ffortsa's third for 2011

A third thread! Yay! Tickers and such moved from #2. which can be found here




and I've set up a deaccessioning ticker this year.




Check my profile for my reading preferences and why I might want to bat the books to
the outfield.

So far I've read:

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
As I Lay Dying by Faulkner
Beowulf in the Heaney translation
Shantaram by Roberts
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
The Black Cat by Martha Grimes
U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton

The Golden Spur by Dawn Powell
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
Fathers and Children by Turgenev (Norton Critical Edition)
Borderline by Nevada Barr
In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Shaffer
Died in the Wool: A Knitting Mystery by Mary Kruger
The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen
A Fountain Filled With Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming

To Darkness and to Death by Julia Spencer-Fleming
The Big Short by Michael Lewis
The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace
Indulgence In Death by J. D. Robb
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Nine Hundred Grandmothers by Lafferty
Snow Country by Kawabata
Olive Kitteridge by Strout
Skellig by David Almond
Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham

Campion and Others by Margery Allingham
All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Tonio Kruger by Thomas Mann
Death in Venice (alternate translation) - Mann
In Earshot of Water by Paul Lindholdt
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (audio from Librivox)
A Noble Radiance - Donna Leon
Postern of Fate - Agatha Christie

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
The Wooden Sea - Jonathan Carrol
Scone Cold Dead - Kaitlyn Dunnett
Bury Your Dead - Louise Penny
The Crime at Black Dudley
Le Divorce - Diane Johnson
Sun Storm - Asa Larsson
Train Whistle Guitar - Albert Murray
Indulgence in Death - J. D. Robb
The Moviegoer - Walker Percy

Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome
Brighton Rock - Graham Greene
Blood Spilt - Asa Larsson
The Black Path - Asa Larsson
Middlemarch - George Eliot
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson
The Turkish Gambit - Boris Akunin
The Terra Cotta Dog - Andrea Camilleri
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Murder on the Leviathan - Boris Akunin

The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins
Body Work by Sara Paretsky
Swann in Love by Marcel Proust
Killing Grounds by Dana Stabenow
The Man Who Knew Too Much by G.K. Chesterton
Sisters of the Road by Barbara Wilson
Whistlejacket by John Hawkes
The Headmaster by John McPhee
In Patagonia bu Bruce Chatwin
The Death of Achilles by Boris Akunin

The Trouble with Poetry by Billy Collins
The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing
Tepper Isn't Going Out by Calvin Trillin
The Maze Runners by James Dashner
Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich

deaccessioned:
T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Shantaram by Roberts
The Allergy Cookbook
The Death of the Adversary by Hans Keilson
The Hedgehog, the Fox and the Magister's Pox by Stephen Jay Gould
Gulliver’s Travels by Swift
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Perennial Library Edition) by Mark Twain
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace
Big Jack by J. D. Robb
Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton
U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Shaffer
The House In Paris by Elizabeth Bowen
Fathers and Children by Turgenev
Dead Souls by Gogol
Death in Venice - CD - Mann
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson
Le Divorce - Diane Johnson
Snow Country - by Kawabata
Death in Venice and Seven Other Stories by Thomas Mann
11 Dick Francis mysteries
Pride and Prejudice by Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Austen
Northanger Abbey by Austen
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Oh my! I'm your first visitor. Great list!

Glad you stopped by.

Somehow I don't think anything much will be added until I finish Middlemarch!

Second!

But don't fall into the trap of rushing Middlemarch - savour it. :)

>4 lyzard: probably good advice, but TOO LATE! I finished Middlemarch this evening, after leaving work at about 2PM with one of my very infrequent but really horrible colds. At least that's what I think it is. Dentist in the morning, cold in the afternoon, George Eliot at night. It really picked up speed in the last third of the book - or maybe having set up all the multiple threads already, Eliot seems to make the book go faster. Poor Lydgate. I have nothing but a Bronx cheer for Rosamond - what a twerp. Otherwise, the connected towns and farms and churches do conjure up a consolidated society, where news can travel terribly fast, and the non-parties are usually very censorious. But there are gems amidst the ordinary psyches -Mr. and Mrs. Garth, Farebrother, Mary, as well as Dorothea, perhaps a little too good to be true. I've very happy to have read it.

More about it, maybe, after we discuss it on November 1.

*chants to self*
must read Middlemarch, must read Middlemarch
*whispers to self*
one day, but I suspect there'll be quite a few ahead in the queue!

Just waving.

hey, at least the day ended with George Eliot, so that must have helped...

Eliot, followed by a very long shower to improve breathing. Yes. Unfortunately, no better today. Ah well.

Sorry you're not feeling well. Glad you enjoyed Middlemarch.

I was able to ignore my cold enough to read the newest Asa Larsson book, Until Thy Wrath be Past, which was my gift from the ER program. This is Larsson's best and least bloody book to date, although there's plenty to wince at. She introduced a paranormal element in her last book, and here continues with a narrative ghost, but it worked for me. There's an interesting historical element, too. I'll do a formal review.

Hi Judy.

I hope you are feeling better. Cold = no fun at all.

Hugs to you!

It seems I've survived, although my various body parts keep reminding me that I'm not yet 100%. Thanks for thinking of me. I hope your situation is easing now.

Hope you feel better soon! Hooray for completing Middlemarch! Such a sublime book.

Just slipped this in for October. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. A great way to spend an afternoon, I must say.

A great way to spend an afternoon, I must say.
Ill say!

The Turkish Gambit, second in the Fandorin historical mysteries, and a book that may send me to the actual history books to check out the 1870s and war between Czarist Russia and Turkey. Not sure how I feel about it, although it has made me very curious about the background.

This weekend, I will have the pleasure of giving all my Dick Francis mysteries to the local library, and a few other books to a friend with whom I read Dante. I will list them when I'm back from the fray.

Yesterday I dragged a bunch of Dick Francis mysteries to the library (my neighbor shortstopped 4 of them, but that's ok). 11 more books off the shelf. Only 59 to go to meet my goal for the year.

When you check out that war, tell me if had any connection to the Crimean war?? That's one that has me muddled, still.

Great de-accessioning, Judy!

I took a quick peek at Wikipedia, which has a pretty good article on the Russo-Turkish War which the mystery recounts. It looks to be something of a religious war, Eastern Orthodox against Muslim, except of course that Russia was always looking for a port to the south, which the Ottoman Empire controlled.

This is about 20 years after the Crimean War, but that is a recent enough memory for the Russians to be concerned about Britain. In the Crimean War, Britain destroyed the Russian Navy, so the talk about the danger of going all the way to Constantinople and drawing Britain into the war is very real.

Judy - the Pinkerton service have enabled me to run you to earth very quickly indeed!
Very interesting mix of reading this year I must say with a patchwork style very much after my own - Eliot followed up closely by Akunin - ah such is the variety of life! Planning to have 19th century authors as one of the 12 in 12 next year which - given the fact that they couldn't say in ten chapters what could be dispensed with in a couple of paragraphs - could slow my reading down a tad.

Akunin is one I'm never quite sure on. Still have a few to go to get up to ate with him but the styles tend to change from book to book and I'm not at all sure that is Aknunin's intention.

I agree about Akunin's book. There was precious little about his fine detective in this one, and a lot about Varva the flirt. But the history was interesting.

I tend to balance what might be called serious reading with mysteries. This month, I've added the requirement that my books be under 300 pages, because Middlemarch was a brick. Not that I didn't enjoy it - loved it. Of all the 19th century authors, George Eliot might be the one that spoils you for the others.

Luckily, my various book clubs are reading short works this month: Swann in Love for one, and Frankenstein for the other. Both are books I've wanted to read (never read Proust at all!), and I have a bunch picked out for the TIOLI challenges that are also of the shorter variety. And the mystery books are piling up, as always. I have a knack for making my own choices feel like obligations, so I'm trying to read as it pleases me from now until the end of the year. And deaccession like mad - the book stacks are getting lethal.

I've just finished The Terra Cotta Dog, a delightful palate-cleanser of a police procedural. Camilleri shows us the not-quite-wonderful side of his fine detective, and somehow the funny side of his work. All the while, we are learning about Sicily's history, its role in WWII, the way news travels to all the wrong people, and how irrisistible to women our Montalbano is. Very pleasing read.

delightful palate-cleanser of a police procedural.

Like that phrase Judy and very apt for Camilleri!

Nice summary of the charms of the Camilleri -- and always the descriptions of the food his housekeeper has left him!

There were some footnotes on the food in the back. Yum!

I just read that one too - you're right, there is a lot of humour in among the murder, procedures and wonderful food. Makes it somehow life-affirming despite the violence and death.

A friend of mine dreams of opening a B&B in Sicily and running Montalbano-themed culinary and sightseeing stays!

The Terra Cotta Dog is on my TBR list for this month...

After a lovely and warm weekend solving word puzzles at Mohonk Mountain House, I must confess to only reading two books, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunin.

I was surprised that I didn't enjoy Shelley's masterpiece more. Maybe it was because Dr. Frankenstein is more than a bit of a sh***t, don't you think? Oops, created an 8 foot tall reanimated creature, gotta go. And don't tell anyone when family and friends start dying. And don't figure out my beloved fiancee might just be the next target. Clearly he selected a superior brain for his experiment -- superior to his, at any rate. Okay, tirade over.

On the other hand, the Akunin couldn't have been more fun. Remind me not to look for the mountain of diamonds.

I took an unexpected turn and started The Numerati by Stephen Baker, then realized it qualified for one of the TIOLI challenges. So far, it's mostly what I know or have read of in the news, but it's nicely written, rather breezy. I'll report back at the end.

I started Frankenstein over Easter this year and abandoned it (for now) based on not being able to get into it quick enough. I have to say you're not selling it to me now either! :)

I think I've been seduced.

I finally got a smartphone last week, after studiously whistling past the Verizon ads for many many months. they finally offered a phone I liked free with contract (which isn't really free, I now, but never mind). So I decided to graduate to the 21st century and try not to look like an idiot in front of my nephew, among others.

So far, it's not too painful. I have a lot of setup to do yet, BUT, it came with a Kindle app. And a long time ago, I downloaded a free Kindle copy of The Moonstone onto my computer. The nature of Kindle books is that they are shareable across devices, so it showed up on my phone right away, and of course, I had to try out the reading.

It's nice.

Very nice.

So nice, I can barely put the 'book' down.

My sister had said to me that she paid more attention to the language on her Kindle than in print, which seemed weird to me, but I am sure I'm enjoying the little details of this book more than when I first read it in a paper copy. Maybe it's that the screen isn't that big, so I don't peer ahead, but read every sentence fully. Maybe it's just the novelty. But -

I looked up Jane Austen today, and discovered all her books are free on Kindle. That would open up a few inches on the groaning bookshelves, and give me instant access wherever I am. Since Austen's books are not dependent on a particular design or font, they would be perfect for e-readers.

HOOKED!

In the meantime, I'm almost finished with The Numerati, so far pleasant but not surprising. I'll polish it off tonight.

Poor book designers. In all the flurry of excitement over e-readers, I wonder what they will do with their very particular talents.

The Numerati is history, and reviewed.

Judy...WOW! All Jane Austen books free on Kindle. What an incredible opportunity.

Last Christmas Will gave me a Nook. I confess, I haven't used it much. I'm on a mission to read book on my shelves and then give them away.

All the best to you!

but see, now I can count on the Austens on an e-reader, and give my copies away without rereading them!

Not that I have yet.

I'm a little too attached.

The Moonstone is complete - and all on my new phone! It is so insidiously tempting to have the book with me at all times - I became positively antisocial this weekend, ignoring Jim for large swaths of time just because I had my phone with me, when I would never have simply talked on the phone to someone and ignored him. I will probably rebalance in time, but for now, this was a pleasure - as was the book, of course!

Somehow, I can't count. This was my 62nd book of the year, I thought, but counting the list at the beginning of this thread, it's only the 61st. Second time that's happened to me. Maybe I lost an update, but I don't see books missing. Next year, I'll have to number them as I go, as many of you fellow 75ers do.

So, fourteen to go to the finish line. Possible, but not extremely likely. That's ok - i've enjoyed reading this year, and that's the important thing.

I scrolled up to the top to scan your books, and noticed The Phantom Tollbooth. If you haven't seen it... there's a NYer article, in the Oct 24 issue, by Adam Gopnik, about the 50th anniversary.

Isn't it frustrating on a phone to have to keep moving the lines up in order to keep reading? Does the smaller screen size ever bother you in terms of focusing on the "page"? Is there backlighting, or can it be dimmed?

Sorry to pepper you with questions but I'm curious...

Boy am I glad I dropped in on your thread today, Judy. Free Jane Austen on Kindle?! I checked out Amazon immediately and downloaded them too .. now I'll have them with me when I travel and at hand whenever I'm in need of a favorite re-read. The only one I couldn't find that was free was Sense and Sensibility

Hi Judy, I just got caught up with your thread.

So, fourteen to go to the finish line. Possible, but not extremely likely. That's ok - i've enjoyed reading this year, and that's the important thing.

That's the way I feel too. I've got twelve to go but whether or not I get there doesn't really matter to me either.

>38 Chatterbox: I don't find it frustrating at all. On the phone, you need to swipe right to left. However, you read much faster than I do, and I seem to remember you saying that you more or less take in a page at a time, so on a phone, with the smaller (much) 'pages', you might find it annoying.

I found myself paying quite a lot of attention to the paragraph or two that I was seeing. The swipe is really fast, faster than turning a page, with no 'blackout' that I've seen on the Kindle.

It is backlit, and sometimes, when the battery is going down, I detected a dimming and then relighting that was a bit annoying. But that might also be that I was hitting a dim button without knowing it - I'm so new to this device! I thought the backlighting would tire me out, but it didn't.

>39 cameling: Always welcome, Caro. Jim warned me that some of the older free books were mechanically transcribed via optical text recognition software, and had lots of irritating typos, so check the copy you get. They also have other copies for .99, which were reformatted for Kindle, and they might be worth the buck, if the free ones are annoying.

>37 qebo: Yes, I caught that article. Interesting how durable the book is, isn't it?

I'm reading quite a bit on my smartphone these days - I recognise your description of having it with you at all times and reading for long periods (it's The Mill on the Floss with me at present). I'm also enjoying the facility to look up the occasional obscure reference, and also to highlight passages, which I've been doing frequently.

Oddly, Frankenstein was one of the first books I've read this way, just last month. I agree about Dr F; was particularly struck by the inadequacy and shallowness of his response to his creation - he seemed to reject it simply because it was ugly!

On my phone (an Android) the screen is backlit, but you can adjust the level of lighting: I have it fairly low, and if reading in bed the very lowest setting is sufficient, and not tiring to the eyes. I have also recently discovered that it is possible to configure the volume up/down button on the side of the phone to act as a page forward/back, so although the screen size is small, I can easily turn a page with just a slight increased pressure from a finger or thumb in the hand holding the phone - no need for frequent swiping.

This is working well enough for me that I'm resisting the temptation to buy a dedicated e-reader. And the Kindle app is free, as are all the books I've downloaded so far!

I have one sibling who is phone-reading-addicted. So far I have resisted everything, but I know one of these days someone will produce the e-reader for me. Just waiting.

I found Body Work at my office's swap shelves, and grabbed it for the weekend. Mostly excellent, except for a really awkward, unrealistic denoument that I felt showed that Paretsky hadn't figured out how to end this one.

No Early Reviewers book for me this month, which is just as well, as I haven't started the last one.

Currently reading Swann in Love for one of my f2f groups. Sly, very sly so far, which isn't very far. About page 24. But it's a nice little paperback, easy to carry around and read on the subway.

The Proust continues. Sometimes it's clear as day, then I get to a two-page paragraph with parenthetical remarks, phrases between dashes, and I hunt for the subject and verb to make sure I know what's going on. But it's worth it. About half way through - should finish tomorrow.

I had my once-a-month taste of Dante this morning, reading Cantos 6 through 8, with annotations. Not too many of our group showed up - we are beset with injuries and illnesses, but those who did show up did ok. Most of the women are a good 15-20 years older than me, and one of us has begun to exhibit the kind of confusion my mother had before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. It's tough to see.

I am often elected to read summaries and notes - which is a great ego-boost for me, as I love to be listened to. I had more than my share this morning, reading Ciardi's summaries to Pinsky's translations. And I retold the story of Persephone for those who had forgotten - watch out for those pomegranite seeds! Definitely a pleasure.

Tonight we are going back to Queens to see Paula Poundstone, live at the Queens Theater in the Park. It conflicted with a violin recital at a nearby school, but I was able to give the tickets away. So unfortunate that I can't be in two places at once!

32-45: I've had a color Nook for a few months now. The instant gratification aspect is both good and bad. I was glad to have backlighting this past weekend when I was in a van w/o interior lights for several hours. The typos are irritating; these are new purchased books, not free/cheap classics -- stray hyphens and commas and spaces and occasional weird wrapping with only a few words per line. Maybe I could've tried smartphone before splurging on the e-reader, but I'd seen examples and my eyes want text to be a comfortable size.

I was actually surprised at the size of the text (default) on my phone, although I know Jim finds it too small. I'm thinking of some sort of tablet, maybe after the Christmas rush. I just gave Jim a Galaxy Tab - so I can try it out and see if I want him to return me the favor (LOL)!

>48 ffortsa:, your Proust battle sounds a tad difficult for me these days, might save that for when Im guaranteed at least 30 minutes uninterrupted reading :)

>51 LovingLit: oh my yes - it requires some concentration, although I could read in small increments. One of the huge problems is that there are no chapters, and many paragraphs span pages, at least in my edition.

However, having now finished it, I can say it was well worth the read. One of these days I'll read the larger text, Swann's Way - but not right now!

After my experience reading The Moonstone on my phone, I have come to the conclusion that I don't have to hold on to old, fragile paperbacks of classics - or even hearty paperbacks of classics - if I can get them through Kindle. So I took the time yesterday to deaccession 3 Austen novels and a copy of Frankenstein, by putting them on the swap shelves downstairs in my building. More to come, as I've offered several books on PBS and Bookmooch (not the same books), and will send them out if they are requested.

Real estate is precious here in NYC and as long as I can read the text whenever I want, I don't need it gathering dust. Or at least that's what I'm saying now. We'll see how far this radical change takes me!

I even went to the library this week, and borrowed and readKilling Grounds by Dana Stabenow, a book I seem to have missed in the series. Great fun.

My smartphone has me mesmerized, so I decided to keep reading on it. This time it was The Man Who Knew Too Much by G.K. Chesterton. Much more lugubrious, prejudiced, and xenophobic than I had expected, although maybe that means I just don't know Chesterton.

weird - I realized that my second ticker was using a sun slider instead of a baseball one, which was what I'd intended, so I went to get the right one, only to find that almost any sport I could think of was represented except baseball! Grump.

That said, I've probably gotten rid of more books this year than I listed, because it wasn't so essential to list them as it was to list those I'd read. In the new year, I intend to keep closer watch on both counts.

I am glad to see that the smartphone is working out so well for you, Judy! (I love Chesterton, BTW. Have you read The Man Who Was Thursday yet? If not, I highly recommend it.)

Jim recommended that to me. If it's free on Kindle, I might read that one on my phone next. Also, of course, now that I'm hooked, I have to appraise the difference between the Kindle, Nook, Kindle Fire, etc. I like that I can read on the phone horizontally, which may not be as good an option on a tablet-style reader since they are so much wider (longer lines, then). But I LOVE the swipe to turn the page - just nicer enough than the original Kindle click that I would insist on it.

This will really help me get rid of books on the shelves, since the text would be available in all but the worst power failures. I'll still have books in the house, just not so many of them. More room for other things I'd like to display, like photographs, artwork, pieces of sculpture. And maybe I'll start (slowly) collecting fine print books again. They are certainly worth keeping on the shelf!

I've started reading Sisters of the Road on Jim's recommendation, and also because it's pretty short. I have a stack of shorter books on the nightstand, in the hope of finishing them before the end of the year to reach my 75. They're all from the TBR, after all.

Reading books on a phone? *mock shock horror*
You kids of today, I dont know ;)

Kids, huh? If it will keep me young, I'm for it!

Yes it is indeed too bad we can't be two places at once. I would so like to live several places......

Ok, I've finished Sisters of the Road by Barbara Wilson. Not recommended, by the way. It feels quite amateurish, with lots of incidents when I wanted to go 'No, Nancy Drew! Do not go down that hidden staircase alone!'. To no avail, of course.

The pleasure of Sisters of the Road and its previous volume in the series Murder in the Collective is in watching the interactions of the people of a small town largely Lesbian Community, described without giggling and without leering.

If you're a guy (or even if you're a straight woman) it's a look into a world you normally might not have much knowledge of.

Agree that this was a sophmore slump for the series which frequently spent more time on the political and sexual infighting of the community than it did on the mystery.

Judy ....Jim is right ... I just started reading the free Kindle version of Northanger Abbey this morning in the gym and it's full of odd mistakes. *sigh* and here I gleefully downloaded what I thought was the motherlode. Oh well, I had no qualms about deleting it from my Kindle. It was free after all. I'll just pay $1 for a proper Kindle edition.

I finished John Hawkes' novel Whistlejacket last night. Hawkes work generally mesmerizes me, but this one, with Hawkes' usual elements of sex and death, didn't move me at all. I've posted a review. Three stars.

Part-way through In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin - keeping in mind that in his biography, I learned just how edited his memories of this trip were, especially how he left out all the sex. (Considering Chatwin's appetites, that was a a lot to leave out.) He concentrates on the many ex-pat communities in the region, and the history of ex-pats like Butch Cassidy, the Frenchman who decided he would be king (and whose descendants in Paris maintain the reign in exile), and communities of Boers, Welsh, and others escaping the old world for the new. So far holding my interest without being especially compelling.

I completely forgot to list The Headmaster by John McPhee, which I breezed through a few days ago. It's a very early McPhee (Wikipedia lists it as his second book), about the length of a medium long New Yorker article, plus pictures.

The Headmaster tells the story of Frank Boyden, who at 22 took over as the headmaster of Deerfield Academy in 1902 and ruled with a kind but traditional hand for 66 years. The idea is intriguing, but the work, alas, is more or less descriptive in a way McPhee would learn to make much more involving as his career developed. It has very little nuance, more worshipful than inquiring, and as a portrait is ok - as a book, less than what one would wish for.

I have other McPhee books on Mt. TBR, and look forward to them very much, but they are later and, I trust, more intricate than this hagiography.

I finished In Patagonia last night. It continued to hold my interest. Chatwin circles back several times to the brave seamen, one of them the relative he has been tracking throughout the book, who rounded Cape Horn through the Straits of Magellan over and over again, for exploration or trade. He even includes a story by that relative, who has left behind many tales of the sea and the settlers' experiences. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars, more if you like the travel and history genre.

Hi, Judy! Agreeing that the payment of 99¢ for a properly formatted Kindle book with an active table of contents is worth every single penny! And I love travel books and ate up In Patagonia! That's one I definitely need to reread.

Yeah, maybe I was too hard on Chatwin after reading his biography last year. It casts doubt on some of the stories he tells in the book, although it is fine writing and fascinating history, isn't it?

I finished The Death of Achilles by Boris Akunin today, but I'm not sure what to say about it. My fault: I was carrying it around the last couple of days, reading a little bit at a time, and then when I sat down to finish it off today, I couldn't keep my eyes open. No reflection on the book - I was just zonked.

Judy - it has been an absoulte pleasure getting to know you a little in 2011. Happy christmas and a prosperous and peaceful new year. Look forward to keeping up with you in 2012 and beyond.

I flew through Billy Collins' The Trouble with Poetry yesterday. His style is deceptively accessible and clear - I'll probably go back to individual poems over and over to hear what is moving underneath them.

mistletoe smooches!

Am I the only one thinking "Oh, dear. They look like tiny breasts"?

Merry Christmas to you and Jim, Judy!

Terri, do I dare say you're an idealist? Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year to you and your three sons and all your family.

Merry Christmas, Judy! I look forward to seeing you and Jim again on Monday.

Happy Holidays!

I don't recall ever reading Doris Lessing, but someone (was it Tad?) recommended one of her first books, The Grass is Singing, which I got through PBS.

I's a devastating story of people who don't know what they want or how to get it if they do, a story of a marriage that persists because of the hopelessness of change, and an environment that brutally wears these people down, along with the race tensions of Rhodesia in the time of English colonial rule.

*** spoiler alert ***

Mary, grown up in the poverty of a dusty railway station stop, with a weak, alcoholic father and grim mother, escapes to a bigger town and the comfort of an office job, only to succumb to the implications of her friends' overheard remarks and marry the first man who asks her. Dick sees her in the idealized light of a movie house and thinks her an angel. They are totally mismatched, and so determined to marry that they refuse to see the truth about each other.

Dick's poor farm and heat-raddled house, Mary's anger and attempts to carry on in the midst of her disappointment, their inability to take advantage of each others talents, and most of all their social and emotional isolation eventually break Dick and Mary down. Her relationship with her 'houseboy' starts with querulous hauteur and ends in complete and fearful dependence, and ultimately tragedy.

*** end spoiler ***

I found myself unable to put this book down. The writing is excellent, but it's the kind of train wreck that you see on the evening news: You've been told how it ends, but not how it began, and the story of that is sad and powerful.

HI Judy

The Grass is Singing is now on the tbr list. Thanks for your excellent review. Happy Holiday to you!

<img src="https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTD5HV2K5rFq8GVDDQImeRCQ2VlP9HxGjGPGy218fltVgoZ6h0vZA"

I hope you've had a wonderful Christmas, Judy! Glad you enjoyed the Lessing!

After our meetup yesterday, I read Tepper Isn't Going Out by Calvin Trillin. How can there not be a touchstone for that?? Anyway, a light-hearted poke at the Giuliani administration in New York, in which Russ and Daughters figures quite prominently. If you know New York or have ever tried parking there, you will be amused.

edited to fix the touchstone I complained about, since I didn't spell the title correctly.

What is it about trilogies? Has anyone noticed that they follow the famous, Victorian three-volume novel structure??? And how could Jim have set me up with one without telling me?????

Sigh. I've just finished The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Quite an enjoyable adventure. I suppose it should be classified as YA, but only because all the characters are under the age of 20. A sort of anti-Lord of the Flies story, that gradually evolves into the first third of a truly scary scenario. It's quite well-written, but saying any more would constitute spoilers, so I won't.

One last little confection to finish out the year - Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich. I should be done by tonight. And that will make 75. Hallelujah. Now, as Ms. Chu said, I can relax next year.

Dropping by to cheer you on...

DONE! At 11:17PM on December 30th, I finished my 75th book of the year, a better than average Stephanie Plum bounty hunter extraordinaire extravaganza, with just enough sex, some really FINE laughs, and a serious plot for a change. It's Plum #12, and I don't plan to read anything except maybe the Times crossword tomorrow.

Happy New Year to all, and to all a good night.

p.s. - Thanks for cheering me on, Katharine. Here's to a good reading year in 2012 for us both!

Congrats!

Yay! Congrats!

Judy - welldone on making it to 75 before the ball drops in Times Square - happy new year! (it is already 2012 in Malaysia) and look forward to seeing on the other side.

Happy New Year and congrats to reaching 75! See you over in 2012.

Best wishes to all, and to all a good night! See you in 2012!

Congratulations on reaching the 75 challenge goal! And, thank you ever so much for all your outreach and support in 2011.

You are a dear, kind soul and I wish all the best for you!

Congrats on making it through 75.
Glad you enjoyed the final one.