Tiffin Three for 2011

It seems kind of silly to open a new thread with only December to go but I just wanted to see if this thingummy works.

ETA: this is so cool! It has a built in link to the last thread!

It's a nifty thingummy, isn't it? It even kept the star for me. I am going to try a Hamish Macbeth story one of these days. I know my daughter was fond of the TV series.

First thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105901

BOOKS READ:



EVALUATION SCHEME
0-1.5* = disgusting use of a perfectly good tree
2-2.5** = meh, don't bother
2.75 = somewhere between meh and ok
3-3.5*** = quite creditable and not a waste of time, liked it
3.75 = just a scritch more of *something* and it would have been really good
4-4.5**** = a really, really good read, enjoyed it thoroughly, would recommend it happily, wish I'd written it
5***** = knocked my socks off, blew me in to the next stratosphere, turned me into a molten puddle, sheer perfection and no you can't borrow it, this one stays right here

JANUARY
1. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
2. The Waters Rising by Sherri S. Tepper
3. Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison My Review of Travel Light
4. A Sensible Life by Mary Wesley
5. The Bells, A Novel by Richard Harvell My Review of The Bells
6. A Book of Silence by Sara Maitland
7. Pepita by Vita Sackville-West

FEBRUARY
8. How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall
9. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
10. Elders and Betters by Quentin Bell
11. The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys

MARCH
12. Just Kids by Patti Smith
13. August Folly by Angela Thirkell
14. Green Grows the City by Beverley Nichols
15. Henrietta Sees it Through by Joyce Dennys
16. The Skin Chairs by Barbara Comyns
17. Dissolution by C.J. Sansom
18. Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys
19. The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
20. Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom
21. Sovereign by C.J. Sansom

APRIL
22. Revelation by C.J. Sansom
23. Bachelor Brothers' Bedside Companion by Bill Richardson
24. The Hills at Home by Nancy Clark

MAY
25. Sum by David Eagleman

JUNE
Gardening Season: read Slightly Foxed Spring and Summer editions

JULY
26. Vanishing Cornwall by Daphne du Maurier
27. Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson
28. C.F.A. Voysey, Architect, Designer, Individualist by Anne Stewart O'Donnell
29. Wait for Me! Memoirs by Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire

AUGUST
30. A Sort of Life by Graham Greene
31. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
32. Still Life by Louise Penny
33. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
34. Bury your Dead by Louise Penny
35. A Matter of Justice by Charles Todd
36. The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny
37. The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
38. The Murder Stone by Louise Penny
39. A Fearsome Doubt by Charles Todd
40. A Pale Horse by Charles Todd
41. Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
42. Heartstone by C.J. Sansom
43. The Murder Stone by Charles Todd
44. An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd
45. One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming

SEPTEMBER
46. Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
47. Coventry by Helen Humphreys
48. God's Spy by Juan Gomez-Jurado
49. Seasons, the best of donna hay magazine by Donna Hay
50. People Who Say Goodbye, Memories of Childhood by P.Y. Betts
51. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
52. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
53. An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
54. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
55. The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear *note, this was read before A Lesson in Secrets but I forgot to add it.

OCTOBER
56. A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
57. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
58. Kraken by China Miéville
59. Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon
60. The Body in the Gazebo by Katherine Hall Page

NOVEMBER
61. Blow On a Dead Man's Embers by Mari Strachan
62. In Other Worlds; SF and the Human Imagination by Margaret Atwood
63. When We Were Bad by Charlotte Mendelson
64. A Late Beginner by Priscilla Napier
65. Death of A Chimney Sweep by M.C. Beaton
66. A Bitter Truth by Charles Todd

DECEMBER
67. Pirate King by Laurie R. King
68. Naughty in Nice, a Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys Bowen
69. The Queene's Christmas by Karen Harper
70. I am Half-sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley

>2 laytonwoman3rd:: Linda, the books aren't much like the t.v. series except that they were the root of it. I much preferred the tv series...except that the actor who played Hamish was clearly from Glasgow, not a Highland Scot at all (accent all wrong). And he should have had red hair and been over 6' tall, which he didn't and wasn't.

And now I feel less guilty about having missed out a massive chunk of your last thread, because the connector thingummy makes it possible for me to be early on this one!!

Thanks to you, on a visit to a used bookshop today I picked up Dark Fire, the 2nd Shardlake book. No, I don't have the first one yet, but I'm so sure I'll enjoy it that I snapped it up!

You will, you will!

#6-7 I've yet to read the 4th and 5th volumes, but looking forward to them. Which is your favourite so far?

@ 2

I think you would like the TV series better than the books, which is not to say that I don't think you'd like the books. But the show strikes me as right up your street whereas the books are more just hanging out in your neighborhood.

Thanks, sprout. I do have Hamish in my Netflix queue, along with a few other recommendations from you (ahem).

@ 10

CLEARLY, it is time for you to retire and sit around reading and watching television all day.

Oh hey, how did you get the thingummy thing to work?

>8 gennyt:: Genny, I didn't have a favourite because each historical aspect he covered was so interesting. The last one was fascinating for its build-up to war but the first one was too as it centred around the dissolution of the monasteries...can't choose.

>9 lycomayflower:-11: we got hooked on the series. Good old public broadcasting! In fact, our dog is named after one of the characters: Esme. The books are definite cosies with Hamish a much more real Highland character.

>12 cameling:: hi, wee camel! Once I reached 200, it appeared at the bottom of the thread automatically. I clicked on it, gave the new thread an updated name (they make that option available) and off we went!

Totally different subject and warning, RANT AHEAD: I picked up a new Bess Crawford mystery by Charles Todd at the library the other day. I smelled the cigarette smoke on it while taking it to the desk but I wanted to read it, so persisted. Well! It filled the entire car up with the stench. I gently wiped the plastic covers with lysol wipes and set it out in the porch to air for a couple of days. The paper is permeated with the smell. I'm reading it at the kitchen table so I don't have to touch the pages as the smell transfers to my fingers. I wish people who are heavy smokers like that would forbear when they are reading library books. It sure ruins it for the rest of us. /rant

Hear, hear! I hate it when I get a book like that from the library.

>15 tiffin:: that's disgusting! I'm sure you'll have words with the library when you return the book ...

How awful, Tui. I've never had that happen, but I'm surprised it isn't more prevalent.

Most times it's just faint, if it's there. This was redolent. Laura, I'll let them know I tried to air the book out etc., so they know it wasn't me, but there isn't anything they can do about this. Banning smokers from holding library cards? The civil liberties involved would be a nightmare.

O.K. Tui. Here's what you do, but it may take several days. Put baking soda between the pages every 10 pages or so and put the thing in the sun. OR Put it in a sealed container with plenty of loose baking soda. I did that for a used book I got that I could smell moth balls in before I ever got it unwrapped. It worked just fine.

Ok, Peggy, I'll give it a try...when I've finished it! I'm halfway through and don't want to stop. Then you just riffle the pages and shake it out after, right?

Right!

66. A Bitter Truth by Charles Todd



Another Bess Crawford mystery from the mother/son writing duo. I like the character of Bess, a nursing sister in WWI with a penchant for being in the wrong place at the right time. This time she gets dragged into a series of murders in a bleak area of Sussex. Not heavy but not taxing either.

Hmmm, I've been thinking about trying out the Hamish Macbeth tv series -- they seem less violent than some. I've gotten a bit overwhelmed by the Wallenders, say, while the Poirot style ones are too genteel -- i've listened to a couple of Hamish's on audio and they seem full of humor and personal problems, like where to stash his pets when he's busy, and so on that nicely balance the cases.

That series looks interesting! Will have to add the first one to my wishlist!

That sucks about the stinkey book. My mom smokes and dog-sits for me when I am on nights. Smokey dog is a bad bad smell!

Chelle, same thing used to happen with us with our old yellow lab. However, she managed to quit at 60, so there's always hope!

Sib, the Hamish Macbeths are gentle and kind of fun. Hamish is like a Scottish Columbo (did I spell that right?) in that he appears kind of bumbling but he really isn't, he's very canny. Beaton picked up on the bigotry which exists on the part of the Lowlanders towards the true Highlanders, putting it in some of the earlier books. Yes, his disastrous love situations feature, as does his passionate love for his animals. He has a dog with yellow eyes and a wildcat now.

I've added Hamish to our queue. Can't wait to meet the wildcat!

Wow, I've had a couple of smoky books that I've acquired second hand, either purchased or from paperbackswap, but even the worst of those gradually eased up after a few weeks. (Ok, not an option to wait that long when you've got a library book...) Luckily, nothing that has been that stinky has had a time limit on it. What irritates me with library books is getting paperbacks with fractured spines, ready to fall apart at a touch. When I get a "hold" that arrives, and that's the book that shows up, I sometimes return it and try to get another copy as I don't want to be held responsible if it happens to fall apart when I turn a page...

67. Pirate King by Laurie R. King



This was an ok read, actually kind of funny at times. Mary Russell, aka the wife of Sherlock Holmes, is tootling around Spain and Morocco with a movie crew making a movie about making a movie about pirates. Real pirates cause some consternation. A whacky interpreter with multiple personalities spouts poetry. Mary herds cats in the form of the 13 "sisters" in the movie. I have only read the first book in this series, so haven't followed along with character development, although Holmes's character is almost 2 dimensional at times so perhaps not much to develop.

68. Naughty in Nice, A Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys Bowen



Light fluff set before WWII. Nothing taxing here but ok to read as December edges into its darkest days and Yule charges on at an alarming speed. Set in England and the Riviera, with the main protagonist fulfilling a mission for Queen Mary, her cousin. Lots of upper class toff stuff, Coco Chanel making an appearance, with murder and theft aplenty. Don't know if I would go out of my way to read more of these but it was sitting on the library new books shelf.

> 30: hi Tui
your last book sounds good for our next vacation at the Rivièra ;-)
But sadly no translation yet....

mistletoe smooches!

Happy Holidays!!

How lovely! Thanks, Ricardo! Thanks, Chelle!

I'm thinking I might fall short of the 75 this year, unless I have a wonderful blitz after Christmas. Just so busy these days that I read two lines and am sound asleep.

Merry Christmas, Tui!

Merry Christmas, Tui! Look at the snow for Ms. N.C.

(I knew I was going to miss somebody yesterday. Of all the people I wanted not to miss, you're one!) (That was supposed to be funny.)

Happy Christmas Tui!

Merry Christmas!

Thanks, Christmas elves!

69. The Queene's Christmas by Karen Harper



Nope, this just didn't work at all. My credulity just doesn't stretch as far as the author wanted it to. Elizabeth I would never go schlepping down to the kitchens to investigate the death of a pastry cook and then go bebopping all over London to track down the killer. Nope. Ixnay. uh uh. Just not going to happen. It disappointeth greatly.

And furthermore, it was a library book, so it's now overdue because I was away for a day or two. We are royally irked.

70. I am half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley



My first Kindle read and oh boy, it was a good one! Flavia de Luce rides again. I just love this character and Bradley's writing has not lost its charm in the fourth book in the series. Bring on the next one!

I'm reading Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James, a Christmas gift from Himself, so fully intend to count it for 2011 even if I don't finish it until tomorrow. But 71 seems to be where I've landed for this year, a bit short of the mark. That reading slump in early Spring and then summer with its gardening season...well, sometimes these years happen. Regardless of numbers, the love of reading only grows. I look forward to the discoveries and pleasures to be found in 2012.

Wishing you Happy New Year's Eve and see you 2012!

71. Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James



In order to read this successfully, I had to disabuse myself of any notion that it would be anything like reading Austen herself. This was simply a murder mystery written by P.D. James, extrapolating from the original story in Pride and Prejudice, using the same characters but not the same author's voice. I had read a chapter, getting increasingly irritated by the book until I figured out this piece and rolled with the story in a whole new direction.

After that, I was able to relax and enjoy the book as simply a story, a mystery. James stays true to the characters of Darcy and Elizabeth. She does play with Lydia's character a bit, making her both more egocentric and slightly edgier than she was in the original. It rang true, however, as the Lydia who might be a few years on, with her innate selfishness amplified. Wickham was well done, as was Colonal Fitzwilliam.

What James was able to do well was emphasise the gap between those who served and those who held power, showing the subservience of the class which supported the Darcys and their ilk from a perspective which Austen herself could not have: that of hindsight.

An interesting period mystery. But definitely not Austen.

This is my last read of 2011. I am 4 shy of the goal...although there are several half-read books on my night table and bookshelf. I'll finish these up some day and count them in the year ahead.

2011 is now closed!