Smiler Marks Her Reading Spot - Part 12 (The Last)

 
One more and last look at the art of Catrin Welz-Stein in 2014. Here: "Stardust" and "Das Christkind" (The Christ Child) for seasonal cheer.
She posts her work at: catrinwelzstein.blogspot.ca


Table of Contents:
• Reading Plans
• Books Completed September-December
• Books Completed May-August
• Books Completed January-April
• Picked for Me! and 2015 Planning
• American Authors Challenge
• Booker Prize Books
• A Century of Books!
• Ongoing Series
• Reading Bingo
• Books Purchased Jan-Mar
• Books Purchased April-June
• Books Purchased July-September
• Books Purchased October-December

Currently reading, listening to, and occasionally browsing through:
Slightly Foxed: 44: My Grandfather and Mr. Standfast by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors)
♫ The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
✔ Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally
♫ Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth

      




Favourites of 2014: (★★★★½ and up)
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng ★★★★★ (review)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - reread (tutored read)
Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household (review)
The New York Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton
Lady Susan by Jane Austen (review)
Love and Freindship (sic) by Jane Austen (review)
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy - reread (review)
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan (review)
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (tutored read)
Restoration by Rose Tremain ★★★★★ (review)
The Quick by Lauren Owen (ARC) ★★★★★ (review)
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (review)
Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson (review)
Dissolution by C. J. Samson (review)
The Unstrung Harp: Or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel by Edward Gorey ★★★★★
Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ★★★★★
Treehorn Times Three by Florence Parry Heide & Edward Gorey
Merivel by Rose Tremain (review)
Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling (reread)
The Bird King: An Artist's Notebook by Shaun Tan
Aya by Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie
A Café on the Nile by Bartle Bull (review)
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (review)
The Waiting Game by Bernice Reubens (review)
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar (review)
Love-Letters Between A Nobleman And His Sister (Volume II) (tutored read)
Breakfast With Lucian: A Portrait of the Artist by Geordie Greig (review)
The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth ★★★★★ (review)
Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming (review)
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Le joueur d'échecs / Chess Story by Stefan Zweig ★★★★★
La Petite Bijou by Patrick Modiano

My 31 Most Memorable Reads of 13

My rating system:
★ : Hated it! (May or may not have finished it)
★★ : It was just ok...
★★★ : Enjoyed it (Good)
★★★★ : Loved it! (Very good)
★★★★½ : Loved it—must read again! (Excellent)
★★★★★ : Brilliant!—will read again, and again... and again! (All-time favourite)

⅛ ¼ ⅓ ½ ¾ ⅞

♫ = audiobook
✔ = off the shelf
❉ = library book
ⓔ = eBook
☀ = TIOLI




Reserving first 15 posts for organizational and planning needs. Also helps in post rankings ;-)

Reading Plans for December:

✭*✔ Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant - Picked for Me!, TIOLI #19: Read a book that you saved or put off to the last - COMPLETED
✭*✔ Love-Letters Between A Nobleman And His Sister by Aphra Behn - TIOLI #19 - COMPLETED
✭*✔ Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally - TIOLI #19 - Reading
✭♫ The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan - TIOLI #3: Read a book with a title containing a contradiction - COMPLETED
✭♫ The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - TIOLI #16: Bah, Humbug!: Read a book that has nothing to do with Christmas - Listening
✭ⓔ+♫ Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - TIOLI #1: Read a book using a minimum three-letter part of the name "Madeline" in your book's title - Unfinished
✭♫ Firesong by William Nicholson - TIOLI #14: Read a book that fits a category on the 2014 Reading Bingo card - COMPLETED
✪♫ Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jody Taylor - TIOLI #14, shared with Ellen - COMPLETED
✪♫ Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth - shared with Mamie - TIOLI #6: Read a book whose title includes either a color or a word to describe a shade of color - Listening
✭❉ The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt - TIOLI #5: Read a book with a noun from the title of a Christmas carol in its title ("Joy to the World")

Spur of the moment:
Au rendez-vous des Terres-Neuvas / The Sailors' Rendezvous by Georges Simenon - TIOLI #17: Read a book written by an author who has a pseudonym (aka Plick et Plock) - COMPLETED
❉ La Danseuse du Gai-Moulin / At the "Gai-Moulin" by Georges Simenon - TIOLI #17 - COMPLETED
❉ The Wrath of Mulgarath by Holly Black - TIOLI #14 - COMPLETED
✭♫ Fludd by Hilary Mantel - TIOLI #8: Read a book not in the religion genre that contains a discussion of religion, name the genre - COMPLETED

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
contains:
Silver Blaze
The Adventure of the Yellow Face
The Stock-Broker's Clerk
The Gloria Scott
The Musgrave Ritual
The Reigate Puzzle
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
The Crooked Man
The Resident Patient
The Greek Interpreter
The Naval Treaty
The Final Problem

***

Reading Plans for January:

✭*✔ Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally - TIOLI #1: Read a book that has the word "psychological" followed by a noun somewhere in or on the book - Reading
✭ⓔ Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively - British Authors Challenge (BAC), TIOLI #1
✪❉ An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro - BAC, TIOLI #10: IOU challenge: Read a book by someone whose name ends in I, O, or U
✭❉ Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers - American Authors Challenge (AAC), TIOLI #19: Read a book from a library of a frog-award-winner 2011-2014
*✪♫ Chocolat by Joanne Harris - Picked for Me! (by Mamie), TIOLI #3: Read a book with a food item in the title
✪♫ Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth - TIOLI #4: Read a book you were supposed to read in 2014, but didn't - Listening
✪♫ Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng - TIOLI #2: Read a book from a list of best or notable books of 2014 (NPR)
✪♫ Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Ofill - TIOLI #2 (Slate)
✪♫ 2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino - TIOLI #10

* = Picked for Me challenge
** = Picked for Me challenge extra picks
♫ = audiobook
✔ = off the shelf
❉ = library book
ⓔ = eBook
✭ = TIOLI
✪ = Shared TIOLI

Books completed in December
225. ✔ Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant ★★★★⅓
226. ✔ Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister by Aphra Behn ★★★★ (review)
227. ♫ The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan ★★★★
228. ❉ Au rendez-vous des Terres-Neuvas / The Sailors' Rendezvous by Georges Simenon ★★★★
229. ♫ Firesong by William Nicholson ★★★★½
230. ❉ La Danseuse du Gai-Moulin / At the "Gai-Moulin" by Georges Simenon ★★★★
231. ❉ The Wrath of Mulgarath by Holly Black ★★★★
232. ♫ Fludd by Hilary Mantel ★★★★
233. ♫ Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jody Taylor ★★★★⅓
234.

Unfinished
ⓔ+♫ Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Books completed in November
209. ♫ Breakfast With Lucian: A Portrait of the Artist by Geordie Greig ★★★★½ (review)
210. ✔ Greenwitch by Susan Cooper ★★★★⅓ (review)
211. ♫ The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth ★★★★★ (review)
212. ♫ Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming ★★★★½ (review)
213. ✔ Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor ★★★★½
214. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 23: Social Climbing by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★
215. ♫ The Paper Moon by Andrea Camilleri ★★★½
216. ❉ Dora Bruder / The Search Warrant by Patrick Modiano ★★★½
217. Petites et grandes histoires des animaux disparus / Small and Tall Tales of Extinct Animals by Damien Laverdunt ★★★★
218. Essex County Volume 1: Tales From The Farm by Jeff Lemire ★★★★
219. Essex County Volume 2: Ghost Stories by Jeff Lemire ★★★★
220. ♫ Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky ★★★★⅓
221. ♫ Le joueur d'échecs / Chess Story by Stefan Zweig ★★★★★
222. ♫ La Petite Bijou by Patrick Modiano ★★★★½
223. ♫ Nine Lives by Bernice Rubens ★★★★⅓
224. ♫ Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood ★★★★⅓

Books completed in October
189. ♫ Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan ★★★★⅓ (review)
190. ♫ The Children Act by Ian McEwan ★★★½ (review)
191. ♫ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ★★★★⅓
192. ✔ Slightly Foxed: 43: The Flight in the Heather by Gail Pirkis & Hazel Wood (Editors)
193. ♫ The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson ★★★ (review)
194. ❉ The Ironwood Tree by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black ★★★★ (review)
195. ✔ Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ★★★★½
196. ❉ Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins ★★★★ (review)
197. ♫ The Graveyard Book (Full-Cast Production) by Neil Gaiman (Reread) ★★★★★
198. ❉ Amphigorey Also by Edward Gorey ★★★★
199. ✔ The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens ★★★★⅓
200. ♫ The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton ★★★★
201. ⓔ Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar ★★★★½ (review)
202. ♫ Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris ★★★½
203. ❉ⓔ Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey ★★★★⅓ (review)
204. ♫ The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier ★★★★
205. ✔ Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami ★★★★⅓
206. ✔ Love-Letters Between A Nobleman And His Sister (Volume II) (tutored read) ★★★★½
207. ♫ A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel ★★★★
208. ♫ The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien ★★★★

Books completed in September
170. ♫ The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith ★★★★
171. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 22: Don't Give Up the Day Job by Gail Pirkis & Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★(review)
172. ❉ La Nuit du carrefour / Maigret at the Crossroads by Georges Simenon ★★★★⅓ (review)
173. ♫ A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens ★★★½ (review)
174. ♫ Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud ★★★½
175. ⓔ The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann ★★★½ (review)
176. ♫ Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris ★★★★½
177. ♫ Night Soldiers by Alan Furst ★★★¾
178. ✔ A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr ★★★★ (review)
179. ♫ Rounding the Mark by Andrea Camilleri ★★★½
180. ♫ Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin ★★★★
181. ♫ The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters ★★★★⅓ (review)
182. ♫ Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen ★★★½
183. ✔ The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell ★★★★
184. ♫ The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri ★★★½
185. ♫ Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell ★★★★⅓ (review)
186. ❉ Un Crime en Hollande / Maigret in Holland by Georges Simenon ★★★½ (review)
187. ✔ Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister by Aphra Behn ★★★★⅓ (tutored read)
188. ♫ Scarlet by Marissa Meyer ★★★★

Unfinished
♫ A Test of Wills by Charles Todd
♫ The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood (will read in print)

Books completed in August
142. ♫ The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri (reread) ★★★½
143. ❉ The Bird King: An Artist's Notebook by Shaun Tan ★★★★½
144. ❉ Aya by Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie ★★★★½ (review)
145. ♫ The Persimmon Tree by Bryce Courtennay ★★★★
146. ❉ Aya of Yop City by Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie ★★★★⅓ (review)
147. ♫ Cinder by Marissa Meyer ★★★★ (review)
148. ❉ Aya: The Secrets Come Out: Volume 3 by Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie ★★★★ (review)
149. ♫ Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter ★★★½ (review)
150. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 42: Small World by Gail Pirkis & Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★½
151. ❉ Aya de Yopougon: Volume 4 by Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie ★★★★ (review)
152. ♫ The Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri ★★★★ (review)
153. ✔ A Café on the Nile by Bartle Bull ★★★★½ (review)
154. ♫ The Burning Bridge: Ranger's Apprentice, Book 2 by John Flanagan ★★★½
155. ❉ Le Chien Jaune / The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon ★★★½
156. ❉ The Pilot and the Little Prince: The Life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry by Peter Sís ★★★★ (review)
157. ✔ Amsterdam by Ian McEwan ★★★★½ (review)
158. ♫ The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (reread) ★★★½ (review)
159. ♫ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling ★★★★⅓ (Reread)
160. ✔ Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey ★★★★
161. ♫ Excursion to Tindari by Andrea Camilleri ★★★★
162. ❉ Amphigorey Again by Edward Gorey ★★★★⅓
163. ♫ The Waiting Game by Bernice Rubens ★★★★½ (review)
164. ❉ Aya de Yopougon, Tome 5 by Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie ★★★★ (review)
165. ❉ Aya de Yopougon, Tome 6 by Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie ★★★★ (review)
166. ♫ The Scent of the Night by Andrea Camilleri ★★★¾
167. ♫ The Good Girl by Mary Kubica ★★ (review)
168. ✔ The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje ★★★★
169. ♫ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling ★★★★

Unfinished
♫ The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Books completed in July
114. ♫ Au bonheur des dames / Ladies' Paradise by Émile Zola ★★★ (review)
115. ❉ Amphigorey Too by Edward Gorey ★★★★⅓
116. ❉ The Little Prince Graphic Novel by Joann Sfar ★★★★⅓
117. ✔ Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken ★★★★ (review)
118. ❉ Monsieur Gallet décédé / Maigret Stonewalled by Georges Simenon ★★★★ (review)
119. ♫ Legend by Marie Lu ★★★⅓ (review)
120. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 21: All Washed Up by by Gail Pirkis & Hazel Wood (Editors)
121. ✔ Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger ★★★⅓
122. ❉ Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini (review)
123. ♫ Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst ★★★★ (review)
124. ❉ Le pendu de Saint-Pholien / Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets by Georges Simenon ★★★★ (review)
125. ♫ The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith ★★★ (review)
126. ✔ My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier ★★★⅞ (review)
127. ♫ Merivel by Rose Tremain ★★★★½ (review)
128. ❉ La Tête d'un homme / A Man's Head by Georges Simenon ★★★⅓
129. ♫ The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle ★★★½
130. ♫ The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri ★★★★ (reread)
131. ✔ Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett ★★★
132. ♫ Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling ★★★★½ (reread)
133. ✔ Sketches from a Hunter's Album by Ivan Turgenev ★★★★⅓
134. ♫ Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman ★★★★⅓ (review)
135. ♫ The Terracotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri ★★★½ (reread)
136. ♫ Journey Into the Past by Stefan Zweig ★★★★
137. ✔ The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler ★★★½
138. ♫ Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier ★★★★ (review)
139. ♫ Lost for Words by Edward St. Abyn ★★★★
140. ♫ To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee ★★★★ (reread)
141. ✔ Mister Pip by Lloyd Jone ★★★⅞ (review)

Books completed in June
94. ⓔ Revelation by C. J. Sansom ★★★★⅓
95. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 20: Shrieks and Floods by Gail Pirkis & Hazel Wood (Editors)
96. ♫ Slaves of the Mastery by William Nicholson ★★★★ (review)
97. ♫ The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan ★★★★
98. ⓔ Heartstone by C. J. Sansom ★★★★
99. ❉ Amphigorey by Edward Gorey ★★★★½,
includes (among 15 others):
The Unstrung Harp: Or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel by Edward Gorey ★★★★★ (review, sort of)
The Listing Attic by Edward Gorey ★★★★½ ('review' coming up)
The Curious Sofa by Edward Gorey ★★★★½ ('review' coming up)
100. ♫ The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir ★★★★ (review)
101. ✔ The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper ★★★½
102. ✔ Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers ★★★★⅓ (review)
103. ✔ The Day of the Scorpion by Paul Scott ★★★⅓
104. ♫ In the Woods by Tana French ★★★½
105. ♫ A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle ★★★★ (review)
106. ✔ A Russian Journal by John Steinbeck and Robert Capa ★★★½
107. ♫ Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed ★★★★ (review)
108. Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ★★★★★ (review)
109. Treehorn Times Three by Florence Parry Heide & Edward Gorey ★★★★½ (review)
110. ❉ Pietr le Letton / Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett by Georges Simenon ★★★★ (review)
111. ✔ Cover Her Face by P. D. James ★★★½
112. ♫ The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning ★★★½
113. ❉ Le charretier de la Providence / Lock 14 by Georges Simenon ★★★★⅓ (review)

Unfinished
♫ Frederica by Georgette Heyer

Books completed in May
78. ♫ March Violets by Philip Kerr ★★★★ (review)
79. ♫ Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye ★★★★ (review)
80. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 19: A Lonely Furrow by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★ (review)
81. ✔ Small Island by Andrea Levy ★★★★ (review)
82. ♫ The White Queen by Philippa Gregory ★★★★ (review)
83. ♫ The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson ★★★★ (review)
84. ♫ The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith ★★★½ (review)
85. ⓔ Dissolution by C. J. Samson ★★★★½ (review)
86. ♫ The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley ★★★★
87. ♫ The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell ★★★★
88. ⓔ Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom ★★★★⅓ (review)
89. ♫ Bloody Jack; Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L. A. Meyer ★★★★
90. ♫ The Pale Criminal by Pillip Kerr ★★★ (review)
91. ⓔ Sovereign by C. J. Sansom ★★★★ (review)
92. ⓔ The Italian by Ann Radcliffe (tutored read) ★★★½
93. ♫ Room by Emma Donoghue ★★★½ (review)

Unfinished
♫ The Bees by Laline Paull

Books completed in April
52. ♫ The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope ★★½ (review)
53. ⓔ The Quick by Lauren Owen (ARC) ★★★★★ (review)
54. ✔ Rhyming Life and Death by Amos Oz ★★★★⅓
55. ♫ Frog Music by Emma Donoghue ★★★★⅓ (review)
56. ✔ Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark ★★★⅓ (review)
57. ♫ Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan ★★★★½ (review)
58. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 41: Cellmates by Gail Pirkis ★★★★ (review)
59. ❉ Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (tutored read) ★★★★½
60. ✔ The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith ★★★¼ (review)
61. ♫ Restoration by Rose Tremain ★★★★★ (review)
62. ❉ⓔ Wolf Story by William McCleery ★★★⅓ (review)
64. ❉ⓔ The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate ★★★★½ (review)
65. ♫ These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer ★★★★ (review)
66. ♫ In Chancery by John Galsworthy ★★★★
67. ♫ A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin ★★★★
68. ♫ Home by Toni Morrison ★★★½
69. ♫ The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill ★★★¾
70. ♫ The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood ★★★★
71. ✔ Pot-Bouille/Pot Luck by Émile Zola ★★★★ (review)
72. ❉ The Herbarium of the Fairies by Benjamin Lacombe ★★★★
73. ♫ The Master Butcher's Singing Club by Louise Erdrich ★★★★
74. ✔ Coventry by Helen Humphries ★★★★ (review)
75. ✔ Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson ★★★★½ (review)
76. ♫ The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin ★★★★ (review)
77. ✔ King Lear by William Shakespeare (reread) ★★★★⅓

Unfinished
♫ The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
♫ A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
ⓔ The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller

Books completed in March
34. ❉ Goliath by Tom Gauld ★★★★
35. ♫ The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman ★★★★ (review)
36. ♫ Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler ★★★★
37. ♫ Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty ★★★ (review)
38. ♫ The Dark Frontier by Eric Ambler ★★★¼
39. ♫ The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov ★★★½
40. ⓔ Grumpy Cat by Grumpy Cat ★★★★ (review)
41. ♫ All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy ★★★★⅞ (review)
42. Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin ★★★★ (review)
43. ✔ The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott ★★★
44. ✔ Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout ★★ (review)
45. ✔ Slightly Foxed: 18: The Sensation of Crossing the Street by Gail Pirkis ★★★★ (review)
46. ♫ The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas ★★★★
47. ✔ Native Son by Richard Wright ★★★★ (review)
48. ♫ How It All Began by Penelope Lively ★★★
49. ♫ Le Bal by Irène Nemirovski ★★★★
50. ✔ The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood ★★★★⅓ (review)
51. ♫ The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally

Books completed in February
17. ♫ Longbourn by Jo Baker ★★★★⅓
18. ✔ Nana by Émile Zola ★★★★⅓ (review)
19. ♫ Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch ★★★½
20. ✔ Slightly Foxed: 40: Mellow Fruitfulness by Gail Pirkis ★★★★
21. ♫ The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater ★★★★ (review)
22. ⓔ 420 Characters by Lou Beach ★★★¾ (review)
23. ♫ An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine ★★½ (review)
24. ♫ Lady Audley's Secret Mary Elizabeth Braddon ★★★★ (review)
25. ♫ Tenth of December by George Saunders ★★★¼
26. ✔ Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household ★★★★½ (review)
27. ✔ The New York Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton ★★★★½
28. ♫ Lady Susan by Jane Austen ★★★★½ (review)
29. ⓔ Love and Freindship (sic) by Jane Austen ★★★★½ (review)
30. ♫ Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope ★★★★⅓
31. ♫ Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch ★★★¼
32. ✔ The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West ★★★★⅓ (reread)
33. ♫ The Light of Day by Eric Ambler ★★★★

Unfinished
♫ Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
♫+ⓔ An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
♫ The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Books completed in January
1. ♫ The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell ★★½
2. ♫ Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert ★★★½
3. ✔&♫ Bleak House by Charles Dickens ★★★★
4. ❉ Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett ★★★★
5. ♫ The Weed the Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley ★★★¾
6. ♫ The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng ★★★★★ (review)
7. ✔ Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons ★★★½
8. ♫ Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë ★★★★½
9. ♫ 1914: A Novel by Jean Echenoz ★★★★
10. ❉ You're All Just Jealous Of My Jetpack by Tom Gauld ★★★★
11. ♫ Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris ★★★★
12. ⓔ O Pioneers! by Willa Cather ★★★½ (review)
13. ♫ The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard ★★★★⅓ (review)
14. ♫ Hygiène de l'assassin by Amélie Nothomb ★ (review)
15. ✔ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - tutored read with Liz/lyzard ★★★★½
16. ✔ Coriolanus by William Shakespeare ★★★★

Unfinished
♫ Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian (will try again)
♫ Hygiène de l'assassin by Amélie Nothomb

♫ = audiobook
✔ = off the shelf
❉ = library book
ⓔ = eBook
☀ = TIOLI

I'll be running this personal challenge again for the fourth year in 2015. It's really special reading something that was specifically chosen for me from my TBR by this wonderful bunch of passionate readers. I asked participants select a book from my "To Read" collection then tell me, in a few words why you they though I should read the suggested work. I really look forward to the following bunch:

1. ♫ The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy - picked by @Ameise1
2. ✔ The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace - picked by @luvamystery65
3. ♫ Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts - picked by @lunacat
4. ⓔ The Midnight Bell by Francis Lathom - picked by @lyzard
5. ♫ I, Dreyfus by Bernice Rubens - picked by @avatiakh
6. ✔ The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson - picked by @LizzieD
7. ♫ The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry - picked by @msf59
8. ♫ A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute - picked by @DeltaQueen50
9. ♫ The Lost City of Z by David Grann - picked by @drneutron
10. ⓔ The Round House by Louise Erdrich - picked by @Donna828
11. ♫ Affinity by Sarah Waters - picked by @PaulCranswick
12. ✔ Catharine and Other Writings by Jane Austen - picked by @souloftherose
13. ✔ The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher - picked by @LauraBrook
14. ♫ The Bell by Iris Murdoch - picked by @sibyx
15. ✔ The Leopard by Guisepe Di Lampedusa - picked by @Ireadthereforeiam
16. ✔ The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards - picked by @jolerie
17. ✔ A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - picked by @kidzdoc
18. ♫ Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier - picked by @Fourpawz2
19. ♫ Chocolat by Joanne Harris - picked by @Crazymamie
20. ♫ My Antonia by Willa Cather - picked by @jnwelch
21. ✔ Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier - picked by @Cee-
22. ♫ Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (reread) - picked by @cameling
23. ✔ The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat - picked by @Deern

Extra Picks (optional)
ⓔ A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - picked by @lunacat (reread)
✔ Dessins d'écrivains by Pierre Belfond - picked by @Cee-
♫ The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold - picked by @Cee-
✔ The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - picked by @Cee- (reread)

♫ = audiobook
✔ = off the shelf
ⓔ = eBook

***

More 2015 Planning

January
✭ⓔ Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively - British Authors Challenge (BAC), TIOLI #1: Read a book that has the word "psychological" followed by a noun somewhere in or on the book
✪❉ An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro - BAC, TIOLI #10: IOU challenge: Read a book by someone whose name ends in I, O, or U
✭❉ Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers - American Authors Challenge (AAC), TIOLI #19: Read a book from a library of a frog-award-winner 2011-2014
*✭♫ Chocolat by Joanne Harris - Picked for Me! (by Mamie), TIOLI #3: Read a book with a food item in the title
✪♫ Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng - TIOLI #2: Read a book from a list of best or notable books of 2014 (NPR)
✪♫ Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Ofill - TIOLI #2 (Slate)
✪♫ 2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino - TIOLI #10

February
♫ Affinity by Sarah Waters - BAC, Picked for Me!
✔ Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh - BAC
✔ What Maisie Knew or ♫ The Europeans by Henry James - AAC

March
✔ Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - tutored read with Liz
✔ Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier - BAC, Picked for Me
♫ Railsea by China Mieville - BAC
❉♫ The Sportswriter by Richard Ford - AAC

April
✔ The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter - BAC
✔ Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham - BAC
ⓔ The Roundhouse by Louise Erdrich - AAC, Picked for Me

May
✔ The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble - BAC
♫ Dodsworth or Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis - AAC
✔ Fifth Business by Robertson Davies - shared read with Ellen

June
✔ Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge - BAC
❉ Nothing Like the Sun by Anthony Burgess - BAC
♫ Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - AAC

July
(Ursula K. Le Guin)
✔ Orlando by Virginia Woolf - BAC

August
♫ The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry - AAC, Picked for Me
♫ The Bell by Iris Murdoch - BAC
✔ Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene - BAC
✔ The Bone People by Keri Hulme - GR with Ellen

September
♫ Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O' Connor - AAC
✔ Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie - BAC

October
✔ Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (reread) - AAC
♫ The Siege by Helen Dunmore - BAC
❉ Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - BAC

November
♫ Flight Behavior, ✔ The Lacuna or ✔ Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver - AAC
The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark - BAC
✔ An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd - BAC

December
(E.L. Doctorow)
♫ Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel - BAC
✔ Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse - BAC




* = Picked for Me challenge
♫ = audiobook
✔ = off the shelf
❉ = library book
ⓔ = eBook
✭ = TIOLI
✪ = Shared TIOLI

American Authors Challenge

This is Mark's/msf59 baby. Each month will be devoted to a specific author, but as I want to read from my tbr, I've substituted some of the *official* selections with other equally deserving auteurs américains. Here's my list:

January: Willa Cather - O Pioneers! - COMPLETED
February: William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner - Gave it up, wasn't in the mood
March: Cormac McCarthy - All the Pretty Horses (reread) - COMPLETED
April: Toni Morrison - Home - COMPLETED
May: (Eudora Welty) Louise Erdrich - The Master Butcher's Singing Club - COMPLETED
June: (Kurt Vonnegut) Paul Auster - Moon Palace
July: Mark Twain - Huckleberry Finn (reread) or The Autobiography of Mark Twain
August: Philip Roth- American Pastoral
September: James Baldwin - Going to Meet the Man - COMPLETED
October: Edith Wharton - The Custom of the Country - COMPLETED
November: (John Updike) Sinclair Lewis - Elmer Gantry
December: (Larry Watson) Zora Neale Hurston - Their Eyes Were Watching God

***

Booker Prize Books

Booker Prize Books Read in 2014 (in reading order)
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (Shortlist 2012)
Restoration by Rose Tremain (Shortlist 1989)
Room by Emma Donoghue (Shortlist 2010)
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (Shortlist 2007)
Amsterdam by Ian Mcewan (Booker Prize 1998)
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (Booker Prize 1992)
A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens (Shortlist 1978)
A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr (Shortlist 1980)
The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (Booker Prize 1973)
The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (Booker Prize 1970)
The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth (Longlist 2006)
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (Shortlist 1971)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan (Booker Prize 2014)

Booker Prize Books on my TBR
Bruno's Dream by Iris Murdoch (Shortlist 1970)
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (Shortlist 1977)
Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood (Shortlist 1977)
¹³The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (Booker Prize 1978)
¹³Good Behaviour by Molly Keane (Shortlist 1981)
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (Booker Prize 1981)
*An Ice-cream War by William Boyd (Shortlist 1982)
Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally (Booker Prize 1982) - Reading
The Good Apprentice by Iris Murdoch (Shortlist 1985)
The Bone People by Keri Hulme (Booker Prize 1985)
¹³The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 1986)
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (Booker Prize 1987)
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (Shortlist 1988)
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (Booker Prize 1988)
The Book of Evidence by John Banville (Shortlist 1989)
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 1989)
¹³The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (Booker Prize 1989)
Possession by A.S. Byatt (Booker Prize 1990)
*Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (Booker Prize 1992)
Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer (Shortlist 1993)
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle (Booker Prize 1993)
¹³Morality Play by Barry Unsworth (Shortlist 1995)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (Shortlist 1996)
Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge (Shortlist 1998)
¹³Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee (Booker Prize 1999)
Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri (Longlist 2001)
*Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry (Shortlist 2002)
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 2003)
Astonishing Splashes Of Colour by Clare Morrall (Shortlist 2003)
Brick Lane by Monica Ali (Shortlist 2003)
¹³What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller (Shortlist 2003)
The Master by Colm Toibin (Shortlist 2004)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Shortlist 2005) - reread
The Accidental by Ali Smith (Shortlist 2005)
Mother's Milk by Edward St. Aubyn (Shortlist 2006)
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Booker Prize 2006)
*The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (Longlist 2007)
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz (Shortlist 2008)
¹³The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Shortlist 2008)
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Booker Prize 2008) (reread)
Heliopolis by James Scudamore (Longlist 2009)
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Shortlist 2009)
Trespass by Rose Tremain (Longlist 2010)
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (Longlist 2010)
Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch (Shortlist 2011)
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Longlist 2013)
Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson (Longlist 2013)
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri (Shortlist 2013)
¹³The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin (Shortlist 2013)
¹³Harvest by Jim Crace (Shortlist 2013)
¹³The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (Booker Prize 2013)
*Orfeo by Richard Powers (Longlist 2014)

¹³ = read in 2013
* = recent additions

(more on the wishlist of course!)

A Century of Books! 1900-1999

I stole this challenge idea from Heather/souloftherose. I'm going to try and read a book published in every year of the 20th century. I know I won't manage it in one year, so I'll extend it for as long as it takes me... and will obviously be continuing it into 2015!

1900
1901
1902
1903
1904 The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913 O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918 The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
1919
1920 In Chancery by John Galsworthy
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926 These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer
1927
1928 Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayer
1929 Journey Into the Past by Stefan Zweig
1930 Le Bal by Irène Némirovsky
1931 Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett by Georges Simenon
1932 Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
1933
1934 Miss Buncle's Book bu D. E. Stevenson
1935
1936 The Dark Frontier by Eric Ambler
1937
1938 Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler
1939 Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household
1940 Native Son by Richard Wright
1941
1942 Le joueur d'échecs / Chess Story by Stefan Zweig
1943 Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
1944 Dragonwyck by Anya Seton
1945
1946 Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey
1947 Wolf Story by William Mccleery
1948 A Russian Journal by John Steinbeck and Robert Capa
1949
1950 Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
1951 My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
1952
1953 The Unstrung Harp: Or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel by Edward Gorey
1954 Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960 The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning
1961 Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
1962 Cover Her Face by P. D. James
1963
1964 Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken
1965 Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin
1966 The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott
1967
1968 A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
1969 The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens
1970
1971 Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
1972
1973 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
1974 Greenwitch by Susan Cooper
1975
1976
1977
1978 A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
1979
1980 A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
1981 Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini
1982
1983 The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988 Night Soldiers by Alan Furst
1989 Restoration by Rose Tremain
1990 The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard
1991 The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
1992 All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
1993
1994 The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
1995 Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
1996 The Terracotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri
1997 Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin
1998 Amsterdam Ian McEwan
1999

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

❉ African Trilogy - Next up: No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe (2/3)
ⓔ Alan Grant Mysteries - Next up: The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey (1/6 - read out of order)
♫ American Gods - Next up: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (2/2) - Completed in July
✔ Anton Rider - Next up: The Devil's Oasis by Bartle Bull (3/3) - Completed in August
♫ The Australian Trilogy - Next up: Tommo and Hawk by Bryce Courtenay (⅔)
*ⓔ The Balkan Trilogy- Next up: The Spoilt City by Olivia Manning (2/3)
♫ Bartimaeus Trilogy - Next up: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud (Prequel)
Bernie Gunther - Next up: A German Requiem by Philip Kerr (3/9)
♫ Bloody Jack Adventures - Next up: Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L. A. Meyer (2/12)
✔ Border Trilogy - Next up: The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy (2/3)
❉ Cannery Row - Next up: Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck (2/2)
*♫ Cazalet Chronicles - Next up: Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard (2/5)
♫ The Cemetery of Forgotten Books - Next up: The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (2/3)
❉ Chief Inspector Armand Gamache - Next up: A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (2/8)
♫ The Chronicles of Barsetshire - Next up: Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope (2/6)
✔ Claudius - Next up: Claudius the God by Robert Graves (2/2)
♫ La Comédie Humaine - Next up: Le curé de Tours by Honoré de Balzac (31/88 - read out of order)
✔ Commissario Brunetti - Next up: Acqua Alta by Donna Leon (5/21 - read out of order)
✔ Commissario Montalbano - Next up: The Paper Moon by Andrea Camilleri (9/18)
❉ Corfu Trilogy: The Garden of the Gods by Gerald Durrell (3/3)
♫ The Cousins' War: The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (2/5)
*✔ The Dark is Rising Sequence - Next up: The Grey King by Susan Cooper (4/5)
♫ Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Next up: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (2/3)
❉ De Luca Trilogy - Next up: The Damned Season by Carlo Lucarelli (2/3)
✔ The Deptford Trilogy - Next up: World of Wonders by Robertson Davies (3/3)
♫ The Dresden Files: Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (3/15)
❉ Dr. Siri Paiboun - Next up: Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill (5/8)
♫ Dublin Murder Squad - Next up: The Likeness by Tana French (2/5)
♫ Easy Rawlins Mystery - Next up: White Butterfly by Walter Mosley (3/10)
ⓔ Elizabeth and her German Garden - Next up: The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim (2/2)
*✔ Empire Trilogy - Next up: The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell (3/3)
❉♫ Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström - Next up: The Preacher by Camilla Läckberg (2/8)
❉♫ Flavia de Luce - Next up: A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (3/6)
♫ Forsyte Saga - Next up: To Let by John Galsworthy (3/3)
❉ Green Town - Next up: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (2/2)
❉ The Harlem Cycle - Next up: All Shot Up by Chester Himes (4/8)
♫ Harry Potter - Next up: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (reread) (4/7)
❉ Hercule Poirot - Next up: Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie (8/39 - read out of order)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Dramatization - Next up: Tertiary Phase (BBC Radio Collection) by Douglas Adams (3/5)
♫ The House of Earth Trilogy - Next up: Sons by Pearl S. Buck (2/3)
The Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh - Next up: Awaiting publication (3/3)
❉ The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place - Next up: The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood (3/4)
Inspector Yashim Togalu - Next up: The Snake Stone by Jason Goodwin (2/4)
♫ Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries - Next up: The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith (3/9)
♫ Jack Reacher - Next up: The Enemy by Lee Child (8/17)
✔ Jackson Brodie - Next up: When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson (3/4)
♫ John Russell - Next up: Lehrter Station by David Downing (5/5)
Joseph O'Loughlin - Next up: Shatter by Michael Robotham (3/5)
♫ Kenzie and Gennaro - Next up: Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane (2/5 - read out of order)
♫ Kurt Wallander - Next up: The White Lioness by Henning Mankell (3/10)
The Last Lion - Next up: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940 by William Manchester (2/3)
Leviathan - Next up: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (2/3)
♫ The Lord of the Rings - Next up: The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien (3/4)
✔ Lord Peter Wimsey - Next up: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (5/15)
❉ Maigret - Next up: The Sailors' Rendezvous by Georges Simenon (9/76)
*ⓔ Mapp and Lucia - Next up: Lucia in London by E. F. Benson (3/8)
Matthew Shardlake - Next up: Lamentation by C. J. Samson (awaiting publication) (6/6)
Miss Marple - Next up: The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (2/12)
❉ Night Soldiers" - Next up: Dark Star by Alan Furst (2/13)
❉ The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Next up: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith (6/14)
♫ The Obelisk Trilogy - Next up: Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller (2/3)
Oxford Time Travel series - Next up: Blackout by Connie Willis (3/4)
Parker - Next up: The Mourner by Richard Stark (4/24)
✔ Philip Marlowe - Next up: The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (6/9 - read out of order)
Phryne Fisher Mysteries - Next up: Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood (4/20)
The Power Of One - Next up: Tandia by Bryce Courtenay (2/2)
The Prairie Trilogy - Next up: The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (2/3)
✔ The Raj Quartet: The Towers Of Silence by Paul Scott (3/4)
♫ Ranger's Apprentice: The Icebound Land by John Flanagan (3/12)
❉♫ The Raven Cycle Next up: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (2/4)
♫ Rivers of London - Next up: Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch 3/5)
♫ Robert Merivel Next up: Merivel by Rose Tremain (2/2) - Completed in July
❉ Les Rougon-Macquart - Next up: La joie de vivre by Émile Zola (12/20)
♫ Ruby Trilogy - Next up: Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier (2/3)
✔ Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Next up: The Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman (2/4)
♫ Sherlock Holmes: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (4/9)
♫ A Song of Ice and Fire - Next up: A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin (5/7)
❉ Sookie Stackhouse - Next up: Club Dead by Charlaine Harris (3/14)
❉ The Spiderwick Chronicles - Next up: The Wrath of Mulgarath by Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi (5/8)
♫ Tales of the City - Next up: Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (3/6)
♫ Tales of the Otori - Next up: Brilliance of the Moon by Lian Hearn (3/4+prequel)
❉ Three Men in a Boat - Next up: Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome (2/2)
♫ Timothy Wilde - Next up: Unknown title by Lyndsay Faye (awaiting publication) (3/3)
*♫ Tom Ripley - Next up: The Boy Who Followed Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (4/5)
❉ Victor Legris - Next up: La disparue du Père-Lachaise by Claude Izner (2/11)
♫ Wind on Fire Trilogy - Next up: The Wind on Fire by William Nicholson (3/3)
Wolf Hall Trilogy - Next up: The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (awaiting publication) (3/3)
Wolves Chronicles - Next up: Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken (3/11)
❉ Wyoming Stories: Bad Dirt by Annie Proulx (2/3)

***

First in Series on my TBR
*♫ Albert Campion: The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham (1/19)
✔ The American Trilogy: American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1/3)
✔ Aristide Ravel Mysteries : The Cavalier of the Apocalypse by Susanne Alleyn (1/4)
✔ The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson (1/2)
♫ Aubrey-Maturin: Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian (1/21)
♫ Avalon: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1/7)
✔ The Book of Lies - Twins Trilogy: The Notebook by Ágota Kristóf (1/3)
✔ The Borrible Trilogy: The Borribles by Michael De Larrabeiti (1/3)
✔ Carl Webster: The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard (1/3)
♫ Chief Inspector Adamsberg: The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas (1/9)
*♫ Chocolat: Chocolat by Joanne Harris (1/3)
*♫ Cicero: Imperium by Robert Harris (1/2)
♫ A Dance to the Music of Time: A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement, Spring by Anthony Powell (1/4)
✔ Danzig Trilogy: The Tin Drum by Günter Grass (1/3)
✔ Empress Orchid: Empress Orchid by Anchee Min (1/2)
✔ Hank Thompson: Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston (1/3)
✔ Haroun: Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (1/2)
*♫ Harry Hole: The Bat by Jo Nesbø (1/10)
✔ Henrietta's War: Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front 1939-1942 by Joyce Dennys (1/2)
✔ The Hummingbird's Daughter: The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea (1/2)
♫ In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way by Marcel Proust (1/8)
♫ James Bond: Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (1/14)
♫ Joona Linna: The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler (1/3)
ⓔ The Kingkiller Chronicle : The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (1/3)
✔ Latin American Trilogy: The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by Louis de Bernières (1/3)
♫ Leonid McGill: The Long Fall by Walter Mosley (1/4)
✔❉♫ The Magicians: The Magicians by Lev Grossman (1/2)
♫ McCaskill Trilogy: English Creek by Ivan Doig (1/3)
✔ Micah Dalton: The Echelon Vendetta by David Stone (1/4)
♫ Michael Forsythe: Dead I Well May Be by Adrian McKinty (1/3)
✔ Mistress of the Art of Death: Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin (¼)
*✔ On Foot to Constantinople: A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor (1/3)
♫ Outlander: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (1/8)
*♫+ⓔ Patrick Melrose: Never Mind by Edward St. Aubyn (1/5)
✔ The Psammead Trilogy: Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (1/3)
✔ Quirke: Christine Falls by Benjamin Black (1/5)
♫ Revelation Space: Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds (1/7)
♫ Shanghai Girls: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (1/2)
♫ Sprawl: Neuromancer by William Gibson (1/3)
♫ Sword of Honour: Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh (1/3)
♫ The Vampire Chronicles: Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (reread) (1/10)
❉♫ The Wolves of Mercy Falls: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (1/3)
♫ World War II Saga: The Winds of War by Herman Wouk (1/2)



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

Reading Bingo - FIRST CARD COMPLETED!
Only counting books I really loved toward this challenge (4 stars and up).



More than 500 pages: Bleak House by Charles Dickens ★★★★
Forgotten Classic: Coriolanus by William Shakespeare ★★★★
Book that became a movie: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - tutorial ★★★★½
Published this year: Frog Music by Emma Donoghue ★★★★
Number in the title: 1914: A Novel by Jean Echenoz ★★★★
Written by someone under 30: Love and Freindship (sic) by Jane Austen ★★★★½
Book with non-human characters: Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett ★★★★
Funny Book: You're All Just Jealous Of My Jetpack by Tom Gauld ★★★★
Female Author: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë ★★★★½
Book with a mystery: Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon ★★★★
One-Word Title: Nana by Émile Zola ★★★★⅓
Book of short stories: The New York Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton ★★★★½
Set on a different continent: The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng ★★★★★
Non-Fiction: Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin ★★★★
First book by a favourite author: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen ★★★★½
Heard about online: The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard ★★★★⅓
Best-selling book: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris ★★★★
Based on a true story: Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan ★★★★½
*Book at the bottom of TBR pile: A Café on the Nile ★★★★½
Book my friend loves: 13831844::Grumpy Cat by Grumpy Cat ★★★★
Book that scares me: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman ★★★★⅓
More than 10 years old: Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
Second book in a series: In Chancery by John Galsworthy ★★★★
Blue cover: The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin ★★★★


For the following, I'll be counting any kind of books, not just YA.
SECOND CARD COMPLETED!



A book with a female heroine: Lady Susan by Jane Austen ★★★★½
A book set in a high school: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier ★★★★
*The last book in a trilogy: Firesong by William Nicholson ★★★★½
A book with a colour in the title: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory ★★★★
The first book in a series: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater ★★★★
A book set in the future: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson ★★★★
A book with a breakup: All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy ★★★★⅞
A book without a love triangle: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood ★★★★
A book that became a movie: Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household ★★★★½
A book set in Paris: These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer ★★★★
A book set in the past: Restoration by Rose Tremain ★★★★★
A book with magic: Slaves of the Mastery by William Nicholson ★★★★
A book set in the summer: Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom ★★★★⅓
*A book with a dragon: The Wrath of Mulgarath by Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi ★★★★
A book that made you cry: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate ★★★★½
A graphic novel: Amphigorey by Edward Gorey ★★★★½
A book based on a myth: The Quick by Lauren Owen ★★★★★
A "classic" YA book: Bloody Jack; Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L. A. Meyer ★★★★
A book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe: 5403381::Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling ★★★★½ (reread)
A book with an incredible fight scene: 12293181::Goliath by Tom Gauld ★★★★
A book you heard about online: Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler ★★★★
A book set in another world: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin ★★★★
A book with an epic love story: Longbourn by Jo Baker ★★★★⅓
A book with music: Frog Music by Emma Donoghue ★★★★⅓

* = Most recent additions

Books Purchased in 2014

January
1. Prospero's Cell by Lawrence Durrell
2. ♫ The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally - Read in March
3. ♫ The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth - Read in November
4. ♫ The Songs of the Kings by Barry Unsworth
5. ♫ The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War 1890-1914 by Barbara W. Tuchman
6. ♫ Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell
7. ♫ Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye - Read in May
8. The Book of Common Prayer (2nd hand FS)
9. ♫ Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (Audible Daily Deal)
10. ⓔ The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany (Kindle deal)
11. ⓔ Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace by Kate Summerscale (Kindle deal)
12. ⓔ The Snoring Bird: My Family's Journey Through a Century of Biology by Bernd Heinrich (Kindle deal)
13. ⓔ Voltaire Almighty by Roger Pearson (Kindle deal)
14. ♫ The Trembling of a Leaf by W. Somerset Maugham (Downpour Sale)
15. ⓔ Uncle Silas: A Tale of Bartram-Haugh by Sheridan Le Fanu (Kindle 99¢)
16. ⓔ Ham On Rye by Charles Bukowski (Kindle Daily Deal)
17. ⓔ Post Office by Charles Bukowski (Kindle Daily Deal)
18. ⓔ The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann (Kindle Daily Deal) - Completed in September
19. ⓔ 420 Characters by Lou Beach - Read in February
20. ⓔ The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles (Kindle Daily Deal)
21. ⓔ The Spider's House by Paul Bowles (Kindle Daily Deal)
22. ⓔ Ask the Dust by John Fante (Kindle Daily Deal)
23. ⓔ The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge (Kindle Daily Deal)
24. ⓔ D.V. by Diana Vreeland (Kindle Daily Deal)
25. ⓔ Hotel de Dream by Edmund White (Kindle Daily Deal)
26. ⓔ The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea by Philip Hoare (Kindle Daily Deal)

February
27. ⓔ Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick (Kindle DD)
28. ⓔ When We Were Bad: A Novel by Charlotte Mendelson (rec'd by Bonnie)
29. ⓔ The Light Years (The Cazalet Chronicle 1) by Elizabeth Jane Howard
30. ♫ Marking Time (The Cazalet Chronicle 2) by Elizabeth Jane Howard
31. ♫ Fools of Fortune by William Trevor (rec'd by Paul)
32. ♫ The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 by Margaret MacMillan (rec'd by Suz and Bonnie)
33. ♫ Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch (rec'd by Suz and Mark) - Read in February
34. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (Everyman's Library)
35. ♫ Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch - Read in February
36. ♫ The Dinner by Herman Koch (Audible Daily Deal)
37. ♫ An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine - Read in February
38. ♫ Selection of Katherine Mansfield
39. ♫ Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (read by Juliet Stevenson)
40. ♫ Realms of Gold: Letters and Poems of John Keats
41. ♫ The Beautiful Visit by Elizabeth Jane Howard
42. ♫ The King's General by Daphne du Maurier
43. ♫ The Two Destinies by Wilkie Collins
44. ♫ The Complete Barchester Chronicles by Anthony Trollope - (Dramatisation)
45. ♫ Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
46. ♫ Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon - Read in February
47. ♫ The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
48. ♫ Fraud by Anita Brookner
49. ♫ The Brimstone Wedding by Barbara Vine
50. ♫ The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (Dramatised) - Read in March
51. ♫ Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty - Read in March
52. ♫ Imperium by Robert Harris (Rec'd by Suz, $5 on Downpour.com)
53. ⓔ+♫ Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence (for reread) - (special deal w/ Kindle)
54. ⓔ+♫ Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence (for reread) - (as above)
55. ♫ The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope - Read in April
56. ♫ Tommo and Hawk: The Australian Trilogy, Book 2 by Bryce Courtenay
57. ♫ How It All Began: A Novel by Penelope Lively - Read in March
58. ♫ Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
59. ♫ The Light of Day by Eric Ambler - Read in February
60. A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen by Harold Bloom (used)
61. High Rising by Angela Thirkell
62. Sanditon and Other Stories by Jane Austen (Everyman's Library)
63. ⓔ+♫ Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson - (special deal w/ Kindle)
64. ♫ Philomena by Martin Sixsmith (Audible Daily Deal)

March
65. ⓔ+♫ Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope - (special deal w/ Kindle)
66. ⓔ+♫ Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope - (special deal w/ Kindle)
67. ♫ Firesong by William Nicholson
68. ⓔ+♫ Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (Kindle and Audio for special price)
69. ♫ Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler - Read in March
70. The Raj Quartet: v. 2 by Paul Scott (Everyman's Library)
71. ⓔ A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (Kindle DD)
72. ⓔ Flannery O'Connor: Complete Stories (Kindle DD)
73. ⓔ Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie (Kindle DD)
74. ⓔ The Natural by Bernard Malamud (Kindle DD)
75. ⓔ Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales by Ray Bradbury (Kindle DD)
76. ⓔ Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund (Kindle DD)
77. ♫ The Dark Frontier by Eric Ambler - Read in March
78. ⓔ Grumpy Cat by Grumpy Cat - Read in March
79. ♫ Ripley Under Water by Patricia Highsmith
80. ♫ The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin - Read in April
81. The Reef by Edith Wharton (Everyman's Library)
82. ⓔ The Complete Northanger Horrid Novel Collection (9 Books of Gothic Romance and Horror) (all for $1!)
83. ⓔ Marcovaldo: or the Seasons in the City by Italo Calvino (Kindle DD)
84. ⓔ Italian Folk Tales by Italo Calvino (Kindle DD)
85. ♫ I Am David by Anne Holm (Audible 2 for 1)
86. ♫ The Invisible Woman by Claire Tomalin (Audible 2 for 1)
87. ♫ Maurice by E.M. Forster (Audible 2 for 1)
88. ♫ Society's Child by Janis Ian (Audible 2 for 1)
89. ♫ Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Audible 2 for 1)
90. ♫ The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (Audible 2 for 1)
91. ♫ The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren (Downpour)
92. ♫ A Walk on the Wild Side by Nelson Algren (Downpour)
93. ⓔ The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christies (Kindle DD)
94. ⓔ Death on the Nile by Agatha Christies (Kindle DD)
95. ⓔ 4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christies (Kindle DD)
96. ⓔ The Body in the Library by Agatha Christies (Kindle DD)

Books Purchased in 2014 (cont'd)

April
97. ♫ The Bees by Laline Paull - Returned for refund
98. ♫ Cause for Alarm by Eric Ambler
99. ♫ The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux
100. ♫ Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
101. ♫ The Wall by Marlen Haushofer (Strongly recommended by Rhian)
102. ♫ The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St. Aubyn
103 ⓔ The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St. Aubyn (Kindle)
104. ♫ The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume I by Edward Gibbon
105. ♫ Frog Music by Emma Donoghue - Read in April
106. ⓔ The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning (Kindle)
107. ♫ Merivel by Rose Tremain - Completed in July
108. ♫ Chocolat by Joanne Harris
109. ♫ These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer - Read in April
110. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Everyman's Library)
111. Emma by Jane Austen (Everyman's Library)
112. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (Everyman's Library)
113. ♫ Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L. A. Meyer - Read in May
114. ♫ The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book II: The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood - Read in April
115. ♫ The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill - Read in April
116. ⓔ Virgin Soil (with Biographical Introduction) by Ivan Turgenev (Kindle Deal)
117. ⓔ Stoner by John Williams (Kindle Deal)
118. ⓔ Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Kindle Deal)
119. ⓔ Sadler's Birthday by Rose Tremain (Kindle)
120. ♫ Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English by John McWhorter (Audible DD) - Completed in August
121. ♫ A Town Like Alice by Nevile Shute (Audible DD)
122. ♫ March Violets by Philip Kerr - Read in May
123. ⓔ The Complete Works of Josephine Tey (Kindle Deal)

May
124. ♫ The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker as the (Audible DD)
125. ⓔ Miss Buncle Married by D. E. Stevenson (Kindle)
126. The Fortnight in September by R. C. Sherriff (Persephone Books)
127. They Knew Mr. Knight by Dorothy Whipple (Persephone Books)
128. Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes by Mollie Panter-Downes (Persephone Books)
129. ♫ The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr - Read in May
130. ♫ The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell - Read in May
131. Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen (FS sale)
132. ⓔ Dissolution by C. J. Samson - Read in May
133. ⓔ Dark Fire by C. J. Samson - Read in May
134. ♫ The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Ten Years After by Alexandre Dumas (Downpour.com deal)
135. ♫ Louise de La Vallière by Alexandre Dumas (Downpour.com deal)
136. ⓔ A Judgement In Stone by Ruth Rendell (Kindle Deal)
137. ⓔ Summer Knight: Book four of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Audible DD)
138. ⓔ Death Masks: Book five of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Audible DD)
139. ⓔ Blood Rites: Book six of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Audible DD)
140. ⓔ Dead Beat: Book 7 of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Audible DD)
141. ♫ The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien (Audible 2 for 3)
142. ♫ Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne (Audible 2 for 3)
143. ♫ The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (Audible 2 for 3) - Returned for exchange
144. ♫ The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin (Audible 2 for 3) - Returned for exchange
145. ♫ Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson (Audible 2 for 3)
146. ♫ Dog on It by Spencer Quinn (Audible 2 for 3)
147. ♫ Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L. A. Meyer (Audible 2 for 3)
148. ♫ Under the Jolly Roger by L. A. Meyer (Audible 2 for 3)
149. ♫ The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan (Audible 2 for 3) - Completed in June
150. ♫ The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan (Audible 2 for 3) - Completed in August
151. ♫ The Icebound Land by John Flanagan (Audible 2 for 3)
152. ♫ You're Next by: Gregg Hurwitz (Audible 2 for 3)
153. ⓔ Sovereign by C. J. Samson - Read in May
154. Animal Farm by George Orwell (FS sale)
155. ⓔ Lucian Freud: Eyes Wide Open by Phoebe Hoban (Kindle DD)
156. ♫ A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin (Audible DD)
157. ♫ The Curse of Chalion (Downpour.com sale)
158. ♫ Shards of Honor (Downpour.com sale)
159. ⓔ Edwin: High King of Britain by Edoardo Albert (Amazon Deal)
160. ⓔ Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther ($1 Kindle)
161. ⓔ Revelation by C. J. Sansom - Completed in June

June
162. ⓔ Heartstone by C. J. Sansom - Completed in June
The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Audible - exchange)
The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill (Audible - exchange)
163. ⓔ The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer (Kindle sale)
164. ⓔ Cotillion by Georgette Heyer (Kindle sale)
165. ⓔ Venetia by Georgette Heyer (Kindle sale)
166. ⓔ The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer (Kindle sale)
167. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (VDC from Abe)
168. The Unstrung Harp: Or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel by Edward Gorey (Hardcover from Abe)
169. ⓔ Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (Bello editions deal)
170. ⓔ To War with Whitaker: Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly, 1939-45 by Hermione Ranfurly (Bello editions deal)
171. ⓔ Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson (Bello editions deal)
172. ⓔ The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson (Kindle Deal)
173. ♫ Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst - Completed in July
174. ♫ The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning - Completed in June
175. ⓔ Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - Completed in June
176. ⓔ Correspondance by Paul Cézanne
177. ♫ The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan (Audible DD)
178. ♫ The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood - Returned for refund
179. ♫ Sold by Patricia McCormick (Audible DD)
180. ♫ Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
181. ♫ Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
182. ♫ Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck by Amy Alkon - Returned for refund

Books Purchased in 2014 (cont'd)

July
183. ⓔ The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurty (Kindle Monthly Deal)
184. ⓔ What Matters in Jane Austen? by John Mullan (Kindle Monthly Deal)
180. ⓔ Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Kindle Deal)
185. ⓔ A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (Kindle Deal)
186. ⓔ Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose (Kindle DD)
187. ⓔ The Round House by Louise Erdrich (Kindle DD)
188. ⓔ The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
189. ♫ The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri (Downpour.com sale) - Completed in July
190. ♫ The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri (Downpour.com sale) - Completed in July
191. ♫ The Smell of the Night by Andrea Camilleri (Downpour.com sale) - Completed in August
192. ♫ Rounding the Mark by Andrea Camilleri (Downpour.com sale) - Completed in August
193. ♫ The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri (Downpour.com sale) - Completed in September
194. ♫ The Wings of the Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri (Downpour.com sale)
195. ♫ The Potter's Field by Andrea Camilleri (Downpour.com sale)
196. ♫ The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri (Downpour.com sale)
197. ♫ The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri (Downpour.com sale)
198. ⓔ+♫ The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens (Audible/Kindle deal)
199. ⓔ+♫ Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens (Audible/Kindle deal)
200. Bliss and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield (Bloomsbury Classics)
201. The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield (Bloomsbury Classics)
202. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (Bloomsbury Classics) - Completed in August

August
203. A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr (NYRB - used) - Completed in September
A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens (Audible replacement) - Completed in September
The Waiting Game by Bernice Rubens (Audible replacement) - Completed in August
204. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (VMC Designer Collection) - Completed in November
205. A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor (VMC Designer Collection)
206. ♫ The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony & Graham Spence (Audible deal)

September
207. ⓔ Leonardo's Notebooks by Leonardo da Vinci, edited by H. Anna Suh (Kindle Deal)
208. ⓔ Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I by Peter Ackroyd (Kindle Deal)
209. ⓔ Capturing the Light by Roger Watson and Helen Rappaport (Kindle Deal)
210. ⓔ Die a Little by Megan Abbott (Kindle Monthly Deal)
211. ♫ The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier
212. ♫ The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles (Bonus credit)
213. ♫ Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster (Downpour.com Weekend Spotlight)
214. ♫ The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (Audible $4.95 sale)
215. ♫ The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (Audible $4.95 sale)
216. ♫ Dissolution by C. J. Sansom (Audible $4.95 sale)
217. ♫ The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier - Completed in October
218. ♫ The Way I Found Her by Rose Tremain
219. ♫ Trespass by Rose Tremain
220. ♫ The Ghost Writer by Robert Harris
221. ♫ A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel - Completed in October
222. ♫ Affinity by Sarah Waters
223. ♫ The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters - Completed in September
224. ♫ The Good Apprentice by Irish Murdoch
225. ♫ Flight from the Enchanter by Irish Murdoch
226. ♫ Bruno's Dream by Irish Murdoch
227. ♫ Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
228. ♫ Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
229. ♫ Sword of Honour by Evelyn Waugh
230. ♫ Giovanni's Room by James Balwin
231. ♫ The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham
232. ♫ The Boy Who Followed Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
233. ⓔ+♫ Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence (Audible/Kindle deal)
234. ⓔ+♫ The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence (Audible/Kindle deal)
235. Everything Flows by Vassili Grossman (NYRB Classics)
236. ♫ Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst (Downpour.com Deal)
237. ♫ Black Mask 1: Doors in the Dark (Downpour.com Deal)
238. ♫ The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
239. ♫ The Bat: The First Inspector Harry Hole Novel by Jo Nesbø
240. ♫ The Finishing School by Muriel Spark
241. ♫ La vie en mieux by Anna Gavalda
242. ♫ Conspirata: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Robert Harris
243. ♫ Solar by Ian McEwan
244. ♫ Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
245. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier (VMC Designer Collection)
246. ♫ The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (Audible DD)
247. ♫ The Children Act by Ian McEwan - Completed in October
248. ⓔ Lucia in London by E. F. Benson (Kindle 99¢)
249. The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell (Better Wold Books gift coupon)

October
250. ♫ The Graveyard Book (Full-Cast Production) by Neil Gaiman - Completed in October
251. Pedigree by Georges Simenon (Amazon.ca)
252. ⓔ Sisters of Treason by Elizabeth Fremantle (Kindle DD)
253. ⓔ The Railway Man by Eric Lomax (Kindle Deal)
254. ⓔ+♫ The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens (Audible/Kindle deal)
255. ⓔ+♫ The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Audible/Kindle deal)
♫ Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth (Audible replacement)
256. ⓔ Sunday Best by Bernice Rubens
257. ⓔ I, Dreyfus by Bernice Rubens
258. ♫ Past Caring by Robert Goddard
259. ♫ Stamboul Train by Graham Greene
260. ⓔ+♫ Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (Audible/Kindle deal)
261. ⓔ+♫ Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray (Audible/Kindle deal)
262. ⓔ+♫ Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy (Audible/Kindle deal)
263. ⓔ+♫ Night and Day by Virginia Woolf (Audible/Kindle deal)
264. ⓔ+♫ Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (Audible/Kindle deal)
265. ⓔ+♫ The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (Audible/Kindle deal)
266. ⓔ+♫ Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor (Audible/Kindle deal)
267. ⓔ+♫ The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson (Audible/Kindle deal)
268. ⓔ+♫ The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith (Audible/Kindle deal)
269. ⓔ+♫ My Antonia by Willa Cather (Audible/Kindle deal)
270. ♫ The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham (Audible Sale)
271. ♫ Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham (Audible Sale)
272. ♫ All Our Worldly Goods by Irene Nemirovsky (Amazon.com)
273. ♫ Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey (Amazon.com)
274. ♫ Nine Lives by Bernice Rubens (Amazon.com) - Completed in November
275. ♫ The Road Home by Rose Tremain (Amazon.com)
276. The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton (Virago edition from AbeBooks)
277. A Pin To See The Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse (Virago edition from AbeBooks)
278. The Victorians by A. N. Wilson (Used, Folio Society from AbeBooks)
279. The Great Plague of London by Walter George Bell (Used, Folio Society from AbeBooks)
280. The Heather Blazing by Colm Tóibín (New from Book Depo)
281. ♫ Philosopher's Pupil by Irish Murdoch
282. ⓔ+♫ The Wings of the Dove by Henry James (Audible/Kindle deal)
283. ♫ Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
284. ♫ The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton
285. ♫ The African Queen by C. S. Foreseter
286. ♫ The Collector by John Fowles
287. ♫ Breakfast with Lucian: A Portrait of the Artist by Geordie Greig - Completed in November

November
288. Walking the Dog by David Hughes (BookDepository)
289. ♫ The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer (Audible Daily Deal)
290. ⓔ+♫ Because We Are: A Novel of Haiti by Ted Oswald (Audible/Kindle Daily Deal)
291. ⓔ+♫ A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Audible/Kindle deal)
292. ⓔ+♫ Adam Bede by George Eliot (Audible/Kindle deal)
293. ♫ The Human Factor by Graham Greene
294. ♫ The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
295. ♫ The Siege by Helen Dunmore
296. ⓔ The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation by Ian Mortimer (Kindle Daily Deal)
297. ⓔ The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (Kindle Deal)
298. Ru by Kim Thúy (AbeBooks)
299. Les Liaisons Dangereuses 2007 Folio Society edition (AbeBooks)
300. The Ice-Cream War by William Boyd (BookDepository)
301. Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (BookDepository)
302. Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford Edited by Peter Sussman (BookOutlet.ca)
303. ♫ Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
304. An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo (for a reread) (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
305. Breakfast with Lucian by Geordie Greig (for a reread) (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
306. Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
307. Mrs. Woolf and the Servants: An Intimate History of Domestic Life in Bloomsbury by Alison Light (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
308. Ross Poldark by Winston Graham - Rec'd by Peggy (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
309. The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present by Eric Kandel (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
310. The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
311. The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
312. ♫ The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - audiobook on CD (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
313. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
314. The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
315. The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
316. Madame De Treymes and Three Novellas by Edith Wharton (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
317. A Backward Glance: An Autobiography by Edith Wharton (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
318. The Writing of Fiction by Edith Wharton (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
319. Thomas Cromwell by Robert Hutchinson (BookOutlet.ca Deal)
320. ♫ Orfeo by Richard Powers (Audible Sale)
321. ♫ A Symphony of Echoes: The Chronicles of St Mary's, Book 2 by Jodi Taylor (Audible Sale)
322. ♫ A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor (Audible Sale)
323. ♫ Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley (Audible Sale)
324. ♫ Farthing: Small Change, Book 1 by Jo Walton (Audible Sale)
325. ♫ The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (Audible Sale)
326. ⓔ The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England’s Most Notorious Queen by Susan Bordo (Kindle Daily Deal)
327. ⓔ A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick (Kindle Daily Deal)
328. ⓔ Ubik by Philip K. Dick (Kindle Daily Deal)
329. ⓔ The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick (Kindle Daily Deal)
330. ⓔ Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen by Mary Sharratt - Suzanne (@Chatterbox) rated this one 4.5 stars (Kindle Daily Deal)
331. ⓔ If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino (Kindle Daily Deal)
332. ♫ A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. (Audible Sale)
333. ♫ Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin (Audible Sale)
334. ♫ Broken Harbor: Dublin Murder Squad, Book 4 by Tana French (Audible Sale)
335. Mr Wakefield's Crusade by Bernice Rubens (AbeBooks)

December
336. ⓔ Harnessing Peacocks by Mary Wesley (Kindle Daily Deal)
337. ⓔ The Vacillations of Poppy Carew by Mary Wesley (Kindle Daily Deal)
338. ⓔ A Sensible Life by Mary Wesley (Kindle Daily Deal)
339. ⓔ Death of a Dissident (Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov Mysteries 1) by Stuart M. Kaminsky (Kindle Daily Deal)
340. ⓔ Black Knight in Red Square (Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov Mysteries 2) by Stuart M. Kaminsky (Kindle Daily Deal)
341. ⓔ A Morbid Taste for Bones (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 1) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
342. ⓔ One Corpse Too Many (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 2) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
343. ⓔ Monk's Hood (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 3) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
344. ⓔ The Leper of Saint Giles (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 5) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
345. ⓔ The Devil's Novice (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 8) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
346. ⓔ Dead Man's Ransom (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 9) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
347. ⓔ The Pilgrim of Hate (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 10) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
348. ⓔ An Excellent Mystery (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 11) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
349. ⓔ The Rose Rent (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 13) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
350. ⓔ The Hermit of Eyton Forest (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 14) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
351. ⓔ The Potter's Field (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 17) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
352. ⓔ Brother Cadfael's Penance (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 18) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
353. ⓔ A Rare Benedictine (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael - Prequel Anthology) by Ellis Peters (Kindle Daily Deal)
354. ♫ The Quality of Mercy by Barry Unsworth
355. ♫ Blood & Beauty: The Borgias by Sarah Dunant
356. ♫ Fludd by Hilary Mantel - Completed in December
357. ⓔ Selected Stories by Andre Dubuss (Kindle Daily Deal)
358. ⓔ The Color Purple by Alice Walker (Kindle Daily Deal)
359. ⓔ The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau (Kindle Daily Deal)
340. ⓔ The Physician (The Cole Trilogy, Book 1) by Noah Gordon (Kindle Daily Deal)
341. ⓔ Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (Kindle Daily Deal)
342. ⓔ The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England by Susan Higginbotham (Kindle Daily Deal)
343. ♫ The Third Man by Graham Greene (Audible Sale)
344. ♫ Trials of Rumpole by John Mortimer (Audible Sale)
345. ♫ Euphoria by Lily King (Audible Daily Deal)
346. The New York Stories of Henry James (AbeBooks)
347. You'll Enjoy It When You Get There: The Selected Stories of Elizabeth Taylor (AbeBooks)
348. Eustace and Hilda by L. P. Hartley (AbeBooks)
349. The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley (AbeBooks)
350. Two Lives by William Trevor (BookOutlet Deal)
351. The Whispering Land by Gerald Durrell (BookOutlet Deal)
352. Journey to the Abyss: The Diaries of Count Harry Kessler, 1880-1918 by Laird M. Easton (BookOutlet Deal)
353. Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller by Judith Thurman (BookOutlet Deal)
354. Black Box by Amos Oz (BookOutlet Deal)
355. Last Orders by Graham Swift (BookOutlet Deal)
356. Waterland by Graham Swift (BookOutlet Deal)
357. The Peacock Spring by Rumer Godden (BookOutlet Deal)
358. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey(Kindle Deal)
359. The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales by Chris Van Allsburg (Kindle Daily Deal)
360. ♫ The American Lover by Rose Tremain
361. ♫ The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer (Audible Sale)
362. ♫ Tandia by Bryce Courtenay (Audible Sale)



♫ = audiobook (Audible or Downpour.com)
ⓔ = eBook
FS = Folio Society

Next one's free!

I'm first? Yay!

Hey Jim! Welcome to my last temporary home for 2014. I'm already looking forward to our 2015 reemergence along with a great many others I'm sure. You're such a doll for keeping things running so well. You've got huge load of gratitude from these quarters!

Happy new thread, Ilana! You always manage to find the most intriguing thread toppers. :)

Are you still busy not reading?? ;)

Congrats on the new thread, Ilana! I'm enjoying the latest Catrin Welz-Stein art at the top.

Happy new thread. Very nice art at the top. Selfishly I'm looking forward to you being back a little more, but unselfishly I hope you're still absent and that it means you're thoroughly enjoying the new presence in your life.

Happy New Thread, friend!

Happy New Thread, Ilana! I hope you had a good week. How is The Narrow Road to the Deep North on audio? I might try it that way.

Forgot to mention I finally finished Sacred Hearts on Wednesday, my first completed book this month. It was recommended by @calm and I'm very grateful she picked it for me as I thoroughly enjoyed it. My 3rd book by Sarah Dunant so far, and all three have been very enjoyable, so it's a sure thing I'll pick up her latest, Blood & Beauty, about the Borgias soon as well.

Making slow progress on The Narrow Road to the Deep North. It's really good, but I'm finding there is a bit too much dwelling on the war prisoner's suffering while they toil on the railroads. I understand this is what the book is about and the point of how relentlessly they were treated by the Japanese needs to be made, but it does seem a bit repetitive at this point.

I went Christmas shopping for the first time in years yesterday at Ogilvy's, one of our two high end luxury department stores (where I got my winter coat) and picked up a cashmere scarf for Pierre, so I guess that must mean something. I hope he likes the manly grey and black bold check pattern I picked, but if not he can always exchange it. He keeps spoiling me with so many little attentions every day it just seems like he deserves it somehow, though he's already told me he hates receiving gifts, which I've obviously decided to disregard. The box they put it in alone is worth the price of admission. He keeps suggesting we get a christmas tree for my place, which I wouldn't mind, if only there were room for me to put it. Maybe this weekend?

***

>18 jolerie: Welcome Valerie! You're right about that artist's work being intriguing, that's a great part of my attraction to her work.

Unfortunately, yes, a good part of my days and nights lately are spend not reading, which is not something I'm all that pleased about, but it's all for a good cause! :-)

>19 jnwelch: Hi Joe, glad to see you over here. Unlike you, I haven't been introducing new artists this year because as you've noticed have been somewhat enthralled with Catrin Welz-Stein, but I'm glad you're enjoying her art too. It gives me a little rush of joy when I log into my thread to get a little glimpse of her work, so why not eh?

>20 lunacat: Hi Jenny, that's really very nice of you so say. I do try to make a little bit of time every day to at least check in with the group and lurk a little, and keep up with my own thread. Things will eventually settle down more as Pierre gets into his painting projects as he's very dedicated to his work and spends a good deal of his days painting apparently, so we'll eventually find a more settled routine. I'm enjoying our time together a great deal but also making an appeal for time apart... It'll all work itself out one way or another, but this group is never far from my mind, worry not!

>21 scaifea: Hi Amber, thanks for dropping by!

>22 msf59: Thanks Mark, I definitely do recommend The Narrow Road to the Deep North on audio. The book is written by an Australian author and is about Australian prisoners of war in Burma, and is read by an Australian narrator, which I find helps get into the spirit of the thing. He does a good job and I'll be looking out for other productions with David Atlas, so I'd say it's a winner.

So pleased you liked Sacred Hearts and thanks for mentioning her latest, I hadn't heard about it and it sounds like one I would enjoy as well.

I bet the cats would have fun with a Christmas Tree, it's one of the reasons I don't bother:)

Pierre sounds like a fascinating man, I hope you continue to enjoy your time with him.

Wow! What a great new thread, Ilana!
I'm very happy thinking about you enjoying a person in your life. I'll also be happy when you get a balance of person, reading, and your own art. I was thinking about the cats and the tree too. I'm not sure what we'll do with the new 3 in the house part-time.

>24 calm: Oh good, I'm so pleased you saw my latest post calm, as my next move was to be to send you a PM to make sure you were you were made aware how much I did enjoy the book. I took me rather longer than I had expected to finish it, because even before I met Pierre, I was going rather at a slow pace with it, which wasn't so bad as it allowed me to savour it. Sarah Dunant has a style that pleases me a lot and her storylines so far have always hit just the right note for me.

As for a Christmas tree, it's been many years since I've had one, but I may have had one or three with just Ezra around and had no incidents. Since then I've had a few holiday seasons with large arrangements of tree branches with lots of decorations and again, not had any troubles. My cats are surprisingly tame, though of course like any normal cats they do have their moments of sheer madness when any little thing can set them off, but I'm willing enough to take a chance. Most of my decorations are quite robust even while precious, so even if the tree did come crashing to the floor, no great damage would ensue, and if Pierre is up for a little holiday cheer, I'd be happy to follow along for once, since Christmas has been rather a sad and lonely affair here in the last few years.

He is indeed a very interesting man and best of all, truly kind and gentle. Makes a stark contrast with some of the hopeless cases I've dated in the past, which have led me to remain celibate for so long to avoid further disasters and rethink my priorities.

Case in point, I had a note crumpled in my mailbox yesterday from a certain 'Peter', with a phone number scrawled on it. Couldn't at all remember who he was, so I called, and after a short while, when he asked if I was 'the girl with the small dog' and he said 'don't you remember me, the guy with the big German sheppherd?' it was established it was a guy I'd briefly dated when I first got Coco (note he didn't remember my name either!). Not a nice man at all, a contractor who kept saying he'd call me or take me out and then NOT call and NOT show up and stand me up at every turn, even on my birthday. I came to suspect later he was not at all divorced as he had told me he was. Anyway, I told him after a couple of minutes I'd call him right back, as he'd told me dozens of times over four years ago, and promptly hung up then threw away his number. When I told Pierre about this when he came over about an hour later, he was delighted when I casually said I was sure this incident has occurred because of Murphy's law that ex-boyfriends and lovers only crawl out of the woodwork when a woman has a new man in her life making her happy.

>25 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, glad you enjoy the new thread, there's something rather nice about knowing it to be the last one for the year before we start all over again. I think the current arrangement we have, with Pierre living so close to me is rather perfect, as if things do continue with us, there is no reason for us to make any changes really, since we've both gotten so used to living in our own spaces for so long, unless as he says we eventually decided to settle down in the country, something it seems we've each been pondering separately for a long time while perfectly aware we couldn't and wouldn't do without a stable partner. Once he settles into his 16-hour-a-day painting routine, I imagine I'll have more time to myself for reading and drawing and my own inner life, but for now we're at the exciting getting-to-know-you stage and kind of like teenagers and talking all the time, which I suppose is normal of any new relationship.

See my message to @calm just above regarding Christmas trees and cats! :-)

Ilana, just marking my spot on your new thread. Of course, it's got some lovely artwork at the top, which is to be expected here at your artsy digs. :) Hope you and the fur kids are staying warm!

I pretty much skim read the remaining posts over on your previous thread and I don't think I missed anything I would have commented on over there, so Happy New Thread, Ilana! I get to put our tree up and decorate it later today. I am kind of looking forward to that so I love that you are considering getting a tree this year for your place.

>26 Smiler69: - Murphy's law that ex-boyfriends and lovers only crawl out of the woodwork when a woman has a new man in her life making her happy. Ha! Isn't that the truth! ;-)

If I haven't said so before now, I wanted to let you now how much I've been enjoying Ms. Welz-Stein's artwork. Would dearly love to have a print or two for my walls!

I, too, am feeling a bit selfish over your semi-abscence these days, but likewise am happy for you as well. Looking forward to hearing about the 2014 Christmas tree experience. I'm planning to put up my tiny artificial tree - Jane is an unknown quantity and I do not dare test her with a full-size tree!

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

It's hard to believe that many of us are setting up our final threads of the year, where did the time go?

I am very happy that you are experiencing other things in your life right now and the best thing is that the books are always willing to wait. It sounds like things are shaping up for you to have a very special Christmas this year, Ilana.

I love that you bought your man friend a lovely cashmere scarf. It seems like a perfect gift for someone who hates to receive gifts. I don't even know why I think that but I'm confident that I'm right. I'm also delighted to hear that Pierre and Coco are friends! This is a very good thing.

I'm sorry The Narrow Road to the Deep North is dragging a bit for you (but might almost anything drag a bit when you're happily distracted?). I loved it but I do know what you mean about there being moments of just wanting the narrative to get on with it. P is reading it now and I think she is finding it heavy going.

Keep having fun, Ilana. :-)

Happy new thread Ilana! Glad to hear things continue well with you and Pierre and your story about your call with the much less nice P made me chuckle. :-)

ETA: (the part where you hung up on him made me chuckle, not the part where he was previously horrible to you)

How seldom do we get hang-up-first and forever opportunities! Glad you made the most of yours!

Book 226: ✔ Love-Letters Between A Nobleman And His Sister ★★★★
Source: The Word bookstore
Read for: Tutored read with Liz and Heather
Edition: Penguin Books-Virago Press, New York. (1987), Paperback 480 pages
Original publication date: 1684-87

I actually managed to finish another book yesterday, which was Love-Letters Between A Nobleman And His Sister by Aphra Behn. I read it in the context of a tutorial with Liz, with Heather asking all the relevant questions. The book is separated in three parts and we'd been at it for some months. I really enjoyed this 17th century roman à clef which may have inspired Les Liaisons Dangereuses a century later, one of my all-time favourite classic novels with people behaving very badly indeed. But must say I'm glad it's over now, considering we'd been at it so long and and especially as the political bits inspired by true life events toward the end kind of bored me, but I might read what is known as the first English novel again eventually just for the horrid characters who play with romance and each other mercilessly—Aphra Behn obviously delighted in creating these despicable characters and it shows.

At the heart of the story is the real-life incestuous romance between Lord Grey, here known as Philander, and his wife's younger sister, known in the novel as Sylvia. He manages to seduce her with a series of outrageously romantic letters (part I is exclusively in epistolary form), and when their romance is discovered, they flee to Holland, with Sylvia pregnant with Philander's child. A clue to Philander's further conduct might be that the word 'philanderer', meaning "a man who readily or frequently enters into casual sexual relationships with women; a womanizer", apparently came to us from this book's character. In real life, there was a court case and a great scandal broke out, so that Behn was forced to transpose the events to France, especially since Lord Grey was involved in further political plots, by backing the Duke of Monmouth in his attempt to overthrow James II. Philander is a despicable character in the book which we come to delight in hating, and we can only guess that he was just as detestable in real life, but it seems he had a great knack for knowing when the tides were about to change and aligning himself with the right powers, so that he always managed to remain in favour and retained great wealth and powers, eventually becoming Lord Justice of the Realm. In the book, he succeeds in turning Sylvia, at first an innocent 17 year-old maiden, into a rapacious money-grubbing female equivalent who goes on to seduce and ruin one rich and beautiful man after another, which I suppose Aphra Behn, a feminist in her time, saw as a victory of sorts for women in those days, considering the few options open to them.

We've been eating awfully well over here at Smiler's ever since Pierre's been coming over ever afternoon and helping plan and prepare meals. We keep preparation very simple, but the meals are always delicious and to my great delight he seems to be entirely satisfied with my cooking abilities, whether I prepare a simple omelet or my signature moroccan chicken with lemon and olive dish. Yesterday he made us filet mignon with sautéed potatoes and glazed carrots—I hardly ever prepared myself red meat and it was cooked to perfection, so I was a very happy camper, especially as I wasn't feeling very well and he prepared it all as I was sitting there more or less in a daze. He certainly knows how to make himself essential! Not the least because he then washed all the dishes afterward too, and I'm pretty sure it's not all just for show.

We watched Coffee and Cigarettes by Jim Jarmusch, a series of vignettes about people talking over... coffee and cigarettes. There are some very clever ones, a standout for me is called Cousins with Cate Blanchet, one of my favourite actresses of all time, playing against herself as herself on a press tour with a jealous cousin visiting her on a quick visit. Just brilliant!



For those who've read about the Peter saga in the last thread, an ex who had the gall to leave me a note in my mailbox even though he couldn't remember my name, he actually had the the further nerve to call me back a couple of days ago, once again to ask me if I had any work for him. Seems he must have burned all his bridges finally. Pierre was right next to me, and I made sure to tell him I'd already hired a carpenter, and besides, my BOYFRIEND (said very loudly so Pierre would hear) was taking care of odd jobs, which is true enough since at that very moment we were in my entrance taking measurements for carpeting and coat hanger unit. I think this made Pierre very happy, and Peter seemed to get the message this time since he called off a few seconds after that. Sheesh, what nerve though!

***

>28 LauraBrook: Hi Laura, nice to have your visit over at my new abode. I've really grown attached to Catrin Welz-Stein's work in the last few months, so it will be hard to move on to something else with the new year, but I guess new things beckon. It's been awfully cold lately, with temps around -12 Celcius (10 F), so bundling up is de rigueur and Coco officially donned his booties yesterday for comfort.

>29 lkernagh: Hi Lori, we didn't have time to get a tree over the weekend finally, since we ran a bunch of other errands, but it's still on the agenda.

>30 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, when I visited Catrin Welz-Stein's blog to find this last set of images, she had a link to a site called Redbubble where it looks like you can order prints and various other formats of her work, like cards and throw pillows.

The weekend flew by as they always do, but I managed to get more done than usual. Pierre only sleeps 3-4 hours a day, but somehow he's filled with energy and always encourages me to run some errand, though thank goodness, only if I'm feeling up to it or this would quickly grow to annoy me. There's lots to do around my place, so this is proving helpful. I'm glad I have my morning hours to myself so I get a bit of time to spend catching up a bit on LT at least, though I'll have to get drawing soon.

>31 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I never thought once I quit work that time would fly by so fast, but it does seem like it actually accelerated since then somehow! I must say the past month has been very lovely and quite a special time already. I feel very blessed, and if Christmas is a continuation of all that, I'll be a very happy girl indeed!

>32 EBT1002: Ellen, when I told Pierre I thought getting a christmas tree was a good idea after all, even though I don't have the room for it (and I'd just have to make a place for it), I told him the reason was I needed to have somewhere to put a gift under it. I did see a smile pass on his lips, so I think the idea of receiving a gift from me isn't that unpleasant after all. I don't think you can go wrong with a cashmere scarf. It's one of those great classics. I kind of teased him when we first met about a scarf that first looked like cashmere, but when I touched it obviously wasn't, saying a great artist like him should have a collection of them, and he was a bit defensive saying it was real wool, but kind of jokey too, so that was my cue right there. He seems delighted that Coco has taken to him, and Coco truly has—he actually whines for Pierre to pick him up, which I've never seen him do with anyone else, and then he sits or lies on him contentedly.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North really is so good, but I agree with Prudence it's brutal stuff. Even the parts that don't talk about the war and prisoner camps are heavy going. I've got two hours to go and look forward to getting to the end, truly I do.

>33 souloftherose: Can you believe the much less nice P called me again after the brushoff I gave him?! Some people really just don't get it. But I think I spelled it out for him this time. *shaking head*

>34 LizzieD: Hi Peggy. And to think, that wasn't the last of it after all! *shaking head again*. But then, it gave me an opportunity to call Pierre my "boyfriend" in front of him and someone else, and now for the whole LT community!

I guess it's official now! :-)

>36 Smiler69: Oh, thanks for reminding me I want to see Coffee and Cigarettes, Ilana. I've heard that Cate Blanchett part is a knockout.

Congrats on the boyfriend news! You sure don't seem to have the "nothing in common" problem. :-)

He cooks!!!! *happy sighs*

party on!

I've been lurking frequently, but your reference to Coffee and Cigarettes - I'd completely forgotten that I'd watched that movie, and that little gif just brought back all kinds of lovely memories. Cate Blanchett is wonderful. Thank you :) (PS. Hurrah for Pierres, and I love your drawings!)

>35 Smiler69: You finished after me but reviewed before me! I felt the same about the political bits but from what you said I should definitely consider Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

>36 Smiler69: I'm glad Peter seems to have finally got the hint. And hurrah for Pierre cooking and washing up

'I guess it's official now! :-)' :-)

Awwwwww, yay for official boyfriend status, and for the cooking. Where do I get one of these magic beings?!

I can't say how happy I feel for you, Ilana. Having a big SMILE on my face reading this thread, and sending you a happy {hug} for now.

And (sorry for being selfish in all the joy) it gives me hope that there are still some men outside in the world who aren't too damaged (or pretend to be so) to commit to a relationship.

I tried watching Coffee and Cigarettes last year and somehow it absolutely wasn't for me. Maybe simply because I didn't understand it? :) The English wasn't easy (many accents and "drawls"), there were no subtitles and the only dubbing available wasn't German but Italian. Should try again... I've been watching so many US movies on Sky now that my comprehension must have improved.

Oooh, official boyfriend!! Awesome!

Yay! Pierre helps you plan and prepare meals. He sounds like a keeper! That cashmere scarf sounds like the perfect gift for a new boyfriend. I am happy you found such a kind soul to spend time with, Ilana.

Hi Ilana - sounds like interesting times for you at present. Wishing you all the best with your new best friend.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North sounds a bit brutal for me at present, I'm reading some murder mysteries which contain enough of the dark side for me at present. I'll keep the audiobook on my backburner for a while longer. Currently listening to a nonfiction on Jerusalem and have 18 hours to go with John Lee as narrator

Back again to bask in the warmth of the new relationship. Enjoy! Enjoy! Lucky Pierre! Happy Ilana!
And I WILL read the Behn someday. (Do you know how to pronounce her name? I've tried a bunch of combinations and am not sure I like any of them.)

This is such delightful news and I am so happy for you! C'est bien, tres bien!

Wahoooo! Excellent news, so happy for the both of you that you're officially Official. :O) Makes me very happy for you!

>46 LizzieD: 'And I WILL read the Behn someday. (Do you know how to pronounce her name? I've tried a bunch of combinations and am not sure I like any of them.)'

I've been pronouncing it 'Ben' but now that you've mentioned it, I'm not so sure...

Thanks for all the visits and well-wishers lately. I'm going to see Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance at the cinema with my friend Kristyna in a short while, so will keep this message brief, as need to fit in a short drawing session before I go. Things continue well, except I've had a few minor freak-outs, no doubt due to hormonal shifts. Pierre continues to be a dear, helping with cooking and washing my dishes daily and bringing over wine and desserts and various grocery items and helping me fix my home. I'm not sure how all this happened and lately my freak-outs are more than a little unfair because he really is so wonderful, and I'm kind of saying "you're so great, but I didn't ask for any of this, I was fine with my old maid routine, listening to my audiobooks all day and spending the rest of my time on LT". Bless his heart, he doesn't seem to let this phase him very much. He went out and bought me a very expensive gift yesterday, a Roots leather purse I'd had my eye on for many months, even though it won't be a surprise, because he says it's a long-term investment and I'll think of him every time I wear it and because he knows I keep my things a very long time and my current purse is much too large, he knows I'll make very good use of it. At least it's been so long since I saw it I don't quite remember which of two models it is or the exact colour, but it really was madness of him to buy such an expensive gift for me already, when he's far from being rich.

I managed to finish a book, albeit a very short one, The Sailors' Rendezvous by Georges Simenon, which I enjoyed a whole lot. Also gave up on another which I know was very popular around here, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which just didn't work for me at this time, so I'll look around for another audiobook to listen to.

We should be getting the Christmas tree this evening finally.

All right. Drawing.

Will respond to individual messages soon. You are all such dears, thanks so much for putting up with me!

What a wonderful end to the year in that you have someone to share your time with and who clearly understands your needs and singularity - other than Coco of course! Fingers crossed that love and affection have found you in reciprocating and lasting fashion, my dear friend. Don't let anxiety and fears for the future get in the way of the both of you enjoying life as it is at the moment. Take things at face value, Ilana, without losing sight of your independence and your need for some private times. It seems from your descriptions of Pierre that you can adapt and handle that more than adequately - don't lose him for today by fretting over tomorrow.

Have a lovely weekend. xx

I'm glad to hear that Pierre is being great about your little wobbles. Of course you know it's completely understandable, when such a sizable shift is occurring in your life, whether it be temporary or permanent.

At least knowing you are/were perfectly content in your 'old maid' form of life, with Coco and the cats, and your books, means that the pressure has been removed in terms of expectations of happiness from a relationship. You know you can be happy without a man in your life, and so you aren't clinging on or searching for a relationship that is simply 'OK', just because you feel it's what you are missing. It sounds as if Pierre is giving you more than just another person, he's actually bringing something very positive and happy into your world.

Hopefully, as you become more secure in the relationship and find a solid foundation from which to build from, you can find a good balance between your alone time and quality time spent with him.

I'll admit to being very envious, not only of you in having a great person come into your life, but also of him for getting to spend so much time with you!

Happy Weekend, Ilana! Glad to see things are just percolating along for you. I hope this pleasant streak continues. Hugs!

Daytime without lights on.

We got a very nice 5.5 foot Christmas tree yesterday at the farmer's market with a base and skirt, went shopping for christmas lights and got a bunch of decorations at the dollar store to supplement the few I had already. We let it defrost while we prepared a dinner of salmon patties, rice and stir-fried bok choy in ginger and garlic, then decorated it together, after which we sat staring at it sipping white wine, both of us quite moved we'd put this lovely tree together, in part because Pierre hadn't had a tree in some 20 years, and neither had I for at least a dozen years.

***

>37 jnwelch: Hi Joe, happy to remind you about Coffee and Cigarettes. The funny thing is I wasn't that keen to see it at first because I wasn't hot on Jim Jarmusch in my teens when he was a big sensation, and it had been sitting around on my coffee table for at least a week since Pierre brought it over, but then I really got into it from the first sketch with Roberto Benigni and Steven Wright, which is quite bizarre.

Pierre and I are finding out we have quite a lot in common, which is both surprising and delightful, but of course there are lots of little adjustments to make as well, though it looks like we both have the maturity and willingness to do what it takes to do so with as much good grace and open communication as is possible. One marked difference is he has seemingly endless energy and only sleeps 3-4/night, a lifelong insomniac, while I need 8-10 and can only plan one activity per day or so...

>38 -Cee-: Claudia, he cooks, AND he washes dishes afterward, AND the dishes I've left over too! Not to mention runs errands and brings over grocery items, including my organic produce, even though he doesn't buy organic for himself usually. AND brings wine and desserts daily. And loads of movies since he's got a huge collection of great DVDs. I keep wondering when he'll tire of that routine, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts!

>39 evilmoose: Wow, looks like I've got some pretty cool lurkers! Happy to know you're out there in the wings Megan. I loved most of the sketches in Coffee and Cigarettes, because each is so unique, but I'm such a big fan of Cate Blanchet, and getting a double dose of her really was a huge treat. I really need to post the final image of Rocky, all finished along with all the steps it took me to get there on my blog. Today or tomorrow if I can get my act together.

>40 souloftherose: Reviews are rare and far between this year, as I'm sure you've noticed Heather, so I'm not sure what came over me with Love-Letters , except I felt a responsibility to review it since it had NONE so far and really does deserve to get more coverage as I'm sure more readers would enjoy discovering it, whether they know about the real plot behind the story or not. The outrageous romance is worth it alone.

I'd like to think that after all these years of celibacy and rethinking my priorities I've finally gotten it right. If not, I'll go right back to my old routine as it suited me just fine. Less cozy and less extra benefits, but workable.

>41 lunacat: Where do I get one of these magic beings?!

Jenny, in my case, he'd been living just five minutes away from me for the past 15 years, so for all I know I might have bumped into him several times already. There are good men around it seems, it's just a matter of chance and circumstance and a bit of luck intervening too.

>42 Deern: In all honesty Nathalie, I'd day Pierre was probably damaged too at some point, but 10 years being alone probably gave him time to heal and make room for a new person in his life, even if he didn't think he wanted anyone. It also helps that he's mature now at 60, and has nothing to prove. For once I've let go my ridiculous standard of wanting to be with a man who is handsome first and foremost, and that is not the first thing that would come to mind to describe him, but kindness and consideration he has in droves, and I appreciate that so much now, whereas when I was younger I walked all over boyfriends who were like that, mistaking those qualities for lack of personality. Live and learn. Maybe I've become a nicer person too over the years, and humbler too.

>43 scaifea: Hey Amber! I don't know if there is such a thing as an "official" boyfriend. All I know is I've called him that in front of other people in his presence and we refer to each other as such too, albeit sort of tongue in cheek still, since it is all still so very new!

>44 Donna828: Donna, "a kind soul" sounds like a good way to describe Pierre. I'll tell him you said that and I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear it, as well as the "keeper" part. :-)

>45 avatiakh: Kerry, I'd say you're probably right to stay away from The Narrow Road to the Deep North at present if you've got your fill of brutal reading right now. I think if things weren't so lovely in my life right now, this book might have plunged me into despondency, because there really is little about it to raise the spirits and it is quite relentless in how it insists on conveying in great detail just how desperately awful the conditions were for the Australian war prisoners were under Japanese rule. I'm glad I read it, if only because now I know what the Booker Prize winner is like, and I can see it does have merit, but I would't want to put myself through it again.

Interesting times for sure! ;-)

>46 LizzieD: Peggy, I'd never thought to wonder about how Aphra Behn's name should be pronounced. Like Heather, I had just assumed it was "Affra Ben", but now you've got me wondering too. Very nice of you to say Pierre is a lucky man. How do you know he's not actually being made to pay for his new passion? I can be quite a handful sometimes, especially when I start feeling insecure because I'm no longer in control of my feelings and might be getting attached to someone (major big *GULP*!)

>47 sibylline: Thanks Lucy!

>51 PaulCranswick: Sound advice Paul. I do try to talk myself out of my worst panicky moments, and the best part is Pierre is very easy to talk to as well, and never seems to get freaked out by anything I say to him, which can't be said about a lot of the boyfriends I've been with over the years. We have open, rational, mature and respectful discussions and usually come to a common understanding about most things, and at worst, agree to disagree on some points. On the issue of being panicky about getting attached so fast to a person who was a complete stranger just 5 weeks ago, we agree we're more or less in the same boat, but also that things are just evolving naturally and that we're very comfortable with each other, so why fight it? It's a lovely holiday gift, let me tell you! Hope you're enjoying the weekend too. xx

>52 lunacat: It sounds as if Pierre is giving you more than just another person, he's actually bringing something very positive and happy into your world.

Hopefully, as you become more secure in the relationship and find a solid foundation from which to build from, you can find a good balance between your alone time and quality time spent with him.

Must say Jenny, you've said it all, so have nothing to add! And the last bit of your message is so lovely I am very touched, very sweet of you to say! xx

>53 msf59: Thanks for dropping by, friend. So far so good Mark, and as we're both just being ourselves, it doesn't look like things are going to change greatly in the foreseeable future, unless I'm greatly mistaken.

Oh, what a lovely tree! So perfectly shaped!

Pretty tree, Ilana. I am also struck by the beauty of the books on the shelves, arranged to coordinate with each other. It's obvious that a book lover lives there!

I love the tree, Ilana! We got ours yesterday and last evening we had red-and-white alternating lights put along our roof line. I love Christmas lights. I try to think of them as winter lights, especially in this northern (and usually gray) climate!

I also love that Pierre cooks! Prudence does 99% of the cooking at our house and it's a lovely quality in a companion. I'm a very grateful sharer of the meals and I do the cleanup. :-)

So nice to see the little ways you are celebrating the holidays Ilana and even better to have someone special to share it with. ;)
I know it's hard not to over think things (because I too think and think and think to no end all the time)..but just enjoy it as much as you can and know that you deserve all the happiness in the world. :)

What a lovely tree, Ilana and how wonderful that you and Pierre are making this a special Christmas for both of you!

What a perfect little tree, and what a perfect little life you've found yourself in, Ilana! I'm so pleased for you. (And, selfishly, it gives me a little hope too!) Perhaps you've already said, but is Pierre a Reader?

Here are before and after shots I just posted on Facebook of Coco sporting his new haircut. That's as much as I'll ever be able to show of Pierre I'm afraid, because he only let me take his photo after I swore I would never post his face online. Guess that makes him all that much more exclusive to me! Coco is really fond of him and always asking Pierre to pick him up. I took the bottom pick last night. Isn't he a doll though?!

I'm making slow progress on my latest Maigret book by Georges Simenon, At the "Gai-Moulin" (number 10 of 76), and also on my latest audiobook, Firesong by William Nicholson, which is the last book in a really great trilogy. I'm not quite sure how I'll be able to manage War and Peace at this rate come next month, but have decided to keep worrying about things big and small to a minimum or I'll drive myself absolutely bat***t crazy.

***

>56 scaifea: Amber, the tree selection at the farmer's market was really great, so picking out one with a great shape was no challenge at all, though I must say I was really happy once we (meaning Pierre) brought it home and looking at it now, am really pleased with it!

>57 DeltaQueen50: It's obvious that a book lover lives there!

Judy, you can say that again! Now if only I could get my other shelves built so I can get all my other books on shelves too... I'm dying to organize all those piles in my living room!

>58 EBT1002: Ellen, I was really moved to see just how much pleasure Pierre was getting out of decorating the tree, and then sitting and looking at it while we sipped some wine afterwards too. I had wanted it quite badly and at first thought he'd just suggested it to please me, but it seems it means a lot to him too. Christmas had been a pretty sad affair in the last decade or so, and obviously this year has been really special so far.

Pierre sure is handy around the kitchen and does at least 50% of the cooking, if not more. Since he got me a purse as a gift, which wasn't going to be a surprise (now wrapped in a box under the tree), I suggested he get me a little something inexpensive for the surprise element, and he came over with a HUGE box to put under the tree also, and kept saying whatever I do, I should NOT move it or I'd know right away what it was by the noise, and also that it was quite a boring gift. He's always complaining I don't have enough pots and pans, and I immediately blurted out without thinking "It's a cooking set!" and he was immensely disappointed I'd guessed what his 'surprise' gift was. Just as I hadn't thought to pretend I didn't know what it was, he didn't think to pretend I'd guessed wrong, so now the pots and pans have become a running gag. I suggested he might substitute the new set for his old one just before I unwrap them, which he could sign and which I could later sell to a museum as once having belonged to the great artist Pierre Lefebvre, and he thought it was a pretty good idea.

At least I know beyond a doubt the cashmere scarf is sure to be a winner. He came over without a scarf last night, so I loaned him my own cashmere scarf when the weather turned colder and he was joking about 'borrowing' it permanently. I made sure not to give away any clues at all... whether or not he's already guessed what my gift to him is, at least I won't have been the one to give it away!

>59 jolerie: Valerie, I'd say the fact there's someone to celebrate the holidays with is what is making the holidays worth celebrating at all! I can't recall being with anyone who had been so willing before, beyond one short-lived affair with a man who had an year-round obsession with Christmas which was honestly kind of creepy. Whatever the future brings, it'll be a Christmas worth remembering.

>60 lkernagh: Thanks Lori, I can't agree more!

>61 LauraBrook: Laura, Pierre used to be an avid reader, yes, to the point where his mother and family members used to worry about him, but when he became a painter in his 30s and his career started taking off, painting became his all-consuming activity and obsession. He's still very fond of books though and has told me more than once that part of his attraction to me is the fact that I'm such a great book-lover and am well-read.

A TONNE of books have come into the house since December 1. I've been meaning to list them since then, and now the list has gotten sort of out of control:

Kindle Daily Deals:
ⓔ Harnessing Peacocks by Mary Wesley
ⓔ The Vacillations of Poppy Carew by Mary Wesley
ⓔ A Sensible Life by Mary Wesley
ⓔ Death of a Dissident (Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov Mysteries 1) by Stuart M. Kaminsky
ⓔ Black Knight in Red Square (Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov Mysteries 2) by Stuart M. Kaminsky
ⓔ A Morbid Taste for Bones (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 1) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ One Corpse Too Many (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 2) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ Monk's Hood (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 3) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ The Leper of Saint Giles (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 5) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ The Devil's Novice (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 8) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ Dead Man's Ransom (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 9) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ The Pilgrim of Hate (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 10) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ An Excellent Mystery (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 11) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ The Rose Rent (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 13) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ The Hermit of Eyton Forest (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 14) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ The Potter's Field (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 17) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ Brother Cadfael's Penance (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael 18) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ A Rare Benedictine (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael - Prequel Anthology) by Ellis Peters
ⓔ Selected Stories by Andre Dubuss
ⓔ The Color Purple by Alice Walker
ⓔ The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
ⓔ The Physician (The Cole Trilogy, Book 1) by Noah Gordon
ⓔ Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
ⓔ The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England by Susan Higginbotham

Audible (credits):
♫ The Quality of Mercy by Barry Unsworth
♫ Blood & Beauty: The Borgias by Sarah Dunant
♫ Fludd by Hilary Mantel - Rec'd by Peggy / @LizzieD

Audible (sales):
♫ The Third Man by Graham Greene
♫ Trials of Rumpole by John Mortimer
♫ Euphoria by Lily King (Audible Daily Deal)

AbeBooks:
The New York Stories of Henry James (NYRB)
You'll Enjoy It When You Get There: The Selected Stories of Elizabeth Taylor (NYRB)
Eustace and Hilda by L. P. Hartley (NYRB) - Rec'd by Slightly Foxed: 44: My Grandfather and Mr. Standfast by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors)
The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley (NYRB)

Total books purchased to date: 349

***

Acquired from Library (OverDrive MP3 & CDs):
♫ Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
♫ The World of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
♫ The Magician King by Lev Grossman
♫ The Secret Place by Tana French
♫ Green Eggs and Ham and Other Servings of Dr. Seuss by Dr. Seuss
♫ The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss
♫ Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts
♫ The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman
♫ The Fever by Megan Abbott
♫ 2 a.m. at the Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino
♫ One More Thing by B. J. Novak
♫ Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
♫ Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
♫ Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier
♫ The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

Hurray for the Boyfriend! I hope you will have a very happy Christmas (nice tree!!)) and a very loving New Year!

Tomm is the same way about photos of himself on the interwebs. I understand and try very hard to comply, but I find it frustrating sometimes, especially since he's such a handsome thing and I want to brag about what a lucky lady I am! Ha!
I love reading about the gifts under the tree to and from you and Pierre - it sounds like you're in for an absolutely wonderful holiday together, and not just because of the nice gifts... So happy for you both, friend.

Awww, the gifts stories are very cute. I hope he loves his cashmere scarf when he receives it, and that he's not too disappointed that you guessed the surprise gift. It looks like you're all (and I'm including Coco and the cats in this) going to have a fabulous Christmas.

Hi Ilana! Glad to see the positive updates. I am very happy for you. We miss seeing you around but the sacrifice is worth your happiness.

Wow! You sure haven't slowed down on the book acquisitions! LOL.

Oh! CoCo!
Long or short... so sweet either way - hugs for the puppy-bear!

Well, you are definitely beyond the moon ;-) I'm so happy for you and your new loving friend. This will indeed be a Christmas you will always remember.

And, I think I know the answer now... You seem to buy more books when you are happy! lol
I read The Physician by Noah Gordon several years ago and LOVED it. I have another of his TBR.
Also, I have Euphoria by Lily King on my WL. I think she is from Maine. Anyway, the book has gotten great reviews around here. I still need to get it.

I noticed what I though was the northern lights the other night till I realized it was probably the glow of a very happy woman in Montreal!
Party on.

Managed to finish two books yesterday, the audiobook to Firesong by William Nicholson narrated by the oh-so-wonderful Samuel West, which I'm rating as a ★★★★½ (4.5), as an overall rating for the full trilogy. If I do manage to write a review, it'll be a short one about the whole trilogy as I remember it, because I think it deserves to be read more widely as I'm sure many LTers would enjoy it if they haven't read it already. Great stuff which I already look forward to revisiting. Also finished At the "Gai-Moulin" by Georges Simenon, an unusual Maigret story from the 9 previous ones I'd read so far.

Six finished books this month so far, which I guess isn't that bad, not taking into consideration two of those are just 115 pages each (the Maigret books). Definitely bellow my usual average. But then, finishing two books in one day is practically in the order of miracles since the appearance of Pierre in my life. Not coincidentally, this probably has to do with the fact that I decided to take an evening off yesterday and invited him for an afternoon tea for a change, so I could have a chance to wrap presents, write some very late Christmas (i.e. New Year) cards (a first batch, in any case), catch up on reading (listening to my audiobook while eating dinner and doing other activities—what fun!) and generally enjoy time on my own... Ah! the sweet agony of missing a loved one (don't tell him I used the 'L' word!). Never mind that we ended up speaking on the phone maybe 25 times in the course of the day and night... it was worth it! And I even made a case for us spending a couple of days apart each week ('the equivalent of a weekend') as being beneficial to our relationship, which Pierre reluctantly admitted might not be a bad idea, though my thoughts of taking a second day off in a row was quickly nixed by Pierre hurriedly making plans for us this evening. I certainly can't fault him for being eager to spend time together so he can better spoil me.

***

>64 connie53: Thank you so much Connie, so far, things are most definitely headed in that direction. We've both been enjoying the tree, I'm being assiduous about watering it every single day and mercifully the cats have NOT tried to climb it. Ezra did manage to knock off a couple of low-hanging decorations, but did so without further damage than a few scattered needles!

>65 scaifea: Amber, Pierre definitely distrusts the web, but then he does have a blog where he posts some of his artwork (http://lefebvreart.wordpress.com), so his true phobia is about being photographed in person, so that his face doesn't appear anywhere on the web, and he intends to keep it that way (NO Facebook page for him!).

The tree and gifts bring back childhood memories for both of us—what could be better? :-)

>66 lunacat: Jenny, I think he really is disappointed I guessed about the cooking set, which was supposed to be the 'surprise' element of the gift-giving, but then we've turned it into a running joke between us, so it's all ok.

He's also created this awesome coat hanger unit for my entrance, for which I purchased these various animal-shaped hangers and he manipulated and painted a wood plank on which he affixed them to look like an old weathered painted board in lovely layers of colours, with a beautiful turquoise on top and bits of the other colours showing through, as if the paint had been worn out, as per my specifications. I asked him to put it under the tree, but he says it'll be ready to put up this weekend. If so, I'll be sure to photograph it and show it here asap. He's spent the last two weeks putting it all together and it's really beautiful—much too good to hide with coats, hats and scarves; a real masterpiece!

>67 msf59: Mark, I really did go kind of wild on the book purchases didn't I? Lol! :-D I especially think I sort of went crazy on the physical books... I don't really put a limit on audio and e-books these days, but had sort of made a deal with myself not to buy print books till my new shelves were up (at least), but then couldn't resist when the Black Friday sales came up.

I do make time for LT every day, lurking here and there and at least updating my own thread, but of course it's hard to make my presence felt as I used to... all the same, for what it's worth, I'm here in spirit the same as I ever was and you are all with me in my daily life, I promise you!

>68 -Cee-: Northern Lights!

You're so sweet Claudia! :-)))

That bottom shot is one of the best I've ever caught of Coco, mostly because for once, I managed to catch him with his eyes wide open and looking natural, because usually as soon as he sees the camera/phone pointed in his direction he immediately does this funny squinty thing, as if he hates having his picture taken, so he almost always ends up looking sleepy/dopey on the shots I take of him, whereas generally when he looks at me lovingly, that's the wide-eyed look I see staring up at me, so for once you get to see it too! I do think though that Coco is also greatly benefitting from Pierre's presence, who generally dotes on him and gives him plenty of attention and affection—obviously he's got plenty of that to go around at his Walker Avenue residence, as he's now jokingly taken to referring to my place!

Can you let Pierre know that I looked at his website and absolutely love the painting entitled Automne 2. Gorgeous.

>70 lunacat: Jenny, I just left a message on his blog on your behalf, in which I basically wrote what you said word for word. You can have a look at it for yourself if you wish! I'm sure he'll be very pleased! I tend to favour his landscapes as well—saw that one at his vernissage and liked it very much as well. :-)

>63 Smiler69: That list is, indeed, out of control. It's also wonderful. :-)

A whole bunch of Brother Cadfael novels. Have you read any of those? Have you seen the PBS (BBC?) series, starring Derek Jacobi? They're fun.

Wow! I've read all this and can only say that I'm GLAD that at last you are enjoying a relationship that you deserve. I'm not sure that I could have moved so quickly, but it does sound as if you each have waited a long time to find someone you want and that you both have your feet firmly on the ground.
I also breezed through Pierre's website and very much favor all the landscapes. I love all the rain! I'm also greatly attracted by those huge shapes in the mountain and hills ones. Thirdly, I'm intrigued by the different sizes of his work. For some reason I've thought that an artist worked big or little or in between but mostly in the same general size.....
Lovely tree! I've already spoken about Coco!
And echoing plaudits for finding all those books. I haven't read a Cadfael in years. Since I'm feverishly trying to round out my 75 this month, he might be a good choice. I'll have to see what my mood is after Christmas - they're the right size.

Just posted the above on FB: "Pre-Chirstmas gift: a made to order coat hanger, with hardware handpicked by myself and wood plank painted and "weathered" by artist Pierre Lefebvre. I tried to convince him to start an Etsy store to sell these as I'm sure they'd be a big hit, but he still prefers concentrating on his own painting career. Go figure."

I started listening to Fludd by Hilary Mantel a few days ago, mostly because I felt inclined to buy it with an Audible credit when I saw Peggy's glowing comments about it recently and also because it's quite short and I actually have a chance to finish it before the end of the month. Also picked up Schindler's Ark last night. It was picked for me by someone in the Folio group this year and I wasn't at all sure I wanted to read something quite so heavy during the holiday season, but after reading the first paragraph I was sort of sucked into the excellent writing. It's a Folio edition illustrated by one of my favourite artists who does realistic pencil illustrations too. I'm sort of having second thoughts about War and Peace, only because I have so much less time for reading lately and don't want to be stuck with it for months on end as was hoping to be done with it within a month at most between the audiobook and print... At the same time I've put it off for so many years and have made this commitment and I'm not keen on breaking it, so we'll see what happens with that

***

>72 EBT1002: A whole bunch of Brother Cadfael novels. Have you read any of those? Have you seen the PBS (BBC?) series, starring Derek Jacobi? They're fun.

Ellen, truth is, I'd never heard of them till the day they were offered as a Kindle deal on Dec. 1, and then only took notice of them when Suzanne mentioned them on The Great Booksale/E-Book Alert thread, which had me looking into them, which is when I saw Paul, Heather, Lori, and Peggy were also fans and I also found out about the BBC series and the Derek Jacobi connection and thought I would probably enjoy them, considering how much I enjoy historical fiction. They have 13 episodes of the series available at the library, which I'll watch once I've read them.

>73 LizzieD: Peggy, of course you're right, I guess things have moved quickly in one sense, but then we are taking our time about certain things where it matter most I guess. At the same time, I'm 45, he's 60 and we've both had plenty of time to think over our priorities and both know what we want and seem to have found it in each other, so having a good go at it, thinking the worst than can happen is we'll both be left with fond memories and go right back to where we were before we met if things don't work out, probably feeling sad and a bit heartbroken of course, but it's not as if we've not lived through disappointments before and at least we've both putting in a lot of good will and being very good to each other in the process. And if things DO work out, then... it'll be because we'll have put all the chances on our side, right? And as I've said before, the situation is sort of ideal, with him living so nearby and us happy in our own apartments and living independently, which could go on indefinitely, so no huge commitment need be made unless and until we so feel inclined down the line.

When it comes to sizes for artist's work, I'd say it very much depends on the artist and what sort of mediums he or she employs. If he or she works with different mediums then it is very likely they will work with a variety of formats as well and it is not at all unusual to go from small to very large. Some artists only work on very large or very small or only medium formats, but I wouldn't say that is the norm.

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Ilana!

Have a great Christmad Ilana!

Dear Ilana, I am so happy for you, and I wish you the most lovely Christmas ever! Have a wonderful time and get well into the new year!

Doing the rounds with a festive Connie to wish you a very Merry Christmas full of joy, love and books.

Happy Christmas, Ilana!

Happy Holidays!

From our family to yours!

Merry Christmas, Ilana, and a joyful Happy New Year!

Wishing you a warm and wonderful Christmas, Ilana.

 

A Happy Christmas to all my wonderful LT friends and visitors!

and thanks for all the Christmas wishes!

I just finished The Wrath of Mulgarath by Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi, which I am rating 4 stars. It's overdue at the library by several days now, but I was happily surprised to discover it featured dragons, which allows me to complete the second bingo card just before year's end, yay!

I counted any kind of books, not just YA for this card, which is now COMPLETED!



A book with a female heroine: Lady Susan by Jane Austen ★★★★½
A book set in a high school: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier ★★★★
*The last book in a trilogy: Firesong by William Nicholson ★★★★½
A book with a colour in the title: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory ★★★★
The first book in a series: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater ★★★★
A book set in the future: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson ★★★★
A book with a breakup: All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy ★★★★⅞
A book without a love triangle: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood ★★★★
A book that became a movie: Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household ★★★★½
A book set in Paris: These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer ★★★★
A book set in the past: Restoration by Rose Tremain ★★★★★
A book with magic: Slaves of the Mastery by William Nicholson ★★★★
A book set in the summer: Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom ★★★★⅓
*A book with a dragon: The Wrath of Mulgarath by Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi ★★★★
A book that made you cry: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate ★★★★½
A graphic novel: Amphigorey by Edward Gorey ★★★★½
A book based on a myth: The Quick by Lauren Owen ★★★★★
A "classic" YA book: Bloody Jack; Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L. A. Meyer ★★★★
A book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe: Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling ★★★★½ (reread)
A book with an incredible fight scene: Goliath by Tom Gauld ★★★★
A book you heard about online: Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler ★★★★
A book set in another world: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin ★★★★
A book with an epic love story: Longbourn by Jo Baker ★★★★⅓
A book with music: Frog Music by Emma Donoghue ★★★★⅓

* = Most recent additions

>85 Smiler69: - Congratulations on completing your YA Bingo Challenge!

I have enjoyed following your reading and all of your posted activities in 2014. Stopping by now to wish you a happy holiday season and all the best in 2015!

Happy Holidays, Ilana!

I hope you have a lovely day, Ilana. Enjoy your time with Pierre. He sounds like a keeper.

Merry Christmas Ilana.

Dear Ilana,
Merry Christmas to you and your wonderful little Cocco! Looking forward to following your art and reading again in 2015!

Ohhhhh the haircut!

Merry Christmas!
On the eve: Do I smell turkey?
During: Worn out:

Happy Holidays! Love the pictures. Pierre sounds like a keeper. A man who can cook is a good thing.

Hi Ilana! I just wanted to stop by and wish you and Pierre a very Merry Christmas. I owe you a photo of Rocky's portrait hung in our house but probably won't get to it until tomorrow. It really came out great and I love looking at it. It was such a fantastic experience working with you and the memories of that just add to my enjoyment of looking at the portrait. :)

Have a lovely festive season, dear lady.

salmon patties, rice and stir-fried bok choy in ginger and garlic
Yum!! You have me hungry now!

Happy Xmas, Ilana :)

I'm currently reading Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally at bedtime, and just picked up Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jody Taylor on audio yesterday. I really hesitated before picking up Schindler's List, because of course it isn't exactly light reading. So far I'm about ¼ of the way in and I must say the fact that the main character is so entertaining to read about, what with his unapologetic womanizing—no less than 4 going at the same time, including his wife—, while managing to keep them all contented somehow is keeping it all bearable.

Only the Jews have just been put in a Polish ghetto and believe this will be the end of their persecution at the hands of the racist Poles, yet by the end of the chapter the Germans have just invaded Russia and are about to get even more brutal about their racial cleansing methods, so I get the feeling I might need to move my reading sessions to the daytime if I want to avoid unpleasant nightmares. Then again, maybe having Jody Taylor's much lighter and pleasant time-travel book, which I decided to share along with Ellen, who I know just picked it up in the last few days too, might help lighten the load.

***

Thanks again for all the wonderful Holiday greetings, and best wishes to you all, including Connie, Rhian and Nathalie, and also to:

>78 lunacat: Jenny, tell your Connie she looks lovely!

Thanks also to Amber, Katherine, Valerie (and family!) ;Peggy, Judy, Lorrie, and Darryl, also,

>88 msf59: Mark, you're absolutely right, Pierre's a keeper all right, if I can manage to NOT scare him away!

>89 calm: Thanks for the wishes and for delurking too Calm

And thank you Bianca and Lucy (what a lovely bunch, but did Miss Po get a special Holiday Season Vegetable dye colour job?) and Rhonda.

>93 phebj: Pat, you know I enjoyed working on your lovely Rocky boy as much as you enjoyed watching the process. It was so much fun being able to share it with you and your enthusiasm really carried me along and pushed me on and inspired me to do the best I job could. I'm sure the confidence it gave me helped me feel better about myself, which in turn played a big role in my encounter with Pierre, so that portrait is meaningful to us both for all sorts of reasons. No rush in sending me the photo; I know it's in a good place. In the meantime, I've edited the step-by-step shots and put together a little video, but I'm not happy with the result so haven't posted it yet... but it's coming!

Thanks my dear Paul and dear Megan too. Hope I'll be better at keeping up with you all in the New Year!

A belated Merry Christmas, Ilana, and a wish for a loverly 2015!

Merry festive season Ilana! And best wishes for the new year :)

Happy New Year, Ilana. I've been offline for a week so just starting to visit the threads again. I really love that coat hanger, it is beautiful and I'm sure you're loving it.

Hey, did you get the word that our 2015 group is up?

Another big splurge over the weekend; the final one of the year? I had a coupon from Book Outlet for Boxing Day which they extended to the 27th, so really, I had NO CHOICE but to go over there and shop my heart out, did I? I had an additional 20% off on top of the reductions indicated below...

TWO LIVES
by Trevor, William
You saved 81%
$3.07
• Another one for my Booker collection (1991 Shortlist)

THE WHISPERING LAND
by Durrell, Gerald
You saved 80%
$3.07

JOURNEY TO THE ABYSS: THE DIAIRES OF COUNT HARRY KESSLER, 1880 - 1918
by Easton, Laird M. (Edt)
Hardcover
You saved 79%
$9.23
• This one was recommended by Robert Harris in The Guardian in a roundup of the best books of 2013, so it had be on wishlist ever since.

ISAK DINESEN: THE LIFE OF A STORYTELLER
You saved 77%
$5.38

BLACK BOX
by Oz, Amos
You saved 86%
$2.30
• Great Israeli author, an epistolary novel with a principle character called Ilana in it, couldn't resist!

LAST ORDERS
by Swift, Graham
You saved 80%
$3.84
• for my Booker Prize collection (1996)

WATERLAND
by Swift, Graham
You saved 80%
$3.84
• yet another one for my Booker collection (1983 Shortlist)

THE PEACOCK SPRING
by Godden, Rumer
Paperback
You saved 75%
$4.26

***

I also took advantage of a couple of Kindle deals and got the following for $1.99 each:

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey - rec'd by Katherine (@qebo) and Lucy (@sibyx) among others
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales by Chris Van Allsburg - recommended by too many to mention; I've borrowed it from the library and agree, it's awesome!

About to spend an Audible credit on:

♫ The American Lover by Rose Tremain - her latest short story collection

And another on a 2 for 1 sale, probably for:

♫ The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer
♫ Tandia by Bryce Courtenay - part 2 of The Power of One, which I HIGHLY recommend.

Total books purchased (and about to be purchased) to date in 2014: 362

Thanks for the belated Christmas and the New Year wishes Laura, Megan, and Kerry!

>99 avatiakh: Kerry, the advantage to that beautiful coat hanger, unlike a pretty picture hanging on the wall, is I get to interact with it every day, so I really do have a reason to look at it several times a day and it looks even better up close with all the loving details Pierre put into it.

eta: that being said, he did give me a very nice drawing the first time I went to his place to show him my work, which is now hanging in my kitchen. An espresso pot and lemons, which I like a lot. I'll try to take a picture of it on a day when there is enough light to do so. I've tried, but it's so bleak in there with the winter light the results were less than satisfactory and it did no justice to his work.

>100 drneutron: Hi Jim, thanks so much for dropping by. I certainly did find out about the new group when I saw you announce it on the TIOLI thread, and joined in as soon as I did; I went ahead and introduced myself today and everything, so it's official: I'm in for 2015! :-) Thanks so much once again for doing this, it's SO MUCH appreciated! xx

Stopping by to leave my belated Christmas wishes, Ilana. I'm pleased you've had such a good end to 2014 with book hauls and boyfriends :-)

Hope you're continuing to have a wonderful holiday season, Ilana. You have a bunch I love on your Bingo card list in >85 Smiler69:. I hope more people find Lady Susan. What a hoot!

Well, it seems I wasn't the only one dawdling about whether it was such a good idea to tackle the War and Peace group read in the New Year now I've got less listening daytime hours with a new man in my life. In any case, over on Mark's thread, there was a poll with results showing that all agreed to delay the group read by another year. I must say I'm very relieved and am feeling very liberated because of it, but I do apologize to those who were keen to take on that giant masterpiece, whether for the first time or not.

This has led me to make the following January reading plans, which I'm keeping relatively reasonable for now, though of course, am tempted to add lots more because of the various TIOLI challenges (especially Challenge #15: Read a book you've acquired in 2014, which I'll probably dip into):

January
✭ⓔ Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively - British Authors Challenge (BAC), TIOLI #1: Read a book that has the word "psychological" followed by a noun somewhere in or on the book
✪❉ An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro - BAC, TIOLI #10: IOU challenge: Read a book by someone whose name ends in I, O, or U
✭❉ Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers - American Authors Challenge (AAC), TIOLI #19: Read a book from a library of a frog-award-winner 2011-2014
*✭♫ Chocolat by Joanne Harris - Picked for Me! (by Mamie), TIOLI #3: Read a book with a food item in the title
✪♫ Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng - TIOLI #2: Read a book from a list of best or notable books of 2014 (NPR)
✪♫ Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Ofill - TIOLI #2 (Slate)
✪♫ 2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino - TIOLI #10

* = Picked for Me challenge
♫ = audiobook
✔ = off the shelf
❉ = library book
ⓔ = eBook
✭ = TIOLI
✪ = Shared TIOLI

>103 souloftherose: Thanks for dropping by Heather. I must say I certainly am glad about the way 2014 is ending, considering what an awful year it was for the most part, with that nightmare migraine making life miserable for the better part of it. But then artwork and finally a new man made life worth living, not to mention wonderful reading and even more wonderful LT friends! :-)

>104 jnwelch: Thank you Joe, wishing you the very same. Lady Susan was such a revelation and definitely became an instant favourite. One I'll be sure to revisit often! You remind me I'll have to list my favourites of the year very soon. xx

Oh - no War and Peace? I feel simultaneously sad and relieved. I'll share Moon Tiger with you in January though - this is my first proper author challenge, and I'm quite looking forward to it :)

" I must say I'm very relieved and am feeling very liberated because of it." You are not alone, Ilana! LOL. Let's out a big breath. I have 2 big NF books I've been meaning to get to, on audio, that will step right in. I will not lose a step.

I am also going to read Moon Tiger, but I will get it from the library. I have never read Lively.

>85 Smiler69: Congrats on completing the card, Ilana! It seemed like a bunch of people were doing those bingo cards in various iterations in 2014. I wonder if the fad will continue in the coming year. And I had no idea of joining in the 2015 reading of War and Peace and the unanimous sigh of relief cracked me up!

Good reading plans for January. I will be reading How It All Began but I am picking up Moon Tiger at the library in the next couple of days (it's being held for me) so I may dig into it, as well. I'm overcommitted for January but that's no surprise.

Oh, I need to go add myself to this month's TIOLI for Just One Damned Thing After Another! And then I need to quit messing about on the computer and go read! :-)

>105 Smiler69: I'm actually relieved the group read of War and Peace isn't going ahead as I'd almost decided I didn't want to join in but knew I was going to feel some regret that I wasn't.

I'm also planning to read Moon Tiger in January - from the TIOLI challenge it looks like a lot of people picked that as their Penelope Lively book for January.

I finished listening to Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jody Taylor a couple of minutes ago as I was working on my latest metro drawing. It was really great fun and I can see why the series has become popular among LTers. Works really well on audio, and I've already got book 2 in the wings, which I'm looking forward to already. I would have rated it as a 4.5 because of the pure enjoyment factor, but according to my rating system that automatically makes it one of my yearly favourites and a book I'll for sure want to reread eventually, and I'm not quite sure it quite makes that cut, though definitely highly recommended.

I've been starring a bunch of threads in the 2015 group and not sure when I'll start my own. All I know is I can't handle being in both groups and dealing with double threads, be it my own or anyone else's... Tonight I'm having a Single Gal night, so I'd planned on spending lots more time on drawing, so I guess I'll start the new thread tomorrow in the first part of the day or on the 1st of January. Exciting times ahead!

>107 evilmoose: Megan, I know what you mean about War and Peace—I've been wanting to read it for so long and I'd sort of talked myself into reading it next month despite the fact I probably won't have as much time for reading as I used to not so very long ago, so I do have mixed feelings about it, but the truth is RELIEF is the one that mostly takes precedence. :-)

Like you, I'm pretty excited about the British Author Challenge, especially since I have so many BAs in my tbr that are screaming to get read already!

>108 msf59: Mark, I read one of Lively's books this year (on audio), which was How It All Began and which I didn't fall in love with, but I think I'll like Moon Tiger a lot more and am looking forward to it.

>109 EBT1002: Thanks Ellen, I didn't thing I'd complete that bingo card because I'd planned on reading A Dance of Dragons all year for the "A Book with Dragons" category and then ran out of time for it, and it was a complete surprise to discover there were dragons in the children's book I had borrowed from the library (a series I'd been reading which didn't feature any until then), so I was quite pleased of course.

I'm always overcommitting when it comes to reading plans, especially because I get excited about all the TIOLI challenges, but I tried to be more realistic this month given the recent changes in my life circumstances. Of course I'll be happy if I can actually read more than planned though!

>110 souloftherose: Heather, I'm hoping to read both suggested authors for the BAC each month as am generally really excited about all the authors chosen (with a couple of notable exceptions, such as B. S. Johnson and Martin Amis, both of which I have no desire to discover at this time). War and Peace should proceed again this time next year, so we all have time to mentally prepare for it till then. ;-)

Hi Ilana! I finished chapter 15 in Just One Damned Thing After Another this morning and I hope I'll complete the novel during my bus commute to-and-from work today. As I mentioned to Juli on my "old" thread (and I totally resonate with your comment about not keeping up with two threads in two years not to mention everyone else's two threads!), I keep thinking "well, this is fun but I can't imagine committing precious reading time to the next in the series," and then something happens to make me curious about where Jodi Taylor will take it in the next installment. I'm definitely enjoying it.

Dear Ilana



Happy New Year from your friend in Kuala Lumpur

Ilana, just stopping by to wish you a wonderful 2015!

You seem to be in a very Happy Place right now, Ilana! Let's hope this continues. Smiles...

Happy, Happy New Year! Wishing you all kinds of happiness and good health this year :-) Stay warm!
xoxo

Thanks so much for the New Year wishes Jenny, Paul, Bianca, Mark and Claudia, wishing you and all visitors and lurkers the very same of course! I'll be starting my 2015 thread shortly. Pierre and I had a lovely New Year's Eve. I hadn't celebrated it in years, and we had a simple but very tasty dinner and a half bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne, which happens to be a favourite for us both. We watched "Three Days of the Condor" (1975) with a young Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway and Max Von Sydow and made sure to set the alarm at 11:59 so we could ring in the New Year with a heartfelt kiss!

>113 EBT1002: Ellen, The timing for Jodi Taylor's book was just right for me, to break up the harshness of Schindler's Ark, and I really enjoyed it and all the unlikely adventures it contained. Since I already got the second book as a kindle/Audible deal, I'll happily jump into it sometime in this New Year, but of course no one around here is going to claim it's great literature, just good fun!

Hi Ilana! Big Happy New Year's to you and Pierre. I will be watching for your 2015 thread. I haven't even started mine yet but hope to get up in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, I have a lot of threads to visit!

I've just bought Just One Damned Thing After Another as my brain isn't switched on at all and I thought it might be a good bit of light reading.

>119 phebj: Hi Pat, so nice to hear from you. And a very Happy New Year to you too! As it happens, I've just finished putting up my new thread now and been answering the first few visitors (was just mentioning you and Rocky this minute... must be telepathy or something!—just posted the drawing on my new thread, come have a look!)

HERE'S THE LINK TO MY 2015 THREAD: http://www.librarything.com/topic/185670




eta: Hi Jenny, I think you'll find it's perfect reading for a low-functioning brain. I know it's the sort of thing I'd turn to if I was felled by one of my awful migraine bouts in any case (god forbid!). Enjoy!