Paul C with books and more in 2014 Part 11

Joe Sacco has released a book with drawings about 1 July 1916 - The Somme. This is from there:

One of the most profound of the World War One Poets was undoubtedly Isaac Rosenberg.



This is an extract from his famous poem Dead Man's Dump

The air is loud with death,
The dark air spurts with fire,
The explosions ceaseless are.
Timelessly now, some minutes past,
Those dead strode time with vigorous life,
Till the shrapnel called `An end!'
But not to all. In bleeding pangs
Some borne on stretchers dreamed of home,
Dear things, war-blotted from their hearts.

Maniac Earth! howling and flying, your bowel
Seared by the jagged fire, the iron love,
The impetuous storm of savage love.
Dark Earth! dark Heavens! swinging in chemic smoke,
What dead are born when you kiss each soundless soul
With lightning and thunder from your mined heart,
Which man's self dug, and his blind fingers loosed?

A man's brains splattered on
A stretcher-bearer's face;
His shook shoulders slipped their load,
But when they bent to look again
The drowning soul was sunk too deep
For human tenderness.

Rosenberg was killed on the Somme in 1918.

2014 Reading

January
1. A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe (1966) 150 pp
2. Touch Wood: Poems and a Story by Dannie Abse (2002) 88pp
3. My Antonia by Willa Cather (1918) 248pp
4. 77 Dream Songs by John Berryman (1964) 84 pp
5. Novel on Yellow Paper by Stevie Smith (1936) 252 pp
6. The Sojourn by Andrew Krivak (2011) 191 pp
7. The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith (1892) 171 pp
8. Fools of Fortune by William Trevor (1983) 207 pp
9. Collected Poems 1951-2000 by Charles Causley (2000) 421 pp
10. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War by Christopher Clark (2012) 562 pp
11. Landscape at the End of the Century by Stephen Dunn (1991) 94 pp
12. North From Rome by Helen MacInnes (1958) 394 pp
13. Dream Work by Mary Oliver (1986) 89 pp
14. David Golder by Irene Nemirovsky (1929) 159 pp

February
15. Sleeper's Wake by Alistair Morgan (2009) 179 pp
16. Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E Feist (1982) 485 pp
17. If This is a Man by Primo Levi (1947) 179 pp
18. The Hawk in the Rain by Ted Hughes (1957) 54 pp
19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (1930) 248 pp
20. Gossip From the Forest by Thomas Keneally (1975) 236 pp
21. Moonfleet by J. Meade Falkner (1898) 256 pp
22. Chicago Poems by Carl Sandburg (1916) 80 pp

Best of 2014

Fiction
David Golder by Irene Nemirovsky
Fools of Fortune by William Trevor
My Antonia by Willa Cather

Thrillers/Sci Fi/Fantasy Etc
Magician : Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist

Poetry
Touch Wood: Poems and a Story by Dannie Abse
77 Dream Songs by John Berryman
The Hawk in the Rain by Ted Hughes

Non-Fiction
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War by Christopher Clark
If This is a Man by Primo Levi

FEBRUARY READING PLAN

Last month I targeted 14 books and I managed to make it with minutes to spare. This month despite it being a shorter one I expect to read more because of a likely appointment of a new driver, plenty of travel to Vietnam, Ghana and Brunei and less posting opportunities.

Plan 18:

1. Sleeper's Wake by Alistair Morgan (2009) READ
2. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (1930) READ
3. Magician : Apprentice by Raymond Feist (1982) READ
4. The Hawk in the Rain by Ted Hughes (1957) READ
5. Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household (1939)
6. Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope (1865)
7. Life Studies by Robert Lowell (1959)
8. Adam Resurrected by Yoram Kaniuk (1969)
9. The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy (1886)
10. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (1906)
11. The Song of the Cold by Edith Sitwell (1945)
12. Moonfleet by J. Meade Falkner (1898) READ
13. Therese Raquin by Emile Zola (1867)
14. Chicago Poems by Carl Sandburg (1916) READ
15. Legend of a Suicide by David Vann (2008)
16. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman (1962)
17. Gossip from the Forest by Thomas Keneally (1975) READ
18.If This is a Man by Primo Levi (1947) READ

One is a gift from Jean (Majkia) (#1)
Four poetry anthologies (#'s 4, 7, 11 & 14)
Two are on WW1 (#'s 16, 17)
18 different years in my 150 challenge
6 american writers but 5 states to add to the challenge
1 is for Mark's American Author challenge (#2)
1 is for the Fantasy February (#3)
1 is a re-read (#12)
1 is to finish after starting last year (#6)
2 are Holocaust related (#'s 8, 18)
4 are 1001 books; 1st Ed : (#'s 9, 10, 13, 18)

Category Challenge 14 for 14

Pyramid Challenge

1 World War One (3 READ)
2 Yorkshire Writers (2 READ)
3 Writers new to me (4 READ)
4 Books about the Holocaust (1 READ)
5 Books from the first edition of 1001 books (2 READ)
6 Ahem, Science Fiction and Fantasy (1 READ)
7 Series followed
8 Biographies
9 Books on the Shelves since 2012 (1 READ)
10 Gifts from friends (1 READ)
11 Re-reads (1 READ)
12 Nobel contenders (1 READ)
13 Short Story Collections
14 Vintage Crime/Thrillers (1 READ)

150 Years of Reading Bold Will Be Years I have Finished This Year

The Object is to read one book from each year from 1865 to 2014 all in 2014. No author to be repeated:

1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874,
1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884,
1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894,
1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904,
1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914,
1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924
1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934,
1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944,
1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954,
1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964,
1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974
1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984,
1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994,
1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

Stateside Challenge

In addition to Mark's American Author challenge I am trying to read a book by an author born in each of the US states + DC + one american born overseas:

1. Alabama
2. Alaska
3. Arizona
4. Arkansas
5. California Magician : Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist
6. Colorado
7. Connecticut
8. Delaware
9. Florida
10. Georgia
11. Hawaii
12. Idaho
13. Illinois Chicago Poem by Carl Sandburg
14. Indiana
15. Iowa
16. Kansas
17. Kentucky
18. Louisiana
19. Maine
20. Maryland
21. Massachusetts
22. Michigan
23. Minnesota
24. Mississippi - As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
25. Missouri
26. Montana
27. Nebraska
28. Nevada
29. New Hampshire
30. New Jersey
31. New Mexico
32. New York - Landscape at the End of the Century by Stephen Dunn
33. North Carolina
34. North Dakota
35. Ohio - Dream Work by Mary Oliver
36. Oklahoma - 77 Dream Songs by John Berryman
37. Oregon
38. Pennsylvania - The Sojourn by Andrew Krivak
39. Rhode Island
40. South Carolina
41. South Dakota
42. Tennessee
43. Texas
44. Utah
45. Vermont
46. Virginia - My Antonia by Willa Cather
47. Washington
48. West Virginia
49. Wisconsin
50. Wyoming
51. DC
52. American born outside USA

TBR Records

Physical Books on Shelves 1/1/14 = 2,690
Added in 2014 = 114
Read in 2014 = 22
Revised TBR Books = 2,782

Pages to read 1/1/14 = 974,030
Pages added in 2014 = 38,014
Pages read in 2014 = 4,823
Revised Pages to read = 1,007,221

Total Kindle E Books to Read = 3,873
Read in 2014 = 0
Added in 2014 = 0
Revised Kindle Books to Read = 3,873

Total TBR = 6,655 books

Series List:

Please refer to my page on fict-fact

http://www.fictfact.com/list/PaulCranswick/19440/ALL

NOBEL CHALLENGE (This year's read additions in bold)

NOBEL WINNERS READ WITH FAVOURITE WORK READ SO FAR:
2013 Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro
2011 The Half-Finished Heaven by Tomas Transtromer
2010 The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa
2009 The Appointment by Herta Muller
2007 The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing
2006 Snow by Orhan Pamuk
2005 The Caretaker by Harold Pinter
2003 The Master of Petersburg by J.M.Coetzee
2001 A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
1998 The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by Jose Saramago
1997 Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo
1995 Station Island by Seamus Heaney
1994 A Quiet Life by Kenzaburo Oe
1992 Selected Poems by Derek Walcott
1991 July's People by Nadine Gordimer
1988 Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
1987 On Grief and Reason by Joseph Brodsky
1985 The Flanders Road by Claude Simon
1983 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
1982 A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
1976 Herzog by Saul Bellow
1972 Billiards at Half-Past Nine by Heinrich Boll
1971 The Captain's Verses by Pablo Neruda
1970 Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
1968 Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari Kawabata
1964 The Age of Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre
1962 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
1961 Bridge On the Drina by Ivo Andric
1958 Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
1957 The Plague by Albert Camus
1955 The Atom Station by Halldor Laxness
1954 The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
1953 History of the English Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill
1952 Knot of Vipers by Francois Mauriac
1951 Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist
1949 The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
1948 The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot
1947 The Counterfeiters by Andre Gide
1946 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
1938 The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
1932 A Man of Property by John Galsworthy
1930 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
1925 Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw
1923 Collected Poems by W.B. Yeats
1921 And the Gods Will Have Blood by Anatole France
1913 He (Shey) by Rabindranath Tagore
1907 Kim by Rudyard Kipling

UNREAD NOBEL WINNERS ON THE SHELVES

2012 Red Sorghum by Mo Yan
2008 The Interrogation by J.M.G. Le Clezio
2004 The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
2002 Fatelessness by Imre Kertesz
2000 Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
1999 The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
1996 Poems New and Collected by Wislawa Szymborska
1993 Jazz by Toni Morrison
1990 The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz
1989 The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo Jose Cela
1986 Ake: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka
1984 The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert by Jaroslav Seifert
1981 Kafka's Other Trial by Elias Canetti
1978 Enemies : A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer
1973 Voss by Patrick White
1969 Molloy by Samuel Beckett
1966 A Book That Was Lost by S.Y. Agnon
1965 And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov
1950 A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
1939 The Maid Silja by F.E. Sillanpaa
1936 A Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill
1934 Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello
1933 The Village by Ivan Bunin
1929 Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann
1928 Kristin Lavransdatter : 1 The Wreath by Sigrid Undset
1926 Reeds in the Wind by Grazia Deledda
1920 Hunger by Knut Hamsun
1909 The Saga of Gosta Berling by Selma Lagerlof
1905 Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz

So far read 47 laureates
29 laureates unread on the shelves
35 laureates whose works neither owned not read.

Hey! I'm here ;-)

Me, too!

Me, three:)

Checking in! Me, four. Have the Sacco book on order at the library.

So close to first........

FourthSixth in line. :(

Cee - The Maid of Coastal Maine wins the prize! Please PM me your address my dear and my buddies at Book Depo will look something out for you. xx

Mamie - 1 minute from a book being winged towards the Paradisio.

Calm - Interesting to see you too. Noticed that you mentioned on your thread that you are a visitor rather than a poster generally on threads. I am always pleased as punch when you choose to do the posting instead.

Joe - As you know I am not a great one for Graphic books but I may make an exception in this case. Looks jolly interesting if you ask me.

Katie - I predict you'll win the prize sometime soon my dear, although your TBR is every bit as long as my own.

Roni - Hope you didn't miss that I sneaked in a review of Magician : Apprentice on my last thread and namechecked your goodself as an influence over my reading. xx

Paul, have you picked up the Joe Sacco book? I have been eyeing it but haven't bought it yet.

Of course I didn't miss it, Paul. I'm just still numb with shock!

That illustration makes The Somme almost look like a fun place to be. I wonder if that was intentional...

Happy New Thread Paul?

I'm here too. Love the illustration on top!

Erik - I haven't seen it in the shops actually as the GN sections are not ones I normally frequent. I will make an exception this weekend though and see what I can see.

Roni - hahahaha

Ilana - I would have to bow to your far superior knowledge of the intention and signifiers of/in art, my dear. I think Rosenberg's poem that follows it would disabuse the impression of a cakewalk don't you think?

Connie - Thanks my dear. My threads already wouldn't be the same without your visits. xx

Hej Paul, just found your new thread.

Have a good day.

Happy new thread, Paul!

Wow - I was #1. Just goes to show, impossible things happen on your threads, Paul! I will send you my address if you promise not to send a How-to book on frosting bathroom windows ;-) LOL

I agree with Ilana - not how I pictured The Somme.

Thanks Paul. Not the very best of days for you and yours but tomorrow is another day and let it bring better things dear chap. Hugs to your dear wife.

Julia - Thanks. I hope it will be a happy one although most of my reading matter is particularly grim at present.

Cee.

1. Yes I promise. No frosted or unfrosted bathroom window books.
2. I agree with two of my favourite ladies. Not how I pictured it either.

Lafayette, I am here.

Nice to see you Mr. Pershing......better late than never as Clemenceau must have thought even if he didn't say it.

You may call me Black Jack. And Clemenceau's face said it all, dinnit?

Twas indeed a most impressive and expressive visage:

Not even a smile can hide his careworn grimness. And not a small bit of a wonder that is.

Happy New Thread, Paul!

Happy new thread Paul. We spent several holidays in the departement of Somme. It's a fantastic place and history can be seen everywhere.

*waves* beautiful new thread.

Happy new thread, Paul. Stopping by with late congratulations on Yasmine's achievements and continued awe at your book acquisitions! Are you a winter Olympic follower? I am a huge fan of the curling but can be convinced to watch the hockey when Canada (men's or women's teams) are playing. I love the figure skating costumes but that is one sport that is always dogged by judging controversies.

Heigh ho! Just dropping in, leaving my card, and rushing out.

Paul, it didn't require any special art background to make that call. I just looked at that top illustration carefully and saw neatly ordered troupes, an atmosphere of calm and quiet, no obvious injuries or cadavers, and most significantly, a few soldiers smiling. ;-)

Paul, I am not sure I recommended Hitler's Death Camps to you or not. It was written by a professor of mine who visited all the camps. It's fascinating and grim at the same time.

I recently "read" Sacco's book about the Somme and the nature of his illustrations struck a dischordant note to me with what he was depicting. Even as he shows when the fighting began, the cartoonish figures seemed all wrong. It was an odd experience...

I just received the following information from the Folio Society by email in the last hour:

The Folio Prize shortlist

This morning at the British Library, the judges of the 2014 Folio Prize, headed by Chair Lavinia Greenlaw, announced the eight titles on the much-anticipated inaugural shortlist. As sponsors of The Folio Prize, we wanted to ensure that our members would be among the first to discover this stellar list of new writing. The Folio Prize aims to recognise and celebrate the best English-language fiction published in the UK in a given year, regardless of form, genre or the author’s country of origin. The winner of the very first Folio Prize – worth £40,000 – will be announced at a ceremony taking place on Monday 10 March in London.

The eight books in contention are:

Red Doc> by Anne Carson (Random House / Jonathan Cape)
Schroder by Amity Gaige (Faber & Faber)
Last Friends by Jane Gardam (Little, Brown)
Benediction by Kent Harouf (Picador)
The Flame Throwers by Rachel Kushner (Random House/ Harvill Secker)
A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride (Galley Beggar Press)
A Naked Singularity by Sergio De La Pava (Maclehose Editions)
Tenth of December by George Saunders (Bloomsbury)

At The Folio Society we are passionate champions of great literature. In sponsoring The Folio Prize, our hope was that we could continue this tradition of excellence and uncover the best fiction of our time, books that will be read and admired for decades to come. This outstanding shortlist, which consists of five US or US-based writers, one British, one Canadian and one Irish, confirms our expectations.

You can watch a video here which explains the concept behind The Folio Prize and our reasons for sponsoring it, and presents the shortlisted authors.

Nice new thread mate.

If you're needing a "Michigan" book to read, can I suggest Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (assuming you haven't read it). Beautiful book.

Re, Arsenal. We've bounced back very well from defeats this season, so confident that we can do so again. As for United, I think we're seeing now what influence Ferguson had over the players and referees.

I second Middlesex, such a good book. :O)

Middlesex made me angry..... What can I say.. I''m a moody reader.

Hi, Paul ~ Congrats on your newest thread! A quick comment on a post from your last thread, I also thought Maus I and II were amazing graphic novels.

I enjoyed the drawing at the top of your thread. I'm never fast enough on the trigger at posting on your threads! Sometimes I feel like I'm dead last, then if I am off for a day or two, I don't even get to post on a thread because you've already started another new one by then! (Grin)

I have Joe Sacco's book home from the library but it doesn't look like I'll get to it. Congratulations on Thread No. 11!

Hello Paul. You hit me with a book bullet for Magician:Apprentice by Raymond Feist. It sounds right up my alley as I love that kind of epic fantasy.

RD - The Tiger as he was affectionately known spent most of the war snarling, cajoling and beseeching his side to victory. He undoubtedly was responsible for losing the peace as the French demands at Versailles left too great a strain on the Germans but Lloyd George should have been stronger, Wilson was ineffectual when called upon to stand firm and the Germans themselves didn't argue their own corner near well enough. In fairness to Clemenceau, Ferdinand Foch and Poincare were in favour of even more strenuous sanctions against the germans and, if the exigencies of the political situation had been different who knows.

Amber - Thank you my dear. Your thread is currently the fastest moving in the group if I am not too mistaken and RD and myself should start looking over our shoulders.

Barbara - I have done a fair amount of cycling in the area too back in the day. Windswept and wet most of the time as I recall.

Tam - Nice of you to say so my dear.

Lori - I love all sports but less so those that have to be determined by a judging panel such as skating, dancing, gymnastics and sometimes Boxing. The public should be able to see the winner and it should not be left ot debate and accusation of hard-luck.
The winter olympics are great fun and more so for the unfamiliarity with most of the sports.

Linda - Just about done with As I lay Dying. Suffice to say at the moment I much prefer it over The Sound and the Fury but wouldn't exactly say I liked it overly either. Suddenly he'll hit you with a phrase or a descriptive passage that is frankly awe inspiring but the trudge to get there is often so painful that one will arrive hobbled and unexpecting of the beauty that awaits.

Ilana - I did get that impression too in truth as there seems to be too much order and not enough movement.

Stephanie- That looks like pretty essential reading too. I will seek it out my dear thank you for the tip.

Katie - I don't know whether he is trying to make a point about the unreality of war but the style and the subject do, I would agree, seem incongruous bedfellows.

Ilana - Thanks for the update - the Folio Prize had been much heralded as a Literary Award par excellence so it will be interesting to see how well it is received overall.

Thanks John.

I have Middlesex on the shelves, Rosalind, so it is a distinct possibility if I can fit in the years as well (I'm trying to read 150 books each from a different year in 2014).
Arsenal have been impressive this season in the main and have largely performed above expectations. The small matter of Man Utd should present no major problem at the moment. I thought some of the antics of Ferguson and his team (s) quite reprehensible at times and clearly some referees are revelling in giving decisions that may have quailed at doing a year ago.

Tam / Kath - It does seem one of those books that tends towards the dividing of opinion.

Mary - I won't surprise you perhaps by informing that I have never read a GN. If I ever did though I would start with Maus.

Lori - We are all slowly winding down to a more manageable level. I noted that last year I made it to my 11th thread on 21 February - so I am 11 days faster than last year. You are at least a month ahead of your posts last year.

Pat - I am interested in the Sacco book but hope that it doesn't trivialise the thing.

Heidi - I believe readers of all genres could take something positive out of Magician : Apprentice.

May have missed a thread or so... will go back in search of the Magician review in a sec. but I was picking a new read the other day (cos I only had about 8 on the go...) and picked, pretty much a random Faulkner. I ended up with Sanctuary which is so far... yeah I'm not sure. Only about 40 pages in and not really sure where he's going with it. I like it. I think.

Hi Paul- Congrats on thread 100! Oh, sorry I meant 11. Snickering softly...I read the Sacco book recently and yes the illustrations are dense and beautiful. The text was a bit thin, though, which was a little disappointing. Have you paged through it?

Hi Paul! just a few seconds to pop in and say HI and Happy New Thread!!!! Funny how that never gets old it's always a great time to catch up and pluck a fresh peach off the tree.

Just marking my place on your swiftly-flowing river of threads...

Bekka - I heard tell that Sanctuary is one of Faulkner's more difficult works. Yikes to that because As I Lay Dying is going over my head in places too.

Mark - Since I started posting in 2011 in the group this is actually thread #85 and I have been thrilled with everyone of them. I haven't seen the Sacco book in the shops here yet mate.

Lynda - Fresh threads are delicious aren't they? xx

Gail - Two lyrically enticing posts in a row from two lovely ladies. We have peaches and rivers which are never a bad combination.

Very nice surprise on getting back from the office this evening.

Book Depo had delivered a book for me payable in NZ$ racking my tired brain I realise this is from the newly arrived Jenn. Thank you so much dear lady.

101. The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald (1969) 175 pp
Well I do know that the book is not a memoir by yours truly!

Physical Books in 2014 : 101

Pages in total in 2014 : 34,450

Revised Physical TBR : 2,773

Oh, The Great Brain books are a lot of fun! I loved them growing up...

Wait...this can't be correct...this is the second day this thread's been up and it's not over 100 posts. Something is awry in the multiverse.

62> One of my bucket list reading challenges is to read all the Pulitzer novels. I've had The Reivers for a long time, tried it and couldn't get my hooks into it. Had to move on, but I'll get back there eventually.

Oooo! I made it to your new thread by message 67! That's a record for me!

Just waving **Hi**

#57. I think referees would have been too scared to give Fergie's United any decisions.

As for tomorrow, my hopes are Arsenal win (hopefully with a penalty) and Van Persie & Vidic sent off.

Hi Paul, getting caught back up. *waves*

>66 mahsdad: Faulkner won the Pulitzer Prize in 1955 for A Fable, too. So you'll have to tackle him twice to complete that list!

>62 PaulCranswick: I don't consider Sanctuary one of Faulkner's more difficult novels. It's one of his darkest, and he does his usual time-jiggery thing, but he meant it for a pot-boiler, and it's probably as close as he ever came to pulling that off.

Katie - I had never heard of them actually but Jenn assures me that they are addictive and she has Belle in mind with the compulsion!

RD - hahaha, perhaps I should find some graphic to create medieval names based on the three initials of one's own name. That seems to work a treat.

Jeff - All the Pulitzers, all the Bookers, all the Nobel winners, the 1001 books, the Guardian 1000, I have a database with my own progress against all of these. Some of them the progress is less than splendid.

Rachel - Always welcome, my dear, whether at 67, 167, 267.....

Connie - I can guess that the speed skating successes in the Winter Olympics is taking up plenty of your time at present so a flying visit is much appreciated.

Rosalind - I wouldn't have fancied the hairdryer treatment from the red-nosed Glaswegian myself so, much as I don't like Man Utd, I would have found myself pointing to the spot every time Rooney or Young threw themselves to the floor.
Leeds players joining Man Utd are forever castigated as Judases. Ferdinand and Smith especially, although players coming the other way such as Giles and Strachan have been architects of our greatest successes.

Abby - I have had a really busy week so far so cannot consider myself anywhere near caught up. It is lovely to see you so active despite having Mercy to occupy your waking hours. xx

Linda - Faulkner must have something because he is one of the very few writers capable of making me feel entirely stupid via the use of seemingly simple language.
Noted your clarification on Sanctuary.

I was one of those who enjoyed Middlesex and I believe that Eugenides is a Detroit native.

As a cricket fan, Benita, Middlesex conjures up very different images from those intended by the book I think. Middlesex of course is a county in southern England (part of London) and the headquarters of cricket, Lords Cricket Ground, is the home ground of the county.

>65 richardderus:. Wait...this can't be correct...this is the second day this thread's been up and it's not over 100 posts. Something is awry in the multiverse.

Richard, you make me laugh. No way I can keep up with this thread. However, love these posts, nonetheless. Delurking to say Hi to Paul!

Today I truly did have a Cranswickian shopping spree, all because of some anxiety-provoking dreams. Doctor's orders, so you know... I just HAD to do it! Boy did it feel good! :-)

>71 laytonwoman3rd: Linda - I know. I think its the older books that I find daunting. The language has changed, even though with Faulkner its only 50 years or so. Sometimes they just don't hook. I also have a very old copy of Andersonville that I have yet to read. But that I think is the quality and, more importantly, the font size of the old paperback that I have that is holding me back there.

>72 PaulCranswick: Paul - I am but a Padawan to the Jedi Master Book Challengers around here. Besides the Pulitzers, I found that I am also reading the Hugos, but only by default because I enjoy Scifi so much.

Hey it keeps us entertained and off the streets right?

Becky - Richard is a gas indeed. What gas I am not quite sure, but a gas indeed.

Ilana - Sufficiently intrigued to zap off a pithy review of Wm. Faulkner and head on over and see what the heck you bought.

Jeff - Linda is the group authority on Wm. Faulkner and rather her than me in truth. He troubles me. His sense of humour was skewed. Had a vim and a brilliance but was far too apt to obfuscate and frustrate.
I did a spreadsheet of most of the major awards last year (if I can still find it) and realised that there were just far too many books to hope to ever catch up with all of them.
SWMBO keeps me off the streets and mostly into the shopping malls and restaurants.

19.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Year of Publication : 1930 (19/150)
US State : Mississippi (7/52)
Category Challenge : Books on the shelves since 2012 (1 book)
Mark's American Author Challenge : Faulkner February

Addie Bundren dun gone dead and her family set out encasing the body in a homemade coffin and taking her by cart and pony and river to Jefferson to put her to rest.

Addie Bundren dun gone dead and she's well rid of the family of misfits and ne'er do wells who, in the main, tell the burial story.

Addie Bundren dun gone dead and she's left behind five children, a husband intent on self-justification and a Minister of a lover.

Addie Bundren dun gone dead and Wm. Faulkner scribbled down a stream of consciousness novel in six weeks of sleepless nights using 15 characters to tell the tale over 59 chapters.

Addie Bundren dun gone dead and Wm. you should have taken more rest.

Addie Bundren dun gone dead and the result is an important, confusing, often irritating, sometimes engaging and occasionally profound piece of writing.

Addie Bundren dun gone dead.

7/10

Pages this Book : 248
Pages in completed books in 2014 : 4,251

Revised Physical TBR : 2,772 books

Good one, Paul. Very good.

Gail - Paul dun good? xx

^LOL
A refreshingly fun book review, I rate you A+ Paul, for your subversive angle. I am unsure if I will run out and get it though.

Your poem in post #2 is very very sad! Crikey, I cant bear to imagine what atrocities the soldiers saw during WWI.

Ugh. Great review, but ugh. You've just confirmed why 28 pages of Addie Bunden dun just about gone dead is plenty for me!

FLIMSY excuse indeed. It was a MEDICAL EMERGENCY!!! I was a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown for God's sake!

Great review of As I Lay Dying.... and the explanation as to why I will not read Faulkner. Life is short enough as it is.

I liked As I lay Dying. I read it in college for a lit course I took as a freshman, and my first-generation self, who was more than a little nervous about whether she was college material, thought, "Huh. I can see some of my family in this story. And if this is literature, then I belong here just fine."

Megan - I do try not to make my "reviews" in any particular standard way but more how the mood takes me and my mood was flippant. Rosenberg's poetry was almost as good as anyone elses written during the war and very much in the heart and heat of the battle.

Ilana - It does take over as the best Wm. Faulkner I have read thus far and I will persevere. Linda advised me to read The Hamlet but I couldn't find a copy at all. Parts of the book were inspired whilst parts of it were bewildering, but I think that is part of his point.
Medical emergency?! Yep, right. I have a trigger point therapy for migraine that I will insist you endure if we ever get together in Montreal or elsewhere. Will help your headache, I am sure, but won't cure your book-buying tendency which are as Ilanian as they are "Cranswickian".

Lori - Did Faulkner take himself too seriously I wonder, or not at all? He was working in a power station during the writing of his novel and was clearly energised but I do feel that he was deliberately obtuse in his manner of constructing his oeuvre.

Amber - Did I give the impression that I didn't like it?! Not at all, I found it difficult in parts and some of the ruminations of the characters plainly scatty but I did come away with an appreciation of what Faulkner was trying to do and partially succeeded in achieving.

*Harumph!*

>88 PaulCranswick:: Nope, not at all. I was just saying that, well, I liked it. Ha!

Dear Ilana - I have corresponded with Doctor Darryl and despite your tender age not being quite tender enough for his normal purview I aim to prevail upon him to issue you an open-ended prescription for...............booooooks.

Amber - I find the idea that you wouldn't belong just about anywhere, my dear, frankly improbable. Classics, books, compadreship and motherhood are somethings you are pretty adept at I can say without fear of being gainsaid.

So sorry Paul. I'm...

*Apologies, excuses & etc.*

Ilana - You have a virtuosity with links and thread organisation that I can only dream about. Neither of us get a great deal of sleep but I don't foresee the necessity of your having ever to apologise for anything to me dear lady. I was being my flippant and gently satiristic but mainly well-intentioned self. The ribbing of "Cranswickian" was an eponymous ribbing as well as an acknowledgement that I haven't used my brief stint of high blood pressure as an excuse to add to my TBR yet.

>50 Storeetllr:, 57 Not surprised that you haven't read a graphic novel yet, as not so long ago I was able to say the same. And I was sure I wouldn't enjoy them. I mean, comic books? But some of them ~ Maus I and II, The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For, Persepolis, and the Sandman series, to name a few of the best ~ were so good, almost sublime, that I keep looking in hopes of finding more of the same caliber.

Great review of As I Lay Dying, which I probably won't be reading because there isn't enough time between now and when I am laying dying. I do intend to keep trying with Light in August, though the first chapter did not bode well. May have to search around for The Hamlet, or even more likely read Selected Short Stories by William Faulkner.

Any excuse for book-buying is a good excuse, but the bottom line is... do we need an excuse? No, of course not, but still, I like finding excuses... which brings us back to the beginning. ;-)

(*wired*)

^ lol, you two are on a roll.

*sits back waiting for next installment and encouraging book-buying any time any place*

Meanwhile, this marks my second visit to this thread Paul, so I am all paid up for missing the last thread entirely *gasp* (I know! Some friend I am)

Mary - I don't have any pre-disposition to not reading them, especially given the acclaim for Maus.
There were times when As I Lay Dying felt more like "As I lie reading hoping the end will be nigh." Other times not so much.

Ilana - Excuses are good. Collecting books is way better.

Megan - Don't ration me my dear! Twice a day is enough (oh no sorry that's what the wife said when we got married......doesn't say it nearly so often these days).

My latest poetry venture is Chicago Poems which is the debut collection of Carl Sandburg, from 1916.



His concerns were the urban sprawl, poverty, unemployment, the dispossessed and observations of routine amid the great city. So far I am hooked by his direct "prose" poems which are borderline poetry but very much poetic.

This is his poem Mag from the collection which amplifies the desperation of the poor struggling to make do.

I wish to God I never saw you, Mag.
I wish you never quit your job and came along with me.
I wish we never bought a license and a white dress
For you to get married in the day we ran off to a minister
And told him we would love each other and take care of each other
Always and always long as the sun and the rain lasts anywhere.
Yes, I'm wishing now you lived somewhere away from here
And I was a bum on the bumpers a thousand miles away dead broke.
I wish the kids had never come
And rent and coal and clothes to pay for
And a grocery man calling for cash,
Every day cash for beans and prunes.
I wish to God I never saw you, Mag.
I wish to God the kids had never come.

from Chicago Poems; 1916

>94 Storeetllr: Mary, try Boxers and Saints. I would put them up there with Persepolis.

Love that review of As I Lay Dying... I've not read it myself and I am have just barely started my first Faulker with The Hamlet per Linda's suggestion...

What does a person have to do to get to your thread early? I'd like some kind of method please? I'm going to have to wait years to be a first in line, huh???

>100 TinaV95: What does a person have to do to get to your thread early? I'd like some kind of method please? I'm going to have to wait years to be a first in line, huh???

Coffee. . lots and lots and lots of coffee . . . :P

>79 PaulCranswick: I am, *obviously*, one of the Noble Gases.

Enjoyed your review of As I Lay Dying, poor ol' Addie Bundren.

Great review of As I Lay Dying - I'll be reading that shortly. Doesn't sound like it'll break the run of unhappy books.

Erik - Not sure whether I'll read a GN this year but I might spend a little of my Friday looking for Maus so to speak.

Tina - To answer the first part of your post; I would have read The Hamlet too if I could but have found it in the shops here.
To answer the second part of your question I have to dodge and say that I am never quite sure when I'll do the renewal and I do try to be slightly inconsistent in the times for so doing to give most pals an even chance.

Tam - You don't need to send me coffee my dear; I am not bribeable hahaha

RD - Making a case for Krypton are we, Superman?

Rhian - There is little about the book that is not at least a little miserablist. A little black comedy here and there and some slapstick which I won't spoil by going into but it is certainly not a jolly read.

Certainly you done good, Paul.

Obviously I'm an oddball since I found As I Lay Dying to be really funny. Maybe because I'd had a lot of exposure to WF before I got to it, I thought the structure was easy, with the chapter titles as guides. I admit, at the end, I became infuriated with one of the characters and wanted to do bodily harm. Anyway, at least that's behind you for now.

On the GN front: having been a devoted reader of anything in print as a child, I went through reams of comic books and was thus completely ready for that format. I liked Persepolis, but The Complete Maus is magnificent. I got a cheap used copy to see what all the shouting was about and wound up buying a new hardcover edition for my permanent collection. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Hi Paul! Congratulations on your not very new thread :-)

I consider my reviews to be "reviews" instead of real five star reviews, like our Richard writes.. they are just hints at what the story might be and thoughts ....

I just came by with a hug... carefully sanitized to be germ free...

I wouldn't quite say I thought As I Lay Dying was funny - but it does help to start with the 'easy' and much more 'humourous' Faulkners - like The Reivers and Sartoris.

Paul - I keep meaning to give you family WW1 anecdotal material. My grandfather was a Captain and was stationed in Poland for quite some time. He wrote letters home to his sisters and brothers (seven of them) CONSTANTLY (he wasn't married yet, he married late in his forties, finally) and they are one and all, full of queries about home, "Are the peaches ripe yet?" "Has anyone fixed that gate down by the stream?" "How tall was the corn on July 4th?" Not a whole lot about what he was doing, although some descriptions of meals - as an officer he did get invited to some good ones at the homes of local toffs. But here's the clinker. He sent his shirts home to Philadelphia to be washed. I am not kidding. No one else could do it right. It took almost two months for the shirts to make the trip, and he sent a packet home every two weeks. Imagine! But I gather it was not an uncommon thing for officers to do. Different world!

Gail, I didn't get really funny in truth but there was some black comedy in there for sure.
GN for me will start with Maus.

I notice that I am going to have to go and wish you some of the same, Diana. You are the 8th thread to hit 1000 posts in 2014 by the way.

Kath - My own favourite reviewer is Bonnie. She always leaves me quite convinced about a book one way or another. I don't want to write an essay on the book I have just read as we are not in an academic forum and my own gut tells me my pals are not keen on overly long. I like looking for ways and angles to make the reviews a little different as I think they leave an impact more in that way.
Feel so much better for the benefit of one of your ultra clean hugs!

Lucy - Wonderful family war story. Shirts and me and washing and Hani are a sorry combination. We used to have a laundry basket in the bathroom (still do but this was a different one), my maleness used to urge me to aim it Bond and his bowler hat style in the approximate direction of the basket. Sometimes I hit pay dirt more often than not it lingered sorry-looking on the floor in a crumple awaiting an irate newly-wed wife to rescue and clean it. I had been warned of the likely consequences of this poor method of sport. One evening my favourite C. Dior shirt narrowly missed the basket rim and landed outside and on the floor. SWMBO picked up the offending article, opened the window of our 10th floor apartment and set C. Dior aflight to the pavement gardens below. Some Bangladeshi gardener got himself a mint condition designer shirt in need of a little cleaning seemingly as a gift from heaven.

Paul, love the Sandburg poem. That one was in a Poem-a-Day email a few weeks ago, and it struck me immediately with its bleakness and sort of dead-eyed regret. "Portrait of a Happy Marriage" it is not!

>80 PaulCranswick: I am skipping all posts 'twixt 80 and 111 (temporarily) just to tell you that I absolutely LOVE what you did dun there. I'm going to print it and put it in one of my copies of As I Lay Dying. You GET it, man. 'Cept it really is funnier than you may have given it credit for.

Edit: I've read the intervening posts now. As Amber said, I recognize some of the people in it..and that right there may be the key to my love of FaulknerWorld. I didn't grow up in his South, but those people are everywhere.

Julia - Bleak is the word with some of the Sandburg poems in the collection. Subtle it is not.

Linda - As you know, I consider you an authority on all things Wm. Faulkner so your comments mean a lot to me, thank you so much. xx

Paul, you may have mentioned this at some point already, so I apologize preface-like if you have: who would you say is your favorite poet? Or can you narrow it down that close?

Amber - I don't think that I have ever mentioned that because indeed I would be at a loss to do so. Some of my favourites and for differing reasons:
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Gerard Manley Hopkins
W.B. Yeats
Wilfred Owen
T.S. Eliot
W.H. Auden
Cecil Day-Lewis
Louis MacNeice
Dylan Thomas
John Betjeman
Philip Larkin
Ted Hughes
Seamus Heaney

Good news for Yorkshire CCC mate, we have signed Aaron Finch for the season, could be an interesting campaign if it ever stops raining.

Thanks for the list, Paul! Some solid entries there, plus several that I need to check out.

John - I saw that and Australian bats have always performed for us haven't they?

Amber - Auden, MacNeice and Day-Lewis (father of Daniel) were often among a group lumped together in the 1930s with Spender and Isherwood.

Yes, we've had one or two good ones.

Won't be around much today as I am flying to Labuan to look at one of our newer projects building helicopter facilities for an oil company. Not staying over but I'll be back quite late.

Have a good trip mate.

Michael Bevan and Darren Lehman especially spring to mind. Gillespie seems to be doing a good job too.

Thanks John.

Wonder how long we can keep him, he's destined for bigger things, although it would have to be good to top Yorkshire.

Safe travels, Paul!

Return home safely. Hope everything goes according to plan.

John - I want Kirsten to get the England job. Giles is a clown. Dizzy good but an Aussie in charge of the national team is inconceivable.

Amber - Thank you my dear.

Abby - Nice to see you back in the swing of things a little. xx

So, Paul, I want to use you as an example of concealing purchases from a spouse. Not in any identifiable way, but as a reference in a column about not telling your spouse just how many books you bought, and smuggling them in and hiding them. You would be an anonymous bibliomaniacal friend. Is this OK? For a story to run Valentine's Day...

As I Lay Dying is, for the properly dark of spirit, hilarious. Sartoris is funnier, but then I was raised by Narcissa Benbow.

Hi Paul,

I really loved your shirt story in post # 110! I wish I lived on the 10th floor too. Because Peet drived me crazy in the beginning of our marriage with just the same thing! I truly sympathize with Hani!

>129 richardderus: Richard, have you read Flags in the Dust, the longer, supposedly more-the-way-Faulkner-wanted-it version of Sartoris? I read it when it was first published, and am reading it again now. It starts out even funnier, with Old Man Falls yelling at Old Bayard. Priceless. I've always sympathized with your rough upbringing, but Narcissa Benbow...wow.

>110 PaulCranswick: You are such a sweetheart Paul. Thank you so much. But you wrote an excellent review of As I Lay Dying especially this bit:

Addie Bundren dun gone dead and the result is an important, confusing, often irritating, sometimes engaging and occasionally profound piece of writing.

That is a great summation of most of Faulkner's novels. I'm supposed to read Light in August this month but it really hasn't been calling to me. We'll see what the next couple of weeks bring.

Regarding post #98..That Carl Sandburg poem is very powerful indeed.

All caught up here, Paul. And just who is this Mag?! What about Mamie?!! LOL!

ADORE, absolutely adore your Faulkner review! Wonderful!

>131 laytonwoman3rd: I did read Flags in the Dust, but honestly I prefer the more concentrated dose of Sartoris. It feels more complete and of-a-piece to me. It doesn't meander the way the "restored" version does.

Editors aren't always wrong. Writers and directors tend to forget that.

I used to yell at a now ex-boyfriend who dropped the towels in a pile next to the laundry basket, "This isn't a HOTEL!"

Piles and boyfriend both gone. :-)

Just 6 posts???? Who, what's happening?

Hi Paul- I hope you are having a safe trip. I loved your quirky review of As I Lay Dying and I am glad you liked it, it being one of the more difficult ones.

>112 laytonwoman3rd: Linda: I've had boyfriends in the past (and a husband in the present) who couldn't understand my dad's way of speaking: "oral" for "oil," "plumb" instead of "very,"... He has a very southern/Missouri accent. He (and my mom) grew up in families and on small, poor farms much like Faulkner describes, but happily the comparison stops there - they're good people and are from relatively happy, loving families. Whew.

Hi, Paul!

Paul, Paul, Paul, you are a hoot, my friend, and I thank you for your hilarious review of As I Lay Dying. I've got this one lined up next and was not looking forward to it, that is, until I read your post. Now, I have a very good feeling of what I can expect and I'm ready for it! xx

As I Lay Dying sounds like it might actually kill me if I attempt to read it... :P

Have a safe trip, Paul! (Where's Labuan?)

Suz - No problem of course my dear. Would be sort of an in-joke honour.

RD - I guess I am just too free of hang-ups for Faulkner in general - or different hang-ups anyways.

Connie - Sorry my dear but you are indeed a typical lady. Not even a smidgen of sympathy for me or my poor shirt. xx

Linda - Humour and Faulkner for me seem to go together like pomegranite and poached eggs.

Bonnie - If I met with your approval my dear I must have done something right.

It's done -- thanks! I'll send you the link when it's live.

snow snow snow snow. Want some of the icy cold frosty wet white stuff? I'm feeling generous today.

Linda - The anthology is quite longish one and full of poems of a similar ilk.

Mamie - I thought I would save the Mamie poem more properly for your thread (and Abby's).
It is funny because I didn't consider my review of As I Lay Dying anything particularly of note - my style of writing reviews is just to dash down something straight onto the thread and post it so it depends which place my brain is at - there is no planning involved and an average review will take me less than 5 minutes to do.

RD - I haven't read either version and will not try to for at least the rest of 2014.

Stephanie - Boyfriends getting yelled at often do tend to quickly become ex-boyfriends sharpish - sounds like you are well shut - I rarely miss the basket these days............got meself a bigger basket.
I am going over to your place straight after this to leave a thank you sweet lady meesage on your thread as I have just received something very nice.

Connie - Even Speedy Gonzales needs a toilet break every now and again! I did leave the house at 6.00a.m. this morning, got the metro train to the central station, caught the KLIA airport express train, flew to Labuan (2.5 hours) , held meetings with Malaysian Airports and the Labuan Local Authority, have a site inspection of our proposed new project there, fly back to Kuala Lumpur (another 2.5 hours), get the airport express and metro trains back and arrive home at 9.30 p.m. - reason enough for no posting? xx

Mark - I am safely back mate thanks. Landing in Labuan was a bit heavy but since my meeting was at the airport anyway no biggie.
As I Lay Dying is far easier than The Sound and the Fury.

Amber - Wm. Faulkner and Graham Greene were both brought to mind today sat listening in the airport waiting lounge to two american oil men chewing the fat. Both obviously from southern states, both as attuned to Malaysia and a duck is to a motor-bike. Distracted me from Moonfleet for a little while.

Lynda - Don't curse me for tricking you into reading the bloody thing then my dear. xx

Faith - Hahaha; there are certainly easier reads out there.

Diana - Hope this helps. Basically it is off the coast of Sabah in Borneo.



Suz - I'll be looking forward to it. You can keep the snow thank you very much anyway. xx

I think all of us have something of a Jordan in us, when it comes to dirty clothes and laundry basket. Over the years, I have gotten quite good and can shoot with 75% accuracy from a distance of about 6 feet. Given that I am single, have a maid who does the laundry, a maid to whom I pay generously and give 2-3 days off in a week, the 25% misses don't cost me anything either.

That helps, Paul, thanks. It looks très petit :-)

>145 PaulCranswick:: Okay Paul, And I forgive you!

And I'm very sympathetic of your shirts, lying there beside the laundry basket, feeling alone and thrown to the curb!

Humour and Faulkner for me seem to go together like pomegranite and poached eggs. I'm sorry that's true, Paul. To me, his humor is fundamental, and not necessarily intentional --I mean not intentionally TRYING to be funny--like all the best humorists, he is just excellent at pointing out what's ridiculous about human behavior, not making stuff up to make you laugh.

I, too, am a clothes tosser, but, as I live alone, I feel that it is not too disgraceful. I'd say that I am only about 50% re: successfully reaching the laundry basket, but that's not too awfully bad, is it, when you take into account the fact that the basket sits underneath a table and at least half of the time I am operating completely in the dark?

Diana - It is indeed a one-horse town. We went into said town from the airport in a taxi and had hardly got comfortable in the car before we were getting out again. It is also an off-shore banking centre.

Connie - I aim to give all my appareil a talking to this weekend in order that none of it gets thrown away in future and that it stops getting smaller so that it becomes uncomfortable and/or embarrassing to wear.

Linda - Then my skit holds true doesn't it? Hani for example puts pomegranite on most everything, others don't see it and I don't think that the intention was that they be twinned naturally.

Charlotte - I would hazard that there are not that mnay female clothes tossers but it is of course a thrill to meet one! Sounds like considerable skill is required to accomplish the feat in your case too.

20.

Gossip from the Forest by Thomas Keneally

Date of Publication : 1975 (20/150)
American State : N/A
Category Challenge : World War 1 (3 books)

Keneally has a style his own. Dialogue is handled very much in the manner of a playwright and it is peculiarly effective for the farce that was the railway-carriage-signing of the World War 1 armistice, subject of this Booker nominated work.

The character studies of Clemenceau, Weygand and, particularly, Foch for the french; Wemyss and Hope for the Brits are excellently and quite skittishly drawn. It is though with the German plenipotentiaries that the novel is elevated to excellence.

The Germans selected to "negotiate" and sign the Armistice at all costs were hardly an obvious match for the French Commander-in-Chief and the British First Sea Lord arrayed against them - Lords of Land and Sea as Keneally puts it. We had a middling politician Erzberger, a faded artisto, a francophile third-rate General and a naval representative so ill-fitted to the task he was weeping as the terms of surrender were read to him.

It is with Erzberger that we gain the insights that the four are marked down for approbation and will be made scapegoats and their position is revealed through black humour, ill-temper and portent of tragedy. Erzberger was in fact murdered by right wing groups in the early 1920's for his part in the signing.

Not your typical WW1 novel but refreshing and engaging for all that.

8/10

Pages this Book : 236

Pages in completed books in 2014: 4,487

Revised physical TBR : 2,771

21.

Moonfleet by J. Meade Falkner

Date of Publication : 1898 (21/150)
US State : N/A
Category Challenge : Rereads

I don't do many re-reads these days with my TBR situated as it is but this is one I read as a boy and I wanted to remember why it was a favourite of mine growing up. I have remembered.

Cinematically wonderful. Smuggling, coming-of-age, love, intrigue, adventure, the sea, lost treasure, the value of friendship and good prevailing over evil ~ all these elements are there in abundance and the boy in the man resurfaces again amid the pages of this novel.

I'm not going to mark it again out of 10 because I did that so many years ago and I have not cause to change my adult mind now. That young Cranswick fellow knew a good book when he read one.

Pages this book : 256

Pages in completed books in 2014 : 4,743

Revised Physical TBR : 2,770 books

Got a lovely surprise when I got back from Labuan last night. There was a package awaiting me from dear Stephanie enclosing some of her excellent postcards inside a verd hard-to-find tome of Robert Frost poems, You Come Too. Thank you my dear, ever so.

102. You Come Too by Robert Frost (1959) 91 pp
A classic collection of poems by Frost, selected from his oeuvre by the man himself

Total books in 2014: 102

Total pages added in 2014 : 34,541

Revised physical TBR : 2,771 books

Love your review of As I Lay Dying. I think it was The Fable that was outlined on his wall, but as I read your review which mentioned Faulkner scribbling, I could almost picture it on the wall too.

Thanks Lori - I could picture his slaving away over the novel in those six weeks following shifts at the power station. His intensity was amazing although not always comprehensible.

Paul, I loved the As I Lay Dying review. I liked the book but not as much as I liked your playful review. It's too bad you can't locate a copy of The Hamlet. That is my current read, and I am enjoying it very much.

Donna - The motivation of reading Faulkner (other than supporting Mark's American Author Challenge of course) is not linked to the distracting qualities of his writing. Concentration is required to take something from it and I think you need to be in the mood for it. I am sure that I'll track down The Hamlet in the USA this summer.

Very witty review of As I Lay Dying, Paul. I applaud your creativity. I am still struggling through The Sound and the Fury.

#98 This poem is very striking. You know, it actually reminds me a lot of a Bruce Springsteen song!

Hope you've recovered from your busy day. Moonfleet looks good and will add it to my list of children's classics that I have still to read.

Heidi - I struggled terribly with The Sound and the Fury as close to hating any work of fiction as can be imagined.

Kerry Very much in the Kidnapped mould. Sentimental but a lovely yarn.

#145 Paul,
Yay! and you're welcome.

Stephanie - I love "old" poetry anthologies so it was a great boon for me to get that one - simply no chance of finding it in the stores here.

Paul, I think it's important to make room for rereads of favourite books, no matter how big the tbr pile is. I know in the last week I've been hard to satisfy on the reading front and have been very glad to be able go back to familiar grounds.

Ilana - Familiarity in this case breeds content. You are right, of course, which is why I added it as a category this year.

I made it Paul! Now you can relax. ;-)

Hey handsome! Love your review of As I Lay Dying and a special thanks for the Carl Sandburg poem also. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. (I can only scan your threads to keep up! Man, what a pace everyone is maintaining!)

Slowly coming round to weekend mode, Roberta, but yikes it is Valentine's Day today so I'll have to spruce myself up a little and make myself all romantic for the evening ahead.

Prue - There are some very riveting poems in Sandburg's book. Not sure whether some of it would have been considered as poetry back in the day as they are more like little polished prose vignettes, but it sure grabs a hold of you.

Happy valentine's day Paul - hope you got SWMBO somthing nice? My son sort of ruined Valentine's day by being born on it - now it's more about frantically trying to think of something he doesn't have for a present!

Hi Paul, Weekend mode already! Good for you. I hope your evening will be all you wish it to be.

Happy Valentine's day!

Bekka - How thoughtless of your son! Hani pretended as always that she wanted nothing at all but her face lit up when Belle delivered, as planned, her Valentine card. Going out for dinner.

Connie - Thank you my dear. Valentine is for single men and grateful wives! I received nothing above a smile.........but what a smile!

...awaiting news of Friday's haul...

Well it is Friday and I am celebrating my return from Labuan so:

103. The Railway by Hamid Ismailov (1997) 275 pp
Gabriel Marquez relocated to the steppes of Central Asia, I am reliably informed
104. Tom-All-Alone's by Lynn Shepherd (2012) 359 pp
A sinister re-make of Bleak House apparently, Richard will be pleased
105. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot (1939) 59 pp
I hear still Ms. Paige piping "Memory" on the West End Stage - Thanks Old Possum
106. Magician: Master by Raymond E. Feist (1982) 499 pp
That was a no-brainer buy wasn't it?
107. Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo (1998) 437 pp
An early assignment for Harry Hole, long delayed release in english.
108. The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato (1948) 140 pp
Argentinian novelist championed by Camus, who knew a thing or two
109. The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (2012) 329 pp
I reckon this will be about books
110. The War Hound and the World's Pain by Michael Moorcock (1981) 208 pp
More fantasy for me to try by a British all-rounder - in the thirty year's war
111. The City in the Autumn Stars by Michael Moorcock (1986) 377 pp
Follow up to the book above - this time in revolutionary France
112. The Shallow Seas by Dawn Farnham (2008) 328 pp
Second part of the Straits Quartet set in 19th Century Singapore
113. Survivor: Auschwitz, The Death March & my Fight for Freedom by Sam Pivnik (2012) 291 pp
Promises to be another harrowing tale of survival against considerable odds
114. An Ordinary Man: The True Story behind Rwanda by Paul Rusesabagina (2006) 261 pp

Total Physical Books in 2014 : 114

Total Pages Added in 2014 : 38,014

Revised Physical TBR : 2,783 books

There you go RD - I was putting it up whilst you posted.

Mmmm 114 as of today. And that chance of 120 being tops for the month? Gone. *gleeful hand-rub*

Your Muttley laugh may still my wallet hand from being so quick on the draw. I lost my debit card in Labuan yesterday somehow and have had to cancel it today. I will only get a replacement on Monday so I think additions this weekend are out.

Two more Friday religious observances at the Temple of Biblio...six books...nope, not a-gonna happen.

A big Valentine's Day *smooch* to our favorite man in Malaysia!

You are probably right dear fellow but one of them at least may be in Vietnam.

Julia - Why thank you my dear......of course the selection of Malaysia-based gentlement in the group is quite limited. xx

Abby - Thank you but at late teens and with your God-given looks your Valentine's wishes should be focused more properly on younger chaps; hahaha.

Scarcity is no indicator of lack of quality, Paul. After all, Harper Lee only wrote one book but it was a humdinger. :-)

*blush* Thanks Paul.

>175 PaulCranswick: - One minor correction, Paul. The End of Your Life Book Club is not about books. It's about a really annoying guy with mommy issues. And the mother is even worse. Ugh. Distance from that book has not made me fonder of it. But, uh, enjoy! ;-)

^ +1

Nicely put Julia, but I am not sure how it applies in my own case. xx

You are welcome Abby.

Katie - Oh! dear - looks like I've picked up a dud.

RD - X2

It is much loved around here (though not by Richard either - HA!). I just happened to think it was manipulative, holier-than-thou crap :)

Happy Valentines to all. I bet you got more cards/presents than I did.

(Trust me, it's not hard)

#173 I know, right! Insensitive little monkey ;) Have a lovely dinner.

Katie - Still an oh dear moment by the looks of it!

Rosalind - Looks like we drew anyway at best. No card or present for me. Even from Belle.

You're so fast with reading, I'm still very impressed and have to say it again and again! You're challenges are going great! And though I don't write here something as often as I wish I would, I'm still trying to follow your challenge. :)

Have a nice weekend already!

Just sending you a valentine hug. Most chaste and friendly-like, goes without saying.

Here you go, Paul! I'm sure you can identify yourself in here...

http://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2014/feb/14/valentines-day-fighti...

I'm glad you liked the Keneally, if not quite as much as I did. I found the character of Erzberger almost painfully moving, and found myself crying at the outcome. A man of goodwill, albeit flawed.

Nice haul, Paul. I especially like the T.S. Eliot one! It's been a long time since I've read it though.

I lost my debit card in Labuan yesterday somehow and have had to cancel it today. How convenient to lose it just before Valentine's Day Paul. Somehow I think Hani still got splurged on. I want to know what her Valentine's Day haul is!

Marjolein - I am an absolute cadet compared to some of the readers in the group - most noticeably Suz (Chatterbox) who regularly reads between 400 to 500 books per annum. Having said that I am quite pleased with my reading rate so far this year and I am on target to meet my targets, so to speak.
You are doing much better than I did when I first joined the group - I hardly interacted at all in the first few months. xx

Ilana - Thank you and accepted AND reciprocated gratefully in that spirit!

Suz - Thanks for that my dear....if I let SWMBO know about the article (cause I am busted at the same time) you at least did me the favour of emphasising on the happily married part. xx
Good article as always.

Kim - Thank you my dear - I'll accept the kindnesses quickly owing to my scaredy-cat approach to ladies who have mastered Taekwondo. xx

Lori - With Eliot/Old Possum it always conjures up memories of the wonderful Lloyd-Webber/Rice play; "Cats". Great conventional stuff written by the Sultan of Modernist Style.

Roberta - Genuine and honestly a bit disconcerting as I only realised when paying for the books at lunchtime. Thankfully the card hasn't been used by anyone.
Handbag time this weekend for sure.

Just read Suz's article -- Paul's a star! As one who has been known to sneak both books AND shoes into the house, I think I should put some of those lessons in the article into practice. ;-}

Happy Valentine's Day, Paul :-D

Paul, mon cher, all she would have to do is read this thread... :-) You would be SO busted.

>110 PaulCranswick: the shirt story I love! Me and Hani must have a thing or two in common, as that sounds exactly like what I would do :) I wouldn't go batty over excessive book-buying though, so there we may be different.

Couldn't let Valentine's Day slip by without a warm wish being sent to you, Paul. BTW, I loved your review of the Faulkner book!

I am not going anywhere near a restaurant or bakery/coffee shop tonight. Instead I plan on staying home and watching the winter Olympics. There is an Englishwoman in contention for the gold medal on the skeleton sled. Of course, there is also all those men in skin tight pants. Gotta love that.

Gossip in the forest looks on ti the tbr it goes!

Marianne - Surely Suz is the star my dear; it is her article after all!

Thanks Barbara - I hope your Valentine is a good one. I had a very late supper with SWMBO at one of her favourite places called "The Lodge" which serves food well into the early hours.
White bait
Thai crab cakes
Fried wantons
Black pepper beef with rice

Suz - You are right of course and I have been busted more than a time or time - punishment being exacted vide the purchase of Balenciaga, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci, Ferragamo, Bally, YSL or whatever fad or fancy captures her stylo imagination.

Megan - You have seen the muscles on the lady, disputation is not an option when her dander is up. The shirt had no chance. xx

Judy - Thank you Guru. I am spoilt today by so many lovely visitors of the feminine persuasion.

Benita - Men in tight ski pants do very little for this threader other than make him wince with sympathy for eggbox confinement.

Bryony - It is a good read and Suz was right Erzberger's invidious position is very sympathetically told.

So much reading and book buying going on here. I am reading slowly and distractedly again :P Terrible.
Hope your weekend is going well...

Supper sounds nice :)

Crab cakes...black pepper beef...

*sigh*

hah! eggbox confinement! I love it Paul.

Adding more good wishes to further prettify your thread:

Paul, your supper sounds lovely :-D

Kath - It was indeed very nice; Hani had cantonese noodles something like this:



Amber - The Thai crab cakes weren't bad but the black pepper beef with rice is a favourite of mine.

Stephanie - Eggboxes of such description are just no yolk. (sorry)

Ilana - Very decorous indeed but don't you think it is a little feminine for a Northern male? Ahhh who cares it looks nice.

Barbara - Malaysia is one of the best places in the world IMO for food and eating out. It is a meeting place for thai, chinese, indian and indonesian flavours and it just works! Just to add to its charms retaurants arte varied and comparatively cheap.

Paul, that sounds marvellous :-D

Barbara - Often people ask me how long I have been in Malaysia - I normally answer "25 kilos".

All that wonderful food... *sigh*

Have a lovely weekend, Paul! xx

Ha, I love that one :-D

Diana - Thanks my dear. I'll be along soon to wish you much of the same. xx

Barbara - I will admit it to be funny but unfortunately it is also true.

gee Paul, all that gorgeous looking food is making me wishing for chinese today :)
Hope you have a great weekend and if you need some energy booster... go fo coffee boyo :P

My Romanian Princess alights a day too late for Valentines! Still there is always next year. In the meantime the coffee and flower petals look splendid. xx

Paul- Hope you are having a terrific weekend, filled with plenty of R & R!

>214 PaulCranswick: I'll be right over as soon as I finish breakfast at Richard's.

Just dropping by to wish you a lovely weekend. The Olympics has cut into my reading time and thread time this month. It only rolls around every couple of years, though, and the books will wait!

Hi Paul - I can't pretend to be caught up, but have a wonderful weekend. The Sound and the Fury is one of my all-time favorites. :) I'll reread As I Lay Dying for my book club in a couple of months.

Ah yes, but I remember this northern male saying he is in touch with his feminine side! ;-)

Hi Paul, I hope you have a lovely weekend. The food looks delicious!

Evening a good one Mark. We met up with my Dutch friend whose wife has managed in a very Caroesque manner to fall from platform heels at the airport and has sprained her ankle and somehow dislocated her elbow (owwww!). Entirely selfishly I was pleased as it brought my pal home from his vessel in Poland a week early and he brought the Limburger cheese back for me. Not unwrapped it yet but I am assured that it stinks.

Darryl - And last nights kidzdoc chicken chilli!

I watched the speed skating this evening and the Dutch chap lost to the Pole by an incredible 0.003 seconds over 1,500 metres. Exciting stuff, Carrie, but Carl Sandburg is better.

Beth - I got absolutely nowhere with The Sound and the Fury. At the remove of maybe 12 years I still haven't really an inkling of what the heck it was all about.

Hahaha Ilana and that is exactly why I said 'who cares it looks nice'. xx

Connie - The food in Malaysia is the very best.

And they don't seem to gain weight, ever! All those slender people over there.

Besides, Mark takes care of the 'male' side of book lurv with his naughty librarians. ;-)

I didn't get anywhere with The Sound and the Fury either, Paul, so you have company.

Those crab cakes look so good. I'm a pushover for crab cakes. Mind if I pinch a couple?

You got the Limburger! Am dying to know how you like it. Be sure to tell me if it is runny or firm.

Hi Paul -- over here trying to catch up again (daily event) and just thought I would delurk and say "Hi"

*waves* Tryiiiiiiing to catch up . .Sounds like you and Hani had fun! Grant cooked me a homemade pasta and meatball dinner and then we went to a bookstore afterward to have coffee and peruse books. It was a lovely evening. :) He bought me flowers early last week because the store happened to have my favorite color of roses. . So, I've been smelling them all week. :)

Connie - There are exceptions to every rule. I stick out like a sore thumb.

Ilana - Mark does sterling work for the group doesn't he?!

Joseph you can have as many crab cakes as you like my dear fellow. It would be extremely churlish of me otherwise. Here are some more just for you:

Oh yum! I'm going to steal one of Joe's crab cakes. I'm sure he won't mind; he's a very generous fellow over at the café. :-)

Charlotte - Well it was quite firm last night because it had been vacuum packed and chilled by Jos, my friend. Will be sampling later.

Reba - I am about to do some more rounds this morning in my own attempt to keep up. Lovely to see you. xx

Tam - Grant sounds like a shrewd cookie. Flowers are hiked in price to a ridiculous extent on the day itself. It is the thought that counts after all. Told SWMBO I thought about sending her flowers and then realised that it was overly expensive so I didn't bother (I'm kidding, she doesn't like flowers - they wither and die as soon as see looks at them!)

Julia - there were a further half a dozen so, I would help yourself to 2 or why not try some Malay style spring-rolls which we call popiah locally:

Just an update on the Thread/Posting league where Amber continues to post like billy-o. There are an impressive 63 threads with over 200 posts. Here they are as at a few minutes ago:

1 Paul C 2880
2 Richard 2435
3 Amber 1935
4 Mamie 1445
5 Joe 1390
6 Mark 1317
7 Julia 1204
8 Diana 1101
9 Ellen 906
10 Katie 798
11 Suz 708
12 Darryl 680
13 Kath 646
14 Rhian 549
15 Tina 549
16 Megan 546
17 Roberta 510
18 Caro 498
19 Morphy 482
20 Marianne 477
21 Abby 475
22 Linda (Wh) 474
23 Roni 460
24 Terri T 450
25 Kerri 443
26 Barbara 409
27 Bonnie 406
28 Lori T 389
29 Liz 387
30 Lucy 373
31 Stephanie 372
32 Cee 371
33 Nora 365
34 Jim 361
35 Donna 358
36 Ape 356
37 Jeff 356
38 Pat 344
39 Mary S 340
40 Judy (DQ) 335
41 Ilana 334
42 Connie 330
43 Micky 310
44 Carrie 308
45 Joanne 307
46 John 307
47 Lynda 306
48 Paul S 306
49 Linda (Lay) 291
50 Peggy 281
51 Faith 277
52 Tam 277
53 Lori K 276
54 Amy 273
55 Susan 260
56 Karen 254
57 Foggy 249
58 Gail 238
59 Kathy 223
60 Kriti 223
61 Anne AMQS 221
62 Qebo 213
63 Ursula 204

Holy cow! I keep climbing in the rankings. Chatty little reader ain't I?

Well, good grief, I thought I had posted here earlier today but I guess not. All this food on all these threads is making me hungry. The Cantonese noodles and the black pepper beef both look wonderful.... as do the crab cakes (with a side of tartar sauce, of course). Another wonderful book haul from our book shopping expert, I see. I don't recognize any of the titles, but I do recognize some of the authors.

I'm curious what might be different about a Thai crab cake than some of the varieties here in America. I like some better than others here. The pepper beef sounds good though.

Stephanie - Yes you do. You could throw a blanket over positions 30-37 as there are less than 20 posts difference and positions are changing constantly.

Lori K - Normally Thai crab cakes are served with a sweet chili sauce in lieu of tartar sauce.

Lori T - I'm not sure about the crab-cakes stateside but this is a recipe for the Thai version. The type of breadcrumbs mentioned is not necessary (some just coat in flour and egg) and the mayo would not traditionally be used.

http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaiseafoodrecipes/r/crabcakesonepagerecipe.htm

Statistics on statistics - breakdown of the 63 threads with over 200 posts:

By Gender:
Female : 53
Male : 10

By Residence:
USA : 48
Canada : 5
UK ; 3
Netherlands : 2
Switzerland : 2
Malaysia : 1
New Zealand : 1
Australia : 1

Top 10 Females
1. Amber
2. Mamie
3. Julia
4. Diana
5. Ellen
6. Katie K
7. Suz
8. Kath
9. Rhian
10. Tina

Top Ten Males
1. Paul C
2. Richard
3. Joe
4. Mark
5. Darryl
6. Jim
7. Stephen (Ape)
8. Jeff
9. John
10. Paul S

Top Five USA
1. Richard
2. Amber
3. Mamie
4. Joe
5. Mark

Top Five Canada
1. Judy
2. Ilana
3. Micky
4. Faith
5. Lori K

Top Five Europe
1. Diana
2. Rhian
3. Barbara
4. Connie
5. John

Top Five Asia-Pac
1. Paul
2. Megan
3. Liz
4. Cushla (158 posts)
5. Kerry (136 posts)

Top Five Rookies
1. Marianne
2. Abby
3. Barbara
4. Connie
5. Suzi Q (167 posts)

#163 " I struggled terribly with The Sound and the Fury as close to hating any work of fiction as can be imagined."
Agreed. I think you and I come very close on our opinions of Faulkner's books. Moving right along...

Happy Sunday!

>241 PaulCranswick:: Like billy-o? I'm just fine with that as long as I can look like this one (and be standing right where she is:

Cee - Great minds think alike as they say....and ours do too.

Amber - We can share here because Billie Piper would be fine for my double date too. xx

22.

Chicago Poems by Carl Sandburg

Year of Publication ; 1916 (22/150)
American State : Illinois (8/52)
Category Challenge : N/A

Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders.
From Chicago

Carl Sandburg looked with a frowning and, rarely affectionate, visage upon the great city and the struggles of the working people therein to make ends meet.

This was his debut anthology and there is a depth and rancour there that seizes you in its angry grip throughout. We have the striking factory workers with guns trained upon them, we have the ill-used ladies-of-the-streets, those without futures and in despair.

Told in free verse, it makes the direct polemics still more effective. Sandburg was a keenly observant recorder of the modern age and this is very good.

This is from Skyscraper, a longish poem in the collection and, given my own preoccupations, a favourite:

Elevators slide on their cables and tubes catch letters and
parcels and iron pipes carry gas and water in and
sewage out.
Wires climb with secrets, carry light and carry words,
and tell terrors and profits and loves--curses of men
grappling plans of business and questions of women
in plots of love.

Hour by hour the caissons reach down to the rock of the
earth and hold the building to a turning planet.
Hour by hour the girders play as ribs and reach out and
hold together the stone walls and floors.

Hour by hour the hand of the mason and the stuff of the
mortar clinch the pieces and parts to the shape an
architect voted.
Hour by hour the sun and the rain, the air and the rust,
and the press of time running into centuries, play
on the building inside and out and use it.

Men who sunk the pilings and mixed the mortar are laid
in graves where the wind whistles a wild song
without words
And so are men who strung the wires and fixed the pipes
and tubes and those who saw it rise floor by floor.
Souls of them all are here, even the hod carrier begging
at back doors hundreds of miles away and the brick-
layer who went to state's prison for shooting another
man while drunk.
(One man fell from a girder and broke his neck at the
end of a straight plunge--he is here--his soul has
gone into the stones of the building.)

8/10

Pages this book : 80

Pages in Completed 2014 books : 4,823

Revised Physical TBR : 2,782

Passing Thru on Sunday afternoon ...... Hope your business trip was fruitful

Passing Thru on Sunday afternoon ...... Hope your business trip was fruitful

Passing Thru on Sunday afternoon ...... Hope your business trip was fruitful

Thankyou x 3 Alex. The business trip went quite well mate but there isn't a great deal to distract in Labuan.

Dear, dear Paul, glad to hear that your trip was completed safely and successfully. Hope you enjoy The Great Brain -- I loved those books when I was a girl. They were illustrated by my (step) uncle Mercer Mayer.

LOVED your Faulkner review. I am trying to decide how I feel about Light in August, but as I am 5 discs in (out of 14) I reckon I'll stick with it:)

Have a great week!

So glad you liked the Sandburg, Paul. When we moved to Illinois, we moved to a town just 15 miles from Carl Sandburg's birthplace, Galesburg, so we were pretty well steeped in him and his work in school. He's one of the few free verse poets that I really like.

Anne - Jenn did mention to me the connection to your uncle before she sent me the book. Fine job he did too.
I almost chose Light in August myself so I'll look out for whether you make much of it.

Julia - You are right....there are not many free verse fellas that cut the mustard for me but Sandburg's was Dijon parfait.

You are very welcome Paul. :)
Moonfleet sounds great. I think I will have to give it a try. It's only fair, having just foisted one of my childhood favorites on you. Lol

Hi Paul - I'm nearly at the end of Sanctuary which is really esceedingly good. And rather upsetting in places. And exceedingly upsetting in others. With a lot of that aforementioned sad humour that comes from social commentary.

That may not have made sense... I knew what I meant though and I'm tryping pre-coffee here...

Wow, my threads are busier than those of Darryl & Caro? Well, that won't last...

I adore Malaysian food. Too bad most of it here is just watered-down variants on Thai food. LOVE pohpia. Not all that fond of crabcakes, alas, and actively dislike stinky cheeses, so you can keep that.

Jenn - Moonfleet is a wonderful boys-own adventure story and very typically South-Western English with the roaring seas and smugglers, etc

Bekka - I am going to cut down my arabica for a week or two and see what the impact is upon my blood pressure which I had checked and is still very slightly too high. I have decided to try some herbal remedies.
I have bought herbal supplements of dandelion, milk thistle, garlic, ginko, hawthorn and olive leaf extract all of which apparently are helpful in treating the source of blood pressure spikes. Add that to more prodigious walking and herbal teas to substitute for coffee twice a day. I'll still have three cups of coffee a day otherwise I might as well be dead!
I have Sanctuary and may read it fairly soon but probably not this year with the challenges I have already set myself.

Suz - You have stayed consistently there this year so far as others of course realise what most of us knew for a goodly while that you're not just a reading machine. xx
The pohpia or popiah (both work actually) that I pictured are little slices of savoury heaven. No spicy as such but really, really scrumptious. I don't care to share the cheese in truth anyway!

All this food talk and food pictures are making me want Malaysian/Chinese/Thai.

Paul, I wish you a lovely Sunday and a good start in the week ahead

Rosalind - How about a Malaysian delicacy Asam Pedas Ikan Pari which is stingray cooked in a spicy tamarind based sauce usually with okra and served with fragrant steamed rice? This is just for you:


It is delicious believe me.

Barbara - So far so good, believe it or not I am beginning to plan supper!