Paul's Race to 75 Part 21

SAO NAM Vietnamese restaurant in the busy heart of KL behind Istana Hotel is one of my favourite places to eat.

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
30 Praying Mantis by Andre Brink
31 Parky by Michael Parkinson
32 All Men Are Liars by Alberto Manguel
33 The Detour by Gerbrand Bakker
34 The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin
35 Legion of the Damned by Sven Hassel
36 Treblinka : A Survivor's Memory by Chil Rajchman
37 L'Enver de Treblinka by Vasily Grossman
38 Open Season by C.J. Box
39 Divorcing Jack by Colin Bateman
40 The Chalk-Circle Man by Fred Vargas
41 Lovely Green Eyes by Arnost Lustig
42 The Devil in the Kitchen by Marco Pierre White
43 Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
44 Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
45 The Butterfly Effect by Pernille Rygg
46 Twist of Gold by Michael Morpurgo
47 Eternal by Craig Russell
48 Life by Keith Richards
49 The Caretaker by Harold Pinter
50 Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
51 The Half-Finished Heaven by Tomas Transtromer
52 Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet by Gerry Davis
53 War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
54 In the Heart of the Country by J.M. Coetzee
55 Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster by Terrance Dicks
56 The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
57 The Day of the Daleks by Terrance Dicks
58 We Were Young and Carefree by Laurent Fignon
59 River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh
60 Thirty Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill
61 Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors by Brian Hayles

Currently reading
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson, Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens, Andrew Jackson by H.W. Brands,

Best Books of the Year so far:
Literary Fiction
1. The Road Home
2 Lyrics Alley
3 Wolf Hall
4 Dandelion Wine
5 Sea of Poppies
Thrillers
1. Zoo Station
2. The Troubled Man
3. The Potter's Field
4 Divorcing Jack

12 in 12 categories

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

NOBEL CHALLENGE

NOBEL WINNERS READ WITH FAVOURITE WORK READ SO FAR:
2011 The Half-Finished Heaven by Tomas Transtromer
2009 The Appointment by Herta Muller
2007 The Good Terrorist by Doris Lessing
2006 Snow by Orhan Pamuk
2005 The Caretaker by Harold Pinter
2003 The Master of Petersburg by J.M.Coetzee
2001 A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
1998 The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by Jose Saramago
1995 Station Island by Seamus Heaney
1994 A Quiet Life by Kenzaburo Oe
1991 July's People by Nadine Gordimer
1988 Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
1987 On Grief and Reason by Joseph Brodsky
1983 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
1982 A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
1976 Herzog by Saul Bellow
1972 Billiards at Half-Past Nine by Heinrich Boll
1970 Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
1964 The Age of Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre
1962 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
1961 Bridge On the Drina by Ivo Andric
1958 Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
1957 The Plague by Albert Camus
1955 The Atom Station by Halldor Laxness
1954 The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
1953 History of the English Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill
1949 The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
1948 The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot
1947 The Counterfeiters by Andre Gide
1946 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
1938 The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
1932 A Man of Property by John Galsworthy
1930 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
1925 Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw
1923 Collected Poems by W.B. Yeats
1921 And the Gods Will Have Blood by Anatole France
1907 Kim by Rudyard Kipling

UNREAD NOBEL WINNERS ON THE SHELVES

2011 The Half-Finshed Heaven by Tomas Transtromer
2010 The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
2008 The Interrogation by J.M.G. Le Clezio
2005 The Caretaker by Harold Pinter
2004 The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
2002 Fatelessness by Imre Kertesz
2000 Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
1999 The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
1993 Jazz by Toni Morrison
1992 Collected Poems 1948-1984 by Derek Walcott
1990 The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz
1986 Ake: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka
1985 Flanders Road by Claude Simon
1981 Auto de Fe by Elias Canetti
1978 The Family Moskat by Isaac Bashevis Singer
1973 Voss by Patrick White
1969 Molloy by Samuel Beckett
1968 Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
1965 And Slowly Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov
1952 The Desert of Love by Francois Mauriac
1950 A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
1937 Jean Barois by Roger Martin du Gard
1936 The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill
1933 The Village by Ivan Bunin
1929 Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann
1920 Hunger by Knut Hamsun
1915 Jean-Christophe by Romain Rolland
1913 He (Shey) by Rabindranath Tagore
1905 Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz

List of my active series. Doesn't include series I own books but haven't started (far too many) or series that I have read all - Sherlock, Poirot, Marple, Dr. Who, Wallender, John Carter, Richard Hannay, Father Brown, Rougon MacQuart, etc etc etc

WRITER SERIES NEXT BOOK UP

1 Abbott, Jeff // Whit Mosley Black Jack Point 2/3
2 Adler-Olsen, Jussi // Department Q Disgrace 2/3
3 Akunin, Boris //Erast Fandorin Special Assignments 5/10
4 Atkinson, Kate //Jackson Brodie When Will There Be Good News 3/4
5 Aubert, Brigitte //Elise Andrioli Death from the Snows 2/2
6 Auel, JM //Earth's Children The Valley of Horses 2/6
7 Bateman, Colin //Dan Starkey Of Wee Sweetie Mice and Men 2/7
8 Billingham, Mark //Tom Thorne Good as Dead 10/10
9 Black, Benjamin //Quirke The Silver Swan 2/5
10 Black, Cara //Aimee Leduc Murder in Belleville 2/13
11 Blake, Nicholas //Nigel Strangeways A Question of Proof 2/16
12 Block, Lawrence //Matt Scudder A Drop of the Hard Stuff 17/17
13 Block, Lawrence //Bernie Rhodenbarr The Burglar in the Closet 3/10
14 Blunt, Giles //John Cardinal Crime Machine 5/6
15 Box, C.J. //Joe Pickett Savage Run 2/12
16 Brand, Christianna //Inspector Cockrill Heads You Lose 2/6
17 Brookmyre, Christopher //Jack Parlabane Country of the Blind 2/5
18 Brown, Dan //Robert Langdon The Lost Symbol 3/3
19 Bruen, Ken //Jack Taylor The Killing of the Tinkers 2/9
20 Burke, James Lee //Robicheaux Neon Rain 2/19
21 Camilleri, Andrea //Montalbano The Age of Doubt 14/15
22 Carr, Caleb //Kreizler The Angel of Darkness 2/2
23 Chandler, Raymond //Philip Marlowe The High Window 4/7
24 Child, Lee //Jack Reacher A Wanted Man 17/17
25 Cornwell, Bernard //Saxon Chronicles The Burning Land 5/6
26 Cotterill, Colin //Dr. Siri Thirty-Three Teeth 2/8
27 Crispin, Edmund //Gervase Fen The Case of the Gilded Fly 3/9
28 Dahl, KO //Frank Frolich The Man in the Window 2/3
29 Deaver, Jeffrey //Rune Death of a Blue Movie Star 2/3
30 Deighton, Len //Harry Palmer Horse Under Water 3/6
31 Deighton, Len //Bernard Samson Faith 7/9
32 DeMille, Nelson //John Corey Plum Island 2/6
33 Dibdin, Michael //Aurelio Zen Medusa 9/11
34 Downing, David //John Russell Silesian Station 2/5
35 Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan //Brigadier Gerard Adventures of Gerard 2/2
36 Dunnett, Dorothy //Francis Lymond Queen's Play 2/6
37 Eastland, Sam //Pekkala The Red Coffin 2/4
38 Edwardson, Ake //Erik Winter Frozen Tracks 3/6
39 Eisler, Barry //John Rain The Detachment 7/7
40 Finder, Joseph //Nick Heller Buried Secrets 2/3
41 Forbes, Colin //Tweed Double Jeopardy 3/24
42 Ford, Richard //Bascombe Independence Day 2/3
43 Fossum, Karin //Sejer The Water's Edge 6/9
44 Fraser, George MacDonald //Flashman Flashman in the Great Game 5/12
45 Freeling, Nicholas //Van der Valk Because of the Cats 2/13
46 Fyfield, Francis //Helen West Shadow Play 2/6
47 Gadney, Reg //Alan Rosslyn Immaculate Deception 5/6
48 Ghosh, Amitav //Ibis Trilogy River of Smoke 2/3
49 Gilman, George G //Edge Hell's Seven 9/61
50 Gray, Alex //Lorimer A Small Weeping 2/9
51 Harvey, John //Resnick Cold in Hand 11/11
52 Harvey, John //Elder Ash and Bone 2/3
53 Hewson, David //Nic Costa The Seventh Sacrament 5/9
54 Hill, Reginald //Pascoe and Dalziell Ruling Passion 3/24
55 Hillerman, Tony //Leaphorn / Chee Dancehall of the Dead 2/18
56 Holt, Anne //Vik and Stubo The Final Murder 2/4
57 Hurley, Graham //Faraday and Winter Cut to Black 5/12
58 Iggulden, Conn //Conqueror Bones of the Hills 3/5
59 Indriadson, Arnadur //Erlendur Hypothermia 6/8
60 James, PD //Dalgleish A Taste for Death 7/14
61 James, Peter //Roy Grace Dead Tomorrow 5/8
62 Jardine, Quintin //Bob Skinner Skinner's Ordeal 5/22
63 Jecks, Michael //Medieval Mysteries The Merchant's Partner 2/31
64 Johnstone, William W //Mountain Man Ordeal of the Mountain Man 17/32
65 Jungstedt, Mari //Knutas The Killer's Art 4/7
66 Kerr, Philip //Bernie Gunther A Quiet Flame 5/8
67 Leon, Donna //Brunetti The Girl of His Dreams 17/21
68 Lovesey, Peter //Peter Diamond The Summons 3/13
69 Lucarelli, Carlos //Negro Day after Day 2/2
70 Ludlum, Robert //Bourne The Bourne Supremacy 2/3
71 MacBride, Stuart //Logan McRae Shatter the Bones 7/7
72 MacDonald, Ross //Lew Archer The Way Some People Die 3/18
73 Mahfouz, Naguib //Cairo Trilogy Palace of Desire 2/3
74 Manning, Olivia //The Levant Trilogy The Battle Lost and Won 2/3
75 Mantel, Hilary //Cromwell Series Bring Up the Bodies 2/3
76 Marklund, Liza //Bengtzon Paradise 2/6
77 Martin, Andrew //Jim Stringer The Blackpool Highflyer 2/8
78 McBain, Ed //87th Precinct Killer's Choice 5/55
79 McCall-Smith, Alexander Tears of the Giraffe 2/13
80 Nabb, Magdalen //Guarnaccia Death of a Dutchman 2/14
81 Nadel, Barbara //Ikmen Deep Waters 4/15
82 Napier, William //Attila The Gathering of the Storm 2/3
83 Nesbo, Jo //Harry Hole Phantom 7/8
84 Nesser, Hakan //Van Veeteren The Inspector and Silence 5/7
85 O'Brian, Patrick //Aubrey Post Captain 2/21
86 O'Brien, Martin //Jacquot Confession 5/7
87 Plaidy, Jean //Tudor Saga Uneasy Lies the Head 2/11
88 Price, Anthony //Audley The Alamut Ambush 2/19
89 Rankin, Ian //Rebus The Hanging Garden 10/18
90 Rees, Matt //Omar Yussef The Saladin Murders 2/4
91 Rendell, Ruth //Wexford From Doon With Death 3/23
92 Rickman, Phil //Merrily Watkins Midwinter of the Spirit 2/11
93 Robinson, Peter //Banks Watching the Dark 20/20
94 Russell, Craig //Lennox The Deep Dark Sleep 3/4
95 Russell, Craig //Jan Fabel The Carnival Master 4/6
96 Sandford, John //Lucas Davenport Buried Prey 21/22
97 Sansom, CJ // Shardlake Dark Fire 2/5
98 Sayers, Dorothy L //Lord Peter Wimsey Whose Body? 2/14
99 Sigurdottir, Yrsa Thora //Gudmundsdottir Ashes to Dust 3/4
100 Silva, Daniel //Gabriel Allon Portrait of a Spy 11/12
101 Simenon, Georges //Maigret The Crime of Inspector Maigret 9/98
102 Sjowall, Maj //Beck The Man Who Went Up in Smoke 2/10
103 Smith, Tom Rob //Demidov Agent 6 3/3
104 Taylor, Andrew //Dougal Waiting for the End of the World 2/8
105 Temple, Peter //Jack Irish Black Tide 2/4
106 Vargas, Fred //Adamsberg Have Mercy on Us All 2/7
107 Waites, Martyn //Joe Donovan Bone Machine 2/4
108 White, Stephen //Alan Gregory Privelged Information 2/19
109 Wilson, Robert //Javier Falcon The Silent and the Damned 2/4
110 Wingfield, RD //Jack Frost Frost at Christmas 3/6

still onhold - list of the thread

Will only catch up after a few hours as work intrudes!

Yay! I'm first? Hopefully I waited long enough for you to reserve all the messages you need.

Back to the previous thread....isn't the Terry Pratchett fantasy?

WahHoo! I got a front row seat!!

Yay! Me too.

Oh, hi, Paul.

BOOYAH! I've got a marvelous seat for myself. And I wish I were first in line for that Vietnamese restaurant...

Two favorite menu items, please (I don't know that they will translate to Seattle restaurants, but they might!).

You keep buying books, Paul..... (referencing back to your prior thread)

Valerie - Well done - hugs awarded for early bird prize. Terry Pratchett is fantasy but if you look it wasn't one of the two books I bought for SWMBO.

Mamie / Gail nice to see you both at such close range! Hope you both have superlative weekends.

Eris - The food is excellent at the restaurant and they make their own house cocktails that would fuel a rocket all the way to Saigon.

Ellen - http://www.saonam.com.my/ . vietnamese crispy pancake, lotus root salad, beef in young coconut and duck in tamarind sauce.
On book buying - everyone needs a hobby.

Lovely new thread.

Hi Paul - just checking into the new thread:)

Stopping in to admire the new thread.

Just stopping by to admire the new thread and photo.

Kerry, Calm, Anne and John - thanks for stopping by and keeping me company whilst work was intruding unreasonably on my Saturday and the first day of fasting month.

I must stop visiting threads before breakfast as they are all making me hungry!
vietnamese crispy pancake, lotus root salad, beef in young coconut and duck in tamarind sauce I've not tried any of those dishes but they all sound yummy!

Hi Paul!

Why all the restaurant photos? Why? *Drool.

Chelle - Had dinner with the General Manager of Hyundai Engineering last week and really enjoyed the meal - three of the four dishes I had that evening (the lotus root salad was finished but I had pomelo salad instead) - yummy is right.

Jenn - Will try to get serviettes ready for all future threads.

First day of fasting today and enjoyed thoroughly going to the ramadhan market and picking out goodies for dinner - picked up some barbequed chicken and some chiffon cake together with fresh milled sugar cane for drinks. It is nice to sit down as a family and eat together, Erni of course included. SWMBO made a delightful pasta dish and it is wonderful to relax and take my second coffee whilst I am putting my active series list finally on my thread.

My apologies Paul! I feel like I keep misreading stuff on your thread. First mixing the wife and daughter names. This time, I kept thinking that SWMBO went with the line above for some reason! I blame it on the lightning fast speed that your thread goes at so each time I read as if their is a bomb about to detonate over my head or in this case I read what I wanted to read (most likely). Either way, SWMBO is a lucky girl to have scored a great guy like you and I'm sure you must feel the same way. :) Have a great time with the family!

Beautiful photo of the SAO NAM restaurant, Paul! Makes me want to eat there just by how pretty it is, and the food must be good if it's your favorite.

Valerie - no need to apologise my dear - I spent the best part of last year wondering when the monkey would be returned to the jungle - until I realised it was your delightful little fellow. Wanted to ask SWMBO if she feels lucky but she is busy snoring her pretty little head off at the moment.

Joe - You will be most welcome mate if you fancy Malaysia in lieu of Australia next time around.

Tour de France - Bradley Wiggins has just won the final time trial to pretty much wrap up the race - the first British rider to do so. Interesting L'Equipe is claiming that Wiggins is part French!

Beautiful photo of the Vietnamese restuarant, Paul. Based on the "Best of" stickers near the front entrance, the food must taste as good as the restaurant looks.

What an astonishing series list! Very exciting.

Love the photo of the Vietnamese restaurant. So inviting.

I don't know why I don't call him by his real name, which is Caleb...haha! I think I started with the monkey and it has stuck. :)
Awww..I'm sure she is at least dreaming about what a great guy you are!

Just checking in.

New thread! Trying to keep up, but failing! Lovely photo! Have a great weekend!

Darryl - Prue is in KL shortly and I think I will give her the choice of places to eat - Sao Nam is often difficult to go to without taking SWMBO along. During fasting month I always take all the staff and their families out to a restaurant to break the fast together. Two years ago we went to Sao Nam and it didn't work out too well as the food was probably too exotic for my staff's conservative tendencies.

Lucy - glad you like the list - I am amazed at the number of series, books of which are on my shelves, that I have yet to start.

Valerie - Thanks he types slightly blushing.

Nina -nice to see you.

Kerri - Thanks for trying to keep up at least. I have struggled to keep up myself this week with work piling up all around me. Hope to get to everyones threads tomorrow.

Vive la Wiggins and Froome.

Hi Paul, love the restaurant, the buildings are beautiful- and they take Visa (phew)
Your reading has taken off on me, I remember us being book for book when you were travelling NZ, now I am way behind. But as Im still on a PB I'm pretty happy with my effort.

Hope you get through some of the work piling up....my aim is to simply get through this Sunday sustained only by my 2x2 hour overnight naps, and presumably a lot of coffee...

Just found the new thread. By the way, it appears yours is thread number 140,000!

"Tour de France - Bradley Wiggins has just won the final time trial to pretty much wrap up the race - the first British rider to do so. Interesting L'Equipe is claiming that Wiggins is part French!"

Of course they will - mind you the French had a good year as well - can't look past the young riders who will win in the future & the mercurial Voeckler .....

What a gorgeous looking restaurant! Vietnamese - yum! As I have Tree of Smoke on my bedside pile, I'll be very interested to see what you think! Love the new digs!

John - exactly mate! I noticed some are saying that Le Tour was too easy this year and that this played into Wiggins' hands but he has won it fair and square. Froome looked stronger in the big climbs but there were a couple of occasions when Bradley closed gaps while Chris took a breather or was struggling.

Megan - credit cards are usually needed there too as it is not the cheapest in town. Wishing you a caffeine fuelled rest of Sunday and hop is becomes a day of rest after the two little fellows have got all that vomit out of their systems.

Jim - I should have realised that the Great Originator would have the firmest grip on stats! Have a great weekend mate - long time no see in these parts.

Alex - The french have done really well - Rolland is a great climber and has a typically french air - Pinot is one for the future if his time trialling can keep improving and Voekler is the most enterprising and entertaining rider in the Peloton.

Prue - Trust your weekend is proceeding swimmingly - are your bags packed already?

13> thank you, Paul. All those items sound very yummy and I bet they can be had around here. We have a gazillion Thai restaurants and about half that many Vietnamese restaurants, and I enjoy finding the ones that don't over-cater to numb American taste buds. I'm not the most adventurous eater, but I do like my international food to be at least close to authentic.

ETA: and the inside of the restaurant is also lovely!

Ellen - It is authentic fare I am told - and I can vouch for the fact that it is tasty! There is an upstairs to the restaurant but i prefer downstairs as it has a tad more atmosphere.

I was only on holiday for two weeks and you've started not one but two new threads! I have to say that we're all a bit miffed that the first Tour de France that we haven't watched on a daily basis for years is the one that has the first British winner ever. My son's idea was that we would avoid all sports news when we got back until we had caught up with all the highlights but with a Briton in the yellow jersey and looking likely to win there was no chance of that and so we succumbed to looking at the Tour news a few days ago.

I remember being in France in 1989 when Robert Millar beat Charly Mottet a, nd Pedro Delgado in a fantastic finish to Superbagneres. That was one of the best tours ever and finished by Lemond (in my view undeservedly beating Fignon to the jersey in an enthralling final day time-trial). Lemond used tri-bars at a time when they weren't ratified and probably gave him 2 minutes advantage over the time trials. Some of the pars cours in the 80's were magnificent and I do think the routes have been a little diluted in recent times. It is over 20 years since the Tour went up the Puy de Dome. For me an ideal tour should have a prologue, a team time trial, one circuit race near the beginning, some pave, 2 days in the Pyrenees with one summit finish, four in the Alps with 2 finishes and a mountain time trial plus either Puy de Dome or Ventoux. Two time trials one longer and one shorter but more technical.
The golden age of cycling died with Fignon and Hinault when Indurain and then Armstrong prepared (some would say surreptiously & unfairly) for a single race a year.
Still I'm thrilled to bits that Bradley Wiggins has done what I never thought I would see.

*waving* at Paul

I confess to skimming only and find a spot for myself here..

Hi Paul,next year's tour should be interesting as it will be the 100th participation, maybe the puy de dome will be in also i expect L'alpe d'huez and Mont Ventoux and possibly Sestrieres, not atour that will be of use to Cav. Rumours abound that if the tour 2013 has all the above he may not be selected in the team and that has alerted Omega-Pharma-Lotto to consider trying to sign him after the Olympics.

It's all Greek to me; don't know anything about cycling, except that if a hill is much steeper than flat, I probably won't be able to cycle up it.

But 'Yay!'; a Brit won. Something.

Those favorite menu items upthread have me hankering for Vietnamese food (but I'm pretty sure not all of them are available around here.)

I am thinking about following your example with a Nobel list and series list (though my series list would be considerably shorter, I like the idea of keeping track)

It's been an exciting race watching Wiggins take the lead, especially amidst all the earlier rumblings about the Sky team not knitting well together and the rivalry between him and Froome. The victory is all the sweeter considering he had to drop out of the race last year after the crash that left him with a broken collarbone.

Paul- How is Mr. 5000 posts? Or is it 10,000 now? LOL. Love the new thread and what a very cool opening photo, it has a touch of the unreal.
We were talking about you over breakfast, (you were mentioned at the Meet-Up). If the timing works out for your visit next summer, we'll have a nice cookout, if it's not to brutally hot.

Stasia - waves and hugs right back at yer.

Kath - I sometimes get the feeling when I haven't been to one of the faster moving threads for a few days and I'm faced with over 100 posts to catch up with. I don't which of the interesting topics to comment upon and end up just saying hi!

John - I would love a real slug fest for the centenary Puy de Dome, Ventoux, Izoard, Galibier, Alpe d'Huez, Tourmalet, Aubisque, Luz Ardiden. Corsica is also pretty rugged going. Unlikely that would suit Wiggins or Cavendish but who knows. Another team may be the answer for Cav as he is unlikely to have enough team mates to get him the Green Jersey with the ambitious of Sky elsewhere.

Nina - Rhian is presently in Greece and I'll ask her to translate! Cycling was my sport in my younger days and it is the most physically demanding of sports for sure. You're right it makes a nie change for the British to actually win something!

Anne - Because I have so many - I have started to look at series owned but unstarted.
Watch this space. I had home made chappatis with keema (minced beef based curry type sauce), chicken meat ball stew and some wonderful fresh baked chiabatta with boursin au poivre. Delicious all of it.

Caro - It is a triumph of planning, tactics and supreme conditioning - for a track star to become a road champion is one thing but to morph into a Grand Tour winner is almost unique - only the freakish Fausto Coppi won the World Pursuit and the Tour in his career before and that was in a day of less international competition. For you health fanatics Coppi had a heartbeat at rest of only 26 beats per minute!

Mark - 5212 posts hahaha. I have eaten at Sao Nam many times and can attest to its delicious existence.
I wondered whymy ears were burning this evening.....there is something flattering indeed about being the subject (however briefly) of conversation between two wonderful sets of people in (for me) exotic Chicago. Look forward to immensely to sitting around the table with you in the not too distant future. LT makes the world a smaller and better place for sure.

You were talked about in glowing terms my friend! My wife found it fascinating that you would attempt such a mega-adventure.

49 Rhian is presently in Greece and I'll ask her to translate! I'm back from Greece now unfortunately but the weather seems to have taken a turn for the better here in the U.K. and it is actually quite warm and forecast to remain so all week.

Hey there Paul, just dropping in for a quick Sunday visit. The month is ending soon and I have lofty reading goals to meet. I'll be okay if life doesn't interrupt too much in the meantime.

I envy you getting to meet Prue. I hope she chooses the highly recommended Sao Nam so we can see some pictures of you together inside. I wish LT had Skype capabilities!

Signing on after a rather lengthy absence I was starring the 75 book challenge folks and the 'puter pulled up your thread so I decided there was a reason and checked out your list of books read, Nobel Prize winners and series books next up. I always enjoy reading other's lists but I especially enjoyed the diversity of your lists. I choose books based on having already enjoyed previous books by the author, recommendations of Lter's, being attracted by the description on the flyleaf, and a few other criteria. I would be interested in knowing how you choose your reading material, and to what you attribute the diversity of your choices. I've been on LT since 2009 and on your threads, but it has admittedly been awhile.

Resting heart rate of 26! Woah.
Mine is and has been 60 for most of my adult life.
(just took it then to make sure, and yep, exactly 60, again)

Whew! I am exhausted, but I made it - I caught up with your thread!! LOVE the series list up top - clever way to list them. Also love the photo of the restaurant and the selected items you listed for Ellen - sounds delicious. Hope you had a lovely weekend and that Monday is starting out well - no new coffee cup yet?

Mark - thanks for that mate - mega adventure planning ongoing.

Rhian - hopefully the Olympian Gods are smiling on the British weather.

Donna - LT with skype capabilities and I think RL may as well give up already. Another busy week expected here - I trust that yours brings you nothing but good cheer.

Mary Beth - nice to "see" you here. Recommendations in the group are helping to broaden horizons, aeons of time spent trawling book shops, covers that catch my eye, other sites like fantasticfiction, Literary Review magazine.....a diversity of sources leads to a diversity of choices! Your own profile also presents a formidable array of reading material.

Megan - 60 is also pretty good. Mine was in the 40s in the 80s but is getting closer to the 80s now I'm well into my 40s.

Mamie - Hahaha no coffee cup yet - making do with my Harrods cup for now but it is on the list of things to do this week. Week going to be hectic hope yours is fantastic - what news on selling the Pole Barn?

Paul, I picked up a copy of Jonathan Rabb's The Second Son at the library today, but now I'm home I realise that it is the last in an interesting looking trilogy. Have you read the first one, Rosa, just that you're listed as having a copy.

Happy New Thread Paul. No time to catch up now as must call it a day so I can be fresh for my art class in the morning, but I will come back and see all I've missed soon! xx

LT makes the world a smaller and better place for sure. You said it. I am so grateful for this wonderful community!

Kerry - I haven't read it yet. I was checking yesterday and got 93 series I have on the shelves that I haven't started yet - shocking really and SWMBO would have a good old moan if I let her into that secret.

Ilana - Always nice to see you in these parts. Go and get your rest (it is 5 a.m. at your place so I hope you are in the middle of sweet dreams) and enjoy your art class.

Anne - LT has changed my life certainly. Thanks to the characters encountered therein your goodself included.

I have had the experience of online communities changing my life for a long time. I have been active in several and met some wonderful people. Some of those places have faded away, or one, vanished in a flash. That was a terrible experience .. just terrible. So many of us were so invested and had spent years there. Fortunately, since the site occasionally went down, we had a yahoo group set up. And we kept in touch there for a while, but it wasn't the same. The yahoo group remains.. someone will post once a year or so.
The internet and communities have profoundly changed my life. I have met some very special people.

It's a different world now, and there are so many other places and ways to keep in touch, even if LT would vanish as KnowPost did.. ( which I do not expect) many of us could keep in touch. I appreciate LT every day.

Kath - LT would leave a hole but you're right it is the people on here that make it special around these parts.

There's a "smoke" theme in yr current reads...
Just noticing!

Liked the series list -- although you made me notice that Giles Blunt has a new John Cardinal book due out in a few weeks. Sigh.

I confess I gave up on Jean Plaidy a long time ago. Find her prose waaay too plodding. She's just decorating historical events with dialog. If you ever see me describe a historical novel as Plaidyesque in a review, that is not a compliment in my book -- although the author often may interpret it as one!!

Suz - the smoke is entirely my own fault - jumped in to join Mark on a group read of what I thought was Tree of Smoke started it am enjoying it but it was the wrong book - Since I had already committed to the group I had the pleasure of rushing through Sea of Poppies to get to River of Smoke.

The Giles Blunt books of the Cardinal series are a favourite but the last two starting with Crime Machine are mysteriously unavailable over here. Checked on Book Depository and it is also not available.

Noticed yesterday that there are a couple missing from my series list will update it soon.

Plaidy is history lite for sure. After reading and glorying in Sharon Penman's take on Richard III and the efforts of Ms. Mantel I guess Jean Plaidy is always going to be tame fare. To be fair she was enormously prolific but the main reason I have bought her books in the past is that it is a period of history that I prize above all others.

How does Ramadan work with the restaurants? Do they just not open up until sundown? If so I would bet they are terribly crowded. Is the population a majority non-muslim?

You need to go to Amazon.ca -- the latest one won't be out for another two weeks, but you can put in an order for both. Shipping won't be cheap, but Crime Machine isn't even available here in the US.

Benita - good question! Most of the restaurants in KL stay open during Ramadhan but are obviously less busy during the day. Malaysia has a slight majority muslim population of about 53%. Maghrib (sundown) when the fast is broken is hellishly busy especially in the hotel restaurants and larger stand alones as most of them offer a Ramadhan buffet. Many of the hotels attracted criticism in the last few years for being too expensive and trying to profiteer during the period. Internationally not extraordinarily busy but some of the buffet prices are about $30 per head. Hate those things to be honest as it is a real bum-fight for the food and many of the older Malay ladies think it quite ok to try to elbow aside the white guy to get at the food not realiseing he has just fasted the same as them. I prefer to eat at home during the month but occasionally am invited out by Clients as well as organising my collective break fast with the staff and their families.

Suz - thanks, I will do so. Blunt had a few years off on the Cardinal series and non-Canadians seem to have lost interest in him in the meanwhile.

Going to visit that restaurant if I ever get to KL. It's the yellow house.....easy to find.

I'm reading Redbreast at the moment (at your recommendation) and it's the best scandi-crime so far - if it can hold up it's pase and story.....we'll see.

When you are on your way Carsten let me know and I'll help you to find it - believe it or not it is not the easiest of places to find.
The Harry Hole series is one of my favourites even though he must be one of the most self-destructive characters in modern fiction.

But we love him anyway!

I have a soft spot for Harry Hole .. he just needs a better working environment, with more trustworthy people who aren't out to persecute him. I still have The Snowman and Phantom to read.

Harry Hole! Harry Hole! Wait, that doesn't sound good...I've only read 2 of his so far but Redbreast was fantastic.

Mamie - At least his unpredictability is good for the suspense.

Caro - Read The Snowman which is quite something and brings some catharsis to proceedings. There is also The Leopard in between that and Phantom to get to in sequence. Interestingly The Bat Man which is actually an earlier Hole novel (why did the translations jump in half way through the series is just being published and I am eagerly looking forward to it).

Mark - hahaha especially if Harry is pronounced a little like Hairy.

Yes, Paul, why did they start with book three? I really want to know the answer to that. But The Bat Man is being translated?! Really?! I have been hoarding the latest books because I love Harry Hole, so I have the Snowman, The Leopard and The Phantom waiting. When, when, when will the translation of the first book be finished?

*okay, I'm back - looks like October 2012 for the English translation of The Bat - looks like it will just be called The Bat over here. Thanks, Paul, I had no idea!

58.

We Were Young and Carefree by Laurent Fignon

As some may now know your correspondent is a cycling fanatic and erstwhile peddler of middling ability. Since the Tour de France was reaching its momentous climax I couldn't help but immerse myself in this one. Laurent Fignon was a role model to me in some ways bespectacled as I am, a lover of books as I am and possessed of the talent associated with greatness as I am....not.

I remember the 1984 Tour in which he decimated a stellar field including Hinault, Lemond, Roche, Kelly, Herrera, Millar and Delgado in imperious fashion for possibly the most spectacular and dominating performances ever. He was a consumate rouleur, he could sprint, he won all the time trials and he could climb with the very best. Fignon was a difficult but brilliant champion and, if he had not got injured the following year cyclo sport in France would have been very different. He also famously lost the Tour in 1989 by 8 seconds failing magnificently against Lemond in a mechanically assisted victory. Lemond was the antithesis of Fignon - safety first, a wheel sucker to Fignon's attacking style. It shone through that the worst thing was to lose to him rather than to lose at all.

Fignon shows disdain for that later era of cycling fuelled by EPO and growth hormone where mere mortals could be champions. He pointed out that the cortisone and amphetamines (the latter of which he admits to have dabbled with ocassionally) could not create silk purses from sows ears but that this was changed with the new drugs. He bemoans the toning down of the great races and I agree with his that the Tour devoid of its monuments in these days is not the spectacle it was and that the classic races made a better selection with the 40 kms extra pruned off them by the weak-livered authorities now controlling the sport.

Fignon sadly died of cancer fairly recently and his like will hopefully rise again in the cleaner sport now emerging when cyclists have to suffer honestly to thrive.

8/10

Mamie - It looks like both the first two books (The Cockroaches is also coming) are imminent. Great news huh?

You have made me so very happy!!

Um...actually I'd already read The Leopard accidentally. I had the order mixed up, and thought that came before The Snowman. Arrgghh...why did The Bat Man get translated out of order? I like Harry as he is now, I really don't want to read about him in his earlier days when he was being tormented by Waaler.

Yes you do, Caro. You really do.

Mamie- Makes me feel Young and Carefree again (to borrow from Fignon's biography) - as during those days if I could make one lady a day erm...happy...I was in the pink. Now dispensing book information is the height of my powers hahaha!

Caro - don't think Waaler will be involved in the first two books but his lady partner (whose name for the moment escapes me) undoubtedly will.

Mamie - If I am not mistaken Bat Man has parts set in Oz as Harry becomes the first Norwegian expert in Serial killers.

Right, Paul, and we need to know the whole story behind the debacle that occurred down there. And the lady's name is Ellen. Oh, I feel just giddy!

Oooh, the giddiness! That is good news about the early Hole books.

#53 Donna - what a sweet thing to say! I view meeting Paul as the highlight of my trip already!

Hello handsome! I have two books on the go right now - Rock Springs and Visitation - enjoying both. Course, Australia lost interest in the Tour de France once it was clear that Cadell Evans wouldn't be in the running. Now, this sports mad nation of ours is hunkering down to watch the Olympics!!

Hi Paul, I have The Redbreast sitting here on my shelf and have been meaning to read it but somehow other books have pushed it out of the way as they climb to the top of my teetering tower. I think Mark is responsible for my purchasing it. Must make a greater effort to read it. I did enjoy the Stieg Larsson books tremendously.

Mamie - I always thought that it was a bit too much of a tease to have an interesting character (Ellen) be disposed of so quickly and refer severally to Australia without elucidating further - now we will know.

Mark - I know that this is a shared genre favourite - the first Hole book has to be group read material.

Prue - Am very much looking forward to your visit. Looking back at my threads for last year you were my earliest proper pal over here and it will be great to finally meet-up.
Felt quite sorry for Cadel Evans. His naturally defensive style was dispensed with to fantastic effect in the last couple of years but he was up against a machine in the Sky team and could make no impression. A different route may have favoured him more.

Bonnie - I have the first Stieg Larsson but, given my oft voiced championing of Scandi, it is a surprise that I haven't read any of them yet. Nesbo is well worth reading.

Great review of the Fignon-book. He was one of the most intelligent riders of his day - could be interesting to read his observations....Have followed the Tour for many years and also remember the famous 8 seconds on the last day in Paris. I would have liked a Fignon character attacking in the mountains this year - it was too much cruise-control from Wiggens and The Sky-machine. Nobody close at threatening them.

Maybe I'm naive but I have the feeling it's a cleaner race these days than five or ten years ago. At least I hope so.

Not sure Sky are that much different than the dominant US Postal team really - its more (if you excuse the phrase) the others don't have the balls to risk it all .... too risk adverse

as for Cadel one of the most risk adverse in the pack - sorry don't rate him

Now a clean Contador vs Froome that would be fun to watch !

A little update on third quarter posts, as there are a few interesting movers and shakers. Those with over 200 third quarter posts (basically since end June 2012) are:

Paul 620 total 5253 Overall 1
Mark 454 total 3890 Overall 5
Mamie 452 total 2083 Overall 11
Stephen 452 total 2968 Overall 6
Richard 416 total 4747 Overall 2
Kath 393 total 4586 Overall 3
Amber 302 total 2030 Overall 12
Caro 293 total 2087 Overall 10
Ilana 275 total 2788 Overall 7
Joe 258 total 4030 Overall 4
Darryl 253 total 2564 Overall 9
Megan 248 total 1909 Overall 14
Kim 246 total 725 Overall 41
Cee 220 total 2601 Overall 8
Valerie 200 total 357 Overall 78

Quite amazingly all the top 12 overall are present in the top 15 for this month. The only two missing Donna & Chelle would be 21st and 16th for the month respectively.

Carsten - Nibali tried to attack as did Voeckler and Rolland but the latter two lost too much time in the first week and cannot time trial. Fignon certainly thought that the tour was cleaning up its act and noted that cyclists were starting to crack again. He felt, and I agree totally, that sanitising the races as has been done since the 1980's has been bad for the sport and has helped the cheats cover up. Hopefully the Tour makes a great pars cours for the coming centenary event.

Alex- I believe that Armstrong would have been a very good but not a great champion in another era. There is little doubt that the US Postal team were fuelled unfairly and systematically. I sincerely hope and believe that Sky is a departure from that. Actually I agreed with you on Evans until last year when he won by letting go of the caution and attacking and I was cheering loudly when he overwhelmed the terrible twosome Schlecks in the timetrial. If they really had the class of champions they ought to have distanced the field but haven't. Incidentally Fignon's kindest words were reserved for the past champion and now analyst Sean Kelly whom he felt was a man of style and honour.

59.

River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh

Read in some ways by mistake as I joined the Group read thinking I was about to read Tree of Smoke but that's another story and, after reading Sea of Poppies it was straight into the sequel.

There has been some debate as to the relative merits of the two books but both are certainly meritorious. Started out slightly preferring the sequel but in the end I think Sea of Poppies is the better book. For those who have not beaten me to the reading of it we are concerned with several characters who have washed up in or around Canton on the brink of the Opium wars. For those expecting a straight continuation of the previous story they would have been a little disappointed but the introduction of Bahram is a welcome addition to the story and his character is a highlight for me.

Didn't see the point of Paulette to the story and the distraction of her correspondence with Robin as one way as it was I personally found a tad irritating.

Minor grumbles aside though this is great historical fiction and Ghosh presents the different positions of the participants towards the import/smuggling of Opium with delicacy and the opposing views are interesting in their historical context.

8/10

Go Mamie! Go Mamie!

Paul- I think that's a great idea about doing a G.R. for the 1st Harry Hole. We'll have to remind each other and keep an eye out.

Mark - it could also be Go Mark! Go Mark!

Surprised yourself mate with second so far in the third quarter?
I will start looking for the first Harry Hole but will save it until enough of us have it for a group read.

Haven't really had much to add to the conversation lately, but wanted to let you know that I'm still here, lurking...

Go Mark! Go Mark!

Harry Hole group read would be so fun - bet the US will be the last to have the book available. I had to get my copy of The Redeemer from Canada - that was several years ago, and it still is not readily available here.

Nice review of River of Smoke, Paul - I totally concur. I thought the letters from Robin were entertaining, but that they were just a device to get additional information across to the reader.

I thought I caught an distinct Amber glow to proceedings and there you are.

Mamie - Money has to be on US getting the book before Malaysia but I'll still find it.
ROS does employ a few devices but Paulette's desperation to dress up in male garb and believe that she will continue to fool those hearty Victorians is stretching it a bit.

Maghrib (sundown) when the fast is broken is hellishly busy I just bet! lol

Re: list

Clearly, I talk too much.

Hi Paul
I have seen a few review stating that Sea of Poppies is the preferred book so far of the two. I plan on getting River of Smoke sometime in the fall.

I'm not surprised that I'm out of the standings this month as I've been hardly here for weeks now.

Kath - I am a stickler for the food being ready to serve on the table exactly on time but still piping hot - there have been occasional Gordon Ramsay moments over the years when SWMBO and Erni's timing has gone awry. Kyran always leads grace (he would forget the prayers if he wasn't made to memorize them). I sit at the bottom of the table with SWMBO on my left, Belle next to her and then Erni (she always breaks fast with us), Yasmyne is on my right with Kyran and then Fifi (SIL). We normally take it in turns to choose a dish or two. Belle has asked for mee soto tomorrow.

Chelle - They're both good don't worry. You have one heck of an excuse as I seem to remember you are counting the days off to a certain special day coming up soon in New Scotland.

Is that post number how many time a person has posted on someone else's and their own thread? If that is the case, wow I chatted up a storm!

Valerie - it is the number of posts, by whoever on that persons own thread. Logging everybodies posts across everybody elses threads is beyond even my ken. If I had to guess Kath would probably lead such a list but Stasia would certainly be out front in semester breaks!

Oh..haha! I thought that would be nuts if you could track that and then you would have to introduce yourself as Paul - THE STALKER. :)

Valerie - would probably be certifiable and I would need to sell my business in order to keep up.

LOL, I can imagine the look of SWMBO's face if you ever made an announcement like that!

SWMBO is a safety first gal to be honest Valerie - she would be happier I'm sure if I took a boing but safe salaried position with a big international construction firm but I love being my own boss, making my own decisions, taking responsibility for my small successes and occasional failures and having my extended office family. It was tough when I started out having to spot the salaries from my paltry, book reduced, savings but there are plenty of compensations and rewards when things go right of a sudden.

Hi Paul, I've been missing in action for a couple of days. Glad to see your thread is rolling along as usual. I like your review of River of Smoke, although I kind of enjoyed the correspondence from Robin even though I agree that it felt a bit distracting and misplaced in its tone.

Paul, excellent review of River of Smoke. I have to get to Ghosh! Time, time, time ...

People must hate it here in NZ when Ramadan time arrives...if it coincides with summer and daylight savings, it can be light from 6am to 830pm!

Ellen - Nice of you to jog through. I seem to be in the minority being irritated and distracted by Robin's correspondence.

Nancy - The first two installments in the IBIS trilogy; Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke combine for a quite densely fonted 1150 pages so time is an issue indeed - but to be fair it is time well invested.

Megan - A benefit of no seasons in Malaysia I suppose is that the sundown varies throughout the year by a matter of minutes only. UK also in primetime summer as now would not be a picnic (possibly not the most apropos adjective) either.

Here in the Netherlands people have to wait until somewhere around ten pm to break the fast. People I know say they don't mind so much, but their nights become really short if they want to participate in the mosque for prayer (approximately around eleven). The majority of the muslims here are from Marocco. There you can eat a lot earlier, but many of them choose to spend their summer of fasting here because it's much more difficult there because of the heat.

I'm afraid, but curious to ask a really personal question Paul. If you don't want to answer I completely understand and you should just ignore me. Out of curiosity have you always been a devoted Muslim or only since you started living in Malaysia?

Lilian - nice to "see" you here as always.

have you always been a devoted Muslim or only since you started living in Malaysia?

Good question. Don't know whether too many would agree that I am a "devoted" Muslim even now! I have a fairly modern and quite liberal interpretation of the faith which would not ascribe perfectly to the school of islam practiced in Malaysia which is very literal. The core concepts - the belief in God, the giving of alms, the fasting, the prayer (though in my own way) and belief in the prophets (not prophet singular you will note) I observe.

I do feel though that the toleration and peaceful nature of the religion which I cherish has been diluted in practice and needs some jolly good PR makeover. There are no major ethical differences morally between all the major religions and it is about time that this was emphasised over the differences.

I actually converted in Singapore in 1995 on December 15 at a pretty trying time in my life when I had four girlfriends and I was juggling the four of them shamelessly - two were Malay, one was Chinese and one Indian - and I realised that my life had reached a crossroads. Three of the girlfriends I parted with and the last one became my wife, the now imposing SWMBO to whom I have been thereafter steadfast.

I believe that we will all answer for our deeds both good and bad at the appointed time - I have tried to be an OK chap in the last 16 years as I have a fair bit of catching up to do!

4 girlfriends, huh? You devil you! Imagine if you were single now, on LT, you would have a couple dozen easy.

Mark - hahaha - girlfriends and boyfriends completely different meaning these days for yours truly. Wild Oats sown far too profusely before I hit the big 3.0. In those days I was 68 kg and possessed of a silver tongue - SWMBO has ensured my well-fed ways fails to turn heads any longer.

I hung up my wild days in my late 20s too! Enough was enough.

BTW- I received my copy of The Legend of Pradeep Mathew today. Yah! Free too! Double Yah! I hope I can bookhorn this in somewhere.

Over here it is called Chinaman which rather misleadingly is a type of delivery (a pitch I suppose in baseball terms) rather than the origins of the character.

Hi Paul- just passing through and sending you greetings from Louisville, Kentucky (which, I am happy to tell you, does NOT need to be included on your US itinerary -what a bore!)....

Hahaha Katie better not let Muhammed Ali hear you wasn't he the Louisville Lip?

So was the reason you converted because you were contemplating having 4 wives? ;-)

Nina - in typically arse-about-face Cranswick style I obversely converted to resolve a situation of having four ladies in order to get to one! The lady drives me nuts most of the time but I must admit it was amongst my better decisions after all!

Sorry; was going to edit to say excuse bad taste in jokes, but you answered before I could.

Good for her.

Nina - hahaha no bad taste whatsoever, simple mathematics!

Wild days... I don't think I ever had one. sigh. I wonder if it's too late?

I guess Kath that our definition of "wild" can be subtly amended over time.

Oh Paul, how I've been enjoying your humour and candour! It sounds as though you had one of those illuminating moments - it's amazing how a few seconds of insight can fuel a lifetime, no?

You just gotta love those lightbulb moments! Thanks for being so Frank, Paul. Okay, couldn't resist. Actually loved how you summed up your thoughts so succinctly and so precisely in post 113. You have a great way with words, my friend!

Lucy - I do sometimes think that there is a defining and/or guiding hand and that we should accept all that life brings us with stoicism and good humour. Today at work we were snowed under trying to get out an "expert" report on a dispute on a housing project for submission to court. It is fasting month and my all Malay staff (and myself) are not at our most dynamic. Knowing we were in trouble I set off with the larks and was in the office by 6.oo a.m. and beat my staff Afiz into the office by less than 5 minutes - he too had realised we would have trouble and took it on himself to come early. All was done and we submitted amid a welter of jokes and a happy office - I'm a lucky guy!

Mamie - I wouldn't be presumptious enough to admit to a St. Paul or Buddha type moment of revelation or enlightenment but I took my then colleagues as well as myself somewhat by surprise when I asked their help to convert.

Thanks to both of you for your very kind words.

Hi Paul. I have been out of commission for a bit and am now trying to catch up, but it is an impossible task. Your thread alone has my head spinning. But going back to your previous thread, I noticed you purchased a 'travelogue' by Lawrence Durrell. I was curious whether you have read any of his fiction. The Alexandria Quarter has recently come out in an Kindle edition and looks interesting, but I don't know much about him.

Linda - I have read Justine (I think that is the first of the Alexandria Quartet) and Monsieur both of which I thought excellent. I have a couple of others of his on the shelves somewhere and also some of his poetry which was quite underrated. Books are not overly long but lyrically beautiful prose if memory serves. His brother Gerald Durrell also wrote famously about Greece and nature/the animal kingdom.

Thanks, Paul. I think I just may go click on that quartet purchase. Kindles are dangerous things!

I remember reading My Family and Other Animals at school, an autobiographical of Gerald Durrel's childhood, in which his older brother Lawrence made the occasional aloof appearance. Hmm ... might be worth a re-read. I suspect I'd appreciate the humour even more, now.

Interesting story about your conversion. I am quite Presbyterian in my outlook and tend to believe that some of us are predisposed to conversions. However, I also think that there is more than one route to God. I made a mistake and mentioned that to my mother once and she informed me that my education has corrupted me. I keep quiet at my family reunions about God and conversions, although we have many wonderful talks about religion. We just avoid the personal talks about faith and its outward manifestations. That avoidance of wanting to get personal is also in accordance with the majority of my family's Lutheran point-of-view.

So do you have breakfast (morning meal) at work - or is the break fast after work?

Way up at 113> There are no major ethical differences morally between all the major religions and it is about time that this was emphasised over the differences.
Hear, hear!!! Excellently put, my friend.

and 128> I do sometimes think that there is a defining and/or guiding hand and that we should accept all that life brings us with stoicism and good humour.

Oh Paul, I do hope I get to meet you when you do your US tour next year! Thanks for writing about your conversion and some of your faith and philosophical approach to life. Your wisdom and compassion "come through" in your thread, in any case, but I so appreciate your explicit sharing of who you are and what you value. I found myself resonating with your statement that you try to be "an OK chap" because you had some making up to do.... I also agree that our definition of "wild" might shift as we age (ahem), but I know I can look back at some of the choices I made in my younger days and simply shudder to think (a) who I may have hurt, and (b) how lucky I am that I didn't experience any worse outcomes than I did!

I am complete agreement with you Paul, on the difference between Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke, both great stories but SOP had the more compelling individual stories and then, of course, there was the fact that it was a sea faring adventure. But above all, for me anyway, Deeti. I really missed her in ROS.

Hi Paul, how are you doing, hope everything is well in your world. Whenever i get on LT i always seem to be 20 or more post behind. Just thought i'd let you know that Yorkshire progressed to the 20/20 semi finals/ finals day after beating Worcestershire at Headingley, the weather has picked up and hopefully this will spur Yorkshire to win division two and get back to the top division where we should be, just a shame that England batted and bowled so poorly in the first test against South Africa. After a promising first day with them being 267 for 3 they just faltered and istead of getting 500+, 385 was below par and gave SA a sniff which they took and then battered us out of the game. Not sure that KP has got his game head on after all the machinations prior to the test. Anyway, Headingley should give England a lift with all the Yorkie fans urging them on or am i just biased being from Gods own county.

Linda - I also should sit down and read the Alexandria Quartet having given Durrell a clean bill of health. I did notice that they have the set in one volume in Kinokuniya so, with little encouragement needed......

Nina - I must say I enjoyed both Durrell brothers writing - books about nature are not my normal rea but Gerald Durrell's series of books are much more than that.

Benita - There is more than one route to God.....she informed me that my education has corrupted me

The first part I obviously agree with, the second part is, shall we say, comical. It is the case that militants in all the major strands of religion (I don't mean your mum by the way) believe that they have the monopoly of being right. Those that believe that theirs is the only route to heaven and that all the others are headed for the opposite spectrum do my head in to be truthful. Surely we will be judged by our deeds and our intentions rather than our ritual observances. I avoid religious "teachers" these days after being told severally that I must learn arabic as it is the only language in heaven and that certain groups of people are intrinsically evil because they adhere to other faiths. All patent nonsense.
My routine this month is up at 5. Toast and warm water (separate of course!), work early, set off home at 4.30 reach by around 6 (it is a 20 minute drive normally), break fast with all the family at around 7.30 pm.

Ellen2 - Thanks so much for your very nice words. Religion is a difficult/sensitive subject as are our deeds but if we take the trouble to "talk" about them there is no point in doing so without being honest about it. I am, believe it or not, a fairly introspective character but LT somehow releases the confessional in me.
I would not come all the way to the west coast of the USA without trying to meet up with you my dear.

Bonnie - Deeti and her beau and Zachary Reid were missed in the second book. My least favourite character Paulette is safely there and contributing very little to my enjoyment of the book. My favourite was Neel and at least he is there.

John - Good news from home! I noticed that we have signed Steve Harmison on a short term loan. The S Af test was a bit embarrassing wasn't it? I still think we need five front line bowlers in order to roll over the very best teams. Glad to see that the weather is picking up just in time for the football season. Looks like Leeds are losing their captain - I hope the Bahraini gets a move on so that we can bring in a little bit more quality.

I haven't been over to Darryl's yet where I am sure it is being discussed but I noticed a few surprises in the Booker longlist. Mantel as expected is there and Will Self is also well backed. Frayn, Barker and my old favourite Brink are included but most of the rest are a surprise.

Looking forward to seeing what Darryl has to say after this!

How is fasting handled for the ill or diabetic and such?

Morphy - to be fair it is really what you can safely manage. Pregnant ladies for example often don't fast but many of them do. I have a lady in the office pregnant and developed diabetes during the pregnancy she has been advised not to fast. For most it is fine as it is only during the hours of sunlight - I have a non-physical job in many ways and it is easy except when I am doing site inspections as I have been doing in the last week. Children and the infirm often choose to do half a day fasting. Ladies during their menses don't fast.

Great discussions here, Paul, as always. You're right, LT is a great community for releasing one's inner stuff (well, some of it) without fear of problems.

Hi Paul - Lots of fascinating discussion over here today!

Anyway, We Were Young and Carefree sounds wonderful. It would also make a great gift for my brother-in-law.

Gail, thanks it is easy to open up on here!

Kerri, I really enjoyed the biography but then again I am biased as all things cylclisme will eventually find its way to me. I met Le Professeur at the beginning of the 1990's at a training camp in Canet Plage. I found the fellow very engaging and he is one of the last of a breed of attacking cyclists sadly missed but glimpses of him can be seen in Voeckler. If Voeckler could time trial he would be the man.

Find it funny how many find the whole fasting unique ..... seems perfectly normal to me

was brought up in a faith, where there was a 19 day sunrise/sunset fast every March ( down under its the hottest month) .... &while I don't follow any faith - most of the time now follow a dietary pattern of IMF whereby will fast for 24 hours once or twice a week .... so no guilt when I eat that chocolate bar!

Don't have a lot of trouble with it either Alex, although three site inspections today "eating" dust most of the day makes me looking forward to a drink in a couple of hours for sure.

60.

Thirty Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill

This alliterative title is the 2nd in the Dr. Siri for the thirty three people in the group that don't yet know.

Dr. Siri has thirty three teeth and they go towards making him special.

I am against the flow of people who thought this better than the first Siri book as it think it lacked something of the magic and phrase making magnificence of the first.

Still good. Still highly implausible mixing mystery with mysticism. Still looking forward to the next in the series.

7/10

Chiming in to echo others' thanks to you for sharing your conversion story. Tomm and I decided, even before Charlie was born, that we wouldn't push our own beliefs (we're deists, essentially) upon him, but that when he gets old enough, we will try to introduce him to as many different faiths and belief systems as we can and then let him decide for himself.

My pleasure Amber. With grounded and caring parents I'm sure that Charlie will make his way through the world with wisdom imparted and taken on board.

Your thread is mighty interesting as always Paul!
The religion and fasting talk is fascinating. I come from a family that doesn't openly practice any religious beliefs so I always find it interesting to hear about other families traditions.

Glad to see you are still enjoying the Dr Siri series!

Thirty-three Teeth is up soon for me (the library hold just got reactivated), so I'm looking forward to seeing where I land on the spectrum.

Monring, Paul. I can't wait to get to the Siri series (wait, what did I just say?). It sounds so good. I'd like to try one if our library has them/it before I buy, just to make sure I like it as much as I'm hearing over here.

Always found fasting to be a sort of centering activity, provided it's a daylight one. Anything more and the head-aches start looming. After a while, skipping the b'fast and lunch became second nature. We had all the water we needed or wanted, though.

Very interesting conversion story. I'm always fascinated by people's religious/spiritual paths.

Chelle - I come from a similar background actually. After I married SWMBO we went back to England to meet my Mum (Hani for the first time) - My mother is C of E and not particularly observant (I was confirmed in the church and a chorister) but she rarely went to church. I was surprised therefore to see a bible on her bedside table and a crucifix above her bed that she had given up for us. I guess therefore my decision helped her find a new path herself paradoxically.
One good thing about her was that Kyran was watching his Gran devour her favourite bacon sandwich while SWMBO was craftily feigning sleep. Kyran asked to try and his Gran patiently and sincerely explained that in his religion he is not supposed to eat those things. SWMBO told me subsequently that she would trust the kids implicitly with my Mum.

Gail - I actually enjoy fasting - there is something somehow cleansing about it. I am one of those Muslims who believe that alcohol is ok but drunkeness is not but I do give it up for the month as its dehydrating properties would be a bind.

Amber - noticed I misstyped Tomm instead of Charlie in the response to you above - have edited it aleady - sure Tomm has been on the right path a goodly while!

Also wanting to chime in about how I appreciate your candor and honesty about your conversion, Paul. Another one of the many reasons why I love this group so much. We can all come different faiths, different walks of life, and yet still find common ground with one another. Who knew the love of books could be such a bridge! :)

Oh, Paul. I'm wandering away in despair. I can't even scan what's going on here satisfactorily. I did read the various comments about faith with interest, being heavily Presbyterian like Benita and trying very hard not to tell God what he may and may not do with his world.
I have to go read something so that I can get to *RoS*! Thanks!!

Thanks Valerie - truly the world wide web at its best methinks

Peggy - not my intention to impart despair to y'all! This is one of the few places that would understand having to do SOP to get to ROS.

Paul: I noticed the misnamer, too, but thought it best to let you find it. I'd like to think that I've helped Tomm down a good path, too, though...

Hi Paul, just found out that Tom Baker's assistant Romana played by Mary Tamm has died aged 62 after a long battle with cancer. Over the last two years a number of old Dr Who characters have passed away, Mary Tamm was a good actress and will be sadly missed.

Paul, I'm finally caught up here and what a journey it's been! Interesting conversion story. Muslims get such bad rap because of the extremist factions, which is really a shame. But then one hears things about passages in the Koran explicitly telling believers they must hold their religion above all else and hate non-believers... not expressing myself well here as the whole topic makes me frankly uneasy, but all I know is I'll someday read the Koran to see for myself what that book says and doesn't say.

I've been taught to mostly mistrust organized religion with my mum having been mishandled by nuns (too clever for her own good she's always been, that one) and my father raised by a socialist mother who turned from Judaism (her father was orthodox!) after she started reading all the great philosophers in her teens, and frankly have always had trouble with people dictating to one another what is right or wrong based on transcripts which are hundreds and sometimes thousands of years old and not very likely to be true to the words of the original people who inspired the religions to begin with. But I don't mean to throw a big rock in the pond, just expressing my opinion. Moderation in all things is where I find my greatest comfort zone lies, and it always reassures me when I come across believers who also adopt that attitude. That being said, I've often longed to find a belief system I could adhere to as wished for guidance on what path to take... but I guess mine is the path of the seeker and perhaps, I may humbly say, the artist (though I'd have to practice THAT habit more often to call myself one)?

When I saw your review of Thirty Three Teeth I quickly went over to the library's site to see if my reservation has arrived... and it has! Yay! Guess Coco and I will be headed that way on our afternoon walk today! :-)

Amber - I'm sure Tomm appreciates your help hahaha

John - Mary Tamm may have got my vote as the prettiest of the Doctor Who assistants. If I'm not mistaken she was also in the movie The Odessa File with Jon Voight. Sad.

Ilana - I will say that I hate organised religion above all things. One of the attractions of islam to me (reading for myself) was the absence of formal preachers in theory. In practice there is more preaching, or more like dictating in certain sects which is offputting in the extreme with extreme being an operative word. Organised religion does not encourage one to use our own rationale. I have to say that I have not seen anything in islam to genuinely encourage believers to hate those of other faiths and I would certainly never adhere to that. In fact toleration of the views of others is emphasised severally. The bigots and militants in places like Saudi perpetrate religious hatred between different faiths and within the faith and these people are to be rightly despised.

I have friends from all the major religions and many who don't adhere to any of them and, to me, I cherish all of them equally. I have my own ideas about religion which would certainly not find favour with most practising muslims but I'm comfortable enough with how I live my life nowadays just as I get the firm impression that you have probably found your way already whilst still seeking!

frankly have always had trouble with people dictating to one another what is right or wrong based on transcripts which are hundreds and sometimes thousands of years old and not very likely to be true to the words of the original people who inspired the religions to begin with.

That pretty much sums up my position also. x

Hi Paul- Glad you enjoyed Thirty Three Teeth. I was one who thought it was better than the 1st one, although there was a long gap in between reading the 1st and 2nd, so my memory might not be perfect.
Hey and no fasting when you are stateside. That is forbidden.

As a non-practising agnostic :-) myself, ie looking at religion from the outside in, a fair number of the major world religions are off-shoots of each other, anyway, but they are the ones where the inter-fighting is most intense. (Sibling squabbles!). Christianity (Greek orthodox to Presbytarianism is all one to me) came from Judaism (old testament / new testament), which shares roots with Islam, for example (compare kosher and halaal ideals).

Or so it seems (generalising wildly). I got fed up with the whole mess, which is why I decided the easiest way to deal with it was not to.

Mark - Hahaha I will make sure that there will be no fasting stateside don't worry.

Nina - Interesting summation of the three "main" monotheistic religions! The idea of sibling rivalry is an apt one and the disputations are often as petty as those between children of the same family. People are people really aren't they?

Fun to catch up with you, Paul. It would be great to gather LTers some day to share tales of youthful stupidity.

Glad you liked Thirty-three Teeth, and I think you're right where I am in the series, with Pogo Stick next. Currently I'm being charmed by the latest Inspector Montalbano.

Oh no, Joe, first he has to read Disco for the Departed! He can't jump onto the pogo stick prematurely! And then Anarchy and Old Dogs. Then Pogo Stick.

I'm reading Inspector Montalbano, too. Love him! But I am way behind you guys there - currently reading The Terra Cotta Dog. Almost done with it, and I liked it even better than the first one.

Joe - Was about to mention that Disco for the Departed seems to be next in line but Mamie beat me to it. Youthful transgressions are a subject I am able to discourse upon at considerable length mate - it will be fun to share and swap stories when we eventually meet-up.

Mamie - Dr. Siri is not close to replacing Il Montalbano in my affections any time soon. Although I do get strange visions of Dr. Siri looking like Montalbano's creator Andrea Camilleri - I guess that is what happens when you mix up your reading material so much.

I gave up on Dr Siri after only a chapter, he just did not appeal. Well I've still got a few Harry Holes to get through and a couple of Rankins on my horizon.

Kerry, I will admit to enjoying the first Dr. Siri much more than the second one which I thought readable but illogical. Of mystery/detective characters introduced in print during my lifetime (since 1966) - I would have the following top twenty-five put into the following order:

CHARACTER AUTHOR AUTHOR ORIGIN / SETTING

Inspector Montalbano Andrea Camilleri Italy / Sicily
Inspector Wallender Henning Mankell Sweden / Ystad, Skane
Jack Reacher Lee Child GBR / Various parts of USA
Matt Scudder Lawrence Block USA / New York
Logan MacRae Stuart MacBride GBR / Aberdeen, Scotland
Lennox Craig Russell GBR / Glasgow, Scotland
Jack Frost R.D. Wingfield GBR / Denton (fict. Northen England)
Harry Hole Jo Nesbo Norway / Oslo
Inspector Erlendur Arnaldur Indriadson Iceland / Rejykavijk
Tom Thorne Mark Billingham GBR / London
Bernie Gunther Phillip Kerr GBR / Berlin (Mainly)
Inspector Alan Banks Peter Robinson GBR / Eastvale (fict. Yorkshire Dales)
Inspector Knutas Mari Jungstedt Sweden / Gotland
Charlie Resnick John Harvey GBR / Nottingham
Gabriel Allon Daniel Silva USA / Various including Cornwall, Vienna, Paris and Israel
John Rebus Ian Rankin GBR / Edinburgh, Scotland
Inspector Sejer Karin Fossum Norway / Norway
Jan Fabel Craig Russell GBR / Hamburg
Lucas Davenport John Sandford USA / The Twin Cities
John Cardinal Giles Blunt Canada / Algonquin Bay (fict. Northern Ontario)
John Rain Barry Eisler USA / Various including Japan
Alan Rosslyn Reg Gadney GBR / London (mainly)
Inspector Van Veeteren Hakan Nesser Sweden / Fict. Northern Europe
Commisario Brunetti Donna Leon USA / Venice

I haven't included Jack Taylor or Dr. Siri or John Russell from the Downing books as I need to read a bit more first.

frankly have always had trouble with people dictating to one another what is right or wrong based on transcripts which are hundreds and sometimes thousands of years old and not very likely to be true to the words of the original people who inspired the religions to begin with. yep. me too.

A terrifying list there.. I don't even care that I understand none of it.. :P

Great list of mystery/detective authors, Paul, and one that I am saving for future reference. There is only one of those authors that I am sure I have read and only a few more on my wishlist.

A friend has recently recommended books by Eliot Pattison, particularly for their settings in Tibet/China. Are you familiar with him? I see he also a few that are colonial America-Indian oriented. I am in need of a good mystery at the moment and think I will order one up from inter-library loan.

169: Paul, yet another list of yours is "favorited," and I don't even read that many mysteries. I'm saving them for my old age. Ha! My husband is (sort of) retiring - once again - at the end of the year, and plans to do more reading. He is a big Daniel Silva fan and needs a new author to pursue. While I like lots of variety in my reading, he doggedly sticks with one series at a time.

Since you introduced me to Inspector Montalbano, I read your mystery list with interest. Since I was much more into mystery/detective series 20 and 30 and more years ago, I'm not familiar with most of the series on your list, although I'm glad you're also a Matt Scudder fan. Potential room for exploration.

Love your detective list! I should keep that list handy next time I'm looking to add another series into my ever growing series list! I've just removed one series from my active list so I guess I could make room for one more...

I've seen many people on LT mention Inspector Montalbano so maybe I should grab that one first since you think so highly of it

I also love the list. There are several in there whom I have not read and some of whom I've not even heard. What a gift. I am going to copy it and send it to my mystery/detective loving sister. Cool list, Paul!

Oh, Paul, I LOVE that list! It's not even my birthday, and yet what a gift you have given me - thanks for that. Adding it to my favorites so I can easily find it again, but I think I need to copy it and print it off for my wallet so I can whip that baby out the next time I am in a bookstore. I am following three of those series and have the first books of several more of them, but there are a bunch in there that were not even on my radar. So fabulous!

Kath - terrifying, moi? Nah surely not.

Linda - I haven't heard of Eliot Pattison to be honest, so I'll have to check out the stores to see if he is there.

Donna - Retiring again?.... you make him sound like Sean Connery as Bond. I like the Daniel Silva books too - Lee Child and Barry Eisler would more than likely be his thing then too if he hasn't got there yet.

Rebecca - For me the very best heroes are flawed or with foibles. I also don't read as many mysteries as a few years ago but I find they break up the more serious reading into chewable portions.

Chelle - Quirky as Camilleri is, the Montalbano series is satisfying on so many levels - the domestic dramas of the Inspector, his prioritising of good food, his humanity, humour and intelligence makes the plots incidental but these too are occasionally riveting too.

Ellen - Thanks - I am scatterbrained enough to have a completely different list in a few months. Already thinking to myself...where's Daniel Jacquot (Martin O'Brien?

Mamie - Wasn't it your birthday fairly recently? Consider it a belated gift...hahaha. So pleased that the list has resonated with so many whose opinions I value.

I have Skull Mantra in my library and have heard good things about that series. Right now I am having fun with Devil's Peak by Deon Meyer. Meyer writes in Afrikaans and the first thing I heard about him was that the BBC had picked up the books and hired Sean Bean to star in the mystery series to be filmed. Since I think that Mr. Bean is the hottest looking thing every out of Birmingham (England, that is, not Alabama) my curiosity was pricked. I knew I had the first book in that series so dug the book out of the pile and started reading. At first it was just a standard police procedural and I couldn't figure out why the BBC would do it when they already had Wallender? Now things are starting to get all twisty and I think I know why the BBC got it. There is lots going on in it and no doubt the exotic local is also part of the attraction. I hope that the movie/tv shows increase exposure to this series as I think they are at least as deserving of publicity as the spate of Scandi crime novels published. And so far much less grotesque than the Jo Nesbo books, which I found to be stomach churning. And that is not a good thing. That one factor put me off of Nesbo for good. That is sad as I really like Redbreast, but that series went downhill after Nemesis.

Paul - have you read any of the Michael Dibdin Zen books? I used to read those whenever I had to spend a long time on airplanes.

>>166 Crazymamie:, 167 - Got it, I forgot Disco for the Departed is next for you, Paul. We're almost aligned, but not quite.

As much as I enjoy Dr. Siri, Inspector Montalbano is the tops for me, too. I'm enjoying the curmudgeon right now in The Age of Doubt.

Hi Paul just getting settled to watch the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic games, really excited to see fantastic athletes over the next sixteen days and hopefully Mark Cavendish will get Team GB off to a winning start with a Gold medal in the mens road race with what Bradley Wiggins says is the dream team, the best Olympic cycling team ever put out.

*sulking* ... Paul - you didn't have Fred Vargas (Inspector Adamsberg) and Charles Todd (Ian Rutledge) in your list.

Benita - I must take you up on Sean Bean as he is very proudly from the steel city of Sheffield, a fellow Yorkshireman with me who I met a few times (before he got so famous). I agree with you on preferring the doleful Wallender to the self-destructive Harry Hole, but I do find the series compulsive nonetheless. Deon Meyer sounds interesting.

Joe - I have to concur - Montalbano is the tops. Grrrr The Age of Doubt is not out over here yet.

John - We have a good team but it is probably too small (is it 4 or 5 competitors) to control a cycling race. Would back Cavendish though I have to say - fingers crossed.

Caro - I didn't include any characters where I have only read one book so Inspector Adamsberg may be deferred not excluded - I haven't read any Charles Todd either so I hope I'll be spared your Bostonian wrath my dear!

I am going to order a pizza and go home to watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics on TV. From now on, it will be 16 days of all sports whenever I have the TV on. It is my quadrennial love fest with obscure sports like synchronized swimming. However, I will not dain to watch the Little Girls Gymnastics competitions. I find them grotesque. But I will watch the Men's Gymnastics - if NBC will show them. They have been notoriously stingy with their coverage of the men who do gymnastics. My guess is that the TV executives don't think the men look as good on TV as do the little girls.

Sorry, Paul. I knew Bean was from one of those industrial cities in the North but didn't take the time to look it up.

Benita - Malayasian TV (satelite anyways) is gripped firmly in Olympic fever and I am half watching it and half typing (please excuse my usual plethora of typos then!). Looking forward to wallowing in it all and it seems a little strange to have the Olympics at home when I've made a new home so far away.

No problem Benita about Mr. Bean - Kyran's girlfriends father is actually from Birmingham and as I am at pains to tell him someone has to be!

Paul - so what's keeping you from reading your 2nd, 3rd and 4th Fred Vargas and getting started on Charles Todd, I ask?

By the way, are you in town during the 2nd week of September?

Caro - hahaha i could be the couple of thousand of unread books on the shelves!
I will be in town in September - are you dropping by? You're welcome to choose from my various threads viz restaurants hahahax2

Got some disturbing news from the UK yesterday when I called my mum. Seems she has a growth of some sort in her "stomach" - the GP of course is not sure whether it is fibroids or something more sinister. My mum is not the healthiest kitten in the cattery so she goes to the hospital specialist on Thursday full of trepidation.

In other news my adventure with Amin has come to an end. Several times late recently caused me to drive myself and it resulted in my arriving less shaken up than usual. He was at the end of his probationary period so I had a decision to make and sometimes those difficult ones have to be made. Had a nice chat with him yesterday and explained my decision to him whilst paying him for the rest of his probationary period (the 24 hours notice the government allows here is a little cruel for my liking) and he left on good terms. Good luck to him and I hope he will find success and happiness, but I don't think honestly it will be as a driver.

Wow, Paul! Another mighty list! I really admire the fact that you take on such a difficult under-taking. Many of those I have not read, so homework time. I'm glad to see Matthew Scudder high on the list. I don't see many old school anti-heroes, like Marlowe, Lew Archer, Travis McGee or Arkady Renko. All favorites of mine.

Sorry to hear about your Mum! Keep us posted.

Oh, so sorry to hear about your mother; I'll be keeping her - and you - in my thoughts. Sorry, also, to hear about Amin not working out so well, but it sounds as if you handled it with utmost grace; here's hoping you find a good one next time round.

As for Sean Bean, I must admit that I'm jealous that you've hobnobbed with him - just watched (for what's likely the 20th time) Boromir die an honorable death with tears in my eyes this afternoon during Charlie's nap.

Sorry to see about your Mom Paul. Hopefully it turns out to be a minor issue.

So sorry to hear about your mum, Paul. I hope it isn't anything serious and is quickly resolved ..... with luck he'll prescribe Cadbury's or toffee as medication.

Yes, I am very likely to be back in your neck of town again in September for a few days. If I haven't as yet scared you during our last MeetUp, we can remedy the photo-less event with another go.

I'm sorry Amin didn't work out as a driver. I hope he finds another job more suited to his natural abilities and with an employer as kind and generous as you. Good luck with your search for another driver.

Sorry to hear about your mother, Paul. I hope that it isn't anything serious.

Love that you have a top 25 list, I don't read that many crime series but do enjoy a well plotted one from time to time. My top cop is a tie between Montalbano and Rebus. I love both the characters themselves and the setting. I think Rankin does a tremendous job at evoking the dark side of Edinburgh. Jack Reacher has also been a past favourite but now I read him more out of habit. I want to try Denise Mina and then move on to some Aussie crime fiction.

Sorry to hear that Amin just did not make the cut.

>178 benitastrnad: : Does Sean Bean finally get to do something where his character doesn't get killed off just when you start hoping he's going to survive until the end?

(Post seems to have disappeared)

>178 benitastrnad: : Does Sean Bean finally get to play a character who doesn't get killed just when you start hoping he'll survive until the end?

Hi Paul, A quick read through for me sorry, even 2 days absence is tough to recover from, LT speaking.
I hope your mums hospital appointment alleviates rather than exacerbates her worries. (Its quite hard seeing my own mother, getting on a bit now, become more and more of a worrier.)

And good on you for being decent to Amin, and paying him more than you were required by law. There needs to be more like you who consider fairness over and above the minimum legal requirement. So many people use the cop out line "its just business" when what they mean is "Im out to screw you for all I can get".

Sorry to hear about your Mum's health concerns, Paul. That must be scary for her - hopefully the specialist will be able to give her some answers right away.

Also sorry to hear that Amin didn't work out. Sounds like you handled things in a generous fashion - good for you. Here's hoping that you will find the perfect driver and sidekick very soon.

Thanks to you all for your kind words of support re: my mum. She has had pneumonia three times in the last 15 years and is as susceptible to illnesses as I am to a new Scandi release. She has a habit of exaggerating her ills but I don't want to be the boy that cries wolf.

Mark - I haven't read any Arkady Renko yet although I have the first in the series on the shelves. I left out the old timers from my list as I would have been bound to forget some and have to keep making revisions. I prepared the list straight off and without referencing anything so I'm surprised that I haven't had cause to change anything yet.

Amber - I'll have a driver break for at least a month as the kids are not at school and I can drive myself in the interim. Would be stretching it a bit to say "hobnobbing" with Sean Bean as he was certainly not a hob knob at that time.

Chelle - Thanks she will hopefully find something out next week.

Caro - Toffee is a cure all surely! What is the opposite of being scared off - needless to say I'm up for a repeat meet-up with photos to please the peeps this time. There is a possibility that we may be able to coincide with Prue visiting KL.
Not sure about what Amin's natural abilities are - if sleeping was an Olympic sport he would give it a go to bring home a medal for Malaysia. He is actually a pleasant young chap and, as the Malays say when he receives criticism dia boleh terima . He left on good terms anyway.

Darryl - thanks. Interesting list of Booker longlisters this time. Hopefully I can track down the Andre Brink early. It would be nice, considering his body of work if he can win, but that is not the point of the prize I guess.

Kerry - I started out with a list of ten following your comments on Rebus and I just kept typing! I like Rebus too but sometimes as with Harry Hole and Tom Thorne, the self-destruct button is pressed too often for my liking.

Nina - eventually I got the pleasure of your post twice! Sean used to play Sharpe in a dramatisation of the Bernard Cornwell character and managed via a scrape an episode to avoid the pitfalls of mortality.

Megan - Yes it is a difficult part of getting older that our parents get much older and need maintenance far more often.
Don't think I'll ever be rich enough to retire Megan but I am not capable of being so calculative as to turn into a modern day Ebeneezer. Always wanted a boss to care about the workers when I was a worker but now I'm a boss I can't in all fairness fail to at least try to live up to my own expectations.

Mamie - We will be having our annual dinner next week for breaking fast and I'm not sure yet where we will all end up. I also have a social fund with the staff where the staff put 1% of their salary into a fund and I match the sum - we have had a really good couple of months in terms of new orders and I promised the staff that if we landed a particular job we would have a company trip to either Singapore or Langkawi - hey presto we got the job yesterday so the PMC Plus (my little organisation) first company trip will go into advance planning stage.

Best wishes for your mother - I hope it's just a minor issue.

I too, am hoping things go well with your mother...

I first saw Sean Bean in the Richard Sharpe series and it is safe to say, I fell in love. I immediately purchased the first in the series Sharpe's Rifles and loved it. I think at one time or another I owned every one of the titles in that series. Loved them and all of the great Sharpe's adventures. I haven't read any Bernard Cornwell since then and he has several series that would be interesting.

I thought that the opening pageant was good, but not great. I loved the hymns at the beginning and Mr. Bean was funny. This morning I woke up humming the theme to Chariots of Fire. (a movie I have not seen.) I also liked the glowing bicycles. The tribute to literature was a good idea, but somehow fell flat with me, as did the whole Bond thing. McCartney was good but was overshadowed by the performance of the Arctic Monkey's. This one had a long way to go to beat Barcelona. Nothing could capture the Olympic moment like that flaming arrow arcing through the night sky. Sydney's was also good, but Barcelona was the epitome of glorious.

I finished reading Devil's Peak by Deon Meyer last night and will tell you that you should put this author and this book on your wish list. Or at least watch out for titles by him. This one was really good. Meyer builds this story slowly, ... from disperate pieces, in much the same way as Kate Atksinson does in the early Jackson Brodie series. Meyer takes the stories of three different people and weaves these seemingly unrelated pieces into a whole connected story that evolves and eventually engrosses the reader. Combine that with an exotic locale (at least for those of us stateside) about which not that much is known and hints of the dark past of South Africa and there is enough there to sell the book and maybe keep them reading. For the patient reader the long wait to the thrill ride at the end is worth it, but I am afraid that many people won't wait that long, and therein lies the rub. Meyer writes in Afrikaans and the books have to be translated. (as far as I can tell this is a good translation) This makes him an important new voice in the world of mystery and thriller literature. I am happy to recommend this book to readers and will read more of his books. Hopefully others will as well.

>202 benitastrnad:: You didn't love Bond, and the Queen parachuting in?!! Maybe you have to be a Brit to get that. I liked the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) segment, and the fact that every dancer was NHS staff. In our house, we really liked the fact that every participating country was represented in the Olympic flame by a petal (which, presumably, will go back with them at the end of the Games).

Must have a look out for Sharpe.

Hi Paul, all caught up again, and I'm glad our little talk about religion went so smoothly. Don't they say one should avoid talking about religion and politics? Well, I guess LT proves it can be done without causing any fuss.

I'm really sorry to hear about the worry with your mum. Let's hope it's nothing serious. My dad's always been what you'd call a hypochondriac and then he got prostate cancer about a decade ago. Still to this day refuses to be treated via trad. medicine, but he's somehow managed to keep himself healthy via alternative choices.

Too bad you'll have to find another driver, but glad things went as well as they did with Amin. It's not easy firing someone, I know. That was part of my job I didn't like much, but thankfully I didn't have to do it often at all. Harder still was interviewing candidates. That I could make a movie (or write a book) about, as I'm sure you could too!

Only looked at your series list with eyes half closed. I already have more than my share going. For some reason, I'm not all that taken with Montalbano, and I really wish I was, because I see so many of you loving him so much. I wish I could say why that is, but don't know myself. Dr Siri on the other hand really rocks my boat!

#168 Kerry - about Dr Siri, I wasn't all that pulled in with the first chapter, but after that things got much more interesting. Just thought I'd mention it.

Rhian, Kath - Thanks as usual for the lovely words of support. I am a staunch believer in the power of positive vibes. Positivity is something my dear old mum doesn't do too well to be honest but here's hoping.

Benita - I have a problem with the Bernard Cornwell Sharpe series which I am longing to start in that he has not published them in chronological order. The first in publication order I have and I have just ordered the first in chronological order from Book Depository - Since you have read some of them - does it matter?
I agree with you Benita on the amazing Barcelona opening ceremony - I must admit that I am one of those that suffers such events generally with impatience waiting for the real stuff to begin but Barcelona does stick in my mind. I thought the good thing about yesterday's ceremony is that it didn't seem to try to outdo the others but struck out on its own terms and was certainly very british. Macca looked his age if truth be known especially in the opening bars of Hey Jude but the singalong parts were memorable I suppose.
Hope we hve a games free from scandal, incident or tragedy and with some exhilarating performances.
Saw the Road Race in the cycling and it was a clear case of the rest conniving to stop Cavendish winning - very negative I must say.
Loved your appraisal of Devil's Peak by Deon Meyer and I will hunt this down now for sure.
I really wished you had a thread Benita; it would really be something.

Nina - I thought parts of it were more cerebral than some of the opening ceremonies I have seen and I will admit to a heart swelling with pride at being British on occasions. That is not a feeling I get so often these days I have to say.
Of course I'll be cheering on all the Brits but I would love to see Malaysia win its first Gold medal (maybe in the Badminton, but it will be tough to beat the Chinese) - if only shopping was an Olympic sport my good lady wife would be right up there with the front runners.

Ilana - I don't know why but when I was originally posting about my conversion and the misadventures that lead up to it as well as my beliefs (if that is what they can be termed) you did come into my thoughts somewhat. Maybe it is a similar age thing and the fact that we have both obviously lived a lot little but I guess your opinion on my post was one I was concerned about looking forward to more than most. You are right of course it did go off smoothly as I think the primacy of deeds over rituals is something most sane people can agree about and for myself at least this does not come from organised (in the sense of dictated) religion.
My mum has always been a smoker and stopped after her third bout of pneumonia. Since then she seems to have had one problem after another. After pestering her for years to stop I'm thinking of telling her to start again!
I hate firing people whereas some of my friends and associates take a perverse pleasure in it. Think the poor chap saw the axe coming but at least the blade was anaesthetised so to speak.
I will admit that it was only by about the third Camilleri book that I really started to revel in the characters and get the sly humour at play. Parts of the first Dr. Siri I thought were sublime but I was a tad disappointed that it seemed to regress a little in the second - let's see what happens in the third which I will get soon.

Ilana - I'm much harder with library books, especially new series, they have to appeal quickly or I ditch them. This is only because I'm guilty of owning too many unread books. That said I do give a few a second chance.
I came to Montalbano through the tv show when I was going through a phase of watching lots of foreign films. I was thrilled to get the books and relive the episodes through them, but now I'm up to date and have to wait for the next one to be translated.

I'm glad Benita mentioned the Sharpe series - Sean Bean fans should definitely get hold of those!

I love the books, Paul, and you'll get different answers on where to start. Sharpe's Rifles, where he first meets up with his sidekick Harper, is what was recommended to me, and I'd recommend it to anyone else. The chronologically earlier adventures in India are fun, but can be read later. The Napoleonic Wars really cook. You're in for a treat.

Kerry - I have seen some of the Montalbano on u-tube but I'm afraid it is far too risque for Malaysian tv - mores the pity!

Oh my dear!

First of all, the fun stuff: so glad the opening ceremonies made you take pride in your Britishness. I really regret not having watched them so I could share in your pleasure.

I do understand that lack of national pride thing. Most Canadians aren't all that boastful about their (our) nationality. I think we inherited from our British cousins this tendency toward understatement as a nation. Also, having the fascist Stephen Harper as a Prime Minister certainly isn't anything to boast about. I don't know if I've mentioned this here before, but I've always been an Anglophile and often wished we had, my mother and I, as was put forth as a possibility in my teens, moved to England and made a go at starting over on that wondrous isle. But then, (and this is where my mixed ancestry tells), I've also always been a Francophile and often thought of moving to France. There is no contradiction in my mind as far as that goes because were I living in the one or the other, there's only that tiny little channel to cross to visit my cousins on either side. Somehow never took to being a Quebecer; it's a marriage of convenience and nothing more.

I was very touched about your saying your were looking forward to my comments. I can see though where your concern might have arisen. My Israeli and Jewish roots evoke very complicated and mixed thoughts and emotions both for me and others at times too. I rarely discuss politics or religion in general, and especially concerning Middle-East because I'm so conflicted myself about it all. But I've had so many beautiful moments too when I've been able to speak to Arabs, and/or Muslims and found common ground. I would never have judged you for your choices or religion, especially since I've gotten to know you here for the person you are, which is a kind, open-minded, caring, loving, interesting, warm, and (I could go on) basically a person filled with wonderful qualities I am glad to consider among my friends. Though I'm not a believer, as you know, I'm always glad for the opportunity for discourse with those who are, and are like yourself moderate and reasonable and most of all, open-minded.

I'm rambling now, which tends to happen as you well know!

About your mum, seems interesting that most of her troubles started surfacing when she quit smoking. That's typical somehow. Same thing happens to many alcoholics who've stopped pickling their livers. Whatever chemical addicts take in, although they wreaks destruction, also protect the "carrier" so they can continue thriving in the host body, is my perception of the matter.

And speaking of Siri, I'll stop blabbing on and do a bit of quiet reading. I'm more than halfway through and have every intention of finishing Thirty-Three Teeth soon, so I can move on to Disco for the Departed which I can't wait to read, if only for the title!

eta: Oops, put in the wrong html code. It was meant to be a strike-through, not an underline!

Ok Joe I will follow your recommendation and read them in publication order. Will start the first one next week.

Kerry, I'd love to see Montalbano on tv! Unfortunately they don't have it at the library, but perhaps I could convince them to purchase the series with a little bit of luck.

Ilana - lovely post - we'll call it discoursing at length rather than rambling as that wouldn't otherwise do justice to your well constructed prose. I come from Leeds in the UK which has one of the largest Jewish populations in the country (Leeds and Manchester probably tie second in number behind London but Leeds probably wins out in density) and grew up with so many friends in that milieu. One of the things I dislike intensely is the nonesense that is spouted by extremists in Islam by the hatred that they try to instill about other religions but mainly Judaism and Christianity in that order. This is certainly not the original message of the creed but they are preaching largely to an uneducated and impoverished population who are malleable to their ways.
Was of course charmed thoroughly by your flattering assessment of my personage but at least you can rest assured in the safe and certain knowledge that the feeling is entirely mutual.

Paul- I finished The Terracotta Dog. This is such a fun series and the constant burst of profanity continuously cracks me up. I also wanted to mention how perfectly they are translated. Is Italian into English normally such a smooth translation?

I know you are such a Scandi-Crime authority: Have you read Mons Kallentoft? I landed a copy of Midwinter Blood from the publisher. Looks good.

Awwwwww.... *deep blush*

Ok, back to Siri!

Mark - my guess is that Nathalie would probably be the better judge of that. My little italian is appalling and I wouldn't be able to judge authenticity at all mate. I have noticed that some languages seem to lend themselves better to translation than others. I can't think of so many books by German writers that I have found easy going but Italian writers do seem quite immediate in the impact they give. Italo Calvino is one for sure that is able to grip the reader quickly - is that the language or the translator though? - Not sure myself.
Kallentoft is among 3 or 4 "new" writers that I have bought this year that I need to get round to soon. Others would be Lars Kepler, Arne Dahl and Thomas Enger amongst others. I agree it does look good.

Ilana - I too am about to return to my reading which suffered yesterday with too much driving (to site in the morning to check they were all working) and then four hours driving steadily to Johor Bahru to break fast with the in-laws - Nasi Biriyani Ayam (biriyani rice with chicken) and chappatti did for me nicely. Zonko after that and read precisely nothing. Bought three books I want to finish so I better get going. Happy reading. xx

I'm actually afraid to watch the Inspector Montalbano DVDs in case they don't measure up to the books, and worse .. if the man chosen to play the part of Montalbano doesn't gel with the image of the man I have in my mind.

Good job I'm off to Singapore next week .... your mention of the nasi biriyani ayam had me salivating. I've missed that.

oooh..new Scandi writers being recommended here .... so.... hmm... when do you think you'll be getting around to reading Kallentoft, Paul? I'll use you as my barometer as to whether or not I'll enjoy his writing. ;-)

I've watched the Montalbano dvds, Caro, and I think you'd find them A-OK. They're well done, and, while the lead doesn't match my image of Montalbano, he handles the role well and is convincing as a conflicted lady magnet.

Paul, I've been away all day and can't say I've absorbed everything on this very busy thread but I did want to let you know I'm hoping for the best for your mother.

Caro - I don't know whether you imagined him having any hair or not? Not my vision of him I have to say either but as Joe notes in the post below he does carry it off engagingly.
One of the best things about fasting is planning how to break it. Sunday also in Johor Bahru and we will probably eat out (her FIL hates eating out, but MIL will definitely want to). I have suggested that we go to a private Korean house which serves delightful food and is owned by a Korean lady of advancing years, Mrs Won. We haven't been there for a while and the home cooked Yue Gae Jang and Pah Jeon are to die for.
I have only read four Scandis so far in my 12 in 12 challenge so I have some catching up to do. I want to read a Karin Fossum. a Hakan Nesser and an Arnaldur Indriadson soon, Jussi Adler-Olsen's second is screaming to me, I want to read Kjell Eriksson, Camilla Lackberg and Camilla Ceder which have been pending exploration longer. That takes me to eleven. Kallentoft probably heads the list of those other four above but is competing also with Kerstin Ekman and Helene Tursten for the last place in the challenge. I can feel a whole month of Scadi coming on soon - probably September, because I can always make any overspill fit other categories!

Joe - hahaha nice description of Montalba - "conflicted lady magnet" - that could have been my younger and slimmer self in Johor Bahru 18 years ago he types smiling but wistfully!

Laura - thanks as always for your kind thoughts and wishes. I'm sure that the collective good will must have a positive effect.

Over 60 messages so I had to skim...

Caught the mention of your mom and her health so just wanted to add my well wishes as well Paul. I hope she will feel better soon!

Ditto what Valerie just said in 221, except I'm even further behind than 60 messages . . .

Best wishes for your mom.

Hi Paul, I have to say that I only follow a couple series and those only since I've read recommendations here on LT. But I've heard a lot of good things about one series that I don't think you've mentioned---the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke. I have a friend who has been pushing them on me for a long time and aim about ready to succumb. They're set in New Orleans.

So sorry to hear about your Mom and hope for the best.

Valerie - a bit of pot, kettle and black given the speed your revitalised thread is chugging along at! Thanks so much for the wishes for my mum - next week will tell us how she really is.

Terri - Suz noted that I am doing a thread every ten days and despite my expectation and with oodles of gratification/gratitude they don't seem to be showing signs of slowing down. Thanks for your kind wishes about the old lady.

Bonnie - I read Last Car to Elysian Fields a few years ago not realising at first it was part of a series and was out of sequence. Have got the first in the series Neon Rain and intend, as I do with so many others (!), to get to it soon. My mum is so lucky having an international array of well-wishers and she doesn't yet know it!

Sorry to hear about your mum, Paul. I'll be sending positive vibes your/her way.
And another driver not working out..... I hope you can find a good one again soon!

I sent the list above to my sister and look forward to learning how many of them she has read. There are several in there of which I've not heard or not yet read. What pure joy - the possibility of discovering a new series of wonderful books.....

Thanks Ellen. No driver for at least 1 month though which sadly means less reading in traffic (notice I didn't say no reading). According to my stats page I have 1218 series in my catalogue (Linda alaskabookworm has almost double that!) but many of them are not what we really mean by series for these lists.

Um, Paul, be careful with that bit o' reading in traffic!

The other day I did have a nice sight from my perch in the bus. I was, of course, reading in traffic while riding said bus and I noticed a driver not checking email or texting which is what I usually see, but actually reading a book while waiting for traffic to move. It made me smile.

Can't read (or text) in the car; by the time I fished my book / phone out of the footwell, found the page / app I want and my place on the page, glancing up every half second to make sure I haven't missed the lights etc etc, the traffic is ready to move. The best I can do is a disjointed line or two, which doesn't help build atmosphere.

And reading as a passenger is an absolute no-no. Reading on trains is easier, but it usually lulls me to sleep.

Ellen - that does sound a bit like me - numerous times irate motorists have blasted me at traffic lights due to book immersion.

Nina - Driving simultaneously to one side I have no problems (maybe due to practice) reading in cars or on ships or on planes or on trains or buses - capture the movement and the rhythmn will help your reading.

I recall a politician here being forced to resign after being caught reading the paper at the wheel (in fairly stationary traffic). I thought it was a bit over the top really. I mean it's hardly as bad as a family of 6 on a motor scooter and a kid in a bucket though is it!? (as seen on Darryls thread recently)
Although, of course my official line is: tut tut Paul, you really ought to drive more carefully than that ;)

Megan I have no intention of running for office in Wellington - and stick strictly to traffic lights! Now you may realise why I should have a driver.

Also a very good reason for not having a licence & then the need to use public transport or to be driven = lots of reading !

A long overdue catch-up Paul. As always, I enjoyed the discussions and sending best wishes for your Mum.

Alex - I came by my driving licence at quite an advanced age by UK standards - I was 26, but the coming of it is a story for a meet-up not a post.

Heather - nice to catch up a little today too. I have been skimming at the surface for the last week or so due to the burden of work but my parents-in-law place has allowed me to catch-up a little (not a lot, but a little). Thanks for the kind wishes as usual.

61

Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors by Brian Hayles

Pretty standard fare as the Second Doctor with highlander Jamie and the ever fainting Victoria arrive on the polar ice cap in time to save the world from Martian Ice Warriors. I didn't get to see the Second Doctor on the screen and I think it would have been great fun.

7/10

Good thing Scandi writers haven't been a good fit for me... so much blue text.
It is so weird to read about food and have no idea in the world what it might be....

Hi Paul - I'm sorry to hear about your mom as well and hope everything turns out ok.

Regarding, " Jussi Adler-Olsen's second is screaming to me." Has the 2nd one been translated into English?! I'll have to find out. For some reason, I thought it was still unavailable, but haven't checked lately.

Hi Paul,

Sorry for the late response. Thank you for answering my question so elaborate and openly. I find that I agree with you about a lot of things. I'm jewish and consider myself religious, but often I don't live according to the rules. The most important thing for me is, as you said, being a good person. One of the principles I try very hard to live by.
Every year I will join in the fasting on Yom Kipur. On this day you're not allowed to eat and drink (among other things) from sundown to sundown plus one hour so for 25 hours straight. Usually it's fine, but I do notice it's gets harder now I'm a little bit older. Two years ago my sister, brother and I walked quite a bit (synagogehopping, you visit several different synagogues during the day and everywhere you participate for an hour or so in the prayings before moving on to the next one) we were already in synagogue number four and the heat was on way too high so I nearly fainted and then we still had to walk back for one and a half hour. Not one of the best years, but hey we made it.

I could say so many things about my faith, but I won't because this is not the place for it and once started...... Also it's a bit more difficult for me to express my thoughts and feelings clearly in a foreign language.

Thank you again for your answer and I wish you best of luck with your mum.

Morning, Paul. I know it's not morning where you are, but I'm enjoying a delightful Sunday morning here ... and enjoying a delightful and varied conversation on your thread as well : ).

Kath - Scandi can be ethereal and moody but it is not unremitting so often. The food over here is far more agreeable to eat than it is to pronounce.

Kerri - thanks - The new Jussi Adler-Olsen is called Disgrace by the UK publishers and I have it waiting to go. Will definitely read it next month.

Lilian -very nice of you to share your experiences of fasting with me - 25 hours of abstinence is pretty impressive. Forums such as these go to prove that there are no significant differences between us all of whatever creed or without creed.

Nancy - it is Monday morning now already 2.00 a.m.! Hope the rest of your Sunday goes as well as it seems to have started.

Hi Paul, it didn't work out for Cav and the boys but Lizzie Armitstead did the Brits proud with Silver in the women's road race.

John - she did indeed. Vos is pretty tough to beat in a sprint but Lizzie gets us off the mark.

Paul - She does indeed and now Becky Adlington has added a bronze. Just found out that Geoffrey hughes aka Eddie Yeats and Onslow has died aged 64 after a battle against cancer, a good actor who will be sadly missed.

Paul - I've pictured Montalbano as a medium sized man with a buzz cut, and Canterella as a thin, pale and tiny guy. Nervous, I'm just nervous about seeing them 'in the flesh' so to speak.

I've read Torso and Glass Devil, and quite like Helene Tursten. I've got Night Rounds in my obese wish list, but haven't gotten around to getting a copy of the book yet ... still trying to keep within the bounds of my challenge for the year.

How's mum?

You can see him here if you want, Caro (or not): http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=inspector+montalbano&go=&qs=n&fo...

We need some high tech way to be able to share books, Paul. It's not fair that you can't get your hands on The Age of Doubt. Salvo is great company once again.

The second time today I managed a double post. Do I get bonus points for that?

Thanks for the link, Joe ... Hmm....not sure what Paul McCartney and a beautiful dog was doing amongst the Montalbano photos.

Ok, he's not quite what I had imagined, but not too far off. He looks less bumbly (you know what I mean) than I had pictured. In fact, he looks like quite the toughie. I've just downloaded the first episode The Snack Thief onto my Kindle Fire off Amazon. If it's good, I might get the first season DVDs.

That's sort of how I picture him, I guess. I really wish I could rent the DVDs, but Netflix doesn't know they exist. I hate to have to buy them.

I cannot believe how many posts I had to catch up on!! So sorry about your m7um's woes - my mother enjoyed ill health for decades. Hope it is nothing sinister - you are in my thoughts. Tough when family is so far away.

Loved your crime list - though a little surprised that there were NO female detectives? (least, don't think so...) I can't remember the author - or the detective - but one of my favourite female PI stories came with the wonderful title 'I still miss my man....but my aim is getting better'.

Really looking forward to catching up with you in KL - perhaps you can recommend some 'must see/must do/must eat' activities for my rather short stop-over?

Rebecca, I've found them on Netflix, but they're not available for rental yet. So I rented the first one from Amazon instead. :-)

Caroline, I meant to say they didn't have any date for getting them. Didn't know you could rent from Amazon -- off to investigate! Thanks.

Catching up after a busy, busy weekend. Er, watching the Olympics.

Waaay back at #110 People must hate it here in NZ when Ramadan time arrives...if it coincides with summer and daylight savings, it can be light from 6am to 830pm!

Same here in Denver. Our friends who observe Ramadan get their kids up at 4:30 am to feed them. It is light until 9 pm, roughly, so it's a long, long day for the kids. I really admire the kids though. Several years ago Ramadan started after the start of the school year. They got up very early to eat, then would go the whole school day with no food. In the car on the way home from school, my kids often eat an apple or other snack. They offered to Rooya and she politely explained that it was Ramadan and she was fasting. My church holds a monthly fast, so my kids are not unaware of what it means, but they were absolutely stunned at the number of days, etc.

60 posts behind?! Really? Well, now I'm all caught up! Think I've earned a glass of Chardonnay! Hope your Monday morning is off to a good start.

Caro, I've been guilty of a little fandom love for the three actors - Montalbano, Fazio and Augello (Luca Zingaretti, Peppino Mazzotta, & Cesare Bocci). I also love seeing all the locations and the food, it brings Sicily to life and has caused a huge wave of tourism for the local area where filming takes place.

John - Ms. Adlington will bring home gold in the 800 metres methinks. Sad to hear about Geoffrey Hughes his part as Eddie Yeats with Stan Ogden was never replaced for me.

Caro - It's funny that you see Cat the opposite of me - I picture him as an overweight bumbler. Will speak to mum this week before and after her hospital visit - here's hoping the second call is more pleasant than the first.

Joe x3 - I'm sure that is helpful to those who haven't seen him and I think RAI have got Montalba off to a tee. I'm the one with the bonus mate as three consecutive Joe posts are spoiling me.

Caro - I have watched it on u-tube and it is quite racy and certainly enjoyable. He doesn't seem to avoid on the screen what he mostly tries to avoid in print.

Rebecca / Caro - I also had no idea that such rental arrangements were available - will see if it covers my outpost or not.

Prue - I did notice myself the absence of female leads in my list of mystery characters. Miss Marple would have made it had I gone further back. I haven't read Scarpetta or VI Warshinski (however it is spelt) and the few I have read Merrily Watkins, Rune, Helen West all did not really grab me. Believe me Prue I would love to add a lady to the list, any suggestions?
Thanks for the comments about mum - I can well believe that it is still a tad raw for you as a topic.

Jenn - My concern would be how do they manage by the arctic circle. If fasting falls in the wrong time of year it is near permanent daylight and at the right time virtually no daylight at all. I have to chuckle with most Malays explanation on this - "God is almighty, that is why he didn't put muslims in those countries!" surely not a great argument for a universal religion!

Mamie - would love to join you in a glass or three of the golden nectar but alas Monday morning is here and it is nose to grindstone time upon me again.

Kerry - hear hear - the show must be good for the local economy. What a place for an LT convention when we are all rich and have weeks to spare!