Paul's Books and Stuff in 2013 Part 12

Had problems with my photo so instead I'll make this properly a Ted Hughes thread and show a picture of his home town of Mytholmroyd in West Yorkshire - close to nature indeed as is reflected in the best of his poetry. In all fairness Hughes ought to have won the Nobel prize.

IMO the most important poet since 1945, Ted Hughes, was born in West Yorkshire in 1930. Controversial not least for his tragic marriage to Sylvia Plath and blamed by many for his behaviour driving her to suicide but also for his startling use of words. The postumously published Birthday Letters opened up on Plath and I will read it this month. This posts' quote is his:

"Poetry is the voice of spirit and imagination and all that is potential, as well as of the healing benevolence that used to be the privilege of the gods".

2013 Books Read

January

1. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
2. Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton
3. Promised Land: A Northern Love Story bt Anthony Clavane
4. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
5. A Drop of the Hard Stuff by Lawrence Block
6. That Awkward Age by Roger McGough
7. If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler
8. Coffee, Tea or Me? by Trudi Baker
9. Among the Cinders by Maurice Shadbolt
10 Viper's Tangle by Francois Mauriac
11 Phantom by Jo Nesbo
12 When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Penman
13 The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by M.G. Vassanji
14 An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah

February

15 The Shortest History of Europe by John Hirst
16 Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo
17 The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
18 The Green Hat by Michael Arlen
19 V by Tony Harrison
20 The King's Fifth by Scott O'Dell
21 This Sporting Life by David Storey
22 Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer
23 A Short History of England by Simon Jenkins
24 Back When We Were Grown-ups by Anne Tyler
25 On the Road to Babadag by Andrzej Stasiuk
26 Island in the Centre by Rex Shelley
27 Andris Apse : Odyssey and Images by R.D. Crosby & Andris Apse
28 I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson
29 50 Amazing Places in China by Dong Huai
30 Greyfriars Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson

March

31 Fallen Angel : The Passion of Fausto Coppi by William Fotheringham

2013 Favourite Reads

Non-Fiction
1 Promised Land : A Northern Love Story by Anthony Clavane
2. A Short History of England by Simon Jenkins

Fiction
1 The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
1 The In-Between World of Vikram Lall
2 This Sporting Life by David Storey
3 Viper's Tangle by Francois Mauriac

Thrillers
1 Phantom by Jo Nesbo
2 Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer

Planned Reading for Quatrain 2/13 (Weeks 9 to 12) of 2013

(Provisional Listing - I may juggle a bit to fit TIOLIs)

1. Written in French (2nd of 13) - Jean de Florette by Marcel Pagnol
2. Historical Fiction (3rd of 13) - Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
3. Then and Now (3rd of 13) - History of the Second World War by B.H. Liddell-Hart
4. Old Friends (3rd of 13) - Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva (Allon)
5. Scandi (3rd of 13) - Midwinter Sacrifice by Mons Kallentoft
6. Poetry/Plays (4th of 13) - Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
7. Travel (3rd of 13) - 50 Amazing Places in China by Dong Huai Comp 27/2/13
8. Sport (3rd of 13) - Fallen Angel by William Fotheringham (Cycling) Comp 8 Mar 13
9. Between the Wars (2nd of 13) -
10. Short Stories (3rd of 13) - After Rain by William Trevor (RD's challenge)
11. Anne Tyler (3rd of 13) - A Slipping-Down Life by Anne Tyler
12. Awards (3rd of 13) - No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod (IMPAC)
13. Asia-Pacific (3rd of 13) - He (Shey) by Rabindranath Tagore (Nobel Read)

Also to finish off

14. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
15. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Category Challenge

1 Works Originally in French (1/13)
2 Historical Fiction (2/13)
3 Poetry/Plays (3/13)
4 Works by Anne Tyler (2/13)
5 Books on Sports (3/13)
6 Books on Travel or Places (3/13)
7 Short Story Collections (2/13)
8 Between the Wars (1/13)
9 Scandi (2/13)
10 Old Friends (2/13)
11 Then and Now (3/13)
12 Prize Winners (2/13)
13 Asia Pacific (2/13)

Total Number of Challenges 169

Completed to Date 28

Percentage Complete 15.98%
Percentage to be on target 15.89%

Ahead of target 0.09%

Books at Start of Year on KL Shelves - 1,676
Added in 2013 - 292
Read in 2013 - 31

Revised TBR Total - 1,937

Pages to read at start of year - 639,135
Pages added in 2013 - 95,010
Read in 2013 - 8,271
Revised Pages to read - 725,874

Current Reading:

FLICS SEEN AT THE CIMENA in 2013 (Not a typo - I call cinema; cimena just to irritate Belle.

1 The Hobbit
2 Jack Reacher
3 Les Miserables
4 Parental Guidance
5 The Life of Pi
6. Flight
7. Lincoln

SECOND 28 DAY READING RECORD (2/13) (SECOND QUATRAIN)

BOOKS READ - 15 (Overall 28)

CHALLENGE BOOKS READ - 15 (Overall 26)

PAGES READ - 3,714 (Overall 7,853)

NEW NOBELS READ - Dario Fo 41/109

BOOKS BOUGHT - 79 (Overall 177)

NEW NOBELS BOUGHT- 0 Read/Owned 71/109

FAVOURITE FICTION - The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

FAVOURITE NON-FICTION - A Short History of England by Simon Jenkins

FAVOURITE THRILLER - Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer

BIGGEST DUD - No real duds but if pushed to choose my least favourite The King's Fifth by Scott O'Dell (Coffee, Tea or Me? still reigns supreme in the category)

Series List:

Please refer to my page on fict-fact

http://www.fictfact.com/list/PaulCranswick/ALL

NOBEL CHALLENGE (This year's additions in bold)

NOBEL WINNERS READ WITH FAVOURITE WORK READ SO FAR:
2011 The Half-Finished Heaven by Tomas Transtromer
2010 The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa
2009 The Appointment by Herta Muller
2007 The Good Terrorist by Doris Lessing
2006 Snow by Orhan Pamuk
2005 The Caretaker by Harold Pinter
2003 The Master of Petersburg by J.M.Coetzee
2001 A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
1998 The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by Jose Saramago
1997 Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo
1995 Station Island by Seamus Heaney
1994 A Quiet Life by Kenzaburo Oe
1991 July's People by Nadine Gordimer
1988 Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
1987 On Grief and Reason by Joseph Brodsky
1983 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
1982 A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
1976 Herzog by Saul Bellow
1972 Billiards at Half-Past Nine by Heinrich Boll
1970 Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
1968 Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari Kawabata
1964 The Age of Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre
1962 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
1961 Bridge On the Drina by Ivo Andric
1958 Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
1957 The Plague by Albert Camus
1955 The Atom Station by Halldor Laxness
1954 The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
1953 History of the English Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill
1952 Knot of Vipers by Francois Mauriac
1949 The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
1948 The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot
1947 The Counterfeiters by Andre Gide
1946 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
1938 The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
1932 A Man of Property by John Galsworthy
1930 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
1925 Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw
1923 Collected Poems by W.B. Yeats
1921 And the Gods Will Have Blood by Anatole France
1907 Kim by Rudyard Kipling

UNREAD NOBEL WINNERS ON THE SHELVES

2012 Red Sorghum by Mo Yan
2008 The Interrogation by J.M.G. Le Clezio
2004 The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
2002 Fatelessness by Imre Kertesz
2000 Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
1999 The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
1996 Poems New and Collected by Wislawa Szymborska
1993 Jazz by Toni Morrison
1990 The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz
1989 The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo Jose Cela
1986 Ake: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka
1985 Flanders Road by Claude Simon
1981 Kafka's Other Trial by Elias Canetti
1978 Enemies : A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer
1973 Voss by Patrick White
1971 The Captain's Verses by Pablo Neruda
1969 Molloy by Samuel Beckett
1966 A Book That Was Lost by S.Y. Agnon
1965 And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov
1951 Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist
1950 A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
1936 A Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill
1934 Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello
1933 The Village by Ivan Bunin
1929 Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann
1928 Kristin Lavransdatter : 1 The Wreath by Sigrid Undset
1926 Reeds in the Wind by Grazia Deledda
1920 Hunger by Knut Hamsun
1913 He (Shey) by Rabindranath Tagore
1909 The Saga of Gosta Berling by Selma Lagerlof

So far read 41 laureates
30 laureates unread on the shelves
37 laureates whose works neither owned not read.

I hope I'm first but not too soon.....

You are indeed first dear lady and about time too! Please PM me your address and I shall take great pleasure on deliberating upon something suitable.

Aw, man. I was hoping I'd be first :) Happy new thread!

Really?

Just caught up with your last thread. I tried to post there but the post got lost somewhere in LT cyberspace.

Re your list of news events for 1978: My first child was born the same week that Louise Brown the first test tube baby was born. The cover of Time magazine that week was a painting of a baby with words something like "What a Baby!" Needless to say, that issue of Time went into my son's baby book, and he still has it. :) (And he and his wife are expecting their first child in about a month).

Yasmyne is stunning! You must be one proud Papa!

I'm thoroughly enjoying the lists of your purchases, and spend not a little bit of time following up on some of the more interesting-looking titles.

Ad sum, Senex.

Es - Close my dear, hopefully next time!

Ellen - As RD, Mamie, Morphy, Leah, Roni, Genny and others can tell you its not a joke!

Deborah, nice to see you. Yasmyne has inherited her good looks from somewhere but don't ask me where!

Latin and/or dog latin is not really my forte RD but I will certainly keep adding.

I think he (RD) just called you 'Old Man'...

Genny - Senex signifies a venerable old man which is more appropriate to the sender - the ad sum I have taken as dog latin to commemorate by acquisitive nature (wrong?) - (haven't studied latin, other than for my law, for thirty -five years).

Ad sum has nothing to do with sums I fear. Richard was just checking in. Ad sum means 'I am here'/'Present'.

30.

Greyfriars Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson

Shows how hectic the last few days have been as I am only just squeezing in my review of my last February read.

Heartwarming story of a small skye highland terrier so devoted to its master that it insists on breaking all the rules of Edinburgh by staying permanently by the graveside of Auld Jock after his passing.

Considering Ms. Atkinson never went anywhere near Edinburgh her attempts at the local dialect are laudable but oftimes irritating as is her brave, dogged little pooch.

6/10

Well not to fear Genny at least it provides ample opportunity for me to demonstrate my ignorance, hahaha!

You better translate it 'Here I am, an old man' ....

Thanks Paul, Richard of course firmly believes he is still in his teens doesn't he?

'Senex' - linked to 'senile' or to 'senator'?

;0)

Checking in to the next thread.

ETA: I'm afraid I can't see that first picture, Paul. Sounds like it looks nice ...

Just making my stamp on the latest thread - I hope you enjoy Birthday Letters - IMO there are some very excellent poems in there.

(I can't see pic 1 either)

Hi Paul - another one who can't see your latest picture:(

Hope all is well for you and yours.

'Senex' - linked to 'senile' or to 'senator'?

Both! The origin of a senate is a council of elders, who may have the wisdom of old age - or may have lost it...

Hi Paul- Congrats on # 12! You are sailing along! How is Blood Meridian coming along? That doesn't seem to be a book you could dip in and out of with. Dense & intense.

I can't believe that 67 book haul. Where in the world do you find places for all the books? I desperately need more bookshelves. I wish I could make my own, but I'm no good at things like that.

It's no joke! Got my books from Paul sitting on Mount TBR. I'll be reading Alias Grace for Atwood April.

Here is a book shelve to fill:

Happy New Thread, Paul and have a wonderful weekend!

Man, I fall asleep early ONE night, and I wake up to a brand-new Paul thread! I'm in the group that can't see the picture in Message 1, but I'm sure you'll get it all sorted out in a trice.

Happy weekend!

Yes, I can't see Message 1 either....how peculiar that some can and some can't. Oh I loved that movie (Disney, was it???) of Greyfriar's Bobby..... oh my..... memory lane.

Nina - The senex bit I did at least pick up. Having half a mind (literally) on Richard's sense of humour I took the "Ad sum" to be dog latin for add some as in my penchant for the odd splurge or two.

Looks like I may have to change the picture, which I cannot see either now! In fact I have changed it to one of Hughes' Mytholmroyd.


Bekka, I am an enormous (I am full from supper so literally so) devotee of Ted Hughes and am looking forward to Birthday Letters.

Calm - Thanks, hopefully my latest photo will have no glitches.

Genny - When I woke up this morning I must admit that I didn't expect any discussions today on latin. Interesting actually and how sloppily I assumed that Richard would be throwing dog latin at me.

Mark - Thanks mate. Blood Meridian and Fallen Angel : The Passion of Fausto Coppi are the focus of my attention at the moment. I am really savouring the former.

Lori - My room looks like a classroom cum bomb-site. I have asked Yasmyne numerous times to take a few shots but I think she is embarrassed for me.

Morphy - Hahaha I was a little bit nervous of asking when you were going to dust off Alias Grace.

Paul - I'll take a few more of them if you don't mind!

Diana - Thanks so much, I will get round a number of threads shortly to wish the same back.

Julia - Should have been your evening time when the thread was being plotted.

Lucy - I also remember the film fondly and that there was a Lassie movie that filched the storyline almost completely.

As a classicist I can confirm that Richard's Latin was perfectly right. No dogs included :)

>26 paulstalder: Precisely...my intended meaning was "here's the old man." Although I like Genny's version just as much.

Richard, you take the praedicative variant. I'd have skipped the comma :)

Mr SandDune's grandma used to live in Mytholmroyd.

Latin had no commas, 'tis true. "Ad sum Senex" would mean to my modern eye the meaning Genny put on it, however.

Diana - I must have been barking mad looking for dogs.

RD - Three very short words of latin to a three named shortie in a third country occasions plenty of interesting discussion.

Diana - *nodding enigmatically as the indians are wont to do such that they can simultaneously signify yes and no without anyone realising they don't know the answer*

Rhian - Nice place but a bit hilly and often under water recently as I understand it.

RD - Never mind, either way, I'm no spring chicken either.

I was in school the year you were born, so I think of you as a whippersnapper.

>35 paulstalder:: Lovin' that bookshelf!

ETA: I'm a Sylvia Plath die-hard, so I guess I never gave Hughes his due. I will have to do that at your recommendation.

so, have another one

Point taken Unc but I do very little snapping and virtually no whipping.

>47 Esquiress:: Yet another sweet shelf!

Es - The bookcase is stylo certainly.

Paul - now that one is clearly style over substance; the difficulty of feeding books into it being obvious from the fact of the books being stacked on the floor next to it!

Paul, it leaves room for thinking ... and maybe some hints about what sort books you might buy...

Es - Ted Hughes was, for me, by far the better poet of the two although to be fair to Ms. Plath she diddie horribly early. He didn't get the credit for his own work due to the curtailing of hers and the, possibly, unworthy feeling by her own devotees that he was not blameless in it.

Hahaha Paul but unfortunately I haven't room for an empty bookcase as I need to fill new ones rapidly.

Here another suggestion: drink the wine and use it then for your paperbacks

>53 PaulCranswick:: Knowing a lot about mental illness and the suffering it entails, I'm sure that although we on the outside might find it easy to blame Hughes, I know deep down that no one but Plath's own mind drove her to her death. Sometimes I bristle at the thought of Hughes, just like I bristle at Courtney Love for love of Kurt Cobain, but I know I'm just being a bit silly :) Must give Hughes his due.

Interesting tidbit, while we're on the subject of Hughes and Plath: their wedding date is my birthday, June 16 :)

Now there's an idea Paul. I counted 83 bottle of wine so, erm, a weeks supply then!

Es - People of an artistic bent are not easy to live with for sure and with the two of them so intense about their work it really was always a recipe for disaster. June 16 in the diary!

>58 PaulCranswick:: Oh, absolutely. I can't imagine my husband's existence if I were a confessional poet on top of who I am now. Good heavens. It would be a nightmare for him, and he's *not* a poet! Who let them marry anyway?! :)

I just cannot imagine living in a body that contained both the severe mental illness Plath had *and* the raw power of the poet... Frightening and sobering.

How can I be so late on only the first day of the thread? Must be Paul's.............yep!

Lovely photo up top! I just wanted to say hi before another thread got by me.

Hi Paul! Have a lovely weekend!

I'm here too, Paul. And I thought Richard's "ad sum" meant add some books! Happy week end to you.

Happy weekend Paul!

Hey Paul! Just stopping by! Hope you're having a good weekend!

Love the new thread mate and am impressed with the Trueman book.

Congrats on the spiffy new thread, Paul. Glad to hear you're getting into Blood Meridian. One of his best, IMHO.

>48 paulstalder:: I was wondering why there were so many vertical shelves; it took me a minute to see it. :0)

Nice one, Paul II.

I love that you read Grayfriars Bobby. The statue was one of my favorite tourist attractions in Edinburgh. :-)

PM to follow soon (when I'm not on my iPhone).

Hi Paul, congratulations on Thread #12! Be careful, after drinking all that wine from #55, your bookshelves may look like this:

Happy Day to you Paul!

I very much like the bookcases posted by Paul!

I'm not familiar with Ted Hughes and now I'm scurrying to find out more.

Happy New Thread, Paul. I love your book hauls.

One unhappy camper is SWMBO this early afternoon. Galvanised my two daughters and SIL to pay a trip to the book fair and cancelled their piano lessons in the process.
Belle got 15 books and Yasmyne a dozen whilst Fifi also got about the same.

In mitigation I did add a fair bit to her cookbook collection and I will lig them first:

1. Fish & Seafood : Food Lovers Simply by Marika Kucerova;
2. Tapas & Starters by Food Lovers/Corrine Malesic
3. Martin Yan's China by Martin Yan
4. The Healthy Cookbook by Gina Steer
5. The World Encyclopedia of Fish and Shellfish by Kate Whiteman
6. Stir Fry by Helen Aitken
7. The World's Greatest Ever Curries by Mridula Baljekar
8. South East Asian Specialities : A Culinary Journey through Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia by HF Ullmann
9. Cooking with Asian Roots by Devagi Sanmugam and Christopher Tan
10. High Fibre Cookbook
11. Great Fish Cookbook
12. How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson
13. Easy to Make Speedy Meals by Good Housekeeping
14. Food & Wine Best of the Best Volume 10 by Dana Cowin
15. 365 Good Reasons to Sit Down and Eat by Stephane Reynaud
16. Vietnamese Creative Cooking
17. Lotus Asian Flavors by Teage Ezard
18. American Food by Evan Jones
19. Step-by-Step Cookbook by Good Housekeeping

Sorry to hear that SWMBO is grumpy today.
That cookbook haul should help!

What I bought for myself besides

20 Cold Skin by Albert Sanchez Pinol
21 I Love Football by Hunter Davies
22 Bloodlines by Fred D'Aguiar
23 No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
24 Haweswater by Sarah Hall
25 Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
26 Turn Again Livingstone by John Carvel
27 The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi
28 The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
29 One Hand on the Claret Jug by Norman Dabell
30 Tales of Freedom by Ben Okri
31 The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
32 Present Times by David Storey
33 The Character of Rain by Amelie Nothomb
34 Freedom : A Novel by Jonathan Franzen
35 The Mesmerist by Barbara Ewing
36 The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich
37 The Death of Marco Pantani by Matt Rendell
38 The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore
39 Happenstance by Carol Shields
40 The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
41 An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor
42 Heaven Forbid by Christopher Hope

You are going to be building SWMBO new shelves at this rate, Paul!

Oh my goodness! I think that brings your total to 89, that is of course aside from the ladies picks. I don't feel so bad about how many I picked up in January now :)

Es - Confessional poets are clearly not meant to be together - with one pulling and the other pushing something was always bound to give.

Peggy - Hahaha, the thread is only so active because you all make it so.

Joanne - Hi! back to you my dear. I will get across to your neck of the woods before my day is out to wish you back.

Donna - I did think that knowing Richard there would have been a double meaning and with my own grasp of latin being so rudimentary I automatically assumed RD was pulling my leg in his own inimitable style.

Same to you too Chelle.

Brit it is turning out to be a particularly acquisitional one with two visits to the Book fair.

John - Thanks mate and I was surprised to see it there I must say.

Joe - Thanks and so far so good with Blood Meridian.

Nina - Paul and RD should work together with Paul providing the ample storage space for Richard's Book Porn.

Ellen - I love the story of Greyfriars Bobby (based on a true story apparently) but the novel was a bit annoying in parts.
PM safely received. x

Judy - Yep it would like that I'm sure even if it was straight as a die.

Linda - I don't know why Ted Hughes renown has not lasted as it should. In my schooldays he was THE GIANT of english poetry.

Pat - Thanks. It is impossible to ignore books at $1.50 each.

Ellen - She is slowly coming around!

Roni - She is the DIY buff in the family and would be the one tasked to make them!

Adrienne - I bought 6 on Thursday, 67 on Friday and 42 today. 115 in total. A little bit of overkill even by my own standards I must admit.

Paul, have you come across a book called Remains of Elmet or just Elmet in its later editions. It combines Ted Hughes's poetry with photographs of his local area by Fay Goodwin. Well worth a look.

Your looking good to be buying more books than you read this year Paul lol, especially with your book fair being every three months and good bargains to be found at each one :)

I do love your picture of North Yorkshire, Paul! So romantic looking! BTW - yes, those cars were parked on the street on my latest " thread topper."

You did very well by your wife with your purchases! Bravo Paul!

I haven't seen that book before Rhian but it does sound like something I should try to pick up when I'm next back in Yorkshire.

Adrienne - I have no chance to read 275 books this year so any bet you make is an absolute banker!

Deb - I thought they had to be as I couldn't see any group quite disciplined enough to get so close to the road extremes.
For a Yorkshireman born and bred there is no such thing as West, North, South and East Yorkshire but technically Mytholmroyd is in West Yorks not North Yokrs. x

I beg your pardon, dear sir! I did notice just now that you had said West Yorkshire. Sorry!

England simply sounds so romantic!

Skimming all the Latin talk - I'm off duty.

Happy new thread, Paul!

^I see some people helping you out with bookshelves. Here's a few more!

Oh dear. I fear that you will be in need of new book shelves soon! That's another great book haul!

There is no way I will get caught up on three threads so I have leap-frogged my way over here to congratulate you on thread #12 and the great book haul from the book fair - I love book fairs! My other half is in the process of shopping around for another bookcase for us.... apparently we are running out of shelf space. ;-)

I hope you have a great week!

*gobsmacked* How could SWMBO be upset when you bought her so many *amazing* cookbooks?! She needs drugs, serious psychotropic drugs, to handle that level of anomie and depression!

You're absolutely amazing!!

Another impressive haul, Paul. What equipment do you take to these bookfairs? Backpack? Horse with saddlebags? Shopping cart? Coach and four?

Not to sidestep our Plath/ Hughes conversation, which has been fascinating so far, but...

OOH! The Red Tent! I loved that book, as did my sister, who hardly ever reads :)

ETA: The year I found that for a dollar at a book sale I always attend... that was my catch of the weekend. I actually squealed aloud as I grabbed for it!

If the book fair is still going take Given Day by Dennis Lehane back. It is a bloated work of historical fiction that needed a really good editor. I couldn't believe that there is now a sequels wonder what publisher made that mistake.

Love the pictures of the bookcases. Lots of great ideas there to make bookcases a statement in a home. I think that we book lovers often make a mistake of trying to hide our books instead of making them a important part of the room. Itis sort of the "if you've got them, flaunt them" philosophy. If they are going to be there and be part of your life might as well make them the architectural statement of the room.

My goodness, you sure don't mess around when you set to buying books. I've been guilty of certain excesses myself but you make me feel moderate.

I've no hope of catching up on your last thread (or two) but I was pleased to see one that hasn't yet hit three digits. I hope you're having a good weekend.

>78 PaulCranswick: 115 in total. A little bit of overkill even by my own standards I must admit.
*gulp*
You are definitely going to need a new book room now Paul! How fun! Buying that many books. :)

Im not sure if I would be pleased or offended if my lovely other came home with that many cook books for me. Im sure SWMBO will be pleased though, as she'd be sure you weren't commenting on her cooking skills.

It always makes me feel good to see your unwieldy book purchases Paul; makes me feel, IDK, like a piker I guess. Need to get out there and load up on books like you do; right after I add about a thousand square feet to my abode;-)

Happy new thread, Paul! Sorry I'm so late to the party!

Another fabulous book haul! And you got your daughters involved too??? How awesome for your girls! :)

Deb - As I said we don't really think in terms of West, North and South in Yorkshire - it was Southern England's plot to make the county weaker! Yorkshire is romantic but more so when you are living away from it.

Hahaha Amber - off duty eh?

Mark - Thanks those look wonderfully functional.

Chelle - That was necessary a long, long time ago my dear! We have six wardrobes together in our Master Bedroom and I have 576 unread books stored on top of them. I have SWMBOs linen cupboard (bought at great expense she assures me) filled with unread non-fiction (168 title). I have alcove shelving in, well an alcove, holding a further 234 unread titles which leaves 943 books in my reading room on the shelf stand, in the two bookscases and strewn organised into piles on the floor.
These are my unread book. I have a further 200 essentials in my reading room on a shelf stand and a further pile awaiting boxing up.

Lori - Thanks and I hope your week goes well too. As you may have noticed I also enjoy a book fair now and again.

RD - She did her usual trick of telling me she "wasn't interested" in the books I brought home for her but later in the evening I found her engrossed planning part of this weeks menu from "her" new acquisitions.

Reba - Not quite the expression that SWMBO used in truth.

Joe - The simple answer is, where I can, Halim! The kids also came in useful yesterday and were stronger than I gave them credit for!

Es - The Red Tent is one I had been looking at recently and would have bought soon for sure anyway. One of the slight bug bears of book fairs is to see the books you have been frantically accumulating at about $10-$15 a pop suddenly being let go for a tenth of that price!

Benita - If I get only one dud out of the 109 I'll be amazed - hopefully though they won't all be the longer ones.

Anne - I'm moderate in most things surprisingly but I will admit to a little immoderation in book buying 'occasionally', hahaha. The threads have settled down a fair bit now and I myself am struggling to balance my work commitments with LT time at the moment.

Megan - She knows full well that I (genuinely) believe her the best cook in the universe so I am not treading carefully with the cookery books. It is funny when you love your spouse (which I'll admit to quickly whilst she's looking the other way) your palate tends towards the appreciation of their qualities. She has in fact a wonderful gift for being able to replicate dishes from all types of cuisines and has an uncanny knack for being able to name the ingredients in any particular dish.

Bonnie - hahaha have you room for a building extension? Is it possible to build upwards as well as across?

Tina - I am more remiss than most in not getting around the threads properly these days. Lovely to see you as always.

I'm slightly curious about the name Mytholmroyd - sounds Welsh to me. Is it close to the Wesh border? Was it once part of Wales?

Amazing book haul - for you and your lovely wife. The only one I have among the cookbooks is 'How to be a domestic goddess' which is pretty darn good.

I enjoyed all the Latin talk! :D Gracious, I am finding it hard to keep up with your threads, though, Paul, but I love what I find! I am impressed by your book haul. The cookbooks look great and I'm glad you got books for youself. I hope SWMBO is doing all right.

Prue - It is in the Pennines well and truly in Yorkshire my dear with no connotations to Wales other than a marital one via Mr. Sanddune's family. In old english it apparently means "a clearing where two rivers meet". It is therefore unfortunately very prone to flooding and has suffered floods in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2008 and last year in this century alone. This is a picture of the town square celebrating "The Valley of Lights" festival.


Eris - Lovely to see you as always. Patrick Troughton unlike one of his two compadres looks better without the mask.

Waving hello - stunned by the book haul - hoping your weekend was lovely. Not visiting much, not reading much. Junior Olympics this coming weekend with Jonah qualified in 5 events. We are living and breathing chlorine for the next week and then we'll have two glorious weeks off. Hoping to move from ranking of 21st in the 50 freestyle to top 10. :)

Jonah - Fingers and toes crossed for Jonah.

She has in fact a wonderful gift for being able to replicate dishes from all types of cuisines
Aaaaw- that is so nice of you to say Paul. :)
I, thankfully, did not inherit my mothers ability to cook. Although she did a great job in getting healthy and nutritious meals on the table on a budget, I cant say I recall much variety or flavour!

>97 PaulCranswick: your description to Chelle of where exactly all your books are stored gives me faith. Faith that I can squeeze (more than) a few more into my own house!

GGA, Paul! You drop new threads like chickens drop eggs! Another lovely Yorkshire pic.

Megan - You caught me off guard in a soft moment when I slipped and said something nice about SWMBO.
I better get my act together as it is her birthday tomorrow and, I have to get her a present sufficiently impressive to justify her continued patience with me.

Lynda - Things are clucking mad indeed around here with all those chickens!

Got a delivery from my pals at Book Depository today:

1 Selected Poems by Derek Walcott (New Nobel Read)
2 Essential Stories by V.S. Pritchett (read some of the stories but my first collection)
3 The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill (Volume 1 of his War History; read as a schoolboy)

Oh, I forgot SWMBO also requested a book to be bought for her yesterday. Unfortunately it was Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. I bought it so I guess I'll have to add it and anyway I might skim it for the dirty bits.

Lol, I'm interested in how SWMBO will feel about Fifty Shades of Grey, Paul. I've read a couple of pages and closed the book, the writing style being meh.

Yes, you'll have to give us a full report on SWMBO feelings about fifty Shades. This should be a hoot.

I've read the Fifty Shades books and I have to say, I've read steamier historical romances.

We are now into the 1980s.

1980 RETROSPECTIVE

From my music collection

1. Double Fantasy by John Lennon & Yoko Ono (I liked it even before 8/12/80)
2. Sound Affects by The Jam
3. McCartney II by Paul McCartney (Only his second solo and a kitchen-sink but intriguing affair)
4. The River - Bruce Springsteen
5. McVicar OST - Roger Daltrey
6. Uprising - Bob Marley
7. Argybargy - Squeeze
8. Super Trouper - Abba
9. The Game - Queen
10. Against the Wind - Bob Seger

1980 at the Movies
1. Raging Bull
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. The Shining
4. Private Benjamin
5. Stir Crazy
6. Blues Brothers
7. Coal Miner's Daughter
8. The Elephant Man
9. Ordinary People
10. Tess (my God Natassia Kinski was gorgeous)

1980 Books

1. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
2. Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess
3. Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee
4. A Month in the Country by JL Carr
5. The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
6. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
7. Peter the Great by Robert Massie
8. So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
9. Loon Lake by E.L. Doctorow
10. The Name of Rose by Umberto Eco

1980 Events

Jan. That Liberal regime Saudi Arabia beheads 69 for Meccan uprising
Feb. Mugabe wins elections in Zimbabwe
Mar. Carter announces boycott of Moscow Olympics
Apr. Embassy crisis in London; settled by the British SAS
May. Tito dies and Mt. St Helens erupts
Jun. CNN first airs on TV
Jul. The Shah of Iran dies
Aug. Solidarity on strike in Gdansk in Poland
Sep. The Iran/Iraq war starts
Oct. The Maze Hunger strikes start in Ireland
Nov. Reagan beats Carter to win the White House
Dec. John Lennon is murdered by Mark Chapman

1980, the year I graduated from high school and started at university. It was such a blur, and from a glance at the music and films that's probably a good thing. Yech. There are a couple of good books on your list, that I read much later (as in, after learning about them on LT): A Month in the Country, A People's History of the United States, and So Long, See you Tomorrow.

1980! 33 years ago! How did that happen?

Happy week ahead, O Birthday Entertainer. May SWMBO be pleased with your paltry offerings.

A People's History of the United States was the text for my college history class.....US History: 1945 to the present. It was a great class and the first time I ever took a history class that ever got anywhere near the present time!

WOW! On the recent book purchases. Maybe you should start a lending library in your community!

#110 by @Morphidae> So much this!

>97 PaulCranswick: Nice! Wouldn't work to have my kids haul my book acquisitons at book fairs, unfortunately. My daughter always picks up more than I do, and my son ends up helping his girlfriend instead of his dear old dad. Jeesh. Ingrate.

>106 PaulCranswick: Two more additions to the Nobel list that I have not yet read!

The swooping bookcase makes me dizzy..... the empty one..... well that just isn't natural!

>97 PaulCranswick:: Oh, seeing books you already bought at full price at a book sale is the WORST! :(

>108 wilkiec:: I felt that way about The Other Boleyn Girl. Too many comma spliced. I'm never daring to pick up Fifty Shades of Grey. No lady porn for me!

... Waiting patiently for the 1981 retrospective - the year I was born :D

I think he's going to be needing more than additional bookshelves soon. Perhaps it's time for an addition to his home! Great cookbook (and other book) haul!

Hi, dear man! I will be waiting to hear how you celebrate your long suffering (?) wife's birthday. I'm thinking it might be epic?

I'm off the books and LT a bit these days in favor of an intensive photography class which is forcing me to learn stuff, rapidly and thoroughly. Don't know if I'll ever be able to remember all this stuff in time to apply it to the pictures I want to take, but I'll try.

Meanwhile. I am caught up here, for now....

Diana - I played a game yesterday and opened SWMBOs book at random and read three separate pages and I have to say all three had cringeworthy passages.

Mark - I am more worried that she is using the book to pick up tips. I am getting a little set in my ways to climb to the top of the wardrobes and, in any case, there are too many of my books up there already.

Morphy - I recall your comments on your thread that you didn't think the book quite so bad. All joking about our known differences of opinion on different books I do have to say that for a book to be such a selling phenom it must have some redeeming qualities.

Laura - I have to say I loved Private Benjamin and Stir Crazy when I was 14 or so and watching them. the second Star Wars movie was my favourite of the series and Raging Bull was brilliant IMO. The music granted was not a stellar year, but there is worse yet to come.

RD - Time slips away as life plods on. "Surprised" SWMBO at 12.00.01 this morning and must make a few minutes to go and find something for her birthday, paltry or otherwise.

Heidi, I do, in any event, lend books to my SIL and my Dutch friend for his 6 weeks away on his dredging vessels but that is only because I know unfailingly they will come back to me.

Julia - I do think we ought to have a list from Morphy or her top five steamy historical books.

Joe - I still had to carry the bulk of the books. At least I was able to go and bring the car and fetch it right to the main entrance to save on lugging them too far.

Linda - I have read Churchill before but Walcott is an addition to my list.

Lucy - Empty bookcases do look weird don't they?

Es - I know. I don't expect to buy anything for a few weeks as I am all bought out!
I will have to have a think about what is the very worst book I have ever completed.
1981 is coming very soon.

Lori - I was joking with one of my structural engineer friends that he might want to come and check the loadings put on my structures!

Karen - I will report everything other than the bits that E.L. James would concentrate upon. Looking forward to seeing the results of your photography lessons.

haha, Fifty Shades of Grey- go on read it all and review it!
edited for touchstone, as I definitely wasnt meaning anything to do with Dorian Gray!

The People's History of the United States is a wonderful book!

Hi Paul. Just getting caught up. Happy Birthday to Hani!

1980 August: Started kindergarten.

Eagerly awaiting 1981 display, to see if my #2 favorite band of All Time makes the list...

Happy Birthday to Hani and congratulations!

" I am more worried that she is using the book to pick up tips." Thanks, for the first big chuckle of the day! Hope you have a good week, sir.

ETA- My wife read all 3 and I don't think she picked up any tips, at least none that affected me. Drat!

Hi Paul.
I'm still loving the retrospectives although in 1980 I was seriously focused on making good grades so I could get into grad school, so my pleasure reading and movie-going was on the decline.
Oh, and I don't know that the shelves Mark and others are providing for you are going to do it. I think you might need a small building with nothing but bookshelves inside! A small personal library. :-)

Megan - Sure I'll read it as it has now been catalogued. It will be when I'm stuck in an airport or something with nothing else to hand so I am able to excuse it.

Linda - I haven't read Zinn's famous book but it's rating (4.25) and the reviews means that I will definitely try to find a copy.

Pat - thanks. I took her and the tribe to eat Sundanese food (an area of Indonesia not the place just south of Egypt) and to buy her a Balenciaga handbag. When we arrived at the store it was closed early for the only time in 2013 for their annual dinner so she'll have to wait!

Amber - The list will go up soon so you'll have to let me know whether I've let you down or not!

Thanks Diana; there was at least a short hiatus in the long running battle between mother and daughter.

Mark - It seems that the book has elements of sado-masochism which sounds a bit scary as surely you would need to be one or the other!

Ellen - 1980 was a productive year for me and I noted that I wrote about 100 poems and I was buzzing with ideas the year long. Lennon's death in December is one of the events I remember most vividly from my youth.

Another Book Depository delivery yesterday - my last one outstanding : The Hustler by Walter Tevis.

1981 Retrospective

From My Music Collection

Not a stellar year by any means IMO (I'm sure Amber's faves are not there)

1. Yoko Ono - Season of Glass
2. Echo & The Bunnyment - Heaven Up Here
3. Electric Light Orchestra - Time
4. Squeeze - East Side Story
5. New Order - Movement
6. ACDC - For Those About to Rock We Salute You
7. UB40 - Present Arms
8. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Hard Promises
9. Phil Collins - Face Value
10. Men at Work - Business as Usual

1981 at the Movies
1. Chariots of Fire
2. Excalibur
3. Gregory's Girl
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark
5. On Golden Pond

1981 Books
1. Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children
2. William Boyd - A Good Man in Africa
3. Alasdair Gray - Lanark
4. John Irving - The Hotel New Hampshire
5. Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Chronicle of a Death Foretold
6. Paul Theroux - The Mosquito Coast
7. Muriel Spark - Loitering With Intent
8. Nadine Gordimer - July's People
9. Robert Stone - A Flag for Sunrise
10. Ian McEwan - The Comfort of Strangers

1981 Events

Jan. The US hostages are released as Reagan is inaugurated
Feb. Coup d'etat is foiled in Spain
Mar. John Hinkley shoots Reagan.
Apr. The first space shuttle flight
May. Mitterand becomes leader of France, the Pope is shot and the Yorkshire Ripper goes to prison
Jun. First recognised cases of AIDS
Jul. Princess Di and Prince Chuck get hitched
Aug. MTV channel is launched
Sep. Simon and Garfunkel play Central Park
Oct. Anwar Sadat is assassinated
Nov. The Church of England synod votes to allow women to take holy orders
Dec. Ali's last fight (loss to Trevor Berbick)

Oh good, I made it in time for 1981! That year stands out in my memory because I was in the eight grade and our class went to Washington, D.C. over our Spring break, and guess what happened while we were there - the President was shot! I still have the newspapers that I brought home from there. I also remember The Concert in Central Park - totally awesome!

Happy new thread, Paul, sorry to be so late.

YES! Men at Work. Love them. Have already trained Charlie to dance delightedly when the pop up on the ipod.

>133 PaulCranswick: 5. New Order - Movement yeeeha!

And today is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's birthday, so the other #5 is pertinent too.
5. Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Mamie - Lovely to see you. 1981 was busy for me at school but my music collection from the early 1980s is a little sparse. I have only 67 for 1981 and 83 for 1982 when all years for the 70s I have more than a hundred.

Amber - So I got one of the two is it? The other one, please tell me or I won't be able to sleep tonight!

Megan - I was toying with Updike's Rabbit is Rich and works by Raymond Carver and Stephen Jay Gould also for the list instead of either of Gordimer, McEwan or Garcia-Marquez but I think I just about got the list right.

1981 was one of my life's lost years, and I don't want it back. The lists are like things from 1951 or 1881. Heard of 'em, but no memory.

Important note to retrospective of 1981:

June - Es was born!

hullo, Paul. i watched "Joe Bonamassa: An acoustic evening at the Vienna Opera House" on PBS tonight and thought of you and your many musics. his playing may not be your kind of thing but i thought i'd mention him. here's a trailer for the cd/dvd of that performance. he does some nice stuff with Beth Hart as well, like i'd rather go blind. she's a bit Janis Joplin channeled, but that's alright with me. she holds her own with Joe.

trying to start Diary of a part-time indian but Alexie narrates it and he's hard for me to listen to so i'm going to try the NLS version.

looked at your 80s books. i have *finally* got Howard Zinn's classic in my audible wish list. and about time, too.

loved Transit of Venus and hated Confederacy of dunces. could never grasp that book.

have a good one. :)

Hello Paul. The Concert in Central Park, is it that long ago? I'm getting old...

I watched the concert on a small black and white TV, in my bedroom. It was a special treat and I can still remember vividly the goose bumps I felt. The LP and later the CD are completely worn out and I can sing every word by heart :)

For those interested here is an update on the Thread/Posting League

We have so far 119 threaders above 100 posts by my reckoning:

1 Paul (paulcranswick) 3157
2 Richard 2348
3 Mark 1754
4 Mamie 1501
5 Joe 1472
6 Ellen (EBT) 1269
7 Stephen (Ape) 1266
8 Kath (Mckait) 1081
9 Megan 972
10 Darryl 950
11 Nora 911
12 Amber 891
13 Diana (Wilkiec) 845
14 Caro 817
15 Bianca 705
16 Katie (katiekrug) 702
17 Roni 699
18 Bonnie 696
19 Claudia 696
20 TinaV95 676
21 Linda (Whisper1) 662
22 Leah (leahbird) 652
23 Suzanne 636
24 Rhian 609
25 Chelle 584
26 Donna 580
27 Kathy (Unrulysun) 575
28 Lucy (sibyx) 549
29 Deb 540
30 Kerri (DorsVenabili) 535
31 Pat 522
32 Peggy 492
33 Karen (maggie1944) 471
34 Morphy 468
35 Rachel (Hibernator) 462
36 Stasia 435
37 Micky 421
38 Liz (lyzard) 404
39 Reba 403
40 Lynda (Carmenere) 393
41 Paul (paulstalder) 391
42 Julia (Rosalita) 370
43 Genny 359
44 Laura 358
45 Judy (DeltaQueen) 350
46 Sara (Saraslibrary) 348
47 Kim (Beryl) 347
48 Es 337
49 Lori (thornton37814) 333
50 Carrie (cbl_tn) 330
51 Nancy 327
52 Joanne 324
53 Terri (Tymfos) 322
54 Ilana 315
55 Gail 312
56 Dejah 309
57 SusanJ 294
58 Heather 290
59 PawsforThought 288
60 Linda (lindapanzo) 274
61 Jim (drneutron) 267
62 Amy (porchreader) 265
63 Cushla 253
64 Anne (AMQS) 247
65 Samantha 244
66 Laura (LauraBrook) 242
67 Nina (humouress) 241
68 Calm 238
69 Beth (BlBera) 237
70 Lori (Ikernagh) 227
71 Cheli (cyderry) 226
72 Mary (bell7) 226
73 Faith 223
74 Luxx 214
75 Jenny (Lunacat) 211
76 Eris 207
77 Katherine (qebo) 207
78 Carsten 206
79 Madeline 205
80 Tina (tutu) 204
81 Kerry (Avatiakh) 203
82 Jenn (whitewavedarling)190
83 Becky (labwriter) 188
84 Heidi (Cobscook) 177
85 Nathalie 174
86 Michelle (Tanglewood) 170
87 Anne (AnneDC) 168
88 Brit (weejane) 168
89 Emilie (alsvidur) 167
90 Melissa (kasselim) 166
91 Terri (Toeffler) 165
92 Tui 163
93 Roberta 162
94 Rhonda (banjo) 158
95 Kathy (persephone) 156
96 Jude 151
97 Bekka 149
98 Katie (cammykitty) 148
99 Fuzzi 147
100 Adrienne (fairywings) 140
101 Sarah (Beserene) 138
102 Janet (streamsong) 135
103 Jenn (nittnutt) 135
104 Foggidawn 133
105 Jennifer (Inge) 132
106 Ellie (Elliepotten) 125
107 Monica (justjoey) 125
108 Jennifer (lovelyluck) 122
109 Sandy (sjmccreary) 121
110 Tad 121
111 Charlotte (Fourpwz) 114
112 Judy (ffortsa) 113
113 Linda (9007) 113
114 Brenda (brenpike) 112
115 John 110
116 Ursula 107
117 Mary (storeettlr) 104
118 Karen O 103
119 Linda (Laytonwoman3rd)102

Compared to last year activity is still noticeably up.

This year top 10 early March

Paul 3157
RD 2348
Mark 1754
Mamie 1501
Joe 1472
Ellen 1269
Stephen 1266
Kath 1081
Megan 972
Darryl 950

Last Year at the same time

Ricahrd 1834
Paul 1689
Kath 1450
Joe 1351
Mark 1303
Stephen 1249
Ilana 1078
Cee 886
Donna 778
Caro 769

This total for top ten 15,770
Last year for top ten 12,387

Increase of 27%

Last year 0 already over 2,000 this year 2
Last year 7 already over 1,000 this year 8
Last year 18 already over 500 this year 31

My Favorite Band Ever has been active since the '70's, but they did indeed release a doozie of an album in '81: Moving Pictures.

I'm in the clear Amber because I don't have the album and my list is from my own collection.

That hardly puts you in the clear, Paul. Why in the world do you not have that seminal piece of musical genius?

1981 May: Chelle Bearss makes her entrance into the world :):)

Happy Wednesday Paul!

Wow. 8 people over 1K posts is impressive, but two over 2K is amazing. Still and all, the first dip is well underway, and the May/June decline will hit too.

And look! Mark's out of fifth!!

>147 ChelleBearss: Chelle: Oh, that reminds me - August = The Then-Future Mr. Scaifea makes his debut in the world...

Wow- and I was just thinking, Paul, that we had been due some stats. :)

>147 ChelleBearss: Es and Chelle, both born in 1981. I was in my first whole year of school then. I had no idea that the S&G Central Park concert was so long ago either! I would have thought mid- late 80s for sure!

1981 my father died and I finished library diploma

1982 we married

interesting stats - is there any indication for who is posting the most on other people's threads? or that would be very tedious work counting, wouldn't it?

Hi Mate, wow i am doing well, i am still making your list even if i am near the bottom, going to have to up my game a bit. Hope you are well mate and all the family. My reading is still going well, must be being part of this wonderful group.

RD - I don't remember 1981 being great for me either.

Es - Certainly makes you one of the groups whippersnappers!

Ellie - I don't have any music by Joe Bonamassa until now but I have to say your link blew me away; what fantastic musicianship.
I also started A Confederacy of Dunces around ten years ago and got nowhere with it

Diana - I also remember watching the concert on the TV and wishing they'd make some more new music together.

Amber, I have four albums by Rush but not that one - I have "Rush", "Fly by Night", "Permanent Waves" and "2112" but not that one.

Chelle - That makes two of my favourite pals born in 1981.

RD - There is a very noticeable slowdown at present as the numbers look like dropping below 4,000 weekly for the first time this year.
The Eternal Fifth is actually garnering the most posts of all threads at the moment so we should start looking over our shoulders shortly!

Amber - 1981 was a busy year for the soon-to-be group and its loved ones.

Megan - Yep I was suprised to note that I hadn't updated the figures for a while. The books read list in prep too. I am still trying to catch up the promised list of the most popular books read by the group last year but my database crashed and I have had to revisit it.

Paul - I have looked at a number of individual threads to see who posted the most on those threads (Megan posted the most on my threads last year) but you are right it would be beyond my capabilities to track everyone's efforts on everyone elses threads. There is of course a record on the individual's home page which will tell you how many posts per day you have made since joining LT.

John - solidly over 100 posts already mate is none too shabby. I will be along soon to boost your numbers!

Alright, so at least you have *some* of their stuff. Consider yourself un-hooked.

Not to mention unhinged.

*snork!*

Rush featured heavily in Ready Player One. I have to admit that I just let that part of the plot detail flow over me.....

What happened to the 5th Spot? That was home! Joe, Mamie & Kath must be taking a breather and I don't blame 'em.
I like Rush too. I am not a die-hard though. I do agree that Moving Pictures is one of their best. Come on Paul, "Limelight" & "Tom Sawyer". Great stuff.

Ellen- I forgot that "2112" played such a cool part of RPO.

Another reason for me to bump Ready Player One up on the list.
As a drummer, there's now way I couldn't love Rush and Neil Peart. That guy is amazing.

Amber- I agree with you on Peart! And Lifeson is a heck of a guitarist too!

Mark - Yep, Lifeson knows what he's doing, for certain. To round things out, I went to high school with a girl who looked just like Geddy Lee. Poor soul.

Amber - Thanks, I will look for that album at the same time I am tracking down Joe Bonamassa.

Joe - Hahaha; not your favourite then mate?

Ellen - Reminds me too that I need to add that book to my stash. Any book so enthusiastically plugged by Morphy is........wait......no I'll still buy it!

Mark - If I were to take the last 2 weeks it may well be higher than 3rd. Mamie is a bit quiet after her explosive mid January surge and awaiting a second wind but Joe is chugging along as per normal....it is you, Sir, that is flying. Joe is up a little on last year but you have 400 posts than last year at this stage.

Amber - I had forgotten your propensity to bash things acoustically; Mr. Scaifea appreciates your drumrolls I'm sure!

Rush are renowned for a certain level of musicianship that is missing in many acts today I would agree. Dopplegangers at school that looked like famous people, I had one girl in my class the spitting image of Meg Ryan and her scene from When Harry Met Sally had more meaning for me than most and I'm still wondering 25 years later whether she faked it or not?!

Great job on those stats Paul. You're the WIZ to me!!! :)

Hey, I was wondering when you'd manage another posts update, knowing how busy you've been. Thanks for the work.

Okay, now I'm waiting for the other business of the group summary, books read. ;-)

Thank you Tina. You have held up really well in 20th place so far and with Diana you are really flying the flag for the newcomers in the group. There are quite a number who have already passed 100 posts this year who didn't do so in the whole of last year which is really great.

Roni - Will be out by tomorrow, promise!

Paul, I was pleasantly surprised by Ready Player One and would actually recommend it!

I will seek it out soon Ellen for sure.

New Order, ACDC, UB40, Phil Collins and Men at Work would all get my vote

Love the photo up top! Of course I', note remotely caught up.. so I'll just say hello :)

I am also loving your "topper" pic!

Following the recent posts i have to say i am a big fan of Rush and Heavy Metal in general, 2112 is awesome and am hoping to see them on their UK tour later this year. Not only is Neil Peart a fantastic drummer but is co-authoring some Sci-fi/ Fantasy books but then again he is heavily influenced by Ayn Rand.

Hello, Paul. How's by you?

Has SWMBO received her purse yet? Surely a Balenciaga would be worth waiting for...

Adrienne - 1980 was a sort of watershed between the edgier 70's and the more synthesized 80's and I think that is reflected in my list.

Thanks Kath, it is always good to know that there are at least the two of us rushing around behind but always eager to let others know we're there and care.

Thanks Karen, Mytholmroyd inspired one of the finest poets of the last century and I think you can see why.

John - Ayn Rand as divisive a character you could imagine in a schoolmarm package.

Gail - I am fine; the bag is in the bag so to speak!

You are a man after my heart! I love working with numbers and stats. One of my degrees is accounting. It was a challenging accomplishment, but I had a lot of fun along the way.

Thanks, as always, for posting these wonderful occurences and listws.

Paul - Out of curiosity, how many CDs do you have at home? Does the rest of the family add to the collection as well or are they happy to allow you to play DJ PCool at home?

Linda - Thank you; I get just as much of a kick out of doing them.

Caro - At last count 4,731 but since 2000 my collection has trailed off somewhat and I don't buy so many these days. Kyran has no CDs but likes to download stuff (much of which I have), Yassie has a few and I will add hers to my list if I think they are not too cringe-worthy.

The 80's was a really good era for Aus music, lots of live rock, aswell as bands that were more pop.

You are right of course Adrienne - Nick Cave is one of my favourites and he made his bow in the 80s.

Yeah Nick Cave is great. I love "Where the Wild Roses Grow".
I just discovered he wrote the screenplay for Lawless.

I think he hit his peak in the 90s in truth with that album (Murder Ballads) and its follow up When the Boatman Calls.

Good Evening, Paul! You have survived another week - do you get any relaxing time this weekend?

I am also here to wish you a relaxing week end, Paul. I do live the retrospective lists. Such good memories.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, Paul!

By sheer coincidence, I saw Joe Bonamassa last night on a PBS special. It was a completely acoustic program; he had, I think, 4 other guys with him. Absolutely amazing.

Oh, and a good weekend.

Hi!

You really should amp up your Rush collection stat.

Mamie - We have a barbeque for friends and my staff this evening so I will spend most of Saturday night with chicken drumsticks, burgers, sausages, tiger prawns (I'll stop before my list becomes Caro-esque)
Sunday will be books and LT and plenty of rest.

Donna - 1982 imminent. Preparing the lists has certainly reminded me of a few books I need to look out for and some great music has been recommended.

Thanks Diana - I am still pondering my choice of a book for you and will conclude my deliberations shortly.

Gail - I am planning a trip to my favourite CD store in between work and the barbeque to see whether I can find anything of his.

Kathy - I had already decided to add Rush's canon to my collection in full after being duly intimidated by Amber earlier (only kidding Ms. Scaife)

Well, okay then, that sounds like a lovely plan. Carry on!

31.

Fallen Angel : The Passion of Fausto Coppi by William Fotheringham

As regulars will know whilst I love sports cycling is my first passion.
Fausto Coppi's story is the stuff of legends full of glory, controversy and tragedy in almost equal parts.

Farmer's son, butcher's boy, upstart lieutenant of Il Pio (Gino Bartali), POW, stunning campionissimo (champion of champions) and a tortured soul disgraced in the staid catholicism of his italianate times after leaving his wife and daughter for the mysterious 'Woman in White'.

From his early years riding by the cycle teams out training whilst he was late for work and fearing a backhander from his boss right up to his early death from a mis-diagnosed bout of severe malaria at only 40, the story is told well by british cycling journo Fotheringham and is peopled with great characters like his blind masseur and his great rival, the religiously fervent Bartali whose contests with Coppi energised a nation.

It is always difficult to judge the best of all time as times, equipment and so on change. I'm not sure that Coppi would have always beaten Merckx as accident prone and physically fragile as he was, but on his day he won with more panache than has been seen before or since.

8/10

Mamie - I trust that your weekend at the Pecan Paradisio will be a wonderful one.

Hi Paul, hoping your weekend and barbecue go swimmingly well for you. We're not thinking in terms of barbecue here yet. That's just a snowy dream at this point.

I feel so out of it. I just discovered Nick Cave a few years ago. I will have to look at some of his earlier stuff just to find out why you think it was so much better than the present. I have to confess that I don't know much about Australian music. Dare I say it, except for Keith Urban. 1980's music for me is REO Speedwagon, Van Halen, Bon Jovi, and when I discovered The Boss. The 80's is also when I left the farm. More's the pity.

As promised to Roni. This is the books read league up to end of February. Qualification 100 posts (120 threads qualify - I missed Swynn earlier in my list on the threads - sorry Stephen)

1 Amber 84
2 Suzanne 75
3 Melissa (kasselim) 67
4 Emilie (alsvidur) 58
5 Jennifer (Inge) 51
6 Morphy 51
7 Dejah 42
8 Paul (paulstalder) 42
9 Lori (thornton37814) 40
10 Linda (Whisper1) 36
11 Sara (Saraslibrary) 33
12 SusanJ 33
13 Judy (DeltaQueen) 32
14 Chelle 31
15 Heather 31
16 Brenda (brenpike) 30
17 Paul (paulcranswick) 30
18 Bianca 29
19 Lucy (sibyx) 28
20 Roni 28
21 Caro 27
22 Carrie (cbl_tn) 27
23 Liz (lyzard) 27
24 Mamie 27
25 Mark 27
26 Richard 27
27 Anne (AnneDC) 26
28 Jennifer (lovelyluck) 26
29 Laura (LauraBrook) 26
30 Nathalie 26
31 Terri (Toeffler) 26
32 Jenn (nittnutt) 25
33 Julia (Rosalita) 25
34 Karen O 25
35 Adrienne (fairywings) 24
36 Joe 24
37 Mary (storeettlr) 24
38 Tina (tutu) 24
39 Calm 23
40 Darryl 23
41 Jenn (whitewavedarling)23
42 Katie (cammykitty) 23
43 Megan 23
44 Michelle (Tanglewood) 23
45 Rachel (Hibernator) 23
46 Stasia 23
47 Linda (lindapanzo) 22
48 Cheli (cyderry) 21
49 Foggidawn 21
50 Mary (bell7) 21
51 Roberta 21
52 Amy (porchreader) 20
53 Fuzzi 20
54 Diana (Wilkiec) 19
55 Donna 19
56 Faith 19
57 Heidi (Cobscook) 19
58 Kath (Mckait) 19
59 Lori (Ikernagh) 19
60 Luxx 19
61 Ursula 19
62 Beth (BlBera) 18
63 Rhian 18
64 Swynn 18
65 Gail 17
66 Ilana 17
67 Claudia 16
68 Genny 16
69 Jim (drneutron) 16
70 Kathy (Unrulysun) 16
71 Nina (humouress) 16
72 Nora 16
73 Bonnie 15
74 Es 15
75 Rhonda (banjo) 15
76 Anne (AMQS) 14
77 Ellen (EBT) 14
78 Joanne 14
79 Katherine (qebo) 14
80 Katie (katiekrug) 14
81 Leah (leahbird) 14
82 Lynda (Carmenere) 14
83 Peggy 14
84 Carsten 13
85 Kerri (DorsVenabili) 13
86 Micky 13
87 Reba 13
88 Becky (labwriter) 12
89 Bekka 12
90 Charlotte (Fourpwz) 12
91 Deb 12
92 John 12
93 Kim (Beryl) 12
94 Samantha 12
95 Sandy (sjmccreary) 12
96 TinaV95 12
97 Brit (weejane) 11
98 Terri (Tymfos) 11
99 Kathy (persephone) 10
100 Kerry (Avatiakh) 10
101 Nancy 10
102 PawsforThought 10
103 Janet (streamsong) 9
104 Laura 9
105 Linda (9007) 9
106 Linda (Laytonwoman) 9
107 Pat 9
108 Stephen (Ape) 9
109 Monica (justjoey) 8
110 Tui 8
111 Eris 7
112 Judy (ffortsa) 7
113 Jenny (Lunacat) 6
114 Karen (maggie1944) 6
115 Madeline 5
116 Sarah (Beserene) 5
117 Tad 5
118 Cushla 3
119 Ellie (Elliepotten) 3
120 Jude 0

Thanks Bonnie - I wasn't rubbing it in with all you snow bound and freezin' folks honestly!

Benita - I didn't realise you were such a hard rockin' gal! Have a lovely weekend.

Nice, heartfelt review of a book I'll never in this life read!

Thanks RD - Not sure that 'Fallen Angel" was that apropos in truth but my interest in the subject together with the writers saw me through. You are right though it is for cycle racing fans only really.

Thank you, Paul! I was getting ready to stomp my feet and cry--and then I saw these were through the end of February, so my last 6 books didn't count. ;^(

1982 RETROSPECTIVE

From my music collection

1. English Settlement by XTC
2. Too-Rye-Ay by Dexy's Midnight Runners
3. Imperial Bedroom by Elvis Costello
4. Avalon by Roxy Music
5. The Night Fly by Donald Fagen
6. Combat Rock by The Clash
7. Upstairs at Erics by Yazoo
8. Beautiful Vision by Van Morrison
9. Tug of War by Paul McCartney
10. American Fool by John Mellencamp

no Thriller even though it sits largely neglected on the shelves.
no Nebraska because I thought it dreary and rushed
no Rio or Lexicon of Love which had great singles but little substance
no Mirage which was a disappointment from Fleetwood Mac

1982 in Film

1. 48 Hours
2. Blade Runner
3. ET
4. First Blood
5. Gandhi
6. Missing
7. Poltergeist
8. Sophie's Choice
9. The World According to Garp
10. The Year of Living Dangerously

1982 Some Books

1. If Not Now, When? by Primo Levi
2. Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally
3. Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo
4. An Ice Cream War by William Boyd
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
7. George Mills by Stanley Elkin
8. A Pale View of the Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
9. A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
10. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

1982 EVENTS

Jan. Mark Thatcher disappears in the Sahara nobody is sure why anybody bothered looking for him.
Feb. The DeLorean car company goes bust
Mar. Claus Von Bulow found guilty of killing his wife
Apr. The Falklands War starts
May. Andropov takes over in USSR
Jun. Argentina surrenders in the Falklands War as Prince William is born
Jul. An intruder, Michael Fagen, breaks into Buckingham Palace and visits the Queen in her bedroom.
Aug. The first compact discs (CDs) are released in Germany
Sep. Emoticons are used for the first time
Oct. The 'Mary Rose' flagship of Henry VIII is raised from the floor of the ocean
Nov. Countdown is the first programme aired on the new Channel Four in the UK
Dec. The first execution by lethal injection takes place in the USA.

Roni - I did notice quite a spurt from you and one or two of our fellow book worms but I thought a clear cut-off easier.

#194 84 books already this year? Wow. Just wow!

#199 May 1982, Bekka is finally born, weighing in at a whopping 10lb.

Thanks Diana - I am still pondering my choice of a book for you and will conclude my deliberations shortly.

If you want any help, just say it :)

Paul, I'm loving these yearly updates. What astonishes me is the small # of books I've read from each year. Considering the amount of reading I've done in the past, it's beyond amazing that so few titles are known to me...of course, many of those years were (mis)-spent reading mysteries.k

Thanks for the latest reading update mate, i am in some good company looking at the list and will be adding to it shortly. Hope you are having a good weekend mate, SWMBO is at work this weekend but tonight we are going to see our future son-in-law in the lead male role in Blithe Spirit at the Joseph Rowntree theatre in York, he is a member of the Joseph Rowntree Players. He was quite nervous but the first two performances have gone well, just the matinee and tonights performance to go.

I'm enjoying the yearly updates, too, Paul. I loved A Wild Sheep Chase, although I read it many years later than 1982.

*waving while hurrying through threads this morning*

1982! Such a year. Blade Runner has worn extremely well over the years. I dislike A Wild Sheep Chase as much now as ever. Avalon still makes me sigh dreamily. And The Changing Light at Sandover killed any tiniest shred of poetical appreciation I might have nourished until then: Long, incomprehensible, portentous, and pretentious, or "poetry personified."

I spent the second half of 82 and beginning of 83 in Italy, and it was the period of my life when I went to the cinema most often, at least once and often twice a week. Bladerunner was the first film I ever saw in Italian - probably not the best choice for a time when my Italian was quite basic - I only found out what it was all about when I saw it again on TV years later.

Bekka - Re: Amber, I know! Amber has a fair amount of picture books in there that she reads with her son, Charlie during bath/bed time but it is still mightily impressive.
10 llbs? More than double myself I'm afraid. I weighed in alneit 16 years earlier at a less than whopping 3lbs 12 ozs as an unexpected 2nd of twins.

Diana - The problem is you have only 43 books catalogued so I'm a little worried about getting you something you have already got or have read before. I'll PM you with 10 of the books LT recommends me to get you and you let me know if you have any or all of em.

Gail - I don't think it so surprising as there are just so many books out there. There is nothing scientific about my picks and I'm sure someone else in my place would pick at least 7 or 8 different books. I haven't read all the books on the lists either of course. For example for 1982 I have only read the first 4 I listed.

John - 12 books in Feb sees you just about on the 75 book target mate which would be a good step up from your total last year. You have 8 lovely ladies for company as you rightly point out. I take it that the lead in Noel Coward's play does realise he is the future son-in-law!

Joe - I have only thus far read one Murakami novel (Norwegian Wood) although I have several more on the shelves.

Karen - Lovely to see you hurrying through or ambling leisurely.

RD - One of the things that make you so precious to this group mate is that you leave such room for doubt as to your opinions! It must be possible somewhere to find a poet that doesn't irk you so unashamedly. I would agree that incomprehensibility in much modern poetry is a major turn-off.

Rhian - Forza Italia! Disgracefully for someone so keen on cycle racing, coffee, great food and drink, ladies, history and travel (not necessarily in that order), I must admit to never having made it to Italy thus far.

Soulfictionreviews - I'll stick with LT if you don't mind ever so.

I am feeling good about my spot in the reading stats - and look what excellent company I am in!

Yikes! It's so difficult for me to believe that the 80's happened 30 years ago! Noooooooo!

Mamie - would agree that that is one heck of a stellar half-dozen!

Lynda - Couldn't agree more, nostalgia from the 80s OMG!

*wave*

Loving the 80's retrospective!

Thanks Jenn. Just sorting through my CD collection for 1983 at the moment.

>199 PaulCranswick: no Thriller even though it sits largely neglected on the shelves.
no Nebraska because I thought it dreary and rushed
no Rio or Lexicon of Love which had great singles but little substance
no Mirage which was a disappointment from Fleetwood Mac

lol- are you getting too many complaints about ones you miss off your collection!

And the only book Ive read off your list is, An Ice Cream War by William Boyd! (thank you for that again, btw, my brother currently has is on his tbr pile!)

I am giving you a pass on Nebraska, Paul, simply because while I adore many of the songs on that album I think the production is pretty awful. The songs really come alive in a concert setting.

Megan - I thought I better anticipate The King of Pop's fans complaints! Love some of his songs but not his albums and the poor fellow was a train-wreck pure and simple. Don't think I ever forgave him gazumping McCartney for the rights to all the Beatles' music.

Julia - Yep, as you can see from some of my other lists I do like The Boss but he really ought to have taken more time with this one as, you rightly point out, the songs had potential to have been made much better. I did notice though on rateyourmusic.com it was listed top three for the year.

The story, as I understand it, is that what got released as the Nebraska album was actually a demo cassette tape that Bruce recorded on a cheap tape recorder in his living room as preparation for cutting the songs with the full E Street Band. But they were never able to make the full-band recordings sound good, and eventually it was decided to just release the demo tape, which was rather a mess sonically as Springsteen had been carrying it around in his pocket. Interestingly, one of the few songs from that demo tape that was successfully cut with the full band was ... "Born In the USA", the version that shows up on the album of the same name.

And there's way more than you ever wanted to know about the making of Springsteen's Nebraska!

Julia - thanks for that interesting bit of info.

That's a good idea, Paul, I'll wait for your PM.

Hope you have a couple of hours left before Monday. Just breezing through threads as I can today.

Fabulous movies in 1982 and The Color Purple is on my list of favorite books. Can't wait to see 1983. That's the year I graduated high school...

Hi Paul- I was very pleased with your SWMBO story! It warmed me up perfectly. I hope you are having a good weekend. Have you read Fowles? I am nearly done with The Collector.

Julia- Thanks for sharing the story of Nebraska. I love that album, even if the production is subpar. Many great songs. Atlantic City is a gem. Did you know they made Highway Patrolman into a film? Sean Penn directed it.

Diana - will send you soon.

Lovely to see you always Gail - I hope things are ok with DH this weekend and that he is in good form awaiting good news on the heart valve op.

Morphy - I couldn't keep 1982 to 5 films only.

Mark - The dear girl makes her own stories mate - she is oftimes intimidating but always entertaining. I have read French Lieutenant's Woman and I have several more on the shelves mate. The one I read was Hardy-esque.

Good day today. With the kids marooned and swotting for exams SWMBO and I went to her favourite mall (The Gardens) to watch Lincoln at the movies. She snoozed whilst I was enthralled. Day-Lewis is a genius.

Straight after I was instructed by SWMBO to head to Borders and complete the Shades of Grey trilogy! She has been staying up late to read the first one and I am frankly a little uneasy at the lingering looks she is giving me halfway through chapters!

I have also discovered that I cannot resist a book sale. Borders had a small selection of books offered at 50%. This is what I got.

1. 50 Shades Darker by E.L. James
2. 50 Shades Freed by E.L. James
3. The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam
4. Leviathan by Paul Auster
5. The Homecoming Party by Carmine Abate
6. We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg
7. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
8. Turn Again Home by Carol Birch
9. City of Thieves by David Benioff
10 A Legacy by Sybille Bedford
11 Dreamland by Kevin Baker
12 Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie

> I am frankly a little uneasy at the lingering looks

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Bwhahaha.

#224 by @msf59> Highway Patrolman is probably my favorite song on the album, although there are so many great ones. Atlantic City, Johnny 99, Reason to Believe, Used Cars ... so many. I knew that Penn had made a move of HP, called "Indian Runner" but I've not seen it. I should check to see if it's on Netflix streaming.

I also graduated from high school in 1983. I can't wait to see what you post!

>226 PaulCranswick: I have also discovered that I cannot resist a book sale.

NO!!

What a fancy year 1983 was. Stellar for me, too, as I quit drinking alcohol that year. Celebrating 30 years of Sobriety this April.

Morphy - It is the morning after the night before and my fears were somewhat justified.

Julia - Some songs would clearly make good movies; take some of Dylan's stuff on Blood on the Tracks for example ~ Tangled Up in Blue, Idiot Wind, .....

Roberta - coming up next.

Sorry RD I am having a little trouble typing with my tongue pressed so fiercely into my cheek.

Good for you Karen. I had seven years of not drinking after first getting married and did miss the occasional tipple in truth.

I always thought "Simple Twist of Fate" from Blood on the Tracks would be a great little movie.

Paul, I do not recommend giving up the alcohol for any but those for whom it foreshadows an early, and unpleasant, death. That would be the only reason to quit: to avoid dying of it.

I had a wonderful day of photography and if you have time stop by my "reading" journals and see some samples.

1983 RETROSPECTIVE

1983 from my music collection

1. A Walk Across the Rooftops - Blue Nile
2. Soul Mining - The The
3. War - U2
4. The Crossing - Big Country
5. Punch the Clock - Elvis Costello
6. Too Low For Zero - Elton John
7. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics
8. Infidels - Bob Dylan
9. She's So Unusual - Cyndi Lauper
10. Inarticulate Speech of the Heart - Van Morrison

1983 at the movies
1. The Dresser
2. The King of Comedy
3. The Meaning of Life
4. Local Hero
5. The Right Stuff
6. Return of the Jedi
7. Scarface
8. Silkwood
9. Tender Mercies
10. Terms of Endearment

Some Books from 1983

1. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
2. Fools of Fortune by William Trevor
3. The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Claus
4. Life and Times of Michael K by JM Coetzee
5. Shame by Salman Rushdie
6. A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines
7. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
8. Ironweed by William Kennedy
9. The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
10. Life and Loves of a She-Devil by Fay Weldon

1983 Events

Jan - Klaus Barbie caught in South America
Feb - Final Episode of MASH
Mar - Michael Jackson first does the moonwalk in public
Apr - The Pound coin introduced in the UK
May - The Hitler Diaries are published
Jun - Mrs Thatcher is re-elected by post-Falklands landslide
Jul - France invades Algeria
Aug - Begnino Aquino is assassinated
Sep - The Soviets shoot down Korean Air Flight 007
Oct - The US invade Grenada
Nov - Reagan announces Martin Luther King Day as national holiday
Dec - US announces its withdrawal from UNESCO

Julia - As would Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts of course.

Karen - Seriously for a second; I am not at all a heavy drinker but I do like a couple of drinks two or three times a month. I did see a report today that drinking non-copious amounts of red wine on a daily basis could allow you to live to 150 years. Not really sure that that would be the most attractive proposition in the world but still.

Hi Paul!

#199 - I love XTC.

I actually really like Nebraska, and I'm not the biggest Springsteen fan (sorry, Julia - maybe I need a recommendation.) And it's funny, because I so badly want to like him, so I keep trying. I think I have issues with the rock saxophone (i.e. I sort of hate it), which is probably why Nebraska appeals to me.

1983 I haven't read any of the books! What!? I love the music you picked Paul and I have seen every single one of those movies.

You left the R out of Big Country...unless you were referring to
Yorkshire. ;)

So many memories for me. I love Local Hero! Terms of Endearment for me because it was partly filmed in Houston and Shirley McLaine did crazy ass Texas mom better than a crazy ass Texas mom.

Kerry - I also want to like Nebraska as I sort of know what he is trying to do with the material but I don't think he quite pulls it off. I put it on in the car yesterday and after three songs SWMBO made me change it. XTC were excellent and almost alone alphabetically.

Roberta - aha maybe a Freudian slip of some sort. I have edited it and thanks for those eagle-eyes.
The theme music to Local Hero almost made my music list too - love the thing too. I am also a big fan of Monty Python and their Meaning of Life has some wonderful gems in it.

Oh I like where I am in the books read stats! Not doing so well here in March, not quite sure why, really, but it always happens around now, as winter winds down, that I read less.

Familiar with all the tunes, saw only two of the movies and read only three of the 1983 books...... that sez something. Those were the years we were doing over our old house and I listened to A LOT of music, plus we were young and went dancin' every weekend in Burlington.

#237 by @DorsVenabili> Kerri, I'll give some thoughts to some great Springsteen music that isn't drenched in saxophone to see if we can't change your mind. :-)

The only song I know of XTC's is Peter Pumpkinhead, which I absolutely adore. I probably have heard others but nothing that stuck in my mind as being them.

Kerri- I think you should give Tunnel of Love a try! It's one of my favorite Springsteen albums. A bit more spare too!

Paul- Good to see Infidels up there. Mr. Dylan rebounding...once again. I love that movie list too! Many gems.

#241 - Julia - Yes, saxophoneless Springsteen help would be appreciated. : )

And regarding XTC, I actually think the most amazing albums are the last two from the late 90s - Apple Venus Volume 1 and Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2), but that's just my opinion. I also like Skylarking a lot and Black Sea.

#242 - Mark - I will try that.

Lucy - I am with you entirely on this. I have only finished 1 book so far in March and have quite a large pile edging towards reviews.
Barchester Towers, Birthday Letters, Portrait of a Spy, After Rain, Blood Meridian and The Black Book will all probably get completed this week.
I noticed that my music was very Anglophile for 1983 and I had only four/five decent US albums for the year to choose from An Innocent Man, Murmur, Speaking in Tongues, Hearts and Bones and the Lauper I let in over my old favourites ELO and the Kinks.

Julia - XTC were solid but always unappreciated by but a few. I am looking forward to the music of 1984 which has something of a renaissance IMO. 1981-1983 were not so great but 1984-87 are among my favourite musically.

Mark - his Ballad of Tom Joad is literally the Boss stripped bare. Bob's strongest album of the 80's for me with the exception of 1989's Oh Mercy. Movies were good at those times too weren't they I left out Trading Places with Eddie Murphy which I thoroughly enjoyed at the time too.

Kerry - I like English Settlement the best followed by Skylarking but I agree those two twinned later albums are high up there too.

Yes, Tom Joad is stripped bare, but it left me a bit cold. I am a big fan of Oh Mercy too! Yah, for Trading Places. Jamie Lee Curtis...hubba hubba.

Devils & Dust is a better realization of a stripped-down Springsteen album, IMO. Joad has some great songs, but the arrangements are not. Just as with Nebraska, the songs on that album came alive when the E Street Band got hold of them. In particular, Youngstown is a barn-burner of a song live, with a blistering guitar solo by Nils Lofgren.

Really, when it comes to Springsteen, nothing he's committed to disc can hold a candle to seeing it live. There's something magical that happens when all of those guys get together on a stage in front of an audience.

Mark - Jamie Lee made short hair for ladies eminently sexy - not really sure that her topless scene in front of the mirror added much to the story but who cares!

Julia - I will have to get to see Bruce and the band at least once before they put down their instruments.

#247 - Thanks Julia - I'll check out Devils & Dust. I keep meaning to check out the Tom Joad album. I only know the Rage Against the Machine cover of the title song. Ha!

Just popping in to say hello :) and do a wee bit of catching up !

Well, that was unimpressive. I was hoping for more from 1983 as my graduating year. Nothing on your list was that big a deal to me. Ah well. On to the next year!

My husband and I were married in 1983. Local Hero is one of our very favorite movies, although we didn't see it in 1983. It shows up on TV from time to time and we always watch it. And I agree Paul, the music is very good too.

Kerri - I have heard some of the tracks from the album but don't own Devls & Dust as yet as my post 2000 collection is a bit sparse.

Kath - I am keeping up a bit better just now and you seem to be doing ok on the qt too.

Morphy - and there you go; thought you would have liked some of the stuff in truth. ELO's album of that Secret Messages is not one of their very best but, in truth, if I was told to prune my collection it would have made the cut for purely sentimental reasons.
Next year's music is one of my favourites.

Laura - Local Hero would make the podium for me too for 83 along with The Meaning of Life and Tender Mercies.

Whew! I feel like such a youngster that we've just reached my birthday year, 1983. :) I'm actually a bit surprised to find that The Woman in Black is the same age as me... I always thought it was older.

only 5 more days until my birth year . . . *sigh*

Not much to say about these recent retrospective years - I still think I must have been on another planet at the time...

I must have been on a different planet as well. I have only read one of the books on that list. Heard none of the albums and only saw two of the movies. Of course, in 1983 I was getting up every morning to milk cows and working till God knows what hour of the night and had lost a huge amount of weight. I was too tired to enjoy it, but damn I looked good!

>253 PaulCranswick:: along with The Meaning of Life and Tender Mercies. Yeah, me too, I just got caught up in all the Scottish nostalgia there for a few minutes.

Hi mate, i was listening to pop master on radio 2 last week and one of the answers was Shalamar and Ken Bruce then said Jeffrey Daniels performed the moonwalk on TOTP in 1982 and that he taught Michael Jackson how to do it.

For me, Norwegian Wood is his weakest, Paul, although it was a big hit in Japan. I've read all of them that are in English now, and if you're like me, you'll find others of his a lot more enjoyable than that one. It's not bad, but the others are so good!

Mary - Susan Hill does seem to have been around for ever doesn't she. I must admit that the book has the feel of a sixties novel; maybe she forgot to submit the manuscript.

Nora - 1988? Must make you one of the babes of the bunch!

Genny - hahaha were you back from Holland at that time?

Benita - Milking cows as part of a calorie controlled diet? I ought to give it a try in desperation if you can guide me to that particular planet.

Laura - Of course we also had the celtic guitars of Big Country for an added Caledonian flavour.

John - You may be right mate but few remember Shalimar. Actually if you see what I typed it was that it was the first time that Michael Jackson had done it in public.

Joe - I have quite a few on the shelves but, especially Kafka on the Shore, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and IQ84 are all somehow intimidating.

Hi Paul
Yes, that's about it for now. Just hi.
Pretty lame huh?
OK, Ill try something else too.....how about....how are you doing?
There. A respectable post-length now.

OK, just a bit more....
(a) you cant resist a book sale? And you only just learned this about yourself!!?!?? I think you need to ask yourself a few questions Mr book-buyer-of-the-year. I think a more apt statement might be that you just cant resit books ;)
(b) yay for 1983, I loved that year.

#261 Yes, I was back from Holland by then, 1982-3 was my first year at university. I was studying hard, and reading very little written after 1066 except books about things written before 1066, and in the process of neglecting my previous preference for traditional and contemporary folk music because of discovering Mahler, Bruckner and Richard Strauss - and Puccini and Wagner too - thanks to my then boyfriend. A great time of exploration, but completely out of touch with the contemporary musical, film and literary scene!

1983... Now we are getting to the good stuff!!! This is MY era!! :)

Again, thank you for all your had work pulling together your stats! You rock, Mr. Cranswick!

Megan - thanks for giving me the benefit of a prolonged post from my favourite South Islander.

Genny - You were two years ahead of me to Uni. Sorry that the classical stuff is largely missing from my lists as Mahler, Bruckner and Strauss were less than active during the period! I still love folk music but don't have that much in my collection for the period.

Tina - 1984 coming up and, in my opinion a stellar one for books and music as well as for the naffest of blockbusters; Gremlins, the second Indiana Jones, the third Star Trek, Ghostbusters, Footloose, Nightmare on Elm Street - entertaining all but serious film-making not!

Sixteen Candles!!!

1984 RETROSPECTIVE

1984 from my music collection

1. The Smiths by The Smiths
2. The Unforgettable Fire by U2
3. Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
4. Diamond Life by Sade
5. Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen
6. Junk Culture by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
7. Welcome to the Pleasure Dome by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
8. Alf by Alison Moyet
9. Steeltown by Big Country
10. Cafe Bleu by The Style Council

1984 at the movies

1. Amadeus
2. Broadway Danny Rose
3. Cal
4. The Killing Fields
5. The Natural
6. Once Upon a Time in America
7. Paris, Texas
8. A Passage to India
9. Places in the Heart
10. The Terminator

I do think that Hollywood lost something in 84 with a huge series of blockbusters pandering to the slavering classes - Gremlins, Footloose, Ghostbusters, Nightmare on Elm Street, Romancing the Stone, Star Trek 3, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Beverly Hills Cop, Karate Kid and Police Academy. Uniformly watchable but of little artistic merit. The dumbing down of Hollywood really took place in 84.

Some 1984 Books

1. Money by Martin Amis
2. Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard
3. Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes
4. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
5. Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
6. The Lover by Marguerite Duras
7. The Bone People by Keri Hulme
8. Neuromancer by William Gibson
9. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
10. Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

1984 Events

JAN. Michael Jackson proves right fear over the health risks of Pepsi Cola when he is burnt making a commercial for the corporation
FEB. Trudeau retires
MAR. The Miner's Strike commences in the UK
APR. UK comedian Tommy Cooper has a heartattack and dies on live TV to a chorus of hilarity.
MAY. The USSR boycotts the Los Angeles Olympics
JUN. Indian troops storm the Golden Temple in Amritsar
JUL. Geraldine Ferraro becomes first US female VP candidate
AUG. Carl Lewis wins four golds and Seb Coe retains the 1,500 metres
SEP. Miami Vice premieres on TV
OCT. Indira Gandhi is assassinated
NOV. Reagan beats Mondale taking 49 States in the process
DEC. Annus horribilis in India completed by the Bhopal disaster

I had eighteen candles during the year of 84, Roberta.

Oh no!
UK comedian Tommy Cooper has a heartattack and dies on live TV to a chorus of hilarity.
That is downright horrible.

The Terminator, however unlike me it is to like it, I liked. If you get my drift.

>268 PaulCranswick: I can just hear your deadpan voice there Paul! lol

Really great music in 1984! The year I went to university and met my husband :)

Megan - I remember watching the show and it really did look part of his act. Only later (since he was top of the bill and closing out the show) did it emerge that he had had a heart attack and died on stage.

Not a bad attempt at all at replicating Arnie's woodenly and anything but dulcet tones in a post. x

Diana - I fell in love very seriously for the first time in 84 to a lady who several years later broke my heart utterly. Took Malaysia to get her out of my system and paved the way for SWMBO and her hectoring but ofttimes adorable ways.

Quite a catch-up to play here... just browsing now! *waves* I'm back!

Es - lovely to see you too!