Dee (soupdragon) reads 75 in 2012: part two

I am beginning my new thread with Jacky Ward Lomax's (a local artist) impression of the Victorian fountain on the avenue in Hull where I live.

I'm not going to list every book I've read this year here but will do a quick February wrap-up in the next post.

February wrap-up

Ok I wasn't sure at first but now I am completely addicted to the TIOLI challenges! I managed to fit all this month's reading into a challenge including the books I am reading with my sons but was helped a lot by Madeline's challenge which as Luci said, just about everything fitted into!

So this month I read and reviewed:

10: Inside the Whale- Jennie Rooney 3.25 stars
11: Palladian - Elizabeth Taylor 4.25 stars
12: Taking Chances- Molly Keane 4 stars
13: Dark Fire - C J Sansom 4 stars
14: Flyte - Angie Sage 3 stars (read with J)

and I read and didn't review:

15: The Greatcoat - Helen Dunmore 4.5 stars
16: Slaves of Solitude - Patrick Hamilton 4.5 stars
17: The Swimmer - Roma Tearne 3.25 stars
18: Finding the Fox- Ali Sparkes 4 stars (re-read with M)
19: Running the Risk - Ali Sparkes 4 stars (re-read with M)
20: Gillespie and I - Jane Harris 4 stars
21: The Museum of Cheats - Sylvia Townsend 4.5 stars

I am still hoping to say more about The Greatcoat, Slaves of Solitude and The Museum of Cheats which were all wonderful!

Dee: I love the fountain. You've had some great reads. I look forward to hearing more about your 4.5 star reads.

#255 Dee - yes I am that Rhian from Bishop's Stortford! I had a look back on ReadItSwapIt and it looks like we've swapped twice. Isn't it a small world

Congrats on the new thread Dee - great reading thus far!

Dee
I've added The Greatcoat to my tbr list. I followed the link to the description of the book and I know I'll like this one!

>4 SandDune:: how cool is that, what a small world!

small world indeed! Stasia and I call it harmonic convergence.

Thank you for visiting my new thread Beth, Rhian, Paul, Linda and Laura!

Love that harmonic converging in our small bookish world!

I've just finished my first March book: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. Beautiful and heartbreaking - another 4.5 read!

Ooo! The Snow Child! I am fourth in line at getting this book at the library, and I can't wait! I am happy that everyone I know here on LibraryThing is loving it.

10: Eris, I thought of you when I started reading. I remembered you saying you were familiar with the original story from your childhood. I didn't think I knew the story but at the beginning of the book there's an extract from the Arthur Rackham version and it brought it right back to me.

It's a lovely book and less whimsical than I thought it would be. I'm hoping for a nice quiet weekend so I can catch up with some reviews including this one.

I remember seeing The Snow Child recommended on Goodreads. Your comments prompt me to add it to the tbr pile.

Love the opening painting, Dee!

Me too! Very nice.

Me three! What a number of good books you read in a little bit of time!

I'm glad to see another TIOLI convert. I love the book hunt after the challenges are posted!

Dee, you've done it. I had sort of written off The Snow Child as too 'out there' for me, but I'll take a second look at it after your comments.

Hello Linda, Nancy, Ren, Peggy and Donna!

You've all been very kind responding to my very limited feedback on my most recent reads Now I am going to try and write a something a bit more helpful about my favourite ones, at least!

The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore



The cover of my edition carries an endorsement from a newspaper review, saying that "Dunmore is a writer of quiet, deadly power". This, I think is what her very different books all have in common, they all carry a powerful punch! I've recently read two of her historical novels which had a wide political and historical focus. The Greatcoat is a short novel, maybe a novella and the focus is narrower but its impact just as great.

It is a cold winter in the early 1950s and newly wed Isabel Carey is living in an East Yorkshire market town with her doctor husband in dark, damp rooms which are crammed with furniture and smell of brussel sprouts! An unpleasant landlady lives above. Dunmore describes perfectly the claustrophobia of Isobel's situation and I felt like I was living through it with her. There is also a back story of a young man who flew a RAF plane in the second world war. When Isobel discovers an old greatcoat and uses it to keep warm, the two worlds start to merge. Dunmore initially brings the 1950s to life and then the memories of those living at this time become increasingly real too.

I loved the atmosphere and emotional resonance of this book. If you enjoy atmospheric ghost stories I would recommend this book. If ghost stories aren't usually your sort of thing but you like well written fiction which is good on historical detail, give it a try anyway. Most of all, I recommend it to women who loved books like Charlotte Sometimes, Come Back Lucy and Tom's Midnight Garden when they were girls. I did and this one felt a bit like a grown-up version of those spooky time-slip stories!

Dee - Dunmore is ageing like a vintage wine. From Zennor in Darkness which underwhelmed me, her writing has gotten progressively more absorbing. She must be one of the best writers in the commonwealth without a Booker to her name.

Book 22

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey



This book is influenced by but is not a re-telling of the russian fairy story where an old man and an old woman make a little snow girl and hope she will "come alive and be a little daughter to us."

In Ivey's book, Mabel and Jack are not really old but neither are they still young. It is 1920 and they have moved to Alaska to make a new life for themselves as farmers. They both carry with them the pain of years of wishing for a family which never came. They have come to Alaska to avoid painful memories but find new difficulties in managing the harsh life in Alaska and also with their grief that now appears even more raw and is clearly affecting their marriage.

When a girl called Faina turns up in the snow, Mabel remembers the story from her childhood and believes she is a similar fairy creature. Jack has a more prosaic explanation but concedes that it is strange that no-one else has seen the girl.

There is a magic to the book but not quite in the way I expected. Friendship, some good luck and a strange turn of events begin to thaw out the coldness and bleakness in the couple's lives. How much this is to do with Faina is never completely explained. The reader may choose to believe in her otherworldliness but there are also other explanations so don't be scared off if other-worldly isn't your thing! I couldn't imagine how this book would end but actually found the ending poignant and satisfying.

Dee: I am going to look for The Greatcoat; I have loved all of Dunmore that I have read, and it's time to check out one that I haven't. Thanks for the great review.

18: Hi Paul! I wasn't so keen on Zennor in Darkness either but I can't remember why, she does seem to be getting better and better. I must go and catch up with your thread, I think I've missed a couple of hundred posts in the last few days!

20: Thanks, Beth. I don't think you'll be disappointed with The Greatcoat.

#17 - Nice review! I'm not typically a fan of ghost stories, but I'd give anything a try if it's high quality. I'll put it on my wishlist. I don't think I've ever heard of Helen Dunmore until now.

23: Yes, do give it a try, Kerri. It's only short so you won't have invested much if you don't like it and if you do, there are more Dunmores waiting for you! A lot of people have enjoyed The Siege recently which was also excellent but very different.

#24 - The Siege - right! I've definitely heard of her. I wasn't making the connection. Brain fart. Actually, The Siege sounds more up my alley and it's probably already on my wishlist.

25: Lol, The Siege is definitely a must read!

Hi Dee! Great couple reviews here
I keep seeing Helen Dunmore mentioned on the threads. Sounds like someone I should read eventually

Hi Chelle, Dunmore is an excellent writer and as Paul said, gets better and better. Do read her!

I forgot to mention that my copy of The Detour arrived yesterday! I am very excited but going to try to wait until the group read before I start- fortunately I have a few other books to keep me going while I wait ;). The book also seems to be now available in America but I think Canada has another month to wait- which seems most unfair when it was Nancy and Deb who introduced me to Gerbrand Bakker!

19: Lovely, lovely review, Dee. I have a copy on reserve at the library. Thanks?!

Great review as always, Dee, of The Greatcoat. Oh, you received The Detour!!! I think it's mid-April that it is to be available in Canada. *taps fingers impatiently*

I'm so glad to see that you loved The Snow Child, Dee. I have it waiting for me on the shelf!

Hi Dee. Going back to your last thread, we have the first four Carcassonne expansions: Inns & Cathedrals, Traders & Builders, The Princess & The Dragon and The Tower. The first two add some extra tiles and moves and add to the strategic side of the game; I think the second two add more to the random side of the game. I prefer the first two because I prefer the strategic aspect. It's been absolutely ages since we played so I can't remember much more about it - sorry!

Have you seen the Board Game Geek website? It's got good descriptions and reviews of board games and I used to use it quite a bit to get ideas. Settlers of Catan is also very good, we play that irregularly with friends. And, of course, there are expansions!

Another really fun game is Ticket to Ride. It's initially less complicated than Settlers of Catan and it's also good fun.

#17 Great review of The Greatcoat Dee, that's definitely on my wishlist. Please post your review on the book page as there don't seem to be any reviews of that one and I'd like to give yours a thumb. You've also got me to wishlist Charlotte Sometimes and Come Back Lucy; I loved Tom's Midnight Garden as a child.

#19 And pleased to see that you enjoyed The Snow Child; hopefully that will be heading my way from the library soon.

I also wanted to say that I've finally started Jane and Prudence, the Barbara Pym that you very kindly sent me some time ago, and I'm really enjoying it so far.

Ohh Dee! Swoon!! You have The Detour and Greatcoat already!!!!! I am so jealous, but happy for you too! So far they are not available in Canada. Maybe I need to look on The Book Depository website. Loved House of Orphans - thanks so much for that!

Great review of Greatcoat!!! I can't wait to read it! Helen Dunmore is a great writer!

32: Oh yes, Heather, I am aware of Boardgamegeek but haven't been on it for ages. I suppose I really should check it out for more info on Carcasonne and similiar. My younger son, M got really into Andrew Looney games after reading about Fluxx and the treehouse sets there. I've just discussed the pros and cons of adding stragedy or luck to the game with my older boy, J. He wants to add strategy, of course but I think an element of randomness will be necessary to prevent him from always winning!

There isn't much info on The Greatcoat yet, is there? I will add my review. I love, love, love Charlotte Sometimes and Come Back Lucy (published in America as The Mirror of Danger). They were favourites when I was a child and I enjoyed them just as much when I re-read them as an adult. Charlotte Sometimes is still in print but Come Back Lucy sadly not, so copies are difficult to find.

I'm glad you're enjoying Jane and Prudence. I still have it to read but it was the radio adaptation which turned me into a Pym fan.

33: Hi Deb, I've just visited your thread! I'm really looking forward to reading The Detour with you when copies start to wing their way to Canada.

Charlotte Sometimes is also available in Kindle for £3.49, although it's apparently been changed a bit, I can't remember quite how, since the edition that I read in my childhood (and presumably Dee too if you read it when you were a kid, since I think you're just a year or two older than me). Penelope Farmer also wrote some other books about Charlotte's family, including one about her sister Emma - I have a couple of ex library copies but I'm not sure I've dared read them

Come Back Lucy is a bit pricy secondhand - cheapest is £7.61, or £4.45 for a US copy with the other title. I think I probably borrowed the sequel from the library since I read it but don't really remember it so well, but that's eye wateringly expensive at £99.99!

36: Thanks, Luci. I didn't know Charlotte Sometimes had been changed, I've only read an older edition. Interesting! I've never read the others about Charlotte's family either. I think I just assumed they couldn't be as good!

I used to borrow Come Back Lucy from my nan's library whenever we visited her in Devon. I only recently found my own copy which is a scruffy paperback and that wasn't cheap. I can understand why it's not still in print as it's probably considered too dated for 21st century kids but I wish it was. I have never read the sequel and have a feeling I never will!

Well, Dee, I'm going to hold you personally responsible from my very recent purchases from the Book Depository - Greatcoat and The Detour. The bill's in the mail!!! ;) How could I resist, knowing that you had read one and had The Detour in your hot little hands! It will take about 2 weeks for them to get to me though , but.......

Yay! So happy The Greatcoat and The Detour are on their way to you, Deb! I am sure they will be worth the wait and expense.

I don't feel at all guilty about my recent new books as I have Christmas amazon vouchers, a birthday plus vouchers and a Thingaversary over the last couple of months. I'm not sure what my excuse will be for the rest of the year though! I'm aware that the Orange prize long list will be announced this month and that's usually tempting. I also noticed that there is a new Jane Feaver book out in May and I loved her previous two.

I finished my ER book: The Girl in the Box at the weekend. Review should be following soon and also maybe my thoughts on The Hunger Games which I also read at the weekend because my thirteen year old son, J told me to!

Book 23

The Girl in the Box by Sheila Dalton



source: ER copy
reason for reading: As above. Also fitted March TIOLI challenge 1

The book begins in 1983 with Canadian psychoanalyst Jerry's trip to Guatemala where he discovers Inez, a mute, possibly autistic and probably traumatized girl whose parents, out of fear, are keeping in a windowless shed. The girl's parents beg Jerry to take her back to Canada which he agrees to do. The story then shifts to Jerry's partner Caitlin, several months later and the discovery that Jerry has been killed by Inez.

We eventually find out why but this is no straight forward thriller. The Girl in the Box is an ambitious, thought provoking and intelligent novel which leads the reader to consider their thoughts on psychological treatments; the possible dangers of psychoanalysis; politics and civil war in Guatemala and the ethical issue of how much sympathy you could have for a girl who has killed your partner.

A dense and satisfying read though I'm not sure I'd recommend it to everyone. Read it if you are prepared to go off on unexpected tangents at times and stay with characters who are not always easy to understand and if you want a psychological novel which is more cerebral and wide reaching than the average psychological thriller!

4 stars

Book 24

Emma by Jane Austen



source: Charity shop
reason for reading: I want to read all the Austens and seeing that Bonnie and Laura were reading it gave me a prompt.

I'm not going to write a review of Emma.

So just a couple of thoughts. Completing Emma is a personal achievement for me as I started and couldn't finish it as a teenager. I didn't like Emma herself and chose to re-read Pride and Prejudice numerous times instead of perservering. Reading this time, as an adult, I grew to warm to Emma and was so happy when she ended up with the person it was obvious she would end up with from the first chapter! Still not my favourite Austen but even a not favourite Austen is pretty amazing. I particularly love the wit and cynicism behind the froth in her books. Now just Persuasion and Northanger Abbey left to read (of her major works anyway).

Book 25

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins



source: Borrowed from my thirteen year old, Joe
reason for reading: Joe told me to!

Another one where it doesn't seem necessary to write a review so this is more of a personal response to it.

As a forty-something mother, violence between teens isn't something I usually look for in my books. It wasn't just the violence that made me uncomfortable but the reality game show theme with the general public (and reader?) as voyeurs. But maybe this is the point and the book is actually questioning phenomena such as reality television which has quickly become part of our culture.

I have to admit, despite my reservations about the content that Collins does what she does really well. The book is pretty unputdownable not just because of the suspense but also because of the first person narration of Katniss. Katniss is tough but with a streak of vulnerability and she loves her little sister. I can see why the world has fallen for her. And the romance with its questions over how much was real and how much was done for the public was clever and very topical in today's age of social networking.

Definitely a good read and Joe assures me that the violence is not gratuitous! It has obviously raised questions for him as a thirteen year old reader and has actually led him to read 1984 as he heard that this was an influence on the book. So nothing to complain about there!

Girl in the Box sounds just up my alley, Dee! Great review and a thumbs up from me!

Still have not wrapped my head around The Hunger Games though! When my two sons were younger, like you if I thought that they had chosen something questionable to read - which was extremely infrequent, I'd have a bit of read myself , just so as I knew what my sons were reading. All in a days work for we mom's.....

Thank you, Deb! I think you would like The Girl in the Box.

Yes, I often read books before my boys for the reason you used to and have kept back a couple of Neil Gaimen books as inappropriate.

With the Hunger Games, I think I was reassured by other adults who had read it and I do agree with them- the violence isn't graphic or gratuitous. It was fine for Joe who is a mature and reflective reader. Having said that, I wouldn't want my eleven year old to read it but I don't think he has any interest anyway. Hope that doesn't change when the film comes out!

Dee: You have a streak of great reads. The Girl in the Box sounds fascinating. I like thrillers that go beyond the genre, so I will definitely try this one.

Emma is not my favorite either, but I do admire what Austen has done in creating a character that people feel so strongly about. You're in for a treat with Persuasion, my co-favorite.

I listened to an author interview of The Hunger Games, in which she addressed the violence. She definitely is making a point with "reality" TV, and said that issues in the book are those that confront teens.

I can't wait to see what is next on your list.

I skipped your review of The Girl in the Box as I still have to write my own. But you have had a series of good reads:)

45: The issues in the book are those that confront teens.. That is so true, Beth. I may be uncomfortable with them but they are part of life for young people in the twenty first century. Thanks, Beth.

46: Hi calm, thanks for visiting. I look forward to reading your review of The Girl in the Box.

>40 Soupdragon: The Girl in the Box sounds a little darker than I usually like, but I remain fascinated by Guatemala, so I'll give it a try -- though it may be a while before I can get it from the library! Thumbs up on the review.

I feel about the same as you about Emma - I always liked P&P so much better! It's been years since I read it, so maybe I should try again. Northanger Abbey is fun and Persuasion is my favorite after P&P. I hope you enjoy them both!

I'm glad Emma redeemed herself! Seems like your reactions were similar to mine the 2nd time around. Persuasion is marvelous, and another that tends to be appreciated more by the -- ahem -- mature reader.

The Girl in the Box looks a heck of a read Dee. Another one for the humungous hitlist. Thanks for reading out of the box if you will pardon the slightest of puns.

48 & 49: Hello Dejah and Laura. I am really looking forward to Persuasion!

50: I'm smiling away at your pun, Paul, so easily amused!

Hi Dee, love your recent reviews. The Girl in the Box I've not even heard of, but sounds like one I would definitely enjoy. Delighted you enjoyed Emma! In terms of wit and cynicism, Austen is hard to touch! And thank you for confirming that I will indeed read The Hunger Games; I've got this ebook and have been humming and hawing as to whether I'd actually pick it up. Decision made!

I was very impressed by The Hunger Games - I have #2 in paperback from a charity shop but I'd quite like it and #3 in Kindle. I hope at least one of my boys turns out to be a real bookworm because I have a lot of books awaiting him/them if so, even not counting the ones that I don't think two little boys will ever read.

Dee, my daughter who is not a reader asked for a copy of The Hunger Games for Christmas. She now asked for the next two in the series. If a non reader such as she is raves about these books then they truly must be incredible.

Wow trying to catch up with you Dee is like chasing a speeding train: good books, terrific reviews and lots of both. I hope you like Persuasion as much as I did. It may be my favorite Austen. I agree with everything you say about Helen Dunmore. She's such a terrific writer.

Please read The Detour fast, Dee. The only review here is in Dutch, and I can't understand what's going on!

Hi Dee. Just catching up. I love psychological thrillers so The Girl in the Box went right on my wishlist. So far I've managed to resist all the accolades for the books of Jane Austen and Suzanne Collins I keep seeing. I've only tried one Austen (Sense and Sensibility) and didn't get very far. Someday I'm sure I'll give another one a try. The Hunger Games for some reason isn't calling to me but I think reading books with your kids is a neat thing to do. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Stopping by to say hi! Oh I"m going to try to hold off on The Detour until everyone can get a copy. I understand a little about the story - that is all of those geese on the front of the cover are slowly being killed off - perhaps by an ex- husband who cannot let go of his wife? At least that is what I gather it may be about... Looking forward to it!!!!! I so loved The Twin!

Hello lovely visitors!

52: Do read The Hunger Games, Nancy! It was a pretty quick read for me, probably because I couldn't put it down though I wasn't as bad as my son who moved around the house from bathroom to bedroom etc whilst reading it!

53: They will be reading those books before you know it, Luci! I thought only one of my boys was a reader but then M discovered Harry Potter and now he's much more open to other books. God bless Joanne Rowling!

54: Hello, Linda. I think the Hunger Games is Harry Potter for teens. If Harry didn't grab them then Katniss will!

55: Thank you, Bonnie! I have a very good feeling about Persuasion!

56: Hi Peggy! Am trying to hang on for the group read but may succumb. I've read the blurb on the cover and I think Deb's on the right track. There's mention of geese disappearing in suspicious circumstances and a stunned husband. Apparently the novel is shot through with longing and the quiet tragedy of everyday lives. Excellent!!

57: Thank you, Pat! I admire your ability to stay free of Austen and Collins despite all the peer pressure! Reading what I feel like reading seems to work best for me too. I do love reading with my boys as well and am making the most of it as I know I won't be doing it for too much longer.

58: Love the synopsis, Deb! I will be waiting for the group read too. Unless my curiosity about those poor geese gets the better of me ;)

Dee - hope you are having a whale of a time in sunny Hull this Sunday afternoon (my late evening). Noticed that you have already polished off a couple of Orange Long List books - the Jane Harris and for one. Which one has grabbed you the most so far? Darryl among others has the entire list but as usual I am too lazy to reproduce it here.

Hi Dee. Enjoyed your thoughts on The Hunger Games. I'm pleased to hear it's got Joe interested in 1984.

60: Hello, Paul. I've read Gillespie and I plus The Sealed Envelope from the Orange list and thoroughly enjoyed both but especially The Sealed Letter. Both were wonderful period pieces and deliciously ironic but The Sealed Letter felt more believable, had a wider reach and I loved the writing.

I've just borrowed The Pink Hotel from the library so will report back on that one soon.

61: Hello, Heather. I didn't know if Joe would manage 1984 but he got through it in several sittings, making occasional comments about what he thought Orwell was doing with the book as he went along! He seemed much less disturbed by the ending than I was when I read it at nineteen.

Hi Dee! I'll be so interested in your thoughts on The Pink Hotel. I seriously considered purchasing it for my kindle today, but I had read in my feed that you had uploaded it to your account - so I wait breathlessly for your thoughts. I've got Gillespie and I plus a couple of other Orange Longlist books - but none of them are grabbing me for the moment.......I have got The Forgotten Waltz from the library, but it is not calling my name for the moment.

Hi Deb, thanks for popping by! The Pink Hotel was the one which grabbed me the hardest from the long list so I was delighted to find it on the shelves of my local library. I'm also interested in the one which is supposed to be based on Henry James' The Ambassadors but wonder if I should read The Ambassadors first.

Have you read Bonnie's recent review of Gillespie and I? It could make you want to pick up the book right now!

Both The Sealed Letter and Gillespie and I sound like winners. I added them to my list. I'll be interested in your thoughts about The Pink Hotel, too.

Hi Dee, just made me curious to look up The Pink Hotel, but my library doesn't have it yet.

Actually, Dee, I have had Gillespie and I in my TBR pile for at least 3 months. For some reason it has not grabbed me as yet. Maybe sometime soon. Bonnie did do a great review , you are correct.

Hi Beth, Nancy and Deb!

I have read up to page 38 of The Pink Hotel and I think it's going to be good. Distinctive writing and a page turner so far.

Deb - I had Gillespie and I on my shelves for many months before picking it up despite winning a signed, hardback edition in a Facebook competition.

I finished The Pink Hotel today and interest in it as an Orange Prize longlister has spurred me on to write a review a bit more speedily than usual. Deb, you can start breathing again now ;)

Book 26

The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard



Reason for reading: It appealed to me most from the Orange longlist
Source: City library

The narrator of The Pink Hotel is a scruffy and emotionally damaged seventeen year old who has been brought up by her father in a London flat above their cafe. She barely remembers her mother, Lily who left them when she was three and when her mother was herself seventeen. However it is Lily's name which recurs throughout the book and we never learn her daughter's name.

After hearing of Lily's death, the narrator has run away from London to Los Angeles. The book opens with her searching her mother's room in the hotel she ran whilst guests party maniacally at the wake downstairs. It is an evocatively told story from the very beginning with the narrator lying on Lily's bed in a sweat- stained T shirt and navy-blue tracksuit bottoms which contrast sharply with the mink scarves and lipsticks strewn about the room. Stothard goes on to vividly portray the seediness, glamour and eccentricity of L.A as seen through a 17 year old London girl's eyes.

The nameless protagonist tells her story in a deadpan fashion, describing events in wonderful detail but not analysing her motives. Chapters where she relates incidents from her earlier life however, make it clear to the reader why she is travelling this compulsive path. I found particularly poignant, the passages where she describes how her terror of feeling anxiety and panic led her to seek physical pain as a preferable alternative.

Dressed in her mother's more glamourous clothes, (taken at the funeral along with a suitcase, some love letters and other papers) and claiming she is 22, the narrator tracks down the people she believes she knew Lily best. Some unusual relationships are formed which lead to some unexpected consequences and ultimately to an ending which I found more satisfying than I was expecting.

I would recommend this novel and think it deserves its place as an Orange possibility.

Reading up on Anna Stothard, I discovered that she is the 29 year old daughter of author Sally Emerson who I remember reading in the 1980s. In recent magazine articles, Stothard has said that the book was partly influenced by feelings of inadequacy in her teenage years when she thought she could never live up to her glamourous and successful mother. Another influence, bizarrely was the discovery of love letters from Douglas Adams to her mother. Apparently Adams and Emerson had an affair but Emerson chose to remain with her husband.

Dee: The Pink Hotel sounds like a must read. Thanks for the great review.

Hi Dee! I think The Pink Hotel will go on my wish list. Great review! At last I have finished my review of the Midnight at the Dragon Cafe.

Added The Pink Hotel to my wishlist simply because of your review - then decided to check out your thread to see what else you have been reading. I should have stayed away! Now I have several more for my ever growing pile - definitely will have to read The Greatcoat. I have already read The Snow Child and The Hunger Games and loved both, so I was able to escape those book bullets. Starring your thread so I can find my way back.

Thank you, Beth, Deb and Mamie! I'm glad you found me, Mamie and feel honoured to be starred!

I've just come home early from work. I have some kind of virus/bug thing and I wasn't coping. Well, I was just about coping with the scheduled stuff but anytime anything unexpected happened such as volunteers asking why the photocopier wasn't working or paid staff asking me what I thought of their new database, I felt a definite need to lie down!

So I am back home and in bed and feeling somewhat better already. I am reading a Wesley Peterson novel by Kate Ellis - A Painted Doom. They are comfort reads for me, not quite cozies but not gritty either. They're absorbing and easy to read. When I'm feeling better I will carry on with my Sylvia Townsend Warner and get started with A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor.

Now off to check out Deb's review and Mamie's thread. Excuse me if I don't leave comments today as I'm not feeling very articulate!

Eek! Hope you feel better soon! Lying in bed and reading makes recovery much quicker, honest! ;)

74: Thank you, Faith, I do find that to be the case!

Dee: Get well.

Oh sorry you aren't feeling well, Dee! I have to tell you that at last , The Book Depository came through with The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore and The Detour by Gerbrand Bakker. What an exciting day for a bookworm!!!!! Ha! Boy, I'm going to have a hard time holding back reading The Detour but I'm sure going to try!

Edited to add - on the sad side , hubby got the mail today! Drat! I like to try to " hide" my spendy ways from him. Oh well!

Wonderful review of The Pink Hotel Dee - Keep up the excellent run of reading.
Have a lovely weekend even if you are staying on Humberside for all of it.

Thumb for that review of The Pink Hotel Dee. I will try to get to it but I know I have There But For The waiting for me at the library so the Stothard may have to wait, maybe until Orange July. As much as I loved Gillespie and I, I don't really think it will win but it might make the SL so I'd like to read as many as I can before the winner is announced in April (I think).

76 & 77: Thank you, Beth and Deb. I still feel a bit shaky but a lot better than yesterday.

Deb, I prefer to be the one to get the post too! Though OH is open to the idea of some books as investments. He thinks one should buy the best and most valuable copy of any book that is available! Not very practical when you buy as many books as I do but I have used it as an excuse to buy some nice Sylvia Townsend Warner first editions.

Anyway, delighted you have The Greatcoat and The Detour. Now we must wait patiently for The Detour group read...

78: Thank you, Paul! No such place as Humberside any more but I am planning to spend most of my weekend sleeping and reading in bed so what county I am actually in will be of little consequence :)

79: Thank you Bonnie! I have read three Orange long listers now (Gillespie & I, The Sealed Letter and The Pink Hotel) and enjoyed them all hugely but can't say any of them felt like an Orange winner. Then again, I think I expect an Orange winner to have a pretty wide range, maybe including political issues in it's scope and I'm not sure which books from the long list would fit. It's not a very nationally diverse list this year.

Hi Dee - I'm glad you're feeling a bit better! The Pink Hotel sounds like a good one. I'll plop that on the wishlist.

Sorry to hear you've not been well Dee - glad you're feeling a bit better now.

#69 Thank you for your review of The Pink Hotel - that's definitely gone on to the list of this year's Orange longlisted books that I would like to read. Why do I feel like most of the longlist are going to end up on that list one way or the other?

I'm sorry that you were puny and glad that you're feeling well now! You have me excited about both Gillespie and I and The Pink Hotel. They were the two from the Orange long list that called to me and that I could afford. Just as soon as I finish We Have to Talk about Kevin, I'm going to dive into *G&I*. I need a break from having my heart wrenched!

Hi Dee. I hope you're feeling better. I was looking for a copy of The Pink Hotel after your great review, and recommended that our library purchase it. We'll see how long it takes to show up.

Thank you for your good wishes, Kerri, Heather, Peggy and Beth.

I thought I was feeling better last time I posted but then descended into a fluey/virusy hazy maze for several days! I did read a lot but had problems concentrating on the books I was intending to read so it was just crime fiction while I was feeling my worst. I'm feeling a lot better now, went back to work on Friday and finished A View of the Harbour yesterday which I loved and gave five stars to.

Hmm, I was going to say more but my boys have arrived, demanding my attention and my laptop- will be back soon!

#85 Sorry to hear you had another ill spell Dee :-( Hope you're completely recovered this time.

So sorry that you relapsed.

so it was just crime fiction while I was feeling my worst > That sounds so funny, but I know what you mean because that's what I would have read too - my go to, comfort kind of book because that is my favorite.

86: Thank you, Heather!

87: Thanks, Mamie. Oh yes, I probably would have re-worded that if I hadn't had to post in a hurry! Three of the crime novels I read were comfort reads: A Painted Doom, The Skeleton Room and The Plague Maiden, the 6th, 7th and 8th in Kate Ellis's Inspector Wesley Peterson series. They are not quite cozy mysteries but enjoyable, easy reads. They are pretty formulaic but it's quite an enjoyable formula. Each mystery takes place in the Devonshire countryside on Inspector Peterson's patch. Alongside the current day crime, there is always a mystery from the past which is gradually revealed at the beginning of each chapter through extracts of old manuscripts. By the end of the book Wesley and his colleagues have worked out the contemporary crime and his old friend from university, archaeologist Neil has solved the historical one. There are always striking parallels! Characters can be two dimensional at times and there are generally some contrived coincidences to swallow but recommended for when you don't feel up to anything more literary!

Another crime novel I read was Garnethill by Denise Mina and that was in a completely different category. Very readable but certainly not a easy, comfort read. It was a feisty, politically aware, well written and thought provoking book about a young woman who has been the victim of child abuse and is now suspected of the murder of her married lover. One of the things I love about the book is that despite dealing with some serious social issues, there is a warmth and humour to it and it reads like real life. Sometimes I find novels dealing with grimmer issues have a bleak, detached tone but this one doesn't.

I am grateful to Luci for introducing me to Denise Mina. This is the third of hers I've read and I believe it's the first novel Mina wrote.

Edited to add: I just went to check that I was right about Garnethill being Mina's first book. Apparently I was, as Garnethill won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasy Dagger for the best first crime novel. It is part of a trilogy and I hope to get to the others before too long. I have the second (Exile) on my shelf and I know the third (Resolution) is on the shelves of my local library.

A comfort read to me is just whatever is your personal favorite - so I love crime fiction, everything from the darker reads like Jo Nesbo and Stieg Larson to the cozies like Agatha Christie and Louise Penny. I have recently discovered Colin Cotterill, and am loving his Dr. Siri books. I will have to check out the authors you mention above, as I am not familiar with them - that's the wonderful thing about LT, I am always discovering something new!

I keep meaning to read something else by Denise Mina. I've only read Deception but I loved it and couldn't put it down.

I love Denise Mina, but not sure she's comfort reading, but then I can't talk - I think I saved the last Rebus novel by Ian Rankin as a start of maternity leave treat, maybe even the last 2 but I'm not sure the dates fit.

Gods and Beasts is Alex Morrow #3, and is apparently due out 5 days after my next birthday.

Glad you're feeling better now, Dee. And I'm delighted you enjoyed A View of the Harbour so much!

Hi there Dee! I so enjoyed your review of A View of the Harbour that I've purchased it from the Book Depository! :) You have a dangerous thread, that's for sure! Pink Hotel is on my kindle purchase plans - I can't find it in Canada as yet. I've got Garnethill in my TBR pile. Just finished Island of Wings and really enjoyed it , as well as The Beggar's Opera - the latter of which I've not yet mentioned on my thread. Way behind!

Dee - I hope you are feeling well now. I have seen a fair bit of Denise Mina books around in th elocal shops here and will pick one of them up soon. According to fantasticfiction she has three different series. Where would you / Luci recommend to start?

Luci - #91 are we to surmise that you have a happy event looming? - if so congratulations. Gone are the days that you would have been advised to make sure that the birth is in God's country to ensure that we don't lose the chance of an opening bat/ spinner or pace bowler of renown!

No, the last Rebus novel was published years ago, Paul. I'm too old and too poor to have any more kids (nowhere to put them and no prospect of that changing).

Hi Mamie, Pat, Luci, Laura, Deb and Paul. I'm feeling a lot better now thanks.

Mamie: I'm thinking about trying the Colin Cotterill books. I'm just waiting for a cheap copy to jump out at me, somewhere, some day!

Pat: I haven't read Deception but I can definitely recommend Garnethill and also the Alex Morrow books

Luci: Exciting about a new Alex Morrow book. Will you be buying it for yourself as a birthday present, do you think?

I didn't really have anywhere to put my kids when they were little. We have a large house but it had been converted into flats before we bought it and an elderly tenant with a protected tenancy was living upstairs so there were four of us in two bedrooms and we could only just fit a double bed in our room so Steve had to climb over me if he needed to get out of bed in the night! Fortunately the tenant moved out so we now have room for us all. I still won't be having any more babies, though, either. I seem to remember saving the last Rebus for a special occasion but then being slightly disappointed by it!

Paul: I started with Still Midnight which seemed a good place to me but I've still only read a few of Mina's.

Deb: I haven't posted a review of The View of the Harbour yet but I can see how you could get confused as a lot of people have read and reviewed it this month. It's a group read on the Virago thread. I have some notes on the book beside me though and will be posting something on it very shortly.

Laura: Thank you Laura and yes I loved A View of the Harbour! Something resembling a review is on its way...

Book 31: A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor

Reason for Reading: Virago group, group read as part of our Centenary celebrations organised by Laura.
Source: ReadItSwapIt swap



According to Robert Liddell's afterword to my edition, the title of this book was sometimes misquoted as A View from the Harbour when it was newly published. I'm not surprised that Taylor was quick to correct this mistake as the novel is very much an observation of the lives of a community, living in a harbour town in England shortly after the end of WW2.

A View of the Harbour is also the name of the painting that visitor Bertram is working on. Bertram is one of life's perpetual observers. An ex-sailor, in late middle age, he knows he is only passing through Newby but likes to think he is doing his bit while he's there and that he will be remembered. He is sociable and helpful in an inquisitive kind of way, spending each day wherever it takes him, though this is often in the direction of the most attractive women in the town.

Although Bertram expects to leave Newby having made a small contribution, it becomes evident that he has the potential to do damge. Whilst the women he finds most attractive are not interested, a friendship struck up with lonely, young widow, Lily Wilson leaves her even more lost when he drops it. I found Lily's situatation painful to witness. Whereas the circumstances of other characters are often painted with a touch of entertaining irony, Lily's loneliness and subsequent humiliations when she unsuccessfully searches for warmth and companionship appear nothing but bleak.

The book's most constant focus, however is on author Beth, her family and her friend and next door neighbour, Tory. Beth is an author who is happiest when detached from real life, absorbed in writing her books. Her friend Tory is newly divorced, beautiful, glamorous, lovable and selfish. I suspect that Taylor was playing with an aspect of her own personality with her creation of Beth. Beth loves her children but feels detached from them and feels guilt about the bliss of being away from everyday life whilst writing. Beth is considered a perceptive and observant writer (as Taylor is, of course) but doesn't seem to notice that her husband has been having an affair with Tory since Tory's divorce.

There are several other characters whose lives and stories intertwine but my favourites were probably the children. Five- year- old Stevie's demands, wishes and accounts of incidents at school baffle her mother, Beth but are amusing and believable to the reader. Tory's son Edward is at boarding school and sends home badly written letters which are very funny but presumably heart-wrending for his mother as she reads them. An example:

"Dear Mother" (Tory read, walking back along the hall from the front door),

I am sorry this is such a short letter. Please send a 100 what bulb and flex also battery. Please send at once. Fathers wife sent me a book about ghouls that drink blood out of a corpse. It has been taken away. I'm sorry this is such a short letter. I am a bit off colour. Please send things urgently. I hope you are quite fit.

Kind regards- Edward

p.s If you send a note saying I have got masstoid I don't have to learn boxing. I don't want to learn boxing you might get hurt. Yours- Edward Foyle."

I think it is the combination of wit and compassion which made me love the book. The stories of the harbour's inhabitants are told with a touch of irony which is not always exactly gentle but is not unkind. Taylor really understands her characters and I found them believable. I didn't really want the book to end as I was so involved with everyone's stories and still found myself thinking about them when I had finished. Although, Tory, at least seemed to have reached a resolution and turning point, a twist at the end made me wonder about that too.

This is probably my favourite Taylor so far. If anyone reading this is considering trying her books, I think this would be a good place to start.

5 stars.

What a nice review! I will have to check this one out - good to know that it is a good starting point as I have not read anything by her yet. I had added Palladian to my wishlist based on someone's review - was it you? Anyway, it's always nice to have a recommendation about where to start when jumping into the works of a new author.

Love that review! Did I read somewhere you weren't going to post it on the book page? Whyever not?

Lovely review Dee. I loved the book too and find it interesting how each person who reads it finds something different to love about it.

Great review , Dee. I am waiting on the Book Depository for A View of the Harbour. I can't wait! Post your review on the main page - I'll gladly thumb it!

Thank you Mamie, Laura, Bonnie and Deb. I wasn't going to post the review on the main page as there are already several excellent reviews which seem to sum the book up perfectly but Bonnie, I think you're right that we've all found something different to love so I will add my thoughts.

I should probably warn readers new to Taylor that not everyone loves her. She has a style of writing which I've found addictive and I am now lapping up all I can find by her but if the writing doesn't grab you, you might find the content a bit dull. I did notice that as well as all the Virago group's glowing reviews of A View of the Harbour there is one saying it's not more than a beach read and another by someone who couldn't finish it!

Dee: Great review. It made me want to pick up A View of the Harbour RIGHT NOW.

#98 - I agree - excellent review! I WILL get to her this year.

Hi Dee, thumb for a wonderful review of A View of the Harbour, which now has a place on my WL. I must get to some Elizabeth Taylor this year.

Hey Dee! I found another shortlisted Orange at the Library today - Translation of the Bones, by Francesca Kay. It looks to quite readable and I'm looking forward to reading it. I've got another book on the go for the moment.

Wouldn't you know it... I ordered a couple of books from amazon ca that were supposed to arrive next Monday. Instead they came today , when my husband was home. He seems to be a magnet for bringing my "contraband mail" to the house! sigh!;) I just know A View of the Harbour will arrive on a day that he is home.

Thank you for your kind words, Beth, Kerri and Nancy! A View of the Harbour has been a group read at the Virago group so more thoughts can be found on it there.

Deb, I've just posted about Translation of the Bones on your thread. The copy I reserved at the library is now available so I should be starting soon too!

I do have a few other books to read rather promptly though. As I've posted elsewhere but not here, I'll be attending an event in Reading in April to celebrate the centenary of Elizabeth's Taylor's birth. Very exciting - especially as Heather and several other LibraryThingers will be there! I should probably re-read Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont as I'll be going to the group discussion and it has been a while since I read it. I also plan to read another of Taylor's: A Wreath of Roses for this month's Virago Taylor read.

Also, a friend has arranged for me to join her reading group which means a re-read of The Sense of an Ending. I'm quite happy to do that as I felt like re-reading it as soon as I'd finished it last year and it is quite short. I'm looking forward to joining a RL book group even though my previous experience of RL reading groups hasn't been wonderful. This one does sound more promising!

And I'm currently reading a chunkster, What is the What which I would like to finish before I start anything new. It's an amazing book which tells the true story of a young man who became separated from his family during civil war and spent years in the wilderness as one of Sudan's lost boys. Powerful stuff!

I hope to write up a review of my last read, Elizabeth Jane Howard's memoir Slipstream, soon but am feeling too lethargic right now!

Dee: I used What Is the What in one of my classes, and the students loved it even though it was challenging for them. We have some of the "Lost Boys" at my school. Their stories are heartbreaking. It's impossible for me to imagine having to see what this young man did at such a young age and still having hope.

Good luck with your new book group. I've belonged to one for 10 years, and I have enjoyed it. We read a wide variety and often don't agree, so it makes for lively discussions.

I want to get to A View of the Harbor soon.

109: It's impossible for me to imagine having to see what this young man did at such a young age and still having hope.

Yes, I'm still quite early into the book but have already thought the same. It's great that you have been able to use this book in your classes, Beth.

I think the book group will be fine. At least it sounds as if it does meet with the intention of discussing books. My friend and I formed a group when we were new mums and most of the other members had recently had babies too. It seemed like a good idea at the time but people found it difficult to find the time to read the book and saw it as more of an excuse to get out of the house and leave someone else to look after the baby. We did have fun but the book of the month wasn't discussed much! Another problem was that it was usually the same person who chose the books. She said that she spent a lot of time reading newspapers and book reviews and was therefore best positioned to make a good choice!

That sounds a lot like the kind of experiences that I have had with book groups. My best face to face book discussions have all happened in my own home with my kids and their friends when we were homeschooling and we had found a book like Tangerine or The Wednesday Wars that inspired great conversations. What is the What sounds like an interesting read.

111: I have friends that homeschool and came very close to doing it myself. I love the idea of letting your child take the lead in their learning and then being able to totally focus on the results.

I'm now off to look up the books you've mentioned above!

Dee, I blame you for my latest purchase! Somewhere I read that you thought Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding would be a likely contender for at least the Orange Longlist. So, my copy will be delivered later next week - Thursday I think. As per usual, I'll be sending you the bill!;)

Enjoy your reading time!

Dee, wonderful that you are planning a reread of The Sense of an Ending. I also remember thinking when I finished it that it merited an immediate reread; of course, I didn't get to it ...

113: Hehe, that's the first time I've been blamed for a book which I haven't actually read! I don't really know much about it, Deb but the reviews I've read have been glowing and it sounded like there was a bit more depth and breath to the story than with some of the other books on the longlist. I really do hope you enjoy it, Deb (*gulp*)!

114: Yes, I'm looking forward to it Nancy. I just hope I can find the library copy that was very easy to locate before it won the Booker prize. I'm now wishing I'd bought the first edition I'd coveted in Waterstones with black edged pages. Apparently it was limited edition, is no longer available and expected to be worth something one day. If I'd bought it I'd have an investment and be able to read it now!

Dee, I hope your RL book group meets your expectations. It is so enlightening to have lively interaction about a book with avid readers. The Sense of an Ending is an excellent book to start with. Do let us know how it works out.

116: Thank you, Donna, I certainly will!

March Reading

I read the following books in March and reviewed some but not all of them. Seventeen books in a month is not a lot for many people but is probably a record for me. And all fitted into TIOLI challenges- result!

The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey 4.25 stars
The Pink Hotel - Anna Stothard 4.25 stars
The Girl in the Box - Sheila Dalton 4 stars
The Corner that Held Them - Sylvia Townsend Warner 4.25 stars
A View of the Harbour - Elizabeth Taylor 5 stars
Emma - Jane Austen 4.25 stars
Guardian of the Dead - Karen Healey 4 stars
Garnethill - Denise Mina 4.5 stars
The Painted Doom - Kate Ellis 3.5 stars
The Skeleton Room - Kate Ellis 3.5 stars
The Plague Maiden - Kate Ellis 3 stars
Slipstream- a Memoir - Elizabeth Jane Howard 4 stars
Death of a Red Heroine - Xiaolong Qiu 3.25 stars
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins 4 stars

and with my boys:

Going to Ground - Ali Sparkes 4 stars
Dowsing the Dead - Ali Sparkes 4 stars
Stirring the Storm - Ali Sparkes 4.5 stars

Seventeen books in a month? *faints* That's more than I've done in three months, so trust me, you are doing wonderfully! :D

Thank you, Eris. I certainly don't usually read that many but some were short and I was ill in bed for several days!

Hmm, I don't seem to have read many guy books! Well, I'm reading one at the moment and Julian Barnes will be re-read soon so perhaps I'll have a better gender balance in April. Though as I'm planning to mostly read Orange nominees and books with flowers on the cover (it's a TIOLI thing), I actually doubt it!

>117 Soupdragon:: Seventeen books in a month is not a lot for many people but is probably a record for me.
Whaaat?! I've read sixteen this year. I consider 6 books a good month. You're amazing!

I liked What is the What; it's an incredible story.

Dee: What a great month of reading you had. Several of the books are on my wishlist. What was the best read for you? And who cares about guy books -- they get enough attention ;)

Dee, talk about a fabulous month of reading! 17 books is wonderbonus, and most of your reads were highly rated! You rock!

Bummer that you were sick, but at least you got 17 books out of it. :)

Wow! 17 books is amazing! Congratulations!

Ditto!

Say, Dee, I see that you signed up to a TIOLI read for April - the one where you read an Long Listed Orange book for April. I sort of know how it works, but not entirely . I put my name and the book I plan to read on the wiki page - same book as you Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay. Is that all I have to do, except to indicate " read " on the wiki pages once I have finished reading the book? I've not done a TIOLI for a long time. Thanks Dee!

Well thank you, Laura, Beth, Nancy, Marie, Deb, and Mamie!

Marie, I think I have you to thank for my current read, What is the What. I bought it after reading your review and am very glad I did.

Deb, yes that's all you need to do. TIOLIing has turned out to be easier to follow than I expected. I was a bit thrown by how to record my reading on the wiki pages to start with but I worked it out by copying what others had done and reading the FAQ pages. It looks like you've done it fine.

If you do read any Elizabeth Taylor this month, you could probably add her to my challenge- #20: read a book which has been published in an edition with a flower on the cover. You don't have to be reading that edition. I added that challenge because I realised all the books I needed to read in April had been published with a flowery cover! Though Luci has since added a 'read a book you need to complete for a deadline' challenge so I could have added them to that anyway!

121: Beth, you asked which was my best read. I would say that A View of the Harbour was my favourite but I would still highly recommend The Pink Hotel, The Snow Child and Garnethill. I think if I'd read The Corner that held Them at a different time, it might have been a favourite. Townsend-Warner's writing is as perfect as ever but I finished it off when I was coming down with a virus and found it difficult to concentrate.

The Ali Sparkes books were a second time re-read with my boys and we loved them even more second time around. The formula's a bit Harry Potterish, boy without much of a family life, develops unusual powers, is taken away from his home by a father-figure type he learns to respect and then love, joins a school for children with unusual abilities, makes friends and ultimately fights evil! However, it's more sci-fi than fantasy and has a magic all of its own. The central character Dax can shapeshift into a fox and there is some great description of life as a wild animal in the south of England countryside

I would particularly recommend the books to children between 10 and 14 who loved Harry Potter but I think they could appeal to any age. I met Ali Sparkes at a book signing once and mentioned one of the teacher characters, Owen Hind and she gave me a knowing look and said, "Ah yes, I created Owen for the mums"!

I don't think the Shapeshifter books are available in the USA however - possibly because the only American character in the book is unfortunately a Californian cheerleading school-girl stereotype who turns out to be evil! Oh dear!

Edited to add: Just checked and I was wrong. The Ali Sparkes books do seem to be easily available on Amazon.com. Still don't think she did herself any favours there though!

Thanks for the TIOLI info, Dee! I'm so pleased that A View of The Harbour is on it's way to me via the Book Depository, and I've got Garnethill In my TBR pile. I plan to get the Pink Hotel for my kindle, as it does not appear to be available in Canada as yet. When my kids were younger - at the very beginning of the Harry Potter Craze , my eldest was in grade 6 or 7, so I had the fun of seeing most of the H. P. movies - though they grew out of the books and movies eventually -and you don't want mom trailing along with you forever!;)

Hello and happy morning to you.

Thumbs up from me for your excellent review of A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor!

129: you don't want mom trailing along with you forever!;)

We're almost at that stage, Deb. J is waiting to see if his friends are going to The Hunger Games movie and if not, he wants me and his dad to take him!

130: Thank you very much, Linda. A very happy morning to you too! It is actually a lovely sunny afternoon here though we are forecast snow on Tuesday! It seems impossible to imagine at the moment.

Hi Dee, 17 books in one month is amazing and something I doubt I'll ever see and I'm retired for goodness sake. I think I might fall into the category of 'slow reader.' At least that's the idea I've gotten since being a member here. I did sign up,for your challenge and will r ear my second Elizabeth Taylor book this month.

Whoo, 17 books!!! I'd say "that's awesome, you can do it again!" but I'd rather you not get sick and have to spend days in bed to do so. ;) But well done, and here's to many reads in April in conjunction with good health!

127: Aww, you're welcome. :) What is the What is an amazing story.

Okay, Dee, I'm just starting The Translation of the Bones - let's hope it's a good book, since both of us plan to read it : )....

133: Thank you Faith!

134: Marie, I've just finished What is the What and was extremely moved by it. I will be seeing my brother at Easter and am now very keen to find out exactly what his girlfriend is working on in South Sudan. All I know is that she's on a two year contract out there, working on a project to help build up the infrastructure of the country.

135: Deb, I've read the first few pages and like her writing style, so that's a good start!

---

I will be mostly offline, so wll probably be absent from LT, for a week as we're off to visit my mother on the South Coast. My brother and sister will also be there on Easter Sunday so I'm looking forward to a rare family catch-up!

Happy Easter, Dee. Enjoy your getaway and time with family. Don't forget to pack a book or two. ;-)

Have fun, Dee! Safe travels.

Happy Easter, Dee! Enjoy : ).

Hi Dee - Good to hear that What is the What is good. I enjoyed his first book, but haven't picked up anything else since then.

Have a lovely visit with your family!

Have a nice trip, Dee! And good reading too, I hope. See you in a week or so.

Have a wonderful trip, Dee.

Happy Easter, Dee! Have a wonderful visit! :)

Thank you so much, Donna, Mamie, Nancy, Kerri, Beth, Laura, Pat and Deb!

I'm just borrowing my mum's PC for a quick LibraryThing catch up. I had a lovely time today in historic Aundel, full of character, antique markets and one excellent second hand bookshop. Purchases were made!

My son just looked over my shoulder and made a comment about my giving in to my LibraryThing addiction. I explained that I had to read up on the books I bought today and made the mistake of asking how else I would find out more about them. His answer was, of course, "er...read them?"

Ooh, I started What is the what recently on audio, and loved it, (the readers voice, accent, the writing) but I've gotten distracted by another audiobook. What to do, what to do. Stay up all night? Nah. I've only gotten through the first disk, and the main character is still stuck in his apartment (and the location, from what I remember, is probably just down the street from me, since I live near the Clarkston campus of Perimeter College.) Guess I'll hope to renew this one, 'cause I don't think I'll be able to finish soon.

>144 Soupdragon:: Clever boy, and cheeky too! I hope you're having a nice time, Dee.

>144 Soupdragon: Too funny, Dee. I hope the rest of your trip is wonderful.

Hehe Dee, your son is fun! My husband says to me - doing your homework when I work on a review for LT! I get harassed for my addiction too! ;) I've yet to write a review of The Translation of the Bones but I'm thinking about it. I really loved the book -but not until close to the end. I will end up giving it 4 stars too, I think, but had the first 2/3 moved along a little faster, I think I would have given it 4. 5 stars.

Enjoy your holiday! :)

Clever son, Dee, hehe! er ... read them! Well, there's always that, of course!

Hope you're having a delightful holiday, Dee. As for reading them, you'll do that, but that's not a nearly instantaneous thing like LT is. So keep on coming back! And I can't wait for you to get back home and tell us what you bought!

Have a great time Dee. Other people (and even our own children!) don't know the pull of LT. Only other LTers fully appreciate it.

Finally got my review of The Translation of the Bones done. I loved it!

By the way, Carsten, Nancy and I will be ready to take on The Detour fairly soon. Carsten and Nancy say that they can always get it on their e - reader! I'm excited!! :)

>"er...read them?" Clever lad - too funny! My youngest would respond to that "What bloody cheek!" as she has recently become a big fan of Flavia de Luce from listening to the audiobook in the car. Now she is always looking for a place to use that expression as it tickled her so!

oops! Accidental post (I thought I was on a different thread) - but, again, have a lovely weekend!

Dee - hahaha your furtive catching up on LT - I've been there too believe me!

Dee, I've created a link to the Group Read of The Detour by Gerbrand Bakker here http://www.librarything.com/topic/135690#

Anyone else that is interested, please feel free to join us on April the 15th - 30th.

Thank you, everyone for attending my thread while I've been away! I didn't get back to my mum's PC, as the next day she unfortunately followed a link from a dodgy email, almost got a virus and somehow linked this to being possibly connected to my using her computer the day before :-(

Anyway I am now back. I had a lovely time catching up with family but am very happy to be reunited with my laptop and my cat! I hope you all had lovely Easter breaks too.

145: Ardene, What is the What is so worth reading- or listening to - but it is likely to take you a long time! I hope you are able to renew the audio book.

146 & 147: :-) Thank you, Laura and Dejah!

148: Deb, I will try and write a review of The Translation of the Bones soon. It will be tricky because it was one of those novels where I very much admired certain things about it but other aspects annoyed me. I've just seen the discussion thread at the Orange group. It looks as if I liked the book less than you but more then Her Royal Orangeness!

149: Another smiley face for Nancy :-)

150: Thank you, Peggy! A list of purchases should be following shortly!

151: Hello, Bonnie. LibraryThing is so special to me for several reasons, not least having finally found people with similar taste in books to me. Most of my RL friends are very wary of reading anything I like, assuming it's going to be have lovely writing and no plot!

152 & 156: Thank you for organising the Detour group read, Deb. Can't wait!

153: Smiling again at the image of your daughter with her Flavia-ism, Mamie! Does she say it with an upper-class English accent?!

154: Thank you again, Kerri- hope you found the post you were looking for!

155: Hello Paul, partner in sneakily seeking LibraryThing!

Now off to finish unpacking, wash more clothes and then hopefully catch up with some other threads. This afternoon I'll be at the cinema watching The Hunger Games with my boys.

Hi Dee, way behind as usual.

#108 I'm also really looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks!

I hope the new reading group goes well. It sounds promising if they're currently reading a book you enjoyed. I've joined one for the first time this year and I think it's going better than I expected. I don't think I would be very popular if I asked them to read some Dickens but I expected that we would be mainly reading contemporary fiction. We take it in turns to choose a book which seems to work well and the book does get discussed which I was a bit worried wouldn't happen. And we meet in a local pub so no-one has to worry about getting their house all tidy for visitors - brilliant!

Also adding my congratulations on a fantastic reading month in March!

Enjoy The Hunger Games too.

Dee, enjoy The Hunger Games movie. That trilogy is definitely on my 2012 TBR! I've heard SO much about it, not just at LT, but also at work, through friends, and most recently a neighbour was chatting about it. Looking forward to it!

I just finished reading Mockingjay this morning.

The Translation of the Bones is at least on its way to the library's reserve shelf, two weeks earlier than I expected. I'm reading The Pink Hotel now. I still think this year's Orange list is less interesting than last year's.

Banned from your mum's PC!! Too funny! Just checking in to see what's going on over here. We haven't made it to see The Hunger Games movie yet, but we really want to see it in the theater. I've heard good things about it- we all loved the books, especially the first two. The third one, not so much. We are also waiting for the May release of Insurgent, the follow up to Divergent - have you read that one? We liked it just as much as The Hunger Games.

*waves, passing through*

Passing through - looking very forward to The Detour. :)

158: Hello Heather. Really looking forward to Saturday!

158 & 159: Hello also to Nancy! I was surprised by how much I enjoyed The Hunger Games movie. I'm often quite critical of films when I've recently read the book but thought this one was well done.

160: Luci, I read Catching Fire earlier in the month so between us we made a TIOLI group read! What did you think of Mockingjay? I know some people have been disappointed by it. And The Pink Hotel?

161: Lol, I wasn't quite banned, Mamie but thought it might be an idea to avoid her computer in case she did anything else silly with it and blamed me for the consequences! Mother-and-daughter relationships ;) Thanks for the tip about Insurgent. It sounds like one that Joe would like. His recent favourite books have been the The Hunger Games trilogy and Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses series.

162: *waving back at Faith*

163: Just started it, Deb and my first thoughts are on the discussion thread.

I thought I would have caught up with some reviews by now but things have been surprisingly busy since I got back from holiday. Tuesday looks hopefully quiet...

Dee: I just saw The Hunger Games yesterday, and I, too, was pleasantly surprised. The actors did a fine job, and the contrast between the districts and the capital were well done. I was also happy to see that the violence was not as graphic as it could have been.

I really liked Mockingjay - actually some of it seemed very topical.

I liked The Pink Hotel ok, but I'm not sure about it as a literary prize contender. I won't get to them all this month, but The Translation of the Bones came through much, much sooner than I expected and then I found the Georgina Harding in a shop near work which sells a lot of review copies, hardbacks and trade pb only slightly more (about £5) than pb (£4).

Just a speak, Dee. I seem to have chosen from the Orange long list unwisely, and since I haven't completed but one, I guess it really doesn't matter. Now it's *Achilles*, *Painter*, and *Translation* that I'm eager to read - but no.... I've invested in others. I'll tell you: if *Achilles* is on the short list, I'll break down and pay the relatively big bucks for a Kindle download.

165: I agree, Beth!

166: I'm glad you enjoyed Mockingjay, Luci. I hope to get to it soon.

167: Peggy, the books which appeal when the long list appears aren't always the ones which get the best reviews here, are they? Achilles and Painter certainly seem to be the best received and I think I'd put my money on one of them winning- though not too much as I'm invariably wrong with my predictions.

Do you have a copy of The Pink Hotel or am I confusing you with someone else? Though I know what Luci means and would be surprised to see it on the short list, I liked it a lot and it was my second favourite of the four long listers I've read. The Sealed Letter was my favourite.

The Translation of the Bones was a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, I appreciated much of the writing and found the descriptions of the separation of the mother and son intensely moving.

On the other, I had issues with the characterisation and as this was a slow moving, character driven novel, that was a big problem for me. There didn't seem to be any character development and I didn't think Kay understood her working class characters very well. Fidelma claims benefits and is portrayed as being overweight because she is greedy. She then becomes obese which enables her to claim disability benefits and means that the social workers then leave her alone! Er, actually it doesn't work quite like that!

I would say more but I am demanded elsewhere!

My money would go on State of Wonder from the books I've read so far from the longlist. I loved Achilles but the books I read from last year's shortlist felt more literary, although I don't know what I think literary means except for saying that they felt like they required more effort to read than the 2012 longlist books I've read so far with the exception of State of Wonder. Again, I'm probably completely wrong. I would be thrilled if Achilles did win.

There are still so many I would like to read though - The Pink Hotel, Translation, The Flying Man, Half Blood Blues and The Sealed Letter. I seem to have missed the buzz about Painter but if there's buzz then I'm almost certain to want to join in and read it.

#168 "She then becomes obese which enables her to claim disability benefits and means that the social workers then leave her alone! Er, actually it doesn't work quite like that!" Oh dear, but then unfortunately the media often seem to think that is how it works and therefore all people claiming benefits are just lazy etc. Is it possible Kay was writing tongue in cheek? If not, it does sound slightly less appealing...

Heather, I think much of what I've heard about Painter of Silence hasn't been from LibraryThing but it has been positive and suggests a book with the sort of wide scope that I suppose I expect an Orange winner to have. I don't know much about the Achilles book but it seems to be suddenly ever so popular here!

Re: The Translation of the Bones. Kay wasn't being tongue in cheek but I have summed her up rather flippantly. The obesity leading to disability benefits and the disappearance of social workers is exactly as stated. She is probably a little more sympathetic to Fidelma's food issues than I've suggested but ultimately Fidelma's obesity appears to be a consequence of a weakness for too much fried food and chocolate fingers. I probably would have accepted that if I also thought the author had any appreciation on how difficult people like Fidelma can find affording and prioritising fresh fruit and vegetables along with the food which fills you up.

However, this is a small element of a book which has some lovely writing and thought provoking symbolism around Christianity and Easter time so I'd say still well worth a read.

I looked it up this morning and the Orange Prize shortlist announcement is tomorrow. Of the 8 I've read at least part of so far (about to finish #7 and reading #8 too), I like The Sealed Letter most, then Half-Blood Blues though lots of people don't agree with me! I think Patchett and Harris probably also deserve a shortlist place.

Very interesting observations about the character(s) in The Translation of the Bones, Dee. Thanks!

Hmmm I'm presently reading The Song of Achilles...

I've already read State of Wonder, Lord of Misrule (blech!), The Night Circus, Gillespie and I (loved, loved, loved) and There But For The (?)...

Can't wait for the announcement.

Hi Luci, Nancy and Bonnie!

I'm probably being a bit unfair focussing on a detail I didn't like about The Translation of the Bones when I haven't written a full review yet. I'm very behind with reviews but hope to catch up a bit later today!

The Orange shortlist is here! The short listers are:

Esi Edugyan Half Blood Blues
Anne Enright The Forgotten Waltz
Georgina Harding Painter of Silence
Madeline Miller The Song of Achilles l
Cynthia Ozick Foreign Bodies
Ann Patchett State of Wonder

No real surprises, I think.

I am really wanting to read Half Blood Blues and The Song of Achilles. Thanks for posting the list - it's my first look at it. You know, I just joined LT this past September, and before that I had never heard of the Orange Prize. I am learning so much!!

Oh I'm a little disappointed in the short - list. I have Half-Blood Blues on the shelf , but I'm not that keen about it. The Song Of Achilles -well, I'm not sure that its my style - a Greek myth?

I will read Painter of Silence fairly soon , and I have State of Wonder. Oh well - at least the longlist brought a couple of fabulous Long listed Oranges to my attention.

Glad that you are joining us for The Detour group read, Dee! That's what's caught my attention for now. I found that The Translation of the Bones was similar to The Detour with all of the allusions and metaphors to Christianity, Catholicism etc etc and that's what really caught my interest.

Mamie, I can't wait for you to get your copy of The Detour!

They sent me an email saying that my "order has been dispatched" and "if I have any queries" to let them know. You just gotta love email from the UK. Why don't they sound like that in the US? Your order has been dispatched sounds so much more important than "we mailed your package"!!! And queries is so much more fun than questions.

Book 32
Slipstream: A Memoir by Elizabeth Jane Howard



Source: Car boot sale several years ago
Reason for Reading : Elizabeth Jane Howard will be speaking at the Elizabeth Taylor event on saturday. Howard knew Taylor and mentions her in this memoir.

This memoir which is more of an autobiography really, was published in 2002 when Howard was 79. She looks back at a privileged childhood, a patchy education, an adolescence in WW2 and an adulthood with a frequent amount of highs and lows.

In her preface Howard says:
Speaking as a very slow learner, I feel as though I have lived most of my life in the slipstream of experience. Often I have had to repeat the same disastrous experience several times before I got the message. That is still happening. I do not write this book as a wise, mature, finished person who has learned all the answers, but rather as someone who even at this late stage of seventy-nine years is still trying to change, find things out and do a bit better with them.

Howard's privileged upbringing, renowned good looks and an artistic and literary nature didn't lead to an easy, charmed life. In early life she found it difficult to please her mother who admitted to preferring her brother. She was close to her father until a point in her teens, when to her shock he started to show a sexual interest in her. She immediately avoided seeing him alone.

As a child Howard was not considered pretty but photos show how the skinny little girl with a narrow face and wide mouth developed into a young woman with long legs, high cheekbones and a sultry looking mouth. It is easy to see how she attracted the considerable amount of attention she did from men. Yet many of these men were predatorial types and many were married. Howard's receptivity to attention lead to many short term relationships which proved to be ultimately destructive. A lack of confidence meant that Howard often seemed to fall in love with the new image of herself that a man could give her, rather than the man himself.

Her first marriage while still in her teens was clearly a mistake and finished after Jane fell in love and had an affair with her brother-in-law. The marriage had produced a daughter whom Howard never really seem to bond with. Often when I read the stories of new mothers from this period of British history I despair and this was no exception. Howard's baby was kept from her except when it was considered feeding time when she struggled to cope with a newborn screaming with hunger. When I read about this early experience and considered Howard's uneasy relationship with her mother, it didn't surprise me that her relationship with her daughter remained poor but it did seem sad.

After her marriage, most of Howard's relationships were of the short-term nature mentioned above. Her longest and seemingly most satisfying relationship seemed to be with Kingsley Amis. When he turned on her, criticising her for the upper class way of speaking and finding the woman he once loved, suddenly repellent, Howard was understandably shocked and confused. I have never read Amis but understand that he has a reputation for misogyny and I think that was what he eventually displayed in his marriage.

The one thing which did seem consistent in Howard's life was her writing and despite an often chaotic personal life, she seemed to possess a single minded focus towards her writing which made this the most obviously successful element of her life.

She wasn't political, describing herself as vaguely "not left-wing" and I didn't get much sense of a social awareness of the times she lived through. When WW2 breaks out, she and her friends continue acting in plays and try not to think about what's happening. I actually found this quite believable and refreshing but it could be disappointing to a reader expecting to find out more about the times Howard lived through.

One thing Howard does do is give a lot of information about the (often well-known) people she associated with, befriended, slept with etc! Sometimes this was fascinating (when Elizabeth Taylor was mentioned!) and sometimes less so. I got the impression Howard though people would be more interested in her book if it was crammed with famous people but these were my least favourite parts of the book.

I found the parts where Howard talked about herself most interesting. Howard clearly suffered from a lack of confidence throughout her life, yet achieved success as an author and undoubtedly charmed and impressed those around her. I found her willingness to admit to mistakes and try to learn from them particularly endearing.

_____

Not part of the review but one part of the book mentions actress Jill Balcon who was married to Cecil Day Lewis when Howard had an affair with him. The names rang bells and I find that two of my Virago Modern Classic, Edith Whartons have the name Jill Day-Lewis written on the front page. Googling revealed that Jill retired to Hampshire and lived just a few miles from the second hand book shop where I bought the Whartons, before her death a few years ago!

177: I'd love to get an email from America saying they'd mailed my package! Actually I've just ordered a plush Pembrokeshire Welsh Corgi and Hamster for my son from an American company so maybe I will!

176: I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of Painter of Silence, Deb. It's the one I'm most interested in at the moment. Also, I'm hoping you like it as I think you bought it because I thought it would be short-listed. Hey, I was right!!

The Achilles book didn't initially appeal to me but everyone seems to LOVE it! I read a few pages of Half-Blood Blues and couldn't get into the style but maybe I should have persevered.

Dee - that is a really great review. A lack of confidence meant that Howard often seemed to fall in love with the new image of herself that a man could give her, rather than the man himself. This is so insightful, and I think that both men and women suffer from this.

As to your footnote - don't you just love serendipitous moments like that?!

>177 Crazymamie:: for a minute there my eyes glossed over the word "plush" and I was really amazed at the ability to import both a corgi and a hamster.

In any case, at some point your order will "ship" and they will "answer questions" or "offer assistance." We don't "dispatch" over here, nor do we "query" things. But like @crazymamie, I just love proper English!

181: Thanks, Mamie. Yes, I think relationships can often more about oneself than the other person!

182: :) My son would be delighted if I really did order him a corgi and a hamster, Laura! The plush ones are substitutes because our cat would hate a dog and would probably have too much fun with a hamster! Also we wouldn't be able to give a dog enough walks and attention.

Dispatching always sound very cold and uninteresting to me. I'd much rather my package was mailed!

#182 "for a minute there my eyes glossed over the word "plush" and I was really amazed at the ability to import both a corgi and a hamster." - Me too! And then felt concerned about the ethicalities of ordering live animals over the internet!

#176 Deborah, I'm definitely in the 'loved it' crowd for Song of Achilles but the Greek myth elements appealed to me so I have no idea whether you'd like it if that aspect doesn't appeal.

I'm thrilled with the shortlist because I'm on track to have read three shortlisted books by the end of this month so I might push to try and finish the other three before the winner is announced.

#178 Great review of Slipstream Dee. I'd forgotten Elizabeth Jane Howard was going to be speaking on Saturday.

So now I am picturing your hamster and your corgi, both sitting in first class, drinking martinis and practicing British accents, on their way to their new home!

I guess what I like about the word dispatched is that it sounds urgent and secret - like in a spy novel when agents are dispatched to take care of "the problem". I am picturing the bookstore clerk stealthily packaging up my book and secretly handing it off to a courier who will make sure it is placed carefully along with other innocent looking packages to be delivered to the US (and all the while the theme from Mission Impossible is playing in the background). Because of course that book is not yet available in the US.

So perhaps I've had too much coffee this morning...

Dee, what a fab review of Slipstream: A Memoir. I'm taken with the quote: I do not write this book as a wise, mature, finished person who has learned all the answers, but rather as someone who even at this late stage of seventy-nine years is still trying to change, find things out and do a bit better with them. And I love your footnote! That's so neat!

#185 LOL!! Now I'm off to work and will have this image in my head: your hamster and your corgi, both sitting in first class, drinking martinis and practicing British accents. Thanks, Mamie!

Thank you Heather and Nancy and also to Mamie for entertaining me hugely with her possibly caffeine-induced images!

To prevent any further concern, here are the little fellows soon to be winging their way from Kiddie Collection USA Inc. My son has been keen on Welsh Corgis for some time and loved the photos of sibyx's puppy. I'll have to keep him from Laura's thread or I'll be importing plush turtles from the USA too!

Oh, good Lord, I want a hamster!!

I've been meaning to read Slipstream for ages, I have an offputtingly bulky hardback copy but had borrowed the paperback from the library (Mike's office is in a central library building in a borough which has free reservations - it's now 80p in the library local to where I work and it's £1 where we live. I read many of her earlier novels too long ago to remember much about them, and arguably too young to really get most of them but I remember loving The Beautiful Visit - I also read some of her later books but at a time in my life where I somehow read 2 books a day and rarely remember much about them.

I own 5 of the shortlist and have read 3 and am not surprised by it given the content of the longlist. I think I might buy the Miller on Kindle as it's cheap paperback price at the moment.

Hi Luci. My copy of Slipstream is also the large hardback and I'd had it for years. If it wasn't for the Liz Taylor event I don't know when I'd have got around to it! I haven't read any of Howard's novels but probably will now.

The shortlist does look like the obvious, more literary choices, doesn't it? Maybe the judges didn't want to do a Booker and be accused of dumbing down!

188: Oh hello Cathy, didn't mean to ignore you! He's pretty cute isn't he?!

*waving* at Dee

Hi Dee, you've got a hot review on tap! Well done!

Hi Dee,
There are so many Britishisms like despatch that I would prefer to the Americanisms that we're forced to use here. Hubby likes to point out that I'm just a frustrated pseudo-Brit anyway LOL.

Well, I order so many books and things from the UK that I am accustomed to "Brit Talk". Dispatched. Thanks for your custom! ( aka Thanks for yourpatronage). Bank Holidays, and then again, I am Canadian - so I likely use both Brit Talk and US talk. We do say queue rather than lineup most of the time. I like Mamie's chat of spies sent on on dispatch. Very cute hamster and corgi, by the way ! At least you won't have to scoop after the poop like I do with Daisy the dog.

Morning Dee, I'm still on my first cup of coffee, so your thread is safe! I like the pictures of your corgi and hamster - too cute. I trust their travel papers are in order...

I had a fun time catching up, Dee. I've had EJH on my radar for a bit now, and your review makes me want to start with the memoir. I don't know when though, because I've spent the rest of this month's book $ on Kindle copies of *Achilles* and *Silence*. I'm finding this year's Oranges more appealing than last years, or maybe that's not true. Never mind. I am loving, LOVING Lord of Misrule. In fact, I'm going to try to put another large dent in it now. Apparently, it's a love/hate book, which indicates strength of some sort. Some of the writing is irritating, but some is wonderful. I find myself really caring about the sleazy characters and holding my breath for the fate of the horses.
And, theoretically, I want the corgi AND the hamster!

Dee: Thanks for the shortlist list. I want to get to Half-Blood Blues and The Song of Achilles soon. Interesting review of Slipstream; I chanced upon some of Elizabeth Howard's Cazalet Chronicles a few years ago and loved them. I would be interested in her autobiography.

OOooo, Dee. You got a copy of The Blue Book, one that looked good to me but is not easily or cheaply available here. Transatlantic voyages suck me in every time! I'll be eager to see whether you like it.

192 & 193: Hello Stasia and Nancy!

194: Hiya Bonnie! Is "Hiya" American or British or just Hull speak, I wonder?

195: The lack of need for poop scooping was another reason we went for the plush corgi, Deb!

196: Mamie, I'm not going to be able to look at those creatures when they arrive without thinking of you and the possible adventures they've had!

197: Peggy, I am happy for you that you're all absorbed and immersed in the world of a book :)

198: Hi Beth. Funnily enough, whilst I am quite interested in everything on the shortlist, there isn't one of them shouting "Read Me Now" to me! I actually went to the library today where they had multiple copies of five of the shortlisters on display. I picked up Painter of Silence, The Forgotten Waltz and the Achilles book and put them all down again! I had been quite keen to read The Forgotten Waltz but when I flicked through it, I thought I wasn't quite in the mood for an extra- marital affair, if you see what I mean! I will probably go back and borrow Painter Of Silence before too long.

199: Ah yes, Peggy. Well, after turning down the chance to read all those Orange shortlisters for free at the library, I spotted longlister The Blue Book at Waterstones in a rather lovely (but fairly pricey) hardback edition. I think it was the blue edged pages which clinched it- there is no hope for me!

A book I'm even more delighted with arrived in the post yesterday. I had posted somewhere about how much I liked the author Joan London and how frustrating it was that I couldn't locate a copy of her short stories: Letter to Constantine. I have all her others. I then received a PM from Australian Library Thinger, Crimson-Tide/ Helen who said I could have hers when she'd read it. She promptly read it, posted it and it arrived yesterday. I am very grateful and happy! One good thing about is that I can now finish the other short story collection of hers. I was saving the last stories so that I still had something by her that I hadn't read!

I'm having the day off work tomorrow, taking a train to Reading and staying with my sister. The next day I will be attending an event dedicated to one of my favourite authors, Elizabeth Taylor, in the company of Heather, plus Simon, Julie, Alison and Liz from the Virago thread. How great does that sound? :)

Will be offline for a few days but will report back when I return!

Ooh, have a great time at the Elizabeth Taylor/LT meetup, Dee. I can't wait to hear all about it!

Cheers and safe travels to the Virago group! Envy doesn't even enter into it. What a kindness for Helen to send you the Last London!
Since I have copies of *Achilles* and *Painter/Silence* safely on my Kindle, I picked up Foreign Bodies this morning instead. I think I'm hopeless too...... So far it's more like trying to do something with a mound of cold, half-drained spaghetti than blancmange - discursive to say the least. That doesn't mean that I dislike it, I'm sorry to say.

201 and 202: Thank you Pat and Peggy!

Strangely, Foreign Bodies is the shortlister I'm most tempted by, despite comparisons with blancmange and now cold spaghetti but they didn't have it at the library. I think the reason I haven't bought it yet, is that someone always mentions Henry James in relation to it and that makes me consider how I might prefer to read Henry James instead!

See you on Saturday Dee!

See you then Heather :-)

Dee: Safe travels. Report back. One wonderful thing about readers is that we all have different tasts. I have been most tempted by Half-Blood Blues. I just finished The Forgotten Waltz, and you're right, one must be in the right mood for Enright -- although I found this one less dreary than The Gathering. Her writing is so wonderful.

I just checked out Foreign Bodies from the library, so I will have to get to that soon. I have also been thinking that I should read The Ambassadors first. It's a James I haven't read, but I'm not a big James fan, so maybe I should just jump in with Ozick.

Oh, Dee, have a fabulous time! What great fun!

>200 Soupdragon: Oh Dee I think it's safe to say that "hiya" is used in both countries. It's really common here although I prefer hi there. But that's just me.

I finished and loved The Song of Achilles but I probably won't read any of the others before the announcement of the winner. I'm not really drawn to any of them particularly the Enright book. After suffering through the dreadful (IMO) The Gathering, I'm not ready to go back into the water again with her. I'm glad Peggy said Lord of Misrule was an either love or hate book because I really hated it, although I did force myself to finish it.

Sigh. I'm so happy for all of you going to the Taylor event. I can't wait to hear about it!

Dee / Heather - look forward to hearing of your meet-up in Reading. Have a great weekend.

Hope you had / have a great holiday with your family! When you are back, you are welcome to add your thoughts to The Detour thread.

What fun at the Taylor event!

Stopping by to say hi!! Have a great weekend, Dee!

I'm catching up on threads, today. Your review of Slipstream is excellent! I hope the Taylor event / LT meetup went well.

Have a nice weekend!

Hi and thank you to Beth, Nancy, Bonnie, Laura, Paul and Deb!

I hoped to have caught up with this group by now but lost connection with the internet a few days ago. Mr Dragon spent much time chatting to telephone tech support guy, got nowhere, then bought a new router and hoorah, normal service is resumed!

The Elizabeth Taylor day was very special. It was wondeful hearing the speakers, both those of who have loved Taylor the person and those who love her work . It was also wonderful to meet up with fellow LibraryThingers and meeting Elizabeth Jane Howard was quite a moment, having recently read and been swept into her world via her autobiography. If anyone is intererested in more info on the day and seeing photos, there is a thread at the Virago group devoted to it: http://www.librarything.com/topic/134132.

My eyes are closed in most of the photos suggesting I dozed my way through the whole day but I definitely didn't!

I also attended my friend's book group last week to talk about The Sense of an Ending. It was pretty good, lots of lively discussion about....Oh, possible spoilers...I can't tell you what the liveliest discussions were about but they were interesting! The only awkward part was at the beginning with one woman giving me quite a look and demanding to know who I was! Apparently she hadn't been there at the previous meeting when everyone had discussed me and decided to let me in! She thawed out later though. It turned out we had mutual friends and we seemed to get on ok. I did take extra care to listen attentively to her book thoughts and not interrupt! Next month's read will be State of Wonder.

Now off to catch up with other people's threads. I have no idea when I might catch up with reviews!

213: Thank you, Georgia! I'm just off to catch up too...

"The only awkward part was at the beginning with one woman giving me quite a look and demanding to know who I was!" Wow! What kind of book group was this - did you ask about initiation ceremonies because that could get dicey?! At least you didn't say, "The only awkward part was when they removed me from the premises..." Glad it went well. Next time take the corgi and the hamster along for a bit of extra protection just in case, I'm pretty sure they have "special training" - after all they were allowed to fly first class and drink martinis in route to your house.

216: Well, I didn't feel particularly welcome at that point but everyone else was lovely and my friend who is a long standing member of the group had given hints (warnings?) about one particular member before I started so I'm guessing that was her!

I arranged for the (plush!) corgi and hamster to be delivered to my husband's work as we have missed post at home a few times recently but forgot to tell him! I received a bemused phone call from him at work asking if I knew anything about them!

Did he open them at work - too funny!

218: Yes! Though it was just him and his business partner who also has kids so not quite as bad as it sounds!

Still funny!

Welcome back Dee!

>214 Soupdragon: Sounds like someone forgot to show you the secret handshake for that group Dee;-)

I would have loved to be at the ET Day and with you and the other LTers. It sounds wonderful. I'm off to check out the thread.

Thanks for the link to the LT meetup pictures, Dee. Glad you were able to go.

Me too! I've loved reading about it from you 5.

Dee, great thread on the LT meetup! So glad you enjoyed Elizabeth Taylor day. I can see a RL discussion of The Sense of an Ending being lively!

It looks like Elizabeth Taylor Day was wonderful! I'm glad you had a good time.

Thanks for sharing your day. It sounds like a lot of fun.

220: Yes, Mamie ((-:
221: Thank you, Laura.
222: I wish you could have been there too, Bonnie along with the whole of the Virago group.

223, 224: Thanks Pat and Peggy!

225: Thank you, Nancy and yes , things got quite lively when we discussed the behaviour of the girlfriend's mother, in particular!

226, 227: Thank you Kerri and Beth.

And thank you everyone for visiting my thread even though I've been mostly absent from it this month. I am horrified to admit that I haven't write one review for any of the eleven books I read in March! I don't think I'm going to catch up now so will just list and sum-up each book!

33: The Detour - Gerbrand Bakker - 4 stars
A Dutch woman has run away to live an isolated life in rural Wales. Gradually we learn why. Beautifully written with deceptively spare prose that says a lot and creates a perfect atmosphere. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as The Twin because I couldn't quite believe in the central character as a woman (certain details about her sexuality just didn't ring true)! If Bakker had created the central character as a man, I think it could have been a five star read for me.

34: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins - 4 stars
Enjoyed it just as much as The Hunger Games. Loved the ending!

35: What is the What - Dave Eggers - 4.5 stars
I'm usually wary of fictionalised accounts of recent true events. Åsne Seierstad drove me mad in The Bookseller of Kabul when she kept putting thoughts into the heads of real people that she had no real way of knowing were accurate. The difference here, of course, is that Eggers is writing the book with his subject and I thought it worked perfectly. Eggers is able to tell Valentino's story with poignancy and it is cleverly structured in a way which kept my interest and told me much about life in America for a Sudanese refugee as well as the horrors of civil war for a young boy, separated from his family.

36: A Room Full of Bones - Elly Griffiths - 3.5 stars
The fourth and latest in the Ruth Galloway series. I have found the mystery in each but the second book to be pretty weak but I keep reading because I'm intrigued by the characters and by Ruth's strange relationship with Harry Nelson. Lots of Australian spookiness in this one as sinister demands are made to a Norfolk museum for ancient Australian bones to be returned to Australia.

37: The Translation of Bones - Francesca Kay - 3.25 stars
I wrote a bit about this above. Some beautiful and moving writing but Kay shows a lot more understanding of the upper class than the less privileged!

38: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark - 4.25 stars
Clever, ascerbic... I don't think I've got anything new to say about Muriel Spark though Peggy managed it with her wonderful "shot of limencello to the brain" comment on her thread!

39: At Mrs Lippincote's - Elizabeth Taylor - 5 stars
40: A Wreath Of Roses - Elizabeth Taylor - 4.5 stars
41: Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont - Elizabeth Taylor - 5 stars
42: The Blush - Elizabeth Taylor - 5 stars
Loved every word of each of these. We talked at the Centenary day in Reading about how much Taylor can say in just a few lines and how exterior details reveal a lot about the interior. I think the more I've read of her, the more I've enjoyed it. Mrs Palfrey was a re-read for me and whilst the first time I read it, I wavered between 4 and 4.5 stars, this time, it was a definite five.

The Blush was the first collection of short stories by Taylor which I've read and I was delighted to discover that her prose is perfectly suited to the form. This makes sense as apparently Taylor admitted she preferred to work in scenes rather that with a fixed narrative.

43: The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes- 4 stars
Another re-read for me though this one kept it's original rating. It is so worth re-reading though. I looked at Tony in quite a different light second time round!

Hi Dee - What a great reading month! I think I may listen to the David Eggers on audiobook at some point. I haven't read anything by him since his first memoir-ish thing a while back, which I thought was great. I still may get to those Hunger Games books this summer. I keep going back and forth with those.

I like your "summing up" - it's an art, I think, to use just a few sentences to convey your thought and reading experience. Nicely done! How are the corgi and hamster? Do they have names yet? I feel as if I know them and should inquire after their health.

Wow, you are a reading machine Dee!

229: What is the What is well worth reading (or listening to) though it took me a while to get through. I don't know if an audiobook would take more or less time.

230: Thank you, Mamie. I am sad to say that the corgi and hamster are still stuck in a large mail bag on my wardrobe. A sad state of affairs when you think of all that first class, cocktail drinking we assume they were up to on the way here! Fortunately, it is soon my son's birthday and they will then be released and loved.

231: Thank you, Laura. I haven't been much of a reviewing machine this month but a little part of me still really thinks it will be different next month!

Edited to add: Oh, it is next month already, isn't it?!!

Dee: You are a reading machine -- and what a great month you had. I have got to get to Elizabeth Taylor soon. I've been enjoying the Griffiths series, too. You are right about the characters being the real draw.

233: Hi Beth. Yes, I will keep reading those books however weak the plotlines get to find out what happens next to Ruth!

Well, I am most exasperated as I just wrote a proper review for my first May read and then somehow lost it by trying to edit on the bit where you're not supposed to edit :( . I knew there was a reason why I used to write reviews on Word first! A probably condensed new version will now follow...

Book 44: True Murder by Yaba Badoe



Source: ReadItSwapIt swap
Reason for Reading: Fits TIOLI Challenge 10:Read a book with a word in the title suggesting violent death

The Blurb

Eleven-year-old Ajuba has been abandoned at a Devon boarding school by her Ghanaian father. Haunted by the circumstances of her mother's breakdown and the ghosts of the life she left behind in Ghana, she falls under the spell of new girl Polly Venus and her chaotic, glamorous family. But all is not what it seems in the Venus household and Ajuba struggles to make sense of things as she watches the family tear itself apart.

One day the girls find what they think are dead kittens wrapped up in an old coat in the attic of the manor house. The bones turn out to be those of a dead baby. Obsessed with the detectives of the American magazine serial True Murder, the girls set out to find what happened to the baby and, as the summer draws to a close, three tragedies conflate, with catastrophic results.

What I Thought

I enjoyed this one and found it increasingly compulsive reading but it certainly is dark. The first person narrative, told by an eleven year old Ghanian girl is convincingly done, making the juxtaposition between her innocence and the the dangers in the adult world around her particularly chilling.The back story concerning the discovered bones, Polly's fascination with "True Murders" and Ajuba's memories of her Ghanaian mother's belief in witchcraft, all contribute to the feeling of menace pervading the book. Ajuba finds comfort at Polly's home but darkness lies here too!

Although no-one means Ajuba or Polly harm, the adults around tend to be unreliable, inconsistent or unstable. One of the more benign and well-meaning characters eventually neglects Ajuba's needs through well-meaning intentions! Ajuba longs for her mother and Polly yearns for her father but unfortunately the message they receive is that fathers are unfaithful and mothers emotionally damaged as a result.

I thought initially the writing was a little simplistic but I changed my mind as I read on. Ajuba's voice is appealing and convincing and through it Badoe manages to convey to the reader even more than Ajuba witnesses. I found the scenes describing the physical state of Polly's mother after Polly's father has left, painful to read, they so accurately portrayed raw emotion.

A psychological thriller which also looks at growing up, the bonds we form and break and the differences and similarities between cultures.

4 stars

214: Dee, thanks for the link to the quintessential meetup in Reading. It looked like a marvelous time was had by all. The pics are great. You don't look tired to me...just a bit camera shy. ;-)

I must get my hands on an Elizabeth Taylor book! I just put in a library request for Angel, the only ET book they have. It will even fit in your "backward" TIOLI challenge: gel/leg. What a cool bonus!

Dee: Great review of True Murder. It might be a bit dark, but I am adding it to my list. It also sounds intriguingly complex. Is this a first book?

Great reviews of your April books! I will get to Elizabeth Taylor in time, but for now I am reading a nice cozy mystery, White Nights. Oh! I've got to go peek at the photo's - just saw the link just now.

Great photo's and it looks like a great meet - up! Beautiful building! As far as your having your eyes shut, my husband has that problem. He always seems to blink when a picture is taken - so I understand! You look just great - as does everybody! :)

Oh my Dee nothing for awhile and then BOOM lots of enticing reviews and it's hard to ignore those 5 star Elizabeth Taylor books since I've recently become her biggest fan. So I hope to get to At Mrs. Lippincote's and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont.

Dee, what a month you've had, reading and otherwise! So much fabulous stuff in your post at #228. I can't wait to get the Hunger Games trilogy; this is on my list of things to do in 2012! Honestly, I haven't heard anyone yet say that they didn't enjoy Collins. Again, just a couple of days ago a colleague was raving! True Murder also looks most intriguing!

Dee, you've done a much better job of getting through your April reviews than I have with mine! You've motivated me - I'm off to write at least one review....

Coming in a little late on your thread here -- I read The Hunger Games last year and had a similar reaction to yours. Here's a short article that you might find interesting, as the writer had similar views to ours: The Immorality of “Hunger Games”

I confess - The Hunger Games hold no interest for me. I know I'm in the minority, but I simply am not a fan of dystopian books, nor sort of Sci -Fi/ Fantasty. Oh dear Dee!

True Murder sounds interesting though - great review!

235: Hi Donna. Yes, as you noticed I do not like having my photo taken. It's always driven my mother mad! We did have a wonderful time, thank you. I just wished it had been longer. I could have quite happily gone back the next day and done it all over again! I hope you enjoy Angel. I haven't read it but Angel herself sounds quite a character!

236: Beth, True Murder is worth reading and I'd love to hear what others think of it. I believe this is Yaba Badoe's only novel but that she is an established documentary film-maker and journalist. She has recently won awards for her film The Witches of Gambaga which is about women in Northern Ghana who have been condemned as witches and ostracised by city. Link here.

237,238: Hi Deb. Yes, that is another problem I have with having my photo taken!

239: I can confidently predict you will love both of those, Bonnie!

240, 242: Hmm, the Hunger Games. I am certainly sitting on the fence when it comes to that one. Thanks for the link, Joyce.

The nice (usually younger) kids, whom she tries to save, all get killed by others. The few she must kill are all nasty preppies apparently raised from birth to be smug, violent and cruel. Nowhere in the film is it suggested that if 12 moral individuals were told to kill one another for no reason other than to amuse the masses, then the only choice consistent with any notion of ethics that I’m familiar with would be to refuse and be executed.

Those thoughts occurred to me during the book and film but I do know that the book has got my thirteen year old son and his teenage friends thinking about these sorts of issues which can't be a bad thing.

I still haven't read the third book in the trilogy so will reserve my final judgement till then!

241: Hello, Dejah. Good to hear I've motivated someone to write a review even if I haven't reviewed much myself!

243: The idea of reading a dystopian novel never appeals to me at all, Deb but now and again I find that a book I've read and enjoyed has been described as one!

I've just finished The State of Wonder and loved it. I'm hoping to review it later today.

Book 45: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett



source: city library
reason for reading: Book club

42 year old Dr Marina Singh is working for the Vogel pharmaceutical company when she hears of the death of her colleague, Anders Eckman. Anders has died in the Amazon Rainforest on work-related business, having been sent by the company to track down elusive Dr Annick Swanson who is researching a fertility drug there and has avoided communications for several years. When Anders' widow begs her to find out more about the death and Vogel chief exec, Mr Fox (with whom Marina has recently begun a relationship) asks her to seek out Dr Swenson, she feels she has no choice but to go.

This was never going to be a straight forward journey but Marina has issues from her past which complicate things further. Anti-malaria drugs bring back dreams and memories of a mostly absent father. Marina's self-esteen took a fall some years ago due to an incident as a student doctor which Swenson was connected with. At the time, Dr Swenson was an idolised and (even then) remote, senior tutor.

I've seen a lot of reviews for this book which have criticised the far-fetched storyline around the substance in the rainforest which extends fertility. This didn't bother me but I would say that the book is worth some conscious suspension of disbelief at that part, because of everything else it has to offer.

State of Wonder is multi-layered and much more than just an adventurous romp through the jungle. Patchett's writing appears effortless and fluid. She has created characters that are fascinating and believable. Marina really got under my skin and I loved watching her development through the book. There is something Jungian about the way symbols and dreams re-occur and eventually lead to resolution and self-acceptance. Marina does not always enjoy her time in the jungle and is never entirely comfortable there but eventually learns something about herself and arrives home a different person.

It is also a book which asks questions about the relationship of large pharmaceutical companies with developing countries and the ethics of how these companies operate.

To sum up, I found this a psychologically interesting, thought provoking, beautifully told, page turning, good read with wonderful characterisation- and you don't often get all that in one book. But also be prepared for some unlikely science!

A nice review, Dee. I can't decide whether I want to read that one or not.

Elizabeth Taylor clearly hit the spot for you in Reading Dee. Must get to some of her books PDQ. Hope you have a great weekend in sunny Hull.

246: Mamie, it wasn't particularly calling to me but I read it because it was the book club choice. I was surprised that I loved it as I only liked The Magician's Assistant and Bel Canto left me cold when I read it a few years back. I'm wondering if I should try Bel Canto again now.

247: Hello Paul. I find it difficult to keep up with your thread but hope all is well with you and your beautiful family!

Dee, thumb for a wonderful review of State of Wonder. I saw it recently on the "quick-read" shelf of my library (7 day loan), but wasn't sure whether I'd enjoy. Your remark that the book questions the relationship between uber-wealthy pharmaceutical companies and third world countries made me think of the movie "The Constant Gardener." It's several years old now, but an excellent portrayal of the same relationship (Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz).

Dee, like Mamie I've been debating about State of Wonder - and Bel Canto too, for that matter. I've been a little short on 'literary' books lately, so maybe I should give it a try. Thanks!

Dee: Great review of State of Wonder. Another thing that I liked about the book was the vivid sense of place. I felt the bugs and humidity when they were in the jungle. I haven't read The Magician's Assistant, but I did like both Bel Canto and Run.

I'm going to PM you Dee. I've been waiting for someone I know to read State of Wonder so that I can ask them about something in the book that really bothered me (actually there were a few things that bothered me). I don't want to leave a bunch of spoilers on your thread.

Hi and thanks Nancy! I'd probably have worried that I might not finish it in time if I'd borrowed it on a 7 day loan but actually found it so readable that I whizzed through it!

Hello Dejah! I think State of Wonder would be good even if you're not sure if you're in the mood for literary as there's a good story as well as great writing.

Hi Beth. I do wonder if I should give Bel Canto another chance. I read it a long time ago and I may have "got" something about Patchett now that I didn't get then. I like the sound of Run and have put it on my wishlist now I've decided that I am a Patchett fan, after all!

Bonnie, I love getting book related PMs. I'm off to answer it now....!

Hi Dee, just wanted to drop by and say hello! Have a great Sunday.

Hi Marie!

Eek, have just noticed I've gone over 250 messages. Don't the thread police come after you at around this point? Well, if I was really organised I'd have a started a shiny new thread at the beginning of the month but as I'm not, I'll probably just put it off until tomorrow. Sorry thread police ;)

Bonnie- I'm going to start a State of Wonder Spoiler thread at Jill's Orange January/July group.

Edited to add link to State of Wonder Spoiler thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/136743

#245 - Great review, Dee! I wasn't initially interested in this one, but your review just put it on my wishlist.

256: Thanks Kerri!

I've just started my new thread and would love it if people could join me there. No rush though as I haven't posted anything bookish yet - only bluebells! A review of The Hungry Ghosts by Anne Berry should be following shortly!