Cushla's 2012 Challenge - Part 4

Welcome to my new thread!

Just finished reading:A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - 5 stars

Currently reading:
Iron Curtain by Anne Applebaum - p.350/490

Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz - p. 210/390

The Wall of the Plague by Andre Brink - p. 220/460 - stalled on this



This picture was taken in August on Wellington's south coast - free guided tours offered to all LTers who come and visit!

At 33 books so far this year, my reading has slowed down a lot from the last few years, but my teacher training course is easing up now (except for a few pesky exams and a massive essay left) so I'm looking forward to more reading and more LTing in the next 3 months.

Books read in 2012

January
1. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - 5 stars
2. Tolstoy Lied by Rachel Kadish - 3 stars
3. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle - 4 stars
4. Rondo by Kasimierz Brandys - 4 1/2 stars
5. Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn - 3 1/2 stars
6. Requiem for a Mezzo by Carola Dunn - 3 stars

February
7. The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence - 4 1/2 stars
8. The Book of Fame by Lloyd Jones - 3 1/2 stars
9. Murder on the Flying Scotsman by Carola Dunn - 2 1/2 stars
10. Maus by Art Spiegelmann - 5 stars
11. Dreams in a Time of War by Ngugi wa Thiong'o - 4 stars

March
12. Coventry by Helen Humphreys - 4 stars
13. Maus II by Art Spiegelmann - 4 stars
14. Death and the Jubilee by David Dickinson - 3 stars

April
15. When God Spoke English by Adam Nicholson - 4 stars
16. Blood from a Stone by Donna Leon - 3 1/2 stars
17. The Siege by Helen Dunmore - 4 1/2 stars
18. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway - 5 stars

May
19. The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller - 5 stars
20. Lehrter Station by David Downing - 4 stars

June
21. Bring up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel - 5 stars
22. Campaign Ruby by Jessica Rudd - 3 1/2 stars
23. The Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri - 3 1/2 stars
24. The Crowded Grave by Martin Walker - 3 1/2 stars
25. A Small Town in Germany by John le Carre - 4 stars

July
26. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie - 5 stars
27. Censoring an Iranian Love Story by Shahriar Mandanipour - 3 stars
28. Purple Hibiscus by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie - 4 stars

August
29. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope - 4 1/2 stars
30. The Arms-Maker of Berlin by Dan Fesperman - 3 1/2 stars

September
31. Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis - 2 stars
32. The English Assassin by Daniel Silva - 3 stars

October
33. Truman by David McCullough - 4 stars
34. The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr - 3 1/2 stars
35. Excursion to Tindari by Andrea Camilleri - 3 1/2 stars
36. The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng - 5 stars

November
37. The Smell of the Night by Andrea Camilleri - 3 stars
38. Old Filth by Jane Gardam - 4 1/2 stars

December
39. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin - 3 stars
40. The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam - 4 stars
41. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - 5 stars

New thread! Hello Cushla! Well done on finishing the Truman and on managing to read at all alongside all your teacher training course work.

I'd love to visit NZ one day...

Hi Genny - very speedy!! You'll get here one day - but maybe not till you change job and can take a looong holiday.

Now that Truman is finished I'm flapping around trying to decide on my next book. At the moment I've read on chapter of The Holy Thief by William Ryan (a Suzanne rec from 2010) and one chapter of Relics of the Dead by Ariana Franklin (out of the library - it's the 3rd in the series, and I haven't read the 2nd yet). Plus I've downloaded the first Inspector Rutledge mystery (Charles Todd) and Death in Bordeaux by Alan Massie. But nothing is sticking! I'm sure I'll settle into something soon...

Thoughts on Truman coming once I've had my coffee and edited my friend's maths assignment.

At 33 books so far this year, my reading has slowed down a lot from the last few years
But you are choosing well. The settling process is a funny thing, and rationale to have an array of books on hand.

Hello Cushla! I'm glad your program is winding down -- should make things easier! I hope to take advantage of your offer of a free tour one day. Callia is getting super excited about coming in March!

New thread, with a beautiful picture and I am still under the first 10. *Phew* - wische mir doch mal eben den Schweiss von der Stirn - vom Rennen.

Wish you a lovely new thread and some Cushla-time after all the stress you had. :)

Lovely new thread! I hope to take you up on that tour one of these years.

Hi Cushla, understandably your reading has slowed this year, something to do with a job and a family? I am taking full advantage of having no job at present, and that Lenny still has a day sleep. Gives me half an hour of day time reading every day if I get the jobs done beforehand.

Hi Megan, Roni, Katherine, Anne and Bianca! Have had a really nice Sunday here finishing my last assignment and generally doing nothing. And my reading funk is over - I am well into The Pale Criminal, the second Bernie Gunther novel by Philip Kerr. After I read the first of these in 2010 I bought the next five, but they have sat there for 2 years. I hope to rip through this one in the next couple of days - it's just what I feel like.

4 stars

I'm not going to write a proper review of Truman because there are already 39 on the book page. It was my first book by David McCullough, and at 992 pages I suggest you don't start it unless you are in the mood for a chunky read. His writing style is very easy to follow though, and I enjoyed it and gave it a solid 4 stars. I found bits of it too detailed - I did not need to know every single thing about the White House renovation - but I also really enjoyed most of the detail, especially the parts about Missouri in the 1800s, and how he ended up getting the VP nomination in 1944.

I found Truman himself very human, but inspiring and full of integrity and a little infuriating - his naivety about the impact of his links to the Pendergast bosses and appointing his mates to key positions came up over and over - but mostly in awe of what he had to do during the aftermath of World War 2. And I loved reading about the 1948 Presidential election campaign in which only Truman thought he'd win. I learnt quite a bit about the Korean war, which went on and on through his second term. If you like American politics, I recommend this bio or James Chace's excellent one (and I thought better written) of Dean Acheson, Acheson: The Secretary of State who Created the American World. And Donna, I really am jealous of your trip to the Truman library now that I have finished the book and seen how much effort he put into it. I own 1776, also by McCullough, and am looking forward to reading it.

(Oh and for those who have read it, his mother-in-law really sounded like a piece of work! As did his sister, who whinged about how inconvenient it was that he'd moved to DC after he became President.)

Lovely picture, Cushla! I hope to make it to NZ one day. Saw your new thread last night, but was too tired for typing. Great you made it through "Truman" and enjoyed it so much.

Have a good Sunday!

Oof - I'm about half a thread behind so just going to de-lurk on this shiny new one and wave.

Hi Nathalie and Bekka - Bekka I am woefully behind on everyone's threads but making a concerted effort to catch up. Will visit yours soon! Nathalie, hope your Sunday morning is going well. It's bedtime here - up to do the school lunches again in the morning after 2 lovely sleeping in weeks. Am racing through The Pale Criminal and will read some more in bed.

Cushla, I'm really impressed by you reading that Truman doorstop! Also congratulations on all your progress at school, and I wish you the best of luck in your job-hunting!

but maybe not till you change job and can take a looong holiday. I think you are right there - certainly it would not be worth going all that way for a short trip. Meanwhile I can dream!

Lovely new thread you have here Cushla especially with that inviting (haha) picture at the top. I own Truman but it'll have to be just the right time for me to tackle it. Eventually I will.

Hi Cushla. Congratulations on having more time to do some "LTing". Glad you liked Truman. I also have an unread copy of 1776 but I'm going to do an LT group read of Team of Rivals next month so that will have to be my one big book this year (although Peggy and Becky keep tempting me with Robert Caro's books on Lyndon Johnson).

Enjoy doing nothing when you can!

Love the photo of Wellington Cushla and we may take you up on the tour guide offer some day soon!
Congratulations on your new thread which I am slow getting to with my irritable computer.

Hi Laura, Paul, Pat, Bonnie and Genny!

I look forward to tons of LT friends eventually getting here... and I'm going to change that top photo to one that is focused properly too!

Am having a really good reading week. Two days to read a book - much more back to my pace of the last 2 years! I've just finished The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr, the second Bernie Gunther novel.


I gave this one 3 1/2 stars, which is my standard "good crime novel" rating. This is the sequel to March Violets and it's set in Berlin in 1938. Definitely not recommended if you like your crime gentle - this has got some really nasty violence in it, both from the police and the criminals. Kerr portrays the brutality of the SS really well and I am glad the 3rd book in the series jumps ahead to 1947. This one stops at Kristallnacht.

Pat, Team of Rivals is vaguely on my n-f horizon so i will probably lurk into the group read thread. I have Joseph Ellis's Founding Brothers here - I know very little about that period of American history. Got very put off when I googled Ellis though and found all the stuff about him saying he'd been in the Vietnam War, or at leats not denying it at first (I forget the details but they were bad when I read them last week.) But anyway, more American history reading is something I want to do.

Bonnie, it is definitely a book to be in the mood for.

Paul, hope your computer has got over itself by now and you are back to usual posting frequency!!

>10 cushlareads: um, I think you just did write a review of Truman! lol
Well done on ending it anyway :)

Nah i mean I'm not going to put it on the book page!

Book 35: Excursion to Tindari by Andrea Camilleri



This is the 5th Inspector Montalbano book and I really enjoyed it. Montalbano is investigating the disappearance of two elderly Vigata residents, and the murder of a 20 year old. They turn out to live in the same building.

This has all the usual things I love about these books - great food, Montalbano's complicated relationship with Livia, and the rest of the police team. Catarella, the dopy Sicilian cop, gets funnier by the book and I had tears rolling down my face at a couple of the stupid things he said in this instalment.

I'm loving this series too. They are broadcasting the Italian TV version (with subtitles) on BBC TV on Saturday nights at present. I've watched all the ones so far, up to as far as I have read; but now I don't know whether to carry on watching the ones I've not yet read the book for. I'd rather read the books first, but it is taking me a while to collect them together either from the library or from my local Oxfam. And I don't know if they will ever show the TV series again. I guess I should forget about the rest of the TV shows, carry on reading and then one day get the box set of DVDs...

I've taken ages to read the books in order too Genny. Which one are you up to? I have August Heat and The Paper Moon here from a book fair but till last week haven't found them in the library at the right time (doh, I could reserve them, but I am so hopeless at reading library books this year that I haven't wanted to go that far). I have #6 here to read in the next few weeks as well. Haven't seen the TV series yet and will wait till I've read the whole lot I think.

I've read up to Rounding the Mark (except I haven't read Excursion to Tindari, but I've seen the TV version of that one and I had the next book in hand so I skipped that one - I've since received a copy for my birthday from my sister, as I had put it on my Amazon wishlist). I had August heat from the library for ages, but had to take it back unread because I hadn't managed to fill in the gaps with earlier ones first. And I've got a copy of The Track of Sand lined up already... So I'm trying to have 'the patience of a spider' which I need to keep an eye out for the next one I'm due to read.

I'm reading another Camilleri too. Himself is about 2 books behind me in the series and the lads have started reading them. The upshot is that we are all talking like Catarella en famille now!

I have read up to The Age of Doubt by Camilleri (thankfully provided by Caro when she visited recently) and it is my favourite ongoing series. Have a lovely weekend Cushla.

Happy Labour weekend Cushla, any family plans? Or just chilling out?

Hi Cushla - I have just seen a tv report on New Zealand - a glider was cruising over NZ and filming. Spectacular views on the New Zealandish Alps - would be great to hike there, I guess.

Tui I am laughing at the thought of you all talking like Catarella. And who knew that there were so many books in the series?? Not me! I didn't realise he's up to 18 books (looks like the last 3 are not translated). You guys are all far ahead of me.

Paul there is some great hiking here! Not that I have done much of it.

Megan, I had a very relaxed Labour weekend but have now realised that exams are next week and am starting to study. Reading time is vanishing, which is a pain because I am in the middle of a superb book - The Gift of Rain. I tried to buy The Garden of Evening Mists on my Kindle after Donna and Bonnie and many others loved it so much, and was quite grumpy when I discovered that it had downloaded Tan Twan Eng's first novel instead - but then I started reading and was hooked at once. I'm 160 pages into it now and am tempted to take it to the kids' swimming lessons instead of my maths readings...

Back later when I have done some work.

Hi Cushla,
I am still reading The Gift of Rain and so far I really enjoy it and The Garden of Evening Mists is on my wishlist.

Don't work to hard :)

Hi Bianca,

How cool that we are reading the same book - I really like it when that happens by accident. I am nearly halfway through and going to stop studying soon and read a bit more... have a feeling it's about to get grimmer.

I can't get The Garden of Evening Mists on my Kindle at all and might end up buying it.

Eeeeeeeee!! I just bought the brand new C J Sansom on my Kindle - Dominion. It's set in the UK in 1952 after Hitler won the war (oh, it's going to be such a happy book...). Now I just have to get rid of my 3 exams next week and the one after.

1952? What happened to Shardlake?! I'm still in Tudor time having read only two.

Me too, Laura. I think you're right, Cush: a barrel of laughs.

I love the Montalbano series, Cushla. And since I started watching the DVDs as well, I'm hooked on those as well. If you haven't yet, I recommend you getting your hands on the tv series.

I've barely begun the Montalbano series but have The Terracotta Dog checked out from the library for sometime soon. You have me wanting to get my hands on The Gift of Rain!

I did a double take trying to picture Shardlake in 1952--but I suppose it's a different series, right? Does that mean no more Shardlake books? ( :( )

I don't know if he's finished with Shardlake but this is definitely not him! I read the first 5% last night before I noticed but am putting it aside till exams and The Gift of Rain are finished.

Laura I've read 3 and have Heartstone here but haven't read it yet. Soon! I really hope he doesn't retire Shardlake. He's written Winter in Madrid too, which is also here somewhere.

Caroline, I have heard great things about the TV series and might look in the library to see if they have them. I watchalmost no TV though so we'll see... I usually use evenings for reading or (this year) doing school work.

Anne, am pretty sure you'll love the gift of Rain - at this rate it's heading for my top 5 of 2012. I have 140 pages left.

Right, it is 7.10 on Saturday morning and I am about to go and do some exam study and design a fake stats lesson.

Good luck for the exams. I really enjoyed CJ Sansom's WWII book Winter in Madrid and this new one as an alternate history sounds interesting.

33 > Eeeeeek indeed its called enabling - having run off to BD I know want Dominion dam it all its only available in hardback after all its book release season ...... hmmmm

Yep it was $33 on Book Depository Alex! Maybe the library has got it? (hmmmm... should have looked there before I hit the Kindle button.)

I put The Garden of Evening Mists on hold when it was on the Booker shortlist, and am now reading it. After 30 pages I was about ready to dump it, but all of a sudden I am right into it. It s lovely. Im sad for it that it didnt win the Booker. I hope you can get to it some day too.

How exciting to hear about C J Sansom's new book. I'm glad he's trying something different. I enjoy Shardlake but don't want Sansom to get stuck in one particular mode. I have Winter in Madrid on the TBR pile. (I love the fact that the predictive text on my smartphone now recognises 'TBR' as one of my commonly used words! It is also gradually learning all the usernames of 75ers.)

42> I have a small theory that booker finalists books are better than those which have won ( now I have written that I expect it to be flamed)

I have only read the first book by C J Sansom and I very much enjoyed that one. Maybe I should go back to read the other ones as well. I am still reading The Gift of Rain and so far I am enjoying it. I had put in on hold for some time, but now I am back to reading it.
Wünsche Dir ein schönes Wochenende Cushla :)

#33 I saw Dominion but restrained myself - I still haven't read Winter in Madrid yet. I think I saw an interview with Sansom saying that he'd planned more Shardlake books possibly taking him into Elizabeth's reign?

#42 Megan, I will be reading The Garden of Evening Mists soon. I loved Bring up the Bodies so wasn't sad that it won, but I might be sad once I've read TGOEM, if it's as good as The Gift of Rain.

Alex, interesting idea! The Gift of Rain was longlisted in 2007 so now I'm looking at what won and I find it's The Gathering, which I'm not even tempted to try after the reactions of many LT friends. Out of the shortlist, the only one I've read is The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which I loved, and the other LL book I've read from that year is The Welsh Girl which had a promising theme (for me anyway) but I found disappointing.

Genny that's funny about your phone recognising TBR - my el cheapo one is very slow to adapt to new words and has only just worked out "Cushla" instead of suggesting I sign off as "Burgla".

Bianca, the 3rd Shardlake book is my favourite so far. I hope Heather's right and he's going to keep going till he's a very old investigator!



The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng - 5 stars

I've just finished The Gift of Rain and it's my first 5 star book since July (the last one was Half of a Yellow Sun). For anyone not paying careful attention to my mutterings upthread, it is an accident that I read this book - I thought I had downloaded The Garden of Evening Mists to my Kindle and was less than thrilled to find it was The Gift of Rain because I'd never heard of it and you all have been raving about TGOEM!

This is the story of Phillip Hutton and his family. Hutton is an old man living in Georgetown, Penang, in what is now Malaysia. Most of the book is set just before and during World War 2, when the Japanese invaded and occupied Malaya. Phillip's family has been in Malaya for two generations, owning one of the most successful trading companies. Phillip is half-Chinese, half-English - his father Noel remarried a Chinese woman, who died when Phillip was a little boy. He has 3 older siblings who are very British, and Phillip never really feels part of the family as a child. His life changes when he and Mr Endo, a Japanese civil servant and aikido master, become friends.

It's beautifully written and will make you think. Highly recommended. But have a hanky nearby... Some reviewers thought the characters were distant, but I didn't think so - there are tons of characters but they all have distinct voices.

My next book will be fluffier! (That rules out Dominion...)

HI Cushla,
great review on The Gift of Rain I am still on it. Due to my workoverload I had to put it aside inbetween as I felt it deserves more than a quick read. However, I feel the same as you and I needed the tissue box as well.
Have a great weekend Cushla!

Wow, I have no idea how I got so far behind here Cushla but 5 stars for The Gift of Rain has it no firmly on my teetering tower. I loved The Garden of Evening Mists but actually rated Bring Up the Bodies slightly ahead for the Booker and well, I think you know who won;-)

A new Sansom that's not about Matthew Shardlake? Oh my! I still have to read Revelation and Heartstone and hope to get the first one in before the end of the year. Where did this year go?

And finally, I must start the Camilleri series! I have the first one and one further along so I hope to jump in any time now.

I'm so glad The Gift of Rain was a five star read for you Cushla. I have that one sitting unread on my shelves. Always nice to know I have something to look forward to.

Burgla is a great alternative name, Cushla! I get some very funny ones coming up on the phone, I am tempted to leave them there sometimes, but it would not be obvious where they came from.

Still using a phone where the person has to tell me who they are. Works beautifully.

hooray for a 5 star read, Ill probably read it too one day. I am loving The Garden of Evening Mists. He writes beautifully.

Cushla
Many thanks for your excellent review of The Gift of Rain. I visited my local library last Friday and saw this book, had it in my hands and then put it back on the shelf. After reading your comments, I'm prompted to go back and get the book.

For some reason I have a massive amount of pride in seeing your 5 star review of The Gift of Rain - guess I am custodially proud of my adopted homeland and want you all to know about and love it as much as I do. Great review and I am looking forward to the book myself.

>55 PaulCranswick: you should see my review of his most recent then Paul. :) Needless to say, it is favourable.

Hello everyone! OK, 5 days away from my own thread - real life is getting in the way of LT. I've done 2 exams, have one left but not till Tuesday and I have a job interview next week for a job that I really really want.

Paul, I'm not kidding about wanting to visit Malaysia and I'm not surprised you're proud of your new country - the book made the country sound gorgeous and the cultures fascinating. I had quite a few Malaysian Chinese friends at uni but have lost touch with them so I vaguely remember bits of geography from them.

Pat, Linda and Bonnie, I really hope you love it too! I think you all will though.

Bianca, I hope your workload is easing - I don't know how you handle the pressure with neonatal babies.

Tui has the sun come out yet? Is your garden ok?

I've been reading next to nothing this week but have picked on the 6th Montalbano book The Smell of the Night for a quick read - it's good but so far a bit less good than usual. Montalbano does something I don't like. (No, not what you are thinking if you have read the first few!) I hope he redeems himself later on. And I've bought Team of Rivals for my Kindle and am going to do the group read. After Tuesday and then the interview I'm going to have a few weeks with no work, and then the run-up to December is busy but should still be less intense than most of this year - just 7000 words of writing but that's ok. So I'm looking forward to a good hour or two of reading a day.

Hope you all have great weekends and I will try to do some catching up on threads soon.

Oooh, fingers crossed on the job interview, although it sounds like it's at least a few days away. Have a wonderful weekend.

Sending good wishes in advance for that job interview!

Thanks Anne and Genny!

Good luck for your job interview Cushla - exciting times!

All fingers and toes crossed for your interview!

Alana and Laura, thanks - I think it'll be on Wednesday. Alana, I'm PMing you the school name now on the offchance that you went there and have some scoop for me that might come in handy!

cross my fingers for you on Wednesday ......

Good luck!

Good luck on the interview!

Woot, and good luck Cushla!!

Best of luck with getting the job you want Cushla. You sound awfully busy these days.

Thanks Roni, Bonnie (you rhyme), Pat, Alex and Lisa. Pat, yes you're right - today I've managed a violin lesson with Teresa, a trip to the Teachers' College library, then a group violin lesson with both kids this afternoon, and tonight we're out to a 40th. Tomorrow I have a friend doing a mock interview with me and am spending the rest of the day studying. I'm looking forward to some time to myself towards the end of next week when the kids are at school and I have a break from study for 10 days.

OK, back to summarizing maths things...

Good to have a friend who will do a mock interview with you. I hope that's helpful as you prepare.

>57 cushlareads:: good luck with the interview AND the exam, Cush! Full confidence in you that you'll ace both.

The sun just came out for the first time in 17 days--it just went grey again but that glimpse gives hope! It snowed here yesterday but nothing stayed, just those little inconsequential flakes that fly about.

Adding my own positive vibes for your coming interview Cushla. Hope the impending event does not get in the way of enjoying your Sunday.

Good luck to you, Cushla, for your job interview -- I'll be thinking of you!

...interview...exam...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...later today...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I'm shvitzing from the stress already, he said, channeling his inner old Jewish uncle.

Thanks awfully for stopping by my thread to help celebrate my return to civilized life! A week in the 19th century might be good for the soul, but it stinks for the body.

Literally.

*good-luck whammy*

>69 cushlareads: I hope the summarizing maths things went well *tries not to laugh*
Sorry, I couldnt resist, I am actually quite fond of maths, I like the clear cut, only one answer way it has.

Sounds like a busy time for you! I hope your interview goes super duper uber well, and you ace it with your charm wit and superior intelligence. I think you will, and if you dont get it its only cos the other applicant slept with the interviewer.

Thaks Genny, Anne, Paul, Tui, Richard and Megan. Exams done, interview in 3 hours and I am trying to watch the start of the US election coverage on about 4 websites instead of prepping for the interview!

Got a book finished - The Smell of the Night - meh. Only 3 stars for this Inspector Montalbano book for me. I think if I'd read some Faulkner it would have helped.

Megan I will remember what you said this afternoon and try not to laugh!!!

57: I have a job interview next week for a job that I really really want.
Oooh, exciting!
76: interview in 3 hours
Yikes, 2 hours now. I hope it goes well!

One hour now! And am sitting here looking at Ohio exit polls. And pacing for both reasons!

I'm pacing, too, and happy to distract myself from the election by sending good thoughts your way!

78: Ohio will be awhile. Ignore it until your interview is done.

Thanks Anne!

And now hopefully you have good news from your interview to go along with the good news from the US!

I hope you are drinking a glass of wine (or similar beverage) by now and reflecting upon a good interview!

I'm also hoping it went well.

I think it went well but no news yet (which could be bad news - but I don't know!!!!). Don't know how many I'm up against. Should hear in the next few days but the longer I don't hear the less likely I got it I reckon.

Am stoked about the US election result!! Katherine, Ohio got called just as I was marching the kids out the door to karate. Tim and I wheeled out the voting/democracy/election speech to the kids at dinner and we all watched Romney concede (and had to explain to the kids that he was not a bad man, just that we didn't agree with his ideas about the world. Life is so black and white when you're 5!)

Tomorrow I have plans to do lots of Team of Rivals reading - I started off finding her style far too gushy but am really enjoying it now. Still, 800 pages to go...

Hoping you hear soon re the job and that it's good news....

Crossed fingers about the job.

Really pulling for you to get the job. Happy the younger set were interested enough to ask if Romney is a bad man! (Actually, he is...vulture capitalist who exports US jobs to China for higher profits...but that's so over a 5yr old's head.)

Thanks Richard and yes it is cool that they are interested. But I really am trying to avoid labelling the people instead of their ideas - I think it's one of the reasons politics in the US has got so toxic. It's very hard to have a civil conversation about what should be done once you go down that track. We had a discussion about Hitler and Stalin last night (Stalin is new to them, Hitler they got a bit of especially when we were in Europe) and how very few people are really bad or evil (the kids' favourite word!). I can't stand our current Prime Minister here but would never dream of saying that he's bad. A dick, yes, has some policies that I really disagree with, has made some bad decisions, but bad, no. (Richard I know you and quite a few others are going to disagree with me on this one but I didn't want to say nothing either!!)

Right I am going back to Team of Rivals. Trying to keep busy and not sit around near the phone.

Weeelll...I fear I am just more of a Manichaean than you are, though I wish I could be less so. Badness simply *is* and some people have it in them the way there's juice in a grape. You can make innocuous breakfast drink, heady wine, or wicked brandy out of the same fruit...it's what you do with what you're given that counts.

But it's still there....

Sending all good thoughts to you in the hope that the job is yours!

Thanks Linda! No news now - probably didn't get it. Oh well.

Richard, I'm glad you weren't offended and yes I think we probably just differ in outlook - I agree with the last bit you said about it's what we do with ourselves that counts.

Am off to NOT sit near the phone waiting for it to ring!

Just checking in to see if you have news. Still thinking of you!

I'm also checking in to see if there's job news, fingers still crossed for you Cushla

Nope, silence! Mind you it is 6 am... Pretty sure I'll hear today that I didn't get it. Gorgeous day here so which will make it a bit better!

>95 cushlareads: Hoping you're wrong, except about the beautiful day.

Love your explaining of things to the kids Cushla. It is hard to keep it simple enough for them to understand, yet do justice to the theme.

I agree with you on our Prime Minister being a dick. How was his call on referring to someones "gay jacket"? I hate that way of using that word. It pisses me off and I tell people not to say it if they say it in front of me, I get mocked for being prissy or whatever they think I am, but its just not nice.

Lovely day here too, gearing up now for Lennys sleep, and as Husband Person is home for the day, we are planning on having a wee snooze together. And by that a really mean snooze. Exhaustion wins every time unfortunately :)

Megan exhaustion is awful - I hope your snooze was nice!!!

Yeah the red shirt thing - I had an outbreak of Facebook lurkers when I posted about it when he said it. Unbelievable. Am wearing my gay red shirt today. It's not about being prissy, it's about knowing that language can make a big difference to people.

I took the kids down to soccer before and just as the game was about to start the head of maths rang to offer me the job. I am over the moon!!!!!!! (and about to open a bottle of wine to celebrate). Two very long days of waiting are over! Thanks to everyone who has sent me good wishes - it was lovely knowing you were all out there.

Congratulations! I know you will do wonderfully! How exciting! Woo hoo!

Wonderful news, congratulations Cushla!! Enjoy that wine!

Yay! Good for you Cushla!

Congratulations!

Hooray for Cushla!!! You've worked so hard to get here. Well done.

98: Oh how excellent! Congratulations!

Congratulations, Cushla. A weight off your mind, I'm sure.

Cushla! How outstandingly smart of them! They realized they need you.

I am very happy for you.

Congratulations!

HI Cushla, 50+ posts behind. Nevermind - Congrats to you on the great news on the job front. Wish you good luck in your new job. I don't know if I missed it somewhere? But which age group will you be teaching in your new job?

*job-offer happy dance*
Fantastic news Cushla, well done!

Congratulations from me as well!

congratulations!!! I am so happy for you!!! The job market is so hard at the moment so you must be thrilled.

re: John Key
yeah I agree he's a bit of a dick. And his excuse about the 'gay' shirt comment "I picked the phrase up from my kids" well I remember the things I used to say as a teen and my mother constantly correcting me and telling me "I don't like it when you speak like that". Thank you Mum!! I can't imagine what it would have been like if instead of correcting me she joined in!! *shudder*

Thanks Roni, Bonnie, Megan, Richard, Rhian, Bianca, Lisa, Katherine, Laura, Luci, Alana, Kerry and Kerry - I woke up at 4 am feeling very happy! I start teaching there in February when school goes back, but am going in to help out with exam revision next week. The sooner I start to feel at home in the school the better.

Bianca, I'm going to be teaching high school maths.

Lisa - yes - exactly what you said about your Mum telling you what not to say. And yes also about the teaching job market being rubbish at the moment! i'm so lucky to have got not just a job but a job I really wanted.

Have had a very good morning because this weekend is Wellington's HUGE charity bookfair. If I go back this afternoon for a second look I'll take a picture or two. I took Teresa and she filled up a big bag of kids' books and helped me hunt for Virago Modern Classics. I came home with her bag of books and a big haul for me:

7 VMCs (and some accidental doubles which I will donate back to next year's fair!) :
The Dark Tide by Vera Brittain - overjoyed about finding this because I loved Testament of Youth
Jenny Wren by E.H. Young
Sleepless Nights by Elizabeth Hardwick
Winged Seeds by Katherine Susannah Prichard
A Woman of My Age by Nina Bawden
The Sheltered Life by Ellen Glasgow
In the Last Analysis by Amanda Cross (Virago Crime - never hear of her but Teresa grabbed it)

and these other books, all of which I grabbed because of raves from LT friends (I can't remember who exactly but I am going to spend the afternoon on here finding out! )

Old Filth by Jane Gardam
Mr Rosenblum's List by Natasha Solomons
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie
Mudbound by Hilary Jordan
Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni

Any urgings about what I should read first are most welcome. I'm thinking I need a bit of a plan to make a dent in the new books flooding into the house. But this weekend I'm focusing on Team of Rivals to make more of a dent in it - it's very good but it is tempting to pick up one of these new ones!

Oh, and I've just clicked! I was right beside you briefly at one of the general fiction tables (I glanced up at the enthusiastic little cutie who was grabbing at all sorts of books - Teresa seems like a great helper/enabler), then again at the checkout! It was bugging me because I thought I recognised you but at the time couldn't work out why - it was your photos from Europe.

That's a great haul! I've never made it along to any bookfair before so I had a great time this morning. Just off to catalogue my own shopping :-)

You're kidding!!!! Ahead of me or behind me? That's so funny. And yes Teresa was in fine form (and was rewarded with a $3.50 bag of chippies afterwards from the coffee place outside).

Wonderful, wonderful news on the job Cushla, CONGRATULATIONS! Nice to see that you celebrated in exactly the right manner too. I am sure that I am on very safe ground in offering you wishes for a lovely weekend.

Oh no- so close to an LT meetup- yet so far.
Classic run in there guys!

Cushla, I have not heard of a single one of your books! So you can feel free to choose any of them to read first and I wont feel slighted. I guess that means you can cross me off your detectives list for who recommended which one. :)

Lol so close, yet so far indeed. Cushla, in the line for the checkouts I was several people behind you, but ended up at the checkout on your right while you were still bagging up your loot, and at the fiction table I was between you and Teresa at one point I think :-)

Have to admit I haven't heard of any of your books either, except for Mudbound which I read last year.

Great book haul. I've read The thing around your neck and Mr Rosenblum's List and enjoyed both, for entertainment value I give the edge to Mr Rosenblum.

Paul, thanks!
Megan, it often amazes me how I can have tons of overlap in reading taste with friends on here yet still never have heard of lots of their books. I'll do my best to whack some of these onto your library list.

Alana that's so funny. Have you catalogued your books yet?

Kerry, I'm looking forward to both of those!

Yip books catalogued and shelved - it just got alot harder to find spare space, the list is on my thread.

Old Filth! Or, if something lighter is desired, In the Last Analysis...I love Amanda Cross's sleuth, Kate Fansler, and this is her first outing.

Oh wow, Cushla, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I am so excited and happy for you, and they are so, so lucky to have you!!

Congratulations!

That's a great book haul! I've had The Dark Tide and A Woman of my Age on my Wishlist for ever.

Cushla, I first brought out the happy dance when Kath got her job, then again on my own thread when Obama won, and now, I feel I can gift it to you on account of your job offer!



I hope to be hit with multiple book bullets from your most recent acquisitions.

Cushla, I'm so pleased about your job offer. When I saw so many new posts on here since my last visit, I was hoping that meant good news, but it could equally have meant lots of commiserations. It seems like no time at all since you told us your plan to retrain as a maths teacher -and now you have a job lined up! (I'm sure it doesn't seen like no time to you, as it's been a lot of hard study and work experience, I know...)

Congratulations on the job offer and the book haul! :-) Both very good things (I've heard of a few of your books but not read any - all sound very good from what I have heard).

Thanks Anne, Megan, Linda, Genny and Heather - Linda and Megan extra thanks for the movies!!

Richard I started Old Filth on your advice while the Kindle was charging and think I'm going to enjoy it very much. But now, back to Team of Rivals... I want to get through a chunk of it today. It's only 7.30 am so I like my chances too!

One day soon I must write the review for Old Filth. It was a memorable, marvelous read for me.

Have wishlisted Old Filth on my library account. Looks a goodie- and no reviews needed! Just a nod, and Im there. :)

Megan I hope you like it and find it there soon.

Have had a LOVELY morning going back to the book fair, without a child "helper" this time, followed by breakfast at Mojo afterwards while I surveyed my loot. Today's haul:
Another 7 VMCs, all in good to great condition:
The Golden Arrow by Mary Webb
Seven for a Secret by Mary Webb
The Misses Mallett by E.H. Young
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
This Real Night by Rebecca West
Christopher and columbus by Elizabeth von Armin
and Trooper to the Southern Cross by Angela Thirkell.

and the rest:
Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst
And then you die by Michael Dibdin (I own a few of these now but still need to read the first one)
Ah, but your land is beautiful by Alan Paton
Julian by Gore Vidal
Berlin Poplars by Anne Ragde (looked good, never heard of it or her)
A Legacy by Sybille Bedford (another Virago author)
The garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani (heard of on here but can't remember if people loved it or loathed it!)
When the tree sings by Stratis Haviaras - about Greece during the German occupation, and rated by one person on LT, so who knows...

I feel the need for a plan coming over me. And I'm not going near the library for ages! (and now back to Lincoln and the other 3).

Another good haul, my daughter studied the Bassani at university but I can't remember for which paper. She recommended it to me and it still sits on the shelf unread.

Wow, nice haul indeed!

Cushla interesting picks. On Dibdin; I like his Zen series which gets around the country of Italy as his protaganist gets transferred. I do find that they are not all written in the same tone with some lighter than the rest and some of them genuinely top notch whilst some of them fall flatter.

Quelle haul! So many good'uns. Berlin Poplars? Anne Ragde? Huh, he asked, mouth agape and drool in beard?

I love Elizabeth von Arnim's writing. I haven't read Christopher and Columbus, but I suspect it won't be anything other than pleasurable. She was a very even writer.

Another Elizabeth von Arnim fan here too. I've only read two of her books so far but I loved both of them and I must read more.

Great haul of VMCs there! I read Berlin Poplars earlier this year, someone had recommended it, can't remember who. It was good dark Scandinavian family dynamics stuff.

Congrats on the new job!! :)

Congratulations on your new position and the book haul, Cushla!

Nice book haul Cushla! I'd read Mudbound if I were you, right after Old Filth. I loved both of them.

Re Old Filth - am I hallucinating? A book both Richard and I like!

It was a long time ago but I loved A Legacy when I read it.

I'm impressed by the Vera Brittain find because her novels are rarer finds among VMCs. It has to be said that the one I've read recently enough to remember is neither very good or very nice - it's a story of two women who meet at university and the characters are suggested to be based on herself and Holtby, and it doesn't make you like her very much. I've had Honourable Estate out of the library for years, I should probably read and return it.

Big congratulations on getting the job you wanted, Cushla! And how great you get to celebrate with a book sale. I'm also hoping to spend some time on Team of Rivals today.

I cant believe it, but I dont recognise a book from your latest haul either! (authors Vidal and Shirley Hazzard yes, but books, no!)

But I have to say, your morning at the book fair followed by a leisurely breakfast to survey your loot....now that just sounds like a thoroughly fantastic morning. Good on you.

And, good luck staying away from the library. Soon your latest haul will start to look familiar, and you'll just be walking past the library, and pop in, and before you know it you'll have an arm full :) You know its true.

Luci? YOU liked Old Filth too?!

*faints*

Fly by visit ........ CONGRATS on the job !!!!!!!!

I'll second Mudbound.

Jane Gardam has been one of my favourite writers for more than 30 years, since I first read A Long Way from Verona.

OK I am 15 messages behind on my own thread again. And in real life, I am STILL reading Team of Rivals and will be for some time. I'm really enjoying it after initially not wanting to read it because of Doris Kearns Goodwin's plagiarism - but I have got over that now and am finding the book as giood as Truman was, maybe better. It helps that it's about Lincoln and 3 others (Chase, Seward and Bates, none of whom I had ever heard of) because it's giving me a better picture of the 1850s political scene than a straight bio of Lincoln would have. Pat, I hope you're enjoying it too (if I had caught up on your thread I might know!).

Megan I'll have you know it is Wednesday morning and I have not felt like going to the library for THREE DAYS! That has to be a record for this year when I've had time off lectures.

Pat, Chelle, Darryl and Alex, thanks for the congratulations. Reality will hit in January!

Paul, I really have to get the first Dibdin because I like to go in order. Good to know you like most of them and I look forward to a mini-tour of Italy.

Richard, do you mean you have heard of Anne Ragde? Did you not like it or love it? OK now I have to read that one soon! I've read 2 von Arnims and liked one the first garden one and really didn't like the second much (the second garden one). But it might have been the mood I was in - I think it was all the servants at her disposal and the "to the manor born" attitude that bugged me.

Kerry, I'm happy that your daughter liked the Garden of the FCs!

Bonnie and Genny, Mudbound rec noted...aaagh when am I going to read everything? Megan is so right - I will be back in the library - but not yet! There are still books all round the living room, as well as the usual kid-debris.

Luci and Richard I'm laughing at your almost non-overlapping Venn diagram. I hadn't realised! (Sorry maths joke.) Old filth has got to be great then and when I finish TOR I'll get to find out for myself. And Luci I'm pretty sure i put back A Long Way from Verona on Sunday - there were 2 or 3 more books by Jane Gardam but I was trying to restrain myself. (I failed miserably but it was fun.)

Right I am off here to finish the school lunch making.

It's true, Luci and I diverge widely in our reading, but now there's Jane Gardam!

Anne Ragde is known to people I know. I'm always amazed at how widely her book has circulated in English.

A Long Way from Verona was originally published as a children's/YA novel but has been reissued, alongside Bilgewater and The Summer After the Funeral in an Abacus edition which matched her grown up books.

Ok I am joining the Jane Gardam love-fest. I finished Old Filth last night and gave it 4 1/2 stars. It'll probably be in my top 10 for 2012 (so much easier to choose 10 from my 38 books to date than nearly 75 in the last few years!)



This book has had lots of positive reviews on LT and kept turning up on threads i follow, but I was put off this book by its name till I realised that Old Filth is the main character's nickname - "Failed in London try Hong Kong". Edward Feathers is a retired judge who was born in Malaya to a British Army officer father and a mother who died in childbirth. At the age of 4 he gets shipped back to England to grow up as a "Raj orphan". This is the story of his long life, which outwardly looked uneventful to those who knew him in his 80s, but was anything but. It is very moving, sad and very funny too. I especially loved the description of Filth driving on the motorway with all the trucks.

I found out on here when I'd finished it that Gardam has written a book from his wife Betty's perspective - The Man in the Wooden Hat. I can see that Caro didn't like it as much as Old Filth but I still want to read it. And it's available in both Karori and the central library! (See, Megan, it took me ONE WEEK to need to go to the library. Hmmm. You told me so?!)

Am still reading Team of Rivals but couldn't put down Old Filth so I am going slowly. I've also started The Wall of the Plague by Andre Brink, which I found in a second hand book shop a few weeks ago, and am having trouble putting that down too! My favourite podcast, Slate's Political Gabfest, is doing a slot in next week's podcast on the new movie about Lincoln that is based on Team of Rivals, so I want to try to get it finished this week. The movie doesn't open in Nz till the end of January.

I must read Old Filth, I've only read her Bilgewater and really liked it. I have OF and A Long Way from Verona plus a few more on Mt tbr as I've been collecting them at various book fairs. Maybe I'll do a mini-author focus on Gardam as well as Beryl Bainbridge next year.

Good luck with the Team of Rivals read, I've been following the discussions on the group read page and that's proving to be enough for me!

I also have an (unread) copy of Old Filth, purchased after reading a glowing review by Bonnie if I remember correctly. Your comments, of course, make me want to set everything else aside and start it now. Unfortunately, I already have several books going including Team of Rivals which will probably take me another month to finish at the rate I'm going!

#152 Kerry, I have stopped posting on the TOR group read thread because the discussions were really putting me off saying anything, not that anything said was directed at me in any way, but usually on LT I feel like I can saw what I want without having my words picked over. So I'm back to just saying things on my own thread without feeling like I have to think them through very well!

Pat, I think TOR will speed up as we get farther through - at least that's what I found with Truman where I read the second half of the book much more quickly than the first. I'm only 200 pages in but am really enjoying it - I just need to mix it up a bit with other things.

Cushla, I agree with your reaction to the Team of Rivals group read so far. It's been interesting but seems to have become mostly a discussion of Doris Kearns Goodwin's faults and a contemporary book on the American South that hardly anyone has read. For the most part, I am just lurking on the thread. I'm only at about page 130 and probably need a little more traction to really get absorbed in it.

What a great haul of books!

Hi cushla, thought I should visit you here seeing as we are talking on Kerrys thread anyway....:)
Having a Lindeau and Peach Schnapps to take the edge off a cranky kids day. It is working very well, too well! We have dumplings in the pan ready to go, and it should be a good countdown to the kids bedtime. Phew!

Hi Pat and Linda! Linda, yes the book sale is a happy occasion and I have almost put everything I bought onto a shelf.

Pat, for me it has got better the further into it I've got because it feels like I know the characters more. Having said that I have read 0 pages today of it.

Megan I don't do spirits but wine works just as well for me! Peach schnapps would have me under the table way too quickly. Weekends are so nice. We went out for sushi earlier and I've spent the afternoon doing very little,but also getting no book read. Am out to a fundraiser quiz night tonight (so drinking water because I'm driving) - even though the kids are pretty good these days it is still nice to escape bath and bedtime occasionally!

The schnapps is only 14%, and does make a glass of bubble all the more tasty...I envy you on quiz night.
Its one of my "38 things to do before I turn 38", organise a team and get in a pub quiz. I aim to win, as I have won exactly half of the quizzes I have been in so far.
One.
We won 4 tickets on a harbour cruise from Akaroa, but since my lovely other is not fond of boats, we exchanged it with 2nd or 3rd place getters, and got 5 dvd hires from the video shop. Not ideal as it turned out! We gave them away.

The People on Privilege Hill is a collection of short stories, some of which concern Old Filth and his wife. Also recommended.

Hi Cushla, I have set up the first thread for the December Group Read.

A Tale of Two Cities

Looking forward to seeing you over there.

Hi Cushla, just wanted to wish you and your crew a terrific weekend :)

Hehe Ich wünsche Dir und Deiner Rasselbande ein wunderschönes Wochenende *grin*

I probably will join you on the above mentioned group read in December.

Hi Bianca - you've prompted me to return to my thread! I am sporadically writing my last big essay for this year, due in 10 days, and the kids are being very high maintenance so I'm not getting much done. Rasselbande ist mein neues Wort fuer huete - danke!

Luci thanks for the rec of the other Gardam book.

Megan that's a pretty cool first prize for a quiz. I'm not a massive boat fan either though - I spend lots of time looking at the horizon!

Judy I have got ATOTC loaded onto my Kindle and hope to start it soon.

Am still reading Team of Rivals and picking up steam finally - am nearly halfway through. I've just read a whole chunk about the primary process and the Republican convention where Lincoln was 2nd pick for several factions and there was huge uncertainty right up to the last minute about who'd get the nomination - I don't know if that's happened since then. I love following the US primaries (and the rest of American politics) because they are unlike anything in NZ or UK politics where there's much less direct voting on the party leader, but still plenty of blood-letting... it's just done a little less openly.

Cushla, James A. Garfield was the same sort of pick, and so was Warren G. Harding...no one's first choice, but a lot of folks' second. In the modern era, from ~1948, I think it's been unheard of.

Interesting - I know nothing about either of those. I'm officially doing the US Presidential Challenge on here, but my pace is glacial. I am going to count TOR for Lincoln though.

HI cushla, glad to hear that I prompted you to return to your thread and I wish you good luck with your essay *fingers crossed*.

Ausserdem Dankeschön für Deine netten Worte für meine kleine Schwester! Thank you very much.

BTW. I told Nathalie already, I started to learn French and made myself already the laughing stock. It doesn't matter what language I try to speak, I always have got an extremely strong accent - and I mean strong - So, when I practiced with my son and his friend vocabulary for their test, they eventually were howling with laughter. *grin* However, despite that I learned the vocabulary much faster then they did, but they only shrugged and told me that's because I am "much" older than them *large grin*

Bianca I vanished again - I had a 5000 word essay to get in today. One left for the year by next Tuesday and I cannot wait.

That is so cool how you're learning French. I bet you're not that bad and are continuing to kick your son's a*s at the vocab. I learnt Chinese (Mandarin) in the 1990s and my father-in-law couldn't understand much of what I said (my mother-in-law was much politer about it and pretended!) - it was so hard for me because of the tones, worse by miles than other languages. But it was still fun!

Am reading Team of Rivals and enjoying it, but she really could have done with an editor. Am stalled on the Wall of the Plague, and about to start a Tale of Two Cities. Too many tomes!

Ich verstehe nichts!

Congratulations on the job--I don't think I've been over here (at least to post) since that good news.
I am glad you are enjoying Team of Rivals even if it is slow, as I have that one in line for next year--and Truman too.
I enjoyed Old Filth also and meant to read The Man in the Wooden Hat right after, but I had to return it to the library before I got to it.

Enormous catch up here! You know I have already congratulated you elsewhere but it bears repeating: well done about the job! What an enormous relief to be finished with the studying/exams and to have come out the other side into employment. Very happy for you, Cush.

Another Gardam fan here. I really loved Old Filth. Crusoe's Daughter is on the way to me to go under the tree...yes, I have to buy my own Christmas books. Himself just has no idea any more, post LT.

Well done on getting the penultimate essay done, and good luck with the last one - I sympathise re struggling to meet deadlines and longing to get things out of the way.

Deadlines at this time of year? Dont they know its busy enough already?
Good luck :)

I'm reading A Tale of Two Cities too Cushla and quite enjoying it but fortunately I finished TOR so I don't have that hanging over my head. Not sure how you write papers, start a new job, run a household and read two books like that. Wow!

Roni, ha ha, es gibt kein Deutsch zu verstehen!!

Anne, thanks for visiting - I am guessing both of us will be having slow reading years next year. I have The Man in the Wooden Hat out of the library at the moment but we'll see if I get it read in time. I've read 80 pages of it so far in a blink - it is just so readable, and really funny reading the other side of the marriage.

I recommend putting more gap between Truman and Team of Rivals than I have. I am finally picking up the pace on TOR and have read a whole 30 pages so far today, and have hit the magic 500 page mark. 250 left. (It is a bad habit of mine that I always count what's left no matter how awesome the book.) Lincoln has just issued his emancipation proclamation and I am loving learning about the civil war - I haven't read much on the period at all till now. I commented to my husband yesterday that it has taken 450 pages for the book really get going! She could have done with a better editor IMHO - I have read how beautiful Kate Chase (the unfortunately named Salmon Chase's daughter) was AT LEAST 5 times in the last week.

Thanks Tui, Genny and Megan for your good wishes. Megan, I know, it is painful that the course goes so late and I am over it - but it is just 2000 words left. I should be able to crank it out in a day if I get going. It's on an ethical dilemma so there isn't one right answer and there aren't a whole lot of references to cite either . My last essay had three pages of references... gaaaaaaah.

Bonnie, the answer to your wondering is that the reading is keeping me feeling like I have some relaxation in my life, and the household is functioning but far from clean, and my husband is a very good and apparently rare specimen!

The kids are about to have their first karate grading. I think there might be tears if T forgets her one block... it looks like she is just waving her arms around randomly!

I finished Team of Rivals and I finished my last assignment of the year!! I have lost count but I reckon I have done 10 essays and exams. No exam for this paper so now just 2 days of lectures to sit in and an end of course BBQ.

TOR gets 3 little stars from me. Review coming once I have got the kids up and to school. Not going on my top books of the year list, that's for sure!

The book wore me down like jeweler's rouge. Grit grit grit, fact fact fact, oh please SAY SOMETHING don't just report!!

Sounds like you have a more relaxing time ahead of you this week.

Cushla, I got a kick out of "too many tomes". I feel that way too.

Congratulations on finishing ToR and finishing your last assignment of the year. Enjoy that end of course BBQ!

I'll look forward to reading your review of ToR when you get to it. I'm still somewhere in the 200s, though closing in on 300. I am enjoying it much more since seeing the movie. I guess I have something to look forward to by the time I get to page 450!

#176 Richard, yes, exactly!

Kerry, I am having a lovely morning off. Last assignment is in the box and I am about to start trying to glue a gingerbread house together with melted sugar... it's a box one.

Pat, it's funny that we are reading the same books. Here's my review. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie too!

Book 39. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. 3 stars


The good: if you don’t know much about the background to the US Civil War, you will by the end of this book. Goodwin describes events in great detail and I now feel equipped to read Battle Cry of Freedom, which I bought years ago and had a go at but got bogged down, and Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War by David Donald, which Becky (labwriter) has recommended. There is lots of great material in this book - American politics in the 1850s and 1860s, changing attitudes to slavery, and the legal issues around secession and the slide into civil war. The book definitely gets better and the last 300 pages verged on gripping in places.

The bad: By choosing to write not just a straight biography of Lincoln, but instead to focus on some of his cabinet, we get to read the early lives of Chase (Treasury secretary), Bates (um... I forget), and Seward (secretary of state), as well as their every waking thought. These three guys were also in line to run for President in 1861. I could have done without much of this, or at least some heavy editing. Then Stanton (secretary of war) and Welles (secretary of the navy) get chucked into the mix later in the book. Others aren’t in it at all – I kept wondering what the VP, Hamlin, spent his time doing. Although I felt like Goodwin did a great job at making the characters distinct, there was so much repetition. Yes, I got it that Chase was desperate to be President until he ended up as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Yes, I got it that Seward and Lincoln started off as rivals for the Presidency – with Seward the favourite by a mile – and ended up working really well together and becoming very close. And Goodwin treats Kate Chase (Salmon’s daughter) like tabloids today treat Kate Middleton. I didn’t need to know all about her wedding and how long Lincoln stayed at the reception.

Lincoln was obviously an amazing guy but I found myself wanting Goodwin to write something – anything – negative. His ability to lead from the side comes through, as does his integrity most of the time. I’m not sure I’d describe him as a genius based on her book. I like a bit more criticism in my non-fiction. As RD says above, there just isn’t that much analysis in the book and the writing style had me falling asleep. And I’m not afraid of chunky non-fiction. And there wasn’t really that much about the horrific civil war either. Maybe Goodwin felt she wasn’t writing a history of the civil war and too much background would have made it even longer.

if you don’t know much about the background to the US Civil War, you will by the end of this book.

Well that's enough for me to continue reading ToR. I really know very little about this period in history. I've already ordered a copy of the book about Charles Sumner that Becky recommended and I got a copy of Battle Cry of Freedom out of the library without realizing I had put a hold on the illustrated version. It was huge and must have weighed 5 pounds. When I checked the Amazon reviews, they said they removed some of the text to get all the pictures in and as a result it wasn't as good. At some point, I'll try the un-illustrated version because I've heard it's a great book.

Great review, Cushla. I agree about Hannibal Hamlin. It seems like he's just mentioned in passing. Also, Lincoln is made to seem superhuman which I'm sure he wasn't. I'm sure I'll be glad to have read the book but I seriously doubt I'll be reading anything else by Doris Kearns Goodwin unless it's short!

Off to thumb your review. . .

ETA: I guess you haven't posted it yet. I'll check back later.

Pat I've posted it now - I just took out the references to Becky's recommendation and Richard's comments.

You are through the sloggiest bit - it gets better from where you are.

I think the illustrated version of BCOF sounds great even if it weighs a ton. I do like maps in non-fiction, especially military books.

Well, you got your second thumb from me!

If you can get the illustrated version of Battle Cry of Freedom out of the library it would be a good companion book to the non-illustrated version. There are numerous maps and tons of pictures. I don't think there was one page that didn't have some type of illustration on it. But I think it would be impossible to hold that book and read it.

I agree with every word Cushla. I couldn't understand why she didn't fault him for procrastinating about the whole McClellan thing. The war might have been over in a heartbeat without his ineptness but she just reported it with no analysis. Also when he kept Chase hanging around while the man went behind his back, literally stabbing him in the back except Lincoln knew what he was doing. And put up with it. Really he was hardly perfect but Goodwin seems to want to perpetuate the myth. I only gave it 3.3 stars myself.

Thumb!

>179 cushlareads: Duly upgethumbed!

Aw thanks guys! (and Bonnie now you have 7 thumbs!)

Congratulations on finishing your course Cushla, enjoy that well earned BBQ! I think I'll skip ToR, it sounds a little too dry for my taste and some analysis is always nice.

After reading Team of Rivals last year, I now feel able to go watch the "Lincoln" movie over the holidays! (Incidentally, the desperate Mr. Chase is a very distant relative of mine; we're both descended from brothers Moses & Aquila Chase, English emigrants to New England circa 1620s...)

I'm encouraged by yr comments about Tan Twan Eng's "other" novel, although the ideas -- Chinese/Japanese, ethnic uncertainty, wartime in Malaya -- seem to overlap a fair amount with Garden of Evening Mists, so I'm fine waiting to read it until next year. On the other hand, I do have Dominion sitting on my shelf and staring at me. I'm going to try and save it for Xmas, when I'll want something fabulous to read.

Tks for the Xmas card! I'm hoping to send some, but....

Cushla, I think it's great that you stuck it out with Team of Rivals. I plan to see Lincoln, the movie, soon and will skip the book! Yay! For the end of school and a coveted job in your future. Hard work pays off! I look forward to hearing about your adventures in the classroom.

Thanks Alana - yes it feels great to be done!! BBQ is tomorrow.

Suz, that's funny about Chase being one of your relatives. He sounds like he did a very good job running the US Treasury during the Civil War but if I had to choose someone from Lincoln's cabinet to have dinner with it would not be him. (Most of the others would do.) I'm going to try to read The Garden of Evening Mists next year. Glad the card arrived in time - our postal deadlines are so early!

Donna, yep, skip the book... although others have loved it. Yes I am really looking forward to the new job (and am trying to make the most of my LT time for the next few weeks before I vanish again!).

I finished another book... Book 40 is The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam, which as mentioned upthread tells the story of Betty, Edward Feathers' wife.



I gave it 4 stars and found it compulsively readable - 50 pages seemed to race by. Perhaps it was the contrast with TOR... And now I want to re-read Old Filth but it's a bit too soon for that. The reviews for the Man in the Wooden Hat are more mixed than for Old Filth (Caro really didn't like it much, for example). I found part of the book in which SPOILER ALERT we find out why they don't have any kids quite moving, and not often written about. And I really like finding out a bit more about Filth and Veneering near the end of their lives, and who knew what about what.

Highly recommended if you have read Old Filth, otherwise just go and read Old Filth first!

Book 41 is done and dusted - my first ever Dickens novel and it gets (shut your eyes Richard....) FIVE STARS!!! I loved A Tale of Two Cities to the extent of neglecting children and of course housework. Finished it this morning, and if I hadn't been sitting in a doctor's waiting room I'd have been sobbing at the last chapter.

Thank you to Deltaqueen and Heather for organising the group read because without it I would not have picked it up.

Any recs for my next Dickens?



Bonnie, I am going to read your review now.

Wow, 5 stars for A Tale of Two Cities! I read it for the first time a few years ago and it set me on a path of reading all the Dickens novels I've managed to miss. Next Dickens? Hmmm. My personal favorites are Bleak House and David Copperfield, but they are of course both serious tomes. (I'm sticking with A Christmas Carol for the remainder of 2012). I've really been enjoying reading Dickens via audiobook.

I am hoping to get to The Man With the Wooden Hat myself soon. I had it out from the library for a time but I had to return it unread because I had had it way too long.

Christmas carol after all it tis the season .......

#179 Interesting review of Team of Rivals Cushla. I would like to find out more about the background to the American Civil War but I can't decide if Team of Rivals is the book I want to read to do that.

#189 I've heard such good things about Jane Gardam so I'm glad you enjoyed The Man in the Wooden Hat. I definitely want to read Old Filth next year.

#190 "FIVE STARS!!!" Woo hoo!

Next Dickens? Hmm, it's a bit tricky because aToTC is one of his shorter, less verbose novels. Like Anne, Bleak House is one of my favourites, as is David Copperfield. A Christmas Carol is short and seasonal (and I also like it a lot).

What aspects of aToTC did you particularly enjoy?

I've downloaded A Christmas Carol and Martin Chuzzlewit. I feel a Dickens binge coming on!!
Maybe I will go and hunt down Bleak House now... The Kindle makes it so easy. (Don't ask why I picked Martin Chuzzlewit - it was there and it was free, as they all are!)

In between Christmas jobs I started Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz, Geraldine Brooks' husband. I've owned it for a few years and it is a great follow-up to Team of Rivals because I have a lot more context now when he talks about Manassas/Antietam/other battle locations. It's about the mania for things related to the civil war among some Americans, e.g. guys who spend their weekends re-enacting civil war conditions and organisations like the Children of the Confederacy. It's partly creepy, partly very funny.

Heather, I don't know about TOR - it is so much slog that you really need to be in the mood for a book with a lot of description. I do know a lot more than when I started but it was hard work. You might be better off reading a straight bio of Lincoln (without the other cabinet members in there) - there is one by David Donald that has got mostly good reviews over in the US Presidential Challenge group. I have Donald's bio of Charles Sumner on my Kindle and the little I've read of it is much better written than TOR. (I had never heard of Sumner till I started TOR but he was one of the northern senators who was very important in the fight to abolish slavery.)

Edited to answer Heather's question about which bits of ATOTC I enjoyed most.... I'm trying to think - "all of it" is my first reaction! I usually hate coincidences in novels - I remember dinging the very good The Glass Room by a good half star because of something that tied up too many loose ends - and this book is LOADED with coincidences about who knew what. If Dickens told us something, it came up later on in unexpected ways (e.g. Jerry's second occupation). And Sydney Carton happening to be in the right place in the wine shop. And John Barsad being who he turned out to be. But somehow in this book I loved that there were all the coincidences. I know Dickens gets criticized for having one dimensional characters but I felt like they were all vivid and separate (and very very good or very very evil). I loved the historical background and the description of Paris and London, and I liked how Dickens showed how the peasants had every reason to rise up against the aristocracy but he still showed how they went too far. (And one day I will read Citizens or A Place of Greater Safety to read more about the French Revolution.)

NEXT Dickens?! Oh no no no, the Awfulvirus (C. dickensophagii) has consumed Cushla.

The tragedy, the tragedy. Now her children will need new homes. Her property will be forfeit to the Estate of William Faulkner. A care home for evermore. ::sadface::

Haaaaaa... was wondering how long it'd take you. I fear it might be a lifelong condition. Kids are unharmed so far but I might start reading some to them. Husband is resisting the spread of the virus so far but kept having to hear me exclaiming how good ATOTC is.

*longfaced glance* Of course they're unharmed, dear Cushla, the nice ladies in the white uniforms will care for them so well! They won't even miss you after a decade or so of anti-Dickens training.

How, how can we as a society let tragedies like this occur? A vibrant, happy young woman lost down the rathole of smarmy, sentimental claptrap. Oh the humanity.

For some reason I have two Kindle versions of Bleak House, neither of them free. I like Classics editions with proper introductions and notes and stuff like that, and they were both available at different points for under £1. I have mixed feelings about Dickens, I think I felt annoyed by comprehension exercises with Dickens extracts at school, and I didn't really enjoy Great Expectations much, at university, but I can't resist the subjects he explored or his echoes in anyone who writes about 19th century London.

I just started binging on Dickens this year myself Cushla. Bleak House was 5 stars for me and I also loved The Pickwick Papers. I'm planning on reading Our Mutual Friend and David Copperfield during the first half of the new year.

Poor Richard only wishes that he could be infected with C. dickensophagii.

I've put Team of Rivals aside for the last several days and have been reading more of A Tale of Two Cities. After a little bit of a rocky start with the overly dense language, I'm starting to get really into it and am hoping to love it as much as you and Bonnie do.

Next Dickens? A Christmas Carol, mercifully short ;)

I've been reading Dickens this year, too. I loved Great Expectations and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, liked Little Dorrit, Our Mutual Friend and A Tale of Two Cities and found The Old Curiosity Shop an effort (I didn't laugh when Little Nell breathed her last but I did sigh with relief). My next will be Hard Times, although I always read A Christmas Carol at this time of year.

Hi Cushla, I am far behind with your thread. Apparently you shared good news about your job. So, congratulations!!!

I really enjoyed Bleak House, in spite of the improbable coincidences and the occasional lapses into maudlin stuff. I'm not interested in re-reading Great Expectations but may tackle ToTC, or wait until I've finished Simon Callow's book about Dickens to make a decision.

Cushla, I just spotted somewhere that Europa is publishing the third Gardam novel in the Old Filth series, this one written from the perspective of Betty's lover. So, a springtime treat awaits you. (Or rather, given your geographical location, an autumn treat!!)

There are also stories in The People on Privilege Hill about the characters in these novels. The Terry Veneering pov novel Last Friends is published by Europa in the US, due February 2013 according to publisher's website, but not until April/June from her UK publishers, according to Amazon UK. I can't wait that long!

#194 Sorry Cushla - I didn't mean to put you on the spot re aToTc, just trying to think what a good next Dickens would be depending on what you liked about aToTC.

#194 "very very good or very very evil" Yep, that's Mr Dickens.

Honestly, I think all the suggestions people have mentioned could be a good next Dickens read (sorry Richard). David Copperfield and Martin Chuzzlewit are both on my list to reread next year.

Silly silly folks...the word "good" as applied to a book is, by deifinition, not applicable to Dickens's works. They're too coincidence-laden, too riddled with repetitive and awkward locutions, and too bloody bedamned LONG.

His genius, and it's nothing short of genius, is the ability to create vivid, unforgettable characters. That they've become stereotypes, and a few have even entered the common language (Uriah Heep, anyone?), speaks to that.

But like Spielberg and his movies, there's a magic tipping point where one wants to say, "Enough now, if there's nothing more to say, stop talking."

Hmm, Amazon has "Last Friends" listed for publication in April on this side of the pond, too...

>>#207 I think the Spielberg comparison is very apt, Richard: when it works, it works brilliantly, but when it doesn't you just want to smack them.

I guess I sit about midway between you and Peggy on this issue: a lot of the time CD drives me to screaming point, but I keep re-reading them so there must be something there.

>207 richardderus: hehe, RD, are you following me?

Hi Cushla
Are you busy or what? Are you getting some good weather? My lovely other was around your parts in the weekend, seeing Morrissey, then he went to Auckland to do the same. What a great weekend we both had, I had a mother to help with the kids (mums help with the kids and offer me cups of tea too)

I hope youre well.

Megan I was just about to catch up on my own thread when you posted! I am here and great but crazily busy in the run-up to Christmas, but not in a stressed out way. Have done gallons of Christmas shopping at Marsden Books (the independent bookshop 5 minutes from here in Karori), posted parcels to Switzerland that have been sitting here for months, including The Witch in the Cherry Tree by Margaret Mahy for Teresa's best friend, started buying the food for Christmas lunch, done NZ Christmas cards, been on Fletcher's school trip (scooters and rollerskates etc), had our last swimming lesson for the year and that's just today and yesterday. The kids are off school from tomorrow so this is my last day of peace but I am looking forward to them being home.

Megan did he see Morrissey TWICE? Wow. I was never into the Smiths - i think they were too cool for me. I sort of know who they are but not any of their songs. Sounds like you both had good weekends! Hope your foot's healing up and you're taking it easy. Beaut day up here now after a couple of awful foggy days.

So many visitors - hi Bonnie, Pat, Luci, Richard, Kerry, Liz, Suz, and Heather. I am loving reading all your opinions on Dickens. Í've downloaded quite a few now and read the first chapter of David Copperfield last night and am enjoying it but don't know if I'll stick at it. The main thing I've been reading is Tony Horwitz's Confederates in the Attic and it's funny in places but very disturbing in others after the Newtown shootings - I just read a scene in which a 10 year old's in a gun shop with his Dad in South Carolina. Anyway Confederates in the Attic is going to keep me going for a while.

Paul, thanks for the congratulations - I am looking forward to getting started in late January when school goes back here.

Luci and Suz, thanks for the heads up about the 3rd
old Filth book - I will grab it as soon as the library gets it (ha, who am I kidding).

A Tale of Two Cities was so short that I didn't feel like Dickens was being longwinded - we'll see if I get bogged down in one of the longer ones.

We didn't read any Dickens at school, Luci, and I think that's a good thing. Your ocmprehension exercises would have turned me off for life. I'd like my kids to grow up and read him, but there are so many New Zealand works that are likely to resonate with them more while they're teenagers. I don't feel the same about Shakespeare though - I think a blend of New Zealand and other authors is good. We read next to no NZ content in the 80s but thankfully that's changed quite a lot.

>209 lyzard: Yes, that's it exactly, Liz.

>210 LovingLit: Well, you DO leave those breadcrumbs and I am a hungry boy....

Hi Cushla!

Cushla, hi! Some great reading and reviewing that you are doing...so much RL happening I have had little time for LT of late. Something to remedy for 2013. CONGRATULATIONS!!! rather belatedly on your new job - they would have been bad not to have given it to you! I loved David Copperfield when I was a teenager. Also loved Great Expectations, which I read later. Not sure why people don't seem to favour it. I have Confederates in the Attic on my Shelves of Shame, so will be interested in what you think. Does one need to have a grasp of Civil War history to read it? I probebly won't get time for another visit before The Big Day, so a very happy Christmas to you and your gorgeous brood. Hope it is wonderful!

Not received your books from BD - check this out ".......backlog of approximately 12,000 items was discovered at Auckland Airport....."

http://www.facebook.com/BookDepository

Don't ask me how you just find 12,000 missing books ...... but your missing Xmas books may not be lost

Hi Richard and hi Prue!! I hope you've sold the farm. And I don't think you have to have a grasp of Civil War history to read Confederates in the Attic, but it's definitely more interesting and an easier read with a bit of background - but it'd still be a good book without.

Yep saw that Alex and tweeted them a snarky message over on Twitter saying how happy I was but happier still that I'd done most shopping locally. We'll see if the books arrive... anyway the kids will not be short of stuff without them!

Hi Cushla!
Good luck with David Copperfield, I ended up giving up on it. Too long winded and I couldn't follow the story well on audio. I would love to get to A Christmas Carol someday though! It's much shorter and I already know the gist of the story so I think I would enjoy that one

Just realised that I managed to lose your thread. Bad me. David Copperfield is brilliant - I think... yes, probably my favourite Dickens though Great Expectations has a special place in my heart since it was my first (and allowed me to get 98% in an exam!).

Hope you and the family have a lovely Xmas.

Hi Chelle and Bekka. Chelle, I don't think I am an audio book person - I can follow podcasts but even with my favorites I do wander off a bit if I'm out walking and see something interesting.

Bekka I have lost your thread too but in 2013 I have great expectations of keeping up. Have a love Christmas too! Are you staying home or leaving your island?

Staying at home - or at least we are waking up at home but going to my sisters for the day. Her little one is only 6 months so it's easier (plus our house is too small to have more than the 4 of us!). How about you?

Staying here too and having both lots of parents and one of Tim's sisters and her husband here. Barbecued butterfly leg of lam on the menu and mini fruit crumbles. Weather forecast is for 24 degrees here so we're hoping for a stunning Wellington day (that's about as hot as it ever gets). Have a lovely day at your sister's!

I still keep forgetting the summer Christmas thing... seems awfully alien to me though it sounds exceedingly yummy! I imagine we might be around the 4 degree mark instead.

Bekka I hpoe the 4 degrees brings snow - actually that seems unlikely - do you ever get snow in Jersey?

I am having a great day. Just got my last result - the 8th course out of 8 - and my Grad Dip is finished, so now I can apply for registration as a teacher. It has been a LONG year and thank you to everyone who has kept me going with encouraging comments and for posting on my thread when I hardly ever got to yours! And the kids are just home from school - chips and lollies all round.

222: It has been a LONG year
It has. I just checked back to your initial thread to see where it all began. Congrats!

Thanks!! In 2013 I swear I will keep up with your amazing nonfiction reading. Really. And get jealous!

Yum, I love lamb, especially wth lots of garlic! Congrats on finishing your courses and good luck on finding a permanent position!

Thanks Roni! You'd do well in New Zealand - lamb is very popular here and I love it too. I've got a job starting at the start of the school year in late January so am very lucky.

We had slow-cooked Rosemary & garlic roast lamb last night, I love it, such an easy dinner. Haven't been reading much of late but determined to tackle A tale of two cities this weekend, I'm about 15 pages in and already liking it.

Kerry that sounds lovely. It's one of my fallback dinners - Moore Wilson does great vacuum packed meat and I have a rolled shoulder in the fridge. I love dinners from the oven so that I get the work done early and then can spend the time right before dinner either hanging out with the kids or cleaning up,

Glad you're liking ATOTC too. Not much reading getting done here today because the weather has been so amazing! 3 loads of washing in and out and nearly folded.

Love lamb. Especially with lashings of mint jelly and some boiled fresh new potatoes.

229 > Yuuuuuuummmmm - lamb is plan here as well - with bit of salmon for my mum

good post!!!!

Yep Suz boiled new potatoes are on the menu. And I must see if we have enough mint to make mint sauce - I think we do.

#231 yeyixue, um, thanks... And welcome to LT.

>226 cushlareads: had lamb chops for dinner last night. Very tasty, but methinks they could have been hogget actually.

Oh, and yes, My lovely other did see Morrissey twice, cos thats how many shows he did in NZ. If Morrissey had done 4 NZ shows thats how many he would have gone to! Hes not as devoted as a fan called Juila who has apparently been to 500 and something of his shows. She even gets a mention now from him.

12000 books stuck at AKL airport! I know few people with some books amongst that lot Id say!

Darn now I'm hungry. I could definitely go for roast lamb with mint sauce... *drools on Cushla's thread*.

#222 Well done for finishing! Long year indeed - but hopefully all done now? No snow for us - or very little. Actually the weather has switched round on us so from cold and dry (which I love) to medium cold and truly appalingly wet. Yuck.

233 > Now that is a very devoted fan ........

#233 Megan, as Alex says that other fan sounds very keen!!

I think the books are being freed. One of ours has arrived today, and I hope the Ninjago Lego one gets here tomorrow.

#234 Bekka, yes totally totally finished now. Just have to start on the registration paperwork for the Teachers' Council.

#235 Alex, hi! Any parcels?

236 >

yes your kiwi santa surprises have turned up .... thanks !

Nothing from BD - I expect those in the new year ...... hope yours turned up

So how is the excitement level in your house right now, with Santa only 3--er, 2-- days away?

Alex I'm glad the parcel arrived in time. For non-antipodean readers, Megan organized a lovely Secret Santa thing (we extended it to Malaysia for Paul I think, so not really antipodean). I should have taken a photo but the battery's out - Lisa (kiwiblog a) sent me Black Swan Green, a new bag, some Lindt chocolate and Turkish apple tea!!

Tui how DID you know? The kids are hyper. Teresa has got her loud squealing voice on and I am putting them outside on the trampoline a lot... Tim's parents arrive tonight for 4 days and his sister and husband tomorrow (mine are in Wellington).

Am going to hide in the bedroom for a bit and read some more Confederates in the Attic. Not a very Christmassy book! Then doing another gingerbread house and mince pies.

Very excited that the new group is up!

Cushla - I would have to agree with you on ATOTC. Great stuff with memorable lines. Great place to start and IMO one of the most readable Dickens. Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, Nicholas Nickleby and David Copperfield are in the same vein and I do (ssshh) have some sympathy with RD that some of his others are overly verbose and tend towards tedium. Hard Times is a bit one dimensional and Bleak House probably the best of his longer novels.

Anyway have a lovely weekend and a wonderful Christmas in a less than cold Wellington.

Paul thanks for the Dickens comments - I have nearly all those on the Kindle waiting now!

Am up early about to make my Christmas mince pie pastry but I have done the last supermarket trip before tomorrow - went last night at 10 pm and it was deserted! Today is usually madness. Yesterday's gingerbread house looks like it was in the Christchurch earthquakes and has a big crack down its roof...and Tim's parents are stuck at home in Auckland till tomorrow morning now because of stupid fog - Wellington airport was shut all afternoon yesterday and it looks dodgy even now. They're rebooked for Christmas morning! Not much anyone can do about it and it will add to the Christmas excitement for the kids.

Have switched from Confederates in the Attic to Anne Applebaum's Iron Curtain and it is so good that I am optimistic about getting through it in 2012. Confederates in the Attic is good too, just somehow more depressing than Iron Curtain. Neither makes for great Christmas dinner conversation!

well since its Xmas eve morning here .... Seasons greetings to you & yours - eat, read & be merry !

Hope the fog does clear so the family can make it down - I would not want to be working for the airlines today can only imagine the behaviour they will be tolerating with a smile.

And seasons greetings to you, Alex! Yes I think the poor Air NZ staff would have copped it last night - I sent Air NZ a tweet last night saying how lovely the rep I got on the phone was.

Have finally done some Christmas baking... here are my mince pies for you all to scoff.

Cushla, wishing you a very happy Christmas and New Year.

Tasty!! Hope today and tomorrow go well for you and that the in-laws arrive.
While we don't celebrate Christmas we still cook something a little special as there isn't much else to do on the day. Dana made gingerbread mix last night and will roll it out and bake it today or tomorrow. I'm making pavlova and tiramisu. Shopped for bread and milk this morning, been to the gym and now want to read a few pages of a book. Reading seems to have taken a back seat these past few days.

Thanks Rhian! I hope you have a lovely Christmas too.

Kerry that sounds really delicious and sounds like you have a very peaceful day ahead. Glad you sorted the milk. I'm hoping ours lasts the day...

Have had a crazy day and many things left on the list in my head. Got some more Iron Curtain read. The apple and strawberry crumbles are done and in the oven, and look fine. Now I'm about to do crostini then wrap the kids' presents once they go to sleep. They have weaselled out of us what they're getting so not many surprises!

Back later on tonight when I need a break from cooking and wrapping.

Everything done! (well, our house is still messy but that's what tomorrow morning is for.)

It's 10 to 12 here so almost Christmas Day. Might not be on here tomorrow for a bit so I want to wish everyone who celebrates it a very happy Christmas with your families and friends.

Merry Christmas Cushla!!! Hope you have a great holiday!

Hi Cushla,
Danke für die wunderschönen Törtchen die Du gebacken hast. Wünsche Dir und Deiner Familie FROHE WEIHNACHTEN UND EIN GESUNDES NEUES JAHR Have a great festive Season Cushla *a big smile and a wave*

Thanks Chelle and Bianca! I have woken up before the kids, amazing. Stunning day here.

Your mince pies look gorgeous! Is it Xmas already over there? Eeek, yes, it seems to be... have a happy one...

May not get around to baking today.

Just stopping by for a bit to wish you a very Merry Christmas, Cushla

Mince pies look great. My partner always makes mincemeat cookies, which are very good. We are trying to come up with a different name for them so we can get people to eat them. Let me know if you have any ideas.

Happy Christmas Eve Caro and Suz - yes it is 10.30 am here and I have done the crostini, now cleaning the wrapping paper up and doing the dishes, and about to start making the mint sauce. 4 pages of book read today so far!

255 > Xmas multi-tasking at its best ! ......... will get some reading done when i go to pick up my mum

Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2013!

Thanks Jennifer. When I was little, pastries with the mince mixture mixed in between two pastry slices were called fly cemeteries and I refused to eat them!

OMG, how I loved fly cemeteries. My mum didn't make them so it was always a special treat.

Happy Christmas Alex and Katherine! Nearly on to dessert here...

Kerry I didn't give them a chance! Hmmm... perhaps I will try once I have recovered from the Christmas saga. It is SO HOT down here - must be about 28.

Glitterfy.com - Christmas Glitter Graphics

I want to wish you a glorious celebration of that time of year when we all try to unite around a desire for Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward All. Merry Christmas, Cushla!

Merry, merry Christmas to you, Cushla!

Hi Cushla,
Coming to the end of Christmas Day here now, as is the case for you! We have had a lovely afternoon. BBQ on the front lawn (a bit too much breeze on the preferable back lawn), kids hooning about in shorts and not mush else, hammock, both my parents (who are divorced) and dads partner and her elderly mother too. All and sundry! I do love an open door policy :0

I hope youve had a cracker day and the Boxing day provides some respite from the business (please dont say you'll be shopping ;))

Hi Cushla, I'm sorry I can't catch up on posts (I'm almost a whole thread behind) , but I'd like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year!!

I hope that you had Merry Christmas with your family, Cushla. Thanks for the mince pie!

Hi Roni, Anne, Darryl, Megan and Nathalie and thank you for all the Christmas greetings! It's Boxing Day morning here and I am awake at 6.15 as usual.

We had a fantastic Christmas. Wellington turned on its hottest December 25 since 1934 and it was a stinking hot 29 (84F) degrees with low humidity. Everyone got on well and the kids had a blast with their new presents and loved hanging out with Yeye and Mama (and Nan and Pop, mny parents, but they see them often). Here are a couple of pics.

Today we are doing very little and Megan we are NOT going shopping! Except that I might have to grab some sleeping bags from Kathmandu... but I might not. I hope to get some book read.

Here are a couple of pics from yesterday.

This one was taken after all the excitement. Yeye is an excellent chess player so Fletch got thoroughly beaten but didn't get upset, which is a breakthrough...



This is everyone sitting down to the first course.
,

Here's my dessert:



(you can't see much under the icecream and strawberries but it's apple and strawberry crumble.)

Here's Tim's pork fillet stuffed with prune and leek:


Back later on but inlaws are up and needing cups of tea.

Hi Cushla, what a beautiful family and house you have! You are making me hungry (which is a feat considering how much I ate last night)! I'm glad you had a great Christmas but sorry it's taken me this long to get over here with holiday wishes. Enjoy your time with family and stay cool.

Great Christmas photos, Cushla! Thanks for posting them. It's hard for me to imagine you being so many time zones ahead of us in the US (it's just after 1:30 pm here), but 84 degrees on Christmas Day is completely inconceivable to me. Have a lovely Boxing Day with your family and in-laws.

Thanks Pat! Is it snowing yet and are you drinking your hot chocolate?

I'm sitting here trying to read Iron Curtain while T plays her guitar. Ow.

Darryl, the time zones thing is so funny but makes me feel like Christmas Day goes on for an extra 18 hours. Hope you have a very peaceful day reading and catching up on rest after your crazy run at work.

No snow yet (and therefore I'm waiting to have hot chocolate) but I have indulged in a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with the left over ham from last night. I'll be interested to hear your final report on Iron Curtain since I've seen other good things about it.

Pat I am about to have left over ham and new potatoes for breakfast here too! (And I've just wasted an hour on an ipad game... Order Up. Totally addictive - you have to make American diner food.)

I'm terrified to checkout a "totally addictive" ap but, lucky me, I don't have an iPad so all is well. I spend so much time on LT and a couple of other sites, I'm in danger of merging with my computer as it is.

274 > "I spend so much time on LT and a couple of other sites, I'm in danger of merging with my computer as it is." LOVE it!! this might be why I don't hit 75 books .....

Belated Merry Christmas, Cushla! Looks like you had a great day, and those mince pies look fantastic.

This is only the second xmas I've spent in Wellington in almost 8 years, couldn't believe how gorgeous it was. My flatmate and I ended up swimming at Point Dorset - first time it's been warm enough here for me to jump in the sea! I've been spoiled by the Central Otago summers :-)

Love the pics Cushla - the one of Fletch and Yeye is adorable. I'm looking forward to this sort of thing in a few years when my brats will have calmed down a bit (they do calm down, right?).

Great pix Cushla! Looks like a fun family gathering. Where do your in-laws live, and how long will they be visiting you? Enjoy!

#274 and #275 Pat and Alex I am getting better at getting off the ipad but I can easily waste hours on it! Today I have been so good - no Order Up in sight. My customers at the Gravy Chug Diner will just have to wait.

#276 Alana, sounds like you had a great day too! The weather was amazing - cool that you went for a beach swim.

#277 Bekka, yes I love that picture too. Yeye is 86. And yes, they do calm down - but they still get totally hyper often enough to make me tear out my hair. T

#278 Laura it was lovely having everyone here. Edith (mama) and PingNam (yeye) are in Auckland and went home yesterday - they got delayed 2 days by fog down here so only arrived Christmas morning. It was great having them here but it is also great having our house empty again!

I am reading in the Readathon and getting through Iron Curtain but probably not in time to finish it off. So I've done my list of best books of 2012.

It's been interesting looking at this year compared to last - MUCH less reading overall, and less great non-fiction this year, with only one book getting either 4 1/2 or 5 stars. Dreams in a Time of War and Maus II were good at 4 stars, as were Truman and When God Spoke English. Team of Rivals was disappointing at 3 stars. Michael Lewis's book Boomerang was worse than disappointing at 2.

So my non-fiction book of the year is Maus. It's also my first graphic novel.

There was more competition for my top 5 fiction - I had 7 5 star reads and have picked out these 5:
Bring Up the Bodies
Half of a Yellow Sun
A Tale of Two Cities
Song of Achilles
and The Gift of Rain

Don't ask me to pick a favourite out of those 5!

I found my goals for 2012 and they were:
1.
more books from countries other than England and the US

2. at least one book for each Reading Globally themed read, because I love the group but was useless at either posting there or sticking to the themes last year

3.some NZ and Australian fiction, because I really liked what I read last year

4.a pile of books about Russia (thank you Lisa and Rebecca for all the recs so far)

5.some Dickens, starting with Great Expectations in Feb

6.a bit more non-fiction, although at 13/71 last year I read more of these than it felt like at the time

1. - FAIL. I think my reading got more Anglo-focused this year with the stress of my teaching course. It felt like I was doing a lot of comfort reading.

2. FAIL.

3. FAIL. I read one NZ book - The Book of Fame. That's it. Pathetic!

4. MASSIVE FAIL. Next year!

5. HUMONGOUS SUCCESS - I read A Tale of Two Cities (ok, in December) and loved it.

6. About the same fraction of non-fiction read, at 7 out of 41 books.

Overall though reading has kept me unstressed this year (along with my long-suffering husband) and I'm not too worried about the goals going out the window. I'm sure the same thing will happen in 2013 and I'm looking forward to being supported by my bunch of LT-enabler friends!

HUMONGOUS SUCCESS outweighs any FAIL - Global rules of Rock, Paper scissors ......

I am sure we can help this lovely reader can't we ??

www.librarything.com/topic/146826

Alex I agree - I am delighted about reading
Dickens at last.

And thanks for posting that link! Will post something tomorrow. (Megan, Alana and Kerry if you read this, it's someone wanting NZ bookshop recs.)

Love the analysis - and glad that reading has provided comforty goodness this year.

BTW I definitely 5 starred Half a Yellow Sun as well - and a very high 4 to Song of Achilles. I failed in my getting Tale of Two cities read - it just somehow never got to the top of the pile! ;)

Bekka I love it when my LT friends rate my favourites highly too! Half of a Yellow Sun had been sitting here for years. It was one of the first books I bought at a bookfair based on the LT forums.

There's always next year for ATOTC. I was just over in the 1001 Books group for the first time in ages and ages looking for the spreadsheet and saw your thread there. I am up to a glorious 41 books read off that stupid list! ("Stupid", but I do like it when something I've read gets changed to a R instead of a blank.)

I'm so hooked on it - I just keep finding great things on it I would never have picked up! And some stinkers of course...

Stopping by on the fourth day of Christmas to say Merry Christmas Cushla!

#279 Overall though reading has kept me unstressed this year

In that case I think the year should count as a HUMONGOUS SUCCESS :-)

Of your 5 I read 4 of them this year and gave them all 4+ stars (isn't that spooky?) The only one I haven't read is The Gift of Rain and both that and The Garden of Evening Mists are on my wishlist after all the rave reviews in this group.

So glad you loved Half of a Yellow Sun. That's one of my favorite books. I've gotten distracted from A Tale of Two Cities by a Christmas gift of The Yellow Birds but I intend to get back to it and finish Team of Rivals in 2013. I own copies of Song of Achilles and Gift of Rain so look forward to getting to them based on your ratings. Before reading Bring Up the Bodies I need to get to Wolf Hall for which I will be relying on the tutored read thread between Suzanne and Ilana which looks to be very helpful on the background information. So many books . . .

Bekka, when I went through the spreadsheet last night for the first time in ages I noticed tons of great books I'd forgotten about, so my "stupid" is tongue in cheek. We have a RL friend who got obsessed with the list and would read nothing except books on it - I must find out how he's going with it.

Heather, hi! Your thread is one of the likeliest to make me go to the Kindle store or (on a good day) the library, and you've read so many books this year. I really hope you like whichever Tan Twan Eng book you read first.

Pat I keep seeing raves about The Yellow Birds... Hope you like Wolf Hall. I loved it, I think even more than BUTB. Can't wait for the 3rd one.

Am meant to be readathonning but keep getting sidetracked by the kids and new threads in the 2013 group.

Well Cushla I have no idea how I got so far behind on your thread but I'm caught up now. I loved seeing all your Christmas pics. That dessert looks unbelievably good. I'll join you in being disappointed in Team of Rivals and loving Bring Up the Bodies. Happy New Year if I don't get back here.

Happy New Year Bonnie!

I love your review of your reading plans...most of us just slink off into the new year with a new plan and forget aaaaaaaall about last years one :)

And what a great Xmas dinner!

Hi cushla,
wollte Dir nur einen Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr wünschen!

Found you already on the 2013 group and starred you. To follow your reading closely. Pssst I am lying - Ich unterhalte mich einfach auch mal gerne auf Deutsch *grin* So, I might improve on my own language!

Happy New Year!

#291 Megan, that's what I usually do too. I am still hatching my 2013 plan... Yes the dinner was yummy!

#292 Bianca, dein Deutsch braucht keine Verbesserung! (that just sounds wrong... ) Dir auch einen guten Rutsch!

If I don't come back here tonight ( yes I am working today on new years eve) Have an excellent New Years whatever you may be doing ......

Happy New Year, Cushla, and many happy reads for 2013!

Ooh, I guess I better wish you Happy New Year now considering how far ahead you are. Any special plans? I'm wondering what it's like to celebrate NYE in a warm/hot climate.

Hi Alex, Richard, and Pat - happy new year to you too!

Pat, no special plans but the kids are keen to go out to our favourite Japanese restaurant. We've just come home from the playground and beach. This is what NYE is like in New Zealand:



New thread is over here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/146498

Cushla - while there is still time to catch you I want to wish you and yours a hearty and Happy New Year! Thanks for all your visits in 2012 and I look forward to seeing more of you in 2013.

Thanks Paul! I hope to make it to your threads more in 2013 than this year... never a dull moment! Have a very happy new year with SWMBO and the kids.

Thank you for sharing your Christmas photos, Cushla. I love all those smiling faces around the table -- and the food looks scrumptious! I hope you are enjoying your first day of the new year. I'll be along for your journey in 2013.

Wishing you a wonderful 2013, Cushla, and I look forward to catching up with your new thread (I am not starting mine until tomorrow.)

Here's to a great new year ahead, Cushla!

Best Wishes for the New Year Cushla--and for your new career!

Happy new year to you too, Anne, Donna, Roni and Deborah!

Happy New Year Cushla!

A bit late, but happy new year to you and your family Cushla!

Happy new year to you too, Heather and Alana!