Paul's Race to 75 Part 11

Over to Sarawak and the Fairy Caves in Kuching.

Books read so far:
1 North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
2 The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
3 The Guards by Ken Bruen
4 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
5 Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela
6 Shadow by Karin Alvtegen
7 The Road Home by Rose Tremain
8 One Pair of Hands by Monica Dickens
9 Pure by Andrew Miller
10 The Appointment by Herta Muller
11 The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
12 The Battle of Pollocks Crossing by J.L. Carr
13 No Glossing Over It by Gary Edwards
14 Unknown by Mari Jungstedt
15 The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
16 Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald
17 Zoo Station by David Downing
18 The Troubled Man by Henning Mankell
19 Jack Sheppard by William Ainsworth
20 An Idiot Abroad by Karl Pilkington
21 The Fourth Man by K.O. Dahl
22 Christine Falls by Benjamin Black
23 Troubles by J.G. Farrell
24 My Life in Cricket by Dennis Lillee
25 Voyageurs by Margaret Elphinstone
26 The Affair by Lee Child
27 The Potter's Field by Andrea Camilleri
28 The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
29 The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman

Currently reading
The Years of Renewal by Henry Kissinger, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin, Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens, Praying Mantis by Andre Brink, All Men Are Liars by Alberto Manguel, The Detour by Gerbrand Bakker

Best Books of the Year so far:
Literary Fiction
1. The Road Home
2 Lyrics Alley
3 Wolf Hall
Thrillers
1. Zoo Station
2. The Troubled Man
3. The Potter's Field

12 in 12 categories

1: Historical Fiction 3/12
2: 19th Century Fiction 3/12
3: Biography 3/12
4: In translation 2/12
5: Series Starts 4/12
6: Scandicrimesters 3/12
7: Sci-Fi 1/12
8: Noughties 1/12
9: One Word Titles 3/12
10: African Born Writers 2/12
11: Bought and Read in 2012 4/12
12: Off the Shelves 0/12 (IN RESERVE FOR THE END OF THE YEAR)

Hey, I'm first! Yah! Hey, nice book haul! I LOVED Olive Kitteridge!

Thanks Mark - having a few problems sizing my photo.

Welcome home Paul! Love the Fairy Caves pic at the start of the thread. In a word..... Beautiful!

Lori - in a word, thanks!

Wow - gorgeous image to start your newest thread!

I want to go to the fairy caves! Great picture!
Quite a collection of current reads. Looks good ;-)
Nice new thread... I'm sure it will only get better... *grin*

Great picture at the top of your thread. I've loved all of Ronald Hugh Morrieson's books, I just have his novella, Pallet on the floor to read. Came a hot Friday was a great read so I hope you enjoy it. Gee's Crime Story is quite good too.

Definitely a great pic!

Intriguing picture to start off a new thread. And look--I'm here before the post count has got to 100!

Dejah - thanks, incidentally Sarawak is the only state of Malaysia I have yet to visit. Will try to put that right before the year is out.

Cee - great name for a cave isn't it? The Kissinger is still there and trundling very lugubriously along. Didn't take it with me of course as I would have incurred excess baggage charges for sure. SWMBO is a dab hand at judging weights of suitcases. We had two cases and the limit on Air Asia is 30 kg each. She came in at 29.6 and 29.4 - what a girl!

Kerry - I wanted to seek out and buy one or two NZ writers as my collection of these is a little lacking - Marsh, Keri Hulme's opus and Mansfield aside.

Jim - thanks and nice to see you here.

Anne - I like the casting of green among the rays of light flooding into the cave - I'm not Buddhist but I am told that such picture would help to signify illumination and these seems to make sense to my literal mind.

Your opening pictures get better and better, Paul. You live in Paradise, right?

oooo, you've given us the best Malaysia shot yet with the Fairy Caves. Now, why didnt I go there when I was in Kuching all those years ago. Are they new? ;)
Seems you read a few books while on holiday? Excellent.

I join the many admirers of those caves Paul, that's a great photo and congrats on #11!

Saw your new stack of books and smiled and wondered how you managed not to overburden your suitcases.

I liked your review of Troubles, thought the following gave me pause:

Cannot help but feel that the extended metaphor of the faded and fast fading hotel personifying the Empire in decline works even better than it was probably intended to

Unlike you, I haven't read anything else by Farrell yet, but I'm inclined to think that the metaphor between the declining hotel and declining empire was quite deliberate, as all three books are commentaries on said declining empire, as I take it. Unless I missed something in your comment?

Good to have you back old man! ;-)

Just caught up on the last of your old thread....was wondering about the book haul Mark spoke of in post #4. Your adding of dad's book to LT has the numbers up to 4 now, two of them related to him, and the other two friends of mine! :)

>16 Smiler69: Good to have you back old man! ;-) lol

Ya, good to have you back old man!. Ha!!

Donna - paradise? You haven't met my wife!

Megan - from a land of such splendour - new caves??!!

Ilana - Less of the old man - mademoiselle Smiler, if you please! Lost 4 kgs walking round NZ so am feeling like the King of the Castle!
On the extended metaphor - agree - certainly deliberate, but it worked better than I expected and (of course I'm guessing) better than Farrell expected. He was a notoriously modest writer who disparaged his efforts constantly and under the guise of simplicity often wrote things that became layered in complexity (even I don't understand that comment!)

Megan - he must sell a fair few to be fair as he is awfully well represented in Souvenir shops the breadth of the South Island.

Nancy - Yep you Canadian ladies are droll and priceless - thanks for stopping by all of you and making me smile.

Finally guys an update of the reading league. Only as good as the threads are updated. Luci, Valerie, Stasia and others have definitely read more than the list but their threads are not updated.
1 Suzanne 124
2 Susan (suslyn) 101
3 Morphy 89
4 Dejah 84
5 Luci 74
6 Emilie (alsvidur) 68
7 Brenda (brenpike) 67
8 foggidawn 65
9 Lori (thornton) 63
10 Kerry 62
11 Rachel (hibernator) 59
12 Anne (AnneDC) 57
13 Heather 57
14 Cyrel 54
15 Jenn (nittnutt) 54
16 Ilana 53
17 kkunker 53
18 Judy (Deltaqueen1) 52
19 Roni 50
20 Laurabrook 49
21 Jeremy (jbd1) 48
22 Amber 47
23 Ellen (kittenfish) 47
24 Terri (tloeffler) 46
25 Carrie (cbl_tn) 45
26 Karen O 45
27 Tina 45
28 Mary (storeettlr) 44
29 Calm 42
30 Caro 42
31 Cynara 42
32 Nathalie 42
33 SusanJ 42
34 Deseree 40
35 Marcia 40
36 Kelly (violetbramble) 39
37 kriti 39
38 Liz 39
39 Dee 38
40 Kath 38
41 Linda (alaskabookworm) 38
42 Linda (whisper) 38
43 Lucy 38
44 Mamie (crazymamie) 38
45 Mark 38
46 Tui 38
47 Chelle 37
48 Joe 37
49 Micky 37
50 Amy (porchreader) 36
51 Becca (seasonoflove) 36
52 Beth (blbera) 36
53 Cheli (cyderry) 36
54 Faith 36
55 Richard 36
56 Blue (bluesalamandar) 35
57 Cindy 34
58 Darryl 34
59 Jim 34
60 terri (tymfos) 34
61 Angela (Bookangel) 33
62 Karenmarie 33
63 Paul Stadler 33
64 Sara (saraslibrary) 33
65 swynn 33
66 Donna 32
67 Luxx 32
68 Anita 31
69 Genny 31
70 Kathy (archerygirl) 31
71 Ellen 30
72 Linda (lindapanzo) 30
73 Ren (jadebird) 30
74 Fuzzy 29
75 Kara (curlysue) 28
76 Carrie (cal8769) 27
77 Jenny (lunacat) 27
78 Kerri 27
79 Mike (mldavis) 27
80 Deborah (arubabookwoman) 26
81 Ellie (mirrordrum) 26
82 Gail 26
83 Janet (streamsong) 26
84 Joanne 26
85 Katie 26
86 Leah (atlargeintheworld) 26
87 Lori (ikernagh) 26
88 Paul 26
89 Rebecca 26
90 Rosalita 26
90a Orlaith 26
91 Stasia 25
92 Charlotte 24
93 Deb 24
94 Linda (laytonwoman3rd) 24
95 Sandykaypax 24
96 Judy (ffortsa) 23
97 Leonie 23
98 Lynda 23
99 Marie (mbellerose) 23
100 Rhian 23
101 Bonnie 22
102 Peggy 22
103 Piyush 22
104 Cee 21
105 Kim (Berly) 21
106 Mary (bell7) 21
107 Megan 21
108 Nora 21
109 Qebo 21
110 Samantha 21
111 Sandy 21
112 Kathy (persephone) 20
113 Tammy 20
114 Valerie 20
115 Alex 19
116 Becky (labwriter) 19
117 Madeline 19
118 Sarah (beserene) 19
119 unrulysun 19
120 Anne (AMQS) 18
121 maggie1944 18
122 Pat 18
123 Tomkitten 18
124 Ellie (elliepotten) 17
125 Katelism 17
126 Laura 17
127 Caroline McElwee 16
128 Stephen 16
129 Cushla 15
130 Brit 14
131 Linda (linda92007) 14
132 Zoe 13
133 Carsten 12
134 Eris 12
135 Jenn (jmaloney) 12
136 Cerievans 11
137 Hannah 11
138 Nancy 11
139 Casvelyn 10
140 Jude 10
141 Monica 10
142 CatyM 9
143 Prue 7
144 Lisa 2

apologies for any mistakes in advance.

Are they new? ;)
hehe, gotcha.

The book of my old man's that you bought is a big seller, the one I gave you isn't so much. I feel he made a grave mistake in the format. I reckon it should have been a novel, maybe with some of his landscape photos too, but the focus on the story. It is confusing for buyers to see a coffee table book that is also a novel. The story is fascinating enough on its own :) (IMHO)

Hi there Paul! Great pictures and thanks for stopping by my thread . Beautiful " Fairy Caves". Good for you , dropping 4 kg on your vacation, you young grasshopper, you!

Love the new opening picture - must be amazing to see.

Pleased you had a great vacation.

Lovely cave! And I see you're reading The Left Hand of Darkness. I look forward to your thoughts.

Hi Paul! The photo reminds me of the cenotes found in the Yucatan area of Mexico. Are there pools of water in your fairy caves?

Hope all is well with you and yours.

Oh my! Is it possible I'm in the top 100 of the reading league?! I chalk it up to the unusual amount of audio books I've been listening to but I'm happy with that!

Hi Paul,

Love the picture! I see you're reading The Woman in White - what a great book, enjoy! I am about halfway through Tremain's The Colour (my first of hers) and enjoying it immensely. I am pretty sure I first got the idea in my head from lurking about here, so thanks!

Another fantastic picture!
Those Hillerman books are calling out to me..

Hey, I didn't see that picture when I first posted. You must have still been working on it. Gorgeous!

Megan - it is a little cumbersome to read as a normal biography, but I know what your Dad was aiming at because there is a feeling that you are reading something a little special, but that could of course be because I met you and hold the book dear already.

Deb - thanks grasshopper is sufficiently active for me to embrace the nom-de-plume!

Calm - thanks, Wales in the Snowdonia area has some similarities with parts of New Zealand and the people are equally as friendly as those from West Wales.

Kerri - so far enjoying Le Guin, but the idea of sexless "people" mating is stretching my traditionalist imaginative powers.

Lynda - Mexico is another on the family hitlist but I don't know when we'll get there. Actually you are higher in the posting league from memory (31st last time I checked) but I would note that almost everyone 119/144 are on target for the 75 and a few of the rest have probably read more but not updated.

Orlaith - Really nice to see you here - I quickly tried to track your thread down and managed to do so, didn't realise what a low profile you were keeping! You will see if you scroll above that I have added you to the books read league and starred your thread. Have most of Collins' work but haven't read much of it as most of the editions I had were bequeathed me and are too nice to read (and not in Malaysia anyway). Last year I noticed quite a few re-releases of his work which I have started to add so that I can read them without being scared to turn the pages. I am enjoying it and am about a third through it. Rose Tremain is very good IMHO and The Road Home is my favourite read this year so far. Restoration was also an enjoyable read and I have The Colour for some time in the near future awaiting me on the shelves somewhere.

Kath - I am settling my old friend Camilleri before turning my fuller attention to Hillerman. Caro gave me Montalbano's latest when we met up and I cannot wait any longer to be tickled and thrilled by his delicious wickedness.

Mark - you are right I changed the photo! The earlier one I put up wouldn't fit to a reasonable size.

Love all the statistics, Paul. You seem like you're back in full force on LT and hard to keep up with!

Wow, that's a great picture Paul!

And those are some interesting stats! We have some heavy duty readers in our group

Thanks for those stats -- nice to see where I fit in. You really spoil us Paul.

That is such an unreal photograph, what a beautiful spot.

Thanks again Paul (take two!), there is a lot to live up to with numbers around here! I love the sound of books being bequeathed - this is the kind of thing I have dreams about.. :)

I will definitely be keeping an eye for more Tremain from now on, she has great style about her.

Maybe I should get credit for two books for reading David Copperfield. :-P

How are you liking The Woman in White, Paul?

124? No more book flunk for me, I'm going for that nr. 1 spot. I have to read instead of spending time here on this fairy-land, fantasy-world thread (great photo btw)

Looking forward to hear what you think of the LeGuin book.

Thanks Pat - I also have found it difficult to catch up but then I realised I have only been back a full day!

Chelle - the stats do show that there are indeed some impressive readers - Susan is surprisingly reluctant at setting such a frantic pace and as I understand it is wilfully trying to slow her reading down. Suz as expected. Morphy impressive as always. Luci I'm sure another dozen or so to add when she updates, Dejah also above 75 already. There are at least 5 already in the 75 zone and the first quarter is just up. Your 37 is also impressive given the hectic start to the year you have faced.

Lucy you fit in quite highly actually on both lists. Interestingly only Suzanne, Ilana, Roni and Amber make the top 25 in both lists.

Orlaith - (where did you get that fantastic name by the way?) I was certainly a little overawed when I joined the group last year and realised that my supposed rapid rate of reading was really a laboured and vapid one! If you like Rose Tremain you might also like Barry Unsworth whose Morality Play was a favourite of mine a number of years ago and Graham Swift Waterland and Last Orders both being well worth a read.

Ellen- you can count it as many times as you like my dear - perhaps I should count by number of pages but I fear that is too much for even my statistically fuelled constitution to bear. Some threaders count their books in different ways and it is not for me to judge I just go with the numbers. Some count magazine publications, some count Murakami's giant recent books as I book some count it as 3 as Murakami does, Micky separates his Shakespeare reads (I've added them together), some separate youth reads and adult reads (I've added them together where I've noticed) - any mistakes in counting are mine but I've followed the threads as well as my poor self is able. Where some are obviously not updated (Luci/Stasia are obvious examples) there is little I can do. I tried to follow Luci on the TIOLI challenges but some of the links were not working for me. It is fun to try to keep a record of sorts and also note that you continue to be a consistent performer in all lists made!

Carsten - I made the same promise to myself and realise I'm only 98 books behind Suz so it should be a piece of cake!

Internet playing up a bit so this post was actually the last post duplicated. I will put a photo here soon.


Kaikoura beach at twilight.

Thanks for the recommendations Paul! LT has been recommending Graham Swift to me for a while, but I know no-one who has read him and didn't give him much thought. I'll keep an eye out from now on! And Morality Play sounds excellent too - I fear for my TBR...

The name Orlaith is Irish and dates back to pre-Christian Ireland. It's pronounced OR-lah (and some women go by the English spelling of Orla) - I get called all kinds of funny things all the time. Having said that, I can't complain, my sister Dearbhla has a worse time of it!

Ah, Paul, I'm threads behind, but wanted to say hello and rejoin the conversation. That cave looks completely like fairy-land to me! Wonderful.

Can't begin to catch up, so just saying hi.

Orlaith - hahaha my three terrors have been lumbered by their loving parents with three names each - SWMBO in her infernal wisdom gave Yassie - Kyra Yasmyne Amanda and I gave ground on the understanding that I could choose the next one - unfortunately I intended Kyran to be Mohamed Zachary Wallace and was seemingly inevitably vetoed. SWMBO followed up the KYA theme with Kyran Yousuf Adrian (I am also Adrian) and then poor Belle landed Karyn Ysabelle Amylea - yes my lovely better half likes the letter Y and I don't know why! Ancient names have a beautiful resonance and yours has certainly it in spades.

Judy - Always nice to see you here - a fairy cave for fairy land makes sense.

Rebecca - nice to see you too queen of reviewers. Must get over to your thread and be captivated by your latest reviews.

>38 ominogue: my sister Dearbhla has a worse time of it!
lol. Now, how would one pronounce that?
There is a little kid in my sons pre school called Oisin...its pronounced Ush-sheen. Fun times ahead for him!

Beautiful picture at the top!

> 41: poor kids of yours, didn't SWMBO realise that this will give problems later in life with bankaccounts etc.?

My parents both are J and managed to name two siblings with the same first letter JP and J, the other three have an A in common: AA, AE and AI (the last one is me).
This already gave numerous troubles concerning bank accounts at the same address!

I don't want to imagine what siblings with exactly the same initials would have to face....

Oh Paul, that opening photo is breathtaking! I don't know how much longer I'll even be on that list of books read. I seem to have been sucked up into that vortex known as Words With Friends. It's almost as addictive as book buying.

Haha Paul, lovely names for all three! I like the idea of being 'given' a choice which is then promptly removed. My mother 'allowed' me to pick the middle name for my sister (which is pronounced derv-la by the way >42 LovingLit:). My mother then proceeded to pronounce on every occasion possible how she would love one of her children to have her name as their middle name....... I'm sure you can guess what happened.

>42 LovingLit: - Oisin is one of my favourite boy's names! Lots of Irish names tend to give people trouble...something we have to live with!

My niece is married to an Irish man and their children are Oisin, Saoirse (pronounced "seer-sha") and Finn. To this day, I always have to check the spelling of Saoirse.

Those are lovely names! I particularly love Saoirse - it means 'freedom'.

I think I still have her birth announcement somewhere. It included both the pronounciation and the meaning. I love the name but the spelling always trips me up. And she's a beautiful girl with long red hair. :)

WOW, Paul, I'm a member of "the reading league." I feel honored.

Paul - stopping by your thread since you stopped by mine. Beautiful picture up top, BTW. Um, where's the Bunny Hill version of your thread? Thread 11?! Really?! I'm just a rookie, and I'm not sure I'm qualified to post at this thread level. Not sure where to begin, so I started at the end - I'll have to go back and slowly read my way through. Does this count as a book? I'll just take a deep breath and go back to the beginning....

Megan - even with the slick of irish blood running through my veins the origins of Orlaith was new to me - lovely name IMHO but then again I'm not so good at getting my name choices accepted. Incidentally it seems to be a family/genetic thing. As regulars here probably remember I am a twin (my brother is the Arnie to my Devito) and I was an unexpected arrival way back in 1966. Rushed to hospital after a home delivery I spent almost two weeks hooked up to machines and undernourished (look at me now!) - anyway my Father informed the care unit that my name was Darren (Peter my brother was intended to be Dean) but this was promptly changed to Paul when my mother was well enough to come and see me.

Anita - Agree that the choice of the same initials will have repercussions. I am Paul Adrian and my brother Peter Andrew and we constantly got mail muddled up when we were both at home (including bank statements).

Bonnie - You'll always be on my lists but I cannot guarantee in which position. Actually in the posting league you remain close to the top 20.

Orlaith - One of Belle's pet hates if I want to tease her is to pronounce her middle name as "Y-sa-belle" given that the y is meant to be silent. She has such an expressive face and get almost fit two frowns on her face to accommodate her displeasure.

Pat/Orlaith - my late partner had two lovely girls by the names Mairead and Iseult. A little referral and Orlaith means "golden princess" whilst Dearbhla means "daughter of Ireland" - Paul on the other hand means small and in my case I believe the reference was meant to be vertical and not horizontal.

Linda - You are also joint leader of the Linda league. I have four Lindas on my list and all are doing swimmingly.

Mamie - I would honestly hope mine is one of the least intimidating threads around despite the seeming speed of the thing - sometimes even books get a mention in passing! You can count whatever you like as a book but I think we will all have to be a mite inventive to go past Suzanne.

I am not comfortable in the limelight, actually. I do not aspire to the throne. I have set my sights on minion.

Hi Paul -- more fabulous photos, as usual! We also have some Fairy Caves here, but I would say that yours are truly enchanting. Glad you're back, glad you're posting, and glad you're YOU!

Mamie - I agree with you - was delighted to be sitting safely in equal 80th place in the reading league - minion it is!

Anne - aw shucks, now I know why you are one of my favourites!

When I saw the Fairy Caves, I thought it was a painting of a fantasy--had to read your comments to realize it was actually REAL!

Roni - the landscape of Malaysia is almost as impressive as that of New Zealand....hope to put a few more pictures up today. We took two cameras and unfortunately left the camera charger in NZ so the second camera (with the shots of Megan) is on a camera that needs either a battery or charging to recover the pics - a day or two should do it).

Update on posting league for those interested. Includes all that I have starred in the group.

1 Paul 2617
2 Richard 2544
3 Joe 2291
4 Kath 2236
5 Mark 1968
6 Stephen (Ape) 1681
7 Ilana 1604
8 Claudia 1404
9 Donna 1137
10 Caro 1109
11 Darryl 1095
12 Amber 1051
13 Chelle 1047
14 Lucy (Sibyx) 1005
15 Suzanne 961
16 Megan 866
17 Stasia 805
18 Bonnie 800
19 Ellen 784
20 Roni 751
21 Jude 739
22 Linda (Whisper) 728
23 Peggy 698
24 Sara (Saraslibrary) 692
25 Deb 689
26 Micky 669
27 Judy (Delta Queen) 617
28 Terri (tymfos) 610
29 Joanne 599
30 Luxx 584
31 Lynda (Carmenere) 579
32 Calm 525
33 Pat (phebj) 498
34 Nora 481
35 Katie 477
36 Heather 461
37 Linda (Lindapanzo) 459
38 Morphy 452
39 Faith (Dk_Phoenix) 442
40 Gail 425
41 Dee 411
42 Kerry 399
43 Kim (Berly) 395
44 Genny 388
45 Kara 381
46 Brit 380
47 Nathalie 378
48 Jim (drneutron) 374
49 Madeline 359
50 Anita (FAMeulstee) 347
51 Lori (Thornton) 344
52 Leah (atlargeintheworld) 339
53 Nancy 334
54 Cushla 331
55 Laura 331
56 Anne (AMQS) 329
57 Kerri (DorsVenabili) 327
58 Anne (AnneDC) 304
59 Tui (Tiffin) 298
60 Mamie 291
61 Becky (labwriter) 290
62 Liz (Lyzard) 285
63 Ellie 281
64 Amy (PorchReader) 277
65 Katherine (qebo) 277
66 Leonie 276
67 Tina (tututhefirst) 269
68 Dejah 267
69 Zoe 266
70 Kathy (archerygirl) 263
71 Beth 249
72 Marie (mbellerose) 248
73 Eris 229
74 Sarah (beserene) 225
75 Karenmarie 220
76 Cheli (cyderry) 218
77 Judy (ffortsa) 218
78 Jenn (Nittnut) 211
79 Carsten 199
80 Rachel (TheHibernator) 199
81 Rebecca (Rebeccanyc) 198
82 Mary (storeettlr) 197
83 Carrie (cbl_tn) 193
84 Foggidawn 191
85 sandykaypax 190
86 Linda (Laytonwoman3rd) 181
87 Terri (tloeffler) 179
88 Mary (bell7) 171
89 Blue 168
90 Brenda (brenpike) 167
91 Jenny (Lunacat) 167
92 Ren (jadebird) 167
93 Kriti 164
94 Ellen (kittenfish) 163
95 Rhian (SandDune) 161
96 LauraBrook 160
97 Karen (maggie1944) 159
98 Susan J 157
99 Carrie (cal8769) 151
100 Fuzzi 144
101 Valerie 143
102 Lori (Ikernagh) 140
103 Rosalita 139
104 Cindy (Countrylife) 138
105 Cynara 132
106 Janet (Streamsong) 132
107 Angela (bookangel) 131
108 Katelism 131
109 Unrulysun 130
110 kkunker 128
111 Kathy (persephone) 126
112 Becca (seasonoflove) 124
113 Piyush 124
114 Cyrel (torontoc) 121
115 Tom (ty1997) 117
116 Linda (Linda92007) 116
117 Alex (roundballnz) 115
118 Jeremy (JBD1) 115
119 Tammy (tjblue) 111
120 Luci (Elkidee) 108
121 Tad 107
122 Sandy (sjmccreary) 106
123 Karen O. 103
124 Marcia 103
125 swynn 103
126 Stephen (TomKitten) 101
127 Susan (suslyn) 101
128 Emilie (alsvidur) 99
129 Porua 99
130 Samantha 99
131 Paul (paulstalder) 96
132 Monica (justjoey) 88
133 Charlotte (fourpawz2) 83
134 Caroline McElwee 81
135 Lisa (kiwiflowa) 80
136 Deborah (arubabookwoman) 78
137 Hannah (HanGerg) 78
138 James (Eyejaybee) 72
139 Kelly (Violet Bramble) 68
140 Jeanne (jeanned) 65
141 Prue 65
142 Caty (CatyM) 58
143 casvelyn 40
144 Jenn (jmaloney17) 37
145 Ellie (mirrordrum) 34
146 Cerie (Cerievans 1) 27
147 Linda (alaskabookworm) 15
148 Orlaith (ominogue) 15
149 Deseree (goddesspt2) 10

Paul, I / we would be more than delighted to have your join in the Group Read of The Detour. I think it will be a lot of fun! I don't have the link with me right now, but I wanted to let you know that you'd be more than welcome -as is anyone else. We are starting the group read on the April 15th - but I'm sure you could join in after a few days , if you are in the midst of a number of books. Do join us! :)

Greetings Paul,
I've just heard of a earthquake which was located in Indonisia. Was that anywhere near you? Hope not but in any case hope you're all safe and sound.

Deb - did mention on your thread that I will try to join in. I have a 12 in 12 for books in translation and it would fit nicely into that.

Lynda - I have been at work the whole day (during a public holiday here grrrr) and only just looked it up seeing your post. Not affected by it but I was supposed to go to Pinang tomorrow and don't know if it will be impacted or not by the Tsunami warning.

The picture in the first post is amazing. It looks like something from a movie. I wonder if I can get it big enough to use as a wallpaper? Hmm...

ETA: Ish. I tried it and it got all pixelated. Blech.

Morphy I took it from google images and the original size was bigger than the one I'm using if I'm not mistaken. Go to google images and type in Fairy Caves, Sarawak and you should get an image that suffices.

"my brother is the Arnie to my Devito" - hahaha brilliant. As for Orlaith meaning 'golden princess', I have it on good authority from those around me that it also means 'pain in the arse'. I'm with Belle - another thing that drives me crazy is people not bothering to spell my name properly and just going for Orla instead - not a pretty face in reaction to that! :)

Mairead is a lovely name. Your children have lovely names, too!
I wanted simple names for my brood.. and so have
Adam Daniel
Craig McKenzie
Amy Catherine
Cory Matthew

Amy has since dropped the Catherine, and uses Wagner with her married name.
As you can see, there are two A names and 2 C names. .. which at times had me stuttering
when trying to reprimand or get their attention. Quite often the dogs name would turn up. To
this day I sometimes call Cory - Duncan. There were many times when they were all home when
I would just point and say YOU!

And I thought I was posting a bit less.......

And Oisin is o-sheen, which I love! Love the name discussion. I loathed my name with a perfect passion as a child.... I don't mind it now, but I beg all of you don't name either your cat or your dog Lucy. It just feeds my complex!

Glad to hear the earthquake didn't affect you. I heard on the radio this morning that there are no casualties, so that's wonderful.

For some more smart, but also wacky/out-there sci-fi, I highly recommend Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand.

ETA: Grammar

Wonderful pictures, Paul. I have no idea how you post these and I need to learn.

I am chagrined to see that I am dead last in the Lindas sub-league of books read and a bit behind on the 75 goal! Either I am a slow reader, a slow reviewer, or maybe just spending too much time out and about at seminars and author events. Can I get credit for those? But I'll bet if you kept stats on books purchased I could compete with the best of them (well, maybe not you). Books read versus books purchased. Hmmm. I am obviously not a member of the TBR Therapy group.

Orlaith (spelt very very carefully) - I have it on good authority from those around me that it also means 'pain in the arse'. hahaha

Kath - nice names all. Your comment about reciting all the names until you get to the one you want reminded me so much of my dear departed Gran who invariably named the whole extended family before she got the right one. I used to think it was hilarious until I noticed myself starting to do it.

Lucy - Your posting performance in March was one of the strongest of all. Joe got the most posts in March but you were top ten if I'm not mistaken. Pets names ought to be noticeably different and Lucy will be struck from my list of potentials for sure. Our three cats Cinders, Jinxy and Bambi would be difficult to issue with name wise unless one of the Hollywood nutjobs got involved in the naming process. Silliest names ever must be Bob Geldof and Paula Yates' children. Yours btw is lovely and quintessentially feminine.

Kerri - I will certainly look up the Delaney book you recommended thanks for that because I am a numbskull completely with the genre. No casualties seemingly so far (fingers and toes crossed) but tsunami warnings everywhere). I have cancelled my trip to Pinang tomorrow at the insistence of SWMBO.

Linda - I am ably coached by Yasmyne, my eldest. Not too difficult actually but getting the right sizes can be a pain. I was wrong in mentioning 4 Lindas in my list - there are five and apologies to Linda (alaskabookworm) who has probably the most impressive owned collection in the entire group for not spotting her in my Linda List!
Linda (Whisper)
Linda (Lindapanzo)
Linda (Linda92007) - your goodself.
Linda (laytonwoman3rd)
Linda (alaskabookworm)
plus, of course, one Lynda.
Gems all.

In your case if I might hazard there is something of quality over quantity and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

Good morning, Paul.
I don't think I'll start counting pages. One more thing to compete with myself on? Nah.

Off to a conference and some Pinot Noir tasting!

Ellen - I not surprisingly do count the pages on the quiet (my own only) but I don't think it matters so much unless the books you read are all by Rutherfurd or Michener and 1000 pages long.
Vicariously get to taste the Pinot Noir with green tinged hues meanwhile. Did get some pinot gris down my neck in NZ which I thoroughly enjoyed and I've noticed that SWMBO doesn't seem to mind me quaffing the odd glass. As long as odd is 1 or 3 and not 9 or 11.

I had never counted my pages read, so when I saw the 15,000 page club for 2012, I joined that group... well it turned out to be not much of a challenge for me, as I am well over 11,000 already ;-)

I'm not a page counter either. More fun to count books. Although some corkers like 1Q84 and David Copperfield would make for good page counts!

Hope you have a good one today, Paul.

Love all the name talk.
Charlie (Charles Alexander) gets his first name from my grandfather and my favorite Uncle (the former I never got to meet and the latter passed away when I was still in high school) and his middle name is my nod to the classical world. My colleagues liked to call him Charliemagne; I generally call him Monkey.

>68 PaulCranswick:: sometimes people mistakenly call me Linda because my surname is Lindsay and they get confused. I've learned to respond to Laura, Linda, and Lindsay ... whatever.

Figures Paul you'd come back with a vengeance on the stats. Should I admit that I'd been missing those nearly as much as I'd missed you? I have a hard time believing that I come up so high on both books read and number of posts, though admit to getting a childish pleasure out of it. I don't think I'm ready for page count yet. Last year I counted anything that was printed between two covers, whereas this year I'm restricting to anything that's printed between two covers that has more than twenty words in it (not that I count words either), meaning if it's purely a picture book, I probably won't count it unless it also happens to be quite wordy.

I just love that picture of Kaikoura beach. Had to look it up to figure out whether it was in NZ as I assumed (rightly, it turns out). Did you take it?

Anita - I'm normally near 50,000 pages a year so I wouldn't struggle with that one either but it would be a full time job to try to work out pages read for everyone and certainly not accurate as different editions have different numbers of pages for each book. I don't think I have enough time for another group. I am in the Orange group, the 1001 books club and the 12 in 12 challenge but am quite neglectful of all three.

Joe - you're right about the page counting. It is all for fun anyway really isn't it?

Amber - Charles Alexander has a certain classical ring to it for sure and looking at him in his Easter outfit he wears it well too. Charliemagne? hahaha

Laura - I used to regularly get names muddled up. Laura is another favourite name of mine but I haven't listed you with the Lindas you'll be pleased to note!

Ilana - One beneficial side-effect of keeping track of all those going over 100 posts has meant that I have got to know several new friends this year quite easily. I do get a kick out of seeing my especial buddies doing well in the lists and I don't see you falling in the table. Amazingly you have been in 7th place in every single list - talk about consistency! How to count books? The fun is that it is entirely up to whoever keeps their own records - if I can track down all those 20 word books I'll give Suz a run for her money!
I sneaked in the Kaikoura picture as an edit to a post that had somehow duplicated itself and you're the only one to take notice of it. All the NZ pictures are taken by Yasmyne, SWMBO and a few by me. If I'm not mistake the Kaikoura shot was by SWMBO.

On the way to Akaroa on the first day in New Zealand. Kyran's leg just discernible. Not the safest way to drive the car.

First night in Cchurch and cannot wait for the fish n chips.

A few shots of NZ scenery:

Kyran and Yasmyne on another crowded beach:


And just to prove that I was there:

Oooooh--beautiful scenery.

And I'm enjoying the return of the very comprehensive stats.

I have one question--are you aiming for 75 books in 2012 or 75 threads? Because I think you may have a shot at both.

BEAUTIFUL photos!!!!!!!!

Thank you for sharing..

Anne - hahaha I'll definitely make 75 books as I don't remember not doing since I was about 10 years old but I think that number of threads is beyond all of us. I would guess that it would take three posters to get up to 75 threads if last year's records are indicative!

Hi Paul- I love the photos! Your beautiful family and that oh so beautiful scenery. Absolutely lovely.

Your'e welcome Kath...I have loads more of course and will post a few from time to time - when the other camera gets its charger I'll put up the photos of the meet-up with Megan.

Thanks Mark - that's why I try not to spoil the photos by inserting my ugly mug too often.

Beautiful photos, Paul - and your family is lovely. Thanks for posting them!

Dejah - you're most welcome and thank you.

YAY! Vacation pictures of #1 fun family... love the shots!
NZ is definitely on my bucket list. It's so nice to see your family doing things together and having a good time :)

I love the photos. I just might have to visit our local fish 'n chip shop in Cockle Bay in the next couple of days. Have to agree on the 'crowded' beaches comment, one of the prime reasons for living here.

Just received a reprimand from SWMBO for ignoring her and spending too much time on LT - I should show her the photos!

Kerry - next time it is North Island...the names are so suggestive also...Cockle Bay - fantastic!

Beautiful pictures, Paul. Looks like a good time was had by all.

Pat - Not sure I wanted to come back and the work piled up for me on my return reinforces it - as Captain James T. Kirk would have said....beam me up Scotty!

One name I love (going back to the names issue) is Angharad -- Welsh, and I think a variant of Anne. Sadly, all my Welsh ancestors had very boring names, as far as I can figure out.

I do like plain names that can be played around with -- like Katherine, for instance. And slightly more interesting ones, like Nina or Isobel. I confess I'm sick to death of having to spell my name every five minutes -- and of STILL being called "Susan". My mother purposely chose NOT to call me Susan. My brother would have been Judith had he been a girl, which I think is pretty. Had I ever had a daughter, I think Julia would have been part of her name, in honor of a couple of my ancestresses. Or maybe Laura. My brother ended up using our grandfather's name, James, for his younger son, who is James David, kind of maintaining a tradition on our mother's side. Our grandfather was James Rupert; his father was James Edward, etc. The other boy was my sister's to name, and she picked Connor Francis, with the Francis being in honor of her mother, I think (Frances). My niece is Julie Madeline. The names that really boggle my mind that are a lot of the convoluted ones that seem to be most common in the African American community. For instance, there is a Shoqana (with my surname) who has chosen my address at which to receive mail (from debt collection agencies, about her student loan). Paul is a good name to work with -- ditto Peter; you guys were lucky!

Love the pics of NZ. At first I thought that the one atop the thread was taken looking up through a forest of trees toward the sky -- and then I saw the tiny staircase in the corner!!

Oh, love the photos : ).

Good grief. I am way behind. I haven't had much time on the computer lately. Time to get the teenager his own computer I guess.
Love the photo of the fairy caves.

>95 Chatterbox: - My sister collects weird names. She sends me new samples all the time. Mostly they are names that sound normal, but are spelled oddly. Not oddly-different like Welsh or Irish, but oddly-oddly, like it's out of fashion to use an I or an E and we must sometimes use Y (or always). I'm pretty traditional. My boys (Jonah, Elijah) are out of the Bible, my daughter (Marguerite) is after two of her great-grandmothers. My favorite name for a girl is Helen, but it didn't go at all with our last name. I mean, kids will find something to make fun of, given time, but why help them out, right?

Suz - entertaining treatise on names! Must admit I do like slightly off-the-wall names like Connor (and Conrad). You are absolutely right there is no point having your name spelt in a certain way only to have everyone spell it how they like. SWMBO gets a little irritated to say the least if the kids names are spelt wrongly by relatives on greetings cards etc.

Nancy - thanks, glad to see your thread busy, busy, busy these days

Jenn - One of the reasons my little rascals have their own computers is to stop the family fighting over usage. SWMBO said she didn't need one and tends to pester the life out of the four of us to get a go on her facebook. Facebook she also said she didn't need and decided to take over mine. Now when photos of her are tagged they appear with my name on them leading to several old school friends wondering whether I have had an extremely excruciating operation.
I suppose Belle's name would fit your sister's criteria. Karyn (Kar-in) Ysabelle (yI-sabel) and Amylea (A-me-lee-a).

Oh, wow, Paul, your pictures are beautiful! What a lucky guy you are.

I loved reading all the comments on names. I understand Lucy's issue with her name. We have two Lucy's on our block, one's a collie and the other is a shepherd mix. Coincidentally, Orlagh (sorry Orlaith) is on my puppy name list. I would have had Mairaed on the list but my son's friend Mairaed might not appreciate it. We'll probably go with something simple anyway but I love looking up Irish names and meanings. My own son is named after his Irish great great grandfather with the rather ordinary name of Christopher. If we had had a girl, she would have been Erin.

27 .

The Potter's Field by Andrea Camilleri

A master of technique, a master of the comedic thriller and possibly the most enjoyable writer in Europe at the moment. Hugely satisfying plot, wonderful, wonderful characters and everything tied up as brilliantly as always. Luckily for me this was the thirteenth in the series and they keep getting better, also lucky for me is that there are a further six pending translation. Less fortunate for all of us is that Camilleri was born in the same year as QEII (1926) and time is not on our side! Long life to Camilleri. Forza Montalbano!

9/10

Joanne - wonderfully droll on the local Lucys - I'm sure our sibyx saw the funny side!
Erin is a lovely name.

When I returned from holiday I was disappointed that our replacement cheque book had not arrived so it took time at lunch to visit the bank and sort it out. The bank is close to the bookshop and so:
New Grub Street by George Gissing (Wakefield's most famous writer)
All Men Are Liars by Alberto Manguel
The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
The Unlucky Lottery by Hakan Nesser
The Day is Dark by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Wish You Were Here by Graham Swift
On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry

I seem to recall informing Suz that I would be taking it easy this next month or two since the expense of the holiday was more than anticipated but Kinokuniya have introduced a membership card and how do you resist such opportunities!

The bank is close to the bookshop and so:..... Oh yes, love that mindset.

And the scenery is beautiful! I hope your vacation continues to be tons o' fun!

Lovely photos Paul - glad to hear you had a great trip. And a great book haul too.

>29 PaulCranswick: "Kerri - so far enjoying Le Guin, but the idea of sexless "people" mating is stretching my traditionalist imaginative powers" - Sounds very intriguing whats this book ???

> 103 "The bank is close to the bookshop and so:..... Oh yes, love that mindset. " +1111111111 a man after my own soul!

Love the NZ pics .....

It's the middle of the night. What am I doing awake?

Ellen - couldn't help myself! Back from holiday but there in spirit still.

Heather - glad you like the photos, I managed to get in and out of the book shop in 30 minutes so I was pleased with myself.

Well, and you brought back some wonderful memories and a nice stack of new books. :-)

Alex - The Left Hand of Darkness is the book.

Ellen - Normally my sleep patterns (what sleep) are similar to what you describe. You are right the memories will linger for a heck of a long time.

Paul - Thanks that sounds like my sort of thing! - which may deeply disturb some

Alex - not disturbing I suppose but surely a sad world where men are men but also women and women are women but also men?!

Wow! Quite a haul of new books! The flight from YVR that was intercepted by a couple of fighter jets left Canadian Forces Base Comox earlier today, without incident. What a hassle for both the passengers and airline! The first day was a bomb scare called in prior to the flight. The RCMP here searched the plane etc and it left and landed without incident. The next day, the flight left Vancouver and as you likely know, a bomb scare was phoned to Korean Airlines in California sometime after it landed. Anyway, nothing was found aboard the plane, or the passengers, so after a night of the passengers and crew spending the night as CFB Comox, the flight was free to leave. Very unsettling for Korean Airlines and everyone else. I hope they will catch whomever is phoning in the bomb threats. No anxiety here, though.

Deb - quite relieving to see that the thing was a false alarm. Travel nowadays is no fun anymore with several checks before embarking, having to remove shoes and belts etc....and believe me my belt is not for ornamental purposes.

> 95... that is exactly why I chose simple names. No messing around with them :P

On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry looks good...

Great pictures Paul, I would love to see New Zealand. Nice book haul too, though On Canaan's Side is the only one I have read - enjoy.

>99 Copperskye: - Orlagh is lovely for a puppy! Be warned she might be moody and bossy, I have noticed these traits among the nameholders. :)

Photos! Strange but beautiful names! Piles of books! Well, I'm sorry I was away to miss the discussion, but it's been a delight catching up on this thread! Some of those names are absolutely fantastic...

I like Orlagh too! Names are funny, aren't they?

I don't know Paul. Those look pretty normal to me. I mean oddly as in WASP's (of a sort) fabricating names that never existed anywhere or changing the spelling of a normal name. Go here for a shudders-up-your-spine look at what I'm talking about.

Or maybe it's the melting pot of California where I grew up. The black/hispanic/asian kids could totally pull off Yasmine or a Ysabelle, but a white kid? Not so much.

Sorry, couldn't resist - one more: http://notwithoutmyhandbag.com/blog/2011/everythings-bigger-in-texas/

Great photos, Paul! Looks like a really fun trip.

Glad you're as much of a Camilleri and Montalbano fan as I am! Love that series. I had no idea he was that old. May he live forever, and keep writing while he does.

Kath - Sebastian Barry seems quite hot at the moment. Read A Long, Long Way a while ago and thought it was ok but his subsequent novels have all been stellar.

Orlaith - I'm sure that my buddie Megan is happy with all the positive vibes given for her homeland but I must say my small tribe is in raptures still. Best to change a human name a bit before you give it to an animal, loved or not. I worked with one friend at Otis Elevator in the financial management department (basically collection). His boss was called Chester and used to give George (my friend) a real hard time of it at work. He always hated animals but nevertheless bought himself a dog which he called unsurprisingly Chester. After a particularly hard day at work he would go home and call his dog only to kick it on its first appearance. One of my happiest moments at Otis was when he came to work bandaged because the dog had bitten him.

Faith - names can suit people so much can't they or is it the other way. Do people change to suit their names I wonder? Those people who change their names by deed poll does it affect their personalities afterwards? One of my favourite songs as a kid which we used to sing along to in the car (on the old 8-track cartridges - you're nowhere near old enough to remember those Faith) was A BOY NAMED SUE by Johnny Cash which stresses the pitfalls of misnaming your children.

Lucy - the great thing is there are no rules whatsoever. Having said that registering your child's name can be stressful. Yasmyne was registered under my direction by the hospital in Johor Bahru. Kyran I did together with my FIL with disastrous consequences as when the birth certificate came out the family name was missing! He has dual nationality (sssh Malaysia don't allow it) so his UK passport and cert is in order but we have had a heck of a job changing his Malaysian name. Part of the problem is that Malay parents family names don't survive more than a generation. My father-in-law is SUDIN BIN YAKOB, literally, Sudin son of Yacob - his son (my BIL) is SANDI SUHARDI BIN SUDIN and his son (my nephew) is FIRDAUS BIN SANDI SUHARDI. So you see the problem for genealogists over here!

Jenn - how could anyone call a child LEDGE! I have a friend called John Paul George Ringo Smith which I think is cruel on the kid and entirely selfish of the parents and sometimes there is a danges of lumbering your kids with a name that will not stand the test of time - all the girls now called Britney for example!

Joe - If I had five anti-ageing tablets I think Camilleri would get one for sure!

Paul, what a lovely family! I have not read any Camilleri, but I do have his The Shape of Water in my TBR and hope to get to it this month. 1926 was a great year, evidently- that was the same year that my Dad was born!

Speaking of names, I have a funny name story. I have five older sisters and my Mom named the first four and my Dad named the last two. (Thank goodness, as my Mom really had her heart set on Candy for me-ugh!) Anyway, the names that my Dad picked were both family names, so my sister was named Nora after his mother. My Mom did not like her MIL, so she called my sister Jeannie ( her middle name was Jean). Fast forward to just before I got married, and my husband to be asks if he will get to meet my last sister before the wedding. What sister, I asked, you have met all of them. He says, "Your sister Jeannie." You've met her, I told him- she's Nora, only my Mom calls her Jeannie. Imagine his surprise because the whole time he thought that Nora and Jeannie were two separate people!!(I should mention that at the time Nora lived in Texas and he had only met her once when she was home for a visit)

Great photos Paul!

Stopping by to say hi!

Mamie - My twin brother changed his surname by deed poll many years ago to Duval, more to allay the stigma of financial indiscretions in his youth than to disassociate himself from my father although there was probably some of that too. As we are physically so unalike very few people who don't know us from school believe that there is any credence in our claims of kinship.

Chelle - thanks my dear - I have also enjoyed your shots of New Scotland.

Mamzel - lovely to see you making a guest appearance! Miss you loads around these shores.

I enjoyed the photos, I wouldn't mind if you appeared more often!

Anita - hahaha; Yasmyne directs most of the photos and therefore appears far more than everyone else!

I get behind on threads because of a cold and discover you have a new one with 127 messages already! The Camerilli book looks good!

Lori, hope your sniffles are a thing of the past - All the Camilleri books are a joy to be honest and I would heartily recommend them to anyone who likes food, humour, sex and mystery in abundance.

Hi Paul- I'm another one who has not read the Inspector Montalbano series, (WHAT??) despite so many LTers being fans. I have the 1st book too, so there really is no excuse.

*too*much*to*say*

Names: I love interesting names too, I love hearing Wilbur (3.5) say names perfectly that sound strange to my anglicized tongue (Like Te Ariki, Oisin, Aroha). And Im with SWMBO on using the correct spellings in greeting cards etc, it's just polite!

Photos: Hooray! Pics at last, although I see I must have made the cutting room floor. Dont believe the "left the charger in NZ story for a second;)
Love love love the in-car shot on the way to Akaroa, no squabbling there (yet?) hehe. We do deserted beaches well here in the South Island, water...so....cold, you see

Books: >102 PaulCranswick: The bank was close to the bookshop so.... yes, I know people who think like that too. I could easily find reasons why I was going close enough to a cafe that sold a certain brioche that I ought to drop by and get a few. I was always only a few shops away (or suburbs) from that delicious sweet bread......*drool*

Stats: still counting I see, watch out for RSI on your calculator using finger! My books are slowing now that Im reading ones with more than 150 pages

Earthquake: you didnt feel that big one yesterday? I heard about it only this morning and thought it might have been local enough for a fright. Hope not.

Mark - You gave me Bruen last year - take it from me mate Camilleri is well worth a go. The first is far from the best though IMHO.

Megan - hahaha there is no way you're on the cutting room floor. Wait for the weekend and you will appear in all your glory! Many people have said that they felt tremors but I was entirely insensitive to any I must admit. The scary one over here is tsunami but seems to have been averted.

I'm reeling at Jenn's link and the names. I will NEVER complain again about my own!! Qwayde? Khloe Jazzlene?? And those are the tip of the iceberg...

I do enjoy your rationalizations, Paul. Well, the bookstore is next to the bank... and having to go to the bank was so stressful... and Kinokuniya has a membership program... So I just HAD to buy a shelfload of new books... *grin*
I have the new Graham Swift here; an ARC that is waiting for me to read it. Soon, probably, as I think I need to catch up on my Amazon reviews.

Suz - what's wrong with Jazzlene for heaven's sake! Yeah ok it is amongst the most inane names possible to imagine but other than that!

I'm sure you will get to the Graham Swift before I. Be interested to see what you make of it.

>118 nittnut: - Jenn, Those are two great links! I laughed out loud :)

I've always harbored a secret wish to start a consultancy advising parents-to-be on what to name their child. I admit to being slightly obsessed by names so this conversation has been a lot of fun. I tend to like traditional ("old fashioned") names - Charlotte, Louisa, Eleanor, Margaret, Elizabeth, etc. but they don't work for everybody. I am Catherine Margaret which is a bit long - my maiden name was also long so it got annoying when I had to fill out forms! I am variously referred to as Katie (what my parents wanted as my nickname), Kate (only my husband ever calls me that), Kat (by my cousins), and Kiki (by my niece and nephew). And don't get me started on being Catherine with a "C" but Katie (and everything else) with a "K".....

PS: Lovely book haul. Good job!!

Katie - Malay/Islamic names can have their moments too. I used to have one staff Wan Norhafizatul Addawaiyah binti Wan Husin - my secretary had trouble issuing cheques to her simply because it was a struggle to fit the name in the space provided.

Paul

Thanks for posting the lovely photos. I'm enjoying the conversations regarding names.

The end of the semester is a time of details, frustrations and long hours. I haven't posted as much as I'd like to, but in the next few weeks I'll be back in the swing of things.

For now, all good wishes!

Paul my dear, you know I adore you, but the trouble with yours being the #1 thread is that you're impossible to keep up with and I get a sinking feeling when in one single day, there are over 60 posts to catch up with. Mind you, I get a sinking feeling from everything this week, and just got off the phone with my dad who is probably the only person in the world who can make the simplest thing absolutely nightmarish. So yeah.

Looked at your photos—beautiful, you have a gorgeous family and aren't too bad yourself, as I keep telling you. Landscapes need to be BIGGER though Paul, so we can actually SEE them... glanced at the convos, lots of interesting stuff being said but I'm not in a sociable mood right now, so have nothing to add. Why do I bother leaving a message then? Dunno... thought I'd let you know I came by, even though I'm not fit for company! xx

Nice haul of books, Paul. Will be curious to hear your take on The Marriage Plot. How is the support to charity coming? *holds Paul's thumbs to the fire* Some deal about reading off the shelf and whatever you spent on books would benefit a local charity(ies)? ... had to ask.

>118 nittnut: from that blog I re-post this ...
Aaaaand the Worst Name of All:
Deizel. DEIZEL. A type of gasoline, misspelled in more than one way, only one of which I believe was intentional.
Only because someone in my "new mums" coffee group just had her second child, and yes, called it Deizel. With a Z. This confirms that my decision to leave the group fairly early on was spot on. That and the fact that all they talked about was malls and dvds for babies.

Ilana is right the landscapes are too small. I won't re-post them all together but they do look more impressive as above. Will post one or two more another time.

Nice mountains.

Linda - always nice to see you here and thereabouts posting. You still have the accolades from most of us for best proposal story of the year and your contributions are always on the spot.

Ilana - My thread will probably slow down a tad when holiday fever abates a bit!
We share a few things and one of them is difficult parents! Just come back from your thread and did comment regarding your portable pappy - hang in there and don't let him get you down too much.
Taken your point on the photos - the landscapes were far too small and didn't really do any justice to the subjects. See one of them above.
Your posts are, as you well know, a highlight of my time on LT.

Nancy - I am holding off counting for the moment as it is certainly going to be an expensive commitment! Thumbs and most of both hands badly singed already.

Megan - Deizel is a perfectly acceptable name for garage pump attendants and unctuous politicians.

Thanks Ellen - they look even better closer up.

>141 PaulCranswick:- Now that's what I'm talking about! Stunning!

Lovely pictures though would like to see more of your son. Your daughters and wife get all the shots!

I go by Nora but only because people would constantly mangle my full name, Lenora. I got called Laura, Loraine, Eleanor, Leonora, Lenore, etc. People can't mess us Nora. Or so I thought. I got called Norma yesterday. Sheesh.

Mark this one is for you and shows Kaikoura and the mountains beyond from the gates of our apartment.

Morphy - I think your criticism of the absence of Kyran's photos is fair, so this is for you and catches him in his mean and moody phase (about 1 hour before ice cream)



Lenora is a lovely name and of course I do know that you go by Nora but am so used to Morphy that it is difficult to change!

Great photos Paul. I thought all teenage boys looked mean and moody. Who knew they were just hungry. All the time.

It is also possible to have struggles with the traditional names, as Suzanne and Nora say. My sister's kids are named Penelope and Liam. She has heard them pronounced Pen-uh-lope and Lame. No joke. Even I get asked occasionally how to spell Jennifer. Is that one "n" and two "f's" or two "n's" and one "f"?

>148 PaulCranswick: Oh no no no. I'm NOT Nora on LT. I'm Morphy. You are safe with Morphy. :D

Great photos again, Paul. What a beautiful part of the world. Kyran looks like he's in his James Dean phase, for those who can go back that far. Good-looking guy, like his folks.

WHAT a handsome family! Breathtaking views!! I'm so glad that you got to make the trip and to let us see!!!
I always have been interested in names.....maybe because my father (!) named me Peggy Ann. That's a true confession, and how 1940s it was! If we had had children, they would have had real names and that's all there is to it!
My mother's term as vital statistics clerk with the county gave me Navy Blue. My woman's college gave me Temple Castor, Elwell Hatch and Rhett Sapp. My teaching career gave me Sh'Quailla and her sister Sh'Quilla as well as the twins Jeroncandelas and Jerocandalas and their brother Elijewan. I could go on and on, but I'll end with the joke: Pronounce "La-a."*

*(That's "La Dash A" The dash don't be silent.) (I feel uneasy with the blatant racism in the joke, but it's too funny and sad to miss.)

Jenn - Kyran need not be hungry to pine for ice cream! It is funny how badly the latest batchof school leavers spell and mispronounce. I have a chap in the office who muddles up "specifically" with "pacifically" - he is quite aggressive and I get a kick out of him saying that he had "pacifically told" someone to do something.

Morphy - I have no intention of changing anything; Morphy it shall always be on LT - I even think we have agreed on one or two books now and again recently - one or the other of us is getting soft.

Kyran - James Dean he would take but probably give me Bela Lugosi! He is a bit of a charmer at school according to his sister but tries and usually fails to play it cool.

Peggy - nice of you to notice that all my kids genetically are favoured with more chromosomes from the mother!
Just think another decade on and you would probably have got Peggy-Sue so your marginally fortunate. The name has a sincere, homespun air Peggy that is probably indicative of a nicer era. The La-a quip is comical but I'm not sure necessarily rascist.

I'm sorry Peggy. I can't figure out how to pronounce Jeroncandelas or Jerocandalas. I just can't.

My bil went to school with twins named Lemonjello and Orangello. My son's friend Crew has a little sister named Navy. I call her navy bean - which kind of bugs her mom, and that's my point, you know? What was she thinking? My daughter has a friend named Tyler (girl). Then there's her friend Aaliyah who has sisters named Akyra, Amaya and A-something (new baby, I forget). Yeah, they're white kids with red hair. Go figure.

Want another 1940's name? My MIL is Linda Gay.

I think that no matter what you do, lots of kids won't like their names. My oldest, Jonah, isn't too happy with me (read - his name) right now and is trying to go by his middle name. I don't think it'll work, but he's welcome to try. I tell him it's no odder, and perhaps even less odd, than Hayden (boy), Toby or Kyson (boy) who are all friends of his. Kyson's older sister is named Cinnamon.

It's also nice to not be one of, say, 5 other Jennifers in a classroom, which was my experience. My teacher assigned us all nick names. I was Jenny G. Never mind that I hated being called Jenny.

Names and how we feel about them - truly fascinating.

I really should be cleaning floors right now. I am avoiding it. I hate cleaning floors. But not enough to hire someone to do it for me. That would really cut into the book budget.

Clean floors? Oh, so futile! They just get dirty again. Admittedly, after a while I just can't take it anymore and yes, they get cleaned. That also happens with the kitchen junk drawer. But I find cleaning that more satisfying, for some reason.

Oh, lovely lovely pictures! I don't know what's more lovely, the scenery or your family.

Thanks for the larger photos, the very small format did not do them justice.
Kyran looks like a good-looking boy, or should I say handsome ;-)

Great Kaikoura shot, that must be Mt Fyffe I'm guessing.
I walked up that hill a while ago which was a sweaty experience, as it is steep, same gradient the whole way. And the day after I walked down my thighs killed. It was as if someone had set them in concrete.

Great one of Kyran, agree with Joe, very James Dean

#129 I would heartily recommend them to anyone who likes food, humour, sex and mystery in abundance

And what's not to like in that list? Makes me want to run out and buy them.

And I'm still blushing from your calling me the queen of reviews, probably back in your previous thread!

Paul- The Kaikoura shot is beautiful! Love it!

Hi Paul,
Ilana was so right about the size of the landscape pics. What a difference!
The picture of Kyran is excellent - he's a cute kid! His expression just makes you want to hug him! Do the girls beat down your door?
Many happy memories! Thanks for sharing.

Jenn - It is my turn today to be struggling to keep up after paying a (literally) flying visit to the holiday island of Pinang. Had a friend from Holland and his British daughter visit yesterday and in consequence got all of 90 minutes sleep before having SWMBO drop me at the airport at 5:45 am for the 6:45 flight. Back in KL at 5:30 pm after assuaging my korean client and then into traffic. Like the travelling as I was able to polish off the remaining half of The Woman in White Suz-like. Still onto names - the British girl with the Dutch dad is called Bodelena Grace which is fascinating as is the fact that she hates it. Who on earth would call their kids Lemonjello and Orangegello!?
I would have thought it unusual to have so many Jennifers in one class but the Koreans cannot be beaten in this - Kim, Pak and Lee account for 65% of all Korean names. I remember being on the subway there and struggling to keep pace with my friend Mr. Park - I hailed him "PARK!" and tens of faces were turned in my direction!

Laura / Jenn - cleaning floors?! Nah...my coffee maker extraordinaire Erni can do in 10 minutes cleaning what I would take a day to do!

Amber - Thanks - I'm reliably informed that it is all in the genes - much more Hani's than mine evidently!

Anita - Kyran is conceited enough so I won't pass on your kind comments!

Megan - I defer to your local knowledge of geography. I do know that the walking is challenging but very rewarding. It's funny Kyran loves old movies so he would be much more likely to have heard of James Dean than Johnny Depp!

Fabulous photos, Paul!

Kaikoura and the mountains ... just breathtaking!
Thank you again for posting.. and I agree with Anita.
Handsome you man, your son!

Rebecca - the Camilleri books are now the series that I gobble up as soon as it comes into my possession - they are an absolute treat; the murder and mayhem doesn't get in the way of the food and the ladies - Inspector Montalbano is a man after my own heart and his girlfriend/nemesis Livia is remarkably astute as to the failings of her ofttimes reluctant partner (maybe Camilleri has met SWMBO somewhere and used her as the model for Livia?)
The epithet unreservedly applied to you comes from making the unfamiliar enticing.

Mark - I thought you would like that one!

Cee - when it comes to pictures Ilana is rarely wrong!
When girls knock on our door Kyran usually lets em in! He likes girls with a Chinese look and his girlfriend (actually the granddaughter of the Sultan of Pahang) is tremendously sweet and sweet on him but he treats her with complete disdain. The one's who keep him on his toes he moons after - a bit like his dad.

Darryl - thanks; it's a lovely spot to be fair so photographing it isn't that hard.

Kath - Kyran's head will swell to the size of his dad's if we are not careful!

Love the photos - especially the one of your son. The lighting is so wonderful! Moody is the perfect description. AH teenage angst; thank God that's over. For me - not for my teenagers of which we have a house full! Your description of the Camilleri books makes me want to get to them sooner rather than later.

Mamie - That is my favourite of Kyran too. In our house we have two teenagers and a juvenile male parent to keep things nicely in balance.

The pictures you posted are fabulous, Paul. I love seeing your family, but where are Megan and Lenny? I hope you get caught up on your sleep this week end.

Always good photos on your threads, Paul!

You poor, poor man, to live in such ugly surroundings. Nothing beautiful to look at, a desperately unattractive family...*sigh* it's a wonder you don't return to England.

;-P

Donna - Megan and Lenny are coming I promise, am waiting for the other camera and Yasmyne to put up the shots. Megan doesn't believe me but it is the truth!

Terri - thanks will try to put up some more soon.

Richard - thanks mate it is your constant charm that keeps you so consistently popular around here! I'll go back to England on the same day you return to Texas.

Hi there Paul, you know how to suck the air out of the room with all your beautiful pictures. Wow! I have The Shape of Water sitting on my shelf so maybe I should just, I don't know, read it maybe...

Bonnie - thanks sucking air out of the room sounds pretty strenuous so I'm glad to have spent a fairly leisurely day.
Went to the Kuala Ganda elephant sanctuary this morning about an hour and a half drive from KL. Then evening went for a North Indian dinner.

28.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The most populat novel of the 19th Century at the time this is an eminently satisfying novel which rewards the readers patience with the occasionally heavy going part. Won't rehearse the details of the plot here as this is one of the most read and reviewed books in the group save to say that Collins was a master of plotting and drew his characters cleanly and unmistakenly. Two villians one a cariacature of snarling nastiness the other of calculated evil both of them superbly dastardly. The heroes and heroines syrupy sweet in their goodness and ripe in their gullibility. Great black and white novel.

8/10

That has been in my TBR for a long time. I need to bump it up - thanks for reminding me.

Wilkie Collins's characters are superbly drawn for their purposes, eh what?

BTW--moving back to Texas next week, are y'all packin' for Northumberland yet?

The Fairy Caves in Kuching look quite enchanting, Paul.

Nice description of The Woman in White. To his credit, it remains fun reading after so many years have passed.

#175 We read The Woman in White for my Book Group last year. Pretty much everyone enjoyed it - which doesn't happen often.

>175 PaulCranswick: The heroes and heroines syrupy sweet in their goodness and ripe in their gullibility
Love it! So well phrased.

Stopping by for a quick visit Paul. Happy to see your good (8/10) review for The Woman in White ..... I plan on reading it next year. Hope you have a great week!

Just a quick "hi" - glad you like TWiW. Someday.... I'll get to that one.
Hope you got some rest and are happily jaunting out for an exciting work week!

Mamie - it is worth bumping up and, particularly the parts involving the villians, are pretty gripping.

Richard - yeah sure I believe you! I'll have no qualms becoming Genny's neighbour and will start planning my relocation when I get confirmation you are back in the bosom of JR Ewing.

Joe - some novels are certainly creatures of their time and some portions of TWIW and the attitudes espoused therein are dated but overall the mastery of the plotting is timeless.

Rhian - it would be a difficult book to hate actually.

Megan - thanks; does the phraseology make up for no meet-up photo yet? Coming tomorrow so Yasmyne tells me.

Lori - hope you have a great week too. Bit of travelling this week as I have Langkawi tomorrow and Pinang on thursday so it should be quite hectic.

Cee - nice to see you as always - hope your week is spiffing and that all your house renovations have been completed satisfactorily.

Two villians one a cariacature of snarling nastiness the other of calculated evil both of them superbly dastardly. How's that for 10/10 on enticement to read a novel! Well said, Paul.

Nancy - glad you liked it - it was typed in a sleepy haze at 2.30 this morning as can be seen from the clumsy typos in the spare few lines of typing.

I liked Woman in White, too...
I really do have to get to The Moonstone..

#141 by @PaulCranswick> Paul, is that Lake Hawea, near Mt Aspiring outside of Queenstown, by any chance? It looks so tantalizingly familiar.

Kath - Don't know which one I preferred the more - I read The Moonstone many years ago and it appealed more to my masculine sensibilities than TWIW. I think the latter found Collins more intune with his feminine side and made it probably the better book overall.

Leah - If I'm not mistaken it is a view of Mt. Cook looking across the edge of Lake Tekapo but there was unremitting splendour in NZ and it could just as easily be one of the Remarkables outside of Queenstown as you suggest.

We had a meal out at Pavilion mall last night with my Dutch friend and I managed to squeeze a quick 10 minutes in Times bookstore before it closed:
Divorcing Jack by Colin Bateman
Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon
Sanctum by Denise Mina

were added to my appalling list of overspends.

Today starting Dombey and Son, The Detour by Gerbrand Bakker (Deb's group read being gatecrashed) and continuing with The Blessing Way by Hillerman. Also started All Men are Liars yesterday whilst SWMBO drove to the elephant sanctuary (driving back I wouldn't let her drive as the roads are a bit hair raising).

This month's reading progress is a bit more like it to be honest.

#188 by @PaulCranswick> Ahh, I think you are right about it being Mt Cook. I thought it was a bit too majestic to be Lake Hawea. God, how I miss New Zealand. Glad you and the family had a good trip!

Hi Paul. I'm glad you read and enjoyed The Woman in White. I liked it a lot when I read it earlier this year.

As you know, I picked up the third Camilleri Montalbano novel in the interest of resuming that series. P is reading it now and describes Montalbano as "a rather unpleasant man." Hm.

Hi Paul. Thanks for heeding my advice and enlarging the pics. Really does make a difference. Really beautiful. Your son's not too hard to look at either. I mean, that half of him that I can actually see. ;-) Just teasing, it's a great photo. I had a huge James Dean phase when I was 16 and at the time also only watched old movies and wouldn't have known much about the then current fare.

Glad you liked The Woman in White. I had lots of fun with it and enjoyed your excellent summary.

Leah - I would imagine that it is one of the places that stays with you in your thoughts, memories and dreams for a long time afterwards. Will definitely go back one day fairly soon.

Ellen - I think that Camilleri has fairly typical tastes and desires in the masculine mode...good food, a pretty face, sex, constant fears over his own powers and the ageing process - he allies to this an innate power to see through a mystery with a wicked sense of humour and a very feminine cunning!

Ilana - Kyran told me when he was three that he intended to be a palaeontologist but now seems sure he will be the first Anglo-Malaysian George Lucas/James Cameron. His first love is old movies and he often seeks my views regarding Boris Karloff and Lew Chaney and Bela Lugosi as if they were contempories of mine!

Hi Paul, I am a little overwhelmed by the numer of posts I missed on your thread, almost 200! I thought they might all be of the "welcome back" type, but now I see there's much more. And a couple of great pictures as well - both family and landscapes, thanks for sharing them with us! So while I'll take my time to catch up I wish you a happy week!

Syrupy sweet in their goodness and ripe in their gullibility. A quotable review :) Nice irony there, Paul. Embarrassed to admit I've never heard of it. Now I'm prepared for it.

Nathalie please take your time and catch up at your leisure I'll wait for you my dear don't worry.

Thanks Carsten I should do reviews more often at three in the morning!

Langkawi for me in the morning and I'll be putting up a night on this lovely unspoilt island at an eco-resort (whatever that really means). Should get plenty of opportunity to read over the next day or so and my reading in April is chugging along nicely with 7 books in the first half of the month.

Also good news in that SWMBO has bought the charger for the other phone so I hope to put up the photos of my meet-up with Megan (and Lenny) by tomorrow.

he often seeks my views regarding Boris Karloff and Lew Chaney and Bela Lugosi as if they were contempories of mine!

I think I once asked my mother what the dinosaurs were like when I was a kid. Parents are just ancient to children. This is one of the reasons I'm glad I don't have any. That way I get to delude myself into thinking I don't get older while the rest of the world does. Not really. I look at kids 25 and under and can't help thinking "that could be my child". Most depressing.

Richard D. just identified Aristophanes as a contemporary of mine, figuring we hung out in stoas together. So that makes me way older than either of you.

>198 Smiler69: I got ID'd today at the supermarket, the lady apologised saying they have to ask if someone appears 25 or under! Hooray!
Not only do I appear to be 12 years younger than I am (to her anyway), but I am actually 18 years older than you have to be for buying alcohol. It rarely happens, so when it does I celebrate :)

Paul: is it tomorrow yet? ;)

Ilana - I used to feel like that with regards to the un-cool feeling of having children thinking your ancient but nowadays I am actually of the view that it is quite a kick to see your kids going through the same stages of development as you did and comforting to know that your memory is still good enough to recall it. I learned a fair bit from the mistakes of my Dad in bringing us up (or not as the actuality was) and love the time I spend with my little tribe and the fun we have together.

Joe - saw Richard's comment and surely your response included the words pot, kettle and black somewhere.

Megan - Your youthful apprearance I can vouch for. Camera is charged and now waiting for Yasmyne to put up the photos so that I can upload them onto here. Going to Langkawi today so don't know whether I'll get them on or not but the likelihood is high!

This is a fun Meme, that I saw on Morphy's thread:

Hardback or paperback?

Paperback - more easy to hold and more portable.

Amazon or bricks and mortar?

Bricks and Mortar - browsing through a well appointed store is a delight near sexual! On-line for back catalogue stuff I can't fiind.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

Of the two we only have Borders in KL but Kinokuniya is my favourite store here.

Bookmark or dogear?

Definitely Bookmark. I used to collect the leather ones and have a fair few.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?

I buy too many to be perfect but by author definitely.

Keep, throw away, or sell?

Depends on my reaction to the book. If I don't want it and it is suitable I give it to the school library or a local orphanage.

Keep dust jacket or toss it?

If it has one keep it.

Read with dust jacket or remove it?

Remove it and replace after completing the book.

Short story or novel?

I like both but dip into short stories rather than read from cover to cover.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?

I am a completist freak when it comes to authors I like so collections for me.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?

Have read neither.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

Ideally chapter breaks or when the book hits the bedroom floor from my now comatose fingers or if my driver has arrived at our destination.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?

Again it depends on mood and suitability to the story.

Buy or Borrow?

Buy no place to borrow.

New or used?

Not fussy if the new is still presentable.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?

LT Recs, Literary Review reads, book shop browsing, the cover of the thing, other books by authors I've liked - all these contribute

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?

Tidy ending.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?

Yes.

Stand-alone or series?

Love a series.

Favorite series?

Ooh...Wallender, Harry Hole, Erlendur, Logan Macrae, Reacher, Lennox are all favourites but the best is Montalbano.

Favorite children's book?

Moonfleet by J. Meade Faulkner

Favorite book of which "nobody" else has heard?

Dealing with fellow bookies here so that one surely is impossible - that few have heard of - The Redundancy of Courage.

Favorite books read last year?

Oh God I can't remember! No...Half of a Yellow Sun would have won my book of the year.

Favorite books of all time?

Too many so it keeps changing... Of Mice and Men, La Bete Humaine, The Quiet American, A Fine Balance, A Place of Greater Safety, Lord of the Rings, To Kill a Mocking Bird.

Least favorite book you finished last year?

The Age of Orphans

What are you reading right now?

Right now I'm typing! Books by Tony Hillerman, Charles Dickens Dombey and Son, Ursula Le Guin, Henry Kissinger and Gerbrand Bakker.

What are you reading next?
Books by Andre Brink, Kerstin Ekman, CJ Box, Keith Richards and Alberto Manguel

So fun to read through - I stole this same Meme from Karen's thread. Now I'm off to check out some of the books you mentioned above.

Paul, the first 3/4 of your answers are practically all what mine are! Thanks for sparing me the trouble of filling it out, Ill just have to copy and paste :)
You lost me at "Stand alone or series" and from then all it all went very differently. So interesting as people have very definite answers to these things.

Loved this meme Paul, very informative! Of Mice and Men is an all time favourite of mine as well. The best part? :

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? Yes.

Loved reading your answers, Paul. When you said you had no place to borrow books, does that mean there are no libraries where you live?

Love the meme. (What is a "meme"?)
One of your favorites is also favorites of mine: To Kill a Mockingbird. Yep.

Well it was a difficult task but I am finally caught up on your thread, Paul. Sounds and looks like you had a fantastic vacation in New Zealand.

The name discussion was interesting, I am a big fan of Irish names, I have a daughter called Alana.

After two weeks of visting with my family, I realize that all we do when we get together is eat and shop for books! Brought home a ton of books, some new and some second-hand. I had a tough time trying to fit them on the shelves!

#202 I hate to say this but I love The Redundancy of Courage as well. It's years since I read it but I would probably have given it 5 stars.

"After two weeks of visting with my family, I realize that all we do when we get together is eat and shop for books! Brought home a ton of books, some new and some second-hand. I had a tough time trying to fit them on the shelves!"

Perfect!

To Kill a Mockingbird while not one of my favorites of all time (10 out of 10 stars), is still an excellent book (9 out of 10 stars.) Another book love we share. Whoo hoo!

I love that book, too!

>202 PaulCranswick: browsing through a well appointed store is a delight near sexual!
Amen! I usually equate it to drugs, but sex works too.

Good morning, Paul.

:) always such an interesting thread. I have nothing to add.. I can't brain today..
but maybe tomorrow?

You made me laugh, Paul, and you're right, re RD and pot, kettle, black.

Enjoyed the meme responses. Moonfleet? That's a new one for me.

*waving* at Paul

I want to go to that cave up top! It looks very inviting.

*fans self .... and reaches for a bowl of mango slices ...sustenance required after going through 217 posts!*

Now all caught up.

Firstly.... love the photos of your holiday, Paul ...especially the one of the clouds(?).

Secondly ...I certainly hope Camilleri is in the best of health and taking good care of it because I cannot accept the fact that there may come a day when there won't be a new Montalbano to read.

Thirdly .... I'm glad Kino in KL has finally gotten on the membership bandwagon. I'm surprised it took them this long. Singapore's Kino launched their membership programme a few years ago and of course, despite the fact that I'm only there maybe three times a year, I had to sign up for it. At S$25 a year, and 20% off all the books I've bought there, I've more than gotten my fees worth. I've been renewing my membership each year, although this year, I"m starting to reevaluate that since my nephew is also now a member and I could ... *ahem* borrow his card the next time I'm there.

If I'm going to start reading Camilleri, should I start with the first one? Or doesn't it matter?

Just arrived back from Langkawi after making a presentation on our proposed project there to the Development Authority. Looks like green light has been given so good news for once - but no internet on the resort has left me floundering somewhat:

Mamie - as I said I saw this on Morphy's thread and liked it - she apparently saw it elsewhere and did the same.

Megan it wouldn't be fun if we all liked the same stuff all the time - there would be only a few books in the shops wouldn't there?

Orlaith - Thanks; Of Mice and Men is an easy favourite and proof that classics don't have to be doorstoppers as well.

Pat - KL has a national library but the lending section is so limited it is next to useless so I am forced to buy not borrow.

Ellen - I also have absolutely no idea what meme means and I am sure a more knowledgeable member of the group can inform us!

Judy - Nice to see you caught up (I need to do a bit of that myself)! Sounds like a great family if eating and book buying are priorities.

Rhian - not sure why you hate to admit liking The Redundancy of Courage - I am happy to acknowledge my admiration of it!

Alex - Right on.

Morphy - if I'm not mistaken that is two books in a year we have both adored - I have just taken a break to recover!

Mamie - What a shame she didn't write anything else!

Nora - I'll take sex over drugs anytime tqvm at least until I reach the ripe old age when there is a necessity of the latter to beget the former.

Ellen - Good morning to you too my dear (time differences to one side of course)!

Kath - welcome back anytime! Incidentally your thread leads the pack this month with the most posts
Kath 367
Richard 348
Paul 341
Joe 323

Joe - Thanks mate - I often leave from your place with a smile on my face too. Moonfleet was a book I read in school that I have always loved. Don't know if it is really YA but great nonetheless.

Stasia - Nice to see you here. Even if you spent aeons in the cave your thread would still hurry along!

Caro - Why am I not surprised that eating and posting is something you can do simultaneously with absolute impunity!
Quite often drink a toast to the long live and continued mental agility of Camilleri. Kinokuniya has me hooked (but then again I probably was it's best customer in KL already).

Rebecca - I would say it is not absolutely essential to your appreciation of the books that you start right at the beginning but it would probably be best to get a fuller introduction of the marvellous array of characters. The Shape of Water is the first I think.

29.

The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman

This is the first in the Joe Leaphorn series, an arapaho indian detective and involves murder and mysticism in near equal part. The first half of the book I found extremely turgid but the second half gave some promise for the rest of the series as the action picked up. Leaphorn and thriller writing were I think very much a work in process at this point for Hillerman and I thought the loose ends of the story were tied up in a couple of pages at the end and weren't too convincing. Certainly not my favourite read of the year but I hope that future books in the series build upon the foundation laid less than impressively here.

5/10

They get 'better' , but you also get used to the style - it's very 'Indian' - less is more, understatement etc. When Leaphorn 'retires' (he sticks around though) his 'successor' Jim Chee is younger and more dynamic in some ways. He's torn between whether to become a shaman or be a detective and it adds a lot.

I have read 2-3 Hillerman's randomly over the years, and enjoyed them.
To be honest, I couldn't tell you which I read or when.. but I do know that I read them.
And again, I have no idea how you manage to keep all of those stats :)
I am beginning to think that my thread is getting to be like Amazons gold box..
but it is a Black Box.. every day is a potential new WTH! story. Hopefully that is over, and I
would be fine with that!..

Totally agree with you about Harper Lee; I really wish she had written more books. What a gift to write a book that people can get something new out of every time they read it.

I don't know what meme means either, I just called it that because you called it that! Too funny! So I looked it up and here is the definition:

an image, video, phrase, etc. that is passed electronically from one Internet user to another.

So now we all know and can use it with confidence!

@ 221 I'll take sex over drugs anytime tqvm at least until I reach the ripe old age when there is a necessity of the latter to beget the former. LOL!!

Hey there, Paul. Loved your answers to the meme. I like these things being passed around as it gives us another way to get to know each other better.

I too love a visit to a welcoming bookstore. As our library booksale looms on the near horizon, though, I must say nothing beats the rush of going into a warehouse with thousands of books on tables at great prices. I love the serendipitous book that finds me as much as the hunt for treasures on my list. Next Monday! Can you tell I'm excited?

Well, then I decided to Google meme:

(from Wikipedia) internet meme
The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information. The earliest known usage of the word meme is in the book The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins published in 1976.

(from Wikipedia) meme
A meme is "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture." A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate and respond to selective pressures.

The word meme is a shortening (modeled on gene) of mimeme (from Ancient Greek μίμημα, "something imitated", from μιμεῖσθαι mimeisthai, "to imitate", from μῖμος mimos "mime") and it was coined by the British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976) as a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. Examples of memes given in the book included melodies, catch-phrases, fashion and the technology of building arches.

Love the meme. Might put it up on my thread too.

I like Hillerman and agree with Lucy - he grows on you.

I have read a few of theTony Hillerman books over the years as well. The characters grow and change over time. Jim Chee was especially interesting as his inner journey is very well written. There are other characters who come in and develop in the series as well. I have not read all of the series as I got the ones I read from my local library and they didn't have enough money to keep buying the new ones as they came out so the collection was spotty. I also thought they were a good way to become acquainted with that part of the U.S. - geographically and culturally.

The funny thing was that one of the books I read was the mystery was about a gang of grave robbers. These grave robbers were stealing from archeological sites and were very selective about what they took. In the end the leader of the gang turned out to be a very respectable and wealthy man who lived in Las Vegas. Then a few years ago the FBI uncovered a ring of thieves operating in the southwest doing the same things as described in the book. It was big news at the time and was in the newspapers. The leader turned out to be a physician, his wife, and his daughter. They all lived in Las Vegas. Made me wonder what Tony Hillerman knew and when he knew it?

It seems to me that some of these books were made into a PBS series at one time. Does anybody remember them?

Lucy - I got the feeling of a writer learning his trade as I felt the plotting was a little clumsy and the characters not fully developed yet - but I would also acknowledge that there were obvious signs of potential there which I will revisit.

Kath - believe me the stats are easy! It is surprising when a thread is well written how eventful our lives really are. Yours for example has been a rollercoaster ride which we have all shared sympathetically over the last year.

Mamie - Don't really like the word "meme" which is fairly ugly aesthetically but don't know what we can use instead - any ideas?

Donna - I think that in some ways LT enables us to get to know each other much better than if we were all talking together as it is often easier to put your thoughts down in writing than havng to throw them off-the-cuff. Sometimes we clam up although I have also found that there is an easy camaraderie when we all meet because of anecdotes we have already shared etc.
Yeah booksales give an enormous adrenalin rush that beats most everything else (I think I mentioned one thing that beats it in a recent post above!)

Anita - thanks for that - so Dawkins is to blame for constructing that truly ugly piece of english language.

Jenn - I hope he grows on me like ivy decorates a stately home rather than how a bacterial infection spreads across moist body tissue.

Interesting story about Hillerman's book and real life crime...
Thanks for sharing that :)

Benita - Hillerman seems to be a quintessential american thriller writer and some of it doesn't work with us Europeans. That said I felt like that with John Sandford and the Prey books in so much as I really didn't like the first of the series but came to revel in them as they developed. Maybe Hillerman is the same too.
Fascinating story about the grave robbers. Maybe they had read the books first?

Kath - it is interesting and I wonder if we were to commit the "perfect" murder and copy the modus operandi of a thriller we had read which we would choose?

So meme is said "meem" and not "mee-mee"? Interesting to read the definitions and still not actually get it :) My brain must be out of practice.

Paul, a friend of mine has just finished building a holiday house in Tekapo, I am really looking forward to getting in some weekends there as you have reminded me of what a gorgeous place it is. One of the bedrooms in the place has 5 bunks in it so sleeps 10! Made for multi-family fun Id say. Cant wait.

Also waiting for more photos of your holiday....*not just ones of me*, (who could be that narcissistic?), did you get to visit Nelson in the end?

227> Thanks for looking that up! I agree with Paul that the word is ugly, but it is what it is.

Huh..and I'd thought meme was pronounced 'mee-mee' too..and quite liked the word. Now that I know it's pronounced 'meem', I'm not liking it quite so much. Go figure.

#236: I agree with you, Caro. I will probably continue to pronounce it 'mee-mee.' I like it better that way.

The meme discussion is amusing...... just this morning my daughter was telling me about a friend who mostly communicates things in 'memes' (which she pronounces 'correctly') and then goes "Mom, you know what those are, right?" in this special voice she uses when she's checking on just how clueless I am. Thank goodness I knew!

Megan - I'll stick to my view that the word is ugly and I was saying it with a silent e at the end. Jealous of your friend as that would be the place I would choose too with half a chance. More photos are imminent including a couple of a certain CChurch native. We didn't make it to Nelson as we sort of got sucked into Kaikoura in the last few days.

Ellen/Caro/Stasia - I still think it is ugly now that I know how it is supposed to be pronounced.

Lucy - I think our children automatically assume we are prehistoric and that the computer age and its facile terminology has passed us by.

Hi Paul - have been out of touch the last couple days and have a ton to catch up ...

"I'll take sex over drugs anytime tqvm at least until I reach the ripe old age when there is a necessity of the latter to beget the former." LOL You do have a way with words, Paul!
But, what is "tqvm"?

Glad I have not missed the meet-up pictures... they are coming, right?

Cee...

Thank
You
Very
Much
:)

Cee - coming! My daughter promised me she would put them up today for me. I told her she is grounded but she just laughed at me and said "yeah right Dad!" - I am totally in charge of my household and have my wife's permission to say so.

Kath - thanks vm for that.

238> LOL! Never let anyone tell you that time spent on LT is wasted time. It's helping you stay connected to your daughter!

and now I know what tqvm means.....

Ellen - Our kids are certainly the ones who know about technology but they shouldn't write off the old fogies completely.

FINALLY - Yasmyne has got the photos from the red camera uploaded. So belatedly we have a record of the LT meet up with dear Megan (and Lenny)

SWMBO and Lenny also make an appearance

Lenny looks far more comfortable with Yasmyne than SWMBO.

Hooray! Evidence of our meetup. It was so good to h ave met you all!
Paul your daughter is a stunner.
Poor little Lenny wasnt in the frame of mind for an outing, what with the onset of his fever etc. Your family did well to placate/distract him at all given the circumstances.

*awwww de wooobiewoobie schmooopie dooo*

Ahem.

What a fine-looking young person, indeed. Were there adults in this meetup?

Megan- At least you know now that I wasn't telling porky pies about the red camera! Pineapple lumps and your Dad's book also prominently featured in the photo of us.
Lenny was a bit under the weather that day wasn't he? but I bet he enjoyed SWMBO's easter bunnies later on.

Richard - if you scroll up a little the oldies appear too - but of course (Megan excepted) we are not as glam as the youngsters.

Will put up some more shots of NZ on my next thread.

Lovely photos, Paul! I'm jealous of all of these meet-ups!

Kerri - I am normally the envious one isolated as I am in Malaysia but I'm lucky to have had two great LT Meet-ups already this year with two charming, witty and intelligent young ladies.

Pineapple lumps are the best!

They are good Orlaith and their best customer met me in CChurch for an LT Meet-up!

Sounds (and looks) great. :)

Thanks Orlaith - it is 4:30 a.m. here and SWMBO is calling me into her boudoir so I better sign off and prepare myself for battle!

Great pics, Paul. Love the meet-ups when they happen.

I'm another one who enjoyed reading the Hillerman Joe Leaphorn mysteries way back when, but you raise a good point. There may be reasons they don't travel across the water so well. I just don't know - among other things, I read them a long time ago.

They did a pretty good PBS series based on them a few years ago.

Great pics! Glad you guys had fun at your meetup!

Did I post? hmmm Wonderful pictures .. thank you for sharing :)

Haha, I hope you make it through in one piece!

Joe - I'm not normally one who doesn't like American thrillers so I guess Hillerman will grow on me somewhat.

Chelle / Kath - thanks and sorry that the meet up photos took so long to appear.

Orlaith - pleased to inform I survived!

Paul- I love the photos! I knew little Lenny was a woman-slayer. He's got Yasmyne wrapped around his little finger. Did SWMBO try to give Lenny some orders or what? Great photo with you and Megan! Genuine smiles.

TQVM, Paul. The pictures were worth waiting for. I'm sure Megan appreciated the extra arms to hold fussy Lenny. He's adorable even when he's not feeling well. The rest of you are easy on the eyes, too.

Love the MeetUp pics, Paul. I hang my head in shame for forgetting about pics of our own MeetUp. Oh well .... we'll just have to have a do-over MeetUp the next time I'm in KL. ;-)

You may want to give Hillerman a second chance ...maybe you'll warm up to him. I quite enjoy his works. But then again, I've only read 3 of his works so far. I kinda forgot about him, so I have to thank you for the nudge ... *toodles off to see if I have any others in my TBR Tower*