Chatterbox reads -- and reads, and reads, and reads -- all through 2014!

I start all my threads with a bit of poetry -- and this year, in honor/remembrance of the outbreak of World War I, I'll be focusing on the group of poets who came of age during those years or immediately afterwards, and who made their names during the war and in its aftermath.

The following is from Siegfried Sassoon, one of the 'survivors'. It's the final segment of a May 1916 poem, written just before the horrific battle of the Somme, in which a million men were killed or wounded in only a few weeks: one of the bloodiest battles ever waged, and an example of utter futility since it changed nothing on the ground. By 1917, Sassoon, who had been described as ludicrously, suicidally courageous, was an outspoken opponent of the war; he became a close friend and mentor of Wilfred Owen (as chronicled in Pat Barker's novel, Regeneration.

The Last Meeting
III

I know that he is lost among the stars,
And may return no more but in their light.
Though his hushed voice may call me in the stir
Of whispering trees, I shall not understand.
Men may not speak with stillness; and the joy
Of brooks that leap and tumble down green hills
Is faster than their feet; and all their thoughts
Can win no meaning from the talk of birds.

My heart is fooled with fancies, being wise;
For fancy is the gleaming of wet flowers
When the hid sun looks forth with golden stare.
Thus, when I find new loveliness to praise,
And things long-known shine out in sudden grace,
Then will I think: ‘He moves before me now.’
So he will never come but in delight,
And, as it was in life, his name shall be
Wonder awaking in a summer dawn,
And youth, that dying, touched my lips to song.

I think that the first year I jumped aboard this particular bandwagon was back in 2010, and I've gotten hooked -- the book bullets, the companionship and friendship of those who see nothing whatsoever that's unusual or abnormal in reading dozens of books a month, and hundreds a year. Excessive, perhaps, but not abnormal...

I've dialed up my total objective this year. Since I'll be reading a lot of essays on top of this, for my 2014 categories challenge, I may well be overly optimistic. But, why not??




I usually keep tabs on my books one by one as I read them, and probably will finish five separate batches of 75 books over the course of the year. When I wrap 'em up, I'll post a mini-review or other comments here. I'll also post comments on the essays that I read for the categories challenge, but these will NOT be included in the total # of books read (unless I complete an entire book of essays.)

Anyone curious about the essays can follow that thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/161117




I'd like to keep re-reads to about 25% of my total reading, and the target for non-fiction is about the same. So roughly 50% of the books I read this year should be "new to me" books, whether by authors I've never read before or old favorites. I'll mark all re-reads with an asterisk (*), and note whether a book is fiction or non-fiction, and also whether it's an audiobook.

A guide to my highly subjective ratings system. Don't treat it as gospel or anything more than my opinion. I'm not trying to second guess the rest of the world, just chronicle my own experience with a book. With fiction, I value strong and compelling characters, a convincing plot (that doesn't have to move at the speed of light) and what, for want of a better phrase, I can only characterize as unpretentious writing. By which I mean, I have a strong and ever-growing aversion to authors whose primary goal seems to be to demonstrate how clever they are, rather than to write a great and convincing story. Clear and elegant prose trumps convoluted and overly structured Big Themes and Ideas every time.

Genres? Well, I'm an avid mystery fan; I read a reasonable quantity of chick lit, and have taken some baby steps into fantasy, mostly via dystopian lit. I also read a reasonable amount of "classics" and literary fiction, although I tend to take a wary view of the "insta-classic": the novel by a previously unknown writer who is suddenly hailed as the next Salinger/Kafka/Bellow/Thomas Mann/Tolstoy/whoever. The publishing industry has a strong incentive to promote this kind of stuff; I've got an equally strong instinct telling me that about 75% of this stuff will be merely OK reading and only some of it will survive to earn the title of classic in 50 years' time. In the world of non-fiction, I look for a strong narrative arc and a clear, coherent voice and thesis -- and readability, above all. I tend to shun polemical stuff -- there's enough of that flying about elsewhere. I'm somewhat reconsidering my aversion to memoirs, although not the "I had a tough and horrible life event/disease/abuse situation, and I'm writing about it now because memoirs make money" sub-genre, which I loathe with a growing passion. The grief memoir is a prime example of this. At the other end of the spectrum are books about books, history tomes and books that make me look at the world in new ways and via a different prism.

The Ratings!
1.5 or less: A tree gave its life so that this book could be printed and distributed?
1.5 to 2.7: Are you really prepared to give up hours of your life for this?? I wouldn't recommend doing so...
2.8 to 3.3: Do you need something to fill in some time waiting to see the dentist? Either reasonably good within a ho-hum genre (chick lit or thrillers), something that's OK to read when you've nothing else with you, or that you'll find adequate to pass the time and forget later on.
3.4 to 3.8: Want to know what a thumping good read is like, or a book that has a fascinating premise, but doesn't quite deliver? This is where you'll find 'em.
3.9 to 4.4: So, you want a hearty endorsement? These books have what it takes to make me happy I read them.
4.5 to 5: The books that I wish I hadn't read yet, so I could experience the joy of discovering them again for the first time. Sometimes disquieting, sometimes sentimental faves, sometimes dramatic -- they are a highly personal/subjective collection!

The Books! (Being the First Chapter of Suzanne's 2014 Reading Adventures...)




1. Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd (3.9), STARTED 1/1/14, FINISHED 1/2/14 (fiction)
2. *Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst (3.75), STARTED 12/26/13, FINISHED 1/2/14 (fiction) (audiobook)
3. Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chang (4.1), STARTED 1/1/14, FINISHED 1/4/14 (non-fiction)
4. The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam (4.2), READ 1/4/14 (fiction)
5. An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine (4.75), STARTED 1/2/14, FINISHED 1/5/14 (fiction)
6. My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead (4.1), STARTED 1/2/14, FINISHED 1/6/14 (non-fiction)
7. No Man's Nightingale by Ruth Rendell (3), STARTED 1/4/14/, FINISHED 1/6/14 (fiction)
8. Garlic, Mint & Sweet Basil by Jean-Claude Izzo (3.85), READ 1/7/14 (non-fiction)
9. Teatime for the Firefly by Shona Patel (3.2), STARTED 1/6/14, FINISHED 1/8/14 (fiction)
10. The Eternal Wonder by Pearl Buck (1.6), STARTED 1/5/14, FINISHED 1/9/14 (fiction)
11. *Confusion by Elizabeth Jane Howard (3.9), STARTED 1/6/14, FINISHED 1/10/14 (fiction)

*- re-read

welcome back!

Suz - WW1 will also figure in my thread this year and I'll be collecting and reading plenty of related stuff in 2014's centenary of the start of the madness. Lovely to see you back. Reading target for 2014?

See above, Paul -- 475 this year! I'll probably get a big jump on it all with the Amazon Vine ARCs that will be arriving shortly. Literally two dozen, I think.

I reviewed about 130 books last year, and read about 190 total. I am in AWE of a goal of 475 books in a year. AWE!

Tome Home 2014 Planning Team...first meeting, January? Sending smooches!

Look forward to following your reading comments etc once again for 2014.

It's ambitious for me, too, Richard! I think I once got north of 500, but that was accidental. This year's was conservative (425), and I'll probably end up somewhere between 435 and 440. We'll see! It's all just a number, anyway, right? I would like to keep my non-fiction reading up a bit above where it has been in 2013, and I'd like to leave room for a bunch of re-reads, as well.

Quite an amazing number. Good luck with your goal.

I tend to do more lurking than posting on a lot of threads. I'll try to lurk less and comment more this year. I get some great reading ideas from your lists and comments, as well as some good tips on books to avoid!

Hi Suz, that's quite a target, but I guess you'll manage :-)

I am fascinated by those of you in the 75 Books group who have goals so large. Do you read all day, every day? Are you a speed reader? How do you structure your life so this can be accomplished? Servants do your daily chores? You only have three outfits which you rotate wearing, and the laundry is a quick and easy task to do while reading the best book you have on hand?

Nonetheless, I have planted a star on your thread and I look forward to reading your thoughts on what's good in the book world. That is the whole point, right?

Happy New Book Reading Year!

Karen, LOL... I dunno, really, I read very rapidly (I always have) and I happen to write very rapidly as well. Which is lucky, because drafting a typical story/column has tended to be twice as fast for me as it has for many of my colleagues over the years. I will listen to audiobooks while doing the dishes or folding the laundry; I have FAR more than three outfits (because for decades I didn't have in-the-house laundry facilities and I hate lugging sheets and towels three blocks through rain or snow) and I have a marginally untidy house (not dirty or chaotic; it just doesn't bother me to have piles of books on my floor.)

It's just that reading is my default mode. The last thing I'm doing before I turn out the light is usually reading; I'll usually reach for a book first thing in the morning if it's a weekend, and any work breaks I take during the day are excuses (ahem, reasons) to pick up a book. I'd say that most days I read at least three hours, and on slow days or weekends, far more than that. Since moving in May I haven't turned on the TV to watch a program (though I'll watch DVDs occasionally), I don't go out much here since I don't know a lot of people (just when I'm back in NY, when my reading levels drop precipitously). When I get migraines, I stop reading, however.

A friend of mine thinks I have a form of synesthesia when it comes to words/letters. (That's the moniker given to the fac that when some folks see numbers, they see them or experience them in colors.) Long before I could read, for instance, my mother would tell me that if I didn't behave, there would be "a war". I had NO idea what a war might be, but I knew that it was chiseled in dark charcoal granite, all caps, bold letters, non-serif. The sound/shape and meaning of a word are all linked together in a way that I can't really understand or explain, but it means that when I see a word, my response is instinctive/visceral. I think that contributes to the speed at which I read. I've never yet seen any studies aimed at explaining how or why people read rapidly without speed reading (which I define as a kind of skimming and data mining) but if I do, I'll sign up!

Hi Suz!! Wow you have an awesome goal there. Best of luck on your reading and will be stopping by just lurking and seeing what you are reading. I have some of the same questions as maggie1944 in message 12 wrote!. Starred..

Hi Suz! I hope to keep track of your thread(s) a bit better in 2014. Your comments and recommendations are always among my favorites, but real life gets in the way of me keeping up. Maybe less so in the coming year!

Looking forward to another year of Suz!

#13 - Ha! I've always wondered this too, but was afraid to ask.

Hi Suz! I keep seeing you on others' threads and find your comments so interesting and insightful that I just had to come and check out your thread. Looking forward to following you in 2014.

Wow, lots of new visitors -- welcome, one and all! I'll hope to see you back again; one of my own New Year's resolutions is to thread hop myself a bit more actively. I've been very bad at that this year, and have plenty of excuses -- but that's all they are, excuses... But yup, I'm better at reading than posting.

Sorry to be so baffling about my reading. I've just always read. My mother had to ration my books when we were on car trips as children, but had to pay my brother a penny a page. Had it been the other way around, I'd be wealthy by now.

Found you and starred you Suz!

I have synesthesia, myself. As long as I can remember, letters and numbers have each had distinct personalities and each is associated with a color and gender. For most of my life I thought I was just weird, but a handful of years ago I learned that there's a name for it!

Hi, Suz!

OMG, Amber, there's a name for it? When I was in grade school, I created an ongoing comic strip where the characters were all letters and numbers. Good to know I'm not weird either (okay, I may be weird, but not about that)!

Terri: I was also surprised to learn how prevalent and varied it can be!

I don't have it but shynesthesia holds a certain fascination for me.

It's amazing -- a friend of mine who has prodded and nudged me into listening to audiobooks mentioned the concept to me at first. I was very resistant, since the relationship between me and words is tied to the visual -- it's the shape of the letters but also the way they combine to make up a word. Let's take "combine" -- the individual letters don't have a visceral impact, but arranged in that way, the sense of "gathering together" is immediate and strong. It's also very specific to English. Although I was reading in French by my mid-teens, it's always been much more "normal" an experience -- slower, easier to put the book down, less carried away. (When I'm listening to French -- TV or radio -- it's pretty much the same as English to me, although my spoken fluency has dropped off very significantly in the last few years.) So clearly, whatever the issue is with me and words, it was formed early in life. And it's not classical synesthesia, with colors (although curiously, I often describe singing voices, especially in opera, in the context of both color and texture -- eg, one person might have a voice that is turquoise satin, and someone else's is a charcoal velvet with gold embroidery...) Amber, gender is a new one for me -- how fascinating!

Re synesthesia -- when my friend Dave & I were discussing this, he sent me off to watch this YouTube video: http://youtu.be/olP_kDjyczc

Another lurker has given you a star and come out of the woodwork to make his presence known. I can barely get above 65 books and I am envious of the 75'rs I've followed this year who read vastly more than I do. I'm looking forward to following your quest this year.

Happy New Year.

Hi Suz!

>24 Chatterbox:: I think the musical aspect is a pretty common version of the condition, in fact, although it's not part of my own experience. Whole words have gender and personality for me, too.

I've always been intrigued by synesthesia, though it's not something I experience myself.

Starred and will be following out of sheer awe at your reading goals. I live up the way from you in MA.

Have been following your discussion about the visceral impact of words. I had a chance to meet Roy Blount Jr. and he is a BIG proponent of this concept. I just love to dip into Alphabet Juice periodically just for the fun of his take on a particular word. I think you are definitely onto something there.

Impressive goal for the year, but I'm sure you'll reach it. I look forward to following your threads although I do more lurking than posting.

Fascinating! Another great example of why LT is such a joy in my life.

Marianne, how fascinating re Roy Blunt! I had almost never discussed this "words thing" until a year or two ago, not for any conscious reason on my part but just because I'd never stopped to really think about it at all until I was trying to explain to my friend why I was ambivalent about the whole audiobook phenomenon and found myself trying to explain the visceral visual appeal of words. I do think that we absorb visual cues more rapidly than we can language, so perhaps that has something to do with what looks to some as if it's speed reading? But I very definitely don't speed read, based on what I understand that to be: a conscious effort to skim or look for clues to meaning. That may be an element of what actually happens, but if it is, I certainly don't set out to do that consciously. Moreover, I wouldn't expect that I'd retain as much detail as I do (including entire chunks of languages from favorite books that I've read over and over again and that sound like popular songs from my teen years that are now deep in my psyche, or extraneous bizarre facts) if I were skimming. I don't use aids, like a pencil or something, nor do I think subvocalization is anything but an annoyance. I may "hear" some words but it's subconscious and fleeting. I read far faster than anyone could read to me (eg, a 12 hour audiobook is a four-hour book for me -- a calculation that the Kindle Paperwhite has made simpler!).

'Tis a puzzlement.

Lurkers always welcome!! Lurkers who de-lurk occasionally to wave, even more welcome!!

OK, off to finish the column du jour. Am looking forward to the weekend because next week will be a bear: a lot of deadlines looming and another holiday during which I won't be able to reach people that I need to talk to. Bah humbug.

What an interesting discussion! Since childhood I've seen numbers as having different personalities, but am inclined to think that this is not the same thing. I'm completely stupid about anything but the simplest math, but I know that the number 4 is like that kid in school that everybody likes - teachers, parents and all the other kids. Probably 4 is the star quarterback on the football team, too. (Yes, 4 is a male.) Wonder if anybody else sees numbers this way.

I feel that way about the number 12. Must be Tom Brady's influence!

A lurker here popping in to say hi. I've never heard of synesthesia but I'm envious - sounds like a sixth sense! I also don't like audiobooks, I wish I did but I need to see words on a page/screen to enjoy reading books.

Lisa, I've grown to enjoy them -- very selectively -- as a completely different experience. In some cases, they enhance the reading experience. In one memorable case -- the Patrick O'Brian series of naval adventures with Aubrey and Maturin -- they actually made the difference between enjoying and being indifferent to them. It all hinges on a weird combination of text and narrator. I really enjoyed the audiobook of Morality Play by Barry Unsworth, which I just finished; the audiobook version of The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden is wonderful, and the CJ Sansom series featuring Matthew Shardlake as a Tudor lawyer/sleuth. The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch has a truly wonderful narrator, to the extent that I'm actually wary of reading vs listening to the fourth book in the series (not yet available on audiobook.) But those are a minority. Some I'm indifferent to -- like Simon Vance reading Trollope or Dickens. Some I loathe and promptly return -- that's one thing that is great about Audible, they have never refused to let me return a book that I think is going to be fun and turns out to be dreadful. I decided I'd like to listen to The Tontine by Thomas Costain, which is a real chunkster, but the narration was simply dreadful.

So, when it's good, it's very very good, and when it's bad, it's horrid. I am a bit spoiled in that I can draw on my friend David's extensive audiobook library, which includes most of Alan Furst's books and lots of other mysteries. It has been a slow evolution from "meh" to spasmodic enjoyment. I do like being able to listen to a book while I do chores, and it was a blessing while I was packing to move and unpacking later on. Also when I had flu! I found reading too tiring, but listening to a book was wonderful.

Cassie the cat is curled up beside me and SNORING in a loud whuffling way. Very funny.

I suppose this should have been tucked up there underneath post #2, but hey, I'm a bit slow.

I'm setting myself some sub-challenges here: to read or re-read 20 books with a theme that revolves around World War I, its causes or its aftermath. These can be any kind of fiction or non-fiction. I'm also going to try to read 20 books published by Europa Editions. These are starting to pile up on my TBR mountain and it's a shame as they often are very good and a way to discover new to me writers.

Herewith, the tickers and the place I'll log these in addition to the "main" list. I'll list the books I intend/hope/plan to read, and check 'em off as they are completed. Subject to change!!!

World War I: The Great War, its Causes & Its Aftermath




1. The Beauty and the Sorrow by Peter Englund
2. The Final Whistle by Arthur Ellis
3. The Cartographer of No Man's Land by P.S. Duffy
4. The Archduke's Assassination by Greg King
5. The Unending Vigil by Philip Longworth
6. The Ways of the World by Robert Goddard
7. *The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell
8. *The Missing of the Somme by Geoff Dyer
9. Vimy by Pierre Berton
10. Roses of No Man's Land by Lyn Macdonald
11. Death's Men by Denis Winter
12. Undertones of War by Edmund Blunden
13. Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning by Jay Winter
14. Peacemakers by Margaret MacMillan
15. *Night Shall Overtake Us by Kate Saunders
16. The Wars by Timothy Findley
17. The First Casualty by Ben Elton
18. The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
19. *Regeneration by Pat Barker
20. Rising Above the Ruins in France by Corinna Haven Putnam
21. At Break of Day by Elizabeth Speller
22. Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson
23. Dead Man's Land by Robert Ryan
24. Fallen Soldiers by George Mosse
25. Stella Bain by Anita Shreve
26. The Happy Foreigner by Enid Bagnold
27. The Absolutist by John Boyne
28. Wake by Anna Hope
29. The Forbidden Zone by Mary Borden
30. Gossip From the Forest by Thomas Keneally
31. Empires of the Dead by David Crane

Europa Editions: Old Friends & New Discoveries




1. The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam READ 1/4/14, 4.2 stars
2. Last Friends by Jane Gardam
3. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
4. The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante
5. Zeroville by Steve Erickson
6. Lazarus is Dead by Richard Beard
7. The Have-Nots by Katharina Hacker
8. The Dream Maker by Jean-Christophe Rufin
9. Bound in Venice by Alessandro Marzo Magno
10. Summertime All the Cats Are Bored by Philippe Georget
11. Garlic, Mint and Sweet Basil by Jean-Claude Izzo READ 1/7/14, 3.85 stars
12. Bone China by Roma Tearne
13. The Thursday Night Men by Tonino Benacquista
14. Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet by Amara Lakhous
15. Last Train to Paris by Michele Zackheim
16. Cecilia by Linda Ferri
17. The Frost on His Shoulders by Lorenzo Mediano
18. Heliopolis by James Scudamore
19. The Nun by Simonetta Agnello
20. Twelve Who Don't Agree by Valery Panyushkin

#37 Suz I like the sound of The Great War and Modern Memory and The Return of the Soldier so I've added them to my own WWI reading list.

> 36

they actually made the difference between enjoying and being indifferent to them.

Suz, you're spot on with this statement. Some books, when read to you, are better than books you read yourself. It all depends on the narrator. Because I'm hard of hearing, I have to choose narrators very carefully and ensure they're easy to understand. When I find one who reads well (like a theater performance), but is clearly understandable (sadly, this often precludes foreign accents), I'm overjoyed.

Books on tapes and CDs have made my boring drives to work (previously, as I'm now newly retired) more interesting. I still favor dead tree books over all other ways of reading, but one simply cannot drive and read one of those!

#39: "one simply cannot drive and read"
Well, not if one wants to stay (a) alive and (b) out of jail. I'm quite certain it's a variant on "driving under the influence" (of books & literature)

:)

By the way, I'm sure it's been tried.

I used to read and walk. This lead, on one memorable occasion, to my ending up with matching goose-eggs on each temple, the result of having walked into two different lamp-posts, one on each side. My excuse? I was about 10. But I'm not sure I'd be much better behind the wheel of a car.

Suz -- see that you have a couple of Jane Gardam books on your list. Are these old friends or new acquaintances? I've had it in my mind to read her at some point. Old Filth just appeared on the ABA Top 25 Law Novels list and it seems to be nudging its way to the top of my list. Thoughts? Have you read it or other Gardam before? Should I start with something else first? Thanks, Marianne

I really loved Old Filth but for some unknown reason have been slow to follow up with the other two books in the trilogy. I'm hoping/planning to read the second book next; I have two of her "non-Filth" books my own collection and The Man in the Wooden Hat is visiting me from the library at the moment.

Wow, your WWI reading sounds wonderful.

Re: the synesthesia discussions up-post. I've always associated personalities and gender with numbers. I remember being distracted by this fact in elementary school when I was struggling to learn to do basic math. I made up stories about the numbers that fit their personalties instead of concentrating on how numbers actuallly work and fit together!

Hi Suz, just dropping off my star. I'm also planning to do some WWI reading and will have to refer back to your list for some ideas. Near the top of my list is The Daughters of Mars based on your rec earlier this year.

I also have a pile of Europas to read, including several Gardams...

oh, dear, the anniversary of WWI conversations which are showing up on public radio, plus the conversations here, and on some other threads, have all conspired to make me want to do it! I don't know if it is realistic of me to set one more goal for this coming year, but I think I'll dip my toe in to the stream. I, too, will use your list as a starting point.

Has anyone thought to start a thread about WWI reading?

I could start a thread later today or tomorrow, when I get myself a little better organized.

There are plenty of other good books that aren't on my list, too. For instance, it's light on military history and those overall chronicles of the war. I didn't include books like the early one by Ben Macintyre, The Englishman's Daughter, or novels like Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (which I've actually not read yet) or A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot (which I have and which is very good). Then there's the new Thomas Keneally novel, which is excellent, Daughters of Mars. I had been talking about putting together a recommended list of WW1 reading (on my 2013 thread), so I can use that and the list above as a starting point.

The reason this all interests me so much is that in my teens I spent a couple of summers working as a tour guide at Vimy Ridge. At the time, we lived in Brussels, and Vimy was about a three hour drive south, in the Pas de Calais region of France. I lived in a tiny room in the youth hostel in Arras, and cycled to and from work every day. I got one day off a week, and one summer I hoarded those so that I could take three or four full days off together and go to Paris. (that summer I got so tired that I actually managed to rear-end a car on the motorway). It was an incredibly formative experience. The first summer I did this I was 16, and living on my own in a youth hostel with people coming and going from all over the world, responsible for making my own meals, getting myself to and from work on time (11 km each way -- about 5 miles?) and doing the work -- taking tours through underground tunnels and trench systems. We essentially lived off the tips, which were quite generous. On a weekend, I could make 200 to 300 francs a day, at a time when the French franc was 5 to the dollar and a very nice dinner in the restaurant across the Grand Place in Arras (steak bearnaise avec frites! and a lovely cream of vegetable soup that I still recall) was only 35/40 francs. Then there was the history, and the fact that it was so visible. I had been studying the years leading up to and following WW1 in my IB contemporary history class, and suddenly I realized viscerally what it was about. As I began to read and study more, I also became convinced that the world we live in today has been shaped, if not determined, by this war and its outcome. If you think of one major political or social trend of the 20th century, it's hard to NOT trace it back in some way to WW1.

I also became convinced that the world we live in today has been shaped, if not determined, by this war and its outcome. If you think of one major political or social trend of the 20th century, it's hard to NOT trace it back in some way to WW1.

Many of the current world's ills can be traced to WWI. I'm not clear on any benefits traceable there. Can you think of any?

One of my areas of interest is the so called Great War, Suz. I have slightly expanded your list on my thread but again by no means exhaustive. I aim to read at least one WWI book per month next year. I also noticed that there is a positive flood of new histories coming out to celebrate the centenary. November's Literary Review featured 14!

Richard -- the evolution of the franchise (the push to expand it to include women and virtually all men), the breakdown of class barriers (sure, that is still going on today, and it was WW2 that took us "over the top", but without the experiences of WW1, I would argue that the groundwork wouldn't have been laid.) Similarly, the demise of absolute emperors. Admittedly, to be replaced in some cases by other forms of totalitarian regimes, but the idea of hereditary absolute rule was torpedoed. The beginnings of the end of colonialism, thanks to Wilson and his arguments in favor of self-determination. (Again, took decades to realize the full potential, and the consequences have been unpredictable.) The arrival of the League of Nations and the United Nations -- while highly imperfect, we forget that the world might be an even worse place without this kind of forum in which world leaders can "jaw jaw jaw" instead of "war war war" (pace, Churchill.) It made it possible to contemplate previously non-mainstream opinions, from pacifism to socialism, as being part of the mainstream, as many people realized that the formerly-despised "flaky" pacifists might have been right in their opposition to the war.

Clearly none of these happened overnight (indeed, some are still unfolding a century later) and clearly, none of them are automatic "goods", without unanticipated consequences, conflict, etc. as part of them. But I'd argue that these are long-term trends that, by and large, we are more grateful for than not, even if the linkage isn't as clear cut and even though we are more likely to disregard the connection between the long-term trend and its roots, and focus instead on the more obvious historical linkage between the development of more murderous weapons, the rise in nationalism and various forms of absolute rule (Stalinism and fascism), etc.

Okay...okay...I *think* I see some good stuff there. I'm struck most by the social-mobility idea, the end of hereditary rulers being a kind of uncorkng that let the fizz rise.

But in this time of plutocracy, I'm not so sure the world chose the better deal. Still, no way to know that then, and there was a brief, shining moment in the 1940s and 1950s when reactionaries were on the run.

I think it's always hard to analyze those "what if" scenarios. I do think that we're in a better place today, because it's possible to challenge the status quo. It's a lot tougher to do that effectively when the reason for the status quo is "that's the way it always has been", "because I'm the son of the earl/duke/prince", "because you weren't born a white man and son of a man of property". Today, 80% of wealth is first generation wealth, and many of its possessors grew up in the lower middle class. We may despise them, but we also could have been among their ranks, had we chosen certain options and been a certain kind of person with certain kinds of talents. What worries me today is that the emerging wealth gap may result in more deterministic outcomes than has been the case since WWW1 and especially since WW2, but we do have an ability to challenge that -- philosophically and politically -- because what we accept to be the norm and desirable has changed so dramatically post 1914. We no longer view the aristocrats as possessed of all the virtues simply because of who they are, for instance.

ETA: to clarify a lot of this relates to our assumptions. What do we assume to be "best practices" in political/social/economic governance? RADICALLY different from pre-1914, and in a good way. And we have a kind of free speech that would have been labeled sedition during WW1. Even by WW2, there was an understand of conscientious objectors that had not existed 25 years previously.

Harking back to message 42 - I used to read and walk, too. This was during high school when I had a half mile to a third of a mile walk home from the bus (depending on which bus I took). It's not hard to do and it sure beat that boring walk. I tried doing it again a couple of years ago when I had a dentist's appointment that I could walk to from home. Still no problem. I envy people who commute via public transport. Audiobooks are the best I can do during my commute and those only when I'm not carpooling.

Good points all. Permaybehaps the fact that so many plutocrats grew up without a sense of noblesse oblige is the reason I despise them so. Still and all, I'm leaning more towards a...permanent...solution to redistribution of wealth, involving mass extinction and complete expropriation, since I do despise them so much.

And hell, I'll be dead before that bill comes due in another generation.

Being devil's advocate-ish yet again: Noblesse oblige had its very significant downside, too. Who wants to be patronized? To be told you will be the recipient of someone else's generosity, but only if you vote the right way (if you have the vote), tug your forelock, defer to your betters, "know your place", and behave in a way that makes you deserving of that largesse? Andrew Carnegie may have generously funded libraries and declared that dying rich is embarassing, but he was a mean SOB when it came to his workers. And so it goes. I think it's a lot less bifurcated than that: there will always be people looking for a way to feel better by despising those who aren't as smart, lucky, fortunate, well born, etc. as themselves. Just as there will always be those who have a sense of responsibility to those who haven't won the lottery of life, or who are aware that it is their good fortune as well as their hard work that has gotten them to where they are. Compare Jeff Skoll to Donald Trump, for instance. No one wants to live in a public housing development, know that it will be hard for their kids to find a way out, and be told they're lucky to have a job at MacDonald's or Wal-Mart. But no one in 1914 wanted to lose their job on a big estate when they got ill, lose the roof over their head when they lost the job because it was a "tied cottage", and have no pension because there was no form at all of pension or social security. The longer I live; the more I think about this stuff, the more I'm convinced that we have traded one set of issues for another. Which doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to make it better, but does convince me that utopia ain't a real place (quiet down, Thomas More!) and revolution is no solution (why would it turn out any better than it did in 1917?)

Anyway - lots of room to think, ponder and discuss. I'll see about getting that WW1 thread put up...

Happy New Year, Suz! I'm looking forward to your wonderful variety of reading goals in 2014!

Weeellll, on the flipside of that 1917 comparo, we have 1776 and 1789 and 1848. And 1921 was the Counterrevolution that re-established the tsars as the absolute monarchs of Russia, only they weren't Romanovs and the state wasn't any more obtrusive than before. Many famines before 1932-1934 had political more than climatic roots, and purges are nothing unique to the Communist regime of the USSR, or China, or anywhere else.

Human beings are vile, irredeemable scum. Plans for the redemption of humanity from its baser self are a) ill advised and 2) uniformly unsuccessful. All those same arguments about the demeaning nature of charity are applicable in spades to religion and ideology emphasizing redemption.

Permaybehaps humanity deserves to be demeaned...?

Aha, but 1776 wasn't a revolution, except in terms of who was going to govern: would it be the locals or the English from a distance? It wasn't intended to be a social upheaval, nor was it. And 1789 has only been transformative in the VERY long haul, by way of Robespierre's reign of terror and Napoleon's equally totalitarian rule and devastating and murderous wars. I'd probably agree with you on 1848, although I'd have to argue also that that was a largely failed wave of revolutions that led to totalitarian backlashes in Italy, what became the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, France (where Napoleon III was no more benign than was his uncle, in terms of creating what today we'd call a 'civil society'.)

As I said, I like the role of devil's advocate!! :-)

It's always always true that there are two sides to every coin, and it's ALWAYS about coins when governments change.

But I note a singularly telling silence re: my assertion that humans are vile, irredeemable scum!

And... I'm already drastically behind on your thread. Oh well! Starred, regardless! Haha.

I'm going to be doing the Virago Group's WWI Theme read Suzanne and that list has books that, for the most part, are entirely different from what you're planning to read. I am going to include some non-fiction which they haven't really included at all so that I get more of a rounded picture but, at any rate, I'm really looking forward to it. Your list is amazingly inclusive.

ETA: I'm referring to the WWI thread you started.

Bonnie, do add some recommendations from your Viragos! The only consideration for fiction inclusions is that the plot should deal with the war, its causes or aftermath, directly in some way. So, for instance, I'm not including fiction about the Tsar's daughters. For instance, if there's a novel by Richard Aldington or Rebecca West that deals directly with the war, that's ripe for inclusion, but just because they lived through that era doesn't mean every one of their novels makes the list. For instance, Virgina Woolf was writing throughout this, but the war is really a backdrop to her novels -- they may mention the war in passing, but they're not about it, in either plots or themes.

The link to the WW1 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/163004

Richard, human beings are deeply, tragically flawed. I'm not sure I'd go as far as you do, but that's because I believe that even when a bunch of them end up behaving in vile or scum-like ways, it's not because they set out to do so. We're not all Hitlers/Himmlers/genocidal SS guards, even if very few of us have what it takes to be a Raoul Wallenberg or Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I think the human condition is somewhere in the middle: we just want to muddle through and often we're reckless, careless, thoughtless and bugger it up.

Faith -- not as far behind -- not nearly! -- as you would be with Paul or Richard...

OK: a new topic. I watched a DVD of the film version of Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier last night, which I ended up liking very much indeed. Has anyone read this or his other novel translated into English?

Happy New Year Thread, Suzanne!
Oooo, I own Night Train to Lisbon but have put off reading it simply because it gives my monitor just the right boost it needs to be level with my eyes. Perhaps I should find another book to take its place and read it!

Lynda, well, that's a novel excuse, ahem reason, for not reading a book!! (and welcome...) That said, I have no idea whether the book is good or not, but the movie (and Jeremy Irons) were good and the plot intrigued me.

I present a quote from the Grove Press translation of the novel:

“A feeling is no longer the same when it comes the second time. It dies through the awareness of its return. We become tired and weary of our feelings when they come too often and last too long.”

The words of Amadeu de Prado, medical doctor and hero of the resistance to Salazar's dictatorship, from his manuscript that the main character Gregorius reads.

Is that a recommendation, or are you arguing that it's hyperbole?? :-) It could go either way; it's either faux philosophy (Coelho irritates me in this manner) or else really interesting. I'm biased in the book's favor because of the film and the setting (to which the movie did FULL justice; I was smitten by Lisbon during my four-day stay there almost 15 years ago, and interested in the era), but am open to being talked out of it. Because how immense does my TBR Mt. Everest need to be???

Okay, I'll come out of the closet: I think this book is the Swiss version of The Celestine Prophecy and would rather have eye surgery than read any part of it again.

A few more WWI related novels which you haven't mentioned that sit on my shelves are:

The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart, Deafening by Frances Itani, Remembrance by Theresa Breslin, Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, Billy Bishop Goes to War, The Light Heart by Elswyth Thane, Barbed Wire and Roses by Peter Yeldham, Lives We Leave Behind by Maxine Alterio

It's a toss up between Three Day Road and Birdsong for favourite WWI novel - maybe I will have to re-read them both in 2014 and give you a verdict in a year's time.

All added to the master list, Jen! I read The Stone Carvers this past year, and like it, although I thought her latest, Sanctuary Line, which I just finished before Xmas, was even better.

Richard, thanks for the clarification!!

All the suggestions are causing my WW1 reading list to expand exponentially.

>63 Chatterbox:: Oh gosh, it's true... I stepped into both of their threads and almost had a panic attack! Such popular gentlemen we have around here!

Funny- I just saw the film Night Train to Lisbon at the "second run" movie house in Toronto last night- terrific- one of my friends had read the book and thought that the film worked really well as an adaptation. I have the book on my wish list now.

I am late to the party.



Robert

Late, but still welcome, especially since you are accompanied by the critter du thread.

Which looks like a beaver, but isn't. I'm flummoxed again!

In this case, but I won't guarantee consistent behavior, you can find out by clicking on it. If that frightens you, as it does some folk who won't click a link that hasn't been testified to by clergy or government, I will tell you that it is a woodchuck, also known as a groundhog.

Robert

#72 -- Belated response, torontoc -- what is the second-run house in T.O. now? I used to live (well, many decades ago...) near the Bloor, out by Bloor & Bathurst. That was great -- classic movies for just $2 or $3, if I recall correctly. Dirt cheap, anyway. But that was older stuff, not second run.

I put a hold on the book at the library rather than buying it, after registering Richard's aversion to it. I don't share his almost frenetic loathing of Dickens and Hemingway, but I do loathe the kind of book represented by The Celestine Prophecy, so...

Have NO idea what I'm doing awake at this hour. I tried to go to bed early in order to get up and get some deadline work accomplished, and then I woke at 3 and can't get back to sleep. ARGH.

Finishing my last few books for 2013. Thankfully, Amazon Vine finally gave me a postponement on two of the ARCs that otherwise I would have had to "crash read". Phew.

Good morning-There are two film theatres on Mount Pleasant( really midtown just north of Davisville ) that always show movies that I seem to have missed in the Cineplex type cinemas- the Mt Pleasant and the Regent. I think that both are still running because they have editing suites that they rent out during the day. The films are shown at night ( two screenings) and on the weekend. The theatre on Bloor near Bathurst is now the Hot Docs theatre- it shows great documentaries and is used for film festivals as well.

Cool! I vaguely remember those movie theater on Mt. Pleasant, although mostly when I was up in that 'hood it was because I was going book shopping -- ahem -- at Sleuth of Baker Street, over on Bayview. If anyone is a mystery novel fan and in Toronto, this is a must-visit, although I think they have moved to their third set of premises, on Millwood. When I first moved to NYC, and before the advent of Amazon, I used to have them ship me boxes of unavailable UK books. They also used to have all kinds of store cats, two of whom were called Princess and Paddington. I have a coffee mug from there, which features Paddington sitting atop some books. Clearly people with the right priorities!

Great new thread for 2014, Suzanne. I love your idea for the poets. Will be following you with interest, as always.

The mail person just delivered 13 boxes, each containing an Amazon Vine book. Once I've read & reviewed 'em, some will be shared with my preteen niece and nephew, but the bulk -- atop what I have already received -- are for moi. Yes, I overdid it. To put it very mildly. Don't be surprised when you see my January reading list dominated by these tomes!

ETA: Clearly, NetGalley is working to clean up the 2013 backlog -- just got approved for some titles there, too. Including the new novel from Siri Hustvedt. So many books, so little time...

Suz, I am delurking to tell you I am looking forward to your 2014 reads. :)

This is what I love about the new year -- all the de-lurkers!! Welcome, one and all...

Happy New Year Suz! Hope you have a great 2014!

De-lurking to wish you a very Happy New Year, Suzanne! I love the WWI thread you've organized.

Happy New Year, Suz! And congrats on the new thread. You are a book-reading machine, my friend and I bet you are still swamped with TBR books? Here is to cracking the mighty 500!

Hi Suz. Wonderful discussion, as always.
Delurking for two observations/recommendations:
I loved Old Filth and finally got around to reading The Man in the Wooden Hat. It was as good or even better.

And, in your Europa Editions reading, may I suggest you consider Falling to Earth by Kate Southwood? It literally brought me to tears.

Happy 2014 to you!!

Ellen, thanks for the rec's on both the Gardam and Kate Southwood books! I'll be reading Filth #2 in the next week or so, and I'm reasonably confident I'll like; I don't know why I've been procrastinating. Your review of Falling to Earth tipped the balance, and I'll add it to my Europa list!

The WW1 list has become, ahem, slightly out of control. Anyone consulting the thread will quickly realize just why that is... And to add to TBR-mania, I have 24 ARCs from Amazon alone, each with a clock ticking down to D-Day. (For six of them, that will be in a little over two weeks' time; the rest can wait until mid-February, thankfully.

I think I cracked 500 once, Mark, and no one was more surprised than I. Especially since it was the year that my own book was finished and published and I was crazy busy. It ain't gonna happen in 2014...

Pat, hello! That pic makes me want to go sledding, or skating, or something. It's cold enough, but no snow here.

I'm listening to a wonderful, wonderful two-disc recording of French songs by Swedish mezzo Anne-Sofie von Otter, half of which are classical/art songs and the other half "chanson" (think, Piaf). Here's a YouTube clip of her discussing the music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpwErMyDAdM

And I'm finishing my last two books of the year, The Frackers by Greg Zuckerman and Be Shot for Sixpence by Michael Gilbert. I'll wrap 'em both up in 2013, since I've unilaterally decided that I'm actually seeing in the New Year out on the West Coast, chez Ellen. Really, I am. It gives me three hours of extra reading time this year... :-)

Happy 2014 to all...

So far behind, so far behind..
Dear Suzanne, I wish you a happy, smooth, productive, satisfying 2014 --- and .....

Suz - Let's get closer to taking over that blasted bookstore in 2014 ~ it will eventually save me a small fortune. As you have said elsewhere we will compromise - your business acumen, my entertaining skills and we are onto a winner, especially with the nearby pub making us all the side income we need. xx

I look forward to more book-des-jours from you this year - you are a phenom!

Have a wonderful 2014, dear lady.

#89, I'll help spiffy up the place with my photography :-)

Happy New Year Suz! Lots to catch up on here already. There I was trying to catch up with your 2013 threads, but I think I'll try to keep up with the new stuff from now on. Hope 2014 brings you relief from pain (amen to that for both of us!) and all good things and plenty of great reading, quite obviously!

Hi Suzanne, I'll be following your reading again this year. I might not say much but I enjoy what you have to say and get hit with frequent book bullets:)

Happy New Year Suzanne. I hope the Vine books don't totally dominate your reading and you get to a few of the other ones on your Mt tbr.

Happy New Year, Suzanne!

Happy new year to all! I'm starting it out with a micro-migraine, probably because we're squarely in the path of a big winter storm expected to reach us tomorrow afternoon and dump perhaps a foot of snow on our heads. Friday sounds as if it will be a white-out. So I'm not sure how much reading I'll get done today. I'm focusing on two mysteries, No Man's Nightingale by PD James (which has to go back to the library) and Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd, the new mystery due out in the next few days, that has to be read & reviewed for Amazon.

Meanwhile, I'm cross posting my comments on my final two books of 2013, just for fun. For the year, I read 438 books, perhaps about 100 being non-fiction. I'll try to come up with a list of faves in the coming days/weeks. Meanwhile, here are comments on the two books I finished late yesterday, and now I need to go and feed the cats.

My final two books of the year:

437. Be Shot for Sixpence was a re-read of a Michael Gilbert novel just released on Kindle (hurrah!) that I hadn't read for some time. (My paperbacks of his books are literally disintegrating...) Gilbert is a straightforward author of mystery and spy novels, with a fun ability to craft interesting plots around unpredictable 'heroes', like lawyers and accountants. Even his police inspectors end up tripping over big mysteries and conspiracies by exploring small crimes, like the behavior of young kids on their beat, or the deteriorating quality of the cuisine in a small local restaurant, which leads to black market activities, etc. This particular novel, first published in 1956, feels a bit different, as its focus is squarely on espionage and geopolitical stuff, in a remote corner of Hungary and Yugoslavia. Yup, it's very Cold War era-ish, but if you like Eric Ambler's stuff, you really need to give Gilbert a try. He kept writing almost up to his death, with new short stories and a shortish series of mysteries revolving around WW1 (the Luke Pagan mysteries) into the 1990s. This was 3.8 stars.

438. The Frackers by Greg Zuckerman is a fascinating glimpse inside the changes to the US energy industry, a tale told via some of the prime movers in the push toward shale oil and gas, like Chesapeake and EOG Resources. Suddenly, the US is on the verge of energy independence, with tremendous ramifications, and Greg (a former colleague and friend) tells how we got here. I'm not convinced that telling the story through the people is always the best way to do it, and there are some details that I wish were better developed (the application of technology to oil and gas exploration and production; with respect to pricing, the economic tradeoff between oil and gas isn't really explained and the question of when & at what prices new discoveries become economical could be more comprehensive). Annoyingly, the book also is missing an index. I can't help wishing that Zuckerman hadn't saved his contribution re the environmental issues surrounding fracking for an afterward; it would have been better to include them in the main narrative, as the debate/discussion arose. (On the other hand, he takes a very even-handed approach, noting that there are problems with poorly-sealed wells, although the reserves being exploited from fracking are at least 4,000 feet and up to 14,000 feet beneath the surface, while the deepest acquifers are only 1,200 feet down; the same difficulty with the geology that has made it difficult to extract oil and gas and required fracking makes it difficult to see how acquifers could be contaminated.) The bottom line: the jury is out, and we need to be pragmatic, even while we push toward long-term sustainable solutions. (Hey, wind farms are great, but we also need to be able to store the energy they produce far better than can be done today, for instance.) The above are my comments, rather than Greg's. If you're convinced that fracking is Evil, this book won't change your mind and it won't interest you. On the other hand, if you're curious about the science, the business and the people that have changed the energy business so dramatically in the last two decades, this is an excellent survey, and very readable for those without knowledge of either the energy biz or business/finance. I confess I wrote my first stories as a staff reporter about gas pipelines (back in 1988) and have long been fascinated by the industry, which combines science, technology, politics, regulation, innovation & creativity, finance, business, and I was impressed by Greg's ability to convey all the needed info in a smooth and often creative way. Put it this way -- read this and you'll be much better informed about some of the key issues in what is likely to be an ongoing debate, as we fuss and fret about questions like pipeline expansions, LNG imports, deepwater drilling, etc.) 4.5 stars.

My own POV on all this is that the environmental opposition to the energy industry is impracticable. We aren't yet at a point where green technologies are economically competitive (and few of us can afford to take a giant economic hit on our power bills for green reasons -- what would you do if your utility told you that your power costs were going to be much more volatile, and your supply more erratic, because they were only going to use green fuels? If you were legally required to drive a car fueled only by green fuels, even though supplies are inadequate to keep all of us on the road, meaning that prices would soar in response to all that demand?) Nor is this for want of investment capital -- there is a tremendous amount being raised for new ideas, both business capital and R&D. It will happen, but it won't happen overnight to the extent where we can just walk away from fossil fuels and not feel the impact tremendously, and possibly severely. And yet, many are arguing that we should do just this: no pipeline expansions, no new transportation capacity, no fracking, etc. Yes, that means that oil and gas prices will soar and make solar/wind, etc. more affordable on a relative basis. But on an absolute basis, those relative prices could be crippling. I think the jury is out on the environmental fallout of fracking and pipelines, but I also think that we know what those risks are and can plan to contain them to a far greater extent than we can cope with banning fossil fuel transportation and production. Is it safer to import crude oil or drill offshore? (Exxon Valdez; the BP blowout in the Gulf?) To rely on alternatives like coal or nuclear? (blowing tops of Appalachian mountains and wreaking a different and more obvious kind of environmental havoc/Chernobyl & Fukushima)? And where are these campaigners in places like Sarnia, Ontario and its counterparts in the US, where refining facilities are clearly/demonstrably doing far more harm to people in their vicinity? (Cancer rates significantly higher, higher rates of miscarriages and birth defects that have clearly been traced to air and water quality.)

I want these new shale wells closely monitored, especially for methane and especially when crude reservoirs are closer to acquifers. But the automatic assumptions that correlation is causation trouble me philosophically, as do the impracticable and dogmatic insistence of some crusaders. It's a delicate balancing act, and I think the worst possible thing is to be so convinced of the absolute truth (fracking is safe/fracking should be banned) that we're not thoughtful & empirical about what it is that we do. I don't trust industry studies, but I don't trust those commissioned by people who already are conflating anecdotal cases with scientific proof.

Climbing down off my soap box now.

Appreciate your thorough review of The Frackers. Onto the wishlist. I should know more than I do.

Happy New Year!

Katherine, yes -- whatever stance one ends up adopting, it's ALWAYS best to do so with as much knowledge as possible. And even though I considered myself pretty well informed when I started The Frackers, I ended up with so much more insight and context that that alone was worth the time I invested. (To clarify -- I got a copy from the publisher so no financial outlay was required.) Greg is an exceptionally smart, level-headed and analytical kind of guy who took over the bond market column from me back in the mists of time, and has gone on to be one of the nicest and most thoughtful business/financial journalists I know. He's smart but not arrogant.

Ditto what Katherine said. It's a big issue upstate where my family has a house, and I feel woefully uninformed although sympathetic to concerns about the impact on water supplies.

I put it on my Waiting-for-the-Paperback wishlist. When I heard a professor from my alma mater talking on NPR about the harmlessness of methane in municipal tap water I decided not to trust anybody.

Robert

Absolutely; methane contamination of groundwater is a big big concern. But when one hears hoofbeats, think horses, not unicorns/zebras, etc. The first thing I'd think of is people playing fast & loose at the wellhead, whether out of laziness or to cut costs (eg improper disposal of the stuff that shoots back up the well, or waste material, or improper sealing of the well.) That is most probable, and the uptick in correlation with well drilling would make that just as reasonable as fracking itself. It's also not specific to fracking, sadly. This book isn't -- as I noted -- an analysis of the environmental issue, and I think it may be too early for anyone to do a really solid job on that front as yet. Anyone who is looking for that insight should go straight to the afterword. But the rest of the book also is worth reading, to understand the how and the why behind fracking/shale oil & gas.

Good lord, anyone who says methane is harmless is smoking something. But the nature of the dangers may not be as acute as some suggest. Here's a VERY good, science-based evaluation of some of that question. (Incidentally, I knew someone down in SW Ontario, near Petrolia, who used to set fire to their tap water growing up in the late 60s/early 70s...)

http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2013/06/theres-methane-in-your-drinking-wat...

Ugh, winter storm barreling right down on us and the weather migraine getting worse and not better. I had been hoping to get some boxes down to the post office tomorrow for family in Canada, but it may require taking a taxi. Gah. I also have some library books to pick up.

Micro-migraine has now become macro-migraine as the storm swirls closer. Very bad. Gah. NOT a good start to the year.

Hope you have migraine medicine or Advil handy!

Prescription meds only keeping the very worst of it at bay. (Advil doesn't work at all...) This is the worst headache I've had since just before Thanksgiving.

And the worst storm. What a bummer.

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your migraine problems. My husband suffers from them, and I used to, too, but seem to have left them behind, along with my early 30's. Tomm's (my husband) has recently cut gluten out of his diet, which has helped quite a bit (I'm a strong believer that changes in one's diet can fix most ailments, even though I myself have *atrocious* eating habits - ha!). At any rate, I very much hope that you feel better soon!

Suzanne, I've posted a meet-up thread for Toronto! Hopefully we can make it happen when you come up here, as I think you mentioned on another thread.

Faith, thanks -- I'll hop over there and check it out!

Amber, I did try the gluten free think for somewhere between 60 and 90 days but it actually seems to have exacerbated them. I do prune all known triggers from my diet -- MSG is a biggie, any kind of nitrites in meat products, wine, chocolate, some cheeses and quirkier things like avocados and peanuts. The one thing that some migraineurs can tolerate and others can't is caffeine, and luckily I'm on the OK list for that -- especially since my migraine RX includes it! I'm so glad that you've left those behind; I'm really hoping to now that I'm into my early 50s and in fact, since October or so, they had been slightly diminished in frequency and severity, with the notable exception of an epic multi-day one in November and now this. Other than that, they've been what I call manageable, which means my usual regime -- pop a pill, retreat to cool, dark room with icepacks and absolute quiet -- has been helpful. The last 36 hours have been increasingly appalling until about 8 a.m. or so.

Glad it's getting better as today is definitely a full work day with a long list of things to get done, including a couple of columns.

The snow started sometime overnight. I don't know exactly when, but I heard my upstairs neighbor (not the crazy noisy one who used to make massive amounts of noise immediately overhead, but the guy who lives with his mother overhead in the other half of the upstairs and who is an insomniac, going up and down the back stairs every couple of hours throughout the night to grab a smoke outside) go out to shovel the parking area about 3 a.m. I do wonder when he sleeps! Although I very often hear him go up and down the stairs (my bed backs onto the wall separating my BR from the back staircase) it's usually because either I'm still awake or sleeping v. lightly, and he's obviously making an effort to be very quiet.

I was going to try to take the packages to mail downtown today but don't see how that's going to be possible with the weather. The cold and snow are going to get steadily worse all day. If I get through with work, maybe a taxi one way to get there? Sigh.

Happy New Year, Suz

I saw a report that gum chewing contributes to migraines. I'd never heard that before.

Linda, I can see how it would --- to some extent. There's an argument out there that the jaw issues in TMJ can contribute to migraines, and when I get one (inevitably on the right side of my head) the pain often radiates down to my upper jaw and nose, I think because I react to the head pain by clenching my jaw. I don't have TMJ, though. (And I can't remember the last time I chewed gum -- possibly back in the early 1980s?? I just have never liked it that much, and honestly, I think it looks horrible, when I see people just chewing away.)

I think basically that I just need a new head. Too bad that didn't work out so well for Anne Boleyn.

OK, time to try to get some work done. And to feed cats, as they remind me plaintively.

Suzanne, you do soldier on. Whoof. Hope the head gradually gets better and that the storm is not as bad as predicted.

>107 Chatterbox:: Yep, Tomm can't abide caffeine at all. He's also started taking feverfew pills, which are supposed to help migraines in a preventative way (in that taking the pills once a migraine starts won't do anything, but taking them everyday is supposed to keep them from occurring or at least lessen their frequency).

I think my mother has tried feverfew, Amber; she's now got a very complex and convoluted regime of supplements and stuff which has made somewhat of a difference but has also caused her to gain significant weight for the first time in her life. I can't afford to do that, so I may continue to emphasize more straightforward tactics. I may, however, check out the feverfew stuff. Frankly, I hope that menopause makes a big difference to me! (Of course, my great-grandmother's migraines stopped -- and then she went batty. I'm not sure the latter was any better!!)

It's not as cold as it was predicted to be, Peggy (only 21 F vs 10 F) but snow has been steady and occasionally heavy. The forecast is now for the worst to be overnight. Still, most schools are closed.

My joints are doing to me what your migraine is doing to you. Oh ow. Fortunately, we're not due for more than a few inches, maybe six total, but the wind is supposed to become fierce. SO much fun walking the pooch in that. Oh my yes.

The Frackers now in my Ammy cart. Your points about fracking well-taken, and the absolutist tendencies of both sides duly snorted at.

Welcome back, Suz!

Now that the head has eased up just a little, my biggest worry is the wind and those pesky power lines... I'm off now to buy a lighter. Because I realized that some of the matches that I have are so old that they don't actually light any longer...

Suz, fill some bottles with water, jic, so you can stay hydrated in case you lose hydro. Stay safe, chum. I get pressure headaches but nothing like what you go through.

Thanks for that thorough review of The Frackers and for sharing your thoughts. As Richard noted, "absolutist tendencies" on both sides tend to do more harm than good. Here in North Texas we have the Barnett Shale which has been a big boon but we are also seeing increased geological activity (low level earthquakes) which I am not entirely convinced is purely coincidental... On the other hand, the flammable drinking water videos are ridiculously alarmist. I find the knee-jerk, Big Oil Energy=BAD reaction overly simplistic and an easy out, but some would argue I only think that because my pay check comes courtesy (indirectly) of the industry (I work for an individual membership association serving engineers and other professionals in the upstream energy sector)!

Whee, survived the storm with power intact! And while there was a lot of snow, it was of the light, fluffy variety, so no ice-laden branches to bring down power lines. (Touch wood...)

At any rate, no power outages, and the sun is out, and the wind has dropped. There's 8 inches of white stuff out there, and it's only 9 F, so very chilly, but if I can convince the cats NOT to sleep atop the hot air vents, thus blocking warm air from reaching me, all will be well.

OK, here are my first books of the year:

1. Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd is the latest in the very long-running series of mysteries featuring shell-shocked World War I veteran and Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge. Over the years that these books have been published (we're still in 1920 in the books themselves, moving much more slowly), Rutledge's ghost, Hamish, has become much less vocal; he's the sergeant that Rutledge had to execute for failing to obey a suicidal order by superior officers and whose voice and presence haunts him and sometimes helps him by serving as a sounding board in his investigations. The latest case may actually have a WW1 connection: another veteran is shot by a sniper from the bell tower of Ely Cathedral as he arrives to attend a wedding. Then there's another death. What connects them? Rutledge zips around the country to find out. I thought I had figured out the culprit early on, and was almost right, but the authors (a mother/son writing duo) take an unexpected twist and turn at the last minute. There are perhaps too many clues out there, but it's still fairly entertaining for mystery fans and especially for series fans. I MUCH prefer this to Todd's other series. 3.9 stars.

2. Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst is one of the author's earlier books, and not as compelling as some of his more recent ones. It finally picked up for me about halfway through, and the second half was more than worth the wait, however, as Hungarian businessman/spook has to play the pros at their own game in the Paris, Vienna and Budapest of 1938/1939. The first half ambles and meanders too much, however, for me to give it an enthusiastic thumbs up. A moderately approving nod is warranted -- 3.75 stars. This technically was a re-read, although I've no memory of reading it for the first time. I moved back and forth between the book and the audiobook. The laconic delivery of the narrator wasn't a big asset in the slow-moving first half. 3.75 stars.

I've just realized that my tentative reading list for January will be heavily dominated by mysteries, perhaps because that's what makes up the bulk of my TBR mountain! I'll have two or three more re-reads, including The First Man in Rome, and a LOT of ARCs.

Right now, I'm re-reading the ancient Rome tome, as well as making some headway with Jung Chang's bio of The Empress Dowager Cixi. It's a bit of a brisk canter, but the author's approving eye on Cixi (or Tzu Hsi) is an interesting change of pace, as thought-provoking as that in the book she cowrote with Jon Halliday about Mao that showed how little of an ideologue and how focused only on power he was.

And yeah, it's official: noisily obnoxious neighbor is GONE! Landlord is here now to look at the apartment, presumably to decide what needs doing ahead of finding a new tenant. Woot!

Wow, that's exciting - when did she actually move out?

Suz, you've done some great reading! I've not read any of Todd's work but that series sounds good. Onto the wishlist. Along with the Furst, another author I've not read but keep meaning to look for. The "Cixi" came to my attention when it was reviewed very favorably on the Books on the Nightstand podcast.

Congrats on losing your noisy neighbor. Let's hope the next one is more pleasant to live with (or near, as it happens).

Luci, I saw her start to move her stuff out in mid-December, but then she was toing and froing for a week or two after that, so I wasn't sure whether she had moved out her ex's stuff or hers. It's only in the last week that she has been definitely gone -- since just before Xmas. It's blissfully quiet upstairs!

Julia, I have the entire ground floor of a detached Victorian New England house; the second floor is divided, longitudinally, into two separate apartments. The half that runs from my office in the front, through my rear parlor, bathroom and into my bedroom, was below a woman who liked to bring her parties home with her at 2 a.m. or so and keep going, with friends, until dawn. It made summer/autumn fairly hellacious -- and unpredictably so. I never knew whether I was going to get a decent night's sleep!

Personally, I prefer Furst -- they are noir and atmospheric, set in the 1930s. The Todd novels are essentially police procedurals: the first few are very good, but after a while, as with any series, they start feeling "samey". I've been reading one every year at this time (around New Year's) since the late 1990s. A Test of Wills is the first. Up until A Pale Horse, I quite liked them, but the author(s) have this habit of having their protagonists rocket all over the country in quest of clues.

OK, finished with my immediate work, so I can go eat some lunch and return to 19th century China. Via book only, alas.

Great news about the neighbor!

Rebecca! Now, what have you done with YOUR thread, pray tell?? I've been keeping my eyes open for it, but nope; it's AWOL...

Suzanne, I posted a note on my last year's 75 Books thread that I was simplifying my life and only keeping my Club Read thread in 2014, because there has grown to be a lot more conversation there (I got up to 6 threads in CR and only 2 in 75 Books). It is here, and I hope you and my other 75 Books friends will come and visit me there.

I just realized I already have an ebook of the first Rutledge book, "A Test of Wills." I didn't even realize that until I went to wishlist it and realized it was already in my LT catalog. I love that ebooks don't take up any physical space, but boy they have a way of disappearing from memory.

It seems we both gave started our year in the 'shadows'. Glad to hear you've weathered Hercules without much incident. Woot indeed about the upstairs neighbor!

Oh nuts, Rebecca -- because I am simplifying my life by concentrating everything here *grumble grumble mutter mutter grumble grumble *. So, there goes one of my NY resolutions, blown to smithereens already and it's only day 3. *grumble mutter grumble*

Oh, all RIGHT. Grumble mutter.

Julia, I'm not sure that "like" is precisely my word of choice for that phenom! My Kindle paperwhite informs me that I now have 1,937 "items"; add the 262 items on my UK Kindle and that makes it super tricky to locate anything that I haven't already prioritized by keeping it at the "top" of the list. As with Stonekiller by Robert Janes. Lindapanzo listed that for TIOLI tis year, and I've been acquiring the series via periodic Kindle sales over the last year or more -- but without reading one. At first go, I couldn't locate this one, though. It wasn't until I hopped over to Amazon's book page and it informed me that I had purchased this item in November 2012 that I realized I DID have it and used Amazon's "manage your content" function to get it onto the paperwhite. Piffle. I'll confess that that is simpler that having thousands of "real" books, though. Which reminds me that another of my new year's resolutions is to deal with THAT particular problem, and finish more of the unpacking, storing, etc. After all, it's only been nine months since I moved.

>109 Chatterbox: I think basically that I just need a new head. Too bad that didn't work out so well for Anne Boleyn.
LOL

I am fascinated by migraines. Being in that enviable category of people who has never had one helps, I suppose. They seem like a horror film to me. I hope yours went away (I didn't get that far in the posts, but am assuming it has!). My ex-potential MiL (ex-boyfriends mother) used to get them and went bush (as they say in Australia) for a whole day or more at a time when she got one. It seemed hideously painful just from the destitute look on her face :(

I hope you also sort out your too many books problem soon. *snerk*

Suz, I don't have nearly that number of books on my Paperwhite (maybe about 300 or so) but if I didn't use the "Collections" feature, I would be lost...

I did use the 'collections' feature, but found that books were getting lost WITHIN the collections (as in, I couldn't remember which collection I had stuck something in...)

My only gripe with the Paperwhite is that I keep maxing out its memory. So only about 1/3 of the items are on it. I wish it were possible to buy one with a larger memory capacity, just as the Kindle Fire has different bandwidths. I keep all my audiobooks on that -- or at least, the ones I'm listening to. Which, right now, is The Ruby in Her Navel, since I enjoyed Morality Play by Barry Unsworth so much. Now that I'm into it, it's very intriguing.

Megan, not entirely sure what's involved in going bush, but I just want to die. Or rather, I want to wake up dead, if that makes sense. I think I'm noticing that migraines are slightly less frequent and slightly less severe than they were when I was in NYC, but it's all still unpleasant enough that it's literally life-altering. Certainly, it has shaped and altered my life in ways that I wouldn't have imagined or sought; limiting options and choices. Most frustrating is that it's not under my control. Nor is it visible -- blood tests and physical examinations don't show it. Then there's the fact that it's being a woman and having headaches -- there's so much baggage associated with that, and so many preconceptions. My mother, for instance, was basically told she was loony, and my father was disbelieving and impatient. (He's been like that with me, too, although to a lesser degree -- he could replace my mother but not his daughter, I think he concluded.) I'm not remotely fascinated by migraines; I just wish they didn't exist. At least this one is now gone -- once the storm really set in yesterday (Thursday), the migraine buggered off, mostly. I was still feeling bad late in the day yesterday, but by evening it was gone, and I've had one of those miraculous completely pain-free days today (Friday). I even watched a DVD!

So a friend of mine posted on FB that a friend of his -- a published author of historical fiction & I think sci-fi -- is trying to raise money to cover rent, food and dog food via Indiegogo. Frankly, this has freaked me out. This is someone with book contracts with a major publisher. I remember to the financial struggle I had back in 2009 as I tried to finish and deliver my MS, and I can't help feeling that this will be me one day.

Going to go read a book to try and banish scary thoughts from my brain.

Happy New Year Suz! I've been enjoying searching for and reading threads this evening, but I think that the evening is long gone and I should go to bed. Looking forward to keeping up better this year!

Yeah for the neighbor news, Suz!

Yippee that your neighbour has moved to pastures new. Let's hope it is helpful for your headache. No blood pressure issues Suz? When I had high blood pressure issues recently it came with a constant and pounding headache.

Have a lovely weekend in any event.

#128, Sorry, Suz, and thanks!

Hey Anne! welcome back....

Paul, no blood pressure issues -- mine runs normal to low, even when I'm stressed, which is one thing I don't need to worry about, thankfully. The neighbor's departure will make a big difference -- inability to sleep even when I feel fine is an issue for headaches. I'm going to try to really enjoy the next few weeks sans upstairs neighbor. No idea what kind of work he'll be doing to the place upstairs before re-renting, but clearly he'll do something, as no one has moved in for Jan 1.

Brrrrr. It's minus 1 F out there this morning, which, for Celsius fans, is -20 or so. I slept -- kinda sorta -- with cats packed in on both sides. The bedroom is the coolest room in the house -- intentionally -- but it's quite frosty there this morning!

Here too (10 F at the moment) in central Maryland. Our cat has been snuggled up with us nonstop yesterday and today. Mrsdrneutron got us snowshoes for Christmas - part of our continuing effort to get more active - so we're going to try them out on yesterday's snow once it warms up a bit.

Hope your migraine gives you some relief soon!

Delurking to say hello & thanks for the review of Frackers. It's on my TBR list, along with, sigh, many others.

Migraine gone by now, thankfully, Jim!

Snowshoes sound like fun... I haven't done that since my early teens. Somewhere, I have a pic of my brother on snowshoes. Then we moved back to Europe and whoops, suddenly not enough snow around! By the time the whole family was back in Canada, it was almost 10 years later and my father took up x-country skiing while living in Calgary. That meant I could go downhill skiing, which I used to love, instead of snowshoeing. Alas, skiing is one of a tiny handful of things that is significantly less fun doing solo vs with a group of friends, and my current list of friends doesn't include folks who put a priority on skiing. I think that the last time I went was more than ten years ago... If it weren't so frigid out there (and the weekend bus schedule didn't mean standing in front of a bus stop for up to 25 mins) I would head downtown to go ice skating, though.

3. Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chang was a fascinating, if not flawless, bio of this very important figure who dominated the last decades of China's monarchy. In much the same way as the author set out to deal the final blows to Mao's reputation in the bio she co-wrote with Jon Halliday (which is excellent, and a think a better and more comprehensive work), she embarks here on a quest to rehabilitate Cixi. That, she argues, is needed because Cixi's successors in Republican and Communist China distorted her reputation for their own ends in much the same way that foreign countries did during the Boxer rebellion and those affiliated with her weak and ineffectual adopted son, the Emperor Guangxu did. Collectively, the author contends, the result has been to portray Cixi (aka Tzu Hsi) as a scheming and manipulative woman who quarreled with her fellow regent, poisoned both her son and her adopted son in order to hold on to power, and was a reactionary. Even sympathetic biographies of her, like the two volumes by Anchee Min (recommended) display some of these tendencies. (It's interesting that Jung Chang points out that Pearl Buck was aware of the affection and awe in which ordinary Chinese held the 'Old Buddha', since the latter was living in China when Cixi died; what goes unmentioned in the bio is that Buck's own portrayal in Imperial Woman contains many of the same views. Some elements of this irritated me slightly -- too much history and context was skipped over or mentioned only in passing (it helps, for instance, to understand that the Manchus weren't "ordinary" Chinese, and the context for their seizure of power in the 17th century), there are awkwardnesses in style that proved annoying, and the author's admiration for Cixi sometimes leads her to contort herself to justify or rationalize some dramatic issues, such as a particular murder late in life, as well as the order that the emperor's favorite concubine, who had refused to commit suicide, should be tossed into a well to die. The most valuable part of this is the convincing portrayal of Cixi as a progressive ruler, and her role in restoring the empire to financial health in the 1870s, after the opium wars and the Taiping rebellion. It certainly made me rethink the conventional wisdom (endorsed by today's Chinese rulers) of the 19th century as pretty much all of a piece -- a steady downward slide to chaos. I was also intrigued by the extent to which Cixi seems to have been a moving force behind attempts to create a representative government -- a modified version of the British system -- in China, albeit too late to make a difference to the outcome. Certainly, this has piqued my curiosity about a number of aspects of late 19th century Chinese history and the runup to Chiang Kai-shek's rule, although there are enough blanket assertions and claims tilting the narrative in favor of Cixi to make me wary of accepting it as gospel. Definitely worth reading, with those caveats. And worth getting the real book (even if from the library) since the pics in the Kindle edition are extensive but almost impossible to decipher. 4.1 stars.

>131 Chatterbox: "going bush"....means something like going underground. Making yourself unseen, disappearing. You can use the verb in all the usual ways too, so you can say someone "went bush", which is handy. If you are into that sort of thing.

woman and having headaches -- there's so much baggage associated with that, and so many preconceptions
I always found it hard to explain my arthritis pain without feeling like a whimp so having the x-ray was gold. I used to take my x-ray of the mangled joint to the odd medical person to seek assistance, and they would gasp at it in shock and look at me in wonder that I could function as I did. The only evidence people could see of it all was my small limp, so it was nice to feel like I had their support and empathy.

Then there's the people who say "I've got a migraine" when they want to talk things up, that can't help the real sufferers. Like those people who are out at the pub, they cough and look at you fatalistically and say "(oh, woe is me) I've got the flu". OOOOO-kay.

Yes, people who inflate a bad headache into a migraine, should, should, should -- be forced to suffer real multi-day migraines for a year! And not be believed! Ha! That would show 'em...

I just put so much value on the days when I'm completely pain free, because there have been large swathes of my life when those have been in the minority. A day like today, when I can tell myself I'll watch a DVD in the evening without worrying about whether I can do that without making a niggling pain worse, and not worry about what I eat -- wow.

Now I'm off to go bush in quite another way, by vanishing into my books. I've promised myself a day of reading today, and will spend about half of tomorrow catching up on work. I have some major deadlines over the next 2/3 weeks, so it's going to get tougher to carve out large blocks of time to read.

I am male; I have them, and I am glad that mine are, as the neurologist described them, 'atypical headaches.' I have discomfort in my head but no great pain. The symptoms that present most explicitly are queasiness, weakness in the leg, vertigo, aura... I have suffered very few since I retired. Lying down and sleep were my best reactions to them although I couldn't do that at work.

Robert

Robert, it's interesting that they often present differently in men. For instance, there are cluster headaches, which sound even more horrifically vile than what I experience. Someone I knew briefly at grad school in Japan got those, and even Percodan didn't work on them. The only upside is that they tend to be more infrequent and much shorter-lived. I get aura & vertigo, too; queasiness not as badly as many. I'm really, really hoping that I'll "age out" of these, as I didn't have a single one until just after my 16th birthday and they didn't become debilitating until I was in my early 20s.

Suz, you've reminded me that Empress Dowager Cixi is one I want to get around to. Looks an interesting read.

#140 I read Jung Chang's bio of Mao and I felt her hatred of him oozing from the pages. Not that Mao doesn't deserve being hated, but after I read it I felt I should read a less personally driven bio of Mao, although I still haven't done so.

#144 In the 80s, I had a boyfriend who got cluster headaches. At the time, they prescribed some drug that was pretty similar to LSD for them.

Suz, I'm glad you're going bush today (thanks Megan!) for reading and not for head pain. I don't compare them to migraines (which I've never had), but I used to get sinus headaches that made me dizzy, faint, and nauseated. It was rather awful and much worse (and different and long-lasting) than a garden variety headache.

Have you read The Blue Place yet? I'm wondering if you'll like it.

Rebecca, yes exactly. I think I could tolerate it better in the case of the Mao biography because its thesis (the Mao was no natural communist or ideologue, but simply a power-addict who happened to gravitate to communism) was intriguing and novel enough to me, causing me to question some of my assumptions and re-think what had been said about Mao as a populist and a nationalist. In the case of the Cixi biography, the problem may be that it occasionally teeters on the brink of becoming a hagiography (although thankfully never topples over the edge). At any event, I wasn't nearly as impressed by it, and I'm a bit surprised that any paper would label it the best of the year. I've certainly read far more interesting biographies and ones that were far better written. One of my faves remains the bio of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, by Caroline Moorehead, which was the model of an excellent biography, IMO.

Kerri, I'm going to try to scatter my mystery reading across the month, as the "plan" is fairly mystery-heavy at this point. That said, it's a library book, so odds are that I'll get to it next week sometime.

Right now I'm reading An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine (enjoying it), have started My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead as my next non-fiction book, and am dithering between After Flodden by Rosemary Goring and No Man's Nightingale by Ruth Rendell. The latter, however, is a library book that must be returned, so that will probably pop up next. My audio book (late night listening) is The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth.

I'm also re-reading Colleen McCullough's series of 7 books about the last days of the Roman Republic, all of 'em massive tomes, starting with First Man in Rome. It's a good yarn.

Meanwhile:

4. The Man in the Wooden Hat was a brisk yet strangely moving novel by Jane Gardam, second in a trilogy devoted to the three main characters introduced in Old Filth: Filth himself (aka Sir Edward Feathers), his wife, Betty, and Terry Veneering, Filth's nemesis in the justice courts and Betty's one-time lover. Betty is ostensibly at the heart of this, but we get as much from Filth's POV, as well as glimpses of the enigmatic Arthur Ross or Loss, a Chinese dwarf, and Veneering's soldier son, Harry. We see more of Betty's death, and get more insight into what brings the two elderly men together in their final years. For some reason, I didn't love this as much as the first -- it's a bit like putting together a complex puzzle, made up of pieces contained in each of three separate boxes. This was box 2; with box 1, I already knew the outline, so there were few surprises, and this helped me fill in some blank spots but didn't surprise me in any way. (I confess I was flummoxed at the reference to Betty being both interned in a POW camp in China AND working at Bletchley Park, which made not-too-much sense to me...) 4.2 stars.

Somehow or other, i've missed a lot! I am so delighted for you that the bad neighbor is gone. Fingers crossed for you that the next neighbor will be a quiet one.

I liked Old Filth hugely but have somehow never picked up the next two.

It's hard for me to believe it, but I've never in actual fact read McCullough's Rome series. I have them on my shelves and everything, but I just haven't done it yet.

Hi Suz, I just realized I hadn't been by to wish you a happy new year. Happy New Year!

I enjoyed the first few Ian Rutledge books. I'll probably read one or two this year. I'm glad to see they are holding up - it's quite a long series.

My migraine pain has also gotten less severe as I've gotten older. But I've started getting auras (very weirdly annoying) and so next Tuesday I'm going for an MRI. I had hoped that by the time I reached my mid 50s my migraines would stop altogether but that doesn't seem to be the case. In fact, every headache I get now is either a migraine at the get go or worsens into one. Oh well..

I'm looking forward to following your reading this year!

Happy Dance Twice! I'm very grateful that the upstairs neighbor is gone permanently! Also glad that the migraine is out of the way. I wish you could have sent those with her or left them in the city or something.
How many times have I said that I get the auras but not the migraine? Here's one more, and I'm very grateful that it's so.
I can't read McCullough. The Rome ones may be better than her other stuff, but I have a built-in resistance to her writing. This may be like my abhorrence of the short story - chipping at my nose to spite my face.

Very nice review of the "Cixi" biography, Suz. I had never heard of it until they talked about it on the Books on the Nightstand podcast, and I thought it sounded intriguing. However, your review made me realize that it's probably not particularly suitable for someone like me who has virtually zero historical knowledge of China. Maybe the author's Mao bio would be a better choice for me.

The Man in the Wooden Hat is on my list for this year, Suz. I fear I will have to read Old Filth again though to get the gist. I am not sure I was concentrating very hard through the last 40 pages or so when I read it early last year.

Good comments about The Man in the Wooden Hat, Suz. I think I liked it a bit more than Old Filth just because I found Betty to be more interesting -- and I kind of enjoyed the "Box 2" phenomenon you describe (and it's a perfect description!). I agree fully that I felt like I had the outline and this filled in some spaces - and I liked the spaces it filled in.

#154 - Megan, I don't think you'll need to go back and re-read Old Filth. I'm notorious for not remembering details of novels, but so much from Old Filth came back to me as I read The Man in the Wooden Hat. You'll be fine.

122: Yay for the (unexpectedly, I gather) departed upstairs neighbor!

128,131: One of my gripes about the Nook (I haven’t tried the Kindle) is that its organizational abilities are poor, and this is for mere dozens of books.

131: Nor is it visible
That has got to be enormously frustrating. We tend to suppose that modern technology can see everything these days.

Thanks for the long review of Empress Dowager Cixi! I gave it my mother for Christmas because she loved Wild Swans (Jung Chang's memoir-esque book about her family), and I'm hoping to read it once she's done. My interest is really piqued. I haven't read Mao, but based on Wild Swans I'm not at all surprised that it was a negative portrayal.

Damn and blast about the migraines. Huzzah about the neighbour leaving! Cixi sounds fascinating. I was eyeing that one before Christmas. I feel so sorry for people with serious headache problems. I suffer from air pressure headaches caused by faultily wired sinuses but they are nothing compared to what real migraine sufferers go through. You have my heartfelt sympathy. I wish they could learn what causes these in people.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Amber/Peggy -- I'm definitely not a fan of most of McCullough's other word. OK, I liked The Thornbirds when it first appeared when I was a teenager, but that's the kind of book I was reading and enjoying then. But when I started looking for her other books, I was underwhelmed, to put it mildly. Some I couldn't read (even when I was living in Japan and had few English books to read and was DESPERATE for books); some I could read but just didn't like. The only books that broke that pattern are the "Masters of Rome" books, which have an incredible amount of rich detail. I loathe the author-done "drawings" of main characters, based on busts and looking more lifeless than 2,000 year old marble does, but I don't have to look at those. What I really dislike about McCullough, and the reason I'll never pay money for another of her books again, is that she defended the systematic rapes of 12-year-old girls on Pitcairn Island as part of traditional indigenous customers -- it was, she said, about "breaking them in". (The whole thing went to trial back in 2004, and is a terrifying example of what isolation and a tiny community can do.) The lack of empathy is astonishing.

Katherine, yes, I briefly had a Nook (back in the days before NetGalley was Kindle friendly) but passed it along to a friend. It was too much of a headache. Plus, the touch screen technology was buggy. Kindle does a much better job, but it's still awkward to search and find. The Kindle Fire HD does the best at this.

Megan, I agree with Ellen that you probably won't need to re-read Old Filth. It has been more than a year since I read it, and I was just fine -- a lot of the details came back to me as I read the (slightly different) version in this book. Now on to Last Friends, when I have a gap in my library reading. I have about five books on hold for me now that I need to pick up.

I've not read Wild Swans but if I'm not mistaken, it's a family memoir? She makes allusions to her family members in some of the footnotes to this, including that her grandmother had her feet bound years after Cixi had officially banned the practice.

Debating whether or not to order some Chinese food for lunch/dinner. It requires a 15 minute walk each way to pick it up (this is Providence, not NYC any more...) so I'm dithering. I should do it -- I really haven't been out since the snowstorm, and it's warmer today (if overcast and slushy...)

Yes, I chronicled the mystery surrounding the possible neighbor departure last month. As I noted, it was a bit like Kremlinology. At first, a lot of boxes started leaving via the front door -- three trips in one evening. Then some furniture -- including a bed. But she was still coming and going, and there were at least two very noisy nights. But since a few days before Xmas, nothing! Not that she ever came up and told me she was leaving, of course... My landlord had told me that he had raised the rent, and that she wasn't happy about it and probably would leave, but that was sometime back in October, and I don't think she had given notice at that time, so I was like yeah, sure... And then landlord was here on Friday, confirming that she had decamped. He had some people with him, and I assume were looking at the place to ponder renovating it. So the biggest downside in the near future may be renovation work. When they were fixing the shingles and repainting in the summer/fall, the work started at 7 a.m.!

Might be a good opportunity for some soundproof flooring to go in though.

For an owner occupied building, Tui, I'm sure it would. In normal circumstances -- i.e. people who don't communicate in yells and don't party from dusk until dawn, the noise wouldn't be anything more than I'd consider normal for a building containing a couple of apartments. Most people, too, tend to be considerate once they know their noise can be heard (obviously, small children and animals are exceptions to that rule!) but not this one... Even my most obnoxious set of neighbors at my old place, who moved on almost six years ago, would tell me when they were going to have a party. They were the first of their 20-something crowd to have a "real" house, and it sometimes felt as if they were playing at house and being a family, 1950s style. They had a black-tie NYE party (in a Brooklyn brownstone!!) their first year, and one of the guy's law school classmates barfed on my front steps downstairs. After that, they gave me advance notice of when they were having a party, and I'd either sleep on my lower floor (a big advantage of a duplex...) or leave for the night.

>159 Chatterbox:: Oh my goodness, I didn't know that about McCullough. Will certainly never buy any of her books again (although I will likely still read the ones sitting on my shelf)!

>159 Chatterbox: Wow, just ruled McCullough out as a possible new (I haven't read anything she's written) author to investigate. That's fairly amazing Suzanne.

If the landlord is going to renovate and raise the rent you may get a better quality of tenant. Of course it wouldn't be hard to improve on the previous tenant.

Amber, yup, that's the way I look at it. I'm not going to feel tempted to buy them anyway (although I confess I added the Rome books to my Kindle, for which they've just become available). There are some people whose views bother me so much I will NOT contribute to their royalties. If I were a die-hard McCullough fan, I'd get 'em from the library.

There's a very good Vanity Fair story about the whole scandal: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/01/pitcairn200801

The references to "survival-mode" sexual habits really made me realize what it's like to be literally marooned on an island like Pitcairn with only a few dozen other people; the reference to falling off cliffs beating out old age as a cause of death triggered a similar epiphany. I do think that it's hard for us who haven't shared that experience to understand how "traditions" like this arise; it's also very hard to grasp the lack of empathy displayed for young girls and the tremendous difference between a 12 year old being tied up and raped and a 13/14 year old exploring her sexuality.

Yes, in Wild Swans she talks about her mother and her grandmother. It was interesting to me because she uses her own family history to follow the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution. I thought it was a pretty neat way to approach things.

Hmm, I'm interested in reading more about the cultural revolution, so maybe I'll try that. I also have Red China Blues here, by a former Globe & Mail reporter whose reporting I thought was excellent, Jan Wong. Perhaps in Wild Swans the personal bias that I noted in both the biographies will feel more in place/in keeping? As I noted, while I detected it in the Mao book, it didn't feel to me as if it resulted in a hatchet job, whereas I'm not sure that I could say the same on the Cixi bio, where the sudden reference to "oh, and then she poisoned so and so" late in the book (trying to avoid spoilers) came so out of the blue that I literally spilled my tea. Luckily, it didn't land on the Kindle...

Suz I am late to the conversation as usual but just had to say that I really enjoyed Red China Blues. I read it about 15 years ago and that's all I can remember though! "It was good." Very useful...

Brilliant that the neighbor is really really gone...

#152 Peggy, I had the aura without the migraine for the first time last year - I have tended to get a classic migraine (aura, usually loss of speech which was freaky the first time) about every couple of years for the last twenty-odd so it was very strange to have the whole flashing lights and not being able to see thing followed by... Nothing much. But also very very nice compared to the headache. Suz, I really hope the migraine pattern this year is slightly better for you.

I didn't like Wild Swans much. I was also unimpressed by Falling Leaves - another Chinese memoir covering similar material, which I found quite self indulgent and whiny. I'm probably being very harsh.

Red China Blues was recommended to me by someone on the basis that I didn't like those two books, and I did like it very much. I also read a follow up memoir by Jan Wong, Chinese Whispers: A Journey into Betrayal, alternative title Beijing Confidential (at least there aren't so many books of the same title!) which was interesting.

My mum knows both Jung Chang and Jan Wong - she was invited to Jung Chang's book launch last year although I think my mum annoyed the author somewhat by a less than glowing review of the Mao biography. (My parents are both retired academics in Chinese Studies).

Excellent; I'll dig out Red China Blues. It was a gift from a friend who was at the Globe at the same time that Jan was working in China. I met her a few times in the late 80s, as Toronto's media universe is exceptionally small, but lost track of what she is up to long ago. Should follow up on that...

Luci, I'd agree with you re Falling Leaves; it was interesting as a picture of a place and era, but eventually it contributed to what I know think of as my memoir phobia.

Book du jour:

5. An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine is a gem of a novel that I think many folks here will love. It's a bit discursive and rambling; a novel in which thoughts and memories contribute to a loosely-structured plot in the way that dialog and activity might in a "plain vanilla" novel. The novel's narrator, Aaliya, is the woman of the title -- divorced, childless, maintaining at best a tenuous relationship with her extended family (when at one point she encounters a nephew's children, they have no idea who she is, and vice versa) -- whose closest friendship with a woman named Hannah, who in spite of never marrying, made herself necessary to Aaliya and members of not one but two families. Aaliya, on the other hand, coming of age in the Beirut of the 1950s, has sought refuge inside her own head. Running a bookstore for a tiny wage for decades, through Beirut's civil war and invasions by Israel and personal upheaval, she has lived removed from those around her. She knows what each of the women who live in her building are doing -- when one is in the bathroom above hers one evening, she knows it's to prepare for bed at that time of the evening -- but participates in their lives only by overhearing their conversations in the common outdoor stairwell as they sip coffee. What matters most to Aaliya are her books -- the thousands that crowd her "reading room" (a daughter's room upstairs and downstairs, for two of her neighbors...) and most of all, those that she translates. Over the last 50 years, she has translated 37 novels, beginning each on January 1 of a new year, and her choice is equally ritualized: she selects only those that were originally written in a language other than English and French (two lingua francae in Lebanon) and then relies on both an English and French translation to complete her own translation into Arabic. When finished, the handwritten pages and put into a box, along with copies of the two translations, and stored in the apartment's maid's bedroom and bathroom. Aaliya muses of her life, "I slipped into art to escape life. I sneaked off into literature." Now, another January 1 is approaching, and Aaliya is struggling to decide which book will be next. She's aging; her body isn't cooperating with her as much as it once did, and she fears 2666 will be too much of a challenge. As she struggles to make her decision, we look back at Aaliya's life through her memories, journey through the streets of today's Beirut with her and accompany her as she confronts an unexpected series of new challenges. Aaliya may despise too-easy epiphanies in today's literature lite, but could her own personal history be inching her in the direction of change and -- perhaps -- even a modest epiphany or two, of sorts? This reminds me in some ways (its devotion to books and literature) of A Novel Bookstore, but it's a far better novel with a particularly compelling and self-aware character at its heart. Definitely recommended: 4.75 stars.

Suzanne, onto the wish list it goes. I think that's 4 or 5 already this year. What sealed the deal was A Novel Bookstore, a book which I stumbled upon a few years ago and adored.

I have placed my star, Suzanne, and I am very much looking forward to following along with you on your threads again this year. I was so thrilled to receive both All Change and The Daughters of Mars as gifts this Christmas, both of which I learned about on your threads. I am looking forward to your WWI reading as I am very interested in that time period. Wishing you a great reading year in 2014! (only a little bit selfishly) ;)

#170 -- Stephanie, I think it's even better than A Novel Bookstore. It's driven by a single character, one who might appeal to you or whom you might find distasteful, and who in real life (if it weren't for the fact that in the first pages she confesses she accidentally died her hair blue) you might never notice in the streets, and yet who has this rich interior life combined with a kind of hollow where connections with other people might be. It's almost as if she has filled up that space with books, and also music. Alameddine has this great vignette flashback of Aaliya's careful purchases of one classical music record every two weeks out of her paycheck from one of the only stores in Beirut to keep going as if there was no such thing as a civil war blazing outside its doors.

One day, I'd like to go back to Beirut. I was there with my family in 1973, literally only weeks before the civil war started, and remember it as beautiful, with the cedars scenting the roads we drove up as we headed off to Baalbek. I almost went back in 2001, from Syria it would have been a v. easy trip, but I didn't have a multi-entry visa to the latter and it would have been too convoluted to get back to Amman for my return flight. Odd to think that it's Beirut that now is relatively stable and Syria that is enmeshed in chaos. I loved the centers of old Damascus and Aleppo, and remember this young soldier, isolated and guarding a Roman site not far from Krak des Chevaliers whose name I can't remember, being so excited to see me -- the only tourist around -- that he literally dragged me off to show me where someone had carved a tic-tac-toe board into a paving stone two thousand years earlier, and where carts had worn ruts in those paving stones. He didn't speak English or French and I speak no Arabic; he was a bit intimidating, carting around his AK47 or whatever it was, but he was so enthusiastic about this place and had clearly devoted so much time to exploring it and wanted to share it that it's kind of heart-breaking to look back on this now. I sometimes think of him and wonder what happened to him -- what side did he join? Is he alive or dead? Sigh... The world we live in...

I'm trying to read No Man's Nightingale, the latest Inspector Wexford mystery by Ruth Rendell and finding it heavy going. So my mind started wandering -- I know that the first of her books I read was Speaker of Mandarin but for some reason, I was convinced that I had read it on a family trip to the then-Soviet Union in 1979. (The other book I vividly associate with that trip was Sense and Sensibility; I also remember having to prune my books to make sure that there weren't any that looked like spy novels, or any by 'dissident' authors.) But I just checked Wikipedia and saw that Speaker of Mandarin wasn't published until 1983! I know that I read it on a trip, but now I simply can't figure out which one it would have been, because by the mid-1980s there WERE no more family trips. 'Tis a puzzlement. Is this what happens to us as we age?? Should I start noting down on LT where I bought books and when/where I read them? That feels like more work than I want to embark on, and yet it might save me from crazy-making moments like that!

Now reading:

My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead
No Man's Nightingale by Ruth Rendell (overdue at library...)
The Eternal Wonder by Pearl Buck (a big meh)
The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough (in spite of her obnoxious beliefs, the only one I feel strongly motivated to keep reading

and my audiobook remains:

The Ruby In her Navel by Barry Unsworth

Suz, DorsVenabli just recommended An Unnecessary Woman on my thread as her favourite read of last year, so after your review above it's moved very high up the wishlist.

Rhian, it definitely deserves to be there, IMO!

On a gloomy day, I'm finding myself tempted to dip into the short collection of short essays by Jean-Claude Izzo, all about the Mediterranean -- Garlic, Mint & Sweet Basil. Sigh. Too bad about this work stuff.

Have been able to crank open the kitchen window to get some fresh air, as the temperature here today is 55 F!!

164: Vanity Fair story about the whole scandal
Ew. I was not aware.

Ew indeed, Katherine.

OK, I finally succumbed to this meme:

All book titles are drawn from my list of those read in 2013. Not all of these were great books, but they fit the category!

Describe yourself: Black Irish

Describe what you feel like: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

Describe where you currently live: At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: The Land of Spices

Your favorite form of transportation: The Big Truck that Went By

Your best friend is: The Hired Man

You and your friends are: Daughters of Mars

What’s the weather like: A Killing Frost

You fear: Gun Guys

What is the best advice you have to give: The World is a Carpet

Thought for the day: Don’t Want to Miss a Thing

How I would like to die: in a Midnight Riot

My soul’s present condition: Zen Attitude

Hi Suz! I am glad to finally make my way over to your thread. Absolutely fascinating conversations about WWI and it's effect our modern lives as well as the discussion on the fracking book (which ended up on my WL).

I find it so interesting how many migraine traits and triggers we share. One thing that I didn't see you mention but which can set me off is peanut butter. I find that to be such an odd trigger! I feel lucky that caffeine is a help and not a hindrance too.

I will definitely be following along on your essays thread as well...you know how I feel about those!!

Hello, Heidi! Peanuts are certainly a trigger for me -- most nuts, in fact, except for almonds, for some reason. (I'm particularly sad about cashews...) That said, I have been known to consume peanut butter when I needed fuel to get me through the day. But in terms of food triggers, two of the biggest and sneakiest for me are MSG and nitrites. It never ceases to amaze me that restaurants will lie themselves blind about this. You know, if a restaurant is serving commercially-sourced BBQ pork buns, almost invariably they are serving something with MSG in it. Ditto with Chinese soups. And if you're hypersensitive to MSG, you can TELL, in very short order. So, I try to avoid a lot of processed foods -- sausages, cold cuts, etc., -- as well as many restaurant-prepared Asian meals, unless tried and tested. Of course, the testing period can be a bit, ahem, difficult! But those are the two that are hard to duck, because they can be a part of so many dishes. I love Italian food because it's hard to mess with a nicely-prepared fish or some pasta with a good tomato sauce!

I'm just starting to delve into my essays. One I want to read that is now presented as an essay but started life as a lecture is Nabokov on Gogol. I'm reading Dead Souls for our upcoming RL book circle.

I love your meme answers! It's nice that you were able get something positive out of reading some of those not-so-great books.

I loved Dead Souls when I read it last year -- hope you do too!

I'm only two chapters into it; I think I'm going to like it (I'd better -- I picked it for the book circle!!!) but it requires a lot of careful reading. Did you read the Peavear/Volkonsky translation, Rebecca?

Yes. NYRB came out with an edition with another translator and that reminded me that I had the P-V translation on my shelves, so I picked it up and read it. It can be a little confusing at first, but after a while you get into the mindset . . .

Sorry to hear about the migraines, Suz. Mr. Leperdbunny gets them, but they are far and few between. He gets the classic aura and speech loss, which is scary. Over the years I've gotten a few what I assume to be low-level migraines, but nothing repetitive.

I sometimes eat peanut butter too when I am craving it. The worst things for me are hot dogs and bacon. I assume it's the nitrites. Oh and red wine, that is an absolute killer. Sandwich meats can do it too but I don't eat too much of that. But bacon, that I miss. Sometimes I eat it and suck it up when the migraine hits!

Your meme responses are fantastic. I'm glad you participated.

Hi Suz, I just wanted to tell you that my santa swap person selected two books from my wishlist which I added because of your comments on your thread; Brave Genius and The Salt Road.
Thanks for leading me to interesting and mind enhancing books.

#185 -- I had a hard time coming up with one for how I'd like to die, I confess! (Since I didn't read a book entitled "Buried in Books" last year...)

#183 -- Ouch, sorry for Mr. LB... The speech stuff is a real bummer. Part of it is simply the difficulty I have in ordering my thoughts, and part of it is neurological. Over the years, too, I've developed a kind of tic/spasm that causes my face to v. briefly freeze. It happens when I have to concentrate before speaking, and it's made speaking French very difficult for me, which is a major bummer. Because I don't use it the way I once did, it now requires concentration, and thus it's increasingly difficult for me to be coherent, which is very hard, since listening to French is the same as English, and reading almost the same -- I'm a bit slower, but not all that much.

#186 -- Hurrah, Lynda! Glad your Santa Swap person facilitated your addiction to good books... I don't think I had read The Salt Road myself -- I seem to recall that was something I suggested, possibly to avatiakh? at any rate, to someone looking for historical fiction set in Morocco. There's not a lot of it!

Book du jour:

6. My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead was a bit of a mixed bag for me. (This is an ARC; the book will be published Jan 20th.) I read Middlemarch about 20 years ago -- when the TV adaptation was the latest thing on PBS -- and while I found its characters and plotlines intriguing, I didn't adore it; it didn't speak to me in the same way that it does to Mead, who has re-read many times over the years, and who credits it with helping her evolve. She writes that the novel "has disciplined my character", that it "inspired me when I was young and chafing to leave home, and now, in middle life, it suggests to me what else home might mean, beyond a place to grow up and grow out of." Well, I don't have that kind of relationship with Middlemarch. And Mead's dogmatic assertion that "most seerious readers can point to one book that has a place in their life like the one that Middlemarch has in mine." Well, to be frank, I felt as if I was being told that I wasn't a serious reader. She goes on to say that when she knows what those books are, among her circle of friends, "I know them better for knowing that about them". Really?? Given the myriad ways in which readers can interact with the books they read -- and the deeply personal ways -- how does she have the confidence to make that declaration? I found the glimpses into Eliot's life, and the history of scholarship surrounding her greatest novel to be fascinating, and Mead is an elegant writer who has carefully structured her book (there are eight chapters, one for each part of the serially-published Middlemarch itself, each headed by a quotation from the appropriate section). But the personal input simply didn't interest me that much. Mead is clearly self-aware, but handles that in a way that never really engaged my sympathies. I followed her trips down memory lane with only a modicum of curiosity, and occasionally found her tone teetering on the brink of being patronizing. For instance: in the comment noted above about serious readers, or as in comments about "naive readers", or the comment that "it's hardly an enlarging experience to read a novel as if it were a mirror of oneself. One of the useful functions of literary criticism and scholarship is to suggest alternative lenses through which a book might be read." Mead takes herself seriously -- which is both good and bad. She should, but adopting a lighter and less didactic touch somehow might make her readers feel less like junior partners in the reading adventure. I notice that fellow Amazon reviewers are gushing over this far more than I have been able to; perhaps they are equally fanatic about Middlemarch or Eliot. I think you would need not only to have read the original Victorian novel to even embark on this and make sense of it, but really to have loved it as she did. For me, this was more intriguing than all-engrossing. 4.1 stars.

Full disclosure: I met Mead on several social occasions about 10/12 years ago, before she met her current husband and while she was dating a close friend of a close friend of mine. After E and I both moved back to NY from London, I bumped into her at dinners, etc., but wouldn't say we ever became friendly or even real acquaintances. So, no conflict of interest here!

Rebecca, just adding a note to say that I'm about 60 pages into Dead Souls and starting to really enjoy the satire. That said, I don't have a clue why Chichikov is cruising around the countryside, buying up the ownership of the dead serfs... *flummoxed*

Book du jour:

7. No Man's Nightingale by Ruth Rendell made me wonder what has happened to the author. Once, these "Wexford" mysteries were "must own" books, even when I really shouldn't have been spending money on hardcover books at all. I remember being so desperate to finish reading Kissing the Gunner's Daughter that I forced myself to read through the worst bout of food poisoning I had ever experienced. (Bad seafood in Brittany; I was stuck in a hotel bedroom (bright orange floral wallpaper) for nearly a week, and even then it took me three full days of travel to get from there to London via train and ferry (vs one) because I was too wobbly. But I HAD to finish that book. This one? I didn't really care. A mixed-race vicar is murdered; there are various plots and subplots. Someone is abducted and murdered but I ended up not being sure who by. There are perfunctory red herrings that felt too red-herringy. And now retired Wexford bickers with Burden like an old married couple. A tedious book. 3 stars, and I'm feeling generous.

Blech.

I have started reading Stringer: A Reporter's Journey In the Congo by Anjan Sundaram, and am conflicted. I'm finding his narrative intriguing, but some words and phrases seem tortuous to me. "curt movements"? "People swelled toward us like a sea"? Then there are others that seem very evocative, like his description of Kinshasa as a "collapsed metropolis". What tipped the balance for me in requesting this ARC was the blurb from Pico Iyer, who I haven't seen blurb all that much. Hmmm. Let's see.

Also reading:

Garlic, Mint and Sweet Basil, a thin collection of essays by Jean-Claude Izzo
Dead Souls by Gogol
The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough
Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett

My audiobook is still The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth.

Finally -- my list of best books for 2013. Not 5 or 10 or any nice neat round number, just the list!

FICTION:

The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally
An excellent and beautifully written/vivid tale of two Australian sisters who set out to become nurses during WW1, in Gallipoli and on the Western Front, and how the experience transforms them. Demonstrates that a literary novel can also be unputdownable. I’m going to be reading another of his WWI novels shortly, set around the Compiegne ceasefire signing.

The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna
This narrative is the kind I like best: one in which the characters evolve and reveal themselves and their secrets, step by step. In this case, it’s the narrator – the hired man of the title, who lives in a small village in Croatia where wartime secrets have been buried and yet still fester – who is at the heart of the tale. At first, he seems as open to us as he is to the new arrivals: a woman and her two children, intent on renovating an old cottage to rent out to Western Europeans looking for a rural holiday. And then…

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
The epitome of a “thumping good read”. I literally couldn’t put this down, but wandered around the house with my Kindle two inches from my nose until I had finished reading. It’s the tale of the Dreyfus trial and its aftermath, told through the eyes of George Picquart, a loyal and principled French officer given responsibility for the anti-espionage division of the army after Dreyfus has been shipped off to Devil’s Island. There he discovers another spy – and evidence suggesting that an innocent man had been framed. It’s history; I knew the outcome. But it felt like a thriller.

The Round House by Louise Erdich
A writer who is new to me, for inexplicable reasons, and a powerful novel about a young boy's formative experiences on a South Dakota reservation.

In the Night of Time by Antonio Munoz Molina
This isn’t a simple novel to read; the author can write paragraphs that go on for pages. But buried within them are some beautiful turns of phrase and fascinating characters, whom we accompany back and forth in time, with the nexus of the action in the year leading up to the outbreak of civil war in Madrid (to which our main character, Ignacio Abel, is nearly oblivious, being more caught up with his unexpected love affair with a visiting American): for the first time in his life, he is living for the moment. The cost of that will become apparent… Not for action-oriented readers, but if you’re fascinated by the era and great writing (Edith Grossman translates!), you owe it to yourself to give it a shot.

The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin
Packs an outsize punch compared to its diminutive size; this nearly-novella length book was a candidate for the Man Booker Prize, and deservedly so. What if Mary, the mother of Jesus, had had the chance to tell her own story of her son, the rebellious kid that she can't understand? Best of all, it's utterly persuasive.

Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
A number of my top books of the year so far are books that have been out for a while and that I hadn't gotten around to reading or discovering, and this is one. Set in the 1970s in the Canadian north, against the backdrop of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline royal commission, the characters all work in or around the CBC's northern broadcasting service. The north itself becomes a character, and the prose at times is downright lyrical.

Hild by Nicola Griffith
I’ve been a historical fiction fan since the dawn of time, I think, and always am on the hunt for a novel that transcends the genre. (Think, “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel.) This fit the bill for me in 2013: the established mystery and sci fi author has crafted a compelling yarn about the early years of the woman who would become St. Hilda of Whitby. She does a marvelous job of making real and vivid these early centuries, after the departure of the Romans from Britain and before the arrival of the Normans.

The Good House by Ann Leary
This is the first novel I've read by Ann Leary, and I'll be looking for more. Not literary, but a great read, revolving around the character of Hildy Good, a realtor with roots in her small Massachussets community that go back centuries, whose business is helping more transient arrivals find new homes. She becomes unusually close to one such new arrival, triggering a chain reaction that transforms lives. Not unpredictable, but compelling.

The Golden Scales by Parker Bilal
I read a lot of mysteries, and this gets my nomination for best new discovery of the year. Bilal is the pseudonym for a British/Sudanese literary novelist who has started to write mysteries, set in Cairo in the late 1990s and featuring a Sudanese refugee private investigator as his main character. Bilal does a fabulous job of blending a fascinating mystery with details of the time and place, including the political tensions that culminated in the ouster of Mubarak (after the publication of this first book in the series). The second one, Dogstar Rising, is equally good.

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Wow... I used to joke that I wanted Tony Horwitz's writing skills; now I think I'd just as eagerly steal those of his wife, Geraldine. Her latest historical novel is set in 17th century Mass., with the relationship between the curious and intelligent Bethia, deprived by her gender of the chance to study, and Caleb, son of a Wampanoag chief on Martha's Vineyard, who became the first Native American Harvard graduate.

Harvest by Jim Crace
My other fave from the Man Booker list (although I confess I haven’t read “The Luminaries” by Eleanor Catton as yet). Deliberately oblique in terms of setting (where? when?) Crace’s novel chronicles seven days during which a community – an entire world – is destroyed, in much the same way as God took seven years to create it. Crace’s ability to capture the fragility of an orderly world made me shiver.

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
I had to list this on my favorites, because it’s so goofy and silly and fun. Peter Grant is guarding a crime scene in London’s Soho district when a ghost appears to give him a tip. Before he knows it, he’s been assigned to the division of the Metropolitan Police dealing with the supernatural. His new boss is a wizard, and his job includes diplomatic negotiations between two competing gods of the Thames River, and their troublesome offspring. Hilarious, fast-paced and tremendously creative “urban fantasy”. I listened to the first three on audiobook, and the narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, is astonishingly good.

Morality Play by Barry Unsworth
I confess, I should have read this previously. As it was, this is the other audiobook on my list: the narrator’s breathless tone in his delivery really enhances the book’s plot, which revolves around a group of traveling players, who decide to break free out of their tediously familiar plays and do something topical in order to earn some money. Something, say, about a local crime; the murder of a young boy. At first, their goal is just to present the conventional wisdom, but soon, the players are asking uncomfortable, even revolutionary questions that threaten the powers that be. The sense of menace is palpable.

NON-FICTION

The Lost Carving by David Esterly
If you're interested in history, in historical artifacts, or just in creativity, you need to read this. It's beautifully written and I had to pause every few pages to ponder what Esterly was writing about. He's a carver in limewood, and the tale at the heart of this is his work on restoring the Grinling Gibbons sculptures at Hampton Court destroyed by a fire. It was Gibbons' 17th century work that pushed him into carving, and the book becomes a contemplation of what it means to create with one's hands.

Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson
This is an excellent group biography – never easy to pull off – of not just the young Lawrence but three of his fellow adventurers in the Middle East during World War I, whose dabblings in military affairs, espionage and other shenanigans helped sow the seeds of today’s conflicts in the region. Anderson’s constant awareness of the long-term consequences of what happened nearly a century ago is what differentiates this book: the personalities are vividly portrayed and none of it is treated solely as “history”.

The War That Ended Peace by Margaret MacMillan
MacMillan is one of the key historians writing for the general public about 20th century history today, and I don’t say that lightly. This time, she’s turned her hand to the causes of World War I – the conflict that shaped the world she has devoted her life to studying. She chronicles the developments in the prewar years, from shifting alliance patterns to popular culture, to explain just how and why the range of options available to policymakers narrowed year by year. It’s impossible to read this and not here a ticking clock…

Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City by Russell Shorto
Not without flaws (Shorto gives the 18th and 19th centuries short shrift), but if you want an immensely readable and even chatty glimpse into the philosophical underpinnings of Amsterdam during its evolution, its golden years and today, this is THE book to read. It’s also going to be interesting to those curious about the evolution of liberalism (in the classic sense) in political life, and the rise of individuals to become participants in their societies. I devoured it in two days.

Walking Home by Simon Armitage
Armitage, a well-known British poet, walks the Pennine Way “backwards”, north to south, heading back to his Yorkshire home and giving readings en route. It’s a thoughtful and funny book that leaps from his attempts to cover his costs solely from donations during his poetry readings (and to carry the heavy coins) to the details of his walks – getting lost in the mist, struck with awe at the landscape, dealing with blisters and pain. A great travel yarn.

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
Odds are that you know Patchett only or primarily as a novelist. But damn, she writes a great personal essay. OK, I’m predisposed to like them because some of them are about writing (including the perils of freelancing), but she has a knack for going straight to the heart of a topic, without sacrificing anything in the way of style or succumbing to sentimentality.

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
Egan is another of my 2013 discoveries, although I should have been reading his books for a while. This one is about the Dust Bowl, and is compelling on every possible level. Equally fascinating is his most recent book, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, about Edward Curtis's self-impossed mission/mania to photograph the disappearing Native American tribes across North America, and the toll it took on him even as the tribes themselves were changing beyond recognition.

The Watchers by Stephen Alford
A great choice for history buffs, chronicling the war of nerves and intellects that pitted Elizabeth I's spymasters -- Walsingham and his heirs -- against French/Spanish/papal agents. It's a great reminder that a reign that we now view as a golden era was in reality uncertain and full of peril; that the Armada wasn't an anomaly but merely the tangible manifestation of a lifelong threat that Elizabeth and her advisors had to deal with.

The World is a Carpet by Anna Badkhen
Badkehn reminds the reader that even in war zones, 'ordinary' life continues, and through her tale of a group of people living in a village so tiny that it can't be found on Google Earth, she tells the story of a carpet and its makers, of the patterns of life in this kind of village, and the often subtle and only sometimes dramatic ways in which the latest battle for control of Afghanistan has affected them. Fabulous; ornate and lyrical prose.

Gun Guys by Dan Baum
At last, a book about what gun ownership feels like, told by someone who is struggling to understand his own affection for guns. Baum tours the landscape of the gun sub culture, tellings it tale, even as he examines his own interest with guns. In light of the polarizing debate, this felt like an important book to read. It didn't change my own views, but it made me more reflective.


Honorable mention to:
Zealot by Reza Aslan – You’ve read about this!
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour bookstore by Robin Sloan – Fantastical tale of literary adventure
Fallen Land by Patrick Flanery – Depressing & gloomy but fabulous writing
Brief Encounters with the Enemy by Said Sayrafiezadeh – Small gems of short stories
The Alienist by Caleb Carr – Gripping Gilded Age NY tale; how did I miss this up to now?
Brave Genius by Steven Carroll -- Camus and Jacques Monod on finding meaning; fascinating if imperfect
Fear in the Sunlight by Nicola Upson – Josephine Tey, sleuth, meets Alfred Hitchcock in this mystery yarn
Aftermath by Donovan Webster – What happens to battlefields that we abandon when the wars are over.
The Idealist by Nina Munk – Does a great job illustrating the core problem of philanthropy
The Longest Road by Philip Caputo – From Florida to Alaska, in quest of America
Mister Blue by Jacques Poulin – Beautiful, creative and engaging.
In the Woods by Tana French – Somehow, I’ve been missing out on this mystery series. Oh well, it’s remedied now. Character-driven tale.
The House of Journalists by Tim Finch – What happens when the place an exiled writer finds refuge wants to co-opt his voice and story?

190: A writer who is new to me,
Then there is no hope for us mere mortals...

Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City
I’d suppose this is a companion to The Island at the Center of the World, which I read in 2012; excellent, and deserved a review, but I cut my losses with unfinished reviews at the end of the year.

The Worst Hard Time
Also read in 2012, and this one I did review at length because it was so compelling. I have The Big Burn on hand but haven’t yet read it. Have you?

Wow - lots of additions to my list from your last post - many thanks! A belated happy New Year - hope it's happy and healthy.

I'm in the middle of Restoration by Rose Tremain and am enjoying it but not loving it. I like the way the personal "restoration" of the protagonist Merivel is highlighted against the backdrop of Charles II.

On another topic, have you heard of Alan Blinder's analysis of the 2008 crash called After the Music Stopped? Just wondering if it's worthwhile. I have a couple of clients who are buying into the "bubble" talk (some people are just pessimistic by nature) and I'm looking for support that we are in a very different environment now.

The Big Burn is one by this author that I didn't read last year, but I also read & enjoyed The Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher. I also haven't read The Island at the Center of the World (although I will now) but I read and enjoyed Descartes' Bones. I also have to see if Shorto has written anything about Espinoza...

Whoops, just saw your post, Vivian! I read Restoration a long time ago and don't think I appreciated it as I should -- I was hoping for a different kind of novel, and don't think I picked up on the nuance. I do need/want to get back to it.

I have just heard of the Blinder tome; I haven't read it yet. I'm very slightly anxious about a bubble, but a lot will hinge on what happens to corporate profits this year. I look at AMZN and their ilk and my brain stalls. P/E ratios are absurd, and yet I know that growth investors are looking past those to the 10-year outlook, the "moat", etc. In fact, I have to write something about that later today.

I just picked up "Daughters of Mars" today in the Kindle sale. I'm so glad to see you liked it so much! I have "The Worst Hard Time" waiting for me on the (virtual) shelf and I hope this is the year I actually read it.

I've read also really liked quite a few of your other favorites ("The Round House", "Midnight Riot", "Caleb's Crossing", "In the Woods". Some good stuff on that list, which makes me think I should go ahead and wishlist the rest because I'll probably like them, too. :-)

I'm so glad you like Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay. She is just a sweetheart, as well.

You had a great reading year!

Lori, it was! Although wildly uneven -- more so than unusual, because I was being more aggressive requesting Amazon ARCs, and then having to slog through books that didn't have a chance of making it onto this list. I had thought about coming up with a rival list, "Biggest Disappointments of 2013"!

Tui, how nice to know that Elizabeth Hay is a nice person as well as a good author. I'd like to try to get to her newest book, Alone in the Classroom, this month. I've been trying to do that for several months now...

Julia, well, there's no financial penalty for wishlisting something... *grin*

Damn, it is icy cold out there. I finally had to go and ship boxes to Toronto ($200 in postage...), now that there isn't a foot of snow on the ground and it's not raining and it's not a weekend or a holiday. Yesterday it was nearly 60 F; today it's closer to 6 F, with the windchill.

#190 Chatterbox
*bam* Onto my wishlist goes The Watchers.

I just finished reading Empress Dowager Cixi and I do agree with your review-thanks!
Daughters of Mars was a great read for me last year.

Your "best of" list has just inflated my wishlist! I'm particularly interested in The Lost Carving since Hampton Court is a close second to Windsor Castle for my favorite palace. The Golden Scales also sounds fascinating.

The Lost Carving is so eloquent that it almost made me cry... I read a library copy, and I plan to buy a hardcover one of these days... Maybe it will be my birthday prez to myself! And I'm eagerly awaiting the third Parker Bilal mystery, which will be out this year at least in the UK. It's going to be a must-read.

Enjoyed your meme and your 'best of' list. I've loved Erdrich for decades, so glad that you discovered her. The early books are really amazing.

Great "best of" list, Suz. Definitely will add some to my wishlist, though I'd already added quite a few such as the Amsterdam book, when I first saw your reviews.

#190 Loved reading your list of favorite 2013 books, and especially since you provided commentary. I am a Louise Erdrich fan, and now that you've read The Round House, you may want to read her earlier The Plague of Doves which provides some back-story on some of Joe's older relatives. Late Nights on Air is a book I kept picking up in the bookstore and not buying, but now I may look for it again. And Morality Play was also one of my favorites of last year, a book I inexplicably (to use your word) had never read before. Lots of other books to explore on your lists -- thanks!

#191 I loved The Island at the Center of the World too, but I'm waiting for the paperback for Amsterdam.

Rebecca, I've been meaning to read The Plague of Doves since I finished The Round House this spring/summer/whenever. Sigh, good intentions...

And I had had "Late Nights..." sitting here for literally years before I picked it up to read -- a fate that now seems to be in store for Alone in the Classroom. To add to my woes, I came back from the library with five books -- a bunch of holds all arrived at once. And SIX more holds are en route to me! ARGH. On top of my splurge on 84p and 99p UK Kindle books, this is making me afraid to even try to calculate the height of Mt. TBR.

The one additional book I knocked off it today won't make much of a dent, either...

8. Garlic, Mint & Sweet Basil is a short (very, very short) collection of essays by the late Jean-Claude Izzo, Mediterranean noir novelist and writer. What's here is very compelling, at least at first. But then you realize that while each essay is beautifully written, they're all ruminations on precisely the same themes: the distinctiveness of Marseilles and Mediterranean culture. Had the folks at Europa combined these with other essays on the same theme by other writers, or broadened out the selection a bit, it would have been meatier. As it is, I can't suggest buying this. But if you want to read about the delights of bouillabaisse and garlic, I can't imagine anyone doing a better job of it than did Izzo. 3.85 stars. Two of the essays here will pop up on my Categories challenge, which this year will be devoted to essays.

After the discussion here about the effects of WWI on the world I had to WL The War That Ended Peace. Of course, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage was on my top ten list of 2013 as well....all thanks to another BB from you! I will be paying close attention to essay collections that you highly recommend but I think I will not track down your latest.

Oh, I'm glad you liked the Bilal, which I read sometime this past year, and I'm delighted to know that more are coming.

I also just got The Daughters of Mars from Amazon, based on your rec. Looking forward to it, sometime in the next dozen or so years.

Speaking of 'no penalty for wishlists', a co-worker of mine has noticed an ominous rise in prices after he posted stuff on his wishlist (not books). I hope they are not playing that game at Amazon - it could be ugly.

Wow -- I know the pricing is very fluid, and it could be that they're doing something like that. I don't put many books on my WL there, just here. And stuff tends to sit there for a long time since I never order it and nobody -- with the exception of that random stranger who bought me a Kindle book this summer. But I've had non-book stuff on my Amazon wish list that has been there for years!

I checked on Amazon UK, and the new Bilal will be out in mid-February -- yippee! That ALMOST makes up for the fact that I didn't win any of the books that I requested on ER. Which is annoying since in two cases, I own & have reviewed every book by the author. I also haven't been getting many ER books this year. In fact, I think I may simply stop requesting them altogether. When I do get one, it either doesn't show up at all (two this year), shows up months after the book has been published (two this year) or is simply not very good. Meh. A resolution made easier by the fact that while last time there were three books on it that I desperately want to read, this time around there's nada there for me. There's a historical novel, to be sure, but I think I can get an ARC another way, without going through all the palaver. Also, I have to say that I'm annoyed that nearly a full day after the January list went up, I still haven't been officially notified that I'm not getting anything -- I have to deduce it from the LT person who replaced Jeremy saying that if there's no indication on your "books requested" list, you haven't won anything.

Bloody freezing out there!!

I saw this morning that Elizabeth Howard died at age 90 - have you read The Cazalet Chronicles and if so what did you think?

Vivian, I read the first four as they were appearing, so over a period of five years beginning more than 20 years ago. When I saw that book #5 was coming (it was published in November or December in the UK), I decided to re-read the series, and am now just starting the third book, Confusion. Clearly, she was roughly the same age as the girls who form the core of the novels, cousins Louise, Polly and Clary Cazalet, so I'm wondering how much of her own experiences/observations went into them?

I do quite like the books. The narrative voice rotates from one principal voice to another, never retracing chronological ground, which means that we get the perspective of a number of different characters -- philandering Edward, loyal Hugh, artistic Rupert; their wives; some of their children -- without ever having to be confined to a single first-person POV. It's tough to do this and pull it off, giving each character a voice that sounds "individual", but she manages reasonably well. That said, if you're looking for something that isn't at its heart a domestic drama of relationships (albeit set against the backdrop of WW2), you'll want to look further.

I also decided to watch the DVDs of the miniseries (which focuses on the first two books) but so far haven't gotten beyond the first disc from Netflix. It's OK, but the story works better in print than on screen. Amusingly, however, Hugh Bonneville, who now is playing Lord Grantham on Downton Abbey, features here. I remember being frustrated that they hadn't taken the series beyond the first two books. Having watched the first chunk of it again, I can only assume they didn't get the ratings.

For such seemingly straightforward novels, they feature what at least some readers find disturbing themes. They look like family sagas, but Louise's father (the lecher) tries to act on his incestuous feelings for her, the sole sister to the three Cazalet brothers is either asexual or gay (she's being wooed by a woman, although in the early books, EJH is writing her as someone who is more asexual and romantic than sexual), and there's a rape and a lot of extramarital stuff. It didn't bother me, but in the context of the way the book was presented and marketed, I can see that some readers who were expecting a sweet and gentle jaunt down memory lane might have been taken aback!

The other interesting fact about EJH that I didn't discover until after I had been reading the Cazalet chronicles for the first time is that her longest marriage was to Kingsley Amis, and that her stepson, Martin Amis, said once that she was responsible for pushing him toward being a serious writer.

Thanks - sounds right up my alley and will duly add to my list! The obit in the Times was filled with anecdotes of her husbands and lovers.

For my Essays Categories challenge:

E1. "Listening to the Sea" and "I am at home Everywhere", from Garlic, Mint & Sweet Basil by Jean-Claude Izzo.

Izzo's style is sometimes abrupt, almost staccato, replete with incomplete sentences. "...the Mediterranean has two shores. Not just ours. Today, Europe talks of only one and France is all too ready to fall in line. Making this sea, for the first time, a border between East and West, North and South. Separating us from Africa and Asia Minor." In these two essays, part of a short collection of often very short essays, Izzo lays out his own vision for Marseilles and the Mediterranean, one in which the city serves its traditional role as melting pot and meeting point. He's the right person to do so -- son of Italian and a Spaniard, yet born French in Marseilles, yet insistent on noting what distinguishes the city not only from what he sees as the bland conventionality of Paris but also the Provencal playgrounds of the elite only a few miles distant. The collection as a whole becomes a bit repetitive, and is best read intermittently, but these two essays are among the best at laying out Izzo's ideas and ideals. 3.7 stars.

I just got a care package from my friend in DC, who made NANAIMO BARS! I haven't tried 'em yet -- shall wait until the weekend, since the chocolate may cause a migraine. I confess that Nanaimo bars are the only commestible for which I would risk a migraine... :-)

Just dropping by to say hi and Happy New Year Suzanne!

....Now I'll head to the top of this thread to catch up. Love your essays challenge though. I may appropriate it...

Hey, Fliss, good to see you! Please, feel free -- appropriate away... Always happy to share!

Is the historical novel you think you can get via other means A Burnable Book? I thought that sounded quite interesting and immediately thought of you when I saw it on the ER list.

Wow, they must be good if you're willing to risk a migraine to eat them. Now I'm curious about them ...

Roni, yup, that's it. I took the Coursera class that the professor who wrote it taught, and I have, ahem, connections in the historical fiction community. Also, HarperCollins has been good about ARCs, generally -- and of course, it might show up on Vine!

Nanaimo bars are almost the only chocolate-y, rich desert that I can tolerate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanaimo_bar I didn't discover them until I was into my late teens, and they're not found many places -- mostly home baked, and I've never seen them commercially made (vs a bakery making to sell them in their own store). I've never tried making them myself, and they simply don't exist in the US.

I just narrowly avoided booking a Megabus to NY on Tuesday -- I though that was the day of our book circle meeting. It's not. It's Monday! Which means I have to read faster in Dead Souls. I'm enjoying it, but it repays careful and slow reading, and I find I need to balance it with lighter stuff.

From that Wikipedia page.

Robert

Yum... I just drooled all over my computer.

Oh. My Goodness. That looks marvelous.

#13 Re your friend's synesthesia - that's a fascinating idea - I may have to do a PubMed search tomorrow to see if I can find any studies!

#31 Completely concur re audiobooks - until the last few years, my sole experience of them was audiobooks we listened to in the car on holiday when I was little (we used to go camping in France via ferry, which usually involved a lot of driving - I can quote vast swathes of The Hobbit purely due to Nicol Williams), but out of the car (and in the UK, I don't often drive far enough to make an audiobook worth it), I'd always found them incredibly frustrating as, like you, I read a lot quicker than I can be read to. I then stumbled across the Lemony Snickett Series of Unfortunate Events, most of which are read by the wonderful Tim Curry (he can actually believably talk as though he's suffocating through a mouthful of mushrooms) and it was a bit of a revelation. I still don't listen to them very often, but finding someone who can read a book well is always a joy (Neil Gaiman is actually very good, as is David Tennant) - particularly as I get car sick, so can't read in the car/on the bus. ...in fact, do you have any reader recommendations?

#166 Hmmm you've reminded me that I've still yet to read Wild Swans, despite it being on my shelves for years, thank you...

#167 That's interesting Cusha - I'd never realised it was was possible to get the aura of a migraine without the headache until recently (a new colleague of mine has always had that) - I wonder why it happens? Definitely sounds like an improvement anyway. I've had proper migraines only about 3/4 times in my life (all teenaged), although I used to be very prone to sick headaches - less so now (she says off the back of a nasty pre-headcold one a couple of days ago, which left me a tad shaky and currently very snotty) and I consider myself very lucky in that - 3/4 times was plenty - I have much sympathy for anyone who has to live with them on a regular basis.

#176 I love that meme ;o)

#178 Nabokov on Gogol sounds interesting - may have to find that one myself...

#190 A great selection as ever. I must get round to reading Schindler's Ark this year - it's been on my TBR pile forever and I want to read it before I read The Daughters of Mars. Have to say though, I was completely nonplussed by The Testament of Mary - I'm clearly missing something though as I've yet to come across anyone else who only found it so-so... Is Midnight Riot the same as Rivers of London? This would be one of those occasions when I'm completely stumped as to why the book would be renamed for the US market...

#210/11 They've been serialising the Cazalet series on BBC Radio 4 for some time now - I keep catching the odd snippet and thinking that I should really read them. I'm not sure if it's on iPlayer though, will have to go and check. There was also a Front Row programme with clips from an old interview with her recently (following her death) - there is, indeed, a certain amount of autobiography in her work I think.

Right. I'd better get some sleep now...

#216 Thanks Suz!

...and wow. I may have to head back to Canada just to try one of those...

I'm tired and am going to put myself to bed early...

Fliss, the narrators I have enjoyed the most were Patrick Tull for the Aubrey/Maturin series, the narrator of CJ Sansom's "Shardlake" books (whose name I can't recall) and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who narrates the Ben Aaronovitch series, The Rivers of London. I also liked the narration of Morality Play, although as we discussed earlier, he spoke rapidly and almost breathlessly -- it seemed to fit the spirit of the book.

Now reading:

Dead Souls by Gogol
Teatime for the Firefly by Shona Patel (Amazon Vine)
Stringer: A Reporter's Journey in the Congo by Anjan Sundaram (ditto)
The Eternal Wonder by Pearl Buck (ditto; meh)
The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough

on deck: the new Jean Echenoz novel, "1914".

All caught up here - at least for now! Love your "Best of" list, Suz!

Ha, Katie, just when you thought you were safe, comes....

9. Teatime for the Firefly by Shona Patel, although this really isn't much of a book bullet, IMO. It's the epitome of "women's fiction", with some vague themes thrown in to make it more interesting, but they're never really properly "shaped" or developed. The interesting part, and the reason I requested the ARC from Amazon Vine, is that it's set in India -- in Assam, in and near the tea plantations -- between 1942/3 and 1947 (or independence). The story is a banal love story -- Layla is born under unlucky stars, and probably won't find a man to marry her because everyone is superstitious, blah blah blah. And then along comes Manik Deb, Mr. Perfect, who falls for her, sets up a scheme under which his arranged bride can jilt him, and carries her off to be the sole Indian woman married to a tea garden manager. Of course, Manik isn't perfect, but Layla's problems with him are really quite silly. There's the sudden flareup of violence at the end with Partition, but it occupies only a tiny part of the narrative. What I enjoyed? Well, it's written by an Indian woman and sheds light on an interesting time and place, at least to some extent. Not as good as The Hope Factory, which I read late last year, though. Far too banal. 3.2 stars, and moving right along. Too bad I'm also struggling with the turgid posthumous novel by Pearl Buck. Clearly, I am in need of a thumping good read.

Suz, please make a trip to Ellen's thread. Something's happened you should know about.

Re the synesthesia discussion - there's a good website to visit: http://synesthete.org/

Amber, thanks! They tell me there's a good chance that I might be one of 'em (the initial quiz) but I don't want to bother about filling out a more lengthy questionnaire just now. Having looked at the preliminary quiz, it's clear that whatever my relationship to words, it doesn't fit squarely into this definition.

Took the garbage cans out 30 minutes ago (six of 'em have to be rolled to the curb) and my fingers are STILL frozen. Brrr!

Now must figure out what I'll have for dinner. I'm clearly procrastinating to avoid finishing off The Eternal Wonder by Pearl Buck, which is thinly-disguised dreck.

Dead Souls. Wheeeeeeee!!

Heh, I lurk on this thread way too much apparently, judging by that Best of list. Already on the hold list at the library: An Officer and a Spy, The Hired Man, Hild, Caleb's Crossing, The War that Ended Peace (waiting for me at the library). Already own because of this thread: Daughters of Mars, Late Nights on Air, The Good House, Lawrence in Arabia, Morality Play, Amsterdam. Fortunately, I've already read The Worst Hard Time, The Round House and Harvest. So nice job Suzanne and thanks a lot. Really.

Tee hee, Bonnie. I should finding a way to get a commission on all these, shouldn't I??

Dead Souls is good fun, Glenn, with a kind of subdued hysterical tone. I wanted to read it because of The Inspector General, which is a great satire.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/harlequin-signs-nicole-lapin-for-rich-bitch...

Can I just say that this young woman wouldn't know the difference between a stock and a bond if she hadn't hired me to tutor her on it back before she made the switch from covering LA celebs to finance? Thank you...

Oooh, that must be really annoying, Suzanne! Perhaps she'll thank you in the book's acknowledgments. ;-)

Not annoying (although it will be if I'm NOT in the acknowledgments). She has the platform and the visibility to do this, and she's been in the job for three or four years now. I do, however, find it very very funny that someone whose primary qualification for her job is looking good and an ability to be a quick study is writing the kind of books that no one who doesn't have some kind of experience with $$ or longer time spent on it should be doing. I wouldn't write this book, f'rinstance.

Hm. Typical marketing I suppose. A lot of style over substance. I wonder how the book will be.

Probably adequate, with all the basics in the right places with new spin on it all -- a new style. Hey, if it convinces more people to read what they otherwise wouldn't and to take it seriously, it's a good thing.

and then there is something which ISN'T a good thing. To wit,

10. The Eternal Wonder by Pearl Buck. The wonder to me is that this saw the light of day. Someone should have had more sense. It's stuff and nonsense. The protagonist, Rann Colfax, is a prodigy, finished college by the time he is 15, and in a state of wonder, as recommended by his adored father, ventures out to experience the world. The whole novel is little more than a pretext for the author to expound very banal quasi-philosophical ideas and opinions. Sadly, she did it in an exceptionally tedious way. For instance, when Rann sets out on his travels, his mother tells him, "You will be solitary, my son. The solitary creator is the source of all creation. He has produced all the most important ideas and works of art in human history. Lonely creators -- you will be one of those. Never complain of being lonely. You are born to be lonely. But the world needs the solitary creator. Remember that." Alas, Buck is so busy telling us how extraordinary and creative Rann is that she forgets to show us, and so the characters are rather scantily-drawn and unconvincing. I'll give her a pass on some antediluvian attitudes, given that this must have been written in the early 1960s, and so the attitudes she has her characters espouse about homosexuality and mixed-race children (and leaves unquestioned) haven't weighed in my opinion of the book. But the whole is a clumsy narrative, unconvincing and unengaging. It should have been left unpublished, especially since Buck -- however dated some of her novels feel today -- was clearly capable of far better and less cliched work. Try Imperial Woman, the novel about Empress Dowager Cixi, or my two sentimental faves, Kinfolk and Pavilion of Women. When Buck was good, she was entertaining or interesting, if not great; here, she is very far from good OR interesting. 1.6 stars. To be avoided.

1.6? *guffaw*

Hey I'm nothing if not precise in my estimation of a book's worth... *grin*

You don't want to add that review to the book's page? I find that people are more inclined to post a positive review to a book's page and, for me, I like to see all of the spectrum of reviews.
Just saying in passing that I'd apply a thumb to that review.

Agreed with the above! ^ I tend to search out both extremes of reviews on a book's page, and base my estimation on whether I'll enjoy a book on the intelligently written positive AND negative reviews. I suppose "intelligently written" is the key phrase there, so I have no doubt the review page would benefit from the addition of yours. :)

*waving* at Suz

Wow, the Pearl Buck is one of the rare non book-bullets you send me ;-)

Have a wonderful weekend, Suzanne!

Yeah, that was a stinker, all right. The review is now on the book page. I rarely post reviews on the LT book pages, simply because it's one more thing to do when I could be working, reading, posting on LT forums, etc. etc. In this case I HAD to finish it and review it, because of Amazon's requirements, otherwise I simply would have tossed it in a bin. Hey, unlike the other author I really dissed, at least she can't stalk me, especially since I don't believe in ghosts.

They're refinishing the floor upstairs, which is generating a great deal of noise, so I'm about to flee the apartment in quest of somewhere somewhat quieter where I can work today. Gah.

Writers have stalked you??

Only one... I refer you to my threads for February 2012....

I think it would have been a perfectly valid review not to finish the Pearl Buck and say you were unable to do so, and that you have enjoyed some of her better known work more although it's clearly uneven in quality. I don't quite understand reviews that say, like one I saw the other day "I'm half way through" and were clearly premature, and I'm more likely to mark down Vine reviews than ordinary reviews where someone clearly can't be bothered to base their review on an attempt to evaluate the product.

I know, Luci; with a Vine review (precisely for the reasons you cite!) I'm going to make an honest effort to read the whole thing, however painful. I admit to skimming the last 50/60 pages, though. Had I picked it up at the library, it would have been returned unread.

So many book bullets from your "best of" list. And Louise Erdrich is wonderful - I loved Shadow Tag as a portrait of a marriage coming apart at the seams.

What I was trying to say was that in the case of that book, it would be fair to say you found it unreadable and therefore couldn't finish it. The "I'm halfway through review" appeared to be a positive review from someone who was still reading the book, and that's what I found strange.

I've read up to message #140 which I'm reserving for tomorrow. I read Imperial Woman and liked it a lot, so curious about what you have to say about this one. I saw somewhere you'd mentioned listening to The Ruby in Her Navel. I currently have The Songs of the Kings in my shopping cart, but think I'll add this one. Or maybe I should wait till I see what you've no doubt said about it higher before finalizing my purchase.

I didn't see any mention of migraines when I skimmed through the last three days. Glad for you. I'm on month three of the longest bout I've ever had. I thought six weeks was bad a few years back, but this is just ridiculous.

God, Ilana, that's dreadful -- I'm so sorry. I had one last night and went to bed early; by early/mid morning it had mostly gone and I'm fine now. I've actually had very very few multi-day zingers in the last six months or so, thank heavens. New Year's Day was bad, and the day before the last big snowstorm, but other than that, they have been what I call "afternoon migraines"; the stuff that creeps up on me late in the day and is relatively simple to fend off. Which is lucky, because I'm yet again struggling to find a new neurologist. In Rhode Island, the waiting time is now up to six months or so; in NY, I don't have insurance and would have to pay for an MRI and a $800 check-up fee (minimum) out of pocket at the person my erstwhile neurologist suggested. I'm just hoping this is sustainable. It's also very helpful that my noisy upstairs neighbor has gone.

Luci, yes, I see what you mean & the distinction between the "yuck can't finish it" and "placeholder" reviews. The Last Harvest feature has resulted in my being overrun with ARCs, but shame on me if I overdo it and can't read 'em all. I just have a bad conscience if I pan something that I didn't finish, whereas praising something I didn't manage to finish in time feels better, somehow. If a book is excellent through the first two-thirds, it's not likely, really, that it's going to fall apart in the final third. (Although I admit it has happened, and in novels like Gone Girl, last minute plot twists can render a review useless.) Whereas, with a book I dislike, there's still the chance it will redeem itself late in the day.

Jen, I have yet to follow up my success with The Round House with another Erdrich book, although Plague of Doves, which is on my Kindle, will be the next candidate.

All of my library "hold" requests arrived at once. Picked up four on Tuesday and another four today. And two or three more still en route.

Watched old episodes of Inspector Morse on TV tonight and did some knitting after reading sent me to sleep. Sigh. Is this old age??

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Just speaking.......... I won't read Buck now - life is too short.
Loved Morse, and also loved John Thaw.
I'm about to finish my current novel May We Be Forgiven. If I hadn't paid for it, I would have quit way before reading the first third, which I thought was awful. Now at 87% read, I'm not dreading to pick it up, so that's quite a change for me. Anyway, it is redeeming itself as you say.

Suzanne
Did you read where the ending of the movie Gone Girl is being completely rewritten by Gillian Flynn? Because the director thought the reason The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo flopped was because it stayed too close to the book. I haven't seen the American version so I can't speak to that, but I did see the extended Swedish version of all three films and loved them.

I always enjoy reviews when the book gets a complete shelling as Ms. Buck's rotten socks got from you. Feel sorry for the reader just a little but there is a sadistic streak that revels in a book getting trashed.
I actually really like much of Buck's canon including The Good Earth trilogy and The Living Reed but I can see where she would falter towards the banal.

Have a lovely weekend Suz.

Peggy, wasn't it said that Thaw died so soon (relatively speaking) after Morse did? It always felt a bit eerie. I checked recently, and saw that Colin Dexter hasn't written anything recently, although he is still alive. I'm sure he can live off royalties, but it must feel odd for your main character and your star and the books and TV show to have all ended at once. He never wrote anything else, as far as I know, whether another series or a stand-alone book.

I hadn't read anything about the ending of Gone Girl being changed!!! How horrible -- what a bad idea. I thought it was spookily appropriate to the whole book, and I can't somehow imagine anything that would be any better, really. Anything satisfying would also be unconvincing. I did see the US version of "Dragon Tattoo" and liked it -- perhaps not as much as the Swedish version, but I still liked it. Are they not going to make the two sequels in English? I hadn't realized that #1 had flopped -- pity. But then, my movie taste clearly doesn't mesh with that of others. Although, that said, the only movie I saw last year was Catching Fire. Missed about six others I wanted to see.

ETA, Paul, yes, this felt like leftovers "left over" past their best before date. If that makes sense.

11. Confusion by Elizabeth Jane Howard is book #3 in the Cazalet series (which now runs to five volumes) and covers the years from early 1942 to VE Day. Polly and Clary grow to maturity, Louise is unhappily married, the elder generation grow older and no wiser, and everyone is weary of war. As I've noted before, this series revolves mostly around the domestic and personal lives of an extended family: the three sons and sole daughter of an affluent merchant family, and the children of each of the three sons, who range in age from Louise, about 19 when this opens, down to Juliet, about 18 months old, whose father, the youngest of the sons, has been missing in France since before her birth. I can't remember much of the final volume that I did read (it's been almost 20 years since I read these, and don't think I had ever re-read them) and of course, since the fifth and final volume was published only weeks before Howard's death at the beginning of January, I've not read that, either, so I'll be curious to see how she wraps up the narrative. 3.9 stars.

I really must get round to Gone Girl soon, I think...

I've only read The Good Earth, but was not impressed with Buck.

Happy weekend, Suzanne!

Ha, so this is due to my failure to touch wood, clearly -- woke up with a mini-migraine this morning. Hopefully meds and ice packs will chase it off; I'm fairly sure it's the weather that has caused it. Temps have shot up into the mid 50s F, and it's grey and oppressive outside. Blech.

nonono. unfair. sending a whammy after that mini-migraine.

Thanks, Judy, it's annoying as I clearly HAVE to finish Dead Souls by Monday evening, and don't want to have to speed-read on an early a.m. bus...