...I am also a sudoku freak on planes and have bought 2 new super-hard sudoku books ready for the trip!

Sounds like an interesting read, Cushla!All of them but particularly Germany 1945 War to Peace. I have a number of people who I know or knew that come from Germany. A good friend of mine had a mom who ended up in the Hitler for Youth, and yet she was Mennonite , originally from Russia, and immigrated from Germany to Canada, and married a fellow Mennonite man who was a Pacifist during WW2 . Then a friend of my parents came over as a child from Germany just after WW11 as a so called " DP" - displaced person. My sister in law is a German citizen, though married to my brother and living in Canada for some 15 years now. Her brother has opted to do business in the former East Berlin. I find the whole thing quite fascinating. It becomes quite real when one knows so many people from Germany.

Hi Cushla, wishing you same good last days in Switzerland! And I hope you'll have very pleasant flights. Are you planning some stop-over?

Hope the move goes well Cushla. Sorting through your kids art sounds like fun, I spent the weekend helping my parents pack and the best part of that was the box of family photos Mum and I pulled out :-)

Good morning Cushla. I've been neglecting your thread since I went on holiday to Portugal - and that was a month ago now, and I had a feeling you might be about to move and wanted to catch you before you do to wish you well with all the upheaval and challenges of packing, farewells, flights, hellos and unpacking...

I've missed lots of interesting books and discussion on here which there isn't time to go back and comment on now, but I've made a mental note of Pereira Maintains and of The Bethlehem Murders.

And with long flights and crossing time-zones coming up, I hope that gives you an excuse for several breakfasts on your journey!

Hi Deb, Alana, Genny and Nathalie. I'm here, but only just - the movers turn up tomorrow morning and start packing, so I have just finished doing 2 suitcases to get us through the next 10 days. I'm feeling surprisingly happy and excited - I think the sad part will be next week when we say goodbye to our friends. We'll be internet-less from Monday, unless I sort out a SIM card for the ipad before then.

Nathalie, we're stopping one night in HK which should be fun - I haven't been there before. Genny there had better be some yummy breakfasts - I think the buffet at the hotel in HK will be pretty good. I will report when we get to the other end.

Deb, I think you'd like the Germany book and yes it is definitely more thought-provoking when you know people from there.

Alana we should plan a LT meetup in Wellington for some time in 2012!

My reading is grinding to a halt. I'm 100 pages from the end in The Story of England, but he is making the reformation boring compared to C J Sansom, so I keep falling asleep. And I'm well over halfway in The Age of Innocence on the ipad, and LOVING it. I keep on highlighting bits - every few pages there is something bitingly funny. I'm up to the bit where Newland Archer is in Boston. (and I must go and find the Group Read threads...)

I forgot to say that my German teacher gave us 4 books between us, and one is side-splittingly funny. I was reading on someone's thread - maybe Suz's - about song lyrics that people get wrong. Now I have got to find that thread! This whole book is about verhoeren (mis-hearing) - it's called Der Weisse Neger Wumbaba and the first chapter is about Hot Chocolate's song you Sexy Thing... anyway I had tears rolling down my face. The author's wife thought the first line was "I believe in knuckles" and he thought it was "I believe in Malcolm". (ok, when I tell the story it is not nearly as funny!!!)

Cush, google "pardon me while I kiss this guy" and it will take you to misunderstood song lyrics. My all-time favourite is still "the girl with colitis goes by" (Lucy in the sky with diamonds) although I do like "dressed up like a douche to be a rotor in the night" (Blinded by the Light) a lot too.

Cushla, good luck with your move! We'll miss you ... can't wait to hear from you when you are back in NZ!

Cushla, catching up after a (too) long absence.

Germany 1945 definitely sounds interesting. I have a long list of WWII related books that I want to read one day so what's one more?

I hope the rest of the moving and packing goes smoothly and will be thinking of you all trying to say your goodbyes.

Really glad you're enjoying Age of Innocence - I was quite surprised how witty I've found the Wharton books I've read over the last few months. I hadn't remembered that aspect of her writing at all from my earlier reads.

Bon voyage!

Finally got caught up on your thread, Cushla. In the process I added five books to my list (another one was already on it), starting with Germany 1945. It's amazing how much reading you get done with all the travelling, lessons, kids. I hope your trip home goes well. I look forward to seeing if your reading topics change once you return to NZ. Bon voyage!

Cushla, unless there's another conversation going on, I think it was on my thread that the misheard song lyrics etc (which I discovered are called Mondegreens) were being discussed. There are some very funny examples around!

See you on the other side Cushla! Safe travels!

I would definitely be up for a Wellington meet up! Have a safe trip back.

>249 cushlareads: & 257 I'd be up for a Wellington meet up too. Any excuse to grab-a-seat and visit my next favourite city :)

Hey Cushla! I'm ashamed I haven't visited for sooooo long. But, I'm just in time to wish you and yours happy and safe travels.

Hey there, I think it was on Genny's thread we were discussing these mishearings... I think. But yes, search that or "Sir Bastian", my childhood mishearing of "Sebastian", a name I had never heard before.

Deb, my mother (born 1937) remembers the influx of DPs in the late 40s and into the 1950s in Toronto. I think this was one of the first big waves of immigration to make an impact on Canadian society, which never really had the melting pot ethos of the US. One of those DPs from Lithuania that was at high school with my mother went on to meet and marry her younger cousin a few decades later -- another example of how Canada/Toronto is really a v. small world.

Cushla, thinking of iPad control -- my upstairs neighbor confesses to playing a trick on his 3 1/2 year old, who is obsessive about which subway he takes whenever they go anywhere. If he can't take the D train, there can be tantrums. So Paul will pretend to make a call on the cell to "the man", and then tells Theo, "the man says that the D rain isn't running today." Now I'd never endorse deception, but maybe there's a way to adapt this to your advantage. Such as "the man says that you're not allowed to read more than two hours straight when someone else is waiting for the iPad"?? Appeal to a higher authority?? Or are your munchkins now old enough to see through this??

**waving hello at everyone!**

Suz they're too old for that, but it's ok. (And I have been known to use deception... E.g. By telling Teresa that the chocolates have alcohol in them and that's not for kids. works a treat!) For the next ten days we are pretty happy to have them on the iPad as much as they want if it keeps them happy and peaceful!!

At the moment I do have the iPad ou, and am hoping to read a big chunk of The age of innocence before 3 pm...

Plus from what you said earlier, if they're actually reading on it it's not too bad! Cass has discovered the computer recently - or rather has actually been let on it. I do find the fact that she can use the mouse far better than my father rather amusing (though scary)

Good luck with the move.

Oh and enjoy The Age of Innocence - love that Wharton.

Been awol myself - by now you will be travelling down under - I hope it has all gone without a hitch.

But really you would deny IQ84 I hope this did not eventuate :)

Hi Alex and Bekka. Still here, leaving on Saturday. All our stuff has gone and we're in a temporary flat in town, which means we feel a bit like we're on holiday but a but funny too. And Alex you will be happy to know that my husband did send the newton bio, the shored book and 1Q84 air freight and I didn't switch them for some skinnier books!

Finished two wonderful books - both 5 stars - Black Like Me by James Griffin and The Age of Innocence. Comments when my brain isn't fried. And I'm starting a new thread because there's that nice shiny new button...