Smiler: Reading through the autumn & winter months - Part 5

More beautifully illustrated Vogue covers by Helen Dryden from 1913 and 1919.



Currently reading, listening to,
and occasionally browsing through:
Avedon Fashion 1944-2000 by Carol Squiers (MUST finish this one before year's end!)
The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White
The Blue Fairy Book (Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, 1) by Andrew Lang
The New York Stories by Edith Wharton
♫ The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell

       






Favourites this year:
Gillespie and I by Jane Harris ★★★★½
Three Singles to Adventure by Gerald Durrell ★★★★½
A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin ★★★★½
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay ★★★★★
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff ★★★★★
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (3rd reread) ★★★★★
Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim ★★★★★
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin ★★★★½
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane ★★★★½
Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuściński ★★★★½
Middlemarch by George Eliot ★★★★½
The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Edward FitzGerald ★★★★½
Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse by Alexander Pushkin ★★★★½
Le fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux ★★★★½
Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh ★★★★½
The Tempest by William Shakespeare ★★★★½
Jumping the Queue by Mary Wesley ★★★★½
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (reread for Coursera) ★★★★½
The Potato Factory by Bryce Courtenay ★★★★★
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (reread) ★★★★½
Hamlet by William Shakespeare ★★★★½
The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibin ★★★★½
Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos ★★★★★
Confusion: The Private Papers of Privy Councillor R. von D. by Stefan Zweig ★★★★½
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry ★★★★★
Harvest by Jim Crace ★★★★½
Othello by William Shakespeare ★★★★½
Music & Silence by Rose Tremain ★★★★¾
Le Comte de Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père ★★★★¾
Lord of the Flies William Golding ★★★★¾
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgeniev ★★★★½
An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris ★★★★½
Dragonwick by Anya Seton ★★★★½
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (reread) ★★★★½
An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo ★★★★½
The Old Maid by Edith Wharton ★★★★½
The Man of Property by John Galsworthy ★★★★½
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini ★★★★★
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson ★★★★½
Morality Play by Barry Unsworth ★★★★½
False Dawn by Edith Wharton ★★★★½

Books completed in December
136. ♫ An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris ★★★★½
137. Dragonwick by Anya Seton ★★★★½ (review)
138. ♫ The Circle by Dave Eggers ★★¾
139. ♫ The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins ★★★¾
140. ♫ The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway ★★★★½
141. ♫ An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo ★★★★½ (review)
142. ♫ The Old Maid by Edith Wharton ★★★★½
143. ♫ Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood ★★¼
144. ♫ The Giver by Lois Lowry ★★★⅓
145. ♫ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon ★★★⅓
146. The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch ★★★★ (review)
147. ♫ The Man of Property by John Galsworthy ★★★★½
148. ♫ At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft ★★★½
149. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini ★★★★★
150. ♫ The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens ★★★½
151. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson ★★★★½
152. ♫ The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker ★★★½
153. ♫ Morality Play by Barry Unsworth ★★★★½
154. ♫ False Dawn by Edith Wharton ★★★★½
155. Slightly Foxed: No. 17: Light Reading ★★★½
156. ♫ Fatherland by Robert Harris ★★★⅓
157. ♫ Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen ★★★½
158. Old Filth by Jane Gardam ★★★★

Unfinished:
♫ Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan
♫ The Art of Racing in the Rain

Books completed in January
1. ♫ The House at Riverton ★★★★
2. ♫ A Red Death by Walter Mosley ★★★
3. ♫ The BFG by Roald Dahl ★★★½
4. ♫ The Last Child by John Hart ★★★½
5. ♫ The Wind Singer by William Nicholson ★★★★⅓
6. Gillespie and I by Jane Harris ★★★★½
7. ♫ I, Claudius by Robert Graves ★★★★⅓
8. ♫ Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein ★★★★⅓
9. Leonardo and the Last Supper by Ross King ★★★★
10. ♫ The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud ★★★★⅓
11. ♫ The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy ★★★★
12. ♫ Three Singles to Adventure by Gerald Durrell ★★★★½
13. The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith ★★★¾

Books completed in February
14. ♫ The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg ★★★★
15. ♫ The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum ★★★¾
16. Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason (ARC) ★★★⅓
17. ♫ Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith ★★★⅓
18. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness ★★★★
19. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy ★★★¾
20. ♫ Without Fail by Lee Child ★★★★

Books completed in March
21. The Elephant's Journey by José Saramago ★★★⅓
22. ♫ Not that Sort of Girl by Mary Wesley ★★★★
23. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin ★★★★½
24. ♫ Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear ★★★⅓
25. ♫ The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay ★★★★★
26. ♫ Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge ★★★
27. ♫ All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque ★★★½
28. ♫ Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh ★★★
29. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff ★★★★★

Unfinished:
Tigana by Guy Kavriel Kay
The Overloaded Ark by Gerald Durrell

Books completed in April
30. ♫ A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin ★★★★⅓
31. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (3rd reread) ★★★★★
32. ♫ The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (reread) ★★★★
33. ♫ Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim ★★★★★
34. ♫ Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin ★★★★½
35. Good Behaviour by Molly Keane ★★★★½
36. Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuściński ★★★★½
37. ♫ Middlemarch by George Eliot ★★★★½
38. ♫ A Very Long Engagement by Sébastien Japrisot ★★★★⅓
39. A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes ★★★

Unfinished:
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Books completed in May
40. ♫ First Love by Ivan Turgenev ★★★½
41. The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Edward FitzGerald ★★★★½
42. ♫ More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin ★★★½
43. Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse by Alexander Pushkin ★★★★½
44. ♫ Le fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux ★★★★½
45. ♫ Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh ★★★★½
46. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie ★★★⅓
47. ♫ The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim ★★★★
48. ♫ Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham ★★★½
49. The Tempest by William Shakespeare ★★★★½
50. ♫ Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper ★★★★⅓
51. Impossible Journeys by Matthew Lyons ★★★¾
52. Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers ★★★★⅓

Books completed in June
53. Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers ★★★★
54. ♫ The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory by William Manchester ★★★½
55. ♫ Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson ★★★★
56. ♫ Storm Front by Jim Butcher ★★★★
57. ♫ Fox 8 by George Saunders ★★★★⅓
58. ♫ Jumping the Queue by Mary Wesley ★★★★½ (review)
59. Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost ★★★★
60. ♫ Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk ★★★½
61. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (reread for Coursera) ★★★★½
62. Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street by Herman Melville ★★★★⅓ (Coursera)
63. Benito Cereno by Herman Melville ★★★★⅓ (Coursera)
64. ♫ The Potato Factory by Bryce Courtenay ★★★★★
65. ♫ Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (reread) ★★★★½

Unfinished:
♫ Delirium by Lauren Oliver
♫ Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith
♫ The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Justine by Laurence Durrell

Books completed in July
66. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (reread for Coursera) ★★★½
67. ♫ The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien ★★★½
68. Hamlet by William Shakespeare ★★★★½
69. ♫ Ripley Underground by Patricia Highsmith ★★★★
70. A Sort of Life by Graham Greene ★★★
71. ♫ To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (reread for Coursera) ★★★⅓
72. ♫ To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis ★★★★
73. ♫ Miss Mapp by E. F. Benson ★★★★
74. Light in August by William Faulkner (Coursera) ★★★½
75. ♫ Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld ★★★★

Books completed in August
76. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges ★★★ (Coursera)
77. ♫ Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler ★★★★
78. ♫ Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde ★★★★½
79. The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas ★★★⅓ (Coursera)
80. The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibin ★★★★½
81. ♫ Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith ★★★★
82. W. B. Yeats: Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney ★★★½
83. ♫ Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding ★★★★
84. Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee ★★★★½ (Coursera)
85. ⓔ I'm Starved for You (Positron, Episode 1) by Margaret Atwood ★★★½
86. ⓔ Choke Collar (Positron, Episode 2) by Margaret Atwood ★★★½
87. ⓔ Erase Me (Positron, Episode 3) by Margaret Atwood ★★★
88. ♫ Fool Moon by Jim Butcher ★★★⅓
89. ♫ Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos ★★★★★
90. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro ★★★★★
91. ♫ A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement Anthony Powell ★★★
92. ♫ Bossypants by Tina Fey ★★★★
93. ♫ Confusion: The Private Papers of Privy Councillor R. von D. by Stefan Zweig ★★★★½

Books completed in September
94. A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd ★★★★
95. ♫ The Fault in Our Stars by John Green ★★★★⅓
96. ♫+book Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry ★★★★★
97. Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney ★★★★
98. ♫ Dead Man's Walk by Larry McMurtry ★★★★⅓
99. Harvest by Jim Crace ★★★★½
100. ♫ Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry ★★★★⅓
101. Othello by William Shakespeare ★★★★½
102. ♫ The Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry ★★★★
103. ♫ A Delicate Truth by John Le Carré ★★★★

Books completed in October
104. ♫ TransAtlantic by Colum McCann ★★★½
105. ♫ Persuader (Jack Reacher, Book 7) by Lee Child ★★¾
106. ♫ The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert ★★★★⅓
107. The Pink Fairy Book by Andrew Lang ★★★★
108. ⓔ The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton ★★★★
109. ♫ Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford ★★★½
110. ♫ Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx ★★★★
111. Slightly Foxed: No 16: For Pheasant Read Peasant ★★★★⅓
112. ♫ A Friend from England by Anita Brookner ★★★½
113. Macbeth by William Shakespeare ★★★½
114. Music & Silence by Rose Tremain ★★★★¾
115. ♫ Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner ★★★★
116. ♫ The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson ★★★¾
117. Murder on the Eiffel Tower (Victor Legris, Book 1) by Claude Izner ★★★½

Unfinished:
♫ A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
♫ The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Books completed in November
118. ♫ Le Comte de Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père ★★★★¾
119. ♫ Defending Jacob by William Landay ★
120. ♫ Lord of the Flies William Golding ★★★★¾ (or maybe the full 5)
121. ⓔ Life After Life by Kate Atkinson ★★★¼ (may change though)
122. ♫ Birds, Beasts, and Relatives Gerald Durrell ★★★★
123. ♫ Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper ★★★★¼
124. Slightly Foxed: No. 39: Around the Fire ★★★¾
125. ♫ Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller ★★★★⅓
126. ♫ An Imaginative Experience by Mary Wesley
127. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks ★★★★⅓ (may go to 4.5)
128. ♫ The Ballad of the Sad Café by Carson McCullers ★★★★⅓
129. ♫ The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett ★★★¼ (could be less)
130. ♫ Burial Rites by Hannah Kent ★★★★⅓
131. ♫ Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgeniev ★★★★½
132. The Best of the Raconteurs edited by Sheridan Morley ★★★½
133. ♫ Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor ★★★★
134. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry ★★★★⅓ (possibly 4.5)
135. ♫ Elantris by Brandon Sanderson ★★★¾

Unfinished:
♫ True Grit by Charles Portis


My rating system:
★ - hated it (may or may not have finished it)
★★ - it was just ok
★★★ - enjoyed it (good)
★★★★ - loved it! (very good)
★★★★★ - all-time favourite (blew me away—will read again)

⅛ ¼ ⅓ ½ ¾ ⅞

♫ = audiobook
✔ = off the shelf
☀ = TIOLI

Reading Plans for November:

The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - picked for me by Ellen/EBT1002 - completed
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry - picked for me by Donna828 - completed
Dragonwick by Anya Seton - picked for me by Liz/lyzard - completed

Picked for Me from my tbr by LT friends



♫ 1. The Last Child by John Hart - avatiakh - Completed January/13
♫ 2. Le fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux - avidmom - Completed May/13
♫ 3. A Very Long Engagement by Sébastien Japrisot - calm - Completed April/13
✔&♫ 4. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - casvelyn (also: EBT1002) - Completed February/13
✔&♫ 5. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay - SouthernKiwi - Completet March/13
♫ 6. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford - NielsenGW - Completet October/13
♫ 7. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - mamzel (GR) - Completed November/13
♫ 8. The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory by William Manchester - banjo123 - Completed June/13
♫ 9. I, Claudius by Robert Graves - PaulCranswick (also: lyzard) - Completed January/13
✔ 10. Dragonwick by Anya Seton - lyzard - Completed December/13
♫ 11. The BFG by Roald Dahl - Whisper1 - Completed January/13
✔ 12. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - jolerie - Completed May/13
✔ 13. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - EBT1002 - Completed November/13
✔ 14. The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch - kidzdoc - Completed December/13
✔ 15. A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd - souloftherose - Completed September/13
♫ 16. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - msf59 - Completed September/13
♫ 17. Les liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos - bohemima - Completed August/13
✔ 18. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - lunacat (also: msf59) - Completed April/13
✔ 19. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - luvamystery65 - Completed December/13
♫ 20. The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg - -Eva- - Completed February/13
♫ 21. A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement Anthony Powell - sibyx - Completed August/13
✔ 22. Music & Silence by Rose Tremain - LizzieD - Completed October/13
✔&♫ 23. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry - DeltaQueen50 - Completed September/13
✔ 24. The Elephant's Journey by José Saramago - bahzah - Completed March/13
✔ 25. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - phebj - Completed August/13
✔ 26. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry - Donna828 - Completed November/13
♫ 27. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - kiwiflowa - Completed March/13
♫ 28. Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson - gennyt - Completed June/13
✔ 29. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson - lilianboerboom - Completed December/13
♫ 30. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis - LittleTaiko - Completed July/13

30/30 completed




Next round...

Picked for Me: The 2014 Edition!

1. ♫ Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan - picked by Fourpawz2
2. ♫ The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng - picked by Donna828
3. Sketches From a Hunter's Album by Ivan Turgeniev - picked by sibyx
4. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - picked by PaulCranswick
5. Love-Letters Between A Nobleman And His Sister by Aphra Behn - picked by lyzard
6. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout - picked by phebj
7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - picked by Crazymamie
8. ♫ Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo - picked by bahzah
9. A Russian Journal by John Steinbeck - picked by avatiakh
10. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper - picked by souloftherose
11. A Café on the Nile by Bartle Bull - picked by Deern
12. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons - picked by luvamystery65
13. Rhyming Life and Death by Amos Oz - picked by Polaris-
14. ♫ Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed - picked my msf59
15. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh - picked by bohemima
16. Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky - picked by SandDune
17. Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant - picked by calm
18. A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel - picked by kidzdoc
19. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers - picked by EBT1002
20. Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden - picked by Chatterbox
21. Extra spot reserved for my RL friend K.

Extra picks
This space is dedicated to those who've given me more than one suggestion. For the list above, I've picked physical books over audiobooks when that option was available, because audio books are easy to fit in for me whereas I have less time to read print books. This secondary list is one I'll very gladly refer to in guiding my choices in 2014, but I'll of course give priority to the selections above first.

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger - both extras from Lucy
Watership Down by Richard Adams (reread)
♫ The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman - both extras from Paul
♫ Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
♫ The Land Of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll - both extras from Liz
The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller (reread)
♫ The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - both extras from Kerry
♫ The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - Read in November
The New York Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton - both extras from Roberta
♫ Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje - both extras from Paul
Coventry by Helen Humphreys - extra from Claudia
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim - extra from Rhian
Sula by Toni Morrison
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Babbit by Sinclair Lewis
The Bone People by Keri Hulme
Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson - Completed December/13 - all 9 extras from Ellen
♫ Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
♫ Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
Dissolution by CJ Sansom - three extras from Suz

eta: I may reverse my decision to give priority to print books over audiobooks when a person has made selections from either category, if only to give myself a chance to finish all the "official" picks, given my track record of completion rate so far. I'll either decide once I get to 20 "official" choices, or as I'm reading in 2014, depending on how quickly or slowly I'm progressing.

(Some of the) Books I'd like to read in 2013

1. ♫ The Last Child by John Hart - Picked by avatiakh - Completed 01/13
2. ♫ Le fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux - Picked by avidmom - Completed 05/13
3. ♫ A Very Long Engagement by Sébastien Japrisot - Picked by calm - Completed 04/13
4. ✔&♫ Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - Picked by casvelyn (also: EBT1002) - Completed 02/13
5. ✔ The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay - Picked by SouthernKiwi - Completed 03/13
6. ♫ Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford - NielsenGW - Completet 10/13
7. ♫ The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - Picked by mamzel - Completet 11/13
8. ♫ The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory by William Manchester - banjo123 - Completed 06/13
9. ♫ I, Claudius by Robert Graves - PaulCranswick (also: lyzard) - Completed 01/13
10. ✔ Dragonwick by Anya Seton - lyzard - Completed December/13
11. ♫ The BFG by Roald Dahl - Picked by Whisper1 - Completed 01/13
12. ✔ The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - Picked by jolerie - Completed 05/13
13. ✔ Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - EBT1002 - Completed November/13
14. ✔ The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch - Picked by kidzdoc - Completed December/13
15. ✔ A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd - souloftherose - Completed 09/13
16. ♫ The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - msf59 - Completed 09/13
17. ♫ Les liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos - Picked by bohemima - Completed 08/13
18. ✔ The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - Picked by lunacat (also: msf59) - Completed 04/13
19. ✔ A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - luvamystery65 - Completed December/13
20. ♫ The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg - Picked by -Eva- - Completed 02/13
21. ♫ A Dance to the Music of Time Anthony Powell - Picked by sibyx - Completed 08/13
22. ✔ Music & Silence by Rose Tremain - LizzieD - Completed October/13
23. ✔&♫ Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry - DeltaQueen50 - Completed 09/13
24. ✔ The Elephant's Journey by José Saramago - Picked by bahzah - Completed 03/13
25. ✔ The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - Picked by phebj - Completed 08/13
26. ✔ The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry - Donna828 - Completed November/13
27. ♫ All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - Picked by kiwiflowa - Completed 03/13
28. ♫ Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson - Picked by gennyt - Completed 06/13
29. ✔ Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson - lilianboerboom - Completed December/13
30. ♫ To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis - Picked by LittleTaiko - Completed 07/13
31. ✔ Native Son by Richard Wright - Picked by EBT1002 (In 2012) will read in 2014
32. ✔ Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood - Picked by MickyFine (In 2012)
33. ✔ Arabian Nights: Four Tales from a Thousand and One Nights by Marc Chagall - Picked by Donna828 (In 2012)
34. ✔ The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende - Picked by LauraBrook (In 2012)
35. ✔ Caravan of Dreams of Idries Shah - Picked by PiyushChourasia (In 2012)
36. ❉ Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck (left over from Steinbeckathon)
37. ✔ Christine Falls by Benjamin Black
38. ✔ Nana by Émile Zola
39. ✔ Pot-Bouille by Émile Zola
40. ❉ Au Bonheur des Dames by Émile Zola
41. ❉ La joie de vivre by Émile Zola
42. ✔ Old Filth by Jane Gardam - Completed 12/13
43. ✔ Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
44. ✔ Living Well is the Best Revenge by Calvin Tomkins
45. ✔ A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes - Completed 04/13
46. ✔ Moon Palace by Paul Auster
47. ✔ Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
48. ✔ Jamrach's Menagerie Carol Birch
49. ✔ Angels & Insects by A. S. Byatt
50. ✔ Possession by A. S. Byatt
51. ✔ The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
52. ✔ The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble
53. ✔ Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
54. ✔ Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers - Completed 05/13
55. ♫ Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
56. ✔&♫ 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
57. ✔ The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
58. ♫ Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner - Completed 10/13
59. ✔ A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry will read in 2014
60. ✔&♫ 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
61. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (GR) - Unfinished
62. ❉ Alys, Always by Harriet Lane (Rec'd by Prue)
63. ⓔ Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost - Completed 06/13 (Coursera)
64. ✔ Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - Completed 06/13 (Coursera)
65. ⓔ Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street by Herman Melville - Completed 06/13 (Coursera)
66. ⓔ Benito Cereno by Herman Melville - Completed 06/13 (Coursera)
67. ♫ The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - Completed 07/13 (Coursera)
68. ⓔ A Country Doctor by Franz Kafka - Completed 07/13 (Coursera)
69. ✔ To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - Completed 07/13 (Coursera)
70. ✔ Light in August by William Faulkner - Completed 07/13 (Coursera)
71. ✔ Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges - Completed 07/13 (Coursera)
72. ⓔ The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas - Completed 08/13 (Coursera)
73. Beloved by Toni Morrison - Completed 08/13 - SparkNotes (Coursera)
74. ✔ Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee - - Completed 08/13 (Coursera)

✔ = in my TBR
♫ = audiobook (in my TBR)
❉ = library book
ⓔ = eBook

Ongoing Series
An idea Heather (souloftherose) borrowed from Liz (lyzard), which caught on like wildfire. Ongoing series that I am actively reading; this doesn't include series I have in my TBR but haven't started reading yet (that is covered in the next list!)

African Trilogy - Next up: No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe (2/3)
❉ Alan Grant Mysteries - Next up: The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey (1/6 - read out of order)
♫ American Gods - Next up: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (2/2)
✔ Anton Rider - Next up: A Café on the Nile by Bartle Bull (2/3)
The Australian Trilogy - Next up: Tommo and Hawk by Bryce Courtenay (2/3)
♫ Bartimaeus - Next up: The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud (2/3)
❉ Binky Adventure - Next up: Binky Under Pressure by Ashley Spires (3/3)
✔ Border Trilogy - Next up: The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy (2/3)
❉ Cannery Row - Next up: Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck (2/2)
♫ The Cemetery of Forgotten Books - Next up: The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (2/3)
❉ Chief Inspector Armand Gamache - Next up: A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (2/8)
♫ Claudius - Next up: Claudius the God by Robert Graves (2/2)
♫ La Comédie Humaine - Next up: Le curé de Tours by Honoré de Balzac (31/88 - read out of order)
✔ Commissario Brunetti - Next up: Acqua Alta by Donna Leon (5/21 - read out of order)
✔ Commissario Montalbano - Next up: Excursion to Tindari by Andrea Camilleri (5/18)
♫ Corfu Trilogy: Birds, Beasts, and Relatives by Gerald Durrell (2/3)
✔ The Dark is Rising Sequence - Next up: The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper (2/5)
♫ Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Next up: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (2/3)
❉ De Luca Trilogy - Next up: The Damned Season by Carlo Lucarelli (2/3)
✔ The Deptford Trilogy - Next up: World of Wonders by Robertson Davies (3/3)
♫ The Dresden Files: Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (3/15)
❉ Dr. Siri Paiboun - Next up: Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill (5/8)
♫ Easy Rawlins Mystery - Next up: White Butterfly by Walter Mosley (3/10)
✔ Empire Trilogy - Next up: The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell (2/3)
♫ Ender’s Game - Next up: Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (2/4)
❉♫ Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström - Next up: The Preacher by Camilla Läckberg (2/8)
♫ Flavia de Luce Mysteries - Next up: The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley (2/6)
❉ Green Town - Next up: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (2/2)
❉ The Harlem Cycle - Next up: All Shot Up by Chester Himes (4/8)
❉ Hercule Poirot - Next up: Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie (8/39 - read out of order)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Dramatization - Next up: Tertiary Phase (BBC Radio Collection) by Douglas Adams (3/5)
♫ The House of Earth Trilogy - Next up: Sons by Pearl S. Buck (2/3)
The Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh - Next up: Awaiting publication (3/3)
♫ Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries - Next up: The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith (3/9)
♫ Jack Reacher - Next up: The Enemy by Lee Child (8/17)
✔ Jackson Brodie - Next up: When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson (3/4)
♫ John Russell - Next up: Lehrter Station by David Downing (5/5)
Joseph O'Loughlin - Next up: Shatter by Michael Robotham (3/5)
♫ Kenzie and Gennaro - Next up: Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane (2/5 - read out of order)
♫ Kurt Wallander - Next up: The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell (2/10)
The Last Lion - Next up: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940 by William Manchester (2/3)
Leviathan - Next up: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (2/3)
Lonesome Dove Completed September/13
♫ The Lord of the Rings - Next up: The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien (2/4)
✔ Lord Peter Wimsey - Next up: Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers (4/15)
Maisie Dobbs - Next up: Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear (4/10)
♫ Mapp and Lucia - Next up: Lucia in London by E. F. Benson (3/8)
♫ Miss Marple - Next up: The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (2/12)
✔ The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Next up: The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith (4/13)
♫ The Obelisk Trilogy - Next up: Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller (2/3)
♫ Oxford Time Travel series - Next up: Blackout by Connie Willis (3/4)
❉ Parker - Next up: The Mourner by Richard Stark (4/24)
✔ Philip Marlowe - Next up: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1/9 - read out of order)
♫ Phryne Fisher Mysteries - Next up: Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood (3/19)
The Power Of One - Next up: Tandia by Bryce Courtenay (2/2)
♫ Roderick Alleyn - Next up: Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh (8/32 - read out of order)
✔ Les Rougon-Macquart - Next up: Nana (reread) by Émile Zola (9/20)
✔ Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Next up: The Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman (2/4)
✔ A Song of Ice and Fire - Next up: A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin (5/7)
❉ The Spiderwick Chronicles - Next up: Lucinda's Secret by Holly Black (3/8)
♫ Tales of the City - Next up: Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (3/6)
♫ Tales of the Otori - Next up: Brilliance of the Moon by Lian Hearn (3/4+prequel)
❉ Three Men in a Boat - Next up: Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome (2/2)
Timothy Wilde - Next up: Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye(2/2)
✔ Tom Ripley - Next up: The Boy Who Followed Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (4/5)
❉ Victor Legris - Next up: La disparue du Père-Lachaise by Claude Izner (2/11)
♫ Wind on Fire Trilogy - Next up: Slaves of the Mastery by William Nicholson (2/3)
Wolf Hall Trilogy - Next up: The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (awaiting publication) (3/3)
✔ Wolves Chronicles - Next up: Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken (2/11)
❉ Wyoming Stories: Bad Dirt by Annie Proulx (2/3)



First in Series on my TBR (several have migrated above over the year, though I wish I'd kept a record of which ones...)

✔ Alexandria Quartet: Justine by Lawrence Durrell (1/4) - unfinished
✔ The American Trilogy: American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1/3)
✔ Aristide Ravel Mysteries : The Cavalier of the Apocalypse by Susanne Alleyn (1/4)
✔ The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson (1/2)
♫ Aubrey-Maturin: Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian (1/21!)
♫ Avalon: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1/7)
✔ The Book of Lies - Twins Trilogy: The Notebook by Ágota Kristóf (1/3)
✔ The Borrible Trilogy: The Borribles by Michael De Larrabeiti (1/3)
♫ Bruce Mason: The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner (1/2)
✔ Calder Art Mysteries: Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett (1/3)
✔ Carl Webster: The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard (1/3)
♫ Chief Inspector Adamsberg: The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas (1/9)
✔ The Complete Novels and Stories: Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I by Arthur Conan Doyle (1/2)
♫ Corduroy Mansions: Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith (1/3) - unfinished
♫ The Cousins' War: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (1/5)
♫ A Dance to the Music of Time: A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement, Spring by Anthony Powell (1/4)
✔ Danzig Trilogy: The Tin Drum by Günter Grass (1/3)
♫ Daughter of Smoke and Bone: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (½) - Read in November
♫Delirium: Delirium by Lauren Oliver (1/3) - unfinished
♫ Divergent: Divergent by Veronica Roth (1/3)
♫ Dublin Murder Squad: In the Woods by Tana French (1/4)
♫ The Earthsea Cycle: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (1/6)
✔ Empress Orchid: Empress Orchid by Anchee Min (1/2)
♫ The Gentleman Bastard Sequence: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (1/4)
❉ The Giver Quartet: The Giver by Lois Lowry (1/4)
✔ Hank Thompson: Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston (1/3)
✔ Haroun: Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (1/2)
✔ Henrietta's War: Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front 1939-1942 by Joyce Dennys (1/2)
♫ The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (1/5)
✔ The Hummingbird's Daughter: The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea (1/2)
♫ In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way by Marcel Proust (1/8)
✔ The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood (1/4)
♫ Joona Linna: The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler (1/3)
ⓔ The Kingkiller Chronicle : The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (1/3)
✔ Latin American Trilogy: The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by Louis de Bernières (1/3)
♫ Legend the Series: Legend by Marie Lu (1/2)
♫ Leonid McGill: The Long Fall by Walter Mosley (1/4)
✔❉♫ The Magicians: The Magicians by Lev Grossman (1/2)
♫ McCaskill Trilogy: English Creek by Ivan Doig (1/3)
✔ Matthew Shardlake: Dissolution by C. J. Sansom (1/5)
✔ Micah Dalton: The Echelon Vendetta by David Stone (1/4)
♫ Michael Forsythe: Dead I Well May Be by Adrian McKinty (1/3)
✔ Mistress of the Art of Death: Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin (1/4)
♫ Outlander: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (1/8)
✔ The Psammead Trilogy: Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (1/3)
✔ Quirke: Christine Falls by Benjamin Black (1/5)
❉♫ The Raven Cycle: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (1/2)
♫ Revelation Space: Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds (1/7)
♫ The Riyria Revelations: Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan (omnibus 1-2/6)
♫ Shanghai Girls: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (1/2)
♫ Sprawl: Neuromancer by William Gibson (1/3)
♫ The Wolves of Mercy Falls: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (1/3)
♫ World War II Saga: The Winds of War by Herman Wouk (1/2)



✔ = in my TBR
♫ = audiobook (in my TBR)
❉ = library book
ⓔ = eBook

Booker Prize Books Read in 2013 (in reading order)

Good Behaviour by Molly Keane (Shortlist 1981)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 1986)
Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee (Booker Prize 1999)
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (Booker Prize 1989)
The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin (Shortlist 2013)
Harvest by Jim Crace (Shortlist 2013)
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (Booker Prize 2013)
What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller (Shortlist 2003)
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Shortlist 2008)

Booker Prize Books on my TBR

The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (Booker Prize 1970)
The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (Booker Prize 1973)
The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (Booker Prize 1978)
The Bone People by Keri Hulme (Booker Prize 1985)
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (Booker Prize 1987)
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (Shortlist 1988)
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (Booker Prize 1988)
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 1989)
Possession by A.S. Byatt (Booker Prize 1990)
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (Booker Prize 1992)
Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer (Shortlist 1993)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (Shortlist 1996)
Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge (Shortlist 1998)
Amsterdam by Ian Mcewan (Booker Prize 1998)
Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri (Longlist 2001)
Brick Lane by Monica Ali (Shortlist 2003)
The Master by Colm Toibin (Shortlist 2004)
The Accidental by Ali Smith (Shortlist 2005)
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Booker Prize 2006)
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (Shortlist 2007)
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz (Shortlist 2008)
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Booker Prize 2008) - reread
Heliopolis by James Scudamore (Longlist 2009)
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Shortlist 2009)
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (Longlist 2010)
Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch (Shortlist 2011)
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Longlist 2013)
Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson (Longlist 2013)
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri (Shortlist 2013)

(more on the wishlist of course!)

Books Purchased in 2013

January
1. ♫ The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
2. ♫ City of Women by David R. Gillham
3. ♫ The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
4. ♫ Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon
5. ⓔ The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch
6. The Call Of Cthulhu And Other Weird Stories by H. P. Lovecraft (Penguin Classics Deluxe)
7. The Wizard Of Oz: And Other Wonderful Books Of Oz: The Emerald City Of Oz And Glinda Of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Penguin Threads - Classics Deluxe)
8. The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame (Penguin Threads - Classics Deluxe)
9. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Penguin Threads - Classics Deluxe)
10. The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer (Penguin Classics Deluxe boxed set)
11. Goodbye To All That by Robert Graves (Penguin Essentials)
12. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (Penguin Essentials)
13. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (movie tie-in edition)
14. ♫ Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay - unfinished

February
15. ♫ A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
16. ♫ Persuader by Lee Child - Completed in October/b>
17. ♫ Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
18. ♫ The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay - Completed in March
19. ♫ The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
20. ♫ Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes (from my WL)
21. ♫ An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser (from my WL)
22. ♫ Reamde by Neal Stephenson
23. ♫ Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (narrated by my current favourite David Horovitch)
24. ♫ Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (narrated by Lynn Redgrave)
25. ♫ Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood
26. ♫ Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran
27. ♫ The Enemy by Lee Child (Jack Reacher, Book 8)
28. ♫ The Return of the King: Book Three in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien
29. ♫ Speaks the Nightbird by Robert McCammon

March
30. ♫ Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry - Completed in September
31. ♫ A Storm of Swords: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book III by George R. R. Martin - Completed in March
32. ♫ The Stationary Ark by Gerald Durrell - unfinished
33. ♫ The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle (mostly because it's narrated by Derek Jacobi)
34. ♫ All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
35. ♫ The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch (for all of $1.99!)
36. ♫ Dorothy L. Sayers: A Careless Rage for Life by David Coomes
37. ♫ An Imaginative Experience by Mary Wesley (narrated by Samuel West!)
38. ♫ Jumping the Queue by Mary Wesley - Completed in June
39. ♫ Lord Arthur Savile's Crime & Other Stories by Oscar Wilde
40. ♫ Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham - Completed in May
41. ♫ The Green Mile by Stephen King
42. ♫ A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 4) by George R. R. Martin - Completed in April
43. ♫ Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim - Completed in April
44. ♫ The Bafut Beagles by Gerald Durrell
45. ♫ Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh - Completed in May
46. ♫ Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge - Completed in March
47. ♫ Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
48. ♫ A Sea of Troubles by Donna Leon
49. ♫ The Ballad of the Sad Café by Carson McCullers
50. ♫ All Shot Up by Chester Himes
51. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff - Completed in April
52. Catharine and Other Writings by Jane Austen
53. Dickinson Poems by Emily Dickinson
54. ♫ The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie - Completed in April
55. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin - Completed in April
56. ♫ Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

April
57. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (Folio Society)
58. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (Folio Society) - Completed in May
59. The Best of the Raconteurs (Folio Society)
60. Eugenie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac (Heritage Press, 1961)
61. Lavender and Old Lace by Myrtle Reed
62. Cautionary Tales and other verses by Hilaire Belloc (Folio Society)
63. Zuleika Dobson, or, An Oxford Love Story by Max Beerbohm (Folio Society)
64. Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth by Richard Fortey (Folio Society)
65. My family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (Folio Society)
66. Excellent Women by Barbara Pym (Folio Society)
67. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (Folio Society)
68. Italian Food by Elizabeth David (Folio Society)
69. The Fables of Aesop (Folio Society)
70. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (Folio Society)
71. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (Folio Society)
72. Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuściński (Folio Society) - Completed in April
73. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks (Folio Society)
74. ♫ The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
75. ♫ A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
76. ♫ More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin - Completed in May

May
77. The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Edward FitzGerald (Folio Society) - Completed in May
78. The Best of Saki (Folio Society)
79. The Lifted Veil: Women's 19th Century Stories by Kathryn Hughes (Folio Society)
80. Claudius the God by Robert Graves (Folio Society)
81. Impossible Journeys by Matthew Lyons (Folio Society) - Completed in May
82. The Mrs. Dalloway Reader by Virginia Woolf
83. Felicias's Journey by William Trevor
84. On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev
85. Sketches from a Hunter's Album by Ivan Turgenev
86. The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis- Unfinished
87. Anthem For Doomed Youth: Poets Of The Great War by Lyn MacDonald (Folio Society)
88. The Tales of Guy de Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant (Heritage Press)
89. The Zig Zag Kid by David Grossman
90. My Letter to the World and Other Poems by Emily Dickinson, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
91. The Histories by Herodotus (Oxford World's Classics)
92. Hamlet by William Shakespeare (Sterling Signature) - Completed in July
93. Macbeth by William Shakespeare (Sterling Signature) - Completed in October
94. ♫ English Creek by Ivan Doig
95. ♫ Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper - Completed in May
96. ♫ A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
97. ♫ Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld - Completed in July
98. ♫ The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
99. ♫ The Man of Property by John Galsworthy
100. ♫ Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
101. ♫ White Queen by Philippa Gregory
102. ♫ Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler - Completed in August
103. Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Edward FitzGerald (Oxford World's Classics)
104. Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (NYRB)
105. Five Children and It/The Phoenix and the Carpet/The Story of the Amulet by E. Nesbit (Folio Society 3-volume set)
106. The Pink Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (Folio Society) - Completed in October
107. The Olive Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (FS)
108. The Brown Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (FS)
109. The Lilac Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (FS)
110. The Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries Collection (FS 4-volume set)
111. Folk Tales of Britain: Narratives by Katharine Mary Briggs (FS 3-volume set)
112. The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White (FS)
113. Pliny's Natural History by Pliny the Elder (FS 5-volume set)
114. Hangman's Holiday by Dorothy L. Sayers
115. Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers
116. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (FS)
117. Le Horla by Guy de Maupassant
118. Tristan et Iseult by Anne Jonas
119. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (FS)
120. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (FS)
121. Folk Tales of Britain: Legends by Katharine Mary Briggs (FS 3-volume set)
122. The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland (FS)
123. At The Crossing Places by Kevin Crossley-Holland (FS)
124. King of the Middle March by Kevin Crossley-Holland (FS)
125. The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (FS)
126. ♫ The Looking Glass War by John le Carré
127. ♫ A Delicate Truth by John le Carré - Completed in September
128. ♫ Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
129. ♫ Bertie: A life of Edward VII by Jane Ridley
130. Good Behaviour Molly Keane (FS)
131. Dubliners by James Joyce (FS)
132. Beyond the Pale and Other Stories by William Trevor (FS)
133. Count Belisarius by Robert Graves (FS)
134. First Folio: A Little Book of Folio Forewards (FS)
135. Smiley's People by John Le Carré (FS)
136. Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carré (FS)
137. Travels with My Aunt by Grahame Greene (FS)

June
138. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Penguin Hardback Classics)
139. Natural Histories: Extraordinary Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library (Sterling Signature)
140. Postcards From Vogue
141. ♫ Fox 8: A Story by George Saunders- Completed in June
142. ♫ Miss Mapp by E. F. Benson- Completed in July
143. ♫ Slaves of the Mastery (The Wind On Fire Trilogy, Book 2) by William Nicholson
144. ♫ Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
145. ♫ The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
146. ♫ The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
147. Thomas Wolsey, Late Cardinal: His Life and Death Written by George Cavendish His Gentleman Usher (FS)
148. Symposium by Plato (FS)
149. London Characters & Crooks by Henry Mayhew (FS)
150. Rainbow Fairy Books: Blue, Red, Green, Yellow (FS joining offer)
151. Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper (FS)
152. Greenwitch by Susan Cooper (FS)
153. The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley (used paperback)
154. Jumping the Queue by Mary Wesley (used paperback)
155. Second Fiddle by Mary Wesley (used paperback)
156. The Collected Stories of Nikolai Gogol (FS, 2nd hand)
157. Cover Her Face by P. D. James (FS, 2nd hand)
158. Anton Chekhov Short Stories (FS, 2nd hand)
159. Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck (FS, 2nd hand)
160. Don't Look Now and Other Stories by Daphne Du Maurier (FS, 2nd hand)
161. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (FS, 2nd hand)
162. ♫ Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens (used Audible credit)
163. ♫ Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens (used Audible credit)
164. ♫ The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens (used Audible credit)
165. ♫ The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (used Audible credit)
166. ♫ The Chateau by William Maxwell (used Audible credit)
167. ♫ The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (used Audible credit)
168. Slightly Foxed: No. 38: A Great Adventure - Completed in July
169. Look Back with Love by Dodie Smith (Slightly Foxed Editions)
170. A Sort of Life by Graham Greene (Slightly Foxed Editions) - Completed in July
171. ♫ Macbeth by William Shakespeare
172. ♫+ⓔ Moby Dick by Herman Melville

July
173. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (FS, 2nd hand)
174. Dream Days by Kenneth Grahame (FS, 2nd hand)
175. The Visconti Hours, National Library, Florence (2nd hand)
176. Slightly Foxed: No. 37: Dreaming of the Bosphoros
177. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges (2nd hand) - Completed in August
178. ♫ To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - Completed in July
179. A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark (VMC Designer Collection)
180. The Tempest by William Shakespeare (Oxford University Press)
181. The History of King Lear by William Shakespeare (Oxford University Press)
182. King Lear by William Shakespeare (Arden Series)
183. 2480465::Shakespeare: The Complete Works (RSC)
184. 1223434::The Young Ardizzone by Edward Ardizzone (Slightly Foxed Editions)
185. The Real Mrs Miniver by Ysenda Maxtone-Graham (Slightly Foxed Editions)
186. Slightly Foxed: No. 33: A World of Shining Beauty (2nd hand)
187. Slightly Foxed: No. 34: Return to Arcadia (2nd hand)
188. Slightly Foxed: No. 35: Tarka the Rotter (2nd hand)
189. Slightly Foxed: No. 36: Attics with Attitude (2nd hand)
190. The Realm of the Unreal and Other Stories by Ambrose Bierce (FS)
191. Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee (FS) - Completed in August
192. The Trial by Franz Kafka (FS)
193. The Nude by Kenneth Clark (FS)
194. The Adventures of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit (FS)
195. The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll (FS)
196. The Grey King by Susan Cooper (FS)
197. The Stones of Venice by John Ruskin (FS)
198. In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu (FS)
199. The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne (FS)
200. Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac (FS)
201. First Love by Ivan Turgenev (FS)
202. Amerika by Franz Kafka (FS)
203. Bleak House by Charles Dickens (FS)
204. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (FS)
205. The Monks of War by Desmond Seward (FS, 2nd hand)
206. Adam Bede by George Eliot (FS, 2nd hand)
207. Silas Marner and Scenes of Clerical Life by George Eliot (FS, 2nd hand)
208. Middlemarch by George Eliot (FS, 2nd hand)
209. The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter (VMC Designer Collection)
210. Slightly Foxed: No. 32: At Home with the Pewters (2nd hand)
211. Slightly Foxed: No. 23: Social Climbing (2nd hand)
212. Slightly Foxed: No. 22: Don't Give Up the Day Job (2nd hand)
213. Slightly Foxed: No. 20: Shrieks and Floods (2nd hand)
214. Slightly Foxed: No. 19: A Lonely Furrow (2nd hand)
215. Slightly Foxed: No. 18: The Sensation of Crossing the Street (2nd hand)
216. Slightly Foxed: No. 17: Light Reading (2nd hand)
217. Slightly Foxed: No 16: For Pheasant Read Peasant (2nd hand) - Completed in October
218. ⓔ The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim
219. ⓔ All the Dogs of My Life by Elizabeth von Arnim
220. ⓔ Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood (New York Review Books Classics)
221. ⓔ 29326::O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (Oxford World's Classics)
222. ⓔ The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe (Oxford World's Classics)
223. ⓔ The Monk by Matthew Lewis (Oxford World's Classics)
224. Alice's Adventures Under Ground by Lewis Carroll (FS Limited Edition)
225. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann (VMC Designer Collection)
226. The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy (VMC Designer Collection)
227. Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier (VMC Designer Collection)
228. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (FS, 2nd hand)
229. Waverley by Sir Walter Scott (FS)
230. ⓔ Positron: Episodes 1-3 by Margaret Atwood (Kindle Singles) - Completed in August
231. ⓔ A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
232. ⓔ Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson
233. ⓔ The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
234. ⓔ Among Others by Jo Walton
235. ⓔ The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin - Completed in August
236. ⓔ Waiting for Robert Capa by Susana Fortes
237. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (VMC Designer Collection)
238. Slightly Foxed: No. 28: Happy Ever After (2nd hand)
239. The Diary Of A Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield (VMC Designer Collection - 2nd hand)

August
240. At the Back of the North Wind by George Macdonald (FS)
241. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (FS)
242. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (FS)
243. The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler (FS)
244. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (FS)
245. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee (FS)
246. French Provincial Cooking by Elizabeth David (FS)
247. ⓔ The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vessas - Completed in August
248. ⓔ Save Me the Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald
249. Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney (FS) - Completed in September
250. On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev (FS)
251. ♫ Fool Moon by Jim Butcher - Completed in August
252. ♫ Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
253. ♫ The Persimmon Tree by Bryce Courtenay
254. Old Filth by Jane Gardam
255. ⓔ At Weddings and Wakes by Alice McDermott (iBook sale)
256. The Art of Vogue Covers 1909-1940 by William Packer (2nd hand)
257. Myths & Legends of Russia by Aleksandr Afanas’ev (FS, 2nd hand)
258. Watership Down by Richard Adams (40th Anniversary Edition)
259. Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets by Don Paterson
260. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (FS set)
261. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (FS set)
262. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (FS set)
263. The Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens (FS)
264. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (FS)
265. The Bhagavad gita (FS)

September
266. The Body-Snatcher and Other Stories By Robert Louis Stephenson (FS)
267. British Myths & Legends by Richard Barber (FS, 2nd hand)
268. The Wind in The Willows by Kenneth Grahame (FS)
269. 96947::Venice by Jan Morris (FS)
270. ♫ The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
271. ♫ Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
272. ♫ Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
273. ♫ Uncle Tom's Cabbin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
274. ♫ Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
275. ♫ Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
276. ♫ Dead Man's Walk by Larry McMurtry - Completed in September
277. ♫ The Son by Philipp Meyer
278. ♫ The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
279. ♫ The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin - Completed in October
280. ♫ TransAtlantic by Colum McCann - Completed in October
281. ♫ Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry - Completed in September
282. ♫ Streets of Laredo - Completed in September
283. ♫ The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
284. ♫ The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - Unfinished
285. ♫ Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
286. ♫ Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
287. Moby Dick or The Whale by Herman Melville (Folio Society Limited Edition)
288. ⓔ The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - Completed in October
289. Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim (The MacMillan Company, 1901)

October
290. ♫ Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
291. ♫ The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert - Completed in October
292. ♫ A Friend from England by Anita Brookner - Completed in October
293. ⓔ At the Hairdresser's by Anita Brookner
294. ♫ The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
295. ♫ Longbourn by Jo Baker
296. The Grey Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (FS)
297. The Orange Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (FS)
298. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (FS)
299. Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household (FS)
300. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (FS)
301. Shakespeare's Sonnets (FS)
302. ⓔ The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
303. The Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carré (FS, 2nd hand)
304. The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies (FS, 2nd hand)

November
305. ⓔ Runaway by Alice Munro
306. ⓔ Migraine by Oliver Sacks
307. ⓔ The Book of Evidence by John Banville
308. ⓔ Fever: A Novel by Mary Beth Keane
309. ♫ O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (Deal with free eBook)
310. ♫ Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin (Daily Deal)
311. ♫ Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
312. ♫ True Grit by Charles Portis (Daily Deal)
313. ♫ An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
314. ♫ The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure
315. ♫ The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (Deal with free eBook)
316. ♫ The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells (Deal with free eBook)
317. ♫ Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Deal with free eBook)
318. ♫ The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (Deal with free eBook)
319. Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally (FS)
320. ⓔ Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
321. Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov (Everyman's Library)
322. The Raj Quartet: The Jewel in the Crown, The Day of the Scorpion (Everyman's Library)

December
323. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (Limited Editions Club, 2nd hand)
324. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Limited Editions Club, 2nd hand)
325. A History of British Wood Engraving by Albert Garrett (2nd hand)
326. The Elizabethan Underworld by Gamini Salgado (FS, 2nd hand)
327. ⓔ Life And Fate by Vasily Grossman
328. ♫ Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
329. ♫ Restoration by Rose Tremain
330. ♫ Morality Play by Barry Unsworth
331. ♫ Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas
332. ♫ False Dawn by Edith Wharton
333. ♫ The Europeans by Henry James
334. ♫ Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
335. ♫ Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
336. ♫ Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier
337. ♫ Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson
338. ⓔ The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty (Kindle daily deal)
339. ⓔ The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton
340. ⓔ Avalon by Anya Seton
341. ♫ In Chancery by John Galsworthy
342. ♫ To Let by John Galsworthy
343. ♫ A Quiet Life by Beryl Bainbridge
344. ♫ The Ritual Bath by Faye Kellerman
345. ♫ Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
346. ♫ Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
347. ♫ Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh
348. ♫ Mr. Loveday's Little Outing and Other Sad Stories by Evelyn Waugh
349. ♫ Latecomers by Anita Brookner
350. Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian





FS = Folio Society
♫ = audiobook (Audible)
ⓔ = eBook

A Century of Books! Planning

After having lurked on visited Heather's thread a few times recently, I think I'm ready to take on the A Century of Books! challenge she's been doing so beautifully, starting in 2014. Here, copied almost verbatim from her thread: I'm going to try and read a book published in every year of the 20th century. This is just for fun, so if I don't manage it this year as I know I won't manage it in one year, I'll extend it into next year for as many years as it takes me. I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun going through my TBR piles trying to work out which books will fit.

1900 Claudine at School by Colette The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
1901 The Benefactress by Elizabeth von Arnim , The Wouldbegoods by E. Nesbit, Claudine in Paris by Colette
1902 Five Children and It by E. Nesbit, Lavender and Old Lace by Myrtle Reed, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Claudine Married by Colette
1903 Claudine and Annie by Colette, The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers
1904 The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit, The New Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit, The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rügen by Elizabeth von Arnim, The Love of Erika Ewald by Stefan Zweig
1905The Princess Priscilla's Fortnight by Elizabeth von Arnim
1906 The Story of the Amulet by E. Nesbit, The Man of Property by John Galsworthy
1907 Retreat From Love by Colette, Cautionary Tales and other verses by Hilaire Belloc, Fräulein Schmidt and Mr. Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim
1908 The Wind in The Willows by Kenneth Grahame (reread), A Room With a View by E. M. Forster
1909 The Innocent Libertine by Colette, Three Lives by Gertrude Stein
1910 The Vagabond by Colette
1911 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (reread), Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
1912 Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (reread)
1913 The Custom Of The Country by Edith Wharton, Burning Secret by Stefan Zweig
1914 The Pastor's Wife by Elizabeth von Arnim
1915 Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
1916 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (reread)
1917 Christine by Elizabeth von Arnim
1918 My Ántonia by Willa Cather, The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West (reread)
1919 Christopher and Columbus by Elizabeth von Arnim
1920 This Side Of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
1921 Flappers and Philosophers by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim
1922 Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence, 972934::Amok by Stefan Zweig, Joanna Godden by Sheila Kaye-Smith
1923 Whose Body? Dorothy L. Sayers (reread)
1924 A Passage to India by E. M. Forster, The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, The Old Maid by Edith Wharton
1925 An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (reread), The Trial by Franz Kafka, The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
1926
1927 Amerika by Franz Kafka, Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis
1928 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, Orlando by Virginia Woolf
1929 A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway, Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves
1930 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh (reread)
1931 The Brontës Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson, All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville West (reread)
1932 404772::Marie-Antoinette by Stefan Zweig, Sons by Pearl S. Buck, Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
1933 Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell, The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
1934 Miss Buncle's Book bu D. E. Stevenson, Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen, I, Claudius (reread) and Claudius the God by Robert Graves
1935 Full House by M. J. Farrell (Molly Keane)
1936 Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell, All the Dogs of My Life by Elizabeth von Arnim, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
1937 Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen, To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
1938 Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (reread), Count Belisarius by Robert Graves, Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller, The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White
1939 Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Witch in the Wood by T. H. White, The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler, The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker, Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household
1940 Native Son by Richard Wright, Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler, The Strangers in the House by Georges Simenon, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (reread), The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene, The Ill-made Knight by T. H. White
1941 The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller (reread), The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier
1942 Chess Story by Stefan Zweig, L'Étranger by Albert Camus, West with the Night by Beryl Markham
1943
1944 Dragonwyck by Anya Seton
1945 The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford (reread), Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, At Mrs Lippincote's by Elizabeth Taylor
1946 Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey, Palladian by Elizabeth Taylor
1947 Speak Memory by Vladimir Nabokov, The Path to the Spiders' Nests by Italo Calvino
1948 The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
1949 The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles, Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
1950 A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie
1951 Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies, My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
1952 Treasure Hunt by M. J. Farrell (Molly Keane)
1953 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clark
1954 Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis, Leaven of Malice by Robertson Davies, The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins
1955 On the Road by Jack Kerouac, The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien, The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis
1956 The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West
1957 Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming
1958 The Bell by Iris Murdoch, The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
1959 The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
1960 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (reread), A Zoo in My Luggage by Gerald Durrell, All Shot Up by Chester Himes
1961 The Chateau by William Mawell, Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, No Fond Return Of Love by Barbara Pym, Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
1962 The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman, The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, Madame Sousatzka by Bernice Rubens
1963 The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes
1964 Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken, A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood, The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor
1965 Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski, Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin, The Looking Glass War by John Le Carré
1966 Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (reread), Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susan (reread)
1967 The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter
1968 Pavane by Keith Roberts
1969 Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene
1970 The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens, Zelda: A Biography by Nancy Milford, Fifth Business by Robertson Davies (reread), Deliverance by James Dickey, Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
1971 The Winds of War by Herman Wouk, The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
1972 Watership Down by Richard Adams (reread)
1973 The Honorary Consul by Graham Greene, Sula by Toni Morrison, The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell
1974 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carré
1975 World of Wonders by Robertson Davies, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
1976 Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood, Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
1977 Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood, The Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carré
1978 Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett
1979 Sophie's Choice by William Styron
1980 Music of Chance by Paul Auster, The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll
1981 Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (partial reread)
1982 The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
1983 Time After Time by Molly Keane
1984 English Creek by Ivan Doig, Neuromancer by William Gibson
1985 The Bone People by Keri Hulme, Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front 1939-1942 by Joyce Dennis, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson, The Cider House Rules by John Irving, The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire by Anne Rice
1986 Count Zero by William Gibson, A Dark-Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine
1987 The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George, The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster, Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
1988 A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark (reread), Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood, Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler, Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey, The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
1989 A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters by Julian Barnes
1990 Possession by A. S. Byatt, The Woman Lit by Fireflies by Jim Harrison, The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by Louis de Bernieres
1991 Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
1992 The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, Angels & Insects by A. S. Byatt, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson
1993 Trainspotting by Irvine Welch, Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo, Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer
1994 Felicias's Journey by William Trevor, The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
1995 A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, The Reader by Bernard Schlink, The Piano Man's Daughter by Timothy Findley, Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
1996 Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane, The Green Mile by Stephen King
1997 5403381::Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling, American Pastoral by Philip Roth, Lady of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
1998 Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy, Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge, Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters, The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro, Amsterdam by Ian Mcewan
1999 Timbuktu by Paul Auster, Fear and Trembling by Amélie Nothomb, White Oleander by Janet Fitch, Interpreter of Maladies by Juhmpa Lahiri

Not sure why but the touchstones aren't working as they should.

eta: As I mentioned in my last thread, it has come to my attention that I somehow managed to goof on my Thingaversary and celebrated a month early! It's actually coming up on November 25 which means… I might have to buy seven books all over again... I'm so broke though and with no more storage space, I'll have to find some variation.

Celebrating your Thingaversary twice sound just the thing Ilana.

I love The Count of Monte Cristo. I'm glad you were able to work it in.

Happy new thread, Ilana! I love those old Vogue covers - so stunning! I think celebrating your Thingaversary twice is better than missing it all together, which is what I did last year. I was thinking of you as I recently finished listening to Dustin Hoffman reading Being There - I had added that one to my stacks last year based on your recommendation. You were so right - it was fabulous!

Yes, celebrating a thingaversary twice in two months sounds like a very LTer thing to do!

Ilana - you'll like the Folio book porn here: http://gaskella.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/andrew-lang-colour-fairy-books/

Ilana - Congratulations on your latest thread my dear.

Back to the previous thread and here is the definition of "job lot"

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/job+lot

Visitors! how lovely! Can't say I'm excited about my reading at the moment. Will be finishing Defending Jacob with only 30 minutes left on the audio and doubt very much anything can happen now to make me raise it beyond very lukewarm appreciation at this point. Kate Atkinson's book also isn't doing very much for me and I've considered dropping it, but now with less than 100 pages to go, I suppose it wouldn't make sense to abandon three quarters of the way in...

>12 luvamystery65: Hi Roberta. True enough there are worse things than celebrating a Thingaversary twice in two months, though I still don't understand how I made that mistake. It does say 'Nov' on my profile page, which looks nothing like 'Oct', but I guess I just couldn't wait!

I really LOVED The Count of Monte Cristo. I picked up the MP3 CDs for The Three Musketeers at the library this weekend and am very keen to read lots more work by Dumas.

>13 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie, thanks so much for dropping by! I'm so glad you loved Being There too. I'm sure I would have liked reading the book well enough, but Dustin Hoffman really made it a special experience didn't he? In fact, I've often considered listening to it again and am sure I'll do so more than once soon enough.

Sorry to hear you missed your Thingaversary last year. I hope you compensated this year!

>14 avatiakh: Ah, just gorgeous! I was going to post a comment on the blog when it dawned on me that Annabel was also a member of the FS Devotees I'd already added to my Interesting Libraries!

>15 PaulCranswick: Thank your dear Paul. It occurs to me I did know what a job lot was, but somehow thought it was also a term applied to construction somehow. I see eBay sellers offering Folio lots all the time you know...

Finished Defending Jacob by William Landay today. I remember Mark saying he'd really enjoyed it sometime last year and when I saw the audiobook available for download at the library I went for it. I'm sorry to say I found this novel rather pedestrian. I think the story is meant to appeal to a certain demographic, and since I'm not part of that group, it didn't have the intended impact on me. In fact, I ended up feeling like it had been a waste of time. The story is told by assistant DA Andy Barber and begins with the murder of a teenager from his son Jacob's school. The small Massachusetts town is badly shaken up by this event, and Andy is intent on finding the murderer, but is suddenly taken off the investigation when some damning evidence is found incriminating his son Jacob. For the rest of the novel, we get the play-by-play events that lead up to Jacob's court case. Andy is not a man given to any sort of introspection, and is quite deliberately driven to do just the opposite, since he carries a past which is so difficult to bear he's made it a point all his life to simply pretend it didn't exist. So the whole novel is told by this man who basically insists that his son is innocent, simply because he is his son and refuses to consider the option that this less than charming son might actually be guilty of the crime.

I can see that for readers who are also parents, the story might be loaded with the emotional charge of "what if this happened to my own child", and the fact it's happening in 2007 with Jacob and his friends constantly tuned into Facebook and the web would make those parents consider all the dangers lurking out there in this internet age, but I didn't find anything exciting in the telling of it that could make up for the lack of that parental anxiety. Had I been a parent, perhaps I might have felt some sort of personal connection to this story about ordinary people faced with terrible events told by a dull and basically clueless protagonist. I did hold out with the hope that this might be one of these situations where the unreliable narrator is suddenly revealed to have hidden important and explosive facts that make the story suddenly become irresistibly exciting, but sadly, this was not the case and I was left feeling like I'd gotten the wrong flavour of ice cream, which turned out to be one I didn't much like, but still made myself eat it, and at the end was left with a sticky half eaten cone and syrupy stuff binding both cone and napkin to my hand. Just... yech.

I started off rating it with two stars for "it was just ok", but really, I ended up hating it for the most part, so it gets a one-star rating from me. ★

I've figured out why Touchstones sometimes don't seem to work - if you have a big volume of books, it turns out it takes it some time to catch up - I've taken to transferring my lists in smaller increments - say, around 30-50 at a time, and I wait for the busy symbol to stop - bingo!- when it does the touchstones appear. I discovered this totally by accident - or gradual deduction or something!

And merci du compliment, but rilly I am a hopeless scatter-brain, a mish-mosh of oft-times useless and random information ..... and I certainly do go haring off in unexpected directions, so I suppose it all adds up.

An amazing thing has been happening since the LD started driving herself around - just in three weeks - I am noticing I have a significant amount more of reading time, if I want it. It's very thrilling. Then I keep thinking, now is the time to get serious about audio and maybe get going on the ten-zillion sewing projects that languish upstairs.....

Back to add - that second vogue cover is truly wonderful, couldn't stop looking at it.

Sorry that Defending Jacob was a bust for you. For some reason, I have never been tempted by that one. A very nice review of it though - I always like reading your thoughts on what you have read. And your comments on The Count of Monte Cristo and The three Musketeers are reminding me that I really want to get to those. I know the story lines,but I have never read the books, and I am thinking that audio would be perfect for those. This year has been a good one for me in audiobooks - I feel like I am finally learning how to actually actively listen to them. It is a learned skill, I think. Always before I would start off with the best of intentions and then find that somewhere along the way I had zoned out and stopped actively listening. I have gotten so much better and am having to rewind less! So you can teach an old Mamie new tricks!! LOL!

Hoping that your week is full of fabulous!

Ilana, that's an amazing list of favorite books for the year...so far. I've enjoyed many of the books myself. I wish Bryce Courtney's books were easier to find in the U.S. I've read the same two that you have and enjoyed them very much.

Wotcha* Ilana! Lovely new thread and I like the Vogue illustrations again! Especially number 2 too!

*An Anglo greeting from one friend to another not too dissimilar to the Israeli-Arabic slang "ahallan". To me it has a real sort of 1970s childhood resonance, but I think it's quite old!

Lovely finding all these messages! Thanks all for dropping by. I'll take the time to answer individually tomorrow, but in the meantime, have promised myself to work on one of my drawings projects for a couple of hours every day AND try to go to sleep earlier (i.e. before 1:30 a.m.), so must get to it soon.

On the reading front, just finished listening to The Lord of the Flies today. I remember seeing the movie as a little girl and being terrified, but all I remembered is a bunch of boys wearing war paint and hunting each other. Over 30 years later, the story is just as chilling, but Golding truly elevates it to a work of art. No wonder he won the Nobel prize. I'll have to seek out more of his work. Have just started on Birds, Beasts, and Relatives by Gerald Durrell, which is the second book in the Corfu trilogy. The first book is now among my all-time favourites, so this one has a lot to live up to, but so far so good.

I took a quick snap of the personal drawing project I'm working on at the moment, it's part of my "Metro" series, based on candid photos I take of people on the metro at a specific spot. These drawings take dozens upon dozens of hours to finish, so I'm only on my second so far (and maybe 50 hours in), but plan to do at least a dozen and have a show. Here's the current work in progress (large black woman) and the first drawing completed last year (pensive woman):



Off to it then!

Wow! I am always amazed at your talent, Ilana. I really love both of those, in fact, I can't decide which one I like more. You have captured their attitudes or emotions so completely. Different levels of introspection. They are present, but their minds are elsewhere...

I liked Lord of the Flies when I read it years ago - it would be interesting to reread it and see how it hit me now. So much symbolism there. I recently purchased a newer copy that was an anniversary edition - the centenary edition, I believe, just because I liked the cover. And my older kids, who are taking a course in British literature, will be reading it this year. So, it was a lovely excuse to purchase an additional copy. It will be interesting to see how they feel about it.

Hoping that today was kind to you and that tomorrow is full of fabulous.

Wow Ilana, those drawings are wonderful! So much detail and such a sense of mood.

#26 & #27 Lord of Flies chilled and thrilled me as well, when I first read it just a few years back.

And great job with the paintings, I wish I had even 1% of your talent, but I very much remain artistically challenged, unable to create/perform any art form, be it painting, poetry, singing or dancing - unless I term my random doodling as abstract art, that could work, right?

Migraines have been plaguing me these past couple of months. 2013 will certainly be remembered as a year of migraines, though thankfully they aren't too intense and leave me able to function to a certain degree. Lately, contributing to persistent pain has been my landlord's excavation project started last week; they decided to turn their half-basement into a full one to accommodate their teenage daughter and their friends. I'm partly extremely grateful about this project, since, as they put it, they decided to expand downward instead of upward (which would have rendered me homeless), but the constant whirr and rumble and percussion of the machinery as the contractors dig through layers of concrete and rubble make my brain protest insistently.

Finished reading Life After Life by Kate Atkinson last night, FINALLY! It's an ebook I borrowed from the library which took me ages to finish, mostly because I couldn't get into it; a series of iterations, meant to convey parallel lives or reincarnation, or something along those lines, and it read more like short stories to me as I wasn't able to get invested in the work as a whole. Maybe it'll grow on me as I think back on it, but it didn't make for a pleasant reading experience. The problem for me is I'm not fond of having the same things repeated to me over and over again, probably partly because my father has always grated on my nerves by repeating the same things endlessly over the years, always word for word too. Somehow, I don't mind variations on a theme in visual arts. But I'm going off topic.

Am excited about bedtime tonight, when I get to choose among my tbr physical books that were chosen for me (see messages 4 & 5). All prospects I look forward to.

Answering messages next.

>22 sibylline: Lucy, I've learned over the years that getting feedback from others on how they see us can be very helpful at times, provided it's the right kind of people giving the right kind of positive feedback, obviously. Where you see yourself as scatterbrained and random in your choices, I (and probably others) see you as incredibly diverse in your choices and possessing knowledge about a wide range of things which must make you a very creative and flexible thinker. In my case, the feedback I get on my artwork is always very encouraging. I see myself as lazy and random and unfocused, but luckily the feedback I get doesn't reflect that.

Hobbies like sewing are wonderful in that they are enjoyable in themselves, but the enjoyment is increased manyfold since they make for perfect listening time too. Many of my art projects are also opportunities to listen to books too, which I'm sure doesn't work for a lot of people, but in my case it turns off that part of my brain called The Extremely Unpleasant, Mean and Bossy Inner Critic, which can only be a good thing of course, and is also why I'm practically plugged into my earphones 24/7. Maybe if I listened to the right kind of books when I sleep I'd have more pleasant dreams too? Worth investigating.

>23 Crazymamie: Mamie, I find it to generally be the case for many Great Classic novels, that we tend to know the general story line, which colours our opinion of the work, but when one takes the time to actually read the books, it becomes an experience we could never have imagined. That is one thing that draws me to reading the classics. I then find that once I've read them, I'm usually tempted to revisit them too.

Active listening is a skill anyone can learn, and which does require a bit (or a lot) of effort. Even though I've become a frequent audiobook reader, I'm very grateful for the rewind button, which I use frequently, either because I've misheard something, and more often because I do find I tune out once in a while (especially when I insist on doing things that require a minimum of thinking, or when my mind is racing), so that I not infrequently rewind entire chapters, sometimes several at a time. I've learned not to mind this and make it part of the experience, though in some cases when I'm not completely taken with what I'm reading, I don't bother to rewind and then it's the equivalent of skimming through sections, which is fine too. I'm glad you enjoy my reviews. I try to keep in mind that others will (hopefully) read them when I'm writing them, which makes the exercise that much more fun.

>24 Donna828: Hi Donna! It seems Bryce Courtenay is a bestselling author in Australia, but unfortunately he isn't very popular in North America, which is a shame. I'm not sure why publishers here haven't latched on to him, since he wrote such fun stories. I got The Power of One several years ago, after seeing it recommended on one of those lists of suggested best books (BBC's Big Read, in this case I think). Since then I discovered there are quite a few of them available on Audible, all narrated by Humphrey Bower, an Australian narrator who was apparently chosen by Courtenay himself and which I like very much. I'll be reading more by him for sure and will try to make a point of reviewing all I read by him—he deserves to be more widely read!

>25 Polaris-: Wotcha Paul! I didn't know that expression, though I used to exchange "ahalan's" with my friends all the time when I lived in Israel. Thanks for the compliments on my new thread and I'm glad you like the Vogue illustrations too. I'm also very fond of #2 and frequently look at it. There are a few of Dryden's illustration I like enough that I would consider putting them on my walls if I had the room for them.

>27 Crazymamie: Hi again Mamie! Thank you so much for the comments on my drawings. They are very labour intensive, but very satisfying to do. I'm also learning a lot as I do them and can see lots of mistakes I'd like to go back and fix. Some of them I can live with, but some of them affect the life of the drawings themselves, for example using the darker pencil early on, BIG mistake because they also smudge all over the place and risk ruining the whole thing as they get manipulated.

Lord of the Rings was a great experience. I'm sure it'll be interesting to revisit it through your children's eyes, so to speak. I know your older ones aren't children anymore, but I can't believe this would be considered suitable reading for children, but then again, children nowadays read lots of dystopia novels that are much more violent (The Hunger Games come to mind).

>28 SouthernKiwi: Many thanks Alana!

>29 PiyushC: Piyush, doodling definitely counts as art in my book! As a matter of fact, it's a talent I wish I possessed, because I've seen lots of amazing doodle art these past few years which definitely reflects huge amount of creativity, imagination, and skill too.

eta: amended "writes" to "wrote" in the case of Bryce Courtenay, who is unfortunately no longer with us as he passed away last year, almost exactly a year ago, on November 22nd 2012 (something I was already aware of as I was writing the above).

Wow! Your drawings look incredible - really like them - both! Would love to see the final work of 'large black woman', and 'pensive woman' looks amazing. More of those! I like the idea and I like the result - they're DEFINITELY worth the time.

L'hit!

>34 Polaris-: Thank you so much Paul, you are alway so encouraging and it's much appreciated. I'm a bit stalled on 'large black woman' (I need to find a better title than that!), mostly for technical reasons which are probably too involved to get into here, but essentially having to do with the fact that I'm not entirely sure what the best way is to go about applying the darkest tones, which is something every artist has their own way of dealing with.

Your comment comes just at the right time because I got a bit discouraged today actually. I put a link to my drawings over at the Folio Society Devotees group and got lots of praise for them (always nice), but then one person said my pieces reminded me a bit of his brother's work (http://www.joeldanielphillips.com). Obviously I took that to be a huge compliment. But instead of repeating myself, I'll just cut/paste what my response was:

I'm duly impressed, and incredibly intimidated. Your brother's work is very impressive. His talent puts my measly efforts to shame. I'm sure he could teach me a lot. I work incredibly slowly and not entirely confidently since I don't have a proper classical art training and don't really know what I'm doing most of the time; I just learn as I go. I'm also very impressed with the scale your brother works on. Something I wish I could do, but again, my lack of advanced skills prevents me from taking on large formats at this stage; it would take me a lifetime just to finish one drawing at that size and I would not get that kind of result to be sure. I'll try to take this as an encouragement and something to aspire to as opposed to let the intimidation get to me and stop me from working altogether.

Had a tough time picking among my various reading choices last night, but finally started on The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, which was picked for me by Ellen/EBT1002. So far I'm liking it a lot. Also, finished listening Birds, Beasts, and Relatives, which was very enjoyable, but of course couldn't quite knock my socks off as well as My Family and Other Animals did. The narrator is very good, but I almost wonder if I'd have enjoyed it more in the printed format. In any case, it was still a jolly ride and I'll look forward to the last book in the trilogy. Am about to embark on another audiobook, but here again, I've uploaded so many choices onto my iPhone that it'll be difficult to choose. I so LOVE having that problem! :-)

#26 I remember your pensive woman drawing from last year - glad to hear the project is still in progress and I've really enjoyed seeing your sketches again. Do you take a quick snapshot and then work from that or do it all from memory?

#35 Ilana, I too know the discouragement that can come from comparing yourself with others. Unfortunately I don't have much help to offer as to how to stop doing it (if you figure it out please let me know!) but if your art skills are self taught and don't come from proper art training then I think that makes your drawings even more remarkable.

>37 souloftherose: Heather, I definitely work from snapshots. I have a very unreliable memory, but anyway doubt that many artists can work in quite that much realistic detail without working from photographs, as most do. I do envy those who DO have amazing visual memory, but it was not to be for me unfortunately.

Thank you so much for your encouraging words. Very much appreciated and well heard.

Just finished the audio for Newes from the Dead, a rather remarkably told story by Mary Hooper. I think I'll take a few minutes to write my thoughts on it soon, but not now as need to get to bed.

Year of Wonders is proving to be a great fit, and interestingly enough, with the previous book, I was smack dab in the middle of 17th century Engalnd on all fronts. A fascinating period and makes me want to learn more about it. Cromwell, Puritans, civil war... lots to chew on there.

After a visit to Ellen's thread, I think I'll be joining Mark's American Authors challenge in 2014, but will be adapting it to read books from my tbr as much as possible, as there are many! I mentioned some of the books I'm considering on her thread, but will have to work it out a bit. But later. Bedtime now.

Just one last note to say I also definitely want to do the Chosen for Me challenge again next year, though will restrict the choices to 15-20 books at most. Another great way to get through my tbr and so fun to have the books come with a special recommendation. Hope that number of people will want to do the choosing! I'll find the instructions I gave last year, as they are the same and will post them soon.

It's been a full day with a Lieder recital (and all Schumann program which was wonderful), then a dinner at a local vegan/raw foods restaurant which my friend discovered and is now a favourite of mine too. Was cold and miserably humid and raining on foot from one location to another.

(warm) Bed, a bit of reading then much needed sleep.

I'm nearly halfway through Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller and finding it pretty great. I'd seen the movie and found it to be a gripping drama with fiercely good actresses (who could top the Blanchett/Dench pairing for those roles?) The audiobook is narrated by Nadia May, who is the perfect voice for Barbara Covett, only second to La Dench.

Ilana - Nice to see you reading so much these days. I am another (as you well know) of your admirers in terms of your artistic creations and I will be very interested to see what becomes of the heavy lady on the Metro.

>41 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, it's always satisfying to read shorter, or at least average length works as gives the impression one is reading more. I've been pretty constant in the amount of hours I devote to listening to and reading books this year, but the big volumes obviously made for less clicks on the counter.

I've been more serious about devoting time to my art projects lately (still not enough though), so I think my big and beautiful black girl should be finished quite soon. I'll post results when it's done. Then I'll start all over again with my next victim! :-)

2014 Reading Challenges

Well, as we get ever closer to wrapping up the year, 'til the time to start planning for 2014. It's come to my attention that Mark is planning an American Authors Challenge. He's decreed, each month will be devoted to a specific author, but as I want to read from my tbr, I've broken the rules and substituted with other equally deserving auteurs américains. Here's the list for now:

Willa Cather - O Pioneers!
Cormac McCarthy - All the Pretty Horses (reread)
William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying (will also be reading Native Son with Ellen)
Toni Morrison - Sula or Home
Eudora Welty Louise Erdrich - The Master Butcher's Singing Club
Kurt Vonnegut Paul Auster - Moon Palace
Mark Twain - Huckleberry Finn (reread) or The Autobiography of Mark Twain
Philip Roth- American Pastoral
James Baldwin - Going to Meet the Man
Edith Wharton - The Custom of the Country
John Updike Sinclair Lewis - Elmer Gantry (could be another title)
Larry Watson Zora Neale Hurston - Their Eyes Were Watching God

Also, after having lurked on visited Heather's thread a few times recently, I think I'm ready to take on the A Century of Books! challenge she's been doing so beautifully. Here, copied almost verbatim from her thread: I'm going to try and read a book published in every year of the 20th century. This is just for fun, so if I don't manage it this year as I know I won't manage it in one year, I'll extend it into next year for as many years as it takes me. I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun going through my TBR piles trying to work out which books will fit.

Finally, there's a third challenge I've mentioned wanting to repeat from last year, but I'll be posting details about it at another time. Here's a little hint though:

Picked for Me: The 2014 Edition!



Finally, I definitely want to do the Picked for Me challenge again in 2014. I found the results were so satisfying this year—with LT friends having picked books of their own choosing from my extensive tbr and explaining, briefly, what had led them to make their choice—and really enjoyed the wide variety. I'm determined to finish off the 2013 list before year's end and may just manage it, but whatever doesn't get read by December will be tackled early in 2014. I've unearthed the instructions I gave last year, and here they are again:

To select a book, just go to my "To Read" collection (http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Smiler69/toread), where you'll find over eleven hundred titles to choose from. I'll allow up to 20 selections. I'd also like you to tell me, in a few words (or a few lines!) why you think I should read it (or direct me to your review if you've written one). I'll list the books picked here but also keep an eye on my tags; there are lots of them, but look for the last tag, and if it mentions 2014, then it's already been chosen. You can also use the tags to help narrow down the selections. For example, click on "Fiction" or "Non-Fiction", "Classics", "French Literature", etc. One pick per person.

1. ♫ Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan - picked by Fourpawz2
2. ♫ The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng - picked by Donna828
3. Sketches From a Hunter's Album by Ivan Turgeniev - picked by sibyx
4. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - picked by PaulCranswick
5. Love-Letters Between A Nobleman And His Sister by Aphra Behn - picked by lyzard
6. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout - picked by phebj
7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - picked by Crazymamie
8. ♫ Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo - picked by bahzah
9. A Russian Journal by John Steinbeck - picked by avatiakh
10. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper - picked by souloftherose
11. A Café on the Nile by Bartle Bull - picked by Deern
12. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons - picked by luvamystery65
13. Rhyming Life and Death by Amos Oz - picked by Polaris-
14. ♫ Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed - picked my msf59
15. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh - picked by bohemima
16. Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky - picked by SandDune
17. Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant - picked by calm
18. A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel - picked by kidzdoc
19. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers - picked by EBT1002
20. Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden - picked by Chatterbox
21. Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally - picked by DejaVoo
22. Extra spot reserved for my RL friend Kristyna
23. Extra spot reserved for my mum
24. Final extra spot for another special guest.

Extra picks
This space is dedicated to those who've given me more than one suggestion. This secondary list is one I'll very gladly refer to in guiding my choices in 2014, but I'll of course give priority to the selections above first. For the list above, I've picked physical books over audiobooks when that option was available, because audio books are easy to fit in for me whereas I have less time to read print books.

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger - both extras from Lucy
Watership Down by Richard Adams (reread)
♫ The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman - both extras from Paul
♫ Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
♫ The Land Of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll - both extras from Liz
The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller (reread)
♫ The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - both extras from Kerry
♫ The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - Read in November
The New York Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton - both extras from Roberta
♫ Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje - both extras from Paul
Coventry by Helen Humphreys - extra from Claudia
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim - extra from Rhian
Sula by Toni Morrison
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Babbit by Sinclair Lewis
The Bone People by Keri Hulme
Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson - Completed December/13 - all 9 extras from Ellen
♫ Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
♫ Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
Dissolution by CJ Sansom - three extras from Suz

eta: I may reverse my decision to give priority to print books over audiobooks when a person has made selections from either category, if only to give myself a chance to finish all the "official" picks, given my track record of completion rate so far. I'll either decide once I get to 20 "official" choices, or as I'm reading in 2014, depending on how quickly or slowly I'm progressing.

Ilana, I sent you a PM with my choice for you: The Garden of Evening Mists. I hope you love it as much as I did!

Hi Donna, I was going to respond to your PM in a second saying thank you and that I would share your recommendation on my thread. I'm really glad you've picked TGoEM, since I've been meaning to get to it basically all year, and now it'll get read soon for sure.

I think I'm going to weigh in with Turgenev's Sketches From a Hunter's Album - Turgenev was a revelation to me.

And thank you for your wonderful comments above. It is strange how one relies on the inner critic, and without it, would be lost in every way - yet that critic is also not entirely 'unbiased'not always trustworthy. Of course, plenty out there have not enough inner critic, but I think you and I and many others here, the shy introverted bookworms, have the opposite problem.

As I said in message 44 above, I forgot to mention to my invitees that I'd like them to share their recommendations here for everyone to see, so I'll copy their picks and comments on why they made those choices here, by the order in which they arrived (I'm assuming my correspondents will not mind).

First to reply was Charlotte/Fourpawz2, who said:

"I'd like you to read Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan. I picked this book because I just read it recently and found it very interesting. Plus, I learned a lot of things about ancient Jewish history that I had not known before. Hope you enjoy it too."

I've been quite eager to read this title since it came out, and all the more so after seeing Lucy's (sybix) comments on it on her thread and the ensuing responses by her visitors. As I just mentioned to Charlotte in my PM reply, I just downloaded that audiobook from the library last week, and there's a good chance it'll be among my first reads of 2014 as I've been wanting to get to it soon. I've been raiding the OverDrive selections available through the national library network, and have obtained quite a lot of great audio titles in the past week or so. I'll be listing my haul here soon.

Next is Donna (Donna828) who said:

thanks for the opportunity to again choose a book from your list to read next year. I think you will love The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. It is one of my rare 5-Star rated books. I think you will like the setting in Malaysia and the historical background about the Japanese invasion. The protagonist befriends a Japanese gardener and has him design a garden to honor the memory of her sister. As an artist, I think you will appreciate the skill that goes into the process. It is a visually appealing and an emotionally satisfying book. Enjoy! I have a somewhat lengthy review on the book's page. Thanks again. This is a fun thing to do!

Another book I've been meaning to get to "very soon". In fact it's been a high priority title on my tbr for the whole year, so it's good to have it singled out as a "next on the reading list".

Lucy (sibyx) just wrote PMd:

The problem is whether to make a sentimental choice, a 'literary' choice, or a ripping good yarn choice. If you've got a preference let me know!

My answer to her and anyone who wishes to participate is pick whatever most appeals to you, something you've really enjoyed and think I'll enjoy too. My library reflects who varied my tastes are, so there is no "wrong" choice!

>47 sibylline: Cross-posting! I'm so glad you've picked Turgeniev. I discovered him only this year and he's been a revelation for me too, and now I want to read everything he's written. I got two gorgeous and I mean REALLY GORGEOUS Folio Society editions (during a members-only sale) of First Love and On the Eve , both of which I'll probably be reading next year as well. (see them here and here.

I could have a very long discussion with you on the inner critic. I did a doodle of mine once and rendered him as an incredibly ridiculous/ugly man. I'll try to find it and post it here.

Dear Ilana - Three books stood out early for me from the very first page of your list:

1. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. I have told as many people who would listen what a fine novel this is and most have had cause to agree with me.

2. Watership Down by Richard Adams. This book enraptured me when I was in my teens and my kids when I read it to them subsequently. If you can get over talking rabbits you'll love it.

3. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. 2014 is the centenary of the start of the Great War. A selfish pick slightly as I am going to read this too and thought perhaps you may join me on it. xx

I've just done scanning your 'To Read' list, Ilana, and had a good laugh because naturally the first thing that leapt out at me was:

Love-Letters Between A Nobleman And His Sister by Aphra Behn.

Hey, you brought it up, remember!? :)

As it happens, I will probably be doing a tutored read of that with Heather in the New Year (date to be determined); if you would like to join us we would be thrilled to have you. Likewise, you and I also touched base about a possible tutored read for Pride And Prejudice.

So, if you would like to consider either one of those as my "pick for you", that's fine. But in case you would like to consider them as a separate project, something apart, I will also offer these alternative choices, any and all of which I would love to read along with you:

1. The Custom Of The Country by Edith Wharton - because I haven't read enough Wharton, dammit!

2. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling - or, ahem, Sorcerer's Stone, if you must - because I've decided 2014 will be the year I finally get around to reading these.

3. The Land Of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll - which is going to pop up in yet another of my 2014 projects.

Hi Ilana, I'm going to choose Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. I read it before joining LT so have no notes to remind me of exactly what I thought of it but I do remember being upset when I finished it because it was such a great reading experience for me and I didn't want it to end. I thought it was a great example of linked short stories--where something seeming inconsequential in one story turns out to be a crucial moment in a subsequent story. I also loved how the main character in a story would form an opinion about a minor character based on very little information and then a subsequent story would show that opinion to be completely wrong. And finally, I always think it's interesting to get some insight into difficult people like Olive. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

And please don't apologize for not getting back to me. I have not been able to spend a lot of time on LT lately so I certainly understand. I love the iPhone case and greeting cards I ordered from Instagram and have already gotten compliments on the phone case. So far, I'm hoarding the cards but I bought several that will make good Christmas cards so those will be getting sent out relatively soon. I hope they do eventually offer notebooks and bookmarks because I'd love to order some of your artwork in that format.

I can't believe it's time to be thinking about 2014 already! I like how you swapped out authors to match your tbr for Mark's American Author Challenge - I will probably end up doing that for Mark Twain. And I LOVE the addition of Zora Neale Hurston - I recently listened to her Their Eyes Were Watching God, and that was a five star read for me. Truly fabulous.

Looking at your "To Read" list, there are so many great books there. I absolutely have to recommend Pride and Prejudice, which is one of my all time favorite books. I have reread it many, many times over the years, and it never disappoints. I just adore Elizabeth Bennet - her wit, her charm, her humor, and yet she can still make such incredibly human mistakes.

oops... just saw you wanted this on your thread.

I highly recommend The Siege by Helen Dunmore.
My review is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/13082 (if I did this right)
my review is dated Feb 26, 2012.
but, Joe's review is better (right above mine)
It still stands out vividly in my mind. Beautifully written.

I also LOVED The Garden of Evening Mists - glad you picked it!
and A Fine Balance.

You have a lot of great books to choose from.

Hugs and more hugs {{{{{Ilana}}}}}

I'll give you three to choose from, my first choice is the Henry Miller, but if everyone picks you 'hard to read' stuff you might want to go for the YA:

1) Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller - this is on my to read list as well

2) A Russian Journal by John Steinbeck - I really enjoyed this, I think I read it last year.

3) The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - a YA fantasy that was a little different, I enjoyed the audio

Thanks for the message.

Woohoo! LOTS of fantastic recommendations, and a few of you cheating a little with extra options too, though it's a kind of naughtiness I can hardly complain about. I shouldn't be here right now as am encroaching on my sacred bedtime reading session, but I thought I should see if the list needed updating to prevents the same books being picked several times. So far so good. I'll take the time to respond to you each individually tomorrow and thank you for playing along. I'm really honoured by your participation!

Ilana, I'm so glad you're doing the 'pick for me' challenge again this year. Thank you for the inviting me to choose for you, I had a lot of fun going through your To read collection.

I wanted to choose one of your beautiful Folio books so my choice is Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising. It's the second book in the series but I don't think it really matters which order you read the first few books in and The Dark is Rising is the first book I read from the series many years ago. I've chosen it because it was one of my favourite books as a child. The series is based in English folklore and this particular book takes place at midwinter so it might be a good book to save until the end of next year. I hope you enjoy it.

Also, do join us for Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister - I'm excited about reading that next year.

ETA: I'm excited about your century of books challenge!

Oh dear - I was on the right list - but when I saw The Siege by Ismail Kadare I neglected to look at the author and thought it was the book I loved by Dunmore. I'll give it another shot. There were several good ones on your list.
Be back (if I live) after radiation and dentist appointments. *sigh*
If I decide to run away, can I come to see you? Would love to see all your lovely books :)

>59 -Cee-: My dear Claudia, OF COURSE you are more than welcome to come over and stay a while! Goodness knows you won't be likely to run out of reading material and it'll be so great to finally meet you! Sounds like you have a crummy day in store though. Hope you treat yourself to something nice and satisfying along the way.

I should NOT be here right now as need to prepare for my art class, but I'm so excited about this challenge and I thought I should try to reply to at as many messages as I can within the next 10-15 minutes while I sip my moka coffee.

>50 PaulCranswick: Paul, my dear friend! As I meant to read A Fine Balance this year and sadly didn't get to it, I've retained that particular selection for the challenge. It's gotten so many rave reviews all round, and with your heartfelt endorsement, I can't fail to love it too. I got that particular edition of Watership Down because I love the cover they put out the the 40th anniversary. I listened to it on audio a few years ago, here as part of a group read, but of course I'd love to reread it, so I've put it on my "Extra picks" list as you'll see in message #44 above. As I mention there also, when given the choice between books I have in print and audiobooks, I've chosen the former, for the simple reason that I read far fewer books than get through audiobooks, but that said, I'll be more than happy to join you for a listen to The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. I've got quite a collection of WWI material growing and yes, do intend to read related material on the centenary of the beginning of the "War to End All Wars". What a sad misnomer that turned out to be...

>51 lyzard: Liz, I'm definitely in for Love-Letters Between A Nobleman And His Sister, and yes, do still want that tutored read of Pride And Prejudice, which aptly enough, Mamie selected for me last night for this same challenge. I can't fail to love it now I've got this sublime Folio edition. Paired with your tutoring, it should end up being one of my favourites of all time!

I do encourage you to read more Wharton. I mean to also, which is why I've already included The Custom Of The Country in my American Authors Challenge (see #43). As I mentioned above, it's also easy enough for me to fit in audiobooks, which I seem to get through in no time at all given how much listening time I have and as I have both Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone AND Land of Laughs on audio, I'll be glad to join you for them both. I did read the first three or four Harry Potter books when they came out (got the hardcovers and everything back then!), but then I somehow lost interest, and as the full series is available on audio to download from the library, I thought I'd give it a try again all these years later. Should be fun!

***

Well, that's all the replies I managed. I do gabble on, but I'll be back later this evening to reply to each of you I haven't gotten to yet. As you can see though, I've taken the time to include all your suggestions in message #44 above in the meantime. Thanks for your participation, and those who are just joining in now, DO feel free to make your own suggestions too... the list is filling up quickly!

Ilana thank you for inviting me to pick a read for you next year. My first choice is lighthearted one, Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. It is an excellent parody and just what you may need between more somber or serious reads. I saw the movie years ago but never read the book. I read it this year and I found it delightful. I laughed out loud frequently.

Several of the choices I would have made were already selected. I am happy to see that your list looks excellent. My "second" (of course there will be more than one) choices are books I have not read but am planning to read next year. I am reading The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett for my Noir/Hardboiled category. I'm reading Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed for my category on real life struggles. Finally, The New York Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton. Mark's AAC reminded me how much I loved The House of Mirth with it's attention to detail in the customs and manners that Wharton observed all around her. This collection of short stories sounds perfect.

I hope my selections work for you. If they don't please feel free to ask me to pick again.

3 choices from me as well Ilana! It's too hard to just name one:

1: Rhyming Life and Death by Amos Oz

2: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner.

3: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje.

What a fun idea!

Hi Ilana - Thanks for asking me to participate in your "Picked For Me" challenge. You have some amazing books on that To-Read list and I never made it past the first page. You know I am crazy about narrative nonfiction, so I will go with a couple of those:

Behind the Beautiful Forevers- Katherine Boo: This is an intense and unflinching look at life in a Mumbai slum. It is a heart-breaker, beautifully written.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed: This is one of my favorite memoirs from the past few years. Strayed decides to tackle the grueling Pacific Coast Trail on her own and documents her adventures, with humor and insight.

I will also join Paul on his praise for A Fine Balance. I finally read it this year and it remains one of the most memorable books, I have ever read.

OK. Here's another choice for you - though, truthfully, I liked Dunmore's Siege better :)

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
http://www.librarything.com/work/11850371
my review Jan 10, 2013
I liked that in an impossible situation for so many, there seemed to be a bit of hope for some.

ALSO -
I would pick for you Coventry by Helen Humphreys if you'd rather have an excellent book that is short with lots of impact. Sometimes that's just what's called for.

Again, I'm so touched that you've all jumped in and participated with so much enthusiasm. It really warms my heart. I will continue answering individually, but can't manage it tonight. I'm completely done in and need to get myself to bed. I really hate to complain, but I've been in constant migraine pain for at least two weeks now, if not three. I force myself to go to classes, and do get some relief when I'm working on an art project, but the unremitting pain in starting to take a toll on my spirits. Which is why I'm doubly grateful for all your wonderful suggestions. Reading and art are my salvation, and being able to share that with you wonderful friends is a real privilege. Thank you.

Take care of yourself first Ilana. Books & LT friends will patiently wait.

>67 luvamystery65: Thanks Roberta. Probably not helping is the fact that my landlords have decided to turn their half basement into a full one. The constant low frequency sounds and banging of the digging which has been going on for two weeks now have taken their toll. Today seems to be worse than ever somehow as they've been digging close to the pipes it seems. HOWEVER, I am extremely grateful they decided to expand downward as opposed to upward, which would have put me out of my home of 13 years, and it is to be hoped the works will finish very soon.

>52 phebj: Pat, that seems like a great suggestion and I'll look forward to reading Olive Kitteridge. As for bookmarks and notebooks, I believe there is a place on the site where artists can make suggestions, so I will try to put in a request in hopes they can accommodate your wishes eventually.

>53 Crazymamie: Mamie, I just received a stunningly gorgeous edition of Pride and Prejudice from Folio Society recently and it'll be my pleasure to pick it up. I had already asked Liz to tutor me through it, because the first time I picked it up, I ended up hurling it at the wall (that was NOT the FS edition but a softcover!), but my guess is I'll end up liking it a whole lot more the second time around.

>54 -Cee-:, 65 I've definitely taken note of your strong recommendation for the "beautiful and terrible" The Siege Claudia. I remember now reading your review when you posted it last year, when I'd given it a thumbs up. But as that book is still only in my wishlist for now, am just as happy with your pick of Behind the Beautiful Forevers for our purposes. I love the excerpt you quoted from it in your review. Very promising. I'll also make sure to read Coventry, since you did after all send it to me as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago and I've been meaning to get to it ever since. Many thanks and lots of hugs to you too. xx

>55 avatiakh: Kerry, it was hard to pick what to put on the "main" list from your three choices, but finally I decided to give priority to A Russian Journal. For one thing, I meant to get to it last year, when we had our Steinbeckathon, but never did. For another, I also meant to reread The Colossus of Maroussi this year, and it's a sure bet I'll get to it in 2014, especially now that you've singled it out for me too. A very interesting South African and very well read lady friend I'd made during my 5-month stay in Crete had sent me her vintage Penguin copy when I came back to Canada, which is when I first read it (back in '99), and I remember it very fondly. As for your third pick, as I mentioned above, it's easy enough for me to fit in audiobooks at the rate I go through them, and since I downloaded The Raven Boys from the library some time ago, I'll make sure to upload it to my playlist in 2014. Thanks for participating!

>57 souloftherose:-58 Heather, I knew I could count on you to pick one of my beloved Folio books! I ended up purchasing all but the last book in the Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising series from FS this year (all at discounted prices), but only after I'd first given a listen to Over Sea, Under Stone, which I enjoyed a lot. I had meant to read it again from that edition before moving on to The Dark is Rising, but also didn't know they didn't need to be read in order. I may still read them both, if only just for the pleasure of taking in my beautiful illustrated editions and doubling the pleasure. In any case, your pick has been noted.

I'll be sure to at the very least lurk on your Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister tutoring thread, as I'm sure I will learn a lot there and much benefit from your excellent questions and Liz's expert guidance. I'm also looking forward to my century of books challenge, but after posting that I'd be doing it, did wonder what I'd gotten myself into. I should start listing what books I actually have in my tbr for that, as my concern is there will be many great big gaps, but as I've given myself an indefinite amount of time to finish it, I suppose that doesn't really matter.

>62 luvamystery65: Thanks for joining in Roberta. As I told you in my PM, I'm fully intending to get to the book you picked for me last year, A Thousand Splendid Suns, which will probably happen in December. I've been meaning to read it since I purchased it in 2009—but you know how those things go—since I so much loved The Kite Runner (now one of my favourites) when I read it just the previous year. Cold Comfort Farm looks like a very promising and fun choice. One of those books I feel like I should have read decades ago already. Thankfully it's never too late to get to a good book; there are no expiry dates on good literature! I've added your other selections to my list of extras, the idea being I'll try to give a priority to the "official" list, and then move on to the others, though of course it never ends up being as clear-cut as all that. I actually uploaded The Maltese Falcon to my iPhone recently, as it's a book I've been meaning to get to for well over a decade now, if not more than two. Wild ended up being chosen by Mark, so it's a sure bet I'll be picking it up, probably sooner than later since it's on audio too. I've become quite a fan of Edith Wharton after reading a few of her novels over the last couple of years, including The House of Mirth, which was my first and I think remains my favourite so far. I got her New York Stories as a gift from Charlotte last year (during Mark's Secret Santa) and look forward to dipping into it.

In other words, your selections work for me just fine! :-)

I've been busily filling up my Century of Books options in message #10 up top. I've gotten to 1930, so about a third of the way in and so far have quite a lot of choices. Very relaxing to do. That sort of quiet searching really gives my head a rest; not much thinking required; am practically pain free at the moment! Off to walk Coco, then draw a bit, and will finish personal comments later tonight.

I'm suggesting Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, Ilana. It's a beautifully written story about the many aspects of love and of religious beliefs and how these effect anyone's life. Mostly tragic,the book also has passages that are extremely funny. It's on my all-time favorites list. I do think you'd love it.

>63 Polaris-: Three excellent picks Paul. As it happens, I just read my first Stegner quite recently with Big Rock Candy Mountain, and look forward to Angle of Repose. I had read your review of it some time ago and believe it led me to get that book to begin with, so only fitting you should pick it! For the purpose of the exercise, I picked the Amos Oz book for the challenge itself. Easy enough to fit in Stegner as I have him on audio, and will try my best to get to The English Patient, which I've been meaning to get to for years now!

>64 msf59: Mark, I knew I could count on you to pick some non-fiction titles for me. Great selections, and both on audio too. I really wanted to get to A Fine Balance this year and read it along with you, but it looks like it'll finally happen in 2014.

>71 Matke: Thanks so much for joining in with a great pick Gail. I've read a couple of Evelyn Waugh novels so far and found them excellent. I intend on reading a lot more work by him and will only be too happy to pick up Brideshead Revisited in near future.

Stayed in bed when I woke up today not feeling well, to finish Year of Wonders which had been picked for me by Ellen, and I can certainly see why it was a favourite of hers; I thought it was great too. I do mean to write up a few short lines about some of my recent reads and will keep my comments for that as am about to turn to bedtime reading (of the nighttime variety), this time am starting on The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry which was picked for me by Donna. I read his most recent book, On Canaan's Side last year and it was among my favourites, so this is promising.

On the audio front I've been picking some short reads lately, and finished The Ballad of the Sad Café by Carson McCullers today, a book which I first read in my early twenties. I had never read a Southern author before then and it was quite a revelation. Still excellent today, over twenty years later. Now I've started on The Maltese Falcon. It's promising, and while I got the audio recording from the library recently, the book had been on my tbr for many, many years.

#70 I like your list of possibilities - it had a lot of fun going through each year when I was picking books too.

#73 Sebastian Barry is an author I keep meaning to try so I'll look forward to your thoughts on The Secret Scripture.

>74 souloftherose: I tried to get the touchstones working a few times to make that list easier to consult, but so far haven't had any luck, even when trying to post them in smaller batches, the way Lucy recommended and which worked before. In any case, as you can see, it seems I have plenty of choice for the whole century except 1926 for some reason.

I can tell you that I really loved On Canaan's Side when I read it last year. I quoted the following in my review at the time:

"To remember sometimes, is a great sorrow. But when the remembering has been done, there comes afterwards a very curious peacefulness—because you have planted your flag on the summit of the sorrow, you have climbed it. And I notice again in the writing of this confession that there is nothing called "long ago" after all. When things are summoned up, it is all present time, pure and simple. So that much to my surprise, people I have loved are allowed to live again." —Fifteenth Day Without Bill

Here's the review itself if you like, in case I don't manage a writeup about The Secret Scripture: http://www.librarything.com/work/10934741/reviews/81024012

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent ★★★★⅓

I picked up Burial Rites, a first novel by Hannah Kent just yesterday and finished it today. Yes, I thought it was great. It seems that historical fiction is really a favourite genre of mine these days, though I've always liked it, even before I knew it was called that, in the days when a book was a book to me, with no categories to make me wonder what was "right" or "wrong" or "high" or "low" literature. This story takes place in Iceland, and is based on the true story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, who was the last person in Iceland proper to receive the death sentence. She was beheaded in 1830 on the charge that she had—together with a conspirator, a young man called Friðrik Sigurðsson (also beheaded the same day)—murdered two men, Nathan Ketilsson, a farmer and local healer and also Agnes' employer, and Pétur Jónsson. This story begins in the year preceding Agnes' beheading, when she is sent to live in cramped quarters with a family in a small isolated farming community, where she is meant to prepare for her punishment and meet her end with the appropriate attitude of contrition and religious faith. The family are understandably outraged and horrified to be made to take in a convicted murderess, and Agnes, who has spent her life as a maid, is put to work doing the lowliest tasks. Agnes has specially requested that a young assistant priest called Tóti be her spiritual advisor, claiming that they know each other and she believes he is in the best position to help her, though the young priest is not aware of having ever met her and their connexion is only revealed quite late in the story. Tóti quickly comes to realize the best he can do for Agnes is to let her tell her own story, which is how we come to learn about the events which led up to the murder of her former employer and erstwhile lover, an event which was not as clear cut as the authorities made it out to be. It's impossible to read (or in my case, listen) to this story without growing feeling compassion and empathy for Agnes, which is also what happens to the members of the family. Of course, while the main characters and events are based on true circumstances, Hannah Kent had ample room to embroider on what might have been Agnes' inner life and motivations, though she claims to have done this based on a great deal of documentation from eyewitnesses and people who knew the convicted woman. A very promising start for Hannah Kent, and I will be looking forward to what she comes up with next. Of course it's a very touching story, and one which was a very fitting follow-up to Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, which I finished just a few days ago. Interestingly enough, in her acknowledgments, Kent gives special thanks to Geraldine Brooks for her role as a mentor, something I did not know about till I got to the very end. I just love it when this kind of reading synchronicity happens!

I have to make a special mention of Morven Christie, the narrator of the audio version I first discovered with Code Name Verity—another much recommended book—, who read the story with great compassion and feeling, and a real sense of intimacy. She is now among my favourites, and I look forward to her next projects too.

eta: typos.

I've heard a lot of good things about Burial Rites - it's sitting on my TBR shelf .

>77 SandDune: Hi Rhian, it was a great reading experience and strangely enjoyable, even if the specifics of the story were quite horrible. I hope you enjoy it too when you get to it.

Have you seen my earlier posts (specifically #43 and 44)? I'd love you to play along if you're up to it!

I did see but by the time I noticed you had got lots and lots if recommendations so I assumed you had enough. But if you want another one I will look tomorrow as I am just off to bed (10.51pm here).

>79 SandDune: I've gotten 14 so far and said I would go up to 20, because I wanted to make sure some of my lurkers had a chance to jump in too. I will do my best to honour those choice and complete them within the year, but the extra picks are just that... extras. The rule was one pick per person after all, but of course it's more fun recommending three books than one! :-)

No rush, take your time, I will hold a spot for you. And sweet dreams!

Hi Ilana- Great review of Burial Rites. I remember hearing about that one and it sounded very enticing and you have just confirmed that. Thank you.

Hi Ilana - I really enjoyed The Russian Journal so that was a good choice. Steinbeck travels with Robert Capa and you get a good feel for Capa through this journal.

I'll join you and Paul on the Tuchman, I've had a few of her books on my tbr pile for a few years.

I picked up a copy of Lawrence Durrell's Bitter Lemons the other day which I hope to read in tandem with the Miller book.
Your 2014 reading looks pretty intense and interesting already. Looking forward to following again.

I've gone through your wish list over breakfast (and got a lot of ideas for my wish list in the process. My suggestion is Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively, one of my favourite books by one of my favourite writers and one who is uppermost into mind at the moment as I want to a talk given by her last week. A second choice would be Alan Bennett's An Uncommon Reader, a very short book which I think virtually all book lovers would enjoy.

Burial Rites sounds really good, the same sort of thing as Margaret Atwood did in Alias Grace, onto the wishlist and I am third on the local library reservations list. Thank you for the review and recommendation.

>81 msf59: Hi Mark, I discovered Burial Rites last month because it was featured at the iBook store as an editor's choice. I was about to buy the ebook, but thought to look it up on Audible, and when I discovered Morven Christie was narrated, my choice of format was made. I really liked her in Code Name Verity and I hope she does more recordings in near future. I'm glad you enjoyed my review, always encouraging, thanks!

>82 avatiakh: Kerry, I bought that book because I found the Steinbeck/Capa combo was hard to resist. The only thing I find unfortunate about the book is it's not at all a quality production, so that the photos, from my very brief glimpses, seem to have been reproduced very poorly. All the same, I'm sure I'll enjoy the journey. As I mentioned above, it's almost a sure bet I'll read your other two suggestions as well, since I've meaning to reread The Colossus of Maroussi for a long time, and this year in particular. As for The Raven Boys, given I've got it on audio, and given how quickly I plow through those in any given month, I'm sure it'll be featured in my playlist.

I wasn't familiar with Bitter Lemons until you mentioned it here today, though Prospero's Cell has been on my BookDepository wishlist for a couple of years now. Did I mention I tried to read Justine this year and gave it up about halfway through? Maybe too highbrow for me, I don't know, but I found it to be lots of work and didn't get much in return. On the other hand, I'm still interested in reading his travel memoirs, so will look into Bitter Lemons as a companion read to Henry Miller's take on Greece.

There's a great selection for 2014 so far, and you're right it's a pretty intense one too. I'll probably break things up a little by fitting in crime mysteries and historical fiction in between some of the more involved reads, though I look forward to each and every one of them.

>83 SandDune: Oh Rhian, I feel so bad about having to say this, because you obviously devoted some time to making your choice, but part of the concept of this challenge is to get me reading from the books I already own. If you look up the instructions I gave here http://www.librarything.com/topic/160751#4361450, there's a link which will take you directly to my "To Read" collection. That is, if you're at all inclined to start the process all over again, but if you're not, I'll understand. That being said, I'll be sure to add you as a recommender for Moon Tiger. I might read An Uncommon Reader outside this challenge, if only because it's so short and I've been meaning to for so long now after seeing countless people recommend it, besides which I can easily get it from the library.

>84 calm: Hi calm, I'm glad my review prompted you to reserve Burial Rites, and I hope you find it great too. After writing my review, I read a few written by others both here and on Audible, and sort of kicked myself for not mentioning other details about the novel that made me enjoy it so much, but then figured there's nothing wrong with letting people make those discoveries for themselves either!

If you'd like to play along for my 2014 "Picked for me" challenge, you are more than welcome. If you're interested, be sure to look up the instructions detailed here http://www.librarything.com/topic/160751#4361450 (where you can also see what other people have picked), and click on the link I provide leading to my tbr books.

Just a quick note to say I picked up Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgeniev yesterday, as he's an author I mean to read a lot from. I'll finish it very shortly. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did because 1) it talks about politics and nihilism in particular and 2) I wasn't very fond of the narrator at the beginning, but am glad I persevered because it's a fantastic piece of Russian literature, which I usually like rather a lot.

Another migraine and fatigue day, but forced myself to art class which paid off because we were working with a model I like a lot. I missed working with her in my Monday class (that other teacher had booked her too, quite by coincidence), so I was glad to get to work with her anyway, especially since neither class is focused on figure drawing specifically and the models are a kind of special treat.

Off to work for a bit on my "Metro" drawing of the beautiful big black girl (http://www.librarything.com/topic/160751#4354825). It's coming along nicely and I'll be starting on a new one very soon, this month for sure. I'll of course post it here when it's all done. I wish I'd kept track of how many hours I spent on it, but I've figured out that I spend 2 to 4 hours per square inch, more or less, so it's easily around 100 hours by now.

#87 part of the concept of this challenge is to get me reading from the books I already own Oops - that's what comes of doing things first thing in the morning - I'm not really a morning person!
Second try: Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky: the first two parts of a planned five part major work depicting France in the Second World War, but even incomplete one of the best and most moving books I've read all year. If you're wanting something a little more cheerful I'd recommend An Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim, a book which had a unanimous positive vote when we read it in our book club, and one of my favourite comfort reads.

Ilana - I played along this year and thought that I would give other people a chance but, as you asked, I took a look at your library and you have some great books in your to read collection. It was difficult to narrow it down but how about Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant.

Ilana, I'm amazed, as always, by your talent! Such great work! Sorry I missed your "Blindfold" category this year, real life just got in the way once again. Even though I probably won't finish my own category for this year, I'd like to do it for next year too. It's fun seeing what everyone picks, and why.

>88 SandDune: Rhian, thanks for choosing Suite Française. That's just the extra push I need to finally get to this book which has been oft recommended, and which I have both in the print and an audiobook version, both in the original French. I know I'm in for a treat, but for some reason have been reticent to read anything about WWII, which makes no sense since I happily read anything about the "Great War". As I said, a good nudge to get me over that silly reticence.

I'm very fond of Elizabeth Von Arnim, especially after having read Elizabeth and Her German Garden. I picked listened to that book as well as The Enchanted April on audio this year and loved them both, so much so that I obtained beautiful hardcover editions of both for the pleasure of rereading them time and again. I'll put it on the "Extra Picks" list for now. Thanks for participating twice! :-) That being said, I forgot to mention before that I'd added Moon Tiger to the wishlist some time ago, but was just looking over the Booker Prize shortlisted books last week to add more to the wishlist and came across that title again, thinking to myself I should try to get to it soon.

>89 calm: calm, thank you for your suggestion of Sacred Hearts. I read The Birth of Venus and In the Company of the Courtesan some years ago, before joining this group; greatly enjoyed both and been meaning to read more of her work since, so I'm happy to have a good reason to put it on the 2014 tbr pile. I've also been looking at Blood & Beauty which was released this week, and might get that one on audio eventually since I like the narrator they chose for that one.

>90 LauraBrook: Hi Laura, I'm still hopeful I might finish reading from my 2013 picks, though I'm a bit dismayed at how slowly it's going with print books for me lately. Reading just 300 pages seems to take me 10-14 days, whereas the equivalent on audio takes me 1.5 to 3 days at most, but then I have much more free time for those, whereas bedtime reading is necessarily more limited. In any case, whatever I don't manage to fit in this year will be included in my 2014 tbr too. If you'd like to join in and pick something for 2014, please feel welcome to do so. I've extended the list to accommodate up to 20 picks, but in order to ensure I get to them all, I'll probably have to go back on my decision to give priority to print books over audiobooks and do a more even mix considering what I've just said at the beginning of this message...

I've just added the following edit to the "Picked for me" post in #s 5 and 44:

I may reverse my decision to give priority to print books over audiobooks when a person has made selections from either category, if only to give myself a chance to finish all the "official" picks, given my track record of completion rate so far. I'll either decide once I get to 20 "official" choices, or as I'm reading in 2014, depending on how quickly or slowly I'm progressing.

I'm not quite satisfied with the wording, but hope it's clear enough.



Finished Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgeniev yesterday, another quickly devoured novel. Don't think I'll take the time to properly review it, but I will say that while I worried I wouldn't be thrilled by a novel in which one of the main characters is an unpleasant Nihilist with an attitude to match, I was on the contrary pleasantly surprised to find this novel touch on a variety of other subjects I ended up finding quite engrossing indeed, so that even Bazarov, the unpleasant proponent of Nihilism in question became, if not appealing exactly, essential to a masterful whole. Some of the topics broached are the major shift going on in Russia during the mid-19th century, with landowners 'freeing' their serfs and allowing them to become paid tenants and the attendant class conflicts; the concept or what makes up a true Russian identity; the generation gap and how the old guard is always relegated to obsolescence by the young. In other words, social conflicts seem to be at the heart of this novel, but these subjects became all the more interesting to me thanks to the deft hand of Turgeniev, who presents these from the unique standpoints of young student Arkady Nikolaevich Kirsanov, who brings his friend and Nihilistic hero Yevgeny Vasilyevich Bazarov on a visit to his family farm to meet his father and uncle. Arkady Nikolaevich's father Nikolai Petrovich is excited to get together with his grown son again, looking forward to a forging a close friendship with him based on intellectual equality, and thinks himself to be 'with the times' by embracing modern socioeconomic concerns (having among other things recently emancipated his serfs and removed himself to a smaller house with few paid servants) and keeping up with all the latest authors (but at heart a great lover of the Romantic Old Guard Pushkin). However, his hopes are fairly dashed when Bazarov is introduced into the household with his uncouth, brusque manners and disdain for art, tradition, and sentimentality. Arkady has become Bazarov's disciple and parrots his older friend's ideas, though all the while he is made uneasy by Bazarov's repeated critical sallies and generally disrespectful attitude toward his beloved father and uncle Pavel Petrovich, a gallant aristocrat very much attached to tradition and keeping up appearances, which Arkady nevertheless sees as a tragic hero. Through this prism we see a whole nation shifting toward what laid the ground for the inevitable Russian Revolution and the Communist USSR, though again, Turgeniev, far from making his protagonists all black or all white, lets them evolve throughout the novel and experience conflicting emotions and motivations. Here, together with a large dose of philosophical doctrine, there is also love and romance and it's deceptions, there is even an unlikely duel which ends rather unexpectedly. In other words, it is a mix of intellectual ideas and romantic concerns and for this reason, still feels incredibly modern and shows us once again that human nature never really changes much. ★★★★½

So much for NOT writing a review. :-)

eta: added final touches of cover image, bolded title and rating to make this an "official" review, though haven't changed the wording save for one or two corrections.

Heh! I like that Not-Review very much! Turgenev is incredible, isn't he? Your last sentence really does sum it up.

Almost finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor last night, with only 30 minutes or less to go on the audio book, but then had to stop to give myself time for my bedtime reading; I'm almost finished with The Secret Scripture too now, and might but time aside for couch reading today so I can pick up something else tonight, if there's any hope for me of finishing the other 4 books on the "Picked for me" list for 2013.

I picked up the Laini Taylor book sometime last year on Audible, having seen many references to that author and artist on Kerry's threads in the past, where she had also recommended this specific book, if memory serves. Then I saw the library had a dowloadable version of book 2 and thought I should give book 1 a spin to see if I might be interested in continuing with with the series. As some of my visitors know, I've never been a big Fantasy reader, though I do indulge on occasion. Sometimes I find the tone adopted in some of the YA novels a bit annoying, which is something impossible to describe or define, so that I can only know if something works for me when I actually read (or listen) to specific books; I'm sure timing has a lot to do with it too. In this case, it worked for me just great. Karou, the beautiful young blue-haired heroine of this book is just artistic and badass enough that I was willing to go along with the notion of Chimera and Seraphim, Wishes and Magic for her sake, and though by the second half of the book my ability to suspend disbelief was quite stretched, I stayed caught up with the main characters and storyline (which involves a—yikes!—romance between soul mates) enough to stay with it, even liking, if not being completely bowled over with it. May very well move on to Days of Blood and Starlight in near future too. Must say the narrator Khristine Hvam is doing a lot in the way of helping me get immersed in the experience. She is a really good fit, with a good range of voices and believable enough accents for this story which is set in Prague mostly, sort of.

For my next listen, the former might have laid the ground for a longer fantasy commitment, such as Elantris, which was one of the first audiobook I got with Audible in 2011, or maybe even Outlander, also one of my earlier purchases, though the romance aspect of the Diana Gabladon books has been somewhat of a deterrent so far. Not for me the bold bodice rippers I guess, though I've read here and there that genre is now more popular than ever, with eReaders and MP3 devices being perfect to hide away what might be embarrassing book covers to carry around otherwise. But no, I won't go there even as a secret pleasure, though I do admit to having gone through a Harlequin Romance period in my teens. Probably because there wasn't anything better around to read... Doth the lady protest too much? :-)

>93 sibylline: Lucy, I'm not sure what it is this year, but every time I've set out with the express purpose of writing a review, I've failed miserably and not been able to finish (drafts for The Luminaries and The Signature of All Things have been sitting there accusingly for many many weeks now!), but if I just start with a few opening comments off the cuff, I sometimes find myself writing more than I even knew I had to say on the subject, without that pressure of feeling like I "need to do a good job" keeping me from enjoying the process or blocking my brain from finding the next perfectly familiar word every five seconds. I would have picked up that book very soon I'm sure, but the fact you chose that other Turgenev title for my 2014 challenge did make me want to read more of him immediately, which can only be a good thing. I'll probably pick up On the Eve very soon too. I meant to read just the first paragraph in a perfectly good Penguin edition a few months ago and next thing I knew I'd read a couple of chapters and was really into it. Had to stop for lack of time, but I've since gotten a really gorgeous Folio Edition (http://www.foliosociety.com/bookcat/9204/EVE/on-the-eve) so it'll be a double treat to read from that one. Then there will also be a reread of First Love, which I listened to in a French audio version last year (or this year?) and also got as a Folio edition, equally beautiful, if not more even than my other FS Turgenev, if only because illustrated by the Balbusso twins (http://www.foliosociety.com/book/FLV/first-love). Didn't pay the full price for either, thank goodness.

Great not-review! I read the book in November as well and while I thought at first it would be quickly forgotten (although I liked it a lot) I find myself still thinking about it almost daily. There's so much in it on just about 200 pages.

>96 Deern: Thanks Nathalie. The 'non-review' comment ended up being an inside joke, since of course my comments on Fathers and Sons did turn out to be as full a review as any I've written this year. Turgenev has been a huge discovery for me in 2013. Of course I'd heard about him before, but had yet to read any of his works till I finally stopped to take in a couple and am now very much intent on reading all I can by him. Funnily enough, it was the title of William Trevor's book Reading Turgenev that led me to look into him when I did, and I say 'funnily' because I have yet to read any of Trevor's books, but the title alone was enough to make me think seriously "how come I haven't read any Turgenev yet?". As you say, he does indeed pack in a load of material into what is just a short novel. As a matter of fact, the person who reviewed this book just before I did faulted Turgenev for that, finding it much too short (it's an interesting review actually—I encourage you to read it now you've read the book too). I do agree that there are enough interesting themes and characters here that he could easily have embroidered on his material for a full 800 pages or more, Anna Karenina-style (though only comparing to AK because it's the first large Russian novel dealing with socioeconomic concerns that comes to mind, though goodness knows there are plenty!). In fact, in retrospect I'm sorry I didn't comment on this in my non-review, because my initial reaction was amazement at how masterfully he managed to touch on everything he did and build all these fascinating characters while making them substantial and memorable in so few pages, so that the effect really is as though he had taken up many pages but somehow managed to make the whole thing so slim. Sort of like the way they cram so much power and technology into smaller and slimmer space nowadays, to make a bad analogy. Anyway, it's a given I'll want to revisit this book. The reviewer before me mentions that his/her edition included an afterword by Turgenev about the negative reception of his novel at the time of publication, and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that as I had no idea, though I can see how it would have made waves. He/she also says something about Nihilism being a red herring in this book, but I don't see it that way at all. In my view—while knowing relatively little about what the zeitgeist was like at the time—if the attitude adopted by Bazarov was indicative of what the young minds of the 1860s were focused on, I see no problem with nihilism having paved the way for what was to come, because of course the communists did incorporate some of those ideas with their big focus on tearing down everything that came before and utter contempt and even hatred of tradition. Anyway, as you can see, this novel has stayed on my mind as well. Very much contrary to my expectations, because I really did think when I read the blurb on the back cover once and saw that it had to do with political ideas that I would find it dry and boring. But of course, that was not at all the case, as I think I made quite a case about in my 'non-review' and now these further comments! ;-)

Hi, Ilana! I saw your message on my thread, looked at your list of unread books, and I choose A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel. It's a book that has been on the top of my TBR list for a couple of years at least, but I haven't found the time to read it. I will get to it in 2014, so if you decide to read it, let me know when and I'll probably join you.

I can read The Sea, the Sea next month with you.

#75 Yep, your review of On Canaan's Side makes it sound really good so it sounds like I need to get to Barry sooner rather than later.

#76 Burial Rites has just been shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award - I thought the synopsis sounded interesting and your review has decided me on getting hold of a copy from the library.

#92 I also like your 'not-review' of Fathers and Sons :-) Russian literature hasn't been calling to me lately, I didn't even manage my planned reread of Anna Karenina earlier this year, but I will bear that one in mind whenever I get back to the Russian books.

#94 I was another person Kerry persuaded to try Daughter of Smoke and Bone and I was glad she did! Although I read a lot of fantasy, I don't read much of the paranormal romance variety but I think this series is excellent. You've started at a good time as I think the final volume in the trilogy is due out in the spring.

*Waving by*

I'm glad you liked Laini Taylor, it is a bit different from the normal paranormal romance read which I also would not normally be reading.
I listened to Turgenev's First Love earlier this year and liked it a lot. I also have Mantel's A place of greater safety on my to read soon list but it has been joined by Marge Piercy's City of darkness, city of light. I'm hoping to read both early next year.

Hi Ilana, I noticed today is your actual 6th Library Thingaversary, and I wanted to say hello and help you celebrate!

Happy Thingaversary!

Wow - does it feel like six years?

Love Darryl's choice for you. One of my absolute favourites and a real doorstopper. You're sure to love that one.

Happy Thingamajigamy from me too. Six years!

Happy Thingaversary, Ilana! And so glad that you like Daughter of Smoke and Bone - I loved that one!

Hi Ilana! I have found your thread (thanks for the assistance).

So, you're doing the picked-for-me challenge again next year, right? Are all twelve of your spots filled? Ah, never mind, I see that there are three spots left. I think I'll go browse the possibilities. You've got some good ones already selected for you.

Hugs to the darling Coco!

Okay, Ilana, this was tough. I'm going to give you the list of things I wrote on my little scrap of paper as I went through your "to read" list.

Sula because it might fit in AAC.
Angela's Ashes because I liked it, but it doesn't make the short list.
Their Eyes Were Watching God because I've been meaning to read it forever and have committed to doing so (but I can't remember when).
The Golden Notebook because she just died and everyone will be reading it.
Angle of Repose because it is a magical five-star work of art (and you've already added it to your list).
Snow Falling On Cedars because it pains me that the most famous novel set in the state of Washington is Twilight when this exquisite work is out there.
Reading Lolita in Tehran because I keep wanting to read it and might need company.
Babbit for similar reasons, and I own a copy.
Germinal because I own it and want to read it.
The Bone People for similar reasons.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter because it is one of my all-time favorite novels and it was written by a 21-year-old!
Elmer Gantry because I own it and want to read it.
Fifth Business because I own it and truly intend to read it in 2014.

SO, having reviewed my selections and my reasons for such, I've narrowed it down thus:

Snow Falling on Cedars because it pains me that the most famous work set in the state of Washington is Twilight when this exquisite work is out there. It's beautiful.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter because it is one of my all-time favorite novels and it was written by a 21-year-old woman. It is excellent.

I can't pick one over the other. They both deal with important, painful periods in US history and in human relations. They are both wonderful. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter holds a more "classic" spot, so it might have a slight edge.

Enjoy!

Thanks so much for all the messages and good wishes. This week has been especially rough on the migraine front, and I almost took myself to the hospital on Monday, but decided against it finally, because being in so much pain AND being made to wait for hours on end in a waiting room before being seen seemed worse somehow. But I've finally broken down and made an appointment with an acupuncturist I'll be meeting for the first time this Friday evening. In the meantime, I'm doing my best to hang in there. I want to answer each and every one of you, but can't manage it right now, so will be back to do so at another time.

In the meantime, I picked up Dragonwick by Anya Seton for my nighttime reading yesterday and it's off to a very promising start.

Turkey waves for you, my dear. Hope you are feeling much better today. {{{Ilana}}}

>98 kidzdoc: Darryl, as I said on your thread, I was really glad you picked A Place of Greater Safety for me because I've been badly wanting to read more of Hilary Mantel's work (have quite a few to the wishlist too). By the looks of the reactions on your thread, it seems there will be quite a few of us reading it next year. I know Liz started a challenge on TIOLI to simply share a read, or in any case, I believe that's what she told me, as she and I are both reading Dragonwyck this month, which is the book she had picked for me for this year. As soon as I'm done with it I'll just into The Sea, The Sea for a complete change of pace.

>99 souloftherose: Heather, I'm glad my review convinced you to read Sebastian Barry sooner than later as you say. I really enjoyed this latest one I read (which was published before On Canaan's Side). But I think the latter ended up being that much more enjoyable to me because on the audio version, the narrator read with an Irish accent which really helped bring the character alive for me. For some reason I can't 'hear' the Irish accent when I'm reading it in print, and I find it really makes a difference so that I've actually considered obtaining the audio version of The Secret Scripture to see if I might end up liking it as much as the other book.

Speaking of Irish accents, I just now saw that the Guardian First Book Award went to The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan today. Hadn't heard of that novel till now, but I guess I'll add it to the wishlist. The blurb on Guardian.com says "Set in recession-struck Ireland, this virtuoso debut novel pieces together a fractured portrait of a community in shock."

If you're wanting to get back into Russian Literature, Fathers and Sons certainly has the major advantage of being a very short novel, so not nearly the kind of time commitment you have to set aside for an Anna Karenina (now there's a screwy touchstone if ever I saw one. No way to find just the plain novel title by Tolstoy!)

I'm glad to know I had good timing with the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. The very words "paranormal romance" are enough to make my stomach churn, but again, I went for it because of Kerry's recommendation and I'm glad I did. As a matter of fact, as I write this I am downloading the Days of Blood and Starlight audio from the library. In the same genre, I just finished Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, where 'paranormal' and 'romance' definitely are offered up. I saw when I looked up Brandon Sanderson fairly recently that you were very keen on his Mistborn trilogy, which I've since added to the wishlist.

>100 PiyushC: Hi Piyush! Thanks for dropping by!

>101 avatiakh: Kerry, I hadn't heard about City of Darkness, City of Light until you mentioned it here, but looking up via the author page, I see that Suz gave it a 4.5 rating. I wonder how did you come by it? As I mentioned to Heather above, I've just now downloaded the second book in the latest Laini Taylor trilogy from the library. You've really opened up my reading horizons, let me tell you!

>102 DeltaQueen50:, 103, 104, 104 Judy, Claudia, Paul, Mamie thanks so much for the Thingaversary wishes. I'm not sure how I managed it, but I somehow ended up celebrating it a month early and then completely forgot about it this week. Does it feel like six years? Yes and no. Time flies, as we all know, and this community has enriched my life so much over these past years and obviously my reading and wish lists have both exploded over time. But it did take me at least a couple of years to discover the social aspect of this site and join the 75ers. I feel privileged to be part of this community.

>104 PaulCranswick: Paul, I'm really pleased with Darryl's choice for me, and even more pleased that it seems to be a very popular choice in this group. Very glad to know you loved it. You were on my list of recommenders for it (actually, you were the only one!) and I believe I partly purchased the book on that strength alone.

>105 Crazymamie: Mamie, as mentioned above, I've just downloaded Days of Blood and Starlight and now copied it to iTunes so I can listen to it when the mood strikes me. Very cool to know another book in the series is coming out soon!

>107 EBT1002: Ellen, you've certainly taken the crown as far as sheer number of recommendations! As you can see if you scroll up to #44, I've added them to the list of extra picks, and narrowed down the 'official' selection to The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. This will be a reread for me, though it's been some 23 years since I read it the first time and I've been meaning to get back to it for several years now. I actually have it in both softcover and audio format too, so I just might go back and forth between the two. I picked it over Snow Falling on Cedars for the simple reason that someone from the 12/12 or 13/13 group had already chosen it for me to read this year. It looks like I might fall behind with one or two books this year, but I will make a point of reading those early in the new year. At least a couple you've mentioned are options for the American Authors Challenge. I was hesitating between Sula and Home, so will go with the first based on your recommendation. I replaced John Updike with Sinclair Lewis in the AAC, so will probably read either Elmer Gantry or Babbit for that. I also chose Their Eyes Were Watching God for the AAC because I'd seen you mention you would read it for that challenge, though you did say you might get to it before next December. I started reading The Golden Notebook some years ago and dropped it, promising myself I'd give it another try at some other time, and did tell myself I should read it in Lessing's memory now she's passed away. I did NOT put Germinal on the list of extra picks because I had challenged myself to read the entire series by Zola in publication order and as I'm slated to read Nana next (#9), might not get to Germinal (#13) this year, though it would be nice to make some headway as far as that particular challenge—which I completely neglected this year—goes. Finally, as for Fifth Business, I read a few years ago now and followed it up with The Manticore, fully meaning to complete the trilogy, but as it's taken me so long to get to the third book, I figure I may as well start all over again. I purchased the trilogy in a beautiful Folio Society edition, which I'd like to read in one long go, but don't know if that'll happen in 2014 with a growing number of reading commitments. Thank you so much for participating, I look forward to some great reading in 2014!

Spent half the day sleeping, then the other half... not sure what I did. I know I ended up spending a lot more time on LT than I had planned, since I wanted to spend the evening reading on the couch. Instead I visited a few threads and—oh yes—added a bunch of books to my wishlist and my library. To my wishlist; quite a few Everyman's Library editions, with my first due to arrive from BookDepo soon being Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov. I also discovered a while ago on Audible that getting the free Kindle books for certain classics enables you to purchase the audiobook for just 99 cents, so I got a few of those. All this to try to prevent myself from putting in a huge order with the Folio Society to take advantage of their pre-Christmas sale and free shipping, though it's just a question of time before I click the checkout button.

Don't know if I mentioned picking up Dragonwyck by Anya Seton the other night. It was Liz's pick for me this year and it's looking like she'll be reading it too this month. It's promising to be a Gothic extravaganza and perfect for bedtime reading.

On audio, I finished listening to Elantris, which was a very entertaining fantasy/paranormal/romance piece. I meant to do a short writeup about it, but we'll see. I will say that it was nice to have a strong female figure as one of the leading characters. They seem to be everywhere these days though, which is a good thing, but might make it unnecessary to point out anymore?

I've started to listen to True Grit since, and strangely enough, Donna Tartt is doing the narration. I guess this is because it's a favourite of hers, but I wouldn't mind getting the full story on why she ended up with that particular gig because as far as I know, she hasn't narrated any other novels not written by her.

The ground is covered with snow and I need to dig out Coco's booties because they've started spreading salt everywhere and he was quite miserable this afternoon when I took him out and forgot all about his poor little feet. Off to it now!

>109 -Cee-: Claudia, I was forgetting to say thank you for the friendly turkey message. Thanks my dear. Less pain today, all things being relative, but feeling pretty much disabled and wouldn't mind having someone taking care of me. Tomorrow evening is my first acupuncture treatment and I dearly hope it will prove helpful.

Hello! I hope your day was special.

I love the vogue covers at the top of your thread.

I also love and appreciate your incredible art! You are very talented.

#111: Ilana, It was mentioned in a bibliography in a book I was reading about Paris (I think) . I posted about it on Suzanne's thread and she then mentioned Gone to soldiers as her favourite Piercy book so that also ended up on my tbr list.
I often ask Suzanne's advice as she has read so much historical fiction.

Yesterday, I gave up on the audio of True Grit about ⅔ of the way in. There were only 2 hours to go, but I just couldn't take Donna Tart's narration. I thought this book was meant to be humorous, but maybe I was wrong? Maybe I'll try reading it again in print or as an ebook sometime, but 2 more hours seemed like a very long time, which is a sure sign I'm not enjoying myself. I replaced it with the audio of An Officer and a Spy, the latest book by Robert Harris, which is a fictionalized account of the Dreyfus Affair and apparently sticks very close to all the facts, with even minor characters being taken from real life. So far so good. I've always been curious about these events and know very little about them, other than it involving a Jewish French officer who was publicly shamed and demoted for allegedly being a German spy, then sent to a desert island for life imprisonment.

I found out about this book thanks to an article in the Guardian called Writers and critics on the best books of 2013 "Hilary Mantel, Jonathan Franzen, Mohsin Hamid, Ruth Rendell, Tom Stoppard, Malcolm Gladwell, Eleanor Catton and many more recommend the books that impressed them this year". I picked up quite a few recommendations from that article, and still have half the list to get through...

Acupuncture appointment tonight. In the meantime, am off do do a few errands and will try to get out there while it's still beautiful and sunny, since sundown is in just 45 minutes. Can't get used to darkness falling so early.

>111 Smiler69: Kerry, Suzanne is often my go-to when I'm looking up books here, if only because she's read so much of everything. And as you say, she's quite an authority when it comes to historical fiction. I've often begged her to post her reviews on main book pages because I often refer to those, but she's adamant in her refusal to do so as she considers what she posts on her threads not to be up to her quality standards. What does that make of the reviews all the rest of us write, I wonder?! That being said, I can understand her position as a journalist and published author.

Sorry to hear about the continued migraine - I hope the acupuncturist can provide some relief. Is that something you've tried before?

#110 I really enjoyed the Mistborn trilogy - they're fantasy with a bit of romance but not really paranormal. I love his worldbuilding but haven't read Elantris yet which I think was Sanderson's first novel.

#113 Dragonwyck sounds good. I have Seton's Katherine in the TBR pile which I think is straight historical fiction.

#117 I've seen lots of good reviews for An Officer and a Spy. Liz read a non-fiction book about the Dreyfus affair last year, which sounded very interesting but I've forgotten the title. Liz?

And while there are a few spaces left on your 2014 picks in msg #44, I think you've missed my Susan Cooper picks (she says, cheekily) :-)

Hi Heather. I've gotten acupuncture treatments once or twice before, over 15 years ago as one of my stepbrothers is an accredited acupuncturist. I no longer speak to him, so it was out of the question for me to go see him, and I don't remember what he had treated me for, though I vaguely recall it might have been for a bout of depression and I don't at all recall if it had been helpful, but I have this intuition that it might help with the migraine. The intensity changes from one day to the next, so I don't know if it has anything to do with the treatment I received on Friday, but this weekend has been very nearly pain-free, which was of course wonderful. I go back to see him this week.

Katherine is as you say straight historical fiction, but it's a real pleasure to read. I got it in the audio version last year and it made me want to read more of Seton's work, so I definitely recommend it. Here is my review of that book if you're interested: http://www.librarything.com/work/30242/reviews/85868250

I finished An Officer and a Spy a couple of hours ago and it fairly blew my mind. I want to write a review about it, or something akin to one, so won't say anything more about it just now, though I WILL do so very soon. It definitely want to make me read more about the Dreyfus affair, and also read more Harris!

So sorry about my oversight on the list! Not sure how that happened since I thought I was being quite meticulous about keeping it organized, but I'm very glad you caught it. It's fixed now, which leaves just one spot if ever anyone else wants to pick something for me.

Way back in high school, I gave acupuncture a try to help with my migraines, and after 3 or 4 sessions, I didn't have one for a few years. I've got so many weird health things now that I'd have to take out a loan to get all of the acupuncture work I needed, but for me (sensitive, and prone to strange side effects) acupuncture does the trick! I hope it helps you.

>>#118 & #119

I read The Man On Devil's Island by Ruth Harris last year - long but very gripping, though I found it slightly too revisionary for my liking (although that might just be a reflection of my own lack of detachment).

Hi Ilana! Just doing a quick catch up with you. I'm glad you've had a virtually pain free weekend.

You're killing me with all these references to the Folio Society books. The thing that may push me over the edge is the illustrations by Charles Van Sandwyck. They're so beautiful!

Hope you have a great week.

Ilana, I read An officer and a spy a couple of weeks ago and thought it was very good too.
I hope the acupuncture gives you some relief. I had a headache these past three days which has made life very dismal.
I read a YA time travel book about the Dreyfus affair earlier this year which wasn't that great but had interesting author notes and sparked my interest. It is worth reading up on the history of the Dreyfus statue that failed for many years to find a suitable position in Paris right up to the modern day. My son and I got to see a replica of the statue at the Jewish Museum in Paris.
I also have a nonfiction on Dreyfus I'd like to read and picked up a biography on the Dreyfus family at a library sale a few weeks ago.

Can't wait to read An Officer and a Spy, I look forward to your review Ilana. I also hope your migraines are at bay at least for the time being.

For those who like the (always engrossing I find) British TV genealogy programme - 'Who Do You Think You Are?' - the most recent series (aired on BBC a couple of months ago) featured an episode with Davina Macall (an affable light entertainment type of presenter). Turns out she is a relative of the main lawyer who fought to clear Dreyfus' name. I'm not sure if that's the same man that Robert Harris' novel is from the perspective of - as I've not yet read it - but I thought I'd mention it as maybe in Canada you can access this series online, or perhaps it'll be on your local TV eventually. One to keep an eye out for - it was very moving.

How fun to check in and see a bunch of messages on my thread. Makes me feel special! :-) First, a review and then my individual responses.




Dragonwyck by Anya Seton - picked for me by lyzard ★★★★½

I kept the lights on till 3 in the morning to finish Dragonwyck by Anya Seton. This novel felt like a delightful guilty pleasure. To set the tone, it opens on the famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe, Alone:

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

This is an unabashedly romantic, creepy story set in the 1840s with overblown characters who are almost parodies of themselves, including a Byronic male anti-hero in the form of Nicholas Van Ryn; a male paragon of dark good looks with disconcertingly piercing cerulean eyes, and descendant of a long line of immensely wealthy Dutch landowners, who is the current 'patroon' of a large tract of land along the Hudson river and the developing city of New York. Nicholas, the archetypal control freak, fully occupies the role of domineering master and self-contained enigma who keeps all around him in a state of fear and dread of his ever shifting moods. The innocent and unsophisticated Miranda is the submissive heroine who falls into her distant cousin Nicholas' clutches when he invites the young maiden to Dragonwyck manor with a view to form the erstwhile farm girl into a proper society lady. She leaves her strictly devout father and hardworking mother and siblings to their small farm and poverty to fully embrace the kind of lifestyle she has so far only read about in novels. She eagerly takes to the life of splendour and luxury in the capacity of nanny to Nicholas' little girl and falls under his spell the moment she meets him, unable to resist his physical beauty combined with irreproachable courtly manner, but there is also the not small matter of keeping the good favour of his wife, the morbidly obese Joanna who insists on treating the girl like a servant. There are of course macabre secrets contained in this vast gothic mansion, though (tiny spoiler, which any observing reader will have figured out early on:) Nicholas himself is the novel's dangerous enigma. Some of the core events which provide the framework for the novel are based on historical facts, such as the anti-rent wars, the Astor Place massacre and a a great steamboat race closely modelled on a competition undertook by Cornelius Vanderbilt and his eponymous steamship.

My edition (Chicago Review Press, 2005) contains an afterword by Philippa Gregory, who claims Anya Seton probably didn't realize how strongly influenced by Jane Eyre she was in this, her second novel, but I beg to differ. Surely it can't be an accident that her heroine—just as innocent and meek as Jane Eyre—, comes to live in a great gothic house complete with what may be a haunted Red Room and a repulsive first wife in the capacity of governess. There are other parallels with Charlotte Brontë's novel I cannot mention without revealing spoilers, but while I don't mean to imply Dragonwyck is in the order of masterpieces such as Jane Eyre is, it definitely makes for a good helping of chills and frissons, delivering a hearty dose of unabashedly Gothic horror and romance (not to mention a visit to Edgar Allan Poe and his dying wife's impoverished household). For all these reasons, I count this novel among the most entertaining I've read this year.

>120 LauraBrook: Hi Laura, I'm glad to hear from someone who has had acupuncture and benefited from it in the past. While I don't know all the details of how the treatments are managed, I was under the impression that each session could target different ailments simultaneously according to the placement of the needles, in which case (if this is true), surely you wouldn't have to win the lottery if you need relief?

>121 lyzard: Liz, thanks for the remarks on The Man On Devil's Island. I've added it to the wishlist and discovered they have a copy at the national library, which I will get to eventually. I also found The Dreyfus Affair: The Scandal That Tore France in Two by Piers Paul Read, which I believe is the book Kerry (avatiakh) mentions she got recently. I know Read quotes from Ruth Harris' work in his book, and while I'd prefer to read her book first, I'll probably get to the second book sooner, if only because it's available on Audible and as I've often mentioned, I get through audiobooks much faster than I do printed matter (more listening time!). I imagine you won't be reading my most recent review right away as imagine you have not finished Dragonwyck yet, and am wondering if you even got a hold of it finally?

>122 phebj: Pat, I'm sorry to be pushing the Folio Society all the time, but I just can't help it as they have become an obsession (as can be clearly seen considering I've bankrupted myself with 150 of their books purchased this year, though most are second hand copies and thus cheaper). Charles Van Sandwyck is among my favourite illustrators who have done work for them, though I admit there are many more. But. If you were to get just one FS edition, I would definitely recommend to get the The Wind in the Willows. Not only are the illustrations sublime, but the quality of the paper and the overall presentation is really quite gorgeous. Be advised however that if you DO get this book, you will be embarking on that very slippery slope to complete Folio obsession. It won't be said that I haven't given you ample warning! :-)

>123 avatiakh: Kerry, I'll have to visit your thread very soon to see your comments on An Officer and a Spy. It's among my favourite reads this year and I was disappointed when I got to the end of the audiobook as didn't really want it to finish. It did help that it was narrated by Scottish actor David Rintoul, whose delivery I enjoyed very much. I just now, as I write this realize that I said (and meant it) that I wanted to write a review about it and somehow skipped ahead an reviewed Dragonwyck instead. My review writing this year has been completely undisciplined, though it's nice not to carry around all that guilt about being behind on x amount of novels all the time! All the same, looking at my reading list for this past year, I see so many novels that I do wish I had the time to review, as they've remained quite vivid in my mind, so maybe I'll do an end of the year roundup this month at some point. Did you see my comment to Liz above? Is that the Dreyfus book you were referring to? I'll definitely look up that history on the statue. Why am I not surprised they haven't been able to settle on a proper spot for it?

>124 Polaris-: Paul, I think you will very much enjoy An Officer and a Spy when you get to it. I don't think I'm giving away any spoilers when I say that the novel is in fact told from the point of view of Georges Picquart, who was an army officer in charge of narrating the details of the ongoing affair to the minister of defence (I hope I'm not muddling up all the details, which I might be) and was rewarded with a position as the head of the national secret intelligence unit, which is how he became acquainted with the details of the documents which were purported to constitute 'proof' of Dreyfus' guilt. I KNOW I'm not giving away any spoilers here, because I've in fact based on the book summary to write this paragraph!

I don't know if we get 'Who Do You Think You Are?' here, and haven't watched any tv at all in many months now, but I'll look it up on the net to see if I can find that episode you mention.

Hi Ilana- Glad we got that straightened out with Troubles. What a terrific book. I will be reading more Farrell. He was part of my First-time Author Challenge, which has been one of my favorite reading experiences of the year.
I just started Night Film. Have you heard anything about this one?

Mark, I actually downloaded Night Film from the library a couple of weeks ago, because I'd seen it get enthusiastic reviews on Audible, but uncharacteristically enough, hadn't even taken the time to read the synopsis. When I did, I was somewhat horrified and immediately deleted it from my hard drive. I don't watch—never have, never will—horror movies and I figured that a novel about a horror movie director was probably NOT going to be my cup of tea. Though I'm sure it's entertaining enough... too many books, so little time and all that.

I'm really glad you loved Troubles. I think it was Darryl who got me interested in Farrell some time a year or two ago. I should probably do my own version of the first time author challenge, but probably not in 2014 as I already have plenty of planned reads. Mind you, there are quite a few new to me authors on those lists, so ultimately it's just a question of labelling.

MUST go work on my drawing project, so will just quickly mention I started on the audio of The Circle by Dave Eggers yesterday after abandoning Theft of Swords which I simply couldn't get into after 3 ½ hours (not sure if the story didn't work for me of the narrator or both). Am reserving judgment on The Circle so far as am just in the first chapters, though it seems engaging enough. Doubt it has the makings of a classic because it's so based on the present mindset and general obsession with social media, which after all is a very recent phenomena and may yet change drastically in the next few years. Also it's definitely not for anyone who isn't interested in the net and the computer age, I'd imagine, though that's not a problem as far as I'm concerned, obviously (says she of many blogs, albeit half-dead ones).

eta: starting on The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch tonight. I've been looking forward to that one for quite a long time and am sharing a read with Darryl.

126: You're right, each session can address a different problem, but I'm so darned broke that it's just easier if don't get started. For now at least. One of my good friends is an acupuncturist so we'd barter services with each other (I'm a massage therapist, in case you forgot), but she went and moved to North Carolina, so I've been missing treatment for over a year. I hope you enjoy it and it brings you some relief!

>>#126

Hi, Ilana! No, still waiting on Dragonwyck, so I slid my eyes across your review, just enough to see the stars. :)

The Man On Devil's Island is an excellent account of the Dreyfus Affair, and my criticisms are in the nature of a personal reaction; I'm not criticising it as a work of non-fiction. Ruth Harris is up front about her belief that previously the story had been told too much in terms of heroes and villains, and good and evil, and her intent to be more detached and factual in the telling.

I felt she went a bit too far and that she didn't give enough credit to the courage and endurance of the Dreyfusards, while highlighting every mistake, every quarrel, every shift of position. Likewise she's a bit dismissive of Georges Picquart, mostly because he slid straight back into military life afterwards; but after all, the man was a career militarist AND an anti-Semite, and yet did the right thing just because it was right. I do find that heroic.

But really it's a case of YMMV.

#125 Wow! Great review of Dragonwyck, Ilana, and that has certainly gone on my wishlist.

I've got Dragonwyck on my tbr pile and thought I'd get to it this year but haven't.
I didn't do a review of the Robert Harris book, I raved about it as I read it and then just listed it. I bought The Dreyfus Affair by Piers Paul Read but don't know how it stands against other nonfiction reads. I presume that more documents become available all the time and that might impact on it. The other book I picked up at a library sale, Dreyfus: a family affair 1789 - 1945 by Michael Burns seems to be a rather obscure one.
I saw in the acknowledgments of An Officer and a spy that Harris thanks Roman Polanski for convincing him to write the book.

I'm also pretty sure that Harris mentions some of the sources for his book, but I no longer have the book on hand.

Great review of Dragonwyck - it's not something I'd come across before but it's going on the WL. I've just read Jane Eyre so might be a good time to read it

Yay! More messages! Should definitely not be here right now, but just HAD to have a quick peek. Am late for drawing class, so off to it I go now, but will be back later to respond to one and all. Very slight headache today, so all in all, am having a great day so far!

Hi, Ilana! Just got word that I should be able to pick up Dragonwyck on Monday! :)

Hi Ilana, I just put Dragonwyck on hold at the library after thumbing your review. :-) And I also just pre-ordered An Officer and a Spy. I read Harris' The Ghost this summer and loved it. I was interested to read Kerry's comment that Roman Polanski encouraged him to write An Officer and a Spy. Polanski directed the movie version of The Ghost which I thought was an excellent movie.

I'm thinking hard about the FS edition of The Wind in the Willows. I'm not above buying myself Christmas presents but am concerned about raising my standards about the quality of books I buy. Years ago I was very happy buying used books but I've slowly switched to mostly buying new books. I'm taking your warning and disclaimer about the slippery slope very seriously. ;-)

>131 LauraBrook: Laura, I hadn't forgotten you're a massage therapist, and it's a shame you lost your bartering buddy and can no longer receive free acupuncture treatments. I'm lucky enough that my insurance plan allows for a certain amount for various alternative treatments per year, though I rarely make use of that privilege. Not sure why though. This reminds me I need to book some massage sessions this month, or I'll loses this year's allowance. I often end up booking several massage treatments in the December, right at year's end. Tonight is my second treatment with the acupuncturist and as I'm in sufficient pain today, he'll have something to work with for sure.

>132 lyzard: Liz, you taught me a new expression with 'YMMV' which I promptly looked up at Urban Dictionary. I see what you mean in your comments though and think I would be bothered by Ruth Harris' approach somewhat too, which isn't to say I won't give her book a read sometime. I would say, from what you're telling me and the general impression I got from An Officer and a Spy that Robert Harris gave quite a balanced rendering of Georges Picquard. Of course he's the book's hero, but we know from the beginning that he's antisemitic and also that the French army is his whole life.

>133 souloftherose: I'm glad Heather. Though I'm sure if I hadn't convinced you to put it on the WL then Liz would have. Assuming she enjoys it as much as I did.

>134 avatiakh:-135 Kerry, as I mentioned to Liz, I might pick up the Piers Paul Read book in near future, if only because it's available on Audible and I could get to it fairly quickly. I didn't know there was a link between Polanski and Robert Harris, but it makes sense to me now that I see Pat's explanation that Polanski directed The Ghost. Presumably they had a good rapport and stayed in contact, or in any case, Harris must have been at the very least considering writing his book when they worked together on the movie in 2009-10. I just reserved the print copy of An Officer and a Spy from the library just so I could have a look at what sources he used. Thanks for making me think of that.

>136 SandDune: Rhian, I'd say following up Jane Eyre with Dragonwyck could be fun. I thought to recommend you also follow up with Wide Sargasso Sea, but thought to check and see if you'd read it first and saw your review, so will abstain from doing so. You may be right that it might be a better idea to read Jean Rhys' book with some distance from Jane Eyre since they really are on very different registers. But at least I didn't suffer from the less than friendly treatment she gave to Rochester since I've never been able to bring myself to like him much.

>138 lyzard: Yay, glad you'll finally get your copy Liz! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did after waiting for it so long!

>139 phebj: Pat, thanks for the thumb! I've in turn added The Ghost to the wishlist. I hadn't seen the movie, which isn't surprising considering how few movies I've been watching in recent years, but once I do read it will make sure to order it from the library, since the few movies I have been watching of late have been those based on books once I'm done reading them.

I'm concerned about you purchasing your first FS book. Really I am. I did things slightly differently from you. I used to ONLY buy new paperbacks (trade paperbacks, never mass market), which I thought was quite a big indulgence, but I was very much turned off by used books, or books that had been touched by anyone. That was some years back before I'd joined this group, until I realized it didn't make sense to continue doing so when I would never reread more than half the books I bought. That's when I joined BookMooch. Then postal costs when up drastically, and I got tired of what poor condition some of the books from Bookmoochers were arriving in, so I joined the library, thinking it would slow down my book buying. It did, but only by a small degree, and I found I was still spending wayyyyyy too much money on them. And that was before I started collecting Folio Society books. Now I'll never manage to put aside any money for my retirement and I stay up at night worrying about that. Just sayin'. ;-)

Am about ¾ of the way through The Circle and so far it's been a very stressful ride. Of course I had some idea of what to expect, so it's not like there's anything all that surprising about it, but maybe because the protagonist is experiencing life in this new workplace that is geared to making transparency and constant communication a way of life, it's brining back memories of what it used to be like working in a corporate environment and how much stress that put me under. I always found there was something slightly cultish about the way most major corporations expect their employees to show their fidelity, and this book just brings that to the next level. Eek. It brings up some very relevant issues, but I wouldn't go as far as saying I think it makes for essential reading. I won't be at all surprised if Hollywood jumps on the movie rights though. Do I sound like I'm hating this book? I'm not really. I'll try to write a review when I'm done to give a more balanced appraisal. Maybe.

Came back from acupuncture treatment and feeling a bit better. I think. Not sure, as my head still hurts. But he's also treating my lower back and that seems better, or in any case, I feel quite relaxed. I want to go do some drawing work now, am moving on to a new one started in the past week or two which is still at preliminary sketch stage. I'll have to take a photo of the now finished version of my big black girl, but need some light to do so and there isn't much of that these days.

I posted the following just a few minutes ago on Paul's thread and copying it here: I just finished listening to The Circle and almost wish I hadn't. Not that it's bad... just, it makes my head hurt thinking about it. I started in on The Moonstone, which I've been meaning to get to for a while, but you've (Paul) reminded me that I wanted to get to Can You Forgive Her first, after having read Heather's review of it and gotten it immediately from Audible.

Hi Ilana! Finally getting back to LT after my Thanksgiving travels and this dang cold.

"I replaced John Updike with Sinclair Lewis in the AAC, so will probably read either Elmer Gantry or Babbit for that." I like that idea! I may join you, although I told folks I would read The Witches of Eastwick. An LT friend gave me both of those two Sinclair Lewis works and they are two of her favorites, so I'd like to read them in the next year or so.

I'm intrigued by The Circle. I am waiting for it to come out in softcover, though.

>144 EBT1002: Hi Ellen, thanks for dropping by. I think it's a great idea for you to join me in discovering Sinclair Lewis. As for The Circle, I would say the main thing it's got going for it is that it touches on the current zeitgeist, but I wouldn't say it does so in a brilliant way or that it reads anything like literature, more like a bestseller really, which I can never take seriously.

Strange day. Can't say why. Feeling lonely (which perhaps surprisingly is quite rare) yet at the same time antisocial. Must be hormones or something. My mum called me a few days ago (something she NEVER does) and when I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she said she'd like to see me posting regularly on my blogs again, so I'll endeavour to do that. I had enough light today to take photos of my finished drawing, so will edit those a bit to make them look like the actual thing and post them on my art blog along with some of the steps it took me to get to the final thing, though I'll post the final image here too for those who'd rather not follow a link. Then I'm going straight back to working on my third drawing which is already advancing quite well. I don't know what I'll call that one to refer to it. Maybe girl with a pompom hat. Not that any of my titles so far are keepers, so suggestions welcome.

Your mum seemed to have been in a mellowish mood. Have you abandoned plans to go and see her for the time being? Distance keeps many of us from regular meet ups but I hope this message makes you feel a tad less lonely knowing someone more than half of the world regularly has you in mind and wishes you well as always.

>147 PaulCranswick: Paul, I guess she was in a mellowish mood as it was one of the least stressful conversations I had with her in a long time. Mind you, I haven't been calling her either because I always ended up feeling so upset, so it was nice. Of course, visiting her is often on my mind, but not for the immediate future. When I figure out how to make the trip and insure I don't end up being completely miserable, then I'll plan it. Ideally I wouldn't go alone, but that's not exactly simple to arrange. Honestly though, just thinking about it makes me upset, so I mostly try not too. This is where audiobooks filling my every waking moment come in really handy.

You did make me feel a tad less lonely, and I thank you for it. Hopefully today I won't be feeling quite so maudlin, but that remains to be seen. The trick of course is to keep busy, which isn't hard with art projects and reading.

Hugs to you Ilana.

Thank you Roberta, that is very much appreciated.

I've been meaning to tell you I will definitely read you book pick from last year, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I loved his first book so much I've no doubt I'll love this one too and want to move on to his third book. If I can't manage it this month, then it'll be on my reading list for January.

I just now posted the final version of my drawing I'm calling "Triple B Girl on the Metro" on my art blog, createthreesixty5.com, and as promised, am showing it here too. To see a larger version of the image, along with the steps it took me to get there and detail views, feel free to visit the original post at http://createthreesixty5.com/2013/12/08/triple-b-girl-on-the-metro/ (clicking on the image will get you there too).

Dear Ilana, the drawing was worth the wait but why "Triple B"?

Hi Ilana- I like the drawing! I think we felt the same way about The Circle. Some terrific ideas, but his writing was pretty flat and those sex scenes were cartoonish and laughable. I think I will stick with Egger's nonfiction.

I like the drawing and I think I understand the name. Title? What do you call what you call a drawing?

>152 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul. All you need to to find out why the title is click on the link! ;-)

>153 msf59: Mark, this was the first Eggers I read though I have two of his NF books on the tbr (one from you!). The sex scenes didn't bother me, but I just found the whole thing almost read like bad YA, or 20something fiction or whatever. Can't see any literary merit in it, and there's nothing very new or revealing in the ideas he presents.

>154 EBT1002: What do you call what you call a drawing?

Huh? Is it just me or is that confusing?

eta: Ellen, I pondered and pondered on your question and finally understand it. It was really simple, I'm the one who's slow. I think the answer is 'title', but I could be wrong.

>151 Smiler69: Fabulous!

Thanks Darryl!

Got it Ilana, thanks for that.

Reading: 1 hour to go on The Moonstone and am almost halfway though The Sea, The Sea. They don't have anything in common except that it took me a very long time to get into the stories in both cases.

I was saying on Mamie's thread that with 138 books logged so far this year, I'm just 12 (well, 11 really, considering I've virtually finished the 139th) books away from reaching my unstated goal of 150 books. I can do it, but only if I choose short works for the rest of the month. But the question I have to ask myself is do I want to go for numbers or do I want to be able to keep choosing my next read according to what feels right? Maybe I'll try doing a bit of both and see what happens.

>158 PaulCranswick: Paul, maybe I was being too fanciful with that title. I just found typing out the whole thing wasn't very catchy...

eta: which probably means I still haven't found the right title for it, but I'd rather spend more time on drawing that coming up with titles. I'm off to it now. xx

#142 "I always found there was something slightly cultish about the way most major corporations expect their employees to show their fidelity"

Not read The Circle but, yeah.

#151 I enjoyed your blog post - good to see you posting these again :-)

#159 I would go with what feels right - it's not something I'm always very good at myself but it's a lot more fun!

Ilana, that is an absolutely beautiful drawing and well worth all the time you invested in it. You really are amazingly talented. Too bad the subject of the drawing will never see it.

I just saw Bonnie comment on another thread about reaching book reading goals at the end of the year and how she's thinking of not numbering her books next year. I think I will have to steal this idea and be done with worrying about how many books I read and just enjoy the ones I do.

#155 - No, Ilana, you're not the one who's slow. I knew as I typed the question that I was being a bit obtuse. I'm glad you figured me out! :-)

It's still early, but I'm off to get ready for bed. Was hit with a sudden cold which sometimes gets me at a particular time of the month, but combined with a restless night and cramps which even two liquid Advils won't stop, I'm fairly struck down and very very slow. Thanks for your messages. Will respond soon.

I was sick as a dog yesterday, but took countless doses of vitamin C, several hot grogs, and went to sleep early and feel much better today. though blasted migraine is back in full force. Lots of work to do today on the art front. Tomorrow is our last class of the session for my "Drawing as Artistic Practice" class, to which we're supposed to bring 6-10 of our best pieces done for the class and have individual "critiques". I've been trying to finish several things and want to give a last push today, since I haven't been doing any homework and working on my personal projects instead, so won't have much to show otherwise. I'm blabbing.

On the reading front, as far as audiobooks go anyway, I decided to combine "mood reading" with short selections to try to reach the magic number (i.e. 150 books for 2013). The fact is I attacked lots of doorstoppers this year, and though I don't ultimately care about numbers, I can't help but feel that reaching any kind of goal might be good for my self-esteem. I did work out that out of the 140something books I've read this year, only 55 were actually in print form (i.e. ebook and traditional books) and the rest all audio. Does that mean anything I wonder? Blabbing again. My brain isn't working properly today.

Oh yes, audiobooks. I was going to say that I've accumulated quite a few shorter works in my collection and almost never make time for those so that I have loads to choose from. I've listened to three great books in the past couple of days, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (read by Donald Sutherland), An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo and The Old Maid by Edith Wharton. The first was a reread, a 5-star read for me originally, though I knocked off a half star this time, in part because I didn't enjoy it as much on audio (the simplistic language works better on the page) and in part because I kept thinking the whole time about how tragic it is when the sharks all end up eating the fish the old man worked so hard to catch.



141. An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo is another wonderful war story based on real life events, as only Morpurgo can tell them. An 80-something year old woman in an old folks home recalls her girlhood days living in Dresden, Germany during WWII, when her mother brought back an elephant from the zoo she was working at to keep in their garden just before the allied forces bombed the city to smithereens. Through a series of circumstances, the elephant who had run off to charge at a barking dog ended up rescuing the girl and her mother and brother from the bombing, and accompanied them on a long march to safety (their father was meanwhile fighting on the Russian front). The elephant was called Marlena, after Marlena Dietrich, and something tells me I'll never forget this story or Marlena, in part because I'm crazy about animals in general and elephants in particular, in part because I cherish stories about how essential to life animals are, and in part because it's so rare to hear stories about the war from the point of view of the Germans. For all these reasons, I've just now decided to upgrade my original rating from 4 to 4.5 stars. I might have rated it the full 5, but was a bit annoyed that they chose an English narrator to tell the tale in an unconvincing German accent on this audio version instead of casting a native German speaker, but that's me being finicky. ★★★★½



A few words on The Old Maid and answers to comments next...

142. ♫ The Old Maid by Edith Wharton ★★★★½

As I mentioned recently, the more I read Edith Wharton the more I love her, which is saying a lot since I was instantly smitten when I started reading my first books by her, The House of Mirth. I’ve read a couple of her novels and some of her shorter works since, but this is the first short story I've read of hers so far, and I can see why she was considered a master of the form. This story is included in the Old New York collection and I'm counting is as an individual work since I got it as an audiobook and am shamelessly making up the numbers to reach 150 books this year. Set in the 1850s, and I should specify in Edith Wharton's 50s, that is to say, the Old New York of the top of the upper crust of distinguished family names, splendour, old money and stifling social conventions, it tells the story of two cousins, one pretty and married, the other unwed and mother to an illegitimate little girl. Charlotte, who is about to be married into the same respectable family as her cousin Mrs. Delia Ralston, confides to her cousin and begs for her help, as she fears that her marriage will separate her from her secret love child Tina forever. Delia, whose first loyalty goes to her family by marriage, ensures that the wedding plans are cancelled to prevent the scandal from attaching itself to the too respectable Ralstons, though she promises to take care of Tina herself. Years go by, Delia is widowed, the cousins live together, and Tina is now a very attractive girl of marriageable age. Charlotte is known to the girl as 'Aunt Charlotte the old maid', and she affectionately considers Deliah to be her mother, and of course the secret of her real origins are unknown to her. The two older women have found this to be the best compromise, but there are unexpressed jealousies and resentments seething under the surface, which suddenly erupt when a young man starts making too frequent visits to the house. When Wharton wrote this story, it was already relegated to historical fiction, describing mores that had been long out of fashion, but the core of the tale is timeless, telling of love and passion and the mysteries of motherly love and the bonds that unify women. I couldn't help but shed a sentimental tear or two at the end, and perhaps it is a sentimental story, but they should all be so well told.

So so late... the above took me longer than I'd anticipated. will return later with individual message. I must get some work done before an appointment.

I've been avoiding doing homework for my final drawing class tomorrow, and now will hardly have anything to show... must give myself a little push and finish a piece or two or three, but so very tired!

eta: also given up on The Kreutzer Sonata by Tolstoy a little less than halfway through. Much too serious and not the least bit amusing.

eta 2: Here is what Nathalie (Deern) had to say about that book:

"I have no idea why I left this short book (127p in German) unread on my shelf for such a long time, it was read so quickly (although it needs some concentration). It is a sometimes surprisingly modern but also hopelessly bitter view on “love and marriage”, using the example of a marriage that ends in jealousy and murder. The theories Tolstoy puts into the mouth of his narrator most certainly are his own and the bitterness almost succeeded in dragging me down to a very low point on that rainy Sunday afternoon. I don’t know if this book is a must-read, it’s certainly not in the ranks of Anna Karenina or War And Peace. "

Extremely bitter indeed.

#166 Haven't read this one yet, but have liked, or rather loved whichever Wharton work I have picked up so far (Age of Innocence, House of Mirth, Ethan Frome and Tales of Men and Ghosts)

Long long day and I'm now dead to the world. Will be back to socialize tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm continuing on a streak of short audiobooks, of which I've accumulated many many. Just finished Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood which was completely forgettable, but then I wanted something light and brainless after giving up on The Kreutzer Sonata, which was truly unbearable. Have now moved on to The Giver by Lois Lowry, of which I've heard many good things.

Really not cool of me not to answer my visitor's messages, but I want to give it my full attention, so hope I'm forgiven in the meantime.

I loved The Giver Ilana. I hope you enjoy it. I did not listen but I imagine it would make a great audio with the right narrator. I enjoyed the other books in the quartet. Give them a go if you like the first one.

I hope you get plenty of rest.

So much to respond to here!!!! I have gotten more and more 'off the cuff' in my reviews here - it's the only way if you read a lot - really - when I read the reviews of my friends here I am looking for their emotional response. Is the book genuine? Is it forced? Even bad sf when written with a kind of joyful spirit is better than some carefully and self-consciously constructed 'serious' work. At least to me.

In fact - difficulty writing a review is often indicative of a bleh response, now that I think about it.

Turgenev! I have a feeling you are going to go bonkers for Russian writers. Chekhov! His short stories are gold. Some of them are hard-wired in me now - like The Letter, The Lady With the Pet Dog, and another, about being better after a long illness, The Morning, or something like that.... and more. Master of saying a lot in a very small space.

Another book for your list is Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov - this is actually my all-time top favorite Russian novel because I think it captures something essential about the Russian character. I reread it frequently.

Your drawing is incredibly moving and expressive. I love it.

I have lots of Sanderson around - he's one of the L.D.'s favorite writers but I have yet to open one.....hoarding. Maybe Elantris being a stand-alone would be a good starting place.

The sublime Edith! I was utterly obsessed with her for about five years and have read all but one or two of her books - you would LOVE LOVE LOVE her books on house decoration and gardens. She had VERY FIXED ideas and some are silly, but she writes so well who cares! I'm so glad you are enjoying her!

Let me see, what am I forgetting. So glad you had a good interaction with your mother. I know that means a lot.

It's a pretty day here today, or going to be, with lots of sun, but so cold!!!!

>172 sibylline:: I would agree with that! I found that the emotional response of someone was what I responded to on here, so I switched up the way I approach reviews last year (I think?) and now speak less of the plot -- since someone can look that up on Amazon easily -- and more about how I responded to the content and the writing.

>161 souloftherose: Heather Did I mention that I started blogging again because of my mother's request? She asked very nicely, saying she'd like for that to be her Christmas present, and of course I just had to get going! In truth, I've rather missed it, getting feedback, even if it's just one or two 'likes' is always so encouraging. There are so many great occupations one can spend one's time on, the trick is to manage to fit it all in!

I think I've come to a nice compromise as far as reading 'what feels right' at any given moment and trying to fit in as much as I can this month. As I may have already mentioned, I've accumulated quite a lot of shorter works on audio over the past few years and rarely listen to any of those because I usually like to sink into a novel for a longer while, so that now I have something to suit every mood.

>162 phebj: Pat thank you so much for your encouraging words on my drawing project. The only thing worrying me about it now is that so many people are brining up these privacy laws and the fact I may end up not being able to show these works in a gallery setting or publish them without written consent from the subjects themselves. It's all too distracting and I've been in a muddle about it all week now. I really believe in this project, but it doesn't seem to make sense to invest so much time into it if I'm only going to get in trouble at the end. I'll have to inquire about that and decided what to do about it.

I've given some thought to counting books since I joined this group. One year I went as far as counting every illustrated children's book I read (there were a lot that year!). I've also in previous years steered clear from longer works. I like keeping track of how many books I read, and think I've reached a good compromise now where I basically read anything I want and don't worry too much about the numbers. I only 'decided' I wanted to reach 150 this month when I saw I was pretty close to that mark, but otherwise wouldn't have bothered I don't think.

>163 EBT1002: Ellen, I'm forever writing things and wondering at the same time whether people will understand my meaning, but your sentence ended up being like a brainteaser and I couldn't help taking it on as a small challenge! :-)

>169 PiyushC: Piyush, I've read the same Wharton books as you have except for Tales of Men and Ghosts (which I'd love to read) and with the addition of Summer and now of course The Old Maid (although the latter is part of a larger collection). There's currently a sale on at Audible and I'll probably pick up another of her stories from the Old New York collection, False Dawn, if only because it's narrated by Derek Jacobi.

>171 luvamystery65: Roberta, The Giver came much recommended. So far I have Joe, Valerie, Kerry, Heather, and Donna on my list of recommenders, and will add you too right this moment. I discovered they had the MP3 available to download from the library a few months ago, and I think I remember seeing they had the other three books available as well (just checked, and they do). I haven't gotten very far into the story yet—Jonas has just been given his role as The Receiver, and I'm certainly intrigued!

Lucy and Faith thanks so much for your messages. I'll respond to you later because right now I need to get off the computer and take care of some tasks before I leave for my acupuncture treatment. Thanks to all visitors (lurkers too!) for dropping by!

>172 sibylline: Lucy, I see what you mean about not being prompted to write reviews about books that didn't do much for you. That's not too surprising, and I'm sure it's the same for me, however I do find there are books that I do feel I have something to say about because I've really enjoyed them, but somehow those often get skipped over and I end up writing something about the next book I've read before I know it. As you say, it's harder to keep track of when you read lots. Some people manage it, but unless I make it a strict rule, I'm obviously not one of them.

Russian authors: it's funny because I've always considered myself a lover of Russian Literature, but when I look back on what RL I've actually read so far, I come up with very little. My first 'adult' novel when I was 12 was Anna Karenina and then at 16 I read Life and Fate (in the French translation; I don't think the English one came out till later), and based on those two books my impression of being a great lover of RL was born. It's nice to actually finally expand my horizons. Turgenev is clearly a great fit for me. On the shelves, I have Gogol, Babel and some Chekhov waiting to be picked up, along with Nabokov, though I'm never quite sure if I should label him as an American or Russian writer. Have only read Lolita so far (also when I was 16), so I guess once I've read more of his work I'll be better able to decide what box to put him into (something tells me he defies categorization though...). Back to Chekhov, I have a book containing nearly three dozen of his short stories which includes The Lady with the Pet Dog, though I don't think I see the other stories you mention there (look here at the bottom of the page where I've listed the contents if you recognize some of them). I'm currently watching a gorgeous set of his complete works I had somehow missed out on a few months ago (I'd written to you about it actually), and if I get it this time, I may call on your help to save on $hipping. I've added Oblomov to my wishlist (almost impossible to get the right touchstone for this one but I did it!).

I'm glad you like my drawing thank you so much. xx

Sanderson: I'm standing by to purchase the first audiobook in the Mistborn series. His first book was really entertaining and surprisingly enough, memorable too (rare for me with my shoddy memory).

I can easily see how one could get obsessed with Edith Wharton. I intend to read lots more of her work. I had never considered reading her books on house and gardens before though, but I'll keep them in mind now you've recommended them.

Very very very cold over here too. Colder still to come apparently.

>173 dk_phoenix: Faith, true enough that the summary is easy to find and I like your idea of sticking to your impressions. I often end up summarizing novels because it helps me figure out what was most relevant to me, though of course much like you, I want to know what a reviewer got out of it. I guess there are as many ways to write reviews as there are readers!

Acupuncture treatment provided some relief tonight, not completely, but it's something. He went for broke and stuck me so full of needles I looked like a porcupine, but apparently I react to them well, and it's true enough I'm not at all bothered, whereas many people are phobic about needles.

Finished The Giver and I wish I could say I loved it as much as all those who've recommended it did. I think it's a case of too high expectations, so that in the end I though it was a pleasant enough entertainment with some profound ideas about what makes us human, but I can't say I got very excited about it, I'm very sorry to say (very sheepishly, as I don't want to offend those who adore this series).

Moving on to another short audiobook in a second when I take Coco out for his night walk in the punishing cold, but I'll only decide which one on the spur of the moment.

Hi Ilana interested to see your love affair with Edith Wharton, I've only read Ethan Fromme so far but am looking forward to trying a longer work.
I enjoyed The Giver but wouldn't read the sequels as they have left most people less impressed I believe.

How is your father managing in Israel, he's left Canada by now I presume. We had a funny skype conversation last night with my husband's best friend who lives in Tel Aviv, reminiscing about the older restaurants that my husband grew up with, that I also remember, and what happened to them all. We went several times to a restaurant attached to a petrol station, Erztel Gabi, which specialised in memulaim vegetables - oh wow, I still remember how great that place was. Also my husband's favourite Derby Bar near Dizengoff square.

*waving* at Ilana

Sorry to hear about the troubles. I am glad to hear that acupuncture is helping.

Ilana The Giver on its own was not spectacular, but I loved the possibility the end represented. Maybe when it came out and there were less books in that vein. I am one of the few that enjoyed the four books as a whole. It completed the circle for me. (You will see if you choose to read or listen).

>178 avatiakh: Hi Kerry, I think you'll enjoy reading more of Wharton's work. The Age of Innocence is a great favourite for good reason. I may or may not continue with the Giver series, but probably not given how lukewarm I felt about the first book. I do feel like I missed something.

I guess I hadn't given a proper update about my father in a long time. He ended up deciding to extend his ticket and stay on here for a while. One deciding factor was the war scare with Siria at the time, another was that I was quite upset about his sudden decision to leave. Yet another was a series of complicated tests that needed to be done for his dog Lulu to be allowed back into the country which he wasn't sure he could get done on time. It's been so incredibly long since I've been in Israel I'm sure I wouldn't recognize the place. I haven't felt brave enough to travel since I stopped working, but I'll make my way back there eventually.

>179 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! Nice to see you in these parts. I saw your comment on Kerry's thread about trying to do the rounds now since the New Year threads will be impossible to keep up with, and know just what you mean. I get tired just thinking about it.

The migraines have been pretty relentless these past 6 weeks. I've had a slight break for a day here and there when the pain was nearly unnoticeable, but mostly it makes it hard to function, much less feel much enthusiasm for anything. I'm really hoping the acupuncture will help, but so far the past two days after my third treatment have been far from pain-free I'm afraid.

>180 luvamystery65: Roberta, given how many books there are still to be discovered out there, I doubt that I'll return to the Giver series since the first book failed to grab me. However, I'm about to finish The Sea, The Sea and will be picking up A Thousand Splendid Suns next, and am almost certain I'll want to read more of Hosseini's work after that one.

I just finished rereading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, a book which was a five-star read for me when I had originally read it in 2008. I was looking forward to rereading it because I had found it so original back then, but I'm afraid I should have let sleeping dogs lie because I didn't find it nearly as appealing on second visit now the novelty has worn off. Perhaps listening to the audio version this time around had something to do with it, but it's a bit of a bummer. The good news is I have hundreds more audiobooks on the tbr to choose from next. I just got a whole bunch of new ones with the latest Audible sale and also from a sale on Downpour.com, which is a family-owned audiobook site I just discovered this week.

Off to finish the last 30 pages of The Sea, The Sea now. Can't say I've had a love affair with this book, but I'm glad I've finally read it and will certainly seek out more of Iris Murdoch's work.

#165 Sorry to hear you've been sick, Ilana :-( An Elephant in the Garden sounds like a good read and you've reminded me that I still haven't read anything by Michael Morpugo. I'd like to try some of his WWI related stories next year.

#166 I haven't read any Wharton for ages, she's another author I've just not got to this year for some reason. I've heard very good things about her Old New York collection so have that, along with all her other works that I haven't read, on my wishlist.

#170 Of course you're forgiven :-)

Sorry to hear you were a bit disappointed with The Giver and with your reread of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. The Giver was one I read shortly after joining LT and loved it but I do wonder if I would be less enamoured of it if I read it now? And The Curious Incident is one I loved when I first read it but I haven't tried to reread it. I did find his later novel, A Spot of Bother, held up well to a reread though.

Also sorry to hear your migraines are continuing :-(

Done!
Caught up at last.

I'm glad to see that I am not the only one who finds Donna Tartt's voice off-putting. I finished her The Secret History on November 30th and it took me - literally - 4 months to do it! Can't put my finger on what it is about her voice, but I don't like it. Even if I'd liked the story, I still wouldn't have enjoyed the experience. Won't be reading anymore of her.

All my best to you, Ezra, Mimi and dear little Coco. Hope your migraines calm the hell down and give you a break soon.

The Sea, The Sea by Irish Murdoch - Picked by kidzdoc ★★★★

Just finished The Sea, The Sea this evening. It was extremely well written, which kept me interested, which is good because Murdoch obviously never intended to make her main protagonist likeable. Or anyone else in the novel, come to think of it, so it wasn't going to draw me in because of these wonderful characters I might have liked to have in my life at any time. Of course, that's sort of beside the point, because for one thing, I don't think this is of concern to Murdoch in any of her novels, besides which I can think of lots of novels that sucked me right in even if those peopling them were unpleasant (including the only other Murdoch novel I've read so far, A Severed Head which I found hilarious), but I never felt I could really enter into this one. Partly maybe because Charles Arrowby is writing what is a cross between a journal, diary and novel, and as he does so he reminisces over his life, which somehow kept brining up all kinds of unpleasant memories of my own failed relationships with family, friends and ex lovers. For all I know that is actually a testament to how good a writer Murdoch is, that she can make me feel this novel isn't so much about her vain, arrogant, incredibly manipulative and selfish protagonist, but is more about me.

Arrowby, an famous ex threatre actor/director, is now retired to a house without electricity next to a cliff by the sea and has plenty of time on his hands to observe the changing colours of sea and sky and reflect on his past. He has never forgotten his first chaste love, who dumped him without explanations, even though they had promised to marry each other when they were of age. He calls her Hartley (but she is actually a more commonplace 'Mary') and he's always imagined she was what kept him from falling in love and marrying any of his mistresses over the years, so that when he finds Hartley—now married since long ago—is inexplicably living in the same small village, he becomes obsessed beyond reason and is certain he will somehow manage to convince her to leave what he assumes to be an unhappy marriage and make her come to live with him, be it by force if necessary. The fact that Hartley is now actually quite an old woman and that every description he gives of her renders her completely unattractive both physically and in terms of character (dull, dim and depressed come to mind), and that he somehow manages to convince himself he's even more in love with her because and not in spite or her lack of graces gives us ample evidence of just how far gone he is and how deliberate he is about honouring his own delusions. All quite funny, in the way Shakespearean tragedies can be funny sometimes, which is quite a deliberate comparison since Arrowby is a great lover of Shakespeare and Murdoch sought make many parallels with The Tempest in this novel. I'm glad I read it, and there will be more Murdoch in my future to be sure, but it was certainly not an easy read by any measure and even quite painful in parts.

Another review I didn't mean to write, but just sort of happened.

>183 souloftherose: Heather, two of my first books by Morpurgo were about WWI and I found both really excellent. You can't go wrong with either War Horse or Private Peaceful. His novels are so short you can pick them up between two longer works and finish them in a day, though I wouldn't say either of these makes for light fare.

I've had A Spot of Bother on my shelf for so long now it might have gotten permanently attached there! I will get to it eventually and I know it was quite liked by readers. Glad you thought it help up well to a reread too. I've added you as a recommender.

>184 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, when I was speaking about Donna Tartt's voice, I literally meant her speaking voice, as opposed to her writing voice. I read The Secret History around the time it came out and remember thinking it was quite brilliant, though of course that's a long time ago now, so I don't know if I'd still like it now. Sorry it didn't work for you. I keep hearing such good things about The Goldfinch that I've decided I'll give it a try again sometime. I now have the audio version AND a Kindle version (gotten as a daily deal), to cover all bases!

Thanks for the good wishes to my beasties. They do make life so much more pleasant. Right now, Mimi is all rolled up on the couch into a ball with her head down and her paw covering it, sort of snore/purring. I tried just now to creep over silently to take a quick snap, but the floorboards creaked and she woke up, so can't show you. Have to take Coco out for his evening wee now. It's brutally cold outside, around -29 C (or -20 F) and they're predicting a snowstorm starting tonight which should bring between about 15-30 cm (approx 6 to 12 inches) of snow. Boy am I glad I don't have a car right now!

-29!!!! I think Mimi has the right idea - the couch is the place to be. I'll bet Coco is not hanging around either when he has to raise his leg.

Nice to see your thread buzzing a bit this week. A bit more like older times, dear lady. xx

Hi Ilana!
I just caught up on your thread and am totally exhausted! And I loved every minute of it ;-)

Love your drawing - it came out really great. If you can take a picture of someone - why can't you draw them? She was in a public place... and you got her so beautifully! I am a strong proponent of privacy - but I don't see what is private here. I might see it differently if I were this woman though. I don't know. Interesting question.

So glad your Mom called (and encouraged your blog) and your Dad stayed near you for now. I have no knowledge or right to an opinion, but it seems to make you happy - so that makes me happy, too.

Wish the acupuncture worked better for you. You certainly are trying hard to get those migraines under control. Something has just got to work. I want you to feel healthy. Really healthy. Maybe 2014 will bring what we both need. I'm counting on it.

Your reading and reviews have been amazing, as usual. Even though your head hurts, you think clearly and with insight.
I haven't been big on Russian Lit so much, but my book club is going to tackle The Brothers Karamazov in Feb/Mar. I never did make it through War and Peace but I have an attitude problem with Tolstoy. He thought waaay too much of himself and not nearly enough of his wife and children. Perhaps I should not judge RL on Tolstoy's work and should try some of the ones you have read and loved.

Special hugs to you and the furkids - stay warm and hydrated. That air coming down from Canada is quite dry!

Sorry to jump back so far Ilana but I was really interested in your comments in post #142. As yet, I still haven't read anything by Dave Eggers - and I would certainly like to read Zeitoun, but I'm not so sure I'd like The Circle.

Your finished drawing of "Triple B on the Metro" is fantastic. Well done. I marvel at your skill at capturing this lady's pensive moment. I agree with sibyx that it's a moving portrait. It reminds me significantly of Avigdor Arikha (one of my favourite artists) - though your setting is not so domestic as much of his works. I hope there'll be more?

>185 Smiler69: - Another review I didn't mean to write, but just sort of happened.

- I think those ones often end up being the best ones :)

>186 Smiler69: - It's brutally cold outside, around -29 C (or -20 F) and they're predicting a snowstorm starting tonight...

Wow! You really are a long way from Hof Gordon! (I haven't been back to Israel since 2006 so I know I wouldn't recognise a lot. I did recognise that stonking great wall though when I was there last!) Mind you, the whole Levant has just had a "once in a century" dollop of Canadian weather - http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.563552 . I hope you keep nice and warm in the very cold weather and that the snowstorm isn't too disruptive.

Terrifically thoughtful review of The Sea, The Sea - which I assure you, has the highest quotient of completely unlikeable characters of any Murdoch I have so far read. Several have extremely loveable characters and many have a full complement of likable characters..... she does have two modes - one is 'more' comical and the other is 'more' tragic. There is always plenty of both in both, if that makes any sense! I think I've read about ten novels so far on my Murdoch adventure, and not a single one a waste of time. My least favorite of her books so far was A Severed Head which felt like a play.

Ilana, I'm another one who was blown away by your completed drawing. You manage to convey so much emotion in your work. I can't help thinking about the woman's life and what was going through her mind. I also love how you can put so much detail in your work right down to the handle on her purse…and the blurred effect through the windows. Can you tell I'm one of your fans?

I'm also a Wharton fan and look forward to reading a few of her books I haven't read next year including The Reef and The Children.

Wow! I'm popular today, how exciting!!! I've had more online presence since my mum asked for regular blog updates, but my art is suffering, so I'll have to make sure I put in at least 2-3 hours per day on that or I'll start having serious existential problems. I've found somehow that working on my art on a daily basis gives me a sense of purpose, makes me feel like I'm honouring myself and my gifts and maybe doing whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing on this earth, for what it's worth. Does that sound overblown? I tell my psychiatrist and occupational therapist about this and they both seem to be in full agreement. The only think is getting myself to sit still away from the computer and iPad and books long enough... so that'll be what I'll spend the rest of my evening on. I've got my 3rd "Metro" drawing well underway. It's a much simpler subject with few details and accessories so that it should probably be finished in relatively few hours.

On the reading front I've moved on to A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, which had inexplicably been sitting on my shelf for the past five years. I'm glad Roberta (luvamystery65) picked it for me to finally give me a solid reason not to pass it by any longer. Hosseini is such a brilliant storyteller that I had much difficulty putting down the book till well past my self-imposed curfew last night. He gives me the same feeling of excitement that the beginning of The Kite Runner did, of knowing there will be an adventure ahead which will seem completely new and unfamiliar to me, like something from Arabian Nights, equally exciting and scary and dreadful yet beautiful.

On audio, I've decided to take on The Forsyte Saga and am about a quarter of the way into The Man of Property. I was very confused about which recording to get for a while as I hadn't realized the Saga was part of the much larger Chronicles. There are recordings available of the Saga in 9 parts, and then 9 recordings for the complete Chronicles, all of which are badly identified, so that I had bought the abovementioned recording at one point, then another (volume on of the same book), and thinking I'd gotten the same thing twice, returned the first (you can do that with Audible), but then after doing a bit of research realized I'd returned the wrong one so had to call them to ask them to give it back to me. So now I've finally figured it out I will probably tackle the entire monument over time. While there's a sale on, I'm considering getting the next two books in the Saga, In Chancery and To Let, so I can listen to them within the year and keep track of all the characters.

Answering messages next.

>187 PaulCranswick: Paul, I was excited today when I saw two new messages, but then even more so when it turned out there were actually FIVE, the first three of which (including yours) I'd somehow missed.

You'd be surprised about Coco's resistance to the cold. It's either that or sheer pig-headedness, because no matter what, he's absolutely SET on scenting out everything he can for as long as he can, which absolutely drives me crazy. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but for that reason, taking him out on walks is actually quite an unpleasant chore, save for the one walk when I take him on a little path that's isolated from street traffic where I let him wander around loose and am free to walk at my own pace. The only time he's in a real hurry to get back home is when there is driving rain. Otherwise, even today at -18 C and 12 inches of powdered snow everywhere he absolutely refused to go back home so that we actually had to struggle and fight to get him to go back up the stairs. For the late night walk, which I always intend to be a purely productive affair, I've actually taken to NOT putting on his booties so he'll feel the cold and ask to be taken in my arms once he's finished with the essentials. He is a cutie but he's also a major pain in the neck.

Phew. Glad that's off my chest.

>188 -Cee-: Claudia! Agreed I have every hope 2014 will bring health to us both and a much-needed break from constant pain. I still have hopes the acupuncture might work, as I don't expect miracles from any one specific treatment. My condition is hereditary as well as chronic, so there's only so much that can be done. I also suspect my diet may have something to do with it, because I'm virtually vegetarian only I don't plan my meals well as don't enjoy cooking for myself, so that I get most of my protein from milk products which I love, but are apparently a source of all kinds of physical ailments for many people. Not to mention my addiction to sweets...

About the whole privacy thing where my personal project is concerned, I really don't quite know what to make of it. I need to inquire around about it, but I have a sense that what I'm doing is right on the border. Privacy is one thing, but as an artist I find it unacceptable that I can't work from what I see around me, which is what many if not most artists have been doing since time immemorial. The whole privacy issue as far as visual content goes is understandable in this social media age (as is amply demonstrated in Egger's The Circle, which I'll have to do a writeup about), but at the same time it's gotten to a point where there is a hysteria about it which is completely unhealthy. It's one thing not to want to have a picture of oneself drunk and making a fool of oneself all over the internet, and quite another to have one's image turned into a work of art (if I can be so arrogant as to call what I do "Art"). I really feel strongly about this, and so much so that I'm thinking I'll just continue on with my project and might actually do all I can to get it seen and maybe even published to raise awareness of how exceptions need to be made to allow for basic artistic freedoms. That's the sort of thing my mother is really passionate about, i.e. defending her beliefs and liberties, and I think I did get some of that from her, perhaps to a lesser degree.

As for the Russians, I've long had Dostoyevsky on the tbr, and actually started on The Idiot as a teen when I had my Russian phase, but really couldn't get into him. I've discussed him with my mother several times (pre-LT, she used to be more or less the only person I could talk about literature with), and she seemed to think he was basically very heavy and rather dreary. Of course I'll have to make up my own mind about him, but let's just say I'm glad there are plenty of other great Russian authors I can feed myself on while I make up my mind to get in the mood to tackle Dostoyevsky. I just learned about a new-to-me such author on Facebook yesterday, where my ex step-father told me about The Moscow Saga by Vassily Aksyonov. I'll have to look into him.

I spent a bunch of time trying to sort out the Forsyte series in CK. Now it's way past time to feed the kids and me too I guess, so will either come back later to answer you Paul, Lucy and Donna after I've done some artwork if it's not too late, but more probably tomorrow. Thanks so much for the visits and lovely messages!

Hello, Ilana!
I have had The Sea, The Sea on the TBR stack for months. Your review makes me look forward to reading it even more (likely in 2014). And I'm also looking forward to reading some Edith Wharton. Ethan Frome is the only thing I've read by her and I thought it was masterful.

#175 I am saving my Whartons, reading them at the rate of one a year (much like my Conrads), I am afraid they will get over soon, and there are no fresh ones coming :(

>189 Polaris-: Paul, you need never apologize for jumping back to older comments on the threads. I do that all the time since I'm constantly having to catch up on entire threads when I'm courageous enough to tackle them, and I'm always happy when something I've said is taken up for further conversation.

I don't know that I would necessarily recommend The Circle to you. It's not literature, and I don't see much value in it other than sheer entertainment value, which is mitigated by the fact that it feeds into the paranoia we all feel about where all this social media and culture of transparent communication is taking us. I do keep thinking I should do a writeup about it though because it did touch on a few things that are relevant to me, especially when it comes to the whole notion of privacy, which is essentially what the book is about, i.e. making the private public. I have Zeitoun and that other really famous book her wrote, which doesn't come to mind right now, and I have it from a good source that he does much better with non-fiction.

I didn't know Avigdor Arikha before, and I've had a look at a few of his pieces. Very interesting. Will have to look into it further, thanks for bringing him to my attention. Thanks so much for the comments on my drawing. It's a long process, which I very much enjoy for the quiet headspace it puts me in (even though I'm usually listening to an audiobook as I draw). Very reflective somehow and as close to doing meditation as I've gotten to so far.

>190 sibylline: Lucy, I would have loved Murdoch even if she had specialized in unlikeable characters, but must admit I am relieved when you say The Sea, The Sea 'has the highest quotient of completely unlikeable characters of any Murdoch' you've read so far. You're really plowing through her works aren't you? Wasn't it just last year that you read your first book by her? Funny you didn't enjoy A Severed Head, which was my introduction to her and which I really loved. It is absolutely theatrical as you say, but perhaps I enjoyed it so much because I listened to Derek Jacobi narrating it, which was a total delight. Recommended, if you ever think you might like to revisit it.

>191 Donna828: Donna, you comments on my work are very welcome. I'm touched that you took the time to observe it as you did. I guess you could call it a labour of love. There's a deep satisfaction that comes from having the luxury to take all the time I want to work on finishing a piece, which is something I never could experience in my professional career years ago, with everything being driven by budgets and deadlines. I wouldn't say I deliberately make the projects take extremely long to complete, but at the same time I certainly don't do anything to rush the process along...

Edith Wharton: seems we all agree that she was a marvellous writer. I have yet to come across one negative comment about her as a writer, though I imagine there must be readers who don't find her to be their cup of tea, since we all have our own likes and dislikes. She's one of the writers I feel a true sense of privilege about being able to glimpse her world through that marvellous pen of hers.

>196 EBT1002: Ellen, I must say Ethan Frome took me quite by surprise when I read it last year(?), since she writes about a world that is miles away from what she is best known for, which is telling stories about the high society world she came from. I suppose since it was your first book by her you had nothing to compare it to so you wouldn't have found it unusual in that sense, but I think I'll have to read it again if only to take it in without trying to compare it to some of her better known 'bigger' works. Glad to know my review has encouraged you to pick up The Sea, The Sea.

>197 PiyushC: Piyush, you bring up a very relevant point about the finite quantity of works there are to enjoy when it comes to dead writers. I see your point about wanting to pace yourself, but it's a bit different for me since I always keep in mind (perhaps deluding myself), that the first reading is a mere introduction and that the sooner I read the works, the longer I'll have to revisit them over the the years.

Today was lost to sleep and keeping warm and fighting with a credit company that was trying to gouge every drop of blood and sinew from my body and leave me in credit report limbo hell. Bah, I don't know why I bother mentioning it even, save for the fact I got so emotional and cried all the tears in my body and saw myself out in the streets fighting the cold as a homeless person trying to keep two cats and a plush toy dog alive and a collection of books from being carried away on the northern winds. I'm rambling. Off to do a bit of work on my latest drawing. Not for long though as it's late and I want to have time for A Thousand Splendid Suns which is completely riveting.

Just got a whole bunch of audiobooks from the Audible sale, including the two other books comprising the Forsyte Saga. Will list the others at some other time.

#186 " It's brutally cold outside, around -29 C"

And I think it's cold when it gets below 0 C....

#192 I'll be very interested in your thoughts on The Forsyte Saga, Ilana, as that's one of those series I've been thinking about reading for a while.

#193 "no matter what, he's absolutely SET on scenting out everything he can for as long as he can" Our golden retriever (also male) used to be the same, although we didn't get such cold weather which made it a bit more bearable. The only way round it that I found was to walk him in places where I could take him off the lead then he would alternate between sniffing and running to catch up with me. Probably harder to do in a city.

#200 Hugs. Hope you stay warm and get the credit company off your back.

>201 souloftherose: Heather, to be perfectly honest, the 'official' temperature today was -18 C, but they always give the temperature factoring in the wind factor, so that today was 'only' felt to be -28 C. I usually keep walks with Coco very brief in that kind of cold, because no matter how many layers I put on, any teensy bit of skin which is exposed makes one suffer greatly. Today I decided we needed a bit of exercise, so we jogged along this path I like to take where I can leave my little buddy off the leash. We were out for 20-30 minutes at most. I got myself lambskin gloves lined with the wooly stuff, thinking they'd keep me warm, but in this kind of temperature they are practically useless, so that by the time I got home, my hands were practically frostbitten, and my fingers started to turn blue as soon as I entered my warm apartment. It's now some 4 hours later, and I still feel a slight tingling numbness on my pinkies as I type this. Lesson learned: stay indoors! This is when I wish I could get Coco to use the training pads I use for Ezra who refuses to pee in the litterbox, but I've tried with him several times and he doesn't understand the concept at all. I suppose it's just as well as we do need fresh air (as fresh as one gets in the city), but on days like this I would honestly rather do without.

I really loved book 1 of The Forsyte Saga which I finished today and immediately got the other two books from Audible so I could listen very soon. I wish I could write more about it now, but I promised myself to spend the evening drawing and I'm already cutting into the time I set aside for it, so it'll have to wait. I will say that the story centres around the Forsyte family, an upper middle class i.e. new money set who are primarily preoccupied with acquisitions of property of all kinds. In this particular book, the Man of Property in question is Soames Forsyte, who prides himself on his collection of paintings, his beautiful wife Irene, and a grand house he's having built outside London. But his wife does not love him and seems instead more interested in the up and coming architect Soames has hired to build his house, a young man who also happens to be engaged to Soames' cousin and Irene's best friend June. Intrigue abounds and the subtle irony of Galsworthy's prose is pitch perfect. There, that's the best I can do in 90 seconds.

I did get the credit company off my back. Long story, but I bought a vacuum cleaner which I couldn't afford, but from an old Italian salesman who is so good that one cannot refuse his offers on top of offers. He got me this one year interest-free scheme, but this credit company starts charging close to 40% interest if one misses a single payment. I'm usually very diligent about making payments on time, but somehow didn't see the bills they sent me in the mail and missed the first two so that I already had astronomical additional fees to pay. Of course they weren't willing to do anything to help me redress the situation and two people I spoke to from the company last week assured me all would be ok if I made the payment then, but checking in yesterday, it seems this was not at all the case. I finally resolved the situation by applying online for a personal loan from my bank and paying off the balance owing, with MUCH friendlier interest rates. Boring stuff really, but I can tell you I was very grateful to be able to take out that loan and tell the credit company to stuff it.

Hugs to you to my dear. I suppose the trip to warmer climes is coming up for you soon! Will have to catch up with you asap, but for now am off to do some work. xx

Oh yes, just a quick copy/paste of the audiobooks I got on sale yesterday:

In Chancery (UNABRIDGED)
Author: John Galsworthy

To Let (UNABRIDGED)
Author: John Galsworthy

A Quiet Life (UNABRIDGED)
Author: Beryl Bainbridge

The Ritual Bath (UNABRIDGED)
Author: Faye Kellerman

Smallbone Deceased (UNABRIDGED)
Author: Michael Gilbert

Scoop (UNABRIDGED)
Author: Evelyn Waugh

Men at Arms (UNABRIDGED)
Author: Evelyn Waugh

Latecomers (UNABRIDGED)
Author: Anita Brookner

Post Captain (UNABRIDGED)
Author: Patrick O'Brian

Mr. Loveday's Little Outing and Other sad Stories (UNABRIDGED)
Author: Evelyn Waugh

The Cricket on the Hearth (UNABRIDGED)
Author: Charles Dickens
(free Christmas gift to Audible members)

Almost stayed up all night to finish A Thousand Splendid Suns, but then decided to be reasonable and go to sleep at 2 a.m. This book is bad for my health.

How Hosseini manages to make such dreadful stuff filled with violence and sadistic cruelty somehow beautiful and unputdownable I don't know. Love, I guess. Always there's love. And beautiful writing of course. I'm gobsmacked, just as I was with The Kite Runner. Goes without saying I want to read his third book too.

Off to get ready for lunch with a friend. She discovered a vegan/raw food restaurant downtown which I'd heard about for some years but had never tried until I went with her. It's her favourite and she goes every week, and has become a favourite for me too (this will be my third visit), though I can't afford to go every week since of course I spend all the money I don't have on books! What else?

Not looking forward to going outside. I slept with two sweaters and the heating full on last night because I had trouble staying warm after nearly getting frostbitten on my walk with Coco yesterday. My hands still feel a little strange. But it's much warmer today. Only -11 C, so I guess I'll man up and face the elements like a big girl.

#203 - Woo hoo! Quite an audio haul, Ilana!

I read and loved (is that the right word?) The Kite Runner and several friends have told me "you simply have to read A Thousand Splendid Sunds; it's even better!" but I have so far resisted for unknown reasons. I do own it and appreciate your comments. Gobsmacked. Seems like the perfect adjective.

Sorry about the freakin' credit company ills. Grrr.

>205 EBT1002: Ellen, I think Khaled Hosseini is one of our great writers this century, and having finished A Thousand Splendid Suns last night, I've immediately given it a five-star rating, as I did for The Kite Runner. I definitely want to read And the Mountain Echoed anything else he comes up with in future, but I won't be jumping right into the next one because the emotional charge of his books is so potent that they are best taken at long intervals. So I understand that you haven't gotten to Splendid Suns yet... I knew it would be excellent, but I too didn't know if I was ready for the harsh brutality of the world he conjures up for us from real life tragedies. Once again I'll say though that what makes his books incredibly compelling is the obvious love he has for his characters, for his native country, for storytelling, for human beings... love is what I get from it all in the end, though I feel like I've been somewhat battered and bruised along the way.

The credit company is now history as far as I'm concerned, though I'll still make a call or two to ensure that they close off the account as they are supposed to do. My bad for even buying an expensive appliance I didn't ultimately need (a vacuum cleaner). I got it to replace my old noisy (but in perfect condition) Electrolux machine handed down by my mum and her ex with a new model from the same company (now calling themselves Aerus) and true enough it makes much less noise and is the Porsche of vacuum cleaners, but I can't afford buying Porsche anything else given my addiction to collector edition books! Eek! eta: the upside is that it truly will last for the rest of my lifetime and I will only replace it if they come up with a completely silent machine.

As I just mentioned to Ellen above, I've finished A Thousand Splendid Suns.

...

I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to say next about it, but no words come to me at the moment, other than what I've already said to Ellen above. One thing I will say is that some of the chapter titles include dates (unverified e.g.: 1974, 1987, 1992, etc) so that as I was reading the story I was trying to imagine where I was in terms of awareness of the world at those times and quite shocked that I hadn't really registered what was going on beyond shock and bewilderment whenever news from Afghanistan did filter through to me. I've always kept my head in the sand when it comes to world events because felt so helpless to do anything and the awareness of the horrors vast portions of humanity must endure do nothing to help me keep my head above waters in terms of sustaining a mood that is conducive to being even remotely productive.

Blabbing. It's been a strange, and most unproductive day, hidden in blankets sleeping for a good part of it, then waking up from troubling dreams and feeling helpless all the rest of the day. It's not as cold outside now, but the humidity makes the coldness seep into the bones so that I wasn't tempted to take a long walk with Coco today, and he didn't seem that keen to prolong our promenading either. Maybe contributing to my strange mood is the fact I went to bed yesterday finishing off the audio of The Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft, which tells the story of a research team surveying a portion of the Antarctic and finding evidence of civilizations from hundreds and thousands of millions years ago, when lifeforms on the planet were still barely past the cellular level. There is evil lurking and things go terribly wrong, but I found it interesting and very timely that the narrator informs us from the beginning and throughout the story that he is telling the story of that unholy expedition to deter other exploration and drilling expeditions to the (ant)arctic.

After which finished Hosseini's book. No wonder I had strange dreams. But I feel I've wasted the day altogether. Maybe an hour of drawing will do me some good, and I've just realized I've forgotten to eat dinner.

Another day. Snowing outside. Acupuncture this evening. In the meantime, migraine of course, much overdue groceries to do—have to scavenge around for every meal this week, housecleaning too with my place looking like an old bachelor's dump. But what I'll probably actually do is hang around LT for a bit, then work on my latest metro drawing. I've redrawn the 'Girl with PomPom Hat's face three or four times now. I took photos each time and looking at them now, wonder why I didn't leave them as they were. Right now, after just under 20 hours of work all she has left is the face contour and one eye, because I erased everything else, convinced I'd made an irreparable muddle of it. That and lots of the background too, I should add.

Started on Snow Falling on Cedars last night, a book which was chosen for me by someone in the 13/13 group last year, and though I haven't participated in the challenge or visited the group at all this year, I figured I may as well pick it up and read it since it's been sitting there for many years and I've gotten countless recommendations for it. On audio, finishing The Cricket on the Hearth, a Charles Dickens Christmas tale and a special recording given as a thank you gift to Audible members. I think they should give me an extra gift or two for being such a good customer, but I won't complain.

Oh yes, also want to make a list of the incredible audiobook haul I got from the library these past couple of months, quite a mixed bag:

The Son by Philipp Meyer
Paris: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Pain Parties Work: Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer 1953 by Elizabeth Winder
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (reread)
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (reread)
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Railsea by China Mieville
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie
Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
At Home by Bill Bryson
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
True North by Jim Harrison
The Woman Lit by Fireflies by Jim Harrison
The Children of Men by P. D. James
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T. J. Stiles
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece by Jonathan Harr
The Master Butcher's Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo (will have to borrow the ebook too)
Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman
One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
Damned by Chuck Palahniuk
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Home by Toni Morrison
Wheat Belly by William Davis
Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
Tenth of December by George Saunders
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

... So why do I keep buying more, do you ask? Do you really need ask?

............
(that's me not asking!)

Love your posts recently. I liked The Kite Runner but I was not entirely swept away by it, can't remember why not anymore. I certainly appreciated it in any case. No question about that.

I'm guessing as long as you are not making money off her image, you are fine.

Two double servings of Bailey's on ice later... that's my holiday treat. Last year I went through the bottle in less than a week. We'll see how long it lasts this year.

Started listening to The Golem and the Jinni today. So far so very good. Off to walk Coco and then to bed with Snow Falling on Cedars. Spent over three hours drawing today which I'm happy about and finally got the girl's face exactly as I wanted it, so all those do overs were worth it after all.

>209 sibylline: Lucy, the book acquisition disorder is alive and well here. I've decided not to worry about image rights for this project anymore and just keep drawing. All the rest is of little consequence as long as I feel inspired to work.

#208: So why do I keep buying more, do you ask? Do you really need ask?

For the same reason I do - and I am getting next to no reading done these days - but we just cannot help ourselves, can we?

I certainly don't have to ask why you buy - because they're there! That's why I buy. I easily bought twice as many as I've read this year and I wasn't even half trying. In fact, I was really trying to rein it in a bit, seeing as its been a bad year money expenditure wise.

You boughtThe Dog Stars! That's my favorite book for the year. It was a book I got from the library and I've been wanting to get a copy for myself - methinks getting the Audible version might be a really good idea, especially as that won't cost me any money. (For some reason I hoard those monthly credits as if they are going to grow in value if I hang on to them.)

I'd huddle under the covers too, if it were Montreal cold here. Am looking forward to the next few days weather wise as it is supposed to be in the fifties!

Hope you are having a good weekend, Ilana.

Wow - that's an impressive list of library audiobooks! I'm so glad to have discovered the wonders of ordering and then listening to audiobooks from my local library - perfect for my commutes. (Can't think why it took me until I was 40 to discover this aspect of libraries...)

I'm listening to Tenth of December right now, and I've gone through the first 6 stories. Very good overall - though the last two I listened to left me rather dumbfounded and a little numb... It's read by the author - probably the same as your edition? - and while it's good to get the author's own voice to lend the stories the exact emphasis and tone where needed, George Saunders is slightly gabbled or hurried on the odd occasion. (Don't worry though - it's definitely not another Our Man in Havana nightmare - no musical accompaniment here!

Keep warm - and seasons greetings!

>211 alcottacre: Stasia I saw you did very well with your studies, so hope that's a compensation for not getting as much reading done as you'd like. Only so many hours in a day, right?

>212 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, Because they're there seems like the right answer. I most certainly bought twice what I read, somewhere around 350 books I think (need to update my Books Purchased list), though after having been part of this group for several years now, this doesn't seem like such a bad ratio somehow...

I actually got The Dog Stars FREE, as part as my library haul. I copy the audiobooks on my hard drive so I can listen to them when the mood strikes and then usually delete them from my computer after I'm done, with a few rare exceptions when I feel I really MUST hang on to them. I know what you mean about hoarding Audible credits, I do the very same! All the more so lately, because I got the Platinum yearly plan in May, thinking I'd get a much better deal, but then used up all my credits but 3 a couple of months ago. I think of using credits as getting 'free' books too, but they aren't actually free are they?

I slept right into 2 in the afternoon today. Not at all happy about that. I'd set the alarm for earlier in the day but must have slept through it. Makes for incredibly short days and hardly any time to do anything at all.

>213 Polaris-: Paul, I only discovered audiobooks in 2011, so they're very recent to me too, also discovered in my 40s. I used to think they were only for the visually impaired or 'lazy' readers and children, until I discovered 'serious' readers in this group made no bones about being regular listeners. It has certainly made a big change in my life, being the loner I am and all too often having negative tapes running through my head, it's almost been a salvation actually.

I listened to George Saunders narrate Fox 8 this year, and quite enjoyed that, but it was a purposely naïve telling from the perspective of the fox, so his telling of it fit that very well, but I've listened to a sample of Tenth of December and was a bit dismayed to find he used the same kind of delivery. But then as you know I got it for free, and if the audiobook doesn't work for me I can always borrow the eBook version instead. Can ANYTHING be as bad as the audio production of Our Man in Havana??

So, since I got up at 2 pm today, I have very few hours to get anything done at all. I need to eat obviously, and I need to take Coco out for a couple of walks and feed the kids, which all told takes up 2-3 hours. Then I want to draw for at least a couple of hours. Then there are all kinds of things unplanned, like making tea and getting dressed to go outside and opening mail and spending time here on LT and looking at books to buy and whatnot that end up taking a couple of hours too. That's my day right there. I haven't done groceries in over a week, but that'll take a couple of hours too, which I don't think I want to spare, so I'll just have to scavenge for food I guess. This is why groceries and general house duties never get done; I don't want to eat into my drawing time, OR LT time, OR goofing around and doing duck all time either. Lots and lots and lots and lots of snow as it was falling most of the yesterday and overnight. Coco runs around like a little bunny in the white stuff, which always makes me smile wide.

Really starting to enjoy Snow Falling on Cedars. The Golem and the Jinni is also becoming quite engrossing. I hesitated to count it toward my yearly total because it's so short, but decided to do so after all since I did read so many huge tomes too, so The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens is my 150th book this year. I'm quite happy with that number, which really isn't that much of an achievement considering I spend my entire days 'reading' audiobooks, and always turn lights out in the small hours of the night reading print books. I guess you might say I've made reading a full-time job!

Of course, when I have no time at all, my favourite thing to do is to waste time by making lists, so I've just updated my Books Purchased list and come to exactly 350 books to date. The only thing I hesitate to add is my latest Folio Society order of ten books, as I usually like to list the books when they are in hand, which would take me to the new year. Decisions, decisions.

Love the OED word of the day:

abligurition, n.

‘ Extravagant spending on food and drink.’

Hi Ilana- I am so glad you loved A Thousand Splendid Suns. I was a big fan too! I have still not read/listened to his latest, although I have it saved on audio.
I also have The Golem and the Jinni saved on audio, maybe I'll bump it up.
I was also a big fan of The Dog Stars and it was terrific on audio. I met the author at Booktopia.

Blue again today, but I've already spend 1.5 hours drawing and about to go back to it, so that's something. I finally ended up doing groceries after all yesterday, so it was nice to have fresh fruit on hand a few options for dinner tonight even though I didn't feel like cooking, as usual (had veg. chilli from a can on white basmati rice). Kept the walk with Coco extremely brief today as it's still bitterly cold outside, but had to take the shovel out to clear my entrance, with snow that just keeps piling up day after day. I do love the white stuff and as ever in winter, so glad I don't have a car to dig out every time the snow removal trucks drive by!

>218 msf59: Hi Mark, I was asking Bonnie (brenzi) about Husseini's latest recently and she said she found it very good, but not as successful as his first two books. All the same I'll look out for it too. The Golem and the Jinni is good, but very long and I'm kind of wanting it to end. I'll have to download The Dog Stars to my iPhone soon, looks like.

Hi Ilana, I have to admit I have only been skimming over those 46 or so posts since my last visit, but I want to say I love your drawing of "Triple B Girl on the Metro". Just wonderful and you really make me like her although don't know her.

Great review of The Sea, the Sea and you remind me of my plan to read more Wharton. Somehow I didn't get to her in 2013, but The House of Mirth must be on my reading list for next year. I am also discovering the Russian authors, just finished my first Turgenev and my first longer Gogol. I quite liked The Idiot when I finally got to it this year, but it was a difficult read for me.

For now I want to wish you (and the "kids!!") a very Merry Christmas and I hope I'll be a much better follower again in 2014.

It's too embarrassing for me to admit how far behind I am on your thread but wanted to wave hello and say I love your "Triple B Girl" art too. She seems so comfortable with herself. The details on the windows are pretty stunning too.

>166 Smiler69: Great review of The Old Maid. I read The House of Mirth over the summer and loved it too.

Ilana, stopping by to wish you a very happy Christmas and New Year!

Here is an irresistible holiday photo! These corgis look like they are enjoying themselves, no? They will do anything for attention, I've learned that!

Finished Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson last night at 3 am. Well past my bedtime, goes without saying. It was completely gripping and taught me about WWII on the Pacific front; to me those times have always been about the war in Europe and I had little awareness of what the war with the Japanese entailed, how the Pearl Harbour bombing affected American consciousness at the time or what Japanese Americans had to suffer during the war and it's aftermath. The novel, set in 1954 deals with this aftermath as several main characters are veterans and we witness their state of mind and recollections of war atrocities, but the heart of the story is set in San Piedro Island on the Pacific coast, close to Seattle, a small island community of strawberry fields and lone fishermen who put out their nets at night and hope for a big salmon catch. When one of these men, Carl Heine, is found dead at sea in his own net with a grave head injury, the blame quickly falls on Kabuo Miyamoto, whose family had been in a long dispute with Carl's unpleasant mother over a land deal. The novel opens on Miyamoto's court trial for first degree murder, and with each witness on the stand we see events unfold from the person's perspective. Two other main protagonists from the island are Hatsue, née Imada and now wife of Kabuo Miyamoto, whom she became closely acquainted with during their internment in a Japanese camp; the other is Ishmael Chambers, another army veteran (along with Carl and Kabuo) who lost his arm in the war and has been in love with Hatsue since they were both children, always holding out hope he would marry her someday, though local prejudice was too strong to allow for their secret union to be declared openly. Their past relationship becomes a crucial element of the story when Ishmael, the owner of the local newspaper, gets hold of important information and must struggle with his conscience to decide whether or not to disclose his findings. This makes for a melancholy read, with the war looming in the background and active resentment toward the island's Japanese community, the descriptions of lone fishermen out at sea in blinding fog at night hoping for a good catch, and the winter storm raging outside during the three days of the trial, uprooting trees, knocking out electricity and phones and causing cars to slide off the road. It is also an affecting story, beautifully written and with characters who are so fully realized they seem to take on their own life. I was only vaguely aware this novel had been adapted to film, and I'll have to make sure I see it now, but I can't imagine it'll ever come close to the complexity of characters and vivid details of the movie which ran in my mind as I read this hugely compelling novel. ★★★★½

>220 Deern: Hi Nathalie, I'm so glad you were able to drop by. Please do not worry about trying to keep up with me, I can hardly keep up with myself, let alone anyone else! I'm glad you liked my drawing of the Big Black and Beautiful girl as I'm quite proud of that piece. I'm now hard at work on a third drawing which is coming along nicely. I'll have to take a picture of it in progress. I think we would all benefit from reading more of Edith Wharton's work, and I certainly plan to read more in 2014. Wishing you all the best too!

>221 avidmom: avidmom, I read The House of Mirth just a year ago I think, (just checked, it's been almost three years actually) but I'll want to reread it soon as I thought it was brilliant. Thanks for the comment on my drawing. She was a very compelling model and seemed more than willing to show herself off and grab attention. I had a good time drawing her and all her accoutrement.

>222 SandDune: Thanks Rhian, wishing you the same too!

>223 sibylline: That's totally awesome Lucy! What an adorable little bunch of reindeer, perfect Christmas pic!

Happy Holiday season, Ilana!

Have a wonderful holiday Ilana! Keep warm and surrounded by lovely books.

>226 EBT1002: Thank you Ellen, that is one cool kitty!

>227 luvamystery65: I wish you the very same Roberta, thanks for thinking of me. xx

I hope I'll be forgiven for not spreading holiday cheer this year. I'm simply not able to put it on, perhaps because I have so very little energy, but all the same, thank you so much to all my visitors for thinking of me and I look forward to continuing on this journey with this wonderful bunch of people here in the 75ers group.

My dad came over today. I was very short with him when he made an unwanted comment on the drawing I'm currently working on, but then I made us tea and laid out a couple of sweets and sat down to work on said drawing while he talked to his heart's content about his health and dietary concerns, in short what he always talks about which usually gets on my nerves, but I was happy enough to listen while I worked. There was nothing remotely Christmassy about our get-together, but he didn't hold it against me and we parted ways on good terms. Seems he will be leaving to go back to Israel in June.

This evening I put on the audio edition of Morality Play by Barry Unsworth (off to a fantastic start) and took on the task of clearing my landlord's pathway, which had a foot of frozen snow and as such, an invitation to anyone curious about uninhabited homes (they're away for the week). I usually just pick up their mail, but I thought this would be a useful contribution. My cousin called while I was at it and invited me over for Christmas dinner with her mother and her, and I must say I was quite happy about the invitation. No gifts bought, so I'll have to scurry around and try to find a hostess gift among my things. Should be doable.

Coco and I are celebrating quietly, with good reading (not Macbeth at the moment, but Morality Play and Old Filth instead) and plenty of drawing (work in progress as shown). Happy Christmas everyone, and thanks just for being there. From me, Coco, Ezra and Mimi. xx


Girl with Pompom Hat, work in progress (pale and mid-range tones only for now)
http://createthreesixty5.com/2013/12/25/girl-with-pompom-hat-work-in-progress/

My dear Ilana, I can now understand why your activity in the group has been slightly down on previous years as it must have taken time to teach Coco to read!
Have a wonderful festive season. XXXXX

Oh dear, I am sorry you are having a Blue Christmas, Ilana. A new year of new beginnings is just around the corner. I am so ready for it. I wish you all good things for 2014.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!

Looks like Coco has excellent taste in his reading! The drawing is shaping up to be fantastic! Hope you post a pic when it's done.

Merry Christmas to you, my dear friend, and Coco, and Mimi, and Ezra!



xoxo

Thinking of you Ilana and wishing you all the best for the New Year.
That drawing of the girl with pompoms looks promising. I was in a gallery last week and looking at a series of prints of 'man with object' in various poses - the artist decided to make his subject grapple with a chandelier which made for interesting 'art'.

I've just finished the second 'Old Filth' book on audio and found it just as good as the first.

Merry Christmas Ilana, and happy holidays :)

Hope you have a fantastic holiday, Ilana! I am so glad you finally read Snow Falling on Cedars and that you loved it. I haven't read it in over 20 years, so I am due a reread.
BTW- Doctor Sleep is a terrific audio. Will Patton has quickly become one of my favorite narrators.

>231 PaulCranswick: Paul, especially as I'm trying to teach him to read in both French and English! Thanks for the holiday wishes. I left a note on your thread but perhaps you missed it?

>232 Donna828: Donna, I got invited to my cousin's for Christmas dinner tonight and got to bring back gifts for Coco (including a winter coat) and loads of leftovers and desserts for me, so that put me in the spirit of things! Thanks for thinking of me and wishing you the best too!

>233 ChelleBearss: Thanks Chelle!

>234 drneutron: Hi Jim! Thanks so much for dropping by! I'm glad you're liking how my drawing is shaping up. I'll be sure to post the finished piece in the 2014 group (since it won't be done for at least a couple more weeks).

>235 -Cee-: Claudia, what a lovely image! It really put a smile on my face!

>236 avatiakh: Hi Kerry, I'm really curious about those prints you saw last week. Were you able to take any pictures? I'm glad you liked the audio for The Man in the Wooden Hat. I was thinking I'd get it when I'm done with this first book, but just checked now and see it isn't available anymore, though it was last time I checked... Wishing you and your family all the best.

>237 PiyushC: Thanks so much Piyush, all the best to you too!

>238 msf59: Thanks Mark, today was better than I expected, what with an unexpected invitation to eat a Christmas dinner at my cousin's, otherwise it would have been like any other day in the year (i.e. not bad, just not special). I like Will Patton a lot as a narrator, but not sure I'm wanting to get creeped out with Stephen King's latest, no matter how good it might be...

I'm not caught up here, but I did want to stop in and wish you a very Merry Christmas, Ilana. I hope it was filled with fabulous. Looking forward to following you in 2014 and hoping that I can do a better job of keeping up with the threads. I will be back to catch up properly, but I couldn't help noticing your completed "Triple B Girl on the Metro". Stunning. Simply stunning. What an incredible talent you have!

Ilana, I went back and found your message and replied belatedly. Not like me to miss posts. xx

I absolutely love the photo of Coco with the book!

Me, too! And I received that exact same book from Craig for Christmas!

#239: Ilana - the artist was Bernardi Roig and I did a search for the images online and his art is really weird. The prints in the gallery were more normal and I did take some photos though not of all of them.
The links are here:
http://s811.photobucket.com/user/avatiakh/media/Holiday%202013/IMG_5302_zps17d9b...
http://s811.photobucket.com/user/avatiakh/media/Holiday%202013/IMG_5304_zps7ed09...
http://s811.photobucket.com/user/avatiakh/media/Holiday%202013/IMG_5305_zpsfcdc4...
http://s811.photobucket.com/user/avatiakh/media/Holiday%202013/IMG_5306_zps8eae0...

#230 - Yep. Coco is still the cutest dog on the planet.

Merry Belated Christmas, and here's to a happier New Year ahead! :)

>240 Crazymamie:, 243 Mamie, thanks for sharing that gorgeous Helen Dryden Vogue cover. Her elegant and oh so pretty illustrations always cheer me up. Isn't that Macbeth book something? I just love that paper art and have a couple of books on that subject I should make time for. I have the Hamlet from that series too, and they were a real pleasure to read through this year, though I was disappointed to find quite a few typos throughout, which is a shame for such a beautiful project. Do you have any others? I know there are also two comedies in that series.

>241 PaulCranswick: Paul, in all fairness it wasn't much of a message as I was feeling quite maudlin that day and didn't have much to say for myself or to others, but I do know you are usually assiduous about responding to everyone. Am due for a visit very soon to catch up, though something tells me you must have started a new thread already.

>242 luvamystery65: Thanks Roberta! I took that picture sometime in the fall and had been meaning to post it ever since. I posted a second one in that series on my member gallery if you're curious to see it.

>244 avatiakh: Kerry, thanks for sharing those. I'm going to use that catchall word 'interesting' to describe these. It can mean I find something brilliant, and it can mean I really hate another thing, but in this case I would use it to mean I appreciate the idea behind the work but the work, not so much.

>245 EBT1002: Ellen, I'm glad you think so, but I found Coco has some serious competition for that title in the form of Bonnie's dog, Buddy. That little guy just makes my heart melt (lots more pics of him in her gallery).

>246 dk_phoenix: Thanks so much Faith, hope there's a wonderful New Year ahead for you too. In my case, a reduction of pain frequency would certainly help toward a better disposition...

I won't go into too many details about how I'm actually feeling, because I haven't been at all well physically speaking in the past few days (for a change), and now it seems I need to be seen by a cardiologist as there may be more grave health concerns to attend to. In short, a very rapid heartbeat (discovered by my acupuncturist over the last 5 weeks), a recent fainting spell, and a conversation with my friend K who was a head nurse in the cardiology department of the Royal Vic for at least a couple of decades who seems to think I should be taking all this very seriously. Family physician secretary can only be reached on Monday. Eek.

Just 20 minutes to go on Morality Play by Barry Unsworth. Love it, and the narrator is brilliant, with a very rapid delivery for this book which suits the first person's narration very well, but all the same I think I'd like to read it at my own pace in print, so will go about getting a Kindle of paperback version. Taking me quite a while to get into Old Filth which is surprising as it seems EVERYONE adored that book. I'm seeing plenty to like, but it hasn't come together yet, so I'm hopeful it'll get better for me as I progress.

Extremely limited energy today, and I didn't get to draw since Tuesday, so will visit just a couple of threads to say hello and then do some work before turning in early.

eta: as far as challenges go, I managed to complete all 30 books in the 2013 edition of my 'Picked for Me' challenge before the close of the year. It was a most rewarding challenge. Yay!

I really enjoyed the audiobook of Morality Play, including the rushed, breathless narration, I confess. I think reading it would be a completely different experience, but I may well do that soonish.

Hopefully the new year will bring with it some better health. Do take the cardiac stuff seriously, but try to dial back the immediate angst. Pop an aspirin a day, and call an ambulance or get someone to take you to the ER if you're having more acute symptoms. Wise to get it checked out, but don't send your blood pressure into the stratosphere. Rest.

OK, book picks! (and I'm honored to be invited to weigh in...)

Like so many others, it's VERY tough to choose, so I'll try to get it down to the minimum!

Above all there is:

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden. Writing so vivid and clear that it literally brought tears to my eyes at points; a fascinating narrative set among the Ojibwe and drawing on contemporary issues and their historic experiences and zeitgeist, without ever becoming didactic. A practically perfect novel.

Audiobooks:

I see you have Master and Commander there and unread -- Patrick O'Brian as narrated by Patrick Tull. I really think you should immerse yourself in this series and let yourself be borne away on the waves of the Mediterranean and all the oceans of the world.

Something short and lesser known:

I really like Michael Gilbert -- enjoy his sometimes elliptical narratives. Smallbone Deceased is a short little book and very evocative of a time and era. I think I'm going to try to re-read some of his next year. A quick and very entertaining mystery.

And just because....

To follow on from the tutored read of Wolf Hall, you really should jump into Dissolution by CJ Sansom. The audiobook is excellent, and now that you've got all the background for Cromwell, Henry VIII, etc., you'll be able to follow the historical context and just relish the mystery. Again, a series, so if you like it, you'll have plenty of stuff to read/listen to later!

Sorry I couldn't winnow it down further, but I confess that I find it hard to be doctrinaire and prescriptive with books, and like giving people options! Pick any one of these, and I'd be enthusiastic about it.

Should NOT be here right now as must get ready to run out the door. Coco has a beauty parlour appointment and I shouldn't be late as they've given me the latest possible appointment. Just want to say that I finished two short but highly satisfying audiobooks yesterday, Morality Play by Barry Unsworth and False Dawn by Edith Wharton, the latter being a short story from Old New York (the 40s) read by Derek Jacobi. Both got a ★★★★½ rating. Perhaps will take time to write a few words about each later. We shall see. In the meantime, spoke to my mum a short while ago and as she can rarely get her hands on English language books in France, have ordered and sent her Morality Play from the Book Depo as I do think it rather brilliant. Have now moved on to something completely different, with Robert' Harris' Fatherland, a speculative fiction novel about a Germany in the 60s in which Hitler has won the war. Brrrr, chilling!

>250 Chatterbox: Thrilled with your picks Suz! Much more to say, but must hurry on to the dog groomer's in a sec, so will be back to comment more later.

Hello. I'm stopping by to wish you a lovely holiday season and a New Year filled with joy.

Yeah, okay, Coco and Buddy may be tied for cutest dog on the planet.
:-)
xo

We need a fresh from the groomer photo of Coco to see. ;) I was wondering how easy it was to get English language books in other countries. Now I know. No easier than getting French books in the U.S. Morality Play looks good. She should enjoy it, and I'm WListing it.

#254 -- so much easier than it once was, even if it's still difficult! During my high-school years in Brussels in the late 1970s, I'd pay $10 or more in Belgian francs for a paperback book that had a cover price of $3 to $5, and the selection was pretty limited, too. There were only two bookstores that had English books, the House of Paperbacks out in Waterloo and WH Smith down on Blvd Anspach downtown. I spent a lot of time in the latter, but even then, the selection was very limited. Our high school library helped, but other than that, the only option was the British Council Library. I always felt book-deprived. The same was true living in Japan in the early 1980s. Books were expensive -- I have some that have labels on telling me they sold for 1,200 yen to 1,500 yen, when I was earning about 200,000 yen a month at the Japan Times -- and while if you went to the really big Kinokuniya store, there was a reasonably appealing selection, it still wasn't all that broad. For a while, I was able to profit from my parents' membership in the Tokyo American Club, which had a reasonable library, but the few dozen books I took to graduate school with me are ones that I re-read so many times I can still remember entire chunks of dialog.

Amazon and now Book Depository have completely changed all that. I can (and do) order French books here, and it would make it possible to order anything I hear about wherever I was living, especially if I was OK relying on BD and its free shipping. It's still not like walking into a bookstore and the serendipity effect, but the Internet -- sites like this, Goodreads and Amazon -- mean that I know when new books by fave authors are coming out, and I don't have to get on a plane and go home with an entire suitcase stuffed with books. There are alternatives! When my former newspaper briefly pondered sending me to Japan in the early 1990s, I was really ambivalent, in large part because I worried about being book-deprived! You still can't walk into a bookstore in non-English speaking countries and load up on the titles you want, but then, why should you assume that would be appropriate, even if English is a lingua franca? But between AMZN/BD and the evolution of e-books, you're not reliant on whatever someone chooses to stock, and quite often, if you're creative, you don't have to pay the surreal premium on imported books.

As if I hadn't been getting outrageous amounts of sleep before, I've been having a hard time going on less than 12-15 hours for the past few days, turning what were already short days into a few hours interlude between one sleeping marathon and another. I am feeling very confused. I ought to have finished Old Filth by now, and though I can see objectively that it's a good book, I just can't seem to get the least bit excited about it. Add to that I can't seem to read for more than an hour at a time without falling asleep, it's been rather slow going. I'm hopeful I'll manage to finish it this year all the same. Fatherland is rather dreary, with all signs pointing to the dreaded 'final solution', but surely not? What worked with An Officer and a Spy in using historical facts that are well known to most of the planet here just seems not so very exciting, but then again this could have to do with the narrator of this audiobook who seems to have a flattening effect on the whole. I'm not sure anything I'm writing is making sense, but I'm afraid if I try to reread I might fall asleep, so I won't.

>250 Chatterbox: Suz, agreed the rushed, breathless approach worked very well for Morality Play. I quite like Michael Maloney as a narrator and always willing to listen to his stuff.

I haven't had the energy to worry about what may or may not be something even worth worrying about as far as heart goes, to the point where I've more or less forgotten about it already, so will have to make an extra effort tomorrow to rouse myself on time to make an appointment with family doctor. Blood pressure isn't a problem, as it tends to be rather on the low side in any case.

I'm very happy about your selections for me. I needed an excuse to pick up Through Black Spruce, mostly because I can't seem to ever get all that excited about Canadian authors ahead of time, so I'll definitely put that one on the 'official' list. I've been meaning to get to Master and Commander for the past couple of months, so will be happy to make time for it in coming months, probably sooner than later. I know you are very fond of Tull narrating, but it seems here in Canada at least most of the other books are only available as narrated by Simon Vance, whom I can no longer abide so that I've decided if I continue with the series it'll be with Ric Jerrom. I got Post Captain recently narrated by him when I saw it was available for under $4. I believe Lucy is the one who got me to put Smallbone Deceased on the wishlist originally, and happy to know you are also a fan. I got excited about Dissolution quite a while ago when I started reading one glowing review about that series after another in this group, but as you pointed out, needed to gain an understanding of the background before tackling it and should be ready for it now. Unfortunately the audiobooks are only available in the dreaded ABRIDGED version to us in Canada, so not likely I'll be going that route.

>252 Whisper1: Thank you so much for dropping by dear Linda!

>253 EBT1002: Ellen, Buddy makes me heart melt. Between the two of them, they've got the worldwide cuteness factor pretty well covered.

>254 cammykitty: Katie, Coco looks very much like a big mouse at the moment, now they've trimmed down his face to a pointy snout and with those big ears completely out of proportion with the rest of his body so that he looks like he might take off into the air every time he takes a pause and shakes himself out and lining up his ears so they don't hit the floor while he's at it. Very very cute. I'll try to grab a decent shot or two to post very soon.

>255 Chatterbox: Suz, of course you're right that between Amazon and Book Depo, getting English books in France shouldn't be so difficult nowadays. Only thing as far as my mum goes is that her now ex left her with a mountain of debts with the bank so that she can't have a bank account for a few years more, much less a credit card, so she can't make use of those resources as yet. Which is why I get her a book sent her way once in a while. It's much cheaper for me to send her books via Book Depo than to try to mail my own books her way, no doubt about it. She was just telling me the other day about trying to read The Sea, The Sea in the French translation which really made me feel sorry for her. I shudder at the thought of having to try to read Murdoch in French. Or any English author, for that matter, especially as she made a living from translating both ways for some time and I who am not a translator can't read either language in translation without driving myself half mad trying to imagine what the original text must have read like.

Finished Fatherland a short while ago. Heavy heavy heavy heavy. But what else could I expect? Just... all the Final Solution stuff came out toward the end (don't think that's a big spoiler) and as it happened I was trying to prepare dinner and make soup from a Turkey carcass and some of the details about how these things in the concentration camps were put into execution, made for a very bad combination somehow with my trying to handle this carcass and whatnot. I should probably be staying away from that sort of heavy material at the moment considering how addled my brain is with fatigue and general sense of melancholy that takes over when I'm so depleted. So. Will listen to Hedda Gabler and continue working on my drawing in a bit.

I hope you made an apt today with your doctor. You are way too tired :(

{{{{{Ilana}}}}}

>259 -Cee-: Claudia, I had to see my banker today, which turned out to take quite a long time so that I did not have time to make that appointment with my doctor, but I'll try to do so tomorrow, if the office is open, otherwise very soon.

Finished Old Filth a little earlier tonight, and have to say it suddenly grew on me at the end. Will have to reread it. The whole time, it felt like the books was written for people who've already read it, if that makes sense at all, so that I'm sure I'll enjoy it much more when revisiting. Now I've got The New York Stories by Edith Wharton going and on audio ♫ The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell, both of which I imagine should take me into the New Year. Still, 158 books for 2013 isn't too shabby, though I don't think I would even have hit 50 if it weren't for audiobooks. Having a little bout of insomnia right now (not surprising given my recent sleep marathons), but will try to get some sleep so I can be in shape tomorrow to start up a thread in the new group and catch up with folks there if I can manage it.

Doctor or Banker? Depends I suppose what you need to see the latter for? - giving or receiving. If the fellow is handing out lolly give the Doctor a rain-check as you'll feel immediately better I am sure.

Hope a little bit of nonsense makes you smile as, that too, is apparently very good for health.

When are you crossing the 2013/14 divide (threadwise)?

Hi Paul, I think after my visit with banker yesterday, I really DO need to see my doctor. Things did not go as I had hoped and it seems my 'case' needs to be presented to the powers that be before they can relieve me of my current discomfort. Which means I have to sort through piles of of unorganized papers to find official documents to support my case... all stuff I usually put off doing till it is absolutely imperative. I'm about to start digging in the piles today, but to fortify myself have decided to spend my tea break here, visit some 2013 threads to close off the year, visit a few 2014 to open up the year to come, and, yes, to create my own 2014 first thread too. Got an appointment with the doctor this Friday. Seems when you leave a message saying your need your heart looked at, they don't keep you lingering on the waiting list too long.