Paul C with books and more in 2014 Part 29

Since I am not long returned from Egypt and since the theme generally this year is the centenary of the start of WWI;
here they are combined:

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

Thus spoke T.E. Lawrence known more popularly as Lawrence of Arabia and one of the maverick leading players in the Middle Eastern theatre of WW1. Died in an accident at the early age of 47 and immortalised by Peter O'Toole in the David Lean epic.

Books read Jan-June 2014

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
3,110 pages total

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
23. Legend of a Suicide by David Vann (2008) 228 pp
24. The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy (1886) 63 pp
25. Life Studies by Robert Lowell (1959) 95 pp
26. Therese Raquin by Emile Zola (1867) 194 pp
27. The Song of the Cold by Edith Sitwell (1945) 110 pp
2,407 pages total

March
28. The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman (1962) 524 pp
29. The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope (1894) 140 pp
30. The First World War: A Miscellany by Norman Ferguson (2014) 182 pp
31. Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison (1992) 320 pp
32. The Ballad of the White Horse by G.K. Chesterton (1911) 132 pp
33. Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household (1939) 182 pp
34. Chamber Music by James Joyce (1907) 39 pp
35. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865) 124 pp
36. Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg (1956) 57 pp
37. Suttree by Cormac McCarthy (1979) 568 pp
38. The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes (1985) 199 pp
39. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran (1923) 115 pp
2,582 pages total

April
40. Train by Pete Dexter (2003) 280 pp
41. The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems by W.B. Yeats (1889) 64 pp
42. The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins (1970) 182 pp
43. Desperate Remedies by Thomas Hardy (1871) 407 pp
44. Carrie by Stephen King (1974) 242 pp
45. The Less Deceived by Philip Larkin (1955) 33 pp
46. Once by Morris Gleitzman (2006) 163 pp
47. Transformations by Anne Sexton (1971) 113 pp
48. Sula by Toni Morrison (1973) 174 pp
49. A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud (1873) 100 pp
50. Laidlaw by William MacIlvanney (1977) 283 pp
51. Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan (2004) 293 pp
52. Women by Charles Bukowski (1978) 291 pp
2,625 pages total

MAY
53. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (1951) 222 pp
54. Never Go Back by Lee Child (2013) 519 pp
55. Renascence and Other Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1917) 44 pp
56. In Praise of Older Women by Stephen Vizinczey (1965) 223 pp
57. The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty (1954) 156 pp
58. Plainsong by Kent Haruf (1999) 288 pp
59. Satan Says by Sharon Olds (1980) 72 pp
60. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (1940) 312 pp
1,836 pages total

June
61. Strumpet City by James Plunkett (1969) 549 pp
62. White Buildings by Hart Crane (1926) 99 pp
63. Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut (1961) 176 pp
824 pages total

13,384 pages January to June
63 books
212.44 pages per book

2014 READING JULY-DECEMBER 2014

July
64. Amongst Women by John McGahern (1990) 184 pp
65. Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy (1888) 165 pp
66. The Treasure Hunt by Andrea Camilleri (2010) 278 pp
67. The Gathering Storm by Winston S. Churchill (1948) 693 pp
68. Electric Light by Seamus Heaney (2001) 98 pp
69. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (1876) 140 pp
1,558 pages total

August
70. Mr. Standfast by John Buchan (1919) 338 pp
71. Save Me the Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald (1932) 225 pp
72. In Parenthesis by David Jones (1937) 225 pp
73. Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain (1933) 608 pp
74. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins (1984) 342 pp
75. Bright Day by J.B. Priestley (1946) 368 pp
76. Zuckerman Unbound by Philip Roth (1981) 225 pp
77. The Fatal Eggs by Mikhail Bulgakov (1925) 142 pp
78. The Awakening by Kate Chopin (1899) 183 pp
79. Thebes at War by Naguib Mahfouz (1944) 211 pp
80. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis (1922) 434 pp
81. Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? by Raymond Carver (1976) 181 pp
3,482 pages total

September
82. The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins (1878) 234 pp
83. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (1996) 218 pp
84. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin (1953) 263 pp
85. True Grit by Charles Portis (1968) 235 pp
86. The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells (1896) 171 pp
87. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (1883) 153 pp
88. Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello (1921) 52 pp
89. The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen (1988) 170 pp
90. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (1972) 148 pp
91. The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1938) 471 pp
92. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne (1866) 254 pp
93. The Winnowing Fan by Laurence Binyon (1914) 36 pp
94. The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck (1942) 112 pp
95. The Kommandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff (2007) 395 pp
96. The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers (1895) 179 pp
97. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster (1905) 153 pp
98. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (1927) 124 pp
99. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (1877) 265 pp
3,633 pages total

October
100. Up at the Villa by W. Somerset Maugham (1941) 120 pp
101. Horse Under Water by Len Deighton (1963) 234 pp
102. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868) 322 pp
103. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (1912) 74 pp
104. Men of Iron by Howard Pyle (1891) 216 pp
105. The Sea by John Banville (2005) 264 pp
106. 18 Poems by Dylan Thomas (1934) 32 pp
107. The Drowning Pool by Ross Macdonald (1950) 249 pp
108. Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant (1885) 394 pp
109. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (1997) 493 pp

Best of 2014

Fiction
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
Plainsong by Kent Haruf

Thrillers/Sci Fi/Fantasy Etc
Magician : Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist
Laidlaw by William McIlvanney
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

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 Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman
The Gathering Storm by Winston S. Churchill
If This is a Man by Primo Levi

INTENDED OCTOBER READING:

October reading Plan

150 Book Challenge : 51 books to read in the last quarter - target for October 18 books

Stateside Challenge : 22 still to read in the last quarter - target for October 4 (Pyle - Delaware; Irving - New Hampshire; Golden - Tennessee; Stegner - Iowa)

Category Pyramid Challenge : 29 still to read in the last quarter - Target for October 10 books

American Author (Mark's Challenge) - The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (Challenge 10/10)

150 years challenge

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 - Save Me the Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald
2. Alaska Legend of a Suicide by David Vann
3. Arizona .....................Mingus
4. Arkansas - True Grit by Charles Portis
5. California - Magician : Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist
6. Colorado - Plainsong by Kent Haruf
7. Connecticut - The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman
8. Delaware - Men of Iron by Howard Pyle
9. Florida - ...................Hiassen
10. Georgia - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
11. Hawaii - .........................Lowry
12. Idaho - .........................Pound
13. Illinois Chicago Poem by Carl Sandburg
14. Indiana - Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
15. Iowa - ..............................Stegner
16. Kansas - ............................Phillips
17. Kentucky - ........................Penn Warren
18. Louisiana - .......................Brown
19. Maine - Carrie by Stephen King
20. Maryland - The Kommandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff
21. Massachusetts - Life Studies by Robert Lowell
22. Michigan - Train by Pete Dexter
23. Minnesota - Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan
24. Mississippi - As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
25. Missouri - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
26. Montana - ..............................Doig
27. Nebraska - .............................Goodkind
28. Nevada - ............................Barr
29. New Hampshire - ..................Irving
30. New Jersey - Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg
31. New Mexico - ......................McGarrity
32. New York - Landscape at the End of the Century by Stephen Dunn
33. North Carolina - Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
34. North Dakota - .....................Watson
35. Ohio - Dream Work by Mary Oliver
36. Oklahoma - 77 Dream Songs by John Berryman
37. Oregon - Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? by Raymond Carver
38. Pennsylvania - The Sojourn by Andrew Krivak
39. Rhode Island - Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
40. South Carolina - Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
41. South Dakota - ....................Johnson
42. Tennessee - Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
43. Texas - .............................Burke
44. Utah - .............................Carlson
45. Vermont - .......................Dubie
46. Virginia - My Antonia by Willa Cather
47. Washington - Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
48. West Virginia - .......................Buck
49. Wisconsin - The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
50. Wyoming - ....................Box
51. DC - The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
52. American born outside USA - Women by Charles Bukowski

32/52

Category Challenge 14 for 14

Pyramid Challenge

1 BOOK: Gifts from friends (1 READ - Morgan) DONE
2 BOOKS: Re-reads (2 READ - Falkner, Gibran) DONE
3 BOOKS: Biographies (1 read - Dylan)
4 BOOKS: Short Story Collections (3 READ - Vann, Carver, Chambers)
5 BOOKS: Ahem, Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy (5 READ - Feist, King, Bellamy, Bulgakov, Collins) DONE
6 BOOKS: Yorkshire Writers (4 READ - Smith, Hughes, Sitwell, Priestley)
7 BOOKS: Books about the Holocaust (5 READ - Levi, Gleitzman, Vonnegut, Yolen, Jenoff)
8 BOOKS: Series followed (3 Read - Tey, Child, Camilleri)
9 BOOKS: Nobel contenders/winners (6 READ - Trevor, McCarthy, Roth, Mann, Pirandello, Banville)
10 BOOKS: World War One (8 READ - Krivak, Clark, Keneally, Tuchman, Ferguson, Jones, Brittain, Binyon)
11 BOOKS: Vintage Crime/Thrillers (9 READ - Household, McInnes, Hope, Higgins, McIlvanney, Buchan, Palahniuk, Deighton, Macdonald)
12 BOOKS: Books on the Shelves since 2012 (9 READ - Faulkner, Hardy, Churchill, Twain, Verne, Sewell, Maugham, Alcott, Thomas)
13 BOOKS: Books from the first edition of 1001 books (13 READ - Grossmith, Tolstoy, Zola, Carroll, Morrison, McGahern, Chopin, Lewis, Baldwin, Wells, Calvino, Forster, Wilder) DONE
14 BOOKS: Writers new to me (14 READ - Abse, Berryman, Dunn, Oliver, Nemirovsky, Fuentes, Sandburg, Ginsberg, Allison, Lowell, Dexter, Sexton, Bukowski, Rimbaud) DONE

miscellaneous lists

nobel reads

Happy new thread! Love the photo topper.

Mary is first! Hi, Paul!

>13 bell7: Well done Mary! You are winning at a fairly opportune moment as I am finally getting a little of my free time back so that I can catch up my long order backlog of prize winning thread firsties. Please PM me your address and I'll get something nice to you fairly soon.

>14 ronincats: Roni, always welcome and usually early to my threads. I am determined to catch up the reading league for an early update of results this month. xx

Happy New Thread Paul! Hope you're on the mend. xx

I'll take advantage of your new thread and jump in with a wish that you are feeling better. I haven't read Little Women in years and may just treat myself to a reread one of these days.

Also jumping in. Your October reading plan look impressive asusual, I hope you are on the mend.

Also delurking to say hi and happy new thread. Great opening images. Funny thing, when I came online again today and went to Google, I saw GoogleMaps now has images of the pyramids and sphinx at Giza that can be accessed, so I looked and thought they were pretty fun, though I imagine being there would be a thousand times more impressive.

Happy new thread, and great opening picture!

Just a quick hiya from down under, I seem to have missed some of your recent threads ...... I should try to keep up with everyone more

Happy New Thread. A day of new threads for both of us. 6 for me and 29 for you. Amazing in both respects. Carry on my good sir. Hope you feel better.

Happy New Thread, Paul! I looks like you've some great reading planning for the month ahead...

Happy New Thread, Paul! Will this be your first Wharton? I also have Banville's the Sea on my Must Read Now Shelf, although that shelf does not wield the authority it should.

Hello, Paul! Hope you wake from your next sleep feeling a bit improved.

>19 Storeetllr: As soon as I saw the topper on this thread, I thought "I must post that you can use Google maps to tour the pyramids now!". As usual, though, I'm a bit late with the big news.

>15 PaulCranswick: Oooh, how exciting! I can't quite believe I made it first. I am in awe of your October reading plans... that's quite a lot of classics to fit into one month! :)

Congrats on the new thread, Paul. Where's the poem?

I don't think you did this one: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175898

#24 LOL - it's amazing how easily the poor TBR gets shuffled isn't it ;)

Hola Paul - like the shiny thread. Some fab reads on your October list. I keep trying to get back to Owen Meany (I read about 40 pages about 10 years ago) and never picked it up again. It was on the list for the year. And last year... Ooops.

Hi Paul. Happy new thread!

I think kids in this region benefit from the slightly more relaxed attitude of restaurants towards accommodating children in their establishments. Of course, in my case, having Genghis Khan as my soulmate helps to keep the three kids in line.

I should warn you, some Singapore restaurants have introduced a 'no kids' rule, especially for diinner. As for Genghis Khan, you dads are all pushovers. Hah!

Happy new thread Paul!

I'm in a waiting room and on the iPhone and started typing a really long message, which was none too smart, since of course it all got deleted. All about your planned reading, about which I obviously had much to say. Will do so once I'm back home to the safety of my computer. xx

Hi Paul, Happy new thread and thread topper mate, your selected reading for the month looks really good. It has been a good week for Lyth and Lees, winning the Cricket writers award for player of the year and young player of the year respectively they did it again at the PCA awards. I think they are probably odds on to do it again at the Wombwell cricket society awards, these are well deserved after the season they have had, I just hope that their partnership is not parted as they could become one of the most prolific in the game.

Happy New Thread! I joined a lecture at the university this evening. The subject was 'The incubation of the war or when started the preliminary events of WWI'. It was very interesting.

Wonderful new thread and very nice thread topper. Very fitting indeed :). As you may remember from Hani WWI was one of our area of interests during our holiday in Eastern Europe.

Interesting selection of books this month. Especially Death in Venice by Thomas Mann. However, maybe when reading that one keep a box of tissues on standby *grin* .

Happy new Thread, Paul and sending you wishes for a wonderful weekend!

Happy new thread, Paul! Wishing for you a weekend full of fabulous!

I wasn't even close to first this time! Happy new thread!

I have a question for you, and your many brilliant visitors here, - Since we've had, among many themes, World War I as a point of focus for this year's reading and I've enjoyed looking for books I might like to read which just happened to be about or in that time, is this a one time idea? Or do we usually have a year long theme of some thing or other? And who thinks up the ideas? And when?

Hope you are feeling much better and happily back to your reading life.

I wish Mark and you much luck on reading that awful The Sea by John Banville. That is one book I Pearl Ruled after 50 pages. I thought it was awful and still do. I decided I wasn't giving Banville a chance so I read two of his mysteries - the Quirk series - and really liked them. My conclusion is that "The Sea" is just plain an awful book.

This week I joined you in the sick call ranks. I missed a day of work due to an abscess under a tooth. It has been bothering me for weeks and things have finally settled down on the job enough that I snuck out one afternoon to make an emergency visit to the dentist. Then after he finished torturing me I took his recommended high powered pain killers and ended up with a sick headache. Why people pay money for those pills I wouldn't know - the effects and the after effects are worse than a bonafide hangover. But after antibiotics and the dentists skill I am pain free today. And I still have my tooth.

>16 Smiler69: Regret to say that I am, if anything, worse than earlier. My chest is wheezing with more regularity than a barrel organ and I am a bit achy. Still it is the weekend already here so I'll take that as a consolation. Thanks as always for stopping by dear Ilana.

>17 DeltaQueen50: Although the storyline is more than a little familiar I haven't read Little Women before, Judy. Dated and excruciating in places it is certainly but wholesome and touching also too.

>18 avatiakh: Kerry, I think I added to it after your post. 18 is the plan for the month as I need a few more than the 150 to finish the other challenges.

>19 Storeetllr: Mary, I lived in Egypt in the 1980s and had the opportunity then to enter the Great Pyramid. I have to say that it is not advisable for anyone of a clautrophobic bent to attempt to enter the pyramid as the passage to the ante-chamber is extremely narrow and low. I wouldn't dare try in my present engorged form.

>20 banjo123: Thank you Rhonda. Hope to get round the threads this weekend if I can shake off this infection.

>21 roundballnz: Hiya right back, Alex. Nice to see you safely back from your jaunt. I am at least as bad as anyone for not keeping up well recently.

>22 mahsdad: I predict your numbers will continue to rise Jeff. Not sure about my stamina levels these days to replicate my previous dexterity across the threads but I do slowly feel more like my old self.

>23 scaifea: Thanks Amber. Unfortunately with me it is often stuck in the planning! Let's see whether I can realise some of the challenges I had ill-advisedly set myself.

>24 msf59: No Mark, I read Ethan Frome ages ago and really enjoyed it. The Banville has been around on my shelves a while now but he is a writer I like the idea of more than the experience of reading him. Funnily enough though his Quirke crime novels are atmospheric and compelling.

>25 laytonwoman3rd: Linda I am told that there is a second passage in most of the Pyramids that has eluded detection over time. How the experts know I couldn't tell you but the experience of riding a camel with the Great Pyramid on your offside and the Sphinx before you failed to provide me with the answers.

>26 bell7: Mary, it is always a pleasure to me that the prize gets spread around so evenly. I hope that I dont get stuck among the classics this month but the last century but one is full of them apparently.

>27 jnwelch: No collection of WW1 poetry would be complete without Mr. 0wen, Joe. Seem to remember that I have included one so far but not that excellent one.
Since you requested a poem I'll provide one by a less distinguished writer and with the mundane as his subject rather than matters of war. It is called:

THE WALL

Next door's moggy greets the day
Atop the wall they forgot to take away.
Bearing winters compromising but hard
Along with all the remnants of the yard -
Unkempt.

You for whom a craftman's fingers bled
And had great things planned, alas instead
Bowed by a pulse that time effaces
Is an object only a wastrel cat embraces -
With contempt.

Hi Paul- I love that your intended reads for October are in covers in your post. You know I love the draw of a pretty cover.
And I see you have recently read Black Beauty! I want to buy it for my horsey friend every time I see a copy- which is often. Maybe I should make it a 'thing' that I do.....buy her multiple copies of the one book! I know I'd find it funny :)

The Wall, a lovely poem. Yours?

>28 BekkaJo: I am an inverterate shuffler Bekka! My TBR changes with the apparent frequency as did Frank Sinatra's underwear,

>29 humouress: I have seen some of Singapore's youngest and "finest" in action out at dinner so I am not hugely surprised! I suppose I was being harsh in my Genghis Khan comparison. The poor chap cannot have been all that bad!

>30 Thebookdiva: Thank you Abby. I am so overdue at the Pecan Paradisio.

>31 Smiler69: Aaaaargh Ilana I have had several such experiences recently. My lap-top seems destined for the fire back (if I but had one).

>32 johnsimpson: In earlier years Lyth was hampered by having Joe Sayers as a partner. Because of his slow rate of scoring Lyth was obliged to try to push on too quickly. Lees is more even paced. Wombwell? The one near Barnsley?

>33 Ameise1: Sounds jolly interesting too Barbara. I am interested especially by the use of the term "incubation" - a very clinical word for calculated madness?

>34 drachenbraut23: Thanks Bianca - she did mention your East European travels. I tried the sage tea yesterday and whilst I feel little better I liked it. Will reserve the Kleenex for the Mann.

>35 lkernagh: Thank you Lori and gratefully received are the best wishes I can assure you.

>36 Crazymamie: I trust that the return of the fabulous means that the queen of the Paradisio is back to full health.

>37 thornton37814: I may have to spare you a book on account of near misses!

>38 maggie1944: Can't speak for the brilliant visitors Karen but it was my own decision to give prominence to the WW1 centenary this year. I do also recall Suz compiling an impressive list of related books. Mark's challenge grew automatically from the popularity of his thread and the attractiveness of the idea. As far as I know anyone with an inkling can get many of us tagging along, Madeline's Tioli challenges also inspire many.

>39 benitastrnad: Yikes Benita! I really don't have the luxury to Pearl rule any books this year so I hope I'll like it several times more than you did. The wonders of modern dentistry - amid all the pain they can save your tooth! Here's to a pain free week for you my dear.

>45 LovingLit: Multiple copies of Black Beauty? Art for art's sake I think!
Megan, as usual you guessed right. Written by myownself way back in 1981 and tinkered with yesterday after work. I probably have more than 500 such but little time to give them much of a tidy-up to cleanse them of teenage naievity and clumsy verbiage.

>42 PaulCranswick: I don't think my thread will ever be the hang out that some of "popular" kids' threads are. And I'm okay with that. I'll keep shouting into the void and posting my silly little images. And if one of you fine folks stops by and makes a comment, its just a bonus to my day.

I know there are lots of people, me included, that read a lot of threads and just lurk around and stay quiet.

This is the first public forum that I've ever really participated in. A year ago I was just a stranger among strangers, and now I happy to say that you all in the group are my friends. Okay, now I'm just getting maudlin. Time to read a bit more and goto bed.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday and Sunday, Paul!

>51 mahsdad: You sure are an integral part of the group already, Jeff. There isn't too much of a void in your little corner of California these days I think. I am with you in that LT is my public forum too and has opened up the world for me to the extent of adding a coupla hundred buddies spread across the world.

September Review

Books Read in September : 18
Books Read YTD : 99

Book of the Month : True Grit by Charles Portis

Gender
Books by Males - Sept : 14
2014 to date : 77
Books by Females - August : 4
2014 to date : 22

Nationality - Sept : USA 10
GBR 4
ITA 3
FRA 1

2014 to date : USA 46
GBR 27
IRE 6
FRA 4
AUS 3
ITA 5
RUS 2
S.AF 1
NIG 1
MEX 1
LEB 1
HUN 1
EGY 1

150 Year Challenge Sept - 18
2014 to date : 99 / 150

USA State Challenge Sept - 5
2014 to date : 30/52

Category Challenge : Sept - 14
2014 to date : 76/104

First Edition of 1001 Books : Sept - 6 (Verne, Forster, Baldwin, Wells, Wilder, Calvino)
Completed to date : 238/1001

Pages Read in Sept : 3,633 (121.10 pages per day)
Year to date : 22,057 (80.79 pages per day)

Books bought in Sept : 29
Year to date: 427

>47 PaulCranswick: Paul, in this case one can say 'incubation' because there were so many subjects and causes which leaded to WWI. Professor Jörn Leonhard who lectured this event has written a book about it Die Büchse der Pandora: Geschichte des Ersten Weltkrieges. I don't know if it is available in English.

I wish you a fabulous weekend.

>53 PaulCranswick:. 427 books bought this year. Wow.

>54 Ameise1:. I don't speak German, but that looks like Pandora's Box: Gestation Of the first world war. Am I close?

Sorry to hear you are unwell, Paul. No fun being sick.

Hey Paul! Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

>44 PaulCranswick: :-)

Ok, I'm back. Funny, because about 10 seconds before the message I had typed to you on my iPhone blinked off the screen, I'd just told myself I should save it, but then didn't get a chance to. I just got quite excited when I saw your planned reading for October because a few books on there ended up being all-time favourites. Among them is Bel-Ami, which I discovered in 2011. I had the immense pleasure of getting an audiobook narrated to perfection by a French actor and just now decided I need to borrow it from the library again. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. My review starts with the following words: "George Duroy, better known to his friends as Bel Ami because of his pleasing appearance to women, has very few redeeming qualities. But the genius of this Maupassant novel is that one is utterly fascinated by this man..."

Edith Wharton has been a real revelation to me since I started reading her, also in 2011 (it was a big year in terms of reading!) and while there are several of her novels I would recommend, that one is definitely among her best. I'd gladly reread it along with you, but it'll keep for another time as I'll be discovering The Custom of the Country this month.

Death in Venice was a huge revelation to me when I read it as a young adult, barely into my 20s. I've been meaning to reread it for years now, always with a bit of trepidation as one never knows how one will react to an old favourite. I've since purchased a rather gorgeous and unique collector's edition last year, a Limited Editions Club from 1972 with rather beautiful wood block prints. It should make it a unique experience, in any case.

I'm not familiar with that particular Wallace Stegner title, but reading The Big Rock Candy Mountain last year definitely made me want to discover more of his writing. I've got Angle of Repose on the tbr which I was rather hoping to get to this year. Looking at your cataloguing, I believe you haven't read it yet, so perhaps a shared read at one point might encourage me to make room for it.

Memoirs of a Geisha is one of those books that was everyone's favourite for good reason. I hope you enjoy it. I'd like to reread it eventually, but at the same time it's one of those books that became such a huge big deal that all the hoopla sort of took away from it's appeal for me, which I suppose is a little unfair. I read Little Women back in high school and can't remember any of it now, but for some reason have decided in my adult years that I wouldn't like it. Therefore, I'll look forward to your comments on it, which will probably influence me one way or the other. Not pressure or anything! Finally, I read John Banville's The Sea seemingly an age ago, back in 2009, which was before I'd joined this group, so I had nobody to discuss it with and I did not enjoy it much. I haven't read anything else of his since, though I've been meaning to, but I think I'd like to revisit that book, if anything because my reading tasted have changed so much. I've had Christine Falls in the stacks for just as long though, so should probably read that before rereading that dark piece. Again, will look forward to your comments.

Phew! Sorry for the long ramble. Hope I didn't bore you to tears!

Wishing you a lovely weekend and hope you get all better soon. Was very sorry to hear your condition had actually worsened, but then again, not so surprising to know you've been ill as it seems the immune system is prone to weakening after heavy emotional turmoil. Really do wish all the best and renewed health and vigour for your sake. xx

>58 Smiler69:. Oh, a LEC edition of Death in Venice sounds enticing. I have some of their volumes. Reading them is a totally different experience compared to Kindle or paperbacks, isn't it!

>59 ffortsa: Hi Judy, that LEC will be a first for me, as I started with collecting Folio Society books with a passion last year, as I do love illustrated books, beautiful paper and great printing and typography, and only discovered LEC from there, but I do know reading Folios is altogether different, yes, so I imagine it must be in the same realm. Definitely elevates it to a much more special feeling and makes you appreciate books as gorgeous physical objects all the more. I also have a 1933 LEC of Huckleberry Finnl, which I simply had to have, and imagine I'll end up with several more as the years go by!

I hope your chest is feeling better, Paul. Take good care of yourself.

>54 Ameise1: No stag party planned this weekend Barbara but so far an ok one nonetheless. Watched the movie Annabelle last night at the cinema and scared myself half to death - at least my eye sight is sufficiently bad that I can remove the glasses and not have to see the worst parts!

>55 ffortsa: Judy, Actually my numbers are way down on last year when about 1200 physical books got added. Hani told me yesterday that if I buy any new books she is going to start to throw them away - I had a wee splurge yesterday anyways!

>56 Carmenere: Well Lynda it would be much nicer if I could shake off the chest infection but, all in all, I'm happy. Erni is home for a fortnight so the house is on war footing but with the Haj holiday we have an invite out which will ease the tension.

>57 jnwelch: I was a 15 year old imitating I remember not whom; trimmed off some of the callower lines a few days ago.

>58 Smiler69: There is no chance of me ever being bored by an Ilana post, my dear especially as informative as this one. Physical condition is slowly improving.

>59 ffortsa: Hardback reading experiences are a different plane to the plain old paperback - still not much of a one for Kindle. Hadn't heard f LEC before actually, Judy.

>60 Smiler69: A sort of super folio - wow that must be something!

>61 ronincats: It is a little better thank Roni - I was hoping to rest it a little tomorrow as it is a Public Holiday here but apparently not. Johor state has no holiday tomorrow and I have to attend an urgent meeting there - RATS!

No LT for a couple of days and already 200+ posts behind. The Nobel Prize discussion was interesting and I am embarrassed there are so many names on your list I never heard of. After Munro last year I'd think they'll select a less known author this time, and I can't imagine they'll ever give it to Atwood or Murakami.
Have a relaxing Sunday, I hope that chest infection finally gives up and leaves you.

>65 Deern: I will also be astonished if either of those two win. My money is on Adunis, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o or Nurrudin Farah as I think that region is likely to win. If Europe I would hazard Kundera.

September Book Reviews:

82.

The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins
Year of Publication : 1878 (82/150)

A novel which anticipated much of the atmosphere of The Woman in White with a tighter plot and less literary impact. Lady gets jilted for a mysterious Countess. Husband, Countess and shady brother go off to a retreat in Venice where husband promptly dies. Circumstances prove as suspicious as they are fantastical.

Highly readable but the characters rather pigeon-hole the sexes in the stereotypes of their age.

7/10

83.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Year of Publication : 1996 (83/150)
American State : Washington : 26/52

Spare, shocks,
twisted, gifted and rocks.

I am a lover not a fighter and I'll stick to kisses after wading through this gifted assemblage of broken bones.

8/10

84.

Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Year of Publication: 1953 (84/150)
First ed of 1001 books : (233/1001)

James Baldwin's first novel and presaged very accurately what a massive contribution he would make to American literature of the period. Told in several parts and from various perspectives all leading up to the church confirmation of the novel's leading protagonist, the language is often biblical, searing, emotive and always compelling.

In terms of plotting there is evidence of a writer finding his muse as the ending particularly is muddled and less effective than its earlier parts. Nonetheless this is a work that ought to be read by anyone interested in how to write about women from a male perspective and do so utterly convincingly. His treatment of race and criticism of black american youth is also far more constructive than blaming all the ills of the community to racism, as apparent as it still is in the novel.

8/10

85.

True Grit by Charles Portis
Year of Publication : 1968 (85/150)
USA State : Arkansas (27/52)

Who says the Western novel cannot be a literary treat? Better than the movie(s) definitely and full of humour sardonically delivered and replete with incident.

I won't bore you all with a regurgitation of the familiar storyline but where many "cowboy" books with pretensions of being something more are often overly long, I didn't want this to end.

9/10
BooK of the month

I loved the reviews of two great "older" novels. I appreciate your perspective on both.

Hope this coming week will provide some time for you to continue your recovery! Take good care of those lungs.

86.

The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells
Year of Publication: 1896 (86/150)
First Ed of 1001 books: (234/1001)

Had to read one H.G. Wells given my challenge and the fact that I have pretty much all his work around the house and have read most of it. For some reason I had not read Moreau but I found it to be both prescient and topical if that makes sense. Well written shipwreck story with a twist and all in less than 200 pages, a hallmark of late 19th C Wells.

7/10

>71 maggie1944: Hahaha if you liked those older ones stay tuned as I have plenty of catching up to do.
A little better and buoyed by the news that my meeting tomorrow has been cancelled so I shall have much of it free.

87.

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Year of Publication : 1883 (87/150)

This was a pleasant surprise. Nothing like a kid's book - this was darkly comic, picaresque and often a little disturbing. More Camilleri than Walt Disney the lovable Cricket beloved by children in the film appears here but gets treated rather differently by our little wooden anti-hero.

Enjoyed this one thoroughly.

8/10

88.

Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello
Year of Publication : 1921 (88/150)
Nobel Prize Winner

Bemused, confused,
further work sure to be refused.

Knowing and clever play as six characters turn up at the rehearsal of a play and take over its proceedings. Pirandello clearly wanting to make points and allusions regarding the differences between fiction and reality and our places within the play of life but the play itself was crashingly dull.

5/10

So glad that you loved True Grit - that is one of my favorites as it is just so well done. Hoping that your coming week is not too full or too hectic.

89.

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
Year of Publication : 1988 (89/150)

As many will know writing on or related to the Holocaust is a particular interest of mine. I have no Jewish roots but come from near Leeds in West Yorkshire which boasted one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities in England in my youth and spawned for me several friendships and the acquaintance of our then family Doctor (Dr. Vining) whose familial experiences are seared into my psyche and left me adulthood with a profound sympathy and horror for the people and their tragic plight/history.

During the hanukkah festival our heroine steps out of her comfortable living room to seek Elijah and steps back into the Poland of the early 1940s. Inventive and moving if a little of a heavy subject for its intended age group (more effective for that surely?). If this is the quality of much of youth literature then I need to turn back the clock more regularly.

8/10

>76 Crazymamie: Mamie, I am expecting a nasty Thursday but hoping that either side of it will be fabulous as one of my favourite posters likes to wish. True Grit - wonderful - made getting shot and having your father gunned down seem like an absolute blast!

90.

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Year of Publication : 1972 (90/150)
First ed. 1001 books : 235/1001

My IQ is considered to be in the highest few percentiles (I won't bore anyone with the figure) but I couldn't make head or tail of this.

I suppose ostensibly the description by Marco Polo to Kublai of the cities he had visited (invented ones apparently all on the theme of Venice) but to what point I haven't an inkling.

Mercifully short.

4/10
Dud of the month

91.

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Year of Publication : 1938 (91/150)
USA State : DC (28/52)

This is one I strolled through and savoured. A Pulitzer winner and deservedly so, this was a long coming of age story amongst the wilds of Florida but without too many wasted pages.

Born in DC but as Florida as illicit Havana cigars or Don Johnson's coloured coordinated garments, we follow our young hero through fights, bear hunts and snake bites as well as the uncomfortable rearing of a young deer parted from his dead mother.

A lot to love here but especially in the wonderful characterisation of the leading players in this story - the parents are splendid creations in particular and quite realistic too. They don't write 'em like this anymore.

9/10

92.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
Year of Publication: 1866 (92/150) (See below)
First ed. 1001 books : 236/1001)

Firstly I have problems with the cataloguing of this. The First Edition of the 1001 Books lists this as publshed first in 1866 but it was actually first released in France in 1864. It seems that the list is based upon its release in England in non-serial form which I will have to live with given the constraints of my challenge!

Early science fiction and well told but contained a memorably irritating and pathetic narrator and main character. The science is, of course, poppy cock but it was inventive and enjoyable for all that.

7/10

93.

The Winnowing Fan by Laurence Binyon
Year of Publication : 1914 (93/150)

Early appearance of World War 1 poetry written whilst outrage was still mixed with optimism. Includes the famous poem "For the Fallen" but much of this is hurried and prosaic though perhaps understandably so.

There are several homages to soldiery and to the Belgian nation which is also to be expected given the nature and justification by Britain for entering the conflict.

Aside from its most famous of lines I like this extract from the concluding poem "ode to september" :

"But oh, how faint the image we foretold
In fancies of our fear
Now that the truth is here!
And we awake from dream yet think it still a dream.
It bursts our thoughts with more than thought can hold;
And more than human seem
These agonies of conflict;"

7/10 (for the good bits)

94.

The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck
Year of Publication : (1942) (94/150)

Not among Steinbeck's most celebrated works this was nevertheless hugely popular amongst the underground in Europe at the time and is, I believe, unfairly overlooked when casting around as proof of the measure of the Salinas Scribe's talent.

Apparently simple tale of a community coming to terms (or rather not coming to terms) with occupation by a foreign power. It is not stated but we take this to be Nazi Germany (occupier) and possibly Norway (occupied). Searingly effective and especially as it humanises the would be conquerors and this makes their wrong-doing more real and chilling. Steinbeck was telling us that good men can be forced into evil acts by controlling regimes and that resistance, however seemingly futile, is an expression of humanity.

Steinbeck was a great writer with an observant eye and never more so than in this "little" giant of a novella.

9/10

95.

The Kommandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff
Year of Publication : 2007 (95/150)
USA State : Maryland (29/52)

I didn't find this on the literature shelves of Kino but I have to say that it is still a novel I put down appreciating having spent the time to read it.

Written in direct and fairly simple prose and containing a number of plotting errors of timing and places that did annoy but not destroy the experience. Eva is just married but is left alone by her husband as the Nazi's storm in Cracow. A Jewess fortunate to look more like a gentile (could they really tell in those days so clearly?) she becomes Anna and takes emploment as Private Sec to the Kommandant of Cracow - an unsurprisingly handsome member of the hated SS. Exciting but predictable the twist here is that I couldn't help liking the Nazi more than the lady and guess that that was the intention although I'm not entirely convinced it wasn't a failure of characterisational skills. Will read more.

8/10

96.

The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
Year of Publication : 1895 (96/150)

Interconnected set of macabre stories.
Seriously weird.

5/10

97.

Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
Year of Publication : 1905 (97/150)
First Ed. 1001 Books : 237/1001

Forster's debut novel and, anticipating the scene of later triumphs, we are whisked to Tuscany for a tragi-comedy elegantly drawn.

EM Forster had a wonderful and gentle touch that beguiled the reader into thinking little ought to happen and ensuring the impact of decisive action is heightened beyond reasonable expectaton. Great gift.

8/10

98.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
Year of Publication : 1927 (98/150)
USA State : Wisconsin (30/52)
First Ed. 1001 Books : 238/1001

A much used rope bridge across the Andes breaks and five travellers fall to their deaths. In very catholic Peru the concern is to find God's hand and intention via a common denominator between the five victims. Wilder goes on to carefully deconstruct these lives in rich prose but I don't think one is any clearer at the end of this celebrated work as to the imprint of the hand of God nor are we able to construe his purpose. Perhaps that was the point after all.

A novel to be admired and appreciated but not one I particularly liked or enjoyed.

6/10

And finally of September :

99.

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Date of Publication : 1877 (99/150)

I suppose a sort of forerunner of War Horse. The autobiography of Black Beauty and the several other names he collected along the way. Mostly well done and splendid fare for the growing mind, the only minor gripe would be that the conveyor belt of owners became a little repetitive and confusing after a while.

Wholesome and evergreen classic. It is obvious why this is remains perenially on the shelves.

7/10

Wow, you're on a roll with the reviews, Paul ..... and killing my obese wist list with a heavy set of new additions!!! Arrgghhh.

Like you, I have been trying to do more reading and less buying of books this fall. Even with good intentions I have added more than I read.

This weekend my family moved a reading bench next to the Little Free Library that we put up on Main Street. The Little Free Library is a movement that attempts to put rainproof tiny libraries in accessible places. My sister is a dedicated member of the patriotic do-gooders organization The Daughters of the American Revolution, otherwise known as the DAR. (Yep, the same organization that denied Marion Anderson the right to sing in their recital hall back in the 1930's.) My sister bought all the materials to construct a library box that holds approximately twenty books and got the shop teacher and students at one of the local high schools to build it. The city of Munden (a village of 150 people in Kansas) installed the box on a post on Main Street back in August. This last weekend my family purchased a bench made of all recycled materials stamped with the phrase "Read A Book" in memory of Henry Strnad. (my father) The bench was installed on a cement pad and put in place next to the library box. It is a nice place to maybe sit and peruse the selection of books available in the box. The idea of the box being that you take a book and leave a book for the next person to read. I keep my family well stocked with books, and they in turn have been passing on the largesse to the community.

It is a fitting tribute to a man who never stopped reading in his whole life. I will never forget that he was reading the same book, at the same time, that Pope John Paul I was reading when he died. He never thought that his children were wasting their time when they were reading. He didn't like us just watching TV. He thought reading was more important.

I should also say that not all of this motivation is altruistic. My sister gets citizenship points from the DAR for all her work on this. What those points get her, I am not clear about, but they are important to her. As for me, they help me get rid of the books from my collection that I have read.

There is a web site for the "Little Free Library" organization and I am proud to say that there are many many of these in the state of Kansas.

Is it too late to wish you 'Happy New Thread" ?

>47 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, it is Wombwell near Barnsley mate. I cannot believe that they have added to Gale's two match ban with another two matches and to attend an anger management course. As the Yorkshire Post cricket correspondent Chris Waters said yesterday, in that case Jimmy Anderson should also attend (Yeah Right!) for what he said to Ravindra Jadeja calling him a F****** C***, (please excuse this). Giles Clarke apparently is not going to stand again for the role of Chairman of the ECB so it looks like Yorkshire's Colin Graves will get the role and hopefully bring some sanity back to the ECB. The ECB have been poor in their recent behaviour and poor Gale has been made a scapegoat. On other things, I wonder what revelations will come out between now and Thursday when Pietersen's book comes out.

Hope that you and the family have had a good weekend mate and Karen and I send love and hugs to all the family.

Wow - just look at all the reading you've been done! You are almost to 100! I'm hoping I get there before the end of the year, but it's far from being a "done deal." I probably will get very little reading done this coming weekend as I'm traveling and spending my "long weekend" with a good friend. I am trying to squeeze some in between now and then. If I get off LibraryThing, I might actually get two or three chapters read tonight. ;-)

>89 cameling: Glad to be of assistance, Caro....hahaha!

>90 benitastrnad: Lovely and touching story Benita and which begs a couple of points. Firstly your family name is, I am sure an extremely unusual one. Secondly I wish I could be as proud of my own father for the same reasons and with the same obvious affection. My own father taught me the benefit of a good work ethic but was/is an absolute tyrant and treated my mother and subsequent wives horridly. We are estranged and likely to remain so but I don't wish him harm. Don't remember him ever reading a book as I was growing-up - I get my habit from my Irish maternal grandmother whom I adored to distraction. What a splendid and and fitting tribute to your Dad - wherever and however he looks down upon you all I am sure he is proud of you all.

>91 connie53: No, never, not at all dear Connie. xx

>92 johnsimpson: Wrong headed but unsurprising John, what can I say? The parallel with Anderson is an interesting one and that gentleman is hardly a first time offender. It was a typical cop out to save face as they knew that the rascism charges were ridiculous and unfounded and Yorkshire/Gale wouldn't want the sordid stigma of fighting the case. They should have been tendering apologies for petty-minded spite but having rid of that clown Clarke will do I suppose. Saw a little news on Leicestershire and Gloucestershire here - Leicester have not won for two full seasons and have lost many of the players best capable of changing things around for them. Gloucs have lost both Gidman brothers the younger to that scavenger amongst Counties Notts. Will Gidman ought to tour - his stats are excellent and he will get straight in via Notts as the bias towards them is embarrasing at times - Gurney and Hales should not be in the England set-up, Taylor didn't even average 40 in the championship and finishes up going to Sri Lanka. Time to ditch central contracts, get the County game sorted into a single league again and get the Sunday league restarted a 20/20 competition held over a couple of weeks at the end of season and one main one day knock out competition. Some of the players are not playing near enough cricket these days. We need to help the smaller counties and the domestic scene and that is only done by having the best players available when England are not playing.

>93 thornton37814: As you'll see up top, Lori, I am already a few beyond 100. Will get my oct reviews up to date shortly.

This month's first little splurge:

428. Basket Case by Carl Hiassen (2002) 411 pp
More mayhem in Florida from Mr. Hiassen
429. A Song for the Dying by Stuart MacBride (2014) 534 pp
A favourite of mine from the Scottish noir scene
430. The Marco Effect by Jussi Adler-0lsen (2012) 584 pp
Latest Department Q thriller actually called "Buried" in the UK
431. 1914 : Poetry Remembers by Carol Ann Duffy (2013) 113 pp
Another thematic drawing together by Ms Duffy with new poems alongside selections
432. I can see in the Dark by Karin Fossum (2011) 250 pp
More from the Norwegian queen of Scandi
433. The Defections by Hannah Michell (2014) 337 pp
Korea is a place I am fond of for many reasons some explored in this new novel
434. The Deadman's Pedal by Alan Warner (2012) 376 pp
Several times nominated for literary prizes never a winner
435. The Book of Dis-quiet by Fernando Pessoa (1982) 262 pp
Posthumous "auto-biogragrphy without facts"
436. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (1978) 156 pp
She won the following year with the slight "offshore" this was Booker nominated too

>95 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, I totally agree with your comments. The Championship should revert back to one division and the Sunday league was ideal, it was a family orientated day and would bring back a lot of people to our lovely game. Like you we were brought up on this and the memories I have are still strong, I feel sorry for Leicestershire as I have always had a soft spot for them and hope that things do improve for them over the next couple of years. I think that they need to get in a very good overseas pro like they used to, to help the new up and coming players and youngsters, they possibly need to look at how Derbyshire have transformed themselves both off and on the field and that may be of help to them. The loss of the Gidman's will hit Gloucestershire hard but with the likes of young Tavare and a couple of others, things will move forward as long as they play as a unit and help and urge each other on.
Another good book haul mate, my reading seems to be coming on a pace so I may get to 75 if I keep things going. Love and hugs to all the family.

Lovely reviews, Paul! I hope your week is off to a good start.

#79 Oh darn :/ Well that can go a long way down my 1001 list then! I've had enough of such with Ratner's Star. Which I have yet to finish. Yuck.

>97 johnsimpson: I can't see common sense prevailing though John more's the pity. Love to Karen and your goodself mate.

>98 scaifea: Thanks Amber. Today was a public holiday so mercifully very little in the way of work. Saturday we watched the horror flic Annabelle (me largely from behind closed eyes) and today we saw "Dracula Untold" and enjoyed it.

>99 BekkaJo: I am a sucker Bekka for a story with, well, a story. Calvino could be a clever dick but that one had no discernible story to tell.

Since we were at the mall for the movie:

437. Le Testament Francais by Andrei Makine (1995) 275 pp
Makine's breakthrough novel trendily keeps its vernacular title
438. A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr (1980) 93 pp
Everybody I know likes this one. If I don't I have less than a 100 pages to suffer

See I rather enjoyed invisible cities but will readily accept its audience is small ......

Me, too. Calvino's weirdness matches up with mine.

>102 roundballnz: I much preferred his If on a Winter's Night which by any assessment was a strange piece of work. He will suddenly hit you with a phrase or a paragraph beyond compare but for me it is not enough to carry the whole.

>103 jnwelch: Weird is not a description I woul readily assign to our kindly Prop. I can see why Calvino is admired but I couldn't see the point of Invisible Cities.

Good evening, Paul. Your October reading is off to a good start, I see. It was back in September, but I'm glad you enjoyed The Moon is Down. The Steinbeckathon really expanded my experience with him and he is a master, no doubt.

Oh goodness, I'm among those who loved A Month in the Country. I do think you'll like it (based on our shared respect for William Trevor) but I hope we haven't over-hyped it for you.

If memory serves, today was your busy day - hope all went well.

Hi Paul, I thought of you right away when I saw the news on the Nobel Prize Literature Laureate today. Had never heard of Patrick Modiano before (had you?), but then I'm not as well-read as some, and ashamed to say I'm not at all up on what's going on in French literature, which is quite bad for someone living in a French province and completely bilingual as I am... I immediately got onto my library's catalogue and have reserved a few of his books. It seems he writes rather slim volumes, so should be easy to take in several of his works in a relatively short time.

Wishing you a wonderful day. xx

>67 PaulCranswick: through >88 PaulCranswick: That looks like one of my run of reviews!

Sorry I haven't been around to post. Lots of unpleasantness in my life lately. Glad to see yours in settling down. *hugs*

>105 EBT1002: Really enjoyed the Stenibeck, Ellen. I did read The Battle of Pollocks Crossing a few years ago, so Carr holds no fear for me.

>106 Crazymamie: It was Mamie, it was.......well I survived I guess and after forty winks I am slowly looking forward to the weekend. xx

>107 Smiler69: A typically perverse choice I think, Ilana. Honestly I am not familiar with his work but it does rather exemplify the criticism of the Nobel clique being Eurocentric.

>108 Morphidae: I did think of you my dear whilst whizzing through those off-the-cuff reviews. I have not been up to keeping up as well as previously either Morph so I hope that the unpleasantness has dissipated.

Why perverse? What's wrong with being Eurocentric? Besides which, didn't they give it to a Canadian last year? To a Chinese novelist in 2012? To a South American in 2010??... which sort of contradicts that assertion???

>110 PaulCranswick: No, it's just begun. MrMorphy went to Mayo yesterday and the thing in his eye is growing. Therefore he has to have either plaque radiation or removal of his eye. Plus his unemployment runs out next week.

>111 Smiler69: Well possibly I should have said a little too Francophile. Le Clezio won in 2008 and, with respect, he was hardly the brightest star in the firmament. Adunis, Nuruddin Farah and Ngugi Wa Thiong'o all have the distinction of an international influence whereas at best Modiano's appeal has been parochial.

>112 Morphidae: Shit shit and thrice shit. I will get along to your place this morning. In the meantime give my love and best wishes to Mr. Morphy.

Well possibly I should have said a little too Francophile

Spoken like a true Englishman. ;-)

No hard feelings at all, I do hope you know that Paul. I consider myself to be quite the Anglophile, but then, being half Francophone as well, I'm sort of sitting on the fence on this one, as you must know also.

>114 Smiler69: & >115 Smiler69: I do think that the Nobel committee is in danger of losing the plot and their relevance if they are not careful. Too many Scandanavian winners (from a lover of Scandi) - couldn't justify Lessing winning and Modiano following so soon after Le Clezio is more Le Klutzio if you ask me. Africa and the middle east have long been sources of great innovation and pertinent writing about the issues that are impacting the world. The Nobel committee are still steeped in the experiences of the last war - Imre Kertesz wrote a well regarded novel or two about the Holocaust but little else; Modiano seems to be a one-trick pony with the Resistance as his theme. I think the Brits have won too much too and don't see any outstanding candidates there either but two Frenchies in six years.....Mon Dieu!

Interesting conversation about Patrick Modiano and the Nobel Prize jurors. I've only read one novel by him, Missing Person, which I don't remember at all, so I can't say much about him. I was disappointed that neither Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o nor Amzos Oz was chosen this year, although I think their times will come soon. Oz may have been too controversial a pick this year, given the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, and Ngũgĩ hasn't written a novel since his 2006 masterpiece Wizard of the Crow.

>75 PaulCranswick: Bemused, confused, further work sure to be refused.
LOL

>96 PaulCranswick: imo, The Bookshop is waaaaay better than Offshore.

Paul, I've completely lost track of what I've acquired this year. I bought a couple of books last month and I've gotten several ARCs or e-galleys. I just don't have time to keep up! I'm barely squeezing in time to read. Now I've found out that the program for my meeting Monday in Raleigh has changed, and I have to read a couple of articles before then. I'm hoping I can find some spare time tomorrow.

>117 kidzdoc: Darryl, I saw your thought provoking comments over on your thread and didn't comment then because my keyboard at home is missing the operation of several keys which makes typing a real chore. I do feel Africa and the Middle East (excepting the liberal heart of white South Africa) has been unduly and unreasonably overlooked by the Committee and to its lasting detriment. Chinua Achebe was a giant of literature in the Post War era and was not rewarded - Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Amin Maalouf, Adunis, Amos Oz, Nuruddin Farah, Abdulrazak Gurnah and Assia Djebar are half a dozen strong candidates from that region whose turn is IMO long overdue.

>118 LovingLit: I thought that you would like that little bit of throw away pithiness. xx I didn't enjoy Offshore overly, Megan, so I am pleased to note that The Bookshop is better.

>119 thornton37814: I don't think that I have got every buy either, Lori, because of the couple of months that my life was all at sea. Good luck with your buying and reading!

Hmmm interesting views in the Nobel prize, Never heard of the chap myself, from what I have read about his writing at Paul eloquently stated does seem to place him in the "one trick pony" territory ..... an opportunity lost it seems .....

>121 roundballnz: In all fairness Alex I haven't had the pleasure of reading anything yet by the winner and the shops here are bereft of his musings, but the name certainly doesn't capture the imagination too much.

>122 odudu: odudu? I do do occasionally but I only do do if the wife says can do.

I agree with Paul regarding the Nobel Prize. There are some really great writers coming from the other continents and somehow they don't get much recognition. We are talking about writing that has had an impact on the world and not just on one little country in Western Europe. Who can deny, political controversy included, that Amos Oz has had an impact on the world?

And what about India? That great country has only had 1 winner. Japan has only had 1 and poor Africa has only had white winners. According to Wikipedia France has had the most winners, and most of them were people I had not ever heard of. Paul is correct. The committee is, and has been Francophile. It is clear that this is a "Good Old Boys" group and I am sure that the talk about the selection will only be on the negative side. Perhaps being way up there in the far North makes it so that those pale colored men can't see around the curvature of the Earth to the other half of the world?

>124 benitastrnad: I agree with you in principle, but Wole Soyinka is a Black Nigerian who won the Nobel prize in 1986.

Hmmmm So if we were to have a "Not the nobel literature prize" what would our Shortlist be ?

Guessing
Murakami, Amos OZ, Nuruddin Farah ?

Wow. Must say it's one thing to bemoan the fact that writers from other nations didn't win the Nobel Literature prize, and quite another to belittle the influence that France has had on the world both historically and in terms of it's culture. I am flabbergasted. And insulted, being part French. A little bit of respect please. The Nobel prize committee is not there simply to hand out prizes to make the most popular choices and sell books. They have frequently made obscure choices with the literature category. If you look at the ensemble of their choices across the categories beyond literature alone, they do hand out prizes to people around the globe. I am not impressed with the attitudes shown here so far since yesterday, and some comments smack of outright Francophobia. Or maybe it's just plain ignorance. Either way, it's just not nice.

>124 benitastrnad: Well in fairness Benita there has been some fantastic writers from that difficult nation across La Manche. My all time favourite authr is Emile Zola and he is one who should have won the prize but didn't. Camus and Sartre are amongst the finest writers of the last century and my comments were not aimed at them. It is my view though that the last few winners from Europe and especially France are not of that same calibre and that other areas of the globe ought not to have been overlooked in their stead. Anyone seriously attesting that Lessing, Muller, Jeliniek, Transtormer, Le Clezio and Modiano should have won in favour of, let's say, Achebe, Fuentes, Adunis or Multis is being obtuse.
Africa did win with Mafouz and Wole Soinka but it is a goodly while ago and of course Gordimer and Coetzee have also won the prize.

>125 banjo123: yes you are right my dear but, if Egypt is still in North Africa, then Mafouz was another winner for the continent.

Briefly delurking to say Hi!, I hope you have a great weekend, and that I hope you are back to feeling well. Now back to reading the current Nobel discussion... : )

>126 roundballnz: That did actually happen before in Europe when Strindberg was awarded such a prize as people were offended that he was constantly overlooked in favour of lesser lights. Darryl would definitely add Ngugi Wa Thiong'o and I would have added Adunis.

>127 Smiler69: Well there will always be bias in our reading and our tastes and likes and dislikes will also differ. I don't view myself as Francophobic at all and any prolonged trip to a desert island would have me crying for Camus, Zola, Balzac, Dumas and Hugo for sure. The literary importance and tradition of La Belle France is beyond question. My point is should they have won twice in the last six years? - are they still so far ahead of the rest of the world that this should happen? Modiano may well be a fine writer and I have freely admitted that I haven't had the pleasure of reading his work, but where is his influence internationally that he can be embraced as a worthy winner? The Nobel committee also commented that his work is slight and concentrates on the resistance and Vichy. Is World War 2 still so relevant that the fractious goings on in Central America, the Middle East and Africa and the wonderful body of writers who are adding so much to world literature {some like Maalouf writing in French} miss out
Tut tut my dear lady I will always be biased but I hope never prejudiced and very rarely ignorant. xx

>129 Berly: Thanks Kimmers. Still coughing a bit but on the mend.

Continue mending and I love your comment, "I will always be biased but I hope never prejudiced and very rarely ignorant." Well said.

PS--Didn't you say you were coming out for a visit to the NW (of the US) sometime this fall? Did I miss you?

>130 PaulCranswick: I hope you got my PM dear Paul, as my comment was not necessarily directed at you and was sparked by something else I'd seen here which truly upset me and I thought showed utter contempt. I know you have a great love of some of the best of classic French literature.

eta: I should point out also, that there are still many parts of the world other than France where French is spoken fluently, so the prize does not only affect France which was unjustly and inaccurately referred to here as "just one little country in Western Europe". Not that I'm trying to flog a dead horse or counter an argument that is perfectly valid, but I just find that this bitter reaction against the winner is a little bit unfair. After all, it's not as if he petitioned the committee to vote for him—I'm sure it doesn't work that way. And again, they aren't out to sell books and I would suggest one DOES need to look at the ensemble of the awards they give out every year and not only the literary prize to determine how far-reaching they are in terms of recognizing world-wide contributions.

#133

My reaction was not bitter or contained any contempt or bigotry. If you thought so then this is a perfect illustration of why I am not an author competing for a large literary prize, as it is an example of my inability to convey my thoughts adequately and I apologize.

The Nobel committees do indeed reach around the world in their selections, except apparently in Literature. Check the list. France has won 15 times. That country has the most winners. That does not count writers in French, that is writers who claim French citizenship. France has won more than its share. That being said, Germany isn't far behind in the medal count.

The Nobel committee's charge clearly states that the writers work should have an impact on the world. I think there were more deserving authors out there. (I said that last year as well, because I am not a fan of Munro's work. It is Ok, but doesn't make my reading heart go pitty-patter and flutter flutter. Same could be said for Saul Bellow - in my opinion.)

I freely admit that I was shocked when I saw the total number of winners from France for Literature. France has produced some great writers, there is no doubt about that, but to win this particular award 15 times seems a bit excessive to me, especially when there are great writers out there who already have a world wide audience and whose work is having an impact on culture and society outside of one small country. And France is relatively small in area and in population. I know that these are not factors in the selection process, but it is an injustice to pass over authors of at least similar, and in my opinion, greater, merit to select an author who doesn't translate well into other languages and by all accounts has a limited readership. The Nobel literature committee has an obligation to lead, so perhaps they were thinking that this author deserves to be more widely read, and giving him the prize would cause his work to be translated and offered to more people? It is probably impossible to know exactly why the committee made the decision it did. I just don't happen to agree with it.

And with that I won't hijack Paul's thread anymore regarding this year's Nobel Literature Prize.

A fascinating discussion, which is why I love LT. I hope all are having an excellent weekend.

Ditto...I have not heard the buzz about this at all yet, so I look forward to reading more about it.

>132 Berly: Kimmers, a disastrous few months in the middle of the year put paid to my immediate plans - I will hope to reschedule for possibly a spring trip.

>133 Smiler69: I did indeed Ilana and we have exchanged a few comments privately on the subject raised and understand each other I hope. To confirm, despite my nationality I am not anti French - I just think that they have had their fair share already and the winners don't appear to be outstanding enough to justify two awards in six years. Not disparaging Modiano particularly and look foward to reading some of his until now quite obscure work (outside France and its environs that is}

>137 PaulCranswick: Yes, you certainly did hit a rough patch there. I understand. Now, as long as you PROMISE to hit Portland (or Seattle) in the spring then all is forgiven. I am just glad I didn't miss you!

>134 benitastrnad: Benita - I always like impassioned debate and my initial comments on the destination of the Nobel prize certainly seems to have occasioned it. As you know I agree basically with the premise that France has not had writers in the last forty years sufficiently cutting edge or relevant that they should still be disproportinately scooping the major award. Echenoz, Houellebecq, Tournier and Bonnefoy would probabl be their living literary leaders and Foucault, Derrida and possibly Perec would have won under other circumstances or if they had lived long enough but I don't see Le Clezio or Modiano in quite that same company. Still who am I but a reader with his own peculiarities? I saw nothing offensive in your comments Benita but then again I am not French or with French blood. Keep your opinions coming - like that other lovely and lively opininated lady from Montreal you will always be welcome here. xx

>135 maggie1944: Thanks Karen. My keyboard is playing up terribly at the moment with about six keys not functioning and I am having to copy and paste all the o's, r's and y's as well as some of the numbers which is a real pain.

>136 LovingLit: oK lets see. If we were to select an alternative Nobel winner via a vote amongst our ranks who would we choose? At a stretch my vote would have gone to Adunis.

>138 Berly: I will get there Kimmers don't you fret!

I will not weigh in on the Nobel Lit. discussion, other than to say that I'm disappointed once again not to have been awarded the thing. Sheesh. Oh, and to add that here at Scaife Manor, we celebrate the glory of France, especially Charlie, who boldly proclaims that "France food" is his favorite: they had a French Culture day in his class a couple of weeks ago and ate bread and chocolate for snack. That pretty much clinched his love of all things French, I think.

I am, however pretty happy to see that the young Malala Yousafzai won the peace prize. I need to get round to her book soon...

Happy weekend, Paul! Hope you are getting plenty of R & R in. Have you read Peter Temple? I've been reading Bad Debts, his first Jack Irish book and I really like it.

Paul, I wish you a lovely weekend.

>141 scaifea: Good pick Amber on the Nobel literature front! Charlie sounds like quite the gastronome. Both winners of the Peace Prize look very worthy winners I think.

>142 msf59: Hi Mark. yep I have read some Peter Temple and agree he is pretty good. Rare in that as a thiller writer he won Australia's main literary prize the Miles Franklin Prize a few years ago.

>143 Ameise1: Those apples look delicious Barbara! Have a wonderful weekend yourself. I am not able to get around the threads this weekend as my laptop continues to malfunction. Monday, I'll have a good old catch up.

I can't add anything intelligent to the Nobel discussion, so I won't pretend. :)

Paul, I hope you are feeling 100% soon! We need you back at full steam!

Oh ~~ and a belated happy new thread wish (I'm behind again).

I don't follow the Nobel prize for literature very much, so can't really add to that discussion, but if anyone wants a brisk exchange of ideas on candidates for this year's Newbery, I'm your girl!

Hi Paul, I've been absent on LT for way too long. I see you've slowed down too. It certainly makes catching up easier, although I'm sorry that work has been so busy and that you've been feeling poorly. Maybe we can both get back on track.

>83 PaulCranswick:: The Moon is Down was one of my LT discoveries a few years ago. What a treasure it was. You have been doing lots of good reading lately. I'm behind there as well.

The only thing I can add to the Nobel literature prize discussion is that it has introduced me to quite a few new authors. I agree that the prize should be based on merit rather than nationality but since I am unfamiliar with many of the authors, I can't really judge their qualifications. I'm just glad I found Halldor Laxness after all these years!

#146
Who won the Newbery? I don't even remember. And that is part of my job.

Last night I hosted a dinner part for 8 people. We ate Tuscan style - or at least that is what one of the guest said. We ate out on my patio and the meal was accompanied by the setting sun, chianti classico, and at first, my wind chimes. As the evening progressed, the weather became decidedly unTuscan. It got humid as the breeze died down. There were several scientists in the group and one of them brought up the controversy with the Noble Prize this year. I immediately thought he was going to talk about the literature prize. Surprise. He was talking about the prize for physics. Turns out that prize was given to two scientists who perfected the LED light. However, the inventor of the LED light is still living. He is a retired physicist living in Champagne, Illinois. The question among physicists is - shouldn't the prize for inventing the thing be given to the inventor before it is given to those who perfect it? In the end, the physicist said that scientists have long said that the Nobel Prize is simply a beauty contest and goes to the people with the loudest publicists and not to those who have really done great work in physics. He said that the credibility of the committee was damaged way back when Crick and Watson won and everybody in that field knew that Rosalind Franklin was also a member of the team, but this latest total disregard for the person who discovered and worked on the LED lights for 35 years was unfathomable.

I wonder if we would attach as much importance to the prize if there were no money involved in it?

>148 benitastrnad: Last year's winner was Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo. This year's winner will be announced at the end of January, so we're headed into the prime season for speculation right now. ;-)

Hi Paul! Just waving.

Paul, all caught up again. Your reading continues to fascinate. I'm glad you liked The Yearling as much as I did.

*hugs*

>145 TinaV95: Slowly improving, Tina. I do believe that awards such as the Nobel are guaranteed to raise a storm of debate and ruffle a few feathers. My disquiet to Patrick Modiano may not have been so obvious had not Le Clezio won so recently.

>146 foggidawn: Newbery Prize - I have always been a bit snooty and avoided reading "kids books" until I joined this group and got myself intrgued by some of the very real enthusiasm for Young Adult Writing - took me right back to reading Henry Treece and Ian Serraillier as a youngster and has widened my reading scope enormously. I will read at least one previous winner this year; The Giver (1994 winner).

>147 Donna828: Lovely to see you here Donna. I so agree about The Moon is Down - a little gem. It is interesting that the Nobel Award to Steinbeck was soundly and roundly criticised at the time but I do feel that his is one case where reputation has been enhanced with the passage of time.
I am trying to read at least something from every Nobel winner but have only added two "new" ones this year in Luigi Pirandello and Toni Morrison. I have read Halldor Laxness and must say that there was little lax about him; wonderful evocation of place and time in polished spare prose.

>148 benitastrnad: I would have had to look it up Benita! Interesting information on the physics prize debate. I must say that I normally skip or gloss over who won those scientific awards as I am almost sure not to have heard of 'em or understand what they are doing.

Hi Paul! I hope you're doing well.

>96 PaulCranswick: - I desperately want to try some Alan Warner. I have Morvern Caller on the shelf. I saw the film version and thought it was very good, but also terribly (terribly, terribly) grim, so I'd have to be in the right mood.

I'm not a big follower of the Nobel Prize for Literature, other than when I inadvertently read a winning author, but the conversation has been interesting.

>149 foggidawn: Thanks for that Foggy. I am surprised, looking at the Newbery website, that I haven't read a single winner yet.
I do follow many of the awards and have a database with over 120 international awards on it. Of the main literary awards in the UK and USA my totals so far are:
Booker Prize - Read 18 winners
James Tait Black Prize (the oldest in the UK) - Read 15 winners
Pulitzer Fiction Prize - Read 11 winners
American Book Awards - Read 10 winners

>150 connie53: Waving right back Connie

>151 AuntieClio: Yeah I loved it Stephanie - sort of a kid's story but substantial and touching.

Hi Paul!
>139 PaulCranswick: If we were to select an alternative Nobel winner via a vote amongst our ranks who would we choose?
Well now, that would require knowing something (anything) about the nominees, or eligible books, right? in which case I am unable to assist :)

That is all for now. I hope business isn't keeping you too busy, and that family feasts abound!

>74 PaulCranswick: our f2f book group is reading Pinocchio for November. I'm really looking forward to it. My mother once talked of how different it was from the Disney cartoon, but I never read the original.

There are times when I "hate" Disney. His studio took some of the best fairy tales and twisted them into something unrecognizable and always way too sweet. They have created a whole gaggle of images for little girls which puts emphasis on how they look which we know is a great way to give many young women fuel for inferiority feelings which are totally unnecessary and not backed by any facts.

I guess there are influences which make "growing up" hard for both boys and girls; but, I do have a special antipathy towards the Disney influence.

Alright, enough out of me. I finished The Alienist and if you have not read it I do recommend it. A wonderful blend of good historical research and a fine mystery solved!

Hi Paul - just grabbing some time to catch up with folks around here. Good to see that despite the need to delay the trip that the Pacific Northwest is still on the plan for when it happens.

Yes, I'm sure the Seattle/Portland LT gang will be there in force; whenever. Wherever.

Hope that your computer is on the road to recovery or that you have a new one on the road to you.

Hi Paul. I am skimming your thread. I hope all is well with you my friend. Please forgive my absence.

Tell Hani I channeled her and bought a nice purse. I haven't started using it yes so I will hang my head in shame. ;-)

Well to tell the truth I have used it but I can't bring myself to take it to work during the cold and flu season. I must protect the purse.

>149 foggidawn: I enjoyed DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie. I don't read a lot of YA fiction, but when somebody (often @Whisper1) brings excellence to my attention, I usually take a look.

>157 LovingLit: I am sure that we would never all agree on who deserves and who doesn't deserve to win - it is one of the great things about it I guess. I am actually very much a fan of french literature and that obviously didn't come out in the posts but I just think that the world has changed such a lot in the last 50 years or so that the time when the winner is most likely to come from the British Isles, France, Germany, Russia, Scandinavia or the USA is no longer wholly valid. That is not to decry the wonderful contribution of those places to the fount of world literature but we are talking about the here and now and, oft-times writers off the beaten track so to speak have as much if not more relevance today than those walking down well-trodden ones.
Feasts are very much on the agenda wherever my soulmate is involved. My delightful little coffee-maker and general helpmeet, Erni, returns from holiday soon but in the meanwhile strict household discipline is in force and extremely tiring. Yesterday I had sauteed vegetables with ikan bilis (the local dried anchovies, that I adore) so I cannot complain.

>158 ffortsa: Hi Judy. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Pinocchio. Certainly Walt Disney cannot be seen amid the pages of that little tome.

>165 PaulCranswick: I just had an early tea of creamy tuna pasta with courgettes, capsicum and mushroom (and a tonne of black pepper). I had precious little sleep last night, crashing out early, them waking at 9.30pm, and again at 11.30pm from when I was awake until 2am!!! *sigh*
I warned the kiddos I was short on patience, and suggested they play outside if they wanted a peaceful afternoon. At present they are playing in the recycling wheelie bin a game called "rubbish house". I call that excellent!

Re: nobel prizes, and book prizes in general too- there always seems to be an element of its not what you know, it's who....and I guess the big/rich countries have dominated for a long time because of their self-professed superiority.

>159 maggie1944: I think Disney have brought so much happiness to millions, Karen, but they have also bastardised some really great stories for the purposes of pap. Many of its images are idealised visions of the world and some impose a standard on the viewing public that is often unrealistic and certainly out of date. I have read The Alienist albeit a long while ago and agree that it was historical fiction and crime noir welded nicely.

>160 SuziQoregon: Juli, I have so many pals in the Pacific Northwest and so many shining reports of its bookstores that it would be impossible to pass you all by. xx

>161 maggie1944: Karen.... :D

>167 PaulCranswick: they have also bastardised some really great stories for the purposes of pap Back in the dim and distant past when I was an au pair looking after a two year old the only books she had was a large collection of 'Disneyfied' fairy stories. They were all so homogeneous, with the same type of writing and the same type of illustrations in all of them that they were just so dull. I got so bored reading them night after night that it put me off Disney for life.

*Waving* Behind and not had coffee yet. Will make intelligent remarks later. Hopefully.

>162 thornton37814: Computer at home floundering Lori and needs overhaul or replacement but the one in the office is fine although my time is at a premium as I am supposed to do some work occasionally there!

>163 luvamystery65: Purses or handbags as we Brits say are at least as important to many ladies as my books are to myself. Hani has a collection of handbags which is probably more impressive than my book collection and, like me, she never feels that it is enough! Always nice to see you Roberta.

>164 laytonwoman3rd: Linda, Linda (Whi) is also a go to for me with YA as is Kerry (avatiakh) and foggi of course. I am slowly reading more YA and am surprised at the effectiveness of much of it. Seems that some serious fiction forgets the need to tell the story, good YA rarely fails in this.

For the sake of being contrary, I'll just add here that the original fairy tales upon which many of the Disney movies are based don't exactly present good role models for children either... And while I may take a bit of guilty pleasure in the idea that Cinderella's stepsisters get their eyes brutally pecked out by birds in the original story, I think I'm happy with the Disney version for Charlie, at least for now.

>164 laytonwoman3rd:, >170 PaulCranswick: Most Newbery winners (including the DiCamillo books we've mentioned) are what I'd call children's books, or juvenile fiction, not YA. Calling teen books "Young Adult" was a confusing enough move on the part of libraries, publishers, and booksellers, but now the category seems to have a tendency to swallow up anything above the picture book level. It's a blurry line between juvenile and YA, to be sure, and I hate to sound pedantic in differentiating the two, but I think it's an important distinction that a lot of people are unaware even exists.

Yes, >172 foggidawn:, I agree that the line between Children's literature and YA literature is hard to determine. I was talking with a friend who has an 11, going on 12, year old daughter who recently said, "I am reading too fast," and her mom thinks it is because she needs to read something more challenging.... and yet, so much of the YA is not quite right for 12 years old. I suggested The Invention of Hugo Cabret and, of course, they'd already seen the movie. So, then, I went to To Kill a Mockingbird. But man, I did have to dig around in my memory banks.

>173 maggie1944: Ah, by 12 years old I was reading Perry Mason mysteries, although the librarian diapproved and I needed my mother to vouch for me. I'm sure I missed a reference or two, but I just plowed on.

Hi Paul, just popping by to say hello from a miserably wet West Yorkshire, hope all is well with you and the family mate. Sending Yorkshire love and hugs.

>172 foggidawn: I always struggle with a descriptive phrase for any book that seems to be written specifically for a certain age group older than 7 or so. I see that when I read Winn-Dixie earlier this year I did refer to it as a "children's book" on my thread. But in my mind, that puts it in a box with Dr. Seuss and Arnold Lobel...not a bad box at all, but not quite right. I agree there's an important distinction there.

Hello Paul!

Hello from Chicago, too, buddy.

Just passing by to say hello Paul. Hope all is well with you.

Hi Paul! Sorry for your computer woes.

The book awards are fun to follow, but I think that I actually get better reading advice from the people here on LT.

Paul, I wish you a fantastic weekend.

Happy weekend, Paul! Are you giving up on us? Are you collecting stamps or coins or something now? You are missed.

What Mark said!

Just stopping by to wish you a fab weekend. Hope your internet will work flawless again in the near future. Great that you enjoyed Fight Club. I only read this last year myself. Somehow the story never really appealed to me and I felt it might be a little to violent for myself. However, my landlady was reading it and I could hear her laughing on a regular basis, that's what made me give the book a go and it definitely didn't dissapoint.

Kyran was fifteen yesterday and, for his birthday her requested a new laptop. Good lad has nicely and kindly allowed his old man to borrow the new too to catch up with his library thing friends and to assure them that the rumours of my demise or abandonment are grossly exaggerated to paraphrase a little.

ETA He is not nice though as he has told me that I can have a go for 1 hour tops!

>171 scaifea: Amber being contrary? - au contraire! You certainly have a point my dear and some of the Grimm Tales were grim indeed. Sanitised and saccharine as they undoubtedly were some of the early Disney films were also unforgettable entertainment. Over his Mexican birthday dinner (his request) Kyran, the girls and I discussed exactly the same thing. Yasmyne's favourite animated films - A Bug's Life and The Little Mermaid; Kyran went for Bambi and admitted to crying his eyes out and Belly liked Finding Nemo best.

>172 foggidawn: I would have to bow to your superior knowledge of the subject, Foggy. The lines are blurred one I guess but The Giver would by YA right?

>173 maggie1944: I would have thought that something like To Kill a Mocking Bird had universal appeal, Karen. Isn't that what we, as adults, are looking to extract from fiction that is possibly aimed at a slightly younger audience. Some of the Holocaust fiction I have read this year has been all the more effective because it is couched in terms understandable to the younger - I do believe that a writer that can do that effectively is also remarkably gifted.

>174 ffortsa: I guess I also started reading fairly serious stuff early doors - in my pre-teens I had read Maugham, Hardy, Lawrence, Dickens, Dostoevsky (I read Crime and Punishment at 12) and loved thrillers like MacLean, Innes, Christie and the Edge series of Western novels as well as virtually all the Doctor Who catalogue.

>175 johnsimpson: It can't have been as wet as here, John. We are in the middle of monsoon season here and flooding is a near daily hazard. The drainage systems, via huge storm drains, are very effective though in ensuring that the roads are not underwater very long. The velocity of precipitation here would indicate that the tropics have disappointed the Gods to such an extent that their sobbing, slobbering tears seek a repentance the earth has little answer to and no respite from.

>176 laytonwoman3rd: Linda, I entirely agree. As I stated somewhere above I guess I am seeking universal appeal so that the classification is a moot point.

>177 Thebookdiva: Dear Abby - thanks for keeping me in your thoughts despite my overly long absences these days.

>178 jnwelch: Ah Chicago! Beer halls of my dreams dear fellow - how I long to cast aside my work travails and hop on a plane to share a few amber glasses with you and Mark and our other buddies there. Chewing the fat with you guys would make my world a tad more enjoyable. It has been a torrid last six months - some of it my own fault; some of it trying to rescue companies and keep them and all the people dependent upon them afloat and in buttons. One day soon buddy, I promise.

>179 Smiler69: Nothing permanent possession of Kyran's laptop wouldn't resolve my dear, dear Ilana! I hope to take the opportunity to get across to some of the threads of my friends in the time my only son has allotted to me.

>180 banjo123: Rhonda, very perceptive. I do find that, those whose opinions I have come to rely upon, are far more likely to offer up a wonderful read, than the clots that sit on Award committees. I will solve my computer woes by buying one such computer as my only son is now provided with. xx

>181 Ameise1: The bridge from no internet or computer to being able to say thank you for always including me in your rounds, Barbara. xx

>182 msf59: Hate stamps, love coins (useful for buying books) and will never, ever abandon this group or the pals that I have grown to love so much herein. One of whom is certainly the Postie with the Mostie.

>183 Smiler69: And what Paul just said immediately above! Another of whom is my lovely dear friend from Montreal who always speaks her mind whatever the consequences and wears her heart on her sleeve as a cuff of informed honesty.

>184 drachenbraut23: Thanks Bianca. I did have a great reading month in September and Fight Club was a highlight. It kept throwing up surprises and wasn't really what I expected and, indeed, was far more literate than I believed possible given the subject matter.

>18 avatiakh: . Lawrence in your preteen years? You were ahead of me there, sir. Aside from the mysteries, I recall Costain's historical novels, lots of British classics, and Herman Melville. I didn't get to the Russians until later on.

And just to prove that, once and for all, my demise is note yet completed I have had time in the last few days to add:

439. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (1934) 347 pp
Of course bought for a re-read. One of Hercule's finest moments as I recall.
440. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (1876) 888 pp
I don't know why I have never read any George Eliot, the size of this had put me off before but the cover beckoned
441. Paper Money by Ken Follett (1977) 286 pp
Never able to take cherubic Mr. Follett very seriously - he is always readable though
442. The Erl King by Michel Tournier (1970) 327 pp
Also known as The Ogre and a better title IMO. Won Prix Goncourt and bought to show no slight to French lit!
443. The Foundation Pit by Andrey Platonov (1973) 150 pp
As was virtually all his major work, posthumously published novel
444. The Listeners by Leni Zumas (2012) 350 pp
Thought of dear Mamie as I added this deckle-edged delight to my collection
445. History of the First World War by B.H. Liddell-Hart (1934) 554 pp
Read his incisive thought on the second edition of conflicts so this is sure to be a treat
446. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Amos Tutuola (1954) 170 pp
Not as well known as his countryman and contemporary Achebe but a giant in his homeland
447. Waverley by Walter Scott (1814) 644 pp
Speaking of giants - one of the first real giants of the novel
448. The Unclassed by George Gissing (1884) 250 pp
John Simpson and Paul Cranswick came later but Gissing was also from Wakefield - an early novel
449. Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard (1887) 249 pp
Read his two more celebrated works and this fills a missing year of my 150 year challenge
450. Alice Lorraine by R.D. Blackmore (1875) 298 pp
Ditto with the Rider Haggard. Blackmore's stock has fallen recently but he was a star of his age
451. The Ice Harvest by Scott Phillips (2000) 217 pp
Kansas born author's book filmed with Cusack, Quaid and Thornton in ensemble
452. Tularosa by Michael McGarrity (1996) 304 pp
New Mexico is missing from my stateside challenge and I liked the look of this
453. At Heaven's Gate by Robert Penn Warren (1943) 391 pp
Everybody knows All The King's Men but his other novels are difficult to find outside the USA
454. Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr (1993) 245 pp
Does for Nevada what Phillips and McGarrity do for Kansas and New Mexico respectively. Another series!
455. Personae by Ezra Pound (1926) 268 pp
Pound is famous for his Cantos and his illiberal views. This collects his shorter, earlier works
456. The Volcano by Norman Dubie (2010) 78 pp
Who to read for Vermont? Research suggested this well published poet.
457. Collected Poems by Patrick Kavanagh (1994) 294 pp
Sits just below Yeats and Heaney in the pantheon of 20th Century Irish poets

Cranswickian enough for a Sunday morning?

>192 ffortsa: Heck Judy, I am not sure that Lawrence could be thought of as more difficult than Melville! I still get goosebumps when I look at the shelves and see Moby-Dick grimacing down upon me.

Hi Paul - good to see you posting if for a somewhat limited time. I hope you get your own laptop sorted as the threads seem so quiet at present. And another interesting haul of books, I've read one, Friday or the other island, by Michel Tournier and really enjoyed it enough to collect several more by him including The Erl King.

I spy Walter Scott up there, rather tempted to try him myself ......

Surely the laptop can be acquired under behavioural pretexts as well ?

Hi Paul, that is a really good book haul once again my friend. Hope you and the family have had a good weekend and wishing you all a good week ahead. Give my love to Hani mate, and wish Kyran a belated happy birthday from the both of us over here.

Hi, Paul; how are things at your end? A quick wave from Singers.

The haze here isn't fun; the schools and clubs monitor the government's PSI index and constantly update us, in case they have to cancel outdoor activities. The sky has been a permanent overcast gray for a couple of weeks now, though not from rain clouds, and dawn lifts a sun that glows a muted orange through the murk.

My youngest has developed a habit of winking at his teachers (and everyone, really - apparently a common occurrence caused by the grit in the air), and people sneeze badly every time they go outside, or even if the classroom door is opened.

Just a quick delurk before you see fit to start yet another thread.

" love coins (useful for buying books)" Love it! LOL. Glad to see you check in, my friend. Hope you are finding time for those aforementioned books.

I'll stop by and second, with enthusiasm, what Mark said (>199 msf59:)

So good to see your coming round again, Paul!

>193 PaulCranswick: excellent haul my friend

Track of the Cat is the first in Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series. I recently got lucky and found an old trade paperback edition of this title, and will be taking it with me on my Thanksgiving break. I like her books as traveling companions, but they have gotten progressively darker and violent as the series has aged. After reading one of the last ones she has written I decided to not purchase the newer titles and just read the older ones - if I could find them.

Hope you enjoy all of those books in your haul. I'm trying to avoid buying too many books although I did purchase a very short Kindle book earlier today. I'm sure you'll be seeing a review of it soon -- or at least as soon as I have a chance to get around to it. I'm working on the Edith Wharton book, an ER book, and one other book at the moment. Dare I add a 4th to the mix, even if it is short?

>195 avatiakh: Kerry, I thought it only fair to add something by Michel Tournier after complaining so much about the French winning the Nobel prize again. I would have thought he or Jean Echenoz more likely winners but still.

>196 roundballnz: I will repair or replace the laptop next month Alex. Kyran is happy to have his own failing machine finally replaced.

>197 johnsimpson: It was actually a couple of hauls combined John. The first 9 bought locally and the last 10 added via mail order.

>198 humouress: We used to get into trouble at school for winking at the teachers! I didn't realise how bad the haze was until I spent the day in Langkawi last week with perfectly clear and clean air.

>199 msf59: Couldn't resist the retort Mark given my proclivities. Nice of you to chase me into activity buddy. Just wish I had the means at home at present.

>200 maggie1944: I am having a good time at the moment with five books on the go (told myself I wouldn't do that again) - The Drowning Pool (great read), Memoirs of a Geisha (ditto), A Prayer for Owen Meany (ditto 2), Bel Ami (ditto 3) and The Mystery of Edwin Drood which leads me to the firm belief that Charles Dickens actually died of boredom reading his own drafts.

>201 scaifea: Thanks Amber................

>202 luvamystery65: ..............and Roberta

>203 benitastrnad: I actually added it to accommodate my stateside challenge (Nevada) - the Kindle was also dusted off and will involve Robert Crais and Carl Hiassen to enable me to complete Louisiana and Florida respectively.

>204 thornton37814: I'd like to say that I am also reining in my buying a bit, believe it or not. I will probably only make it to about half my 2013 buys. The Age of Innocence is my Wharton this month and my early dabblings with it are not so promising honestly.

>206 PaulCranswick: *dreamily* Clear air? Ahhh!

This morning, the sun was pretty much obscured by the haze as it clambered over the treetops.

>207 PaulCranswick: I chose the same book, and I'm not exactly enthralled by it either. I'll keep reading it though.

>189 PaulCranswick: I was trying to figure out some way we all could "Beer Skype", Paul, but I guess there's just no substitute for in-person. The day will come, I'm sure.

I'm looking forward to your comments on the Patrick Kavanaugh collection. I'm never connected with him, but that may well be my fault.

>207 PaulCranswick: >209 thornton37814: Oh, I hope you two give the Wharton a chance. I found it wonderful and heartbreaking.

*waving* at Paul

Along with painkillers today for a killer migraine, I thought a prolonged session of book shopping was just the right activity to get me feeling better. Just looking at all the options was half the fun. Didn't end up having an exactly Cranswickian haul, but looking at the loot so far this month, I'm not doing too badly...

>193 PaulCranswick: Now that is more like it!

I've not even heard of most of your acquisitions, but I will say that reading Nevada Barr will lead to a careful avoidance of all National Parks when you finally embark on your Paul U.S. Tour.

>193 PaulCranswick: Cranswickian in the extreme! Nice haul :)

>211 ffortsa: I have also heard so many good things about it, Judy, but I must say it gets off to a terribly turgid beginning.

>212 alcottacre: Lovely to see you here Stasia - a period of rest and recuperation from your studies no doubt.

>213 Smiler69: I have noticed that your acquisitory powers have been impressive this year. Ilanian rather than Cranswickian but no less formidable.

"Ilanian" - LMAO!

I've been skimming through the thread and have to say the idea of a year long theme of reading is a fantastic one, and I'd definitely have added more World War I books into my reading if I'd been around LT from the beginning of the year.

It would be great if we could come up with another one for next year. It's something similar to what we do each term in my pottery class - for example, last term's theme was 'opposites' and we could do what we liked with it, and take up the challenge or not. This term's one is 'Winter', so Christmas gifts and decorations can be incorporated, as well as wintery colours, uses or symbols.

#218
I sort of do a themed read each year. I don't plan it that way, but it seems to happen on its own. Last year I read a large number of books about Medieval England, and sort of continued that trend this year. But this year I started reading YA dystopian literature and I keep reading it as the supply of books in that genre seems to be endless. I don't consciously pick a theme, but they just sort of seem to happen. I thought it was going to be WWI books this year, but it turned out I only read two.

"Cranswickian" - I love it!

Hi Paul, sorry to hear of your computer troubles and your overly busy work schedule. I've not been around much the last little while as I picked up a nasty flu bug, but I am feeling a little better today. Belated Happy Birthday wishes to your son, and yes, that was quite the 'Cranswickian" book haul.

>217 Smiler69: The added "I" imported a smidgeon of panache I think!

>218 lunacat: Jenny, missed you around for much of the year, albeit I have hardly been that consistent myself! I guess this year with the Centenary the WW1 topic sort of suggested itself to many of us. I recall that you like historical fiction so I thought I would look at anniversaries to see what topics may be appropriate next year

25th anniv: 1990 - German reunification; the release of Nelson Mandela; the downfall of Mrs. T
50th anniv: 1965 - First american and australian toops in Vietnam; Great Society proclaimed; Churchill dies
100th anniv: 1915 - The first use of poison gas in war; sinking of the Lusitania; Edith Cavell is 'executed'.
150th anniv: 1865 - Robert E Lee surrenders; the 13th amendment prohibits slavery; Lincoln is assassinated
200th anniv: 1815 - Waterloo; the Battle of New Orleans; the birth of Trollope

Any thoughts? The Napoleonic era perhaps; the American civil war; Vietnam; apartheid?

>219 benitastrnad: The War of the Roses is a favourite subject of mine. I am also intensely interested in seeking the causes of man's inhumanity and stupidity hence the favouring of harrowing topics such as the Holocaust, the "Great" wars and so on. In the trying to understand sometimes we can find ways to move away from the past.

>220 alcottacre: To be fair Stasia, the term was not of my inventing. I can't recall who coined it to describe wanton book splurges!

>221 DeltaQueen50: Nice to see you, dear Guru. I must say that you have had your share of flus and colds in recent times. xx

Hi Paul, I love the anniversary info, hope you are well my friend, love and hugs to all at Cranswick manor.

Hi Paul - Talking of anniversaries, I just picked up Margarita L'Engle's YA verse novel, Silver People which celebrates the centenary of the Panama Canal, opened August, 1914.

Another 2015 centenary is Gallipoli which is pretty big deal for the ANZACs. I've been following the WW1 commemorations on NZ'S First World War Centenary 2014–2019, their twitter/FB updates have been most informative over the past several months.

For me probably the Napoleonic Era would be an attractive reading focus, though I already have a bit of a plan for 2015, so my focus would be limited to only a couple of books.

What about 70 years the end of WWII?

Happy Mid-week, Paul! I put up a 2nd AAC Main Thread. We are tossing around authors and ideas for next year. Stop on by, if you ever get a free minute:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/182058

I have been fascinated, mostly from afar, with the new interest in topics in history which are not "great men, great wars, great deeds". Like the history of disease and medicine, or the history of common people, or the place of drinking.... wine, beer, soda pop, water, etc. Maybe there is a theme somewhere in that mash of ideas?

Books about great foods? Maybe too obscure.... just thinking "aloud" so to speak.

Hmm.........plenty to think about here. I was ruminating in the middle of the night and considering going for something more obscure for myself that could be less specifically orientated.

For example - each month having a different colour. January being blue. The book could have the word blue in the title, the cover could be blue, it could be to do with the Navy (hence, a shade of blue) etc etc.

Or something like royalty. Different cultures definitions and ideas of a leader or chief. Genghis Khan, Cleopatra, a fairy tale with a princess, an Indian Maharajah....

Obviously no one has to join me, or can pick their own ideas etc, but I think I'll definitely be trying to come up with something to give a little more structure to my reading.

I don't have people join me with my themed reads, they just sort of happen. At one point I called it binge reading, as I would read lots of fantasy novels, or spy novels, or science history books. What would happen with me is that something I read would pique my interest or a book that the author referred to would intrigue me and lead me on a trail of other books related to it. In the education field that is called webbing and I just seemed to do it naturally with books and my reading.

Digging out from under that rock known as Real Life. I'm so many threads behind, I'm just popping in here and shouting 'hullo!'

Hope all's getting better with you and the cold/virus is beating a steady retreat.

>223 PaulCranswick: I came down with this "flu" just after I got my yearly flu shot! I know doctors dismiss the idea that people often get sick after having a flu shot but 9 times out of 10 I do get sick after my yearly shot. Hopefully this will be it for the season.

Hi Paul! Hope the week is going well for you! Lots of great anniversary ideas. Mandela's release is the one closest to my heart.

>224 johnsimpson: Well yesterday was Divali or Deepavali as it is called here, the Hindu festival of lights. John, it is one thing that is so noticeable in Malaysia the willingness for all races to share each others holidays. We have 18 days of Public Holidays here which must beat everyone else into a cocked hat.

>225 avatiakh: Kerry, I considered mentioning Gallipolli also in my list yesterday but didn't do so because it technically ended on 9 January 1916 - would certainly agree though that it was a major, if not the major, event of the Great War in 1915 possibly alongside Second Ypres but the casualties in the Dardanelles dwarved those in Ypres limited as it was to that bloody April - approximately 503,000 casualties with similar numbers on both sides were lost in the near East in that struggle of folly. Kitchener's reputation never recovered, Asquith was forced into Coalition and Churchill ousted from the Admiralty. General Hamilton was dismissed. Monash and Chauvel on the other hand emerged from the campaign with reputations enhanced and went on to lead their respective Anzac forces with distinction in the Middle East and on the Western Front respectively.

>226 Ameise1: That is also something of a milestone, Barbara isn't it? Incidentally (and not used often) 70th wedding anniversaries are known as Platinum Anniversaries, so I guess it will be the Platinum anniversary of the plutonium falling on Hiroshima.

>227 msf59: Hi Mark. Well I have been over and added my several cents worth of suggestions. You made a well balanced choice for 2014, I am sure we have much the same to look forward to in 2015. I will also be suggesting a British Author Challenge too for 2015 and I hope to get a few takers for that also.

>228 maggie1944: Karen, I have also noticed that there is a lot more writing these days on the social impact of world affairs. Austerity in present day has set the historians looking at Post War austerity for example and writers tracing historical events through objects of the time is very much in vogue. The importance of the food supply in the war has been the study of several works in the last few years.

>229 lunacat: Mmmm Jenny for me this year June proved to be very blue! Associations and themes are great fun though aren't they? Madeline does a splendid job for the group with her TIOLI challenge (which I have, bogged down by my other challenges, neglected to my regret this year) and in the wider site by the Category challenges.
Mark's American Author Challenge has also had me rethink my view of a couple of writers I had frankly written off earlier.

>230 benitastrnad: Benita, I do recall following your strong recommendation to read Deon Meyer and, on the strength of that, I'll follow you elsewhere too!

>231 michigantrumpet: Lovely as always to see you Marianne. Still have a little bit of a niggling cough but it isn't too bad really. More concerned by my failing home computer.

>232 DeltaQueen50: I suppose the usual way is to feed you with a little of the virus to help you to fight it! I hope you are right, Judy, and that is the end of it for 2014 at least.

>233 banjo123: I would probably go with Waterloo and I will read a little on the Napoleonic era next year as a result, I think.

*Trying a lengthier post this time to warrant a response ;)*

Hi Paul!
I have had a great day out today, handing in my final piece of assessment for the year, coffeeing with my eldest boy, finishing a great book (Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki), indulging in a daytime nap (!!), enjoying a fab home made meal (creamy roasted vege pasta with cabanossi) and looking forward to an early night.

>223 PaulCranswick: I am also intensely interested in seeking the causes of man's inhumanity and stupidity
Maybe that is why I am interested in such reads that invariably cause me despair....gulags, war, suffering. For some reason I am drawn to it. In recent years I have tried to steer clear of torture or severe person to person cruelty/violence as it gets jammed in my head on replay. But sometimes a book will just spring it on you with no warning.

Sorry to hear you have a cold....I have the sneaky suspicion that I am on the brink of yet another something (which would explain today's nap). I have a sore thingy on the roof of my mouth making it a pain to eat, I think it means I am run down. And now my throat is sore :(

>238 LovingLit: Yikes Megan! I really am stumbling a lot. My policy is to answer every post on my thread and not only did I miss your earlier post but also one from dear Ellen also. Heartfelts to both of you lovely ladies.

Murakami as always seems to press all the right buttons for everyone. I have still only managed Norwegian Wood and must put that right soon.

I had to look up 'cabanossi' and it sounds delicious though of course out of bounds to myself.

I am with you on miserable books - the more miserable normally the better I like 'em.

My cold has disappeared.

Yeah, I guess what I am looking for is something between the TIOLI challenges and a year long focus on a specific subject! Or a way to have an overall theme but with plenty of flexibility for different genres within that. The ideas you gave were good, but a bit limiting for me I fear.

>239 PaulCranswick: Hoorah for disappearing colds. If the same could only be said for computer ickiness.

>239 PaulCranswick: yay! He hears me ;)
Sorry for calling you out like that Paul, what a rotter I am. No one likes to be told off in the safe-haven from life that is LT.

Maybe the sausage thingies in last nights meal weren't even cabanossi, they might have been bier sticks or some other such thing. I would have preferred chorizo for the heat in them, but the kids would have rebelled. Not sure if they come in pork-free varieties! Surely these days they do....

Glad your cold has wandered elsewhere. Mine has not settled in yet so I am fighting it with coffee and paracetamol. One of these things is a good idea anyway.

I managed to avoid getting Jeff's cold. He was concerned he had spread the germs to me. He's doing better now. I'll probably get one later in the season.

Looking forward to the proposal for a British Author challenge in '15, Paul. Good idea.

Paul, you skipped me too! (>154 DorsVenabili:) *Sob*

Get it together, Man!

(I'm kidding, of course. I can't even begin to imagine how you keep up as well as you do.)

:-)

>240 lunacat: Jenny, I have been thinking about my own reading for 2015 a fair bit this week and have been forced to acceded to Hani's extremely unreasonable demands that I temper by book buying a smidgeon. Some of my ideas for categories for next year (and I don't want to be too strict with myself as I have been this year)

1 Mark's American Author Challenge
2 An Exile's British Author Challenge (thread up next month)
3 Anniversaries (based on the ideas mooted in the earlier posts)
4 Catching up my series reading
5 1001 First Edition books
6 Nobel winners
7 Stagnating shelves (read more books that are gathering a little too much dust)
8 Just to be contrary to read a book a month in the month it is bought
9 Poetry (only by reading it do I ever seem to get the urge to write any)
10 Biography
11 Sports
12 History (10, 11 & 12 because I am not reading enough non-fiction)
13 Scandi ( because I have so much of it to go at)
14 Classics (books or translations/interpretations of books written prior to the 150 year limit I put on myself this year
15 Random read

>241 michigantrumpet: Well Marianne I have got my laptop back with a new keyboard but the processor still seems a bit cranky - I have at least half a smile!

>242 LovingLit: Not at all Megan, I am glad that you pointed out my oversight as I am always a trifle disappointed when I visit a thread and get no response to my posts. You can rest assured that I would never knowingly overlook a post of yours. xx

Coffee and paracetamol sounds like a good old combination.

>243 thornton37814: I guess that stress has left me a bit susceptible to the common cold, Lori. Getting my computer back will surely help my physical condition!

>244 jnwelch: Glad that there will be at least one taker Joe! I cannot hope to replicate the popularity of Mark's challenge but I hope to pay homage to it a little and showcase that the 20th Century was replete with some memorable British authors. It will definitely be a nod towards the equality of the sexes with an even number of male and female scribblers.

>245 DorsVenabili: Kerri, I really have been off colour haven't I? Can say categorically that that would not have happened this time last year. Will try and ensure that the Rock N Roll Princess is overlooked never again in these humble lodgings.

I will not make promises that I'm not sure I can keep but I am definitely interested in the British Authors Challenge - I will be looking at the list very intently.

I so appreciate being able to take advantage of your knowledge and experience in this arena.

Happy weekend Paul ....

Stopping by with a long overdue visit. I love that you are planning An Exile's British Author Challenge! I am looking forward to participating in that one. I dipped my toe into Mark's American Author Challenge this year, only reading authors I currently have in my personal library and I have enjoyed how it has made me read some authors I have never ventured towards.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hmm...now, we need a whole host of books that are the epitome of Britishness to make you homesick.

I am also excited about the British Author's Challenge. I love it when a challenge gets me to read something that I have been meaning to read for a long time.

Are we starting to make plans for our 2015 challenges? You look like you're nicely set up in any case, Paul. I started planning my November reads a few days ago and thought I was being awfully well organized...

I used to plan my reads, or at least try to. I was never able to stick to the plans though. I think only one month I did, and it seemed that that only succeeded as I happened to feel like what I had planned at the time.
Uh oh. I think i need another drink after re-reading that. lol
The gist of it is, that planning reads doesn't generally work out for me. But that I love the idea of it.

*waving* at Paul

Glad to hear that the cold has disappeared.

>249 maggie1944: Well I will say Karen that I know more about British Authors than I do American ones but that is not saying too much. I won't do things exactly the same as Mark has done so impressively for the American Challenge but I think I will limit to writers from the 20th Century as the choice would be too widespread otherwise. Dickens, Collins, Trollope, Thackeray, Meredith, Austen, the Brontes, Eliot, Edgeworth, Scott, Stevenson, Gissing, Defoe, Ainsworth, Blackmore and others can wait for another time.

>250 roundballnz: Same to you Alex. The computer is less than perfect but it is at least back in something like working order so I should be able to get around to a few threads this weekend.

>251 lkernagh: Lori, I too have thoroughly enjoyed Mark's challenge this year and will do again in 2015, I'm sure. I have, fortunately or otherwise, such an unmanageable TBR mountain that it is helpful to have some help in nudging me towards what to read next. The 20th Century was replete with so many great British novelists that any selection is going to leave out a number of favourites. Some of my own favourites Maugham, Priestley and Howard Spring may be difficult to find outside the UK and my own shelves so I will take some advice on availability in determining the selection.

>252 lunacat: Yes it could be that I spend the whole of 2015 pining for the endless summers of
my youth but I guess that, living 20 years in tropical climes, I hanker for the cooler days of spring also.

Starting anew to say hello to you.

>253 banjo123: One thing that I particularly liked about Mark's challenge, Rhonda, was that he didn't always go with the absolutely obvious choices. For all that Twain, Faulkner and Wharton were unsurprising he also gave us Welty and Watson who were less familiar and Updike and Roth who are, in fairness, divisive acclaim wise. Hopefully I can find a little bit of that delicate balance that Mark did so adroitly.

>254 Smiler69: Looks organised Ilana but we are a long way from 2015 yet and I have sufficient time to disorganise myself!

Hi There Paul. I haven't been posted in awhile. I love following the facebook photos posted! The most recent ones of your daughter are incredible. What a beautiful, darling girl.

>255 LovingLit: I much better at the planning than the execution Megan as I have demonstrated consistently during my time in the group. Doesn't stop me dreaming though!

>256 alcottacre: I will definitely make it to your thread this weekend Stasia for a long overdue visit.

>259 Whisper1: Glad you could drop Mr. Capote and come to see me, Linda!

>261 Whisper1: Well Hani has remained very active on "my" facebook page, Linda. Yasmyne is awaiting University and is temporarily ensconced in my office "earning" her keep. My long-serving and long-suffering P.A., Norul was off work last week so I had Yasmyne make coffee for a couple of guests to the office I was meeting. The two Malay gentlemen who had not been introduced to the young office help as my daughter looked at each other and said "comel nya". It would translate to "what a cutie!". I sniggered a little before cautioning them that the young lady was my eldest girl!
Lucky girl looks much more like mummy than daddy.

Paul, I wish you a fantastic weekend.

>246 PaulCranswick: Oooh, lovely list of categories, Paul! You know how I love book lists...

>258 PaulCranswick: - Well, if you are taking down a list of suggested 20th century British authors, I suggest:

Margery Allingham - I actually prefer her mysteries to those of Agatha Christie
G.K. Chesterton
Lawrence Durrell - as an expatriate British novelist
E.M. Forster
Would Kazuo Ishiguro count, since he is a Japanese-born British novelist?
W. Somerset Maugham, which you have already mentioned, just agreeing with the choice.
David Mitchell but only because I continue to be intimidated by the copies of his books that I own. ;-)
Muriel Spark - to add another female author to the suggestion pile.

>264 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara. Weekend off to a good beginning with a nice meal and then a movie - 'Love, Rosie' - nice film in the traditions of Four Weddings and a Funeral, I suppose. Haven't seen Hani as pleased since I broke my foot in Sharm El Sheikh.

>265 scaifea: I have to blame the Postie with the Mostie for getting me thinking about next year already with his American challenge. My challenge will be to get Stateside as soon as I am able.

Happy Weekend Paul - loved the games playing family pics that Hani posted on fbook :) Can't wait for my two brats to be old enough for family games. I mean it happens now but its more along the hungry hippos or snakes and ladders line!

>266 lkernagh: I will start a 'feeler' thread at the end of next week but unsurprisingly I have already been thinking about names. I list of my 12 favourites would be both too self-indulgent as well as probably a tad obscure with a few of the picks. Since you mentioned here was a list of 40 male and 40 female writers I was playing with for starters:
FEMALE: Kate Atkinson, Beryl Bainbridge, Nicola Barker, Pat Barker, Anita Brookner, A.S. Byatt, Angela Carter, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Barbara Comyns, Margaret Drabble, Daphne Du Maurier, Helen Dunmore, Penelope Fitzgerald, Jane Gardam, Rumer Godden, Jane Harris, Susan Hill, Winifred Holtby, M.J. Hyland, A.L. Kennedy, Doris Lessing, Penelope Lively, Olivia Manning, Hilary Mantel, Nancy Mitford, Iris Murdoch, Maggie O'Farrell, Barbara Pym, Jean Rhys, Bernice Rubens, Vita Sackville-West, Zadie Smith, Ali Smith, Muriel Spark, Elizabeth Taylor, Rose Tremain, Sarah Waters, Fay Weldon, Jeanette Winterton, Virginia Woolf

MALE: Peter Ackroyd, Eric Ambler, Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis, J.G. Ballard, Julian Barnes, Arnold Bennett, John Berger, William Boyd, Melvyn Bragg, Anthony Burgess, Bruce Chatwin, Joseph Conrad, A.J. Cronin, R.F. Delderfield, John Fowles, E.M. Forster, William Golding, Henry Green, Graham Greene, Patrick Hamilton, Aldous Huxley, Kazuo Ishiguro (technically British), B.S. Johnson, D.H. Lawrence, Eric Linklater, Malcolm Lowry, W. Somerset Maugham, Ian McEwan, Timothy Mo, George Orwell, Anthony Powell, J.B. Preistley, Salman Rushdie, Alan Silitoe, Howard Spring, David Storey, Graham Swift, Barry Unsworth, Evelyn Waugh

>269 PaulCranswick:

Oh dear, I'm ashamed at how few authors I've read from that list. Have read one of Kate Atkinson that I wasn't over enamoured by, ditto Beryl Bainbridge and Rose Tremain. I LOVE Maggie O'Farrell's After You'd Gone and it's a favourite re-read but I was less impressed with her others. Penelope Lively is amazing and I'd like to read more of hers. I've read Rumer Godden's children's books but no adult fiction of hers.

Perhaps I'll pick a couple of those authors and try them.

>268 BekkaJo: I haven't seen them yet, Bekka.........still basking in the glow of my overwhelming win in the alphabet game. Saad did reasonably OK battling with a foreign language - some of his names were, shall we say, creative!

>270 lunacat: Well we do have to pare the list down somewhat as there are only 12 months in 2015 unless Jim can do anything about that! In addition, I am sure that there will be plenty of other names to think about when I do get the thread started next week.

>269 PaulCranswick: - Love the list!

I'm loving the Author Challenge suggestions. I can't wait to see what you come up with Paul.

My year long reading project has been the Spenser series with Donna and Mamie. Berly joined us but we are getting burned out by our friend Spenser. Next year we will alternate Tony Hillerman's Navajo Police detective series with Craig Johnson's Longmire series. It's been fun sharing the reads.

The only way I could do a sweep is if you don't have Hilary Mantel, Zadie Smith, or Jean Rhys. The first two I read books that were DNF and the last I was barely able to finish Wide Sargasso Sea. Oh, and Joseph Conrad. Just kill me now. You couldn't pay me to read more by any of them. Ha!

All the rest I either want to read something by them or don't recognize at all. I've read several and I love Ishiguro just for The Remains of the Day though I've also read Never Let Me Go.

>273 luvamystery65: Don't forget to remind me!

>274 Morphidae: I'll create a thread when next years group goes up and I'll post a link on this year's thread. I'll send you the link. I'm excited! So far you, Berly, Susan, Mamie, Julia and Donna are on board.

This could be fun. Perhaps one female and one male British author a month? I think I might even be able to achieve that.

I have to admit that I was hoping 2015 would be the British Author Challenge so I'm happy to see one being formed over here.

>255 LovingLit: Like me love to read others reading lists/challenges - but realised long ago the magpie approach works better for me ....

>269 PaulCranswick: Impressive starting list but definitely showing your indulgences, as you should .... If excluding Crime/Spy/Sci fi reads I would still add Iain Banks China Meiville maybe Jon mcGregor

Hi Paul. Does it matter that, as an American, I read way, way more British authors than American authors. Don't know why but it's true. I'll probably find something to love in your challenge Paul. Although she's only written two novels, one of them was the astoundingly good Gillespie and I so I wouldn't mind seeing Jane Harris on the list.

>269 PaulCranswick: Great list, I've read many of those writers and others are on my tbr list. I'd suggest a follow along classic British children's books for those of us without the stamina for the longer reads - so many great 20thC children's writers that I'm still finding my way to.

Oooh - BAC plus AAC in 2015 - yes please :)

I tend to read more British authors than American for some reason so I am very interested in your challenge, Paul. I already have a lot of reading commitments for next year, but I definitely will be dropping by both the BAC and AAC to check them out.

I see a number of names on your lists that interest me. William Boyd, Muriel Spark, Graham Greene, Kate Atkinson etc. Also I love Lori's suggestion on Margery Allingham!

I can't claim to have read every post... but

>51 mahsdad: Jeff count me among those who are glad that you are here and I will visit your thread soon.. I mostly just don't have time to post anymore.

Paul, it seems the chest thing has gone on for too long, my friend, i hope that you are continuing to get better.

Benita, you may not be a writer, but you write beautifully and make good points.

And leaving the rest be...off i go.

Let me add Terry Pratchett, Diana Wynne Jones, J. K. Rowling, Jo Walton, Georgette Heyer, and Jasper Fforde to your consideration!

Paul, I read a lot more British authors than any others I think, and have most of those you've mentioned either on the tbr or the wishlist, so will be glad to join along as much as possible.

>269 PaulCranswick: Love the list. I'm willing to give it a go but can't say that I'll succeed.

Wow! Feels a little like old days with fifteen or so posts awaiting my attention this morning. Happy and energised!

I should start though with the fact that I managed to organise a meeting yesterday lunchtime in the cafe of the bookshop and on my way out again accidentally brushed the shelves:

458. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges (1944) 174 pp
There is a long list of writers who most feel merited the Nobel prize. Borges's name is on most of those lists
459. Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau (1947) 197 pp
I shouldn't have criticised the French winning the Nobel again as I keep seeing French books to buy now!

...accidentally brushed the shelves ;)

My handbag has two strips of velcro down the front to attach to the other strips of the flip over lid. It is hooked side facing out, and more than once I have left a shop, having brushed past shelves, and found something attached to my bag! Once it was a pair of woolly socks. I was not far outside the shop when I discovered them so took them back. But the second time it was a pair of lacy knickers!! I didn't discover them til I was on the bus home, and so ended up giving them to my sister (as they were her size). I must have looked a prat wandering about with lacy underthings hanging off my handbag!

I take it you paid for your books.

>272 lkernagh: Thanks Lori, I am sure it will grow in the coming days.

>273 luvamystery65: I will try to join you lovely ladies for some serious series reading next year. I haven't started the Longmire series but I have read the first Hillerman.

>274 Morphidae: Ha Morphy! I am always amazed that you seem so unsure which writers you like and which you don't hahaha. Actually I agree with you on Jean Rhys and I couldn't get through that little novella either so she is unlikely to make the cut. Joseph Conrad is a difficult read also - I sometimes feel that he was translating his own work imperfectly (he was born Polish) and some of them seem almost cruelly disjointed. Zadie Smith hasn't written too many novels from which to choose but I did like the one I have read. I am though an admirer of Hilary Mantel and consider her A Place of Greater Safety one of the very best novels written in my lifetime.

>275 luvamystery65: That will make me a thorn amongst 7 roses then!

>276 lunacat: Jenny, well done, you have actually guessed one of the planned differences between the projected British Author Challenge and Mark's AAC. A sort of Either/Or/Or Both. One of the good things about Mark's challenge for me was being forced to consider writers I had almost given up on (Faulkner) and those who have irritated me previously (Roth and Updike) but for some certain writers are beyond the pale and they skipped a month. Some prefer lady writers and vice versa so I plan to arrange 12 marriages of convenience and see which of the sexes prevail!

>277 thornton37814: I will be delighted and honoured to have you along for the ride, Lori.

>278 roundballnz: Quite right Alex. The list is a little tainted by my prejudices but I will seek to accommodate more than just what I like to read myself. I also want to celebrate the vitality and diversity of British writing in the 20th Century, one of great challenges and changes. Now Mieville is an interesting idea.

>279 brenzi: I have both of those novels awaiting my attention and plan to read at least one of them next year. There is a feeling expressed cogently on the AAC thread that a body of work is required to provide a fair choice and two novels may not be quite enough.

>280 avatiakh: Kerry I am certainly open to including a children;s writer(s) for at least one of the months next year. My own male favourites Henry Treece, Michael Morpurgo, Roald Dahl and Ian Serraillier for instance but I could use a little help with the ladies.

>281 BekkaJo: It will certainly happen then Bekka. Interesting for you too being somewhere in the middle of Britain and the USA in the Channel Islands there (only kidding, don't punch me!).

>282 DeltaQueen50: This year will be the first I think when I have read more USA authors than British ones. Since I have such a backlog of British reading to do it will be an opportunity to redress the balance. As a Brit, albeit one living on foreign shores for 20 years, I am biased and still prefer British writers to American. In all fairness though I have thoroughly enjoyed some of the new writers I discovered this year - especially Kent Haruf.

>283 mckait: Lovely of you to stop by Kath. I know you are extremely busy and stressed at the moment.

>284 ronincats: Thanks Roni. I will certainly have to take account of the Sci-Fi and fantasy tradition and those who enjoy that genre. I folded last year and read two novels by Jo Walton both of which were amongst the best things I have read in a long time.

>285 Smiler69: If you don't join me at all next year Ilana I'll have to get myself to Montreal to pick a bone with you. xx

>286 catarina1: Any suggestions Catarina of potential additions to the 2015 list?

>288 LovingLit: What a glorious image Megan! Genetics do exist; there is clearly a reason for Wilbur's winsome words of wisdom only you have long since graduated to slapstick. Unllike the panties I did pay for the books!

>267 PaulCranswick: ?!? I must miss something.

>295 Ameise1: No Barbara, I was only joking. I fell by the swimming pool in Sharm-El-Sheikh and broke a bone in my foot but Hani was less than sympathetic!

>292 PaulCranswick: Lots of great women writers - Diana Wynne Jones, Anne Fine, Noel Streatfield, Mollie Hunter, Malorie Blackman etc etc though I think you'll have enough to go on with without tackling children's lit as well. I'll probably continue to potter away on my own thread.

>292 PaulCranswick: You could always through Enid Blyton into the mix ;)

I love all the male children's authors mentioned. For women - Alison Uttley, Cynthia Harnett, L. M. Boston, Michelle Magorian, Joan Aiken, Berlie Doherty, Susan Cooper, Rosemary Sutcliffe.

Paul, Fall has arrived in all her glory. What the heck, I can attribute something beautiful to the feminine, after all, nasty hurricanes are called female names.



Happy Day To You And Your Family!

>296 PaulCranswick: Poor fellow - that should have been a time someone wss caring for you.

>278 roundballnz: I second Mieville!

>290 PaulCranswick: That will make me a thorn amongst 7 roses then! A most welcome thorn! ;-)

#288 LOL - Cass and I accidentally walked out of a charity shop without paying for her book yesterday . I realised seconds after and rushed back in to emphatically apologise and pay the ... 25p! The lady on the till just laughed at my apologetic stammering so much! Blyton's further adventures of the faraway tree in case you were wondering ;)

#292 That just get's a disdainful head toss! Punches are hard to send via t'internet anyway :)

I love the idea of a BAC, Paul! Glad to see you taking the lead. It's a bit of work but the rewards are endless. Of course, most of the authors you mentioned, hold interest for me, so I will be watching for your final selections.
If you need any help with anything, let me know.

Hi Paul - Lots of great discussion here! I hope you're feeling better; your reading certainly hasn't suffered. I'm so happy to see that your purchases continue to grow; I don't feel quite so guilty, as mine have just reached the triple digits. :)

>294 PaulCranswick: If you don't join me at all next year Ilana I'll have to get myself to Montreal to pick a bone with you.

LOL!

Of course I'd love you to come over for whatever reason at all, but I'd say I'd probably have to make a special effort to NOT participate in one way or another my dearest Paul. As I said, most of the authors you've mentioned are either on my tbr or wishlist. Some of the ones who've written one or two especially popular books I might have read already, but there are always others to take their place on my well-loaded tbr. I really do have a marked preference for British lit. Not sure what it is, probably closer to my sensibilities as one living in the Commonwealth? The proper spelling of colour and valour? lol. xx

Hi Paul, just checking in and waving Hi. I hope you are doing all right!

I send get well wishes your way!

Hi Paul, just stopping by to wish you a wonderful weekending! Glad to see that your cold has dissapeared!

Here another one who would enjoy partaking in a British author challenge in 2015. I know quite a few of the ones you listed and I am looking forward to your "feeler" thread next week. I am especially curious to see which are your 12 faves.

>297 avatiakh: Let's see Kerry whether we can squeeze one month for that difficult to define YA lit.

>298 lunacat: With Enid Blyton included (read all the Famous Five and Secret Seven books as a kid) there are four authors there that I actually have work by.

>299 Whisper1: Well Linda I am certainly someone who believes that beauty is a descriptor naturally associated with the feminine rather than the masculine. Gotten me into trouble a time or two in truth.

>300 Ameise1: I am an old ham Barbara and Hani knows it. Incidentally I have had some issues with her today as she was suffering from itchy eyes and so decided to put eye drops in. Rushing to go out with her friends she overlooked that she was dousing her eyes with clove oil instead. Extremely sore and weepy apparently. I am, of course, most sympathetic.

>301 luvamystery65: Here is one suitably flattered thorn! Noted that China Mieville is garnering a groundswell of support!

>302 BekkaJo: Enid's books often prompted miscreant or forgetful behaviour. I remember reading the Famous Five off to Kirrin Island or some such place and being so rapt that I rapped a lamppost Mr. Bean style.

>303 msf59: Thanks for the offer of advice Mark, I may have to take you up on it a bit. If I can do half as good a job.......

>304 BLBera: I am honestly trying to slow down my purchases a bit in preparation for a real slow down next year. I plan to read much more than I buy next year but I said that last year and bought 1,200 books!

>305 Smiler69: Nice that Smiler can laugh. xx I share with you a slightly strange feeling when I see the americanisation of spelling such as color or, well, americanized.

>306 connie53: Lovely as always to see you Connie.

>307 Whisper1: Apart from a slightly tickly and mildly irritating cough I am now in the rudest of health, Linda. xx

>308 drachenbraut23: Will be great to have you along, Bianca. 12 favourites?
Graham Greene
W. Somerset Maugham
Eric Ambler
Laurie Lee
J.B. Priestley
Howard Spring
Muriel Spark
David Storey
Rose Tremain
J.R.R. Tolkein
Arthur Koestler
Robert Graves

I promise that the list will not be just a list of my favourites, but I may include a couple or three. xx

Paul, if you can curtail your book acquistion that will be an impressive feat.....

>312 PaulCranswick: Interesting list of favourites

I am definitely in for Graham Greene and W.Somerset Maugham, I obviously read some of J.R.R. Tolkien, Muriel Spark is somewhere in my TBR and the same applies to Rose Tremain, I am not familiar with any of the others. Some, I might would like to add are Barbara Pym, Angela Carter, Martin Amis. However, I have to check the other ones out you mentioned.

>313 roundballnz: And probably an unrealistic one mate too.

>314 drachenbraut23: Bianca; I may take one but not both of Greene/Maugham as I have read everything both of them has written and I do want to read one or two new things next year! Tolkien may be a little too subject specific and, apart from his two main works, the rest of the stuff is pretty indigestible. Since Spark and Tremain were the sole ladies flying the flag in my list I will probably include one of them. Spring, Priestley and Storey were great storytellers but may be a tad obscure to include all of them. Koestler was not the jolliest of fellows; Ambler was a tremendous writers of thrillers in the era just before and just after the second world war; Lee was an extraordinary poet and memoirist & Graves a classicist and genius of historical fiction before it became popular.

>312 PaulCranswick: Surely you can do a little better than one author out of the twelve being female, Paul, being such an equal opportunities man and all (ignoring that you are outgunned and outnumbered in your own home - perhaps that's as good a reason as any to keep the odds more towards the male side!)

Just popped back to say I hope my post didn't come across as accusing you of inadvertent (or indeed any other kind of) sexism! Especially given as I think I read more male than female authors, and I definitely lean towards the company of, and friendship with, men over women.

And we should really have an Enid Blyton challenge ;) I was addicted to them as a child - so much so that my mum removed them from my shelves and put them in a box under her bed. I was only allowed a couple out at a time, but I used to sneak in after I'd gone to bed to get more out. Of course I thought I was being terribly clever but she knew. One night I heard her coming upstairs and hid under the bed until she'd gone back down. I thought I'd be fine as I'd already arranged my own pillows so it looked like I was sleeping, but alas, she didn't go back down but got into bed!

I came up with the plan that I would slowly wriggle my way under the bed and get out the other side so it looked like I had just come in through the door, and pretend I wasn't feeling well or had had a bad dream, there being no way to sneak back to bed as the door was shut and slightly sticky. Not sure how I thought I was going to explain me having got into the room without opening the door!

My patience didn't live up to the task though, and I'd started my manouvering while she was still reading so she quickly cottoned on. Not sure what excuse I eventually gave but I'm sure it wasn't a very good one.

ow ow ow ow ow Poor Hani!

>316 lunacat: & 317 Guilty as charged, Jenny.....well almost. There were two out of twelve (Tremain & Spark) but the gist is still applicable and it isn't near enough. That is why I like the idea of having one male and one female author per month to choose from (or read both) and I will certainly aim to correct my prejudices! A Famous Five club would be fun next year as I should relive those halcyon days sometime. xx

>318 mckait: Poor gal has swollen eyes. We are going to Saad's mum's house to celebrate her birthday so I do hope it is not thought that I have been making my good lady wife cry!

Big thumb's up on Waugh on the list -- Anthony Powell is wonderful, but most people would be compelled to read the whole Dance to the Music of Time series, which would be daunting ... For a little fun, how about Wodehouse?

If you are going to include China Mieville I think there should be more love for Jo Walton. You could almost do a year long British Sci/Fi read if you included Tolkien and Peake.

Yes, I can still laugh and smile. Depending on the level of pain, this is more or less sardonic. Less pain = more innocent. More pain = more ironic and sometimes downright cruel. I'm only human, what can I say. Though I do admit some of my interactions have suffered lately, especially where understanding was not optimal to begin with and I perceived a challenge where I was not expecting/desiring one. I'm not at all up for oppostions, feeling not especially strong or mentally able to just grin and bear and maturely move on. This takes brain cells, it would seem. Instead, I react... well, like a wounded beast and tend to lash out. I am by no means proud of this, not in the least, and it's a recent development that somewhat worries me. But then again, the apple never falls far from the tree and I recognise one of the features I've always most disliked about my mother in that aggressive way of reacting to people when feeling insecure. I always though I was more or less above that to a certain degree when the provocation was relatively minor, and now seems my weakness has rendered me somewhat less able to deal with situations with self-possession or decency. True enough, I've always had a rather passionate character, so these things were always going to be a challenge, but I did have a rational mind that enabled me to step back and think before lashing out, but now that better self has seriously taken a back seat. I am at a loss my dear friend.

If there I can join in this challenge I certainly will. It sounds very interesting.

>310 PaulCranswick: OMG, I hope she gets well soon. Please give her my love and well wishes.

Clove oil! Yikes. Only slightly better thean peppermuint, I suppose.

>310 PaulCranswick: Ouch! My eyes are watering just thinking about it.

I'm curious to see which British authors you choose. Some of my favorites are listed. R.F. Delderfield is not an author you see mentioned very much. I didn't do very well with Mark's AAC, but it was fun to see who everyone was reading.

Good health to you, good man!

>320 michigantrumpet: Good calls with those three Marianne and I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them makes the cut. Quintessentially english I must say.

>321 benitastrnad: Noted Benita. I haven't read any Mieville but I do remember getting a strong recommendation from Rhian for him. I have read a couple of Jo Walton books and I loved them.

>322 Smiler69: Cruel? I wouldn't say so. Impassioned, maybe. An occasional hitting of the wrong note, perhaps, as most of us do. Cruel? No, I cannot agree. Sometimes Ilana it doesn't pay overly to analyse our reactions and emotions too deeply as the blows and missteps will then be felt all the more keenly. I know as much as most this year how we can teeter on the edge of losing things when we lose proper sight of ourselves. You have some dear friends here who care very much about you and take cognisance of your whirlwind of ideas, opinions and feelings. As with myself, not everyone understands how each of us ticks and in the misunderstanding we should not find despair. xx

>323 connie53: I would love your perspective Connie. I often wonder whether some of the European writers I admire so much (Camilleri, Mankell, Zola, Balzac, etc) is because of the translator's skill or simply because of the writer themselves. I would guess that you occasionally read both in the vernacular and in translation so I wonder whether the impression is the same.

>324 Ameise1: The eye is still swollen this morning but not enough to stop her looking at new cars!

>325 LovingLit: We went to see Saad's mum yesterday to celebrate her birthday. It was amusing because his second brother clearly got the initial impression that Hani's swollen eye was the result of her husband finally losing control!

>326 Copperskye: I loved his To Serve Them All My Days and have a few more on the shelves.

Hi Paul, I also love R.F.Delderfield and have read a few of his with some more to be read. Hope you and the family are well mate. Love and hugs to you all from Karen and I.

Drive by wavery :)

>328 PaulCranswick: LOL

All I can say about Hani's eye is Ouch! My sympathy is with her, I suffered from being poked in the eye by my toddler son years ago and it was one of the most miserable times I had to suffer through, couldn't stand daylight and had to wear sunglasses everywhere.

Oooooooooohhhhh, just read about the clove oil in the eye. That's horrendous enough when put on a tooth and it stings and tastes disgusting, I can't imagine how horrible it is to put it in your eye. Eesh. Hope Hani is feeling a little better now.

Hi Paul - it's been way too long since I had a chance to catch up with things around here.

That recent book haul was a good one!

>330 johnsimpson: Nice to see you on this unwieldy thread, John. Trust the family is A-OK. Delderfield is that sort of old fashioned yarnster that I have always favoured.

>331 BekkaJo: In your case Bekka, I am a fan of lady drivers.

>332 Ameise1: True stories often make us smile, Barbara. She rejected the two cars sent for her inspection yesterday.

>333 avatiakh: The eye is a very sensitive apparatus, Kerry. She is much better today after a shopping trip and lots of eye drops and a antibiotic.

>334 lunacat: Impressed that you knew it was for toothache Jenny! I didn't know what it was for myself but I do realise eye-wash was not one of it's uses.

>335 SuziQoregon: Lovely to see you Juli. Will buy less than half the number of books than last year but have already been warned by SWMBO that the rate has to reduce to an absolute trickle as she is "sick of living with all these books".

Clove oil in Hani's eyes? That sounds SO painful---glad it's getting better.

Maybe you could get another house for your books?

Ouch on Hani's itchy eyes. Glad the antibiotic seems to be helping. Paul, you'll just have to buy more e-books. It's harder for her to see those. ;-)

>338 banjo123: Rhonda...great idea on the house. I won't suggest it until I can afford it!

>339 thornton37814: Right on the e-books Lori but my enjoyment factor is just not there. I will be reading at least one book on my Kindle this coming month which will be my first of the year.