SusanJ's 75 Books Challenge - Thread 4

Hello, and welcome to my fourth thread for 2015.

I'm Susan, a Kiwi living in London for the past 20 years. During the working week I'm a lawyer so I love nerdy legal stuff, which crops up in more books than you might expect.

Over the past couple of years I've started to read mostly non-fiction, and this year my goal is 150 books, one-third fiction and two-thirds non-fiction.

I combine reading with too many courses on Coursera and EdX, which in turn leads to many more reading recommendations.










Top Fiction Reads of 2014

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Tilted World by Tom Franklin

Top Non-Fiction Reads of 2014

Merchant Adventurers by James Evans
Deep Sea and Foreign Going by Rose George
Empire of Necessity by Greg Grandin
Cheek by Jowl by Emily Cockayne
In These Times by Jenny Uglow

January reads

1. Thank You For Smoking
2. The Invention of the White Race, vol 1
3. Centuries of Change
4. Phineas Finn
5. Salvage the Bones
6. When Britain Burned the White House
7. The Collected Works of A J Fikry
8. Counting Sheep
9. Good Times, Bad Times: The Welfare Myth of Them and Us
10. The Declaratory Judgment
11. The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes, And Why
12. Albion's Fatal Tree
13. Capital (Rana Dasgupta)
14. Horrorstor
15. The Blessing Way
16. Magna Carta (Dan Jones)
17. Mr Lynch' s Holiday
18. The Amistad Rebellion
19. The Day of the Triffids

February reads

20. The Portrait of a Lady
21. The Cold Dish
22. Mr and Mrs Disraeli: A Strange Romance
23. The Invention of the White Race vol 2
24. Plants: From Roots to Riches
25. Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary
26. 1815: Regency Britain in the Year of Waterloo
27. The Eustace Diamonds
28. The Brother Gardeners
29. Gone Tomorrow
30. Dirty Old London: The Victorian Fight Against Filth
31. A Man Called Ove
32. The Poet's Tale: Chaucer and the Year That Made the Canterbury Tales
33. Reading the World
34. Crossing to Safety
35. 61 Hours
36. In the Family Way (Jane Robinson)
37. Frankenstein

March reads

38. Leaving Before the Rains Come
39. Worth Dying For
40. The Affair
41. Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms
42. A Spool of Blue Thread
43. Dance Hall of the Dead
44. The Dry Grass of August
45. The Leopard's Spots
46. The Fever Trail
47. Bad Blood
48. The Clansman
49. Clean
50. The Traitor: A Story of the Fall of the Invisible Empire
51. Endangered
52. Between Two Worlds: How the English Became Americans
53. Bitter Greens
54. The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing
55. Is Shame Necessary? New Uses for an Old Tool
56. The American Crucible: Slavery, Emancipation and Human Rights
57. The Miraculous Fever-Tree
58. The Looting Machine
59. Shakespeare Saved My Life

April reads

60. Maybe This Christmas
61. Mansfield Park
62. An Empire on the Edge
63. How to Create the Perfect Wife
64. Death Without Company
65. Playing by the Greek's Rules
66. The Scarlet Letter
67. 1215: The Year of Magna Carta
68. Circulation: William Harvey's Revolutionary Idea
69. Gilead
70. Hybrid: The History and Science of Plant Breeding
71. Journey to the Centre of the Earth
72. Map Addict
73. The Time Machine
74. The Age of Edison
75. A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and the Founding of America
76. Country House Society
77. Olive Kitteridge
78. Fashion on the Ration: Style in the Second World War
79. The Shore

Finally I am on holiday and the Easter Reading Extravaganza can begin! I've lined up some possible candidates...



From the top:

The Fiery Trial - bought second hand from Amazon but it's *brand new*!
The Radioactive Boy Scout
No Time on my Hands
The Worst Hard Time
The Rising Tide
Miraculous Fever-Tree
The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing
The Looting Machine
Is Shame Necessary?
An Empire on the Edge
Isaac's Storm

Plus all the stuff on the Kindle. And the rest of the library reserves. But I've got 16 days, so that should be easy :-))

Happy new thread and have a lovely holiday. 2 weeks off - that's nothing but decadent. Hopefully the weather will allow a few days out and about to get some fresh air.

Woop!

That was for the Easter Reading Extravaganza. Enjoy :)

Happy New Thread! I look forward to following along with your Easter Reading Extravaganza!

Hi Susan, congrats on your shiny new thread. I wish you a lovely weekend.

Morning, Susan! Happy new thread, and hooray for the Easter Reading Extravaganza!! Looks like you've got some excellent reading lined up there.

Happy new thread, Susan! I am looking forward to following along on your ERE. You've got some good books lined up (Hello, Isaac's Storm)!

Happy new thread and enjoy the Easter Reading Extravaganza. Sounds great.

Hope ERE going well. (with or without Lindt bunnies).

(*runs to Boots*)

>4 Helenliz: Thanks Helen. I am even considering leaving London for a day and going to the Ashmolean museum in Oxford. But I'll see what the trains are like as I've seen doomful warnings of Easter chaos, as usual.

>5 BekkaJo: Thanks Bekka!

>6 cbl_tn: Thanks Carrie! First review coming up :-)

>7 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara - you too!

>8 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! I don't think I'll run out, but there is always that nagging doubt :-)

>9 katiekrug: Katie, I bought that when you recommended it, and it arrived really quickly (although from within the UK, which probably explains it).

>10 BLBera: Thanks Beth!

>11 charl08: Charlotte, it's going well so far, although it is bunny-free (at present).



54. (ERE book 1) The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I read about it on Charlotte's and Beth's threads

I really enjoyed this story of an Indian family living in the US. The story takes place mostly in Albuquerque but spends a small amount of time in India, and I thought the author moved between places and times really well. I also loved the extended family of "courtesy" aunties and uncles. Thanks for a great recommendation, Charlotte and Beth!

Hi Susan! Happy new thread, and happy holidays! Looks like you're well-set for books:) I have seen The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing recommended here also -- glad you enjoyed it!

I loved The Worst Hard Time -- what an amazing and devastating book.

>13 AMQS: Thanks Anne! I think I may have got The Worst Hard Time from your thread - certainly from somewhere on LT! I really want to get to "my" books - I need to stop reserving library books all the time!

>12 susanj67: whereas we're probably heading into the big city over Easter. It's the country folk coming to town, watch out >;-) However hoping for a lack of train chaos all round...

An Easter Reading Extravaganza -- what a delicious thought.

Woo hoo for vacation and reading time, Susan. Go out and buy a bright top to celebrate!

>15 Helenliz: Helen, I will watch out :-)

>16 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I hope so!

>17 ronincats: Thanks Roni! I may visit a shop or two :-)



55. (ERE book 2) Is Shame Necessary? New Uses for an Old Tool by Jennifer Jaquet

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I read a good review of it

This short(ish) book is a really good look at the role that shame plays in changing behaviour today, in spheres from big business to people littering. The author looks at how it works (very different from guilt) and at what is necessary in terms of a "shaming campaign" to get people to change their behaviour, and indeed how society decides which behaviours are shameful (they vary between cultures).

I think it will go well with Jon Ronson's book So You've Been Publicly Shamed? which is on my reserve list, although I think he looks more at internet campaigns which whip up hatred for more minor transgressions. One of the most irritating things about the internet is the sanctimonious way that everyone is now outraged by something that they previously wouldn't have given a second thought to.

I think next I will read the first couple of chapters of each of my three remaining library books, just to get them started :-)

Good to see the extravaganza get off to a good start :-)

What Charlotte said. I'm so glad you liked THe Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing; it's always nice when recommendations work. Enjoy your reading. At this rate you will run out of books.

Happy New Thread, Susan!

Yay for new thread and, WOW, 55 books read so far this year! *staggers backwards and faints*

Your planned Easter Reading Extravaganza looks fabulous! I want some down time where I can just stay in my PJs all day and read if I want to.... oh wait, that is kind of what I do on Sundays. Here is to your two weeks of Sundays. ;-)

>18 susanj67: - That shame book looks interesting. I don't smoke but I sure do witness the shame behaviour that is exhibited by non-smokers to smokers. I take the position that so long as tobacco continues to be a legally sold product - like alcohol - then people need to lighten up and stop making smokers feel like lepers. A new by-law takes effect in Victoria - actually I think it takes effect in the Capital Region District which includes the neighboring municipalities as well - on April 1st that extends the outside 'no smoking zone' of doorways from 3 meters to 7 meters. Yup, your read correctly, 7 meters, which means that even people driving by in their cares on the streets would technically be in violation of the new 'no smoking zone'. The CRD has admitted that it will not be enforcing the bylaw because they only have the equivalent of 1.5 full time employees for enforcement purposes. They are hoping that this will be treated as an 'awareness campaign'. I can already see some do-gooder approaching a smoker on the sidewalk, informing them about the by-law and a fight breaking out, similar to the fight that broke out last week when a pedestrian informed a driver waiting to make a right hand turn that he was not supposed to be driving and talking on his cell phone at the same time. We live in a very strange world, that is all I can say....

Happy weekend, Susan!

>19 charl08: Charlotte, so far, so good!

>20 BLBera: Thanks Beth :-) I fear I'm some way away from running out, but I would love to catch up a bit!

>21 scaifea: Thanks Amber :-)

>22 lkernagh: Lori, we now have "smoking zones" at Canary Wharf, which are rectangular shapes painted in red onto the pavements around the estate where the smokers have to stand. It doesn't seem to have shamed any into giving up, though :-) There's also a proposal to ban smoking in cars with kids in them, which some people oppose because "no responsible parent would do that anyway", which is an interesting use of shame. Really, though, there is no hope of enforcing it, just as they don't enforce driving using mobiles, apart from the odd crackdown for publicity purposes, or cyclists going through red lights or riding on the pavement.

Today I went to a couple of exhibitions and then walked for ages and got the bus home, so culture *and* exercise. I went to the Duke of Wellington one at the National Portrait Gallery and then the "Bonaparte and the British: Prints and Propaganda" one at the British Museum, where, yet again, people were taking non-stop photos of the prints despite the "no photography" sign at the beginning, and the low light levels which indicate that photography will *damage* the works. And the attendant did nothing to stop them.



56. (ERE book 3) The American Crucible: Slavery, Emancipation and Human Rights by Robin Blackburn

Where I got it: Verso ebooks Christmas sale
Why I read it: It looked interesting

I've been reading this on the Kindle for weeks, but finished the final 13% last night and this morning, partly due to a bus diversion in the City which made my journey home longer. It's a very long book, with very long chapters, and there's something disheartening about that Kindle feature which says "45 minutes left in chapter". It was really interesting and I learned a lot, but it threatened to overwhelm me at times. I think it would have worked better in hard copy although I would recommend it for content.



57. (ERE book 4) The Miraculous Fever Tree by Fiammetta Rocco

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: Lori (lkernagh) recommended it after my last malaria read

This was a *superb* read that I pretty much whizzed right through, even though I'd only intended to read the first couple of chapters yesterday afternoon. It's an excellent look at malaria, and doesn't get bogged down in all the expedition details of the book I read recently. It goes all over the world, right into the 20th century and more modern drug developments than the cinchona tree, although there's a fascinating bit at the end about an area where the tree is still grown. Thanks Lori for an excellent recommendation!

>23 susanj67: Ooh, The Miraculous Fever Tree sounds really good. I'd like to know more about malaria, so will look out for it. I do like narratives about people finding plants on their travels and learning from other people(s). Judith Carney's Black Rice was a favourite a while back, explaining her research into the origins of rice cultivation in the US.

I think I would have given up on The American Crucible at 45 minutes per chapter. Wow. I was bribing myself to keep reading a Big Book over the weekend with a mini egg per chapter, but at that rate I'd still be eating them at Xmas...

Oooh, a mini egg per chapter! I like that strategy...

>24 charl08: Charlotte, Black Rice looks really good, but unfortunately all the copies currently available are about five thousand pounds, so I've wishlisted it on Amazon so I can keep an eye on it. And while I was looking I saw a fabulous new book by someone else entirely, called "Pirates, Merchants, Settlers, and Slaves: Colonial America and the Indo-Atlantic World", which could have been *written for me*. Pirates! Settlers! Colonial Times! It's a Kindle pre-order for £40.00. Another one to wishlist for second-hand copies :-)

>25 katiekrug: Katie, I have a long book but no eggs in the house. Hmmm...

Hi Susan! Just dropping in to check the progress of the Easter Reading Extravaganza. It looks like it's going well so far!

>26 susanj67: Pirates and settlers... sounds good. You can get the book direct from Harvard UP for £20 but it's still a lot. Come the revolution, open access for all academic books, for everyone :-)

>27 cbl_tn: Carrie, it is! Thanks for checking in :-)

>28 charl08: Charlotte, I think I'll suggest it as an acquisition for the library, although they didn't get the last thing I wanted. But they have plenty on the subject of this book, so clearly there's a demand.

It is so windy today! I only went as far as Canary Wharf to go to the library and the supermarket, and crossing the little canal to the mall with the library in it I was blown to a standstill by *howling* wind. I had to hold onto the handrail and walk sideways to finish crossing. But I returned my books, and picked up another reserve which has come in: How to Create the Perfect Wife by Wendy Moore, whose Wedlock I loved a few years ago.



58. (ERE book 5) The Looting Machine by Tom Burgis

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I read a good review of it

If you've ever wondered why Africa is in the state it's in, despite having more natural resources than any other continent, this book explains it. Subtitled "Warlords, tycoons, smugglers and the systematic theft of Africa's wealth" it looks at how the current rulers of African countries have failed to raise living standards for their people in the years since independence, and why. The "looting machine" is the mechanism by which billions of dollars finds its way into the pockets of the very few at the top, much like it did in colonial times, but now with no excuse that it's foreigners taking money away from the locals. The author is a writer for the Financial Times, who has worked in Johannesburg and Lagos, and the book is an excellent read which I didn't want to put down. Thank goodness for holidays :-)

The wind is insane isn't it! The sea is just a massive rolling mess over here.

ERE seems to be powering ahead - though I agree that you need a sizable stash of eggs to go with it all :) Mini cadburys caramel eggs? or maybe just the classic mini-eggs... *drool*

I gave up chocolate over 3 years ago - Easter is hard for me!!!

>30 BekkaJo: Bekka, apparently the Isle of Wight ferry is suspended because of the weather, and the QEII bridge in east London is closed because of the wind (that's a sign of a really windy London). And a poor lady got hit by a window falling five storeys from London Bridge Hospital - that's what freaks me out about walking around in weather like this.

I'm trying to cut right down on sugar so I haven't succumbed to Easter yet (and this morning I even bought *wholemeal* hot cross buns, which may have been a step too far) although the Cadbury's Easter cake selection looked good at Waitrose. Maybe I'll cave on Thursday :-)

So happy to see you found the Rocco book to be a good read!

You have really been busy reading in my absence!

Sounds like the vacation is going well, Susan!

>14 susanj67: I really want to get to "my" books - I need to stop reserving library books all the time! Well, good luck with that is all I can say. I am trying to get to my own books as well, with mixed success.

I may have to look into those shame books. I was thinking about this just this week. My husband is a cyclist, and we live in a perfect place for it. He bikes to work when he can, and on weekends rides up to the mountains. It is hugely popular here in the foothills, and many elite professional cyclists live in nearby Boulder. He almost never goes out that some yahoo doesn't do something stupid like do a sharp right turn in front of him, honk at him, deliberately ride too close, flip him off, etc. These stories make me crazy -- it's so dangerous, and I just don't get WHY? I do realize that some cyclists are not good advocates -- riding two or more abreast, not signaling, etc, but my husband rarely rides with anyone else. On Sunday he was riding downhill on a winding mountain road and going 30 mph, or just about as fast as a car could go. He was passed by this car with a man driving. As the car passed, a woman in the passenger seat rolled down the window and chucked the contents of a water bottle in his face. Then the car sped off. Why? He says sometimes people will ask if they want to be sprayed a little when it's hot, but this wasn't the case. He also said "at least it wasn't coffee," which had apparently been thrown at him on another occasion. Like I said, these stories make me crazy. What if he wears a helmet camera? Would it be within his legal rights to post videos of these mouth-breathers? Would a little shame help? Would police be interested? Ugh. Of course, now I have two new books to look into on the subject:)

>29 susanj67: Impressed by all the self-denial going on around here - I had just reserved How to create the perfect wife when I came to read the thread. Weird coincidence, or has someone been talking about it recently?

>32 lkernagh: Lori, I hope I can recommend something as good to you :-)

>33 thornton37814: Lori, I'm making the most of my two lovely weeks off!

>34 ronincats: Thanks Roni. The book side of it is certainly going well so far :-)

>35 AMQS: Anne, those helmet cameras are popular over here, and there are sites on which cyclists can upload their footage (as well as YouTube). Sometimes the papers pick up the stories and publish stills and people are caught, but cyclists complain that the police are reluctant to do anything. But it might make your husband feel better to show and shame them :-) And you never know - if the same people are doing the same thing to a number of cyclists, the police may take it more seriously. I do wonder what goes through the minds of people who just have to be rude and obnoxious for the sake of it. But then I suppose they're everywhere.

>36 charl08: Charlotte, I hadn't seen it discussed - it was on my wishlist and I moved it over when a slot came free. It looks excellent from a quick skim :-)

I stayed up late last night to finish my last book for March, as the Clompingtons upstairs were in full clomp and there was no point in going to bed.



59. (ERE book 6) Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard by Laura Bates

Where I got it: Library ebook
Why I read it: It was available on the Overdrive website for part of a "Big Library Read" but I didn't download it until Charlotte mentioned it on her thread

This is a very thought-provoking memoir by a University lecturer who started a program on Shakespeare for prisoners in a solitary confinement unit at a prison in Indiana. It focuses on the progress made by one specific prisoner, who was serving a life sentence with no hope of parole, but mentioned others as well, and the expansion of the programme to other parts of the prison. It raised a lot of interesting questions about what should be done to/with prisoners, particularly those in high-security units, and whether it is worth giving them any sort of education, or whether we are just making better criminals by doing that. The author chose to answer the question by saying that educating prisoners might mean saving their *next* victim(s) from harm, but that doesn't really apply to prisoners serving whole-life sentences. There's also the issue of how much should be spent on "free" education for prisoners while people on the outside have to pay for their own (college) education. I thought it was an excellent read, and not one I would ever have picked up had it not been all over the Overdrive home page, so I'm pleased that someone picked it out and publicised it. And for Charlotte downloading it, of course :-)

Today I'm going to continue with An Empire on the Edge, which is excellent but quite hard on the arms, and then have a little foray into How To Create the Perfect Wife. Plus whatever else happens along. For some reason a couple of romances on my Kindle are calling me...I'm not sure yet whether I'll go out or not as it still looks windy outside, so not great weather for walking around.

Hi Susan - I checked out the ebook Shakespeare Saved My Life and plan to dip into it. Thanks for the comments.

Chiming in to say wholemeal hot cross buns are DEFINITELY a step too far.

>37 susanj67: - I'm hoping to start Shakespeare Saved My Life today.

>38 BLBera: Beth, I'm sure you'll find it interesting. It's the sort of book that I think will stay with me, as prison conditions are debated over here too, and there was a recent successful judicial review of rules that limited the availability of books for prisoners - campaigners protested that they couldn't receive books from outsiders and had to rely on badly-stocked prison libraries, although I'm not sure it was quite as straightforward as that. Anyway, the rules were declared to be unlawful. There were a few comments under one article I read in which people said "Well, I hope I don't end up in prison, but I'd always thought that at least I'd get a lot of reading done..."

>39 lunacat: Jenny, they're growing on me, although it wouldn't have occurred to me that they were actually a thing until I saw them at Waitrose. But toasted, with butter...they would have to be pretty bad for that not to work as a snack.

>40 katiekrug: Katie, I'll look forward to your comments. It's a pretty quick read, at least if you have insomniac neighbours who keep you awake to read it :-)

After I posted this morning I did something to my neck, and now I can't really move my head, which is annoying. Oddly, it's not the side that usually always hurts, but the other one. Humph! So I decided on a nice quiet day with my America book, and then a Sarah Morgan romance, because sometimes when your gaze is fixed in front of you a romance is all you want.



60. (ERE book 7) Maybe This Christmas by Sarah Morgan

Where I got it: Kindle
Why I read it: Autobuy

This is the third in the "Snow Crystal" trilogy, in which the three O'Neil brothers find true love with three excellent heroines. The first book was Sarah Morgan's first full-length novel (she typically writes series romance for Harlequin Mills & Boon, which are only 50,000 words) and I wasn't convinced that there was enough story for the length of the book. The second one got over that, and this third one is pretty much perfect. The story of this last couple has been bubbling away through the last two books, and it was lovely to see them finally get their own story which, as with the others in the series, has core family members in it and characters from the previous books. The English heroine of the first book and the French heroine of the second are particularly funny together.

Yesterday I bought books 0.5 and 1 of her next trilogy, which I'm looking forward to, but I might try some more of my library books before I indulge.

OUCH! This seems like the perfect moment for me to mention my favourite easter treat (currently): Hot Cross Bun Toast. Mmmmm. All the goodness of hot cross buns, without the faff getting them out of the toaster.

I signed that books in prison petition. It seemed such a mean thing to do on the part of the government, especially when they are cutting back prison education programmes left right and centre, and people on remand were also affected (I think?!).

>42 charl08: I always halve my hot cross buns, then put them on a plate in a hot oven. Again, toasted but with none of the faffing around with a toaster. Perfect.

Hi Susan! I downloaded Shakespeare Saved My Life the other day when I went to Overdrive to check out The Master Butchers Singing Club. I don't know if I'll find time to read it before it expires, even though it sounds interesting. My aunt's brother-in-law (no relation to me) was a prison librarian. I think he's retired now. The restrictions make it a challenging job.

Ouch! Susan, I hope your neck feels better soon.

Adding my "ouch!" to the pile - here's hoping your neck is better this morning!

Mmm, I might have to toast some more of our Fruit Loaf after reading that.

>42 charl08: Charlotte, I agree that it was a mean thing to do - there was no cost to the taxpayer if friends or family sent in books, and arguably anything to keep them gainfully occupied has to be welcome, if only to cut down on fighting and other boredom-induced behaviour. Maybe I should set up an Amazon prison wishlist just in case the worst happens, and then my friends will know what to send :-)

>43 lunacat: Jenny I grill mine - I have one of those combination microwave/convection oven/grills and the grill is perfect for toasting chunky things.

>44 cbl_tn: Carrie, yes I can imagine that would be a challenging job! I hope you do get to read Shakespeare Saved My Life - it's a good read.

>45 BLBera: Thanks Beth. It's a bit better today. I have to keep reminding myself that there is nothing on the ceiling that I actually *need* to see...

>46 scaifea: Thanks Amber :-) It will be OK in a few days, I think. I went for a walk to the supermarket today, to move around a bit, and I think that helped. Finally the wind has dropped so it didn't feel quite so dangerous walking outside.

>47 elkiedee: Luci, I always manage to burn fruit loaf. Today I bought *crumpets*. Yummmmm with butter and a little bit of strawberry jam.



61. (ERE book 8) Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Where I got it: Kindle (the free version, not this expensive cover I have put here)
Why I read it: For the tutored read

I've really enjoyed the tutored read, and got a lot more from this book than I would have without it. I'm not sure I'll ever be a huge Jane Austen fan, but I have a greater appreciation for this thanks to Liz's excellent notes and the discussion on the tutored read thread. The tutored read is still going, but I was having a change of pace from my America book this afternoon, and I picked this up to catch up with my outstanding chapters and ended up finishing it.

It's back to An Empire on the Edge now, which looks at how the American Revolution started, from the losing side :-) It's really novel to read it too - I can see why people say that history is written by the winners, because everything I've read about the Revolution so far focuses on the terrible things that Britain did to the colonies, while this book looks at *why* (and argues that, to the extent that things were done, it was mostly because of a lack of clear or "joined-up" (my word) thinking than any actual malice).

Mmmmm crumpets. Actually mmmm fruit loaf too. And mmmmm hot cross buns. YUM!

Anyway - food aside, I hope your neck has eased out and you are still enjoying the ERE. :)

Crumpets are the best, although I opt for butter and marmite. But I know I'm a bit odd that way. And I quite like a good hot x bun. M&S do all sorts of varieties, we had the luxury and the apple versions today. very nice too, although I skip the "hot" part and have then cold & buttered. A seasonal tea cake, I suppose.
Having had neck pain for several weeks, I can only sympathise quite loudly. Hope it improves and the ERE continues uninterrupted.

>49 BekkaJo: Thanks Bekka :-) Fortunately the ERE is the perfect activity for a sore neck - lots of sitting still!

>50 Helenliz: Thanks Helen - today it's feeling quite a bit better, but it's raining here so I think, all things considered, I'll have a day in :-)



62. (ERE book 9) An Empire on the Edge: How Britain Came to Fight America by Nick Bunker

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I saw it on Susanna's thread

Oooh, this is a great read :-) It looks at the three years prior to the start of the American Revolution, and why it happened. But it does so from the point of view of the British, which is unusual in my Revolution reading. With hindsight, it is so easy to berate a person/company/country for failing to address issue x, as if they were sitting whistling while issue x jumped up and down in front of them, shouting. But the author looks at what else was going on at the time that caused Britain not to pay the colonies the attention that (in hindsight) it should have. The East India Company was about to go bankrupt, which was a Much Bigger Thing, as was the perennial sabre-rattling from France, an enemy just a few miles away. It wasn't just that Britain took its eye off the ball, rather that its eyes were focused on other, more important (at the time) balls. But yes, there was ineptitude, and a failure of intelligence, and a failure to act on it when it did arrive after long voyages across the Atlantic.

In many ways there are modern parallels, particularly with the issue of whether the colonies had or had not committed treason, which would have allowed a military response from Britain. Various witnesses fetched up in Britain and were examined by Parliament committees, and then the attorney-general was asked to write an opinion on whether there was sufficient evidence to take action (spooky echoes of the modern dilemma about the legality of the war in Iraq in 2003). He decided that, as all the evidence was hearsay, there wasn't, at least when he was first asked to opine. Things changed later when the evidence became clearer, and material was published in a newspaper under the names of key rebels in the US. But it shows that, far from blundering into war, Britain was in fact thinking quite carefully about whether it could be justified (and then blundered).

This is going to be one of my top reads of the year, even if it was hard to hold open :-) I even liked the typeface!

Glad ERE is cracking on. Any plans for Easter bookshop visiting?

No plans at present as I have enough to keep me going! I'm currently reading something in Adobe Digital Editions, which I haven't used for years, and which is the computer equivalent of a dusty vault...of romance novels. Ah, good times :-) Today's read is a freebie about plants though. No canoodling so far.

Stopping by with Happy Easter weekend wishes only to read that you are having problems with your neck! You are on your vacation from work now, right? Here is hoping your neck is better soon.

All this hot cross bun talk is making me hungry..... ;-)

Susan, you are a reading machine! I'm so envious of the ERE.

That last one sounds interesting, but as a good American, I prefer to believe the national myth narrative about the evil Brits ;-)

>51 susanj67: Yet another interesting book from you!! It reminded me of when I got to university and took American history from a Brit. Benedict Arnold a loyalist...what a concept!! Is An Empire on the Edge a recent publication? I may have to look for it when we're in London this summer.

Hi Susan, I wish you Happy Easter.

>54 lkernagh: H Lori! Yes, I'm a week into my holiday now. The weird pulled neck thing has resolved itself so now I just have to try not to injure myself in any other way :-)

>55 katiekrug: Katie, it was interesting! But yes, I suppose evil is a better narrative than ineptitude :-) One thing I hadn't really thought about very much was how long the US had been settled by the English before the Revolution. There were many generations of American-born "English" people, who of course were completely different from the English still in England (a point the author makes). The differences changed their entire world-view, so that each side totally failed to understand where the other was coming from.

>56 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, it is recent, but it's available in the US and I'd recommend getting it while you're still at home as it's very heavy to carry around.

>57 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara - you too :-)

I returned a couple of books to the library this morning, on the way to the supermarket, and had a careful look at the reserve shelf, which had nothing for me. "I'll find things myself," I said, (hopefully not out loud) and borrowed The Age of Edison and Circulation: William Harvey's Revolutionary Idea which was part of a display for the Wellcome Book Prize and I see that it won the prize in 2012. This isn't a prize I've ever paid attention to, but I think I'll start.

Yesterday I read half of Hybrid: The History and Science of Plant Breeding, which is a freebie offered by the University of Chicago Press and which is very good, but I can only read it in Adobe Digital Editions, which means scrolling down all the time, and ow my poor arms/neck etc. I fear I've overdone it, so I'll leave part 2 for another day of the ERE. But if anyone has a device that will load it in a better format, I'd recommend having a look. Here's the link: http://pressblog.uchicago.edu/2015/04/01/free-e-book-for-april-hybrid.html

>55 katiekrug:, >56 RebaRelishesReading: I took a course in American history when I did my second university year in the US. Big 101 class, 350 students and me. Let's just say that it looked nothing at all like history I'd learnt at school. I stuck it so far, but one of our coursework pieces was the write an essay on the significance of Yorktown, which is where the British surrendered. Well. I let rip. How this was the first time a major world power had surrendered to a bunch of colonial rebels etc. etc. etc. oops. Was sure it was going to come back with a low score. None of what I'd said was factually incorrect, but it was from the other side. Came back 4.5/5 and the note "interesting viewpoint" >;-)

>59 Helenliz: as well it should have!!

>58 susanj67: I'll see if I can find it -- thanks.

>58 susanj67: Adobe digital editions drives me nuts. I have a book on there that I'm really tempted to buy again in hard copy, because reading on my laptop screen via Made isn't comfortable.

>59 Helenliz: Helen, there are always at least two sides :-)

>60 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I hope you do - I loved it.

>61 charl08: Charlotte, I used to read them all the time before the Kindle, but it's hard now. I did think about getting the book from the library instead but there's only one copy in the whole system, so I don't hold out much hope of getting it. I only have about half to go, so I'll stick with it.

Out to Westfield this morning, and there was a noticeable increase in security personnel, which was worrying. I was looking for a lighter coat, as today it was too hot for puffa. I know - unbelievable! This is my current "lighter" coat - sooo boring. And they're still making them. That's how boring it is:



I want something that is a colour - ideally a teal-y blue, which will go with navy and black. This is cute (it's greener in person) but wouldn't work for the office. I might still get it for weekends, though. It's really light.



But apart from that I couldn't see anything, so I bought a couple of t-shirts at Uniqlo for my "must get back on the treadmill" bribe to myself. I hate the gym at work, with all the naked women prancing around in the changing room and the men doing their ostentatious weightlifting as a person is trying to do 30 minutes of fast hills. But I will force myself to go back. Last time I promised myself something from Sweaty Betty if I stuck at it - needless to say that didn't happen :-)

63. (ERE book 10) How to Create the Perfect Wife by Wendy Moore

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I saw it reviewed, and I loved this author's book Wedlock

This is partly creepy and partly very funny, because the main character, Thomas Day, is just such an egomaniac. Unable to find a woman who he thought lived up to his very high standards (and wanted to live with him in a rural retreat with no modern conveniences - and this was in Georgian times), he decided to adopt two foundlings and mould them into perfect women, and then pick one to marry. That's the creepy part. But the author has a very droll tone that showed she was firmly on the side of the girls (and the various other unfortunate women in his life) and in the end his experiment didn't turn out quite how he expected it to. And that's all I can say without giving away what happened. At the time, the story of his experiment created quite a sensation, and it was interesting to read of fictional accounts of it (one of which appears in Anthony Trollope's Orley Farm and another in Maria Edgeworth's Evelina. I'm quite keen to read both of those now! Recommended for anyone with an interest in Georgian Britain, because there is quite a bit about Thomas Coram's Foundling Hospital and how it was run, and how it was possible just to adopt two orphans without proper checks.



64. (ERE book 11) Death Without Company by Craig Johnson

Where I got it: Kindle
Why I read it: For Roberta's Longmire/Leaphorn project (Hi Roberta!)

This is the second book in the Longmire series, and should ideally be read straight after the first one, I think, as it pretty much follows on from it. Definitely don't start with this one without having read the first one. Vic swears less in this book, and a new Deputy comes to work at the Sheriff's office. But Walt is having trouble working out what's behind the death of an elderly lady at the Durant Facility for Assisted Living, and even the help of Henry Standing Bear doesn't solve the mystery quickly.

Hi Susan - just checking in on the ERE. I can't believe how much you are getting read! You have another week still to go, right?

I like those t-shirts, and both coats. My current light coat is similar to this:



Goes with everything, but also shows wear and dirt very easily.

>64 katiekrug: Katie, yes, still another week to go. Yay! I am a bit worried about my book exchange, but one of the hairdressers said that she would keep an eye on the returns/donations box and empty it if it got filled up, so that people don't think I've abandoned it. The libraries open again tomorrow (today is a public holiday here) and it has come to my attention that the main branch at Whitechapel has the most recent three Jack Reacher novels available in hard copy, so I think I'll pop up there :-) I thought they were all available as ebooks, but it seems not, and I am a confirmed Reacher creature, so it's onto Plan B as there will be a new one out in a few months.

That stone colour is lovely but I couldn't get away with it on the tube/bus - it would be filthy in no time at all, or I'd never be able to sit down :-) As it is, my favourite coats are all machine-washable!

I have my eye on a bright green one but not sure how practical it will be on the bike!

>66 charl08: Charlotte, bright is good!



65. (ERE book 12) Playing by the Greek's Rules by Sarah Morgan

Where I got it: Kindle
Why I read it: Autobuy

Aaaaah :-) I like Sarah Morgan's new contemporary romances, but nothing beats one of her brooding Greek gazillionaires for the Harlequin Mills & Boon Modern/Presents series (US cover above because I still hate the UK ones). In this book, tycoon Nik Zervakis finds himself the heroine's choice for "Operation Ice Maiden", in which she determines to stop falling in love and getting her heart broken, and just try canoodling for its own sake. Because she couldn't possibly fall in love with him. He ticks none of the boxes on her list of qualities for a husband. He's just smoking hot, which is all she really needs. And yet...

This is very funny right the way through, as heroine Lily Rose (bright, optimistic, chatty) is the very opposite of Nik, who doesn't believe in relationships or love. Or talking about his feelings. And yet...

I loved this, and I hope Sarah doesn't stop writing for Modern/Presents now that she's "gone contemporary", although this one introduces at least one of the characters from her new "Puffin Island" series. I noticed that some of her older books for the "Medical" line had been republished in e format earlier this year, so I found my master list yesterday and ordered the four that I didn't have. And four more in second-hand hard copy from Amazon...

This morning was (is) another bright and sunny day, so I walked up to the borough's main library at Whitechapel, which pretty much wrecked my good mood. I've only been there once before, years ago and didn't remember it as being quite so gloomy and horrible, and the book stock is *filthy*. The next Jack Reacher in the series was so disgusting I didn't even take it off the shelf. And they have a very peculiar way of ordering the non-fiction, so that it doesn't just run from 001 - 999 but is separated out into topics, so that books about the science of plants are on an entirely different floor from books about gardening, even though they're only a few Dewey numbers apart. I could hardly find anything at all.

I did find Gilead (which tried not to let me borrow it on the basis that it was "in demand"), and also Olive Kitteridge and a book about the Ordnance Survey maps, but that was all. Well, that was all I borrowed. They had The Paying Guests which, despite being nearly brand new, was too grubby to bring home, and also a newish copy of The Shipping News, but it was full of hair, so once again I left that behind. Ewwwwww! I want to live somewhere with nice respectable people who wash their hands at some point in their lives, and where there isn't a security person on the door of the library.

Oh, Susan, your rant just made me laugh! I'm sorry it was a bad experience but kind of glad, too, because you've made my morning :)

Crumbs. That puts my complaints about the lack of chairs in perspective!

>67 susanj67:: Wondering how a book gets to be too full of hair. Do they have other copies of the books you didn't borrow in the system, so you can reserve and hope you get a cleaner copy?

And a security guard? Is the building just a library building or do they offer other services there? I've used libraries with security staff around but in some cases it's because the library is just part of the building eg in the Town Hall, another office building (in Camden) and our local larger library in Tottenham, in a sports centre.

Yuk

>68 katiekrug: Katie, I'm glad it was good for a laugh :-)

>69 charl08: Charlotte, they had plenty of chairs, actually. There are classrooms and "learning labs" and even a dance studio, but I still don't understand what they're trying to do with their non-fiction.

>70 elkiedee: Luci, I wondered about the hair too. But then I can read books and not leave them full of hair, so clearly I'm missing something. There are multiple copies of most books in the system but you never do know what you're going to get with a reserve until it arrives. I've found The Shipping News for a good price on Amazon so I think I'll choose that option. This building is just a library, which is why the security guard annoyed me. I popped into a smaller branch on the way there, to return something heavy, and they are mostly a council "One-Stop Shop", so I can understand them having one, but a library? Jeez. Welcome to life in Tower Hamlets.

>71 BLBera: Beth, well put :-) I'm definitely going to continue reserving new stuff, because it's the only safe way to get nice books. And when I return them, they're still nice! That's what annoys me most - flagrant disregard for public assets. But it's the same with everything in this area. Too many people live for free and they don't value anything because when they wreck it, they get a new one.

Today is slightly overcast, which immediately made me think I should stay at home, just to be on the safe side :-) But I'll go for a little walk somewhere, just to get out of the house. Another reserve has arrived at my usual library but I don't need groceries today so I'll leave that one for a day or two. Usually I'm over there within minutes of something appearing as "available". I must do some filing of paperwork (brrrrr). And make granola. And put my puffa coats back outside to floof up. I washed them yesterday but they didn't floof as much as they should have, so they need some more time. And then there's ironing. Lots of ironing.

"too full of hair" - what kind of hair are we talking here? Pet hair? Yak hair? People hair? And if so - from what part of the body?

Yeah, that last question makes me want to say 'Ewwwww!', too. Sorry - I was born with only a tiny, malfunctioning, filter.

Am very envious of your massive reading holiday, Susan. Sounds like heaven!

>73 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, ewwwwww! (at the question - I am delighted to have a sighting of the long-lost Charlotte on my thread :-) ) I want to say "human head hair" but I'm not inclined to look more closely. There could be anything in those books. This, I think, it why ebooks are destined to endure - hard copies are all very well if they're your own but otherwise, the "yuck" risk seems to be increasing. Just another category in "What is WRONG with people?"

So far today I haven't gone out, and nor have I put my face on or dried my hair, which sort of suggests I won't...but I've done all the ironing, superintended the puffas (floofing up nicely), made granola and done some tidying, and finished another book :-)



66. (ERE book 13) The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Where I got it: The Daily Lit
Why I read it: It was on my "must read at some point" list

I'd never heard of The Daily Lit until Katie mentioned it three days ago on her thread, and then I signed up and started with The Scarlet Letter. The website sends you a short, medium or long instalment on the days that you want, at a time of your choosing. What could be easier? Even better, there's a "send my next instalment" link at the foot of each email, so you can read more if you want to. And I did want to. I got my first instalment yesterday morning and clicked that link until I'd read them all. I had to find out what happened next, and I think the fact that instalments don't finish at the end of chapters encourages this. It's so easy to click that link! So thanks to Katie for a whole new hobby :-) I really enjoyed this, and I want to read more about it.

Head hair - glad to hear it. Don't know why people treat library books so badly. The poor babies, some of them, take an awful beating. That is one good thing about e-books, but for me nothing will ever beat the feel of pages or the smell of a book - if it is a new one and mine own. (Love walking into Barnes & Noble and being hit in the face by the smell of all those books! Somebody should make a perfume with that smell or maybe a candle.) I try to ignore sketchy stains in library books. Broken spines make me sad.

Love that cover for The Scarlet Letter that you've chosen. So pretty! I used to get The Daily Lit at my old, much-missed job. I don't think it was a good idea for me to do it that way, because I just did not have time to keep up with it and then the daily emails would get of hand and pile up in my mailbox. Maybe I should do it at home...

>75 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, a book-smell candle would be lovely! I love the smell of bookshops too. I picked the Scarlet Letter cover precisely for its prettiness, so I'm glad that worked! I've signed up for Journey to the Centre of the Earth next.

I've finished another book. It's amazing what I can find to do when there's paperwork filing to be done.



67. (ERE book 14) 1215: The Year of Magna Carta by Danny Danziger

Where I got it: I bought it years ago
Why I read it: I read it now because of the 800th anniversary. I started it when I bought it but didn't get very far.

It's still not clear why this was written in 2003, which was no sort of anniversary or Magna Carta-related event, but it's an interesting enough look at what life was like for people in 1215, in terms of how society worked, how houses were built, religion, family life and so on. There was a chapter at the end about how the Charter came to be. There are better books out now but this was still an interesting read, and I will donate it to the book exchange and see how it gets on there.

Drive by - *waving my ERE banner and shaking my ERE pompoms* though :)

I am another fan of The Scarlet Letter. I will have to try out the Daily Lit, too. It sounds addicting.

>77 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka - love the pompoms!

>78 BLBera: Beth, somehow I think it will be. But we can blame Katie, though, so that's something.



68. (ERE book 15) Circulation: William Harvey's Revolutionary Idea

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: A person has to read something when her reserves don't come in

William Harvey is the man who put forward the theory that blood circulated around the body. You may wonder what they thought before that, and the answer is that it just sort of ebbed and flowed, drawn into specific organs as those organs decided that they needed blood. Harvey thought that actually the heart did all the work, and that the blood vessels and organs were just passive recipients of blood which was delivered by the arteries, and then returned to the heart by the veins. But how? He couldn't say (capillaries linking arteries and veins weren't discovered until later). And why? These holes in the theory led to quite a lot of controversy but eventually he saw his theory accepted.

This was a detailed look at how medicine worked in the late 1500s and early 1600s and, in particular, how "science" as we know it today wasn't really a separate discipline. It was wrapped up with philosophy and other disciplines that are now studied separately, and clever people knew a bit of everything. Also they attended public dissections. We should really be more grateful for Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor than perhaps we are.

A warning though: there is a LOT of vivisection in this book, so animal lovers should approach it with some caution. But it was interesting to read that there was a lot of opposition to the practice at that time and earlier - the animal rights lobby isn't a new thing at all.

I think I'm booked out for today, so I'll watch a bit of TV. Tiny House Nation is in Arkansas tonight, as two newlyweds try to live in 264 sq ft.

Okay, a library book full of hair would gross me out too. Our downtown library has a security guard, but I think it has more to do with the fact that a number of homeless or 'questionable' individuals frequent the downtown library. The guard's desk is situated right by the DVDs and Blu Ray videos so I am guessing that these have been 'walking' out the door without passing go.

Making note of all the great reading you have been packing into to your vacation away from work, Susan!

>80 lkernagh: Lori, I think that would be a smart place to put the desk! I've never tried borrowing DVDs but the library nearest to work seems to have a pretty good selection. That's one thing they charge for, while books are free. When I worked at a public library in Auckland as a teen (after-school/weekend job) the fiction was split into "free fiction" (i.e. respectable literature) and "rental", which I think was 25 cents per book, and split out further into genre fiction which was also rental. When I was arranging the book exchange at work I was quite far along before I realised that I was copying that librarian's "good" vs "trashy" scheme. Everything costs 50p to borrow at the book exchange, but the general fiction section is all the "literary" stuff, and the other shelves are not :-)

Today is supposed to be the hottest day of the year so far. I was thinking it had some way to go (it's currently 12C) but then "hottest" against "winter" maybe isn't that hot :-) I walked to the supermarket, where I bought new things, including cheese slices (any minute now I will be struck down by lightning sent by one of my cook-y ancestors, so I am typing fast), tinned pineapple (I was looking for a change from peaches and pears, but it's really hard to find fruit in *juice* as opposed to *syrup*) and, most excitingly, the Times Literary Supplement. I've never bought it before but I intend to read every word of it, because it was £3.50. I recall seeing a Kindle offer for it, which I must investigate. I bought it mostly because the first name on the cover is Stephanie McCurry, whose course on slavery and the south was one that I did on Coursera a year or two ago and it was superb. She's reviewing a book about cotton, so there's another one for the reserve list.

But now I think I'll try the balcony for a while, with a sunhat and sunglasses (ooh, get me!) and read a bit of Gilead. The first instalment of my new Daily Lit book arrived this morning but I can't read that outside on the Kindle Fire, so that will stop me spending the day binge-reading it :-)

>81 susanj67: Ooh, the TLS. I think it's cheaper on my (paperwhite) Kindle, but you don't get the fun adverts for the random books from presses (I'd) never heard of. I tend to buy when I see an author I know or a Africa/ global history review. I like Julian Barnes (even though his reviews are usually of French literature based books which I almost never read). Are you pro/con the LRB?

(Sunhat? Wow.)

>82 charl08:, Yes, sunhat! And I finally got the lenses in my sunnies updated to my proper prescription last year so I can also see far :-) The fog is burning off and it's gorgeous out there.

I looked at the TLS app reviews for the Kindle and they are terrible, so I think I'll stick with the paper copy if I decide to get it again. The subscription price for print isn't bad - £115 for a year (against 50 issues x £3.50) and that includes postage. But maybe I'll read the first one first and see if I like it :-) I've never read the LRB but it strikes me (never having read it) as perhaps a bit extreme for me, politically. Also it's not all about books, apparently.

I bought the Sunday Times on Sunday for the first time in ages, having cancelled my digital subscription when they trebled the price due to all their awesome new sports coverage, and it was lovely having their book reviews again, which is partly what prompted me to get the TLS, but also of course there is a TV listings guide, so I think I'll keep getting it and drop the Radio Times.

Talking about the LRB reminded me that some of the articles are free reading on the LRB site - this one on shame (linked loosely Jon Ronson book) might be interesting following the reading earlier in the month? http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n07/ben-jackson/having-fun

>84 charl08: Thanks Charlotte - very interesting!



69. (ERE book 16) Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I kept seeing people loving it on LT

And I can see why! This was a lovely read, in the form of a long letter from a dying minister to his young son, reflecting on his own life, and his family, and what makes a good life. It's the sort of non-stop read that's perfect for a holiday day when there are no interruptions, except maybe moving your chair around to keep catching the sun :-)

>81 susanj67: - That's one thing they charge for, while books are free.

Your library charges patrons when they take out DVDs? Interesting concept. Our library doesn't charge for the check out but we do have limitations on how long one can check a DVD out for (3 days for 'fast views' and 1 week for regular selection). Where they make up the money is in the late fees: $1.50/day late fee, which is steep compared to the $0.30/day late fee for books. Once you reach $20 in late fees, your privileges are revoked until the late fees have been paid.

>85 susanj67: - YAY! You loved Gilead! Such a wonderful story and I really do need to get around to reading the other books in the series.

Susan - What a great reading fest you are having! I'm glad I've read Gilead, so there's one, at least, that I don't have to add to my list.

>79 susanj67: Yes, blaming Katie sounds good.

>86 lkernagh: Lori, they used to, but I just checked the "Charges and fines" section of the website, and they're now free, but with a maximum loan of one week and fines of £1 per day per item for overdue items, up to £10 per item. I also want to read the others in the Gilead series - I think my library has one of them but didn't have Gilead, which is why I got it at the main branch library on Tuesday.

>87 BLBera: Beth, I think we should :-) I'm 20% of the way through Journey to the Centre of the Earth already after just one official instalment.

Today is supposed to be the hottest day of the year (again) but the wind will need to a drop a bit before I can read outside. And pollution levels are sky-high (no pun intended) - people training for the marathon in a couple of weeks have been told not to train outside. But we're getting blood rain from the Sahara again, so that should be exciting. I was in NZ last year when it happened, and felt like I'd missed out on something. Today I think I'll read Map Addict, with a bit of Journey to the Centre of the Earth, some Orley Farm and maybe the last couple of chapters of the plants book which I've been reading for a couple of weeks.

Wow - £1 per day seems steep. It's usually about 25 cents/day here for books. Other material types are sometimes higher.

>89 thornton37814: Lori, that's the fine for DVDs. Books are 20p per day overdue, unless you're under 16 or over 65 in which case it seems you pay nothing!



70. (ERE book 17) Hybrid: The History and Science of Plant Breeding by Noel Kingsbury

Where I got it: University of Chicago Press website (April freebie)
Why I read it: It looked interesting. Plus it was free :-)

This was indeed interesting, but very long, and not helped by having to scroll through the text in Adobe Digital Editions (remember when ADE was new and cool? Not that long ago in actual years, but eons ago in terms of books read in a more amiable format since).

The author looks at the history of plant breeding and also at some of the issues that arise from hybridisation, like the loss of local varieties, the vulnerability of hybrid varieties to disease (which can ruin a much bigger crop because everyone is using the same seeds), whether or not seeds can and should be subject to patent protection and of course GM issues, which aren't quite as controversial as they used to be (or maybe the debate has moved into other fora) but still an issue on which opinion is very divided.

I'd like to read some more about the law side of things - my inner legal nerd was most interested in the effect of legal protections on farmers and consumers, as demonstrated in a recent episode of The Good Wife in which a man was being sued for saving seed from a crop of patent-protected plants, in breach of his licence with the patent-holder. Farmers increasingly have to buy new seed every year, which can be much more expensive than in the olden days, even after increased and more reliable yields are taken into account.

The State of Things Today: I spent some time this morning trying to cancel an insurance policy, hoping I could do it over the phone, but no. The very polite young man explained that I could write a letter to them OR "just cancel the direct debit from your bank account, madam, and then ignore the couple of letters you'll get requesting payment, and we'll send you a notice of cancellation after that."

Sigh.

I said I'd write a letter (what with not wanting to renege on my *contractual obligations* and all - that bit I left out), and asked for their current address.

And he didn't know the address because he's either (a) working in a call center halfway around the world; or (b) works from home and is talking to you in his underwear ;-)

>92 katiekrug:, Katie, he was Scottish and the address was in Glasgow, which I think rules out (a), but not (b), of course. Thanks for that :-))

The funniest thing was that the original company had been bought out and things transferred etc so I couldn't work out which company to call. I tried the original one, and went through the menu with the automatic lady, and then the real live person said I needed to call another company and gave me that number. I got the *same* automatic lady, which suggests that both sets of call handlers were in fact sitting in the same building - probably next to one another.

OK - I'll bite. What the heck is 'blood rain'?

>94 Fourpawz2: - I was wondering that as well, so I did a search. According to this Telegraph article, "Blood rain" is the term used when rain mixes with sand from deserts. Storms in the Sahara desert whip up sand into a fine dust which is carried for more than 2,000 miles to Britain. When the rain falls it looks a reddish colour and when it dries it leaves a thin layer of dust capable of coating houses, cars and garden furniture.

I am still amazed that the sand/dust travels over 2,000 miles.....

>94 Fourpawz2:, >95 lkernagh: Charlotte and Lori, that's correct! But there's no sign of it so far. Humph. If you've seen The English Patient there's a scene in which the Kristin Scott Thomas character is telling Almasy about it falling in the south of England and he doesn't believe her, but apparently it's been around for a long time.



71. (ERE book 18) Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

Where I got it: Daily Lit
Why I read it: It's another classic I've never read, so I signed up

...And finished it after just two "official" instalments, by clicking the "Send my next instalment" link. It's like crack. Not that I would know what crack is like, obviously :-) This was a great read, written in the 1860s and, according to Wikipedia, inspired by Charles Lyell's Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man. As the Professor and his nephew journeyed to the centre of the earth via an extinct volcano in Iceland (with their faithful Icelandic guide) I was reminded a little bit of The Martian, because of that "all alone with no-one to save me" theme. We know a lot more about the antiquities of man now, so Mars is now the "foreign and unknown" frontier. The story raced along, and the ending was charming. I knew nothing about how it all ended before I started reading it, which was a plus.

Next up on Daily Lit is The Time Machine, so I might be able to review that tomorrow if I can stay awake today. The Next Doors left at 5 am and slammed their door five times (I think there's some OCD going on there as it often happens - I'm not saying I never forget something and go back for it, but FIVE times?) and that woke up the Clompingtons, who started clomping. Sigh. I need to buy a house in the middle of a field.

It's like crack Wow, what an endorsement.

I think laminated floors should be illegal in flats. I've been quite lucky with living on top floors, but friends places I've wondered how they didn't dream of mice/ elephants all night.

I was chatting to a lady at work who can walk to the sea from her house. Oh, I was so jealous! Peace and quiet to read and a beach close by. Which reminds me I've still not finished the Fish Ladder and it's due back soon!

>97 charl08: The floors are a breach of the lease, which is clear that every room but the kitchen and bathroom has to be carpeted, but everyone has them, it seems. Wood floors are advertised as a *feature* in these flats now. I was so lucky with the former upstairses, who were pensioners, with carpet, and who understood about slippers. Not a peep the entire time they lived there, apart from when the grandsons were staying in the holidays - carpet only goes so far against boisterous boys jumping from half-way up the stairs:-) My Dad and stepmother recently moved into a flat for the first time in their lives and they're on the top floor. When their neighbours moved in downstairs I asked him to *please ensure* that he and my stepmother had soft-soled slippers.

In cheerier news, a tiny book haul has arrived! I just went down to check the post and found three little packages, containing four Sarah Morgan romances. Yay! Now I have her entire catalogue of romances, mostly as ebooks but these ones were stubbornly not being republished in e form so I found them on Amazon marketplace. Maybe they'll go to the Book Exchange when I've read them...but maybe not.

>96 susanj67: I have the audio of The Time Machine and I'm planning to listen in a couple of months when the 2015 Category Challenge is doing time travel for the science fiction & fantasy CAT. I'll keep an eye out for your comments!

I'm sorry your inconsiderate neighbors woke you up so early today. At least you didn't have to get up and go to work after that.

Hi Susan, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

The neighbours haven't gone on holiday, have they? I live in a house but we're very close to the street, and sometimes people slam the same car door 6 times, or sit there with the engine running, or in one case a few years ago someone deliberately left his transit van engine on and went back into the house, and was very rude when I knocked on his door after about 15 minutes.

I'm still working on my first DailyLit and you're powering through the entire catalogue!

Ugh about the neighbors. Every time I get frustrated living in a house because of the upkeep and maintenance, I remind myself that at least I can be as loud as I want and no one can disturb me in the same way :) One of my neighbors down the street does have an occasional eejit visitor who insists on pulling up outside the house and honking his car horn at least a dozen times...

>99 cbl_tn: Carrie, yes, at least it's not a work day :-) I haven't started The Time Machine today but maybe this afternoon...

>100 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara :-)

>101 elkiedee: Luci, I expect they have gone on holiday but they could still have done it a lot more quietly. There's a way of closing the front doors that makes no noise, and that would be the appropriate way for 5am!

>102 katiekrug: Katie, one of my friends with a house warns me about roofs when I start to want to move to the house in the field. But he has quite an old house. I'm more of a new-build fan, with modern plumbing and wiring. Or at least a new conversion of an old warehouse, which are very popular in London. The penthouse of this former tea warehouse, which is just down the street from me, would do nicely. This was originally a 1970s conversion but it's gorgeous:



ETA this is my lottery-winning house, not something I could go out and buy today :-)



72. (ERE book 19) Map Addict by Mike Parker

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: It looked interesting, and I was determined to come home from Tuesday's horrible library visit with *something*

The author of this book is a self-confessed map addict, and the book is about his lifelong love of maps (particularly the British Ordnance Survey maps) and musings on issues including how maps have been used in the past, why every map has an agenda of some sort (what's emphasised? what's left out?) and why satnav is the work of the devil. One of the LT reviews describes it as being a bit like Bill Bryson in style, and I can see why, but Bryson comes across as an altogether nicer person.

What really bugged me about this author was his constant jokey references to shoplifting Ordnance Survey maps as a teenager, in order to expand his collection more quickly than his pocket money would allow. Stealing is stealing, when all said and done, and nothing to be proud of or put into print. But there was lots of interest in the book, and even though I have no sense of direction and map-reading confuses me (unless I turn it around to point in the direction of travel) it's a subject I like to read about. I want to get the book about the history of the Ordnance Survey, Map of a Nation, which I noticed a while ago but never got around to finding.

Trollope fans will enjoy this article from today's Guardian in which various famous (UK) people pick their favourite Trollope novels. I'm reading Orley Farm at the moment and someone has picked it! I skimmed that review, though, in case of spoilers :-) http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/11/anthony-trollope-200th-anniversary-...

Slamming doors and clomping neighbors above is not a relaxing way to wake up in the morning, that is for sure. I would love to have hardwood floors but as you have pointed out, when you live in a building with neighbors all around you, it would make for a very noisy building. Years ago we lived in a building with a neighbour above us that I swear to this day would walk around his unit heavy heeled and wearing cowboy boots, that is how loud it was.... and those units were all carpeted. Of course, nothing beats the condo tower we had lived in in Vancouver back in the 1990s. An Asian tenant two floors down had ripped out the carpet in the living room and turned the living room into an indoor vegetable garden, without permission, of course. ;-)

>103 susanj67: So, the map thief wrote a book! I was interested in it based on the title until the comments about him as a person. I think I'll just go read a map instead.

Hi Susan, even though more books and reading is the last thing I need, I have just signed up for the Daily Lit and now I have to go and choose my first book - it may very well be Journey To The Centre of the Earth as that sounds like a fun read.

>105 lkernagh: Lori, how funny about the indoor garden (although not for the neighbours, I'm sure). Periodically the police here find suburban houses converted into cannabis farms by criminal tenants (the easiest way to do this is apparently to fly a helicopter over an area with a heat-reading thingummy and look for the house that glows in the middle of the night while all the other houses are asleep). That wouldn't work in London though - flats are so small and rents so high that no-one would make a profit :-) There was yet another night of extreme clomping last night - I feel like a zombie. Maybe *they're* zombies. Or vampires. I'm trying to come up with an explanation for the amount of noise they make in their kitchen (directly above my bedroom) at 2am so regularly.

>106 thornton37814: Lori, it was one of those books that I didn't feel remotely guilty about getting from the library instead of buying, knowing that his royalties would only be 6p from the Public Lending Right :-)

>107 DeltaQueen50: Yay Judy! Another convert! I hope you enjoy whatever you choose.



73. (ERE book 20) The Time Machine by H G Wells

Where I got it: The Daily Lit
Why I read it: It's another "always meant to read" book

As the title suggests, this is a book about a time traveller who visits the future in a home-made time machine, and what he discovers. To say much more would give away the plot :-) But it was a good read, and once again I didn't know how it turned out before I started reading it, which isn't often the way with classics as they are so talked-about. I've picked Robinson Crusoe for my next book. The first instalment should arrive in 11 minutes. Not that I'm counting.

And there I'm calling time on the Easter Reading Extravaganza, as I won't finish anything more before the end of today *looks sternly at the touchstone for Robinson Crusoe*. My second task tomorrow at work (after checking on the book exchange) will be to book some time off for the Summer Balcony Read-In, which will be some time in July. Woo-hoo! (I do intend to get in early to do these things).

After this morning's unpromising start I salvaged the day and it turned out unexpectedly fabulous. I decided I had to go out, or otherwise I would give in to a nap and then be cross, so I went to the British Library to see their Magna Carta exhibition which opened recently. I hadn't read any reviews of it, although I knew it included two originals of the Charter. The exhibition as a whole was excellent, although oddly the Magna Cartas were the least interesting part of it.

There was lots about the build-up to the granting of it, and the revival of it, and then a room called "Colonies and Revolutions", which looked at how Magna Carta (or the ideas in it) had been incorporated into the laws of other countries. The wall cases all had people looking at them, but the case in the middle of the room had no-one at all, so I went over to that one. "Thomas Jefferson's handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence, July 1776", read the description next to the document.

I blinked. I looked again. Did that really say...And YES! It did! OMG! I looked around, amazed that no-one seemed to have noticed it. And I leaned down and read as much of it as I could. People moved away from the wall cases eventually, so I went to look at those, but still no-one was looking at the Declaration, so I went back again, and then looked at the other side of the case, which was Delaware's copy of the Bill of Rights. They both had a separate sponsor to the main exhibition sponsor, which I assume was for the extra insurance. So that was fantastic to see, and I had no idea it was going to be there, which was even better.

Then I walked to John Lewis and bought the coat in post 62, which I was trying on next to the rack of coats because there is always a queue for the fitting rooms. "That looks nice!" said another customer. Trust me, this never happens in London, although if it was going to happen then John Lewis would be the place. I asked her what she thought about how it looked from the back, and we then discussed sleeves and shoulders - she was so sweet :-) And then I tried to buy a Fitbit, but no luck. I walked for ages on the way home, though, so it would have been quite useful, although I wonder whether it can sense the addition of a caramel McFlurry in between sets of steps...

>109 susanj67: That sounds like a lovely day! And I'm certain that caramel McFlurrys eaten while walking Do Not Count! ;-)

>109 susanj67: Now I want ice cream with caramel! Good thing I have both in the fridge!

>109 susanj67: - Sounds like a great day, Susan! When I first visited the National Archives in Washington, DC, they had a copy of Magna Carta on display in the main rotunda where they display the "Charters of Freedom" (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights). I believe it is now in a different gallery but still on view to the public.

On your US tour, we will have to make a stop. This is the main rotunda of the National Archives:

Susan I'm quite enjoying the discussion re : laminated floors in flats/ townhouses - whatever one lives in. We are in a two level townhouse and have people on each side of us. When we moved in 15 years ago, the previous owner had already put in laminated wood floors , which we quite enjoy. I think it's more or less the " style" these days. I don't find it too noisy, but then again , no one is above or below us, just beside us . That said, I am quite a night owl. I wonder if my neighbours think I am a vampire! :) We do try hard not to roll noisy balls for our dog after 9 pm :) On one side of us, they have two little dogs that bark off and on, but our new neighbours on the other side are so quiet. We've lucked out, I think. I need to dig up my fitbit and see if it still works. I used to wear it all the time, but then it is one that you put on your zipper. In summer I am without a jacket, so I hook it to a belt loop or some such thing but it would drop off quite often, so it ended up safely in a drawer. Must think about that.

>109 susanj67: Enjoyed your account of your museum visit. If you're ever in the area, the Scottish National Library often has similar exhibitions in Edinburgh of very old, very important MS's - and because they're smaller, when I visited them they were almost always quiet (outside the festival month, of course). I do like it when you can, as a visitor, pause and soak up something that interests you without being 'herded'.

>110 cbl_tn: Carrie, thanks for confirming that :-) I thought I might be tempted to excuse myself just for the sake of convenience.

>111 thornton37814: Lori, enjoy! There is something lovely about a McFlurry on a hot day and yesterday was a perfect day for walking in London.

>112 katiekrug: Katie, what a gorgeous building! I believe there is also a museum of American history in Washington, so I will have to go to that too.

>113 vancouverdeb: Hello Deborah :-) I think if you don't wear shoes to walk around at night, your neighbours won't notice and think you're a vampire :-) Up-and-down noise is worse than side to side, I think. I never get "sideways" noise from the people next door (just the door slamming). And with the people upstairs I'm lucky I just get clomping, I suppose - no voices or music or TV or anything like that. When I first came to London I rented a flat in a Victorian house conversion (by far the worst sort of building for noise) and I had someone upstairs and I could hear *everything*. And I mean everything. Fortunately he worked out of London for most of the time, and was hardly ever there.

>114 charl08: Charlotte, I'll keep that in mind if I'm ever up north. Quiet exhibitions are my favourite thing :-)

I've ordered a Fitbit to be delivered to a local shop to collect tomorrow after 5, so that's exciting. The black "Fitbit One" seems to be out of stock everywhere and even Amazon is saying next week for stocks to arrive, so I've ordered a burgundy one. If anyone would like to be my Fitbit buddy, just say!

And I've picked up three library reserves that dawdled in late last week, and one is *huge*, so I think I'll be busy from this evening :-)

There's a cute article in the local paper about Canary Wharf's sniffer dogs, so I thought I'd post a link. They're used a lot out here, and they're gorgeous and so well-behaved.
http://www.wharf.co.uk/news/local-news/find-out-what-explosive-dogs-9001402

>115 susanj67: Yep, a Museum of American History, a Museum of Natural History, an Air and Space Museum, a Native American museum, an African-American museum, about half a dozen art museums. Oh, and the National Zoo and the Botanical Gardens. You might need to spend a few days here. :)

What a nice vacation you've had. Thanks for the recommendation of Shakespeare Saved My Life; I liked it a lot and hope to inspire my students with it.

>116 drneutron: Jim, I think you're right! I googled some of them last night, and now I'm signed up to some Smithsonian newsletters and their new edX course on "Objects That Define America" which starts tomorrow (https://www.edx.org/course/objects-define-america-smithsonianx-ushis1-1x if anyone's interested).

>117 BLBera: Beth, it was good to be out of the office for a while - people say I look better and sound happier although I think the looking part is having no air-conditioning for a fortnight. Skin likes plain air :-)

Last night I started Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and the Founding of America which is excellent so far. And I read a bit more of Inventing Edison. And Robinson Crusoe. A busy evening for me :-)

I'm just about to ask for some more shelves for the book exchange - there were many donations over Easter while I was away, and the crime/horror/general fiction shelves are now packed tight. But someone donated some fabulous novels, which I look forward to borrowing at some point. Also lots of Shakespeare plays, and Greek and Latin texts. And a dictionary of Old Norse. And the Kama Sutra. I wasn't entirely sure where that should go, but in the end I put it next to a book on How to Get Pregnant, because they sort of go together. I like to think of the non-fiction as "Dewey-lite", but really it's "Dewey-not-quite-right", I fear. Still, no professional librarians in the building have complained yet :-)

...in the end I put it next to a book on How to Get Pregnant

BAG over here. I'm sorely tempted by the EdX course. I found the 100 object series by the British Museum sucked me in despite myself. (But I don't like medieval history! Oh, hang on, that's a beautiful picture/ sculpture...). Not sure how much is Neil MacGregor's talent for making the complex, simple though?

Hi Susan. Only one wishlist hit for An Empire on the Edge: How Britain Came to Fight America!

>63 susanj67: I have How to Create the Perfect Wife on loan from the library as I saw you and Charlotte discussing it earlier in the thread :-)

>85 susanj67: I loved Gilead too. I think Home was almost as good and I've heard very good things about Lila.

Also enjoying hearing about your new Daily Lit addiction.

>104 susanj67: I also enjoyed that article, especially one of the comments correcting A. N. Wilson's recollections of The Last Chronicles of Barset:

'I share A N Wilson's appreciation of The Last Chronicle of Barset, but suspect he might enjoy Trollope more if he read the novels a more closely.' and then goes on to point out all the things wrong with Wilson's summary, which is then followed by another comment from someone else correcting the errors in the first comment. Brilliant :-)

>118 susanj67: 'And the Kama Sutra. I wasn't entirely sure where that should go, but in the end I put it next to a book on How to Get Pregnant, because they sort of go together.'

*snort*

Yup, I also snorted at the placing of the Kama Sutra. After I giggled about the Kama Sutra because I'm mature like that...

>121 katiekrug: Ditto. *blinks* I love reading about the book exchange! This thread always makes me laugh out loud. And you and Katie got me with the DailyLit thing, too.

I hope your neighbours have gone for a long holiday, so at least you don't hear them for a while. Happy reading!

>119 charl08: Charlotte, enrol for the course and see what you think! I've unenrolled from a few that turned out to be too hard or dull :-) If only University had been like that...

>120 souloftherose: Heather, if it had to be one book then I'm glad it was Empire on the Edge. I think it was the highlight of the Extravaganza. I hope you enjoy How to Create the Perfect Wife. The lead character in it has already shown up in fictional format in Orley Farm, something that would have gone right over my head had I not read the Wendy Moore book first. I must look at the comments under that article - I just skimmed the choices before I posted it.

>121 katiekrug: Katie, I looked at it and thought "I wonder who..." and then I thought some more and decided that I really didn't want to know :-)

>122 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! I must look tomorrow and see if anyone's borrowed it. No donations today but I did a bit of tidying because shelves can never be too tidy, at least at the rate people mess them up. Woo-hoo for the Daily Lit! What have you picked?

>123 elkiedee: Thanks Luci - there is no sound of them so far.

I picked up my Fitbit after work, and I've set it up to sync with my computer. Technology is *amazing* (at least once I worked out what the wireless dongle was for). I've done 28 steps, which was going round the living room twice, in excitement. No stairs yet, though, but tomorrow is a whole new day. I can put it in my pocket, or attach it to a belt - really I'm not sure. I think I'll try my pocket tomorrow (note to self, ensure outfit has a pocket). It keeps flashing up messages - I hope no-one's hacked it :-)

>121 katiekrug: Well, you're going to *love* The Pop-up Kama Sutra, then...

>126 katiekrug: why? No one else round here does.
*snigger*

>125 drneutron: Jim, if we get one of those donated, I *definitely* don't want to know who it was! I checked this morning and no-one has borrowed it yet.

>126 katiekrug: Katie, ha! I love Austin Powers.

>127 Helenliz: Helen, so true :-) Everywhere you look there are shenanigans.

1657 steps so far today, just from getting up to getting into the office. (I promise I will stop doing this soon, but it's my first day with it and I'm obsessed). Also one flight of stairs. I even got off the bus a stop early to add some more steps. But as I am teaching over lunchtime and again this afternoon there will be no lunchtime walk, sadly, unless I could manage a quick circuit of the mall. Ooh, or the steps between the ground and lower ground floors. I wonder how many times I could go up and down those before one of the security people got a walkie-talkie message to check what I was up to. And what they'd do when they found out...

Good luck with the steps today - build in some walking round the lecture theatre, finding out thoughts, maybe?

2022 now - I shelved all the outstanding library books :-) My library pal is back but her ankle still hurts, so I said I'd be happy to keep scanning and shelving until she's all better. Yes, I'm shameless in pursuit of the scanner.

>129 charl08: I should be able to walk around the room as the students are discussing the case study. They're from Holland, and last year's group did the small-group discussion in Dutch, switching seamlessly into English every time I passed each table, and then back again. It was really funny. And I was very envious of that sort of linguistic ability.

Congratulations on your Fitbit!! I was really excited to find the "friend" request. Are you going to be as hard to keep up with as Mamie? (actually I have no hope of even staying in sight of Mamie except when she's sick or maybe if there's a huge storm in Georgia lol)

Aldi (cheapy store) are offering a knock-off fitbit today. I am tempted (but probably won't get there before they run out, fortunately for my finances!). Glad to hear the library survived the ERE :-)

>131 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba! I don't think I'll clock as many steps as Mamie :-) But yesterday I managed 6,181, and walked up seven flights of stairs (the goal is 10 - I wonder if the goals can be set to other numbers). I even had seven "very active" minutes, which was a surprise as I am more of a dawdler than an active person. Today I'll try and go for a walk at lunchtime and see how that works out.

>132 charl08: Charlotte, if you go then also get the treacle tart :-)

I'm closing in on finishing The Age of Edison which is just as well as three more reserves are on their way and I already have four other things at home. aaargh.

Morning, Susan! I chose Of Human Bondage for my Daily Lit, since I am enjoying The Painted Veil and Katie said she was liking that one.

And how fun that there are three of us Fitbitting now! You can change your goals, Susan - just move your cursor over the panel you want to change on your dashboard, and when the bar drops down to offer you options such as "quick view", click on the little setting's wheel on the lefthand side. Then you can enter whatever goal for stairs that you want.

>134 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie! I think I will have to make the changes on my laptop as I can't seem to do it on the app. But I remember that wheel from the laptop dashboard. I just got my first "Happy Hill" badge for climbing ten flights of stairs. Exciting :-) Yesterday I got a "Boat Shoe" badge for 5,000 steps. Tonight I have to go out, and it's a 15-minute walk from the tube station to where I'm going, and instead of whining I am looking forward to adding to my step count. Progress already! I'm glad you're enjoying the Daily Lit - it's such a clever idea.

Just remember that I warned you it is totally addictive! You'll want the next badge, the next challenge, the next set of numbers - "I'm so close to 12,000 steps..." and then "I have burned almost 3,000 calories..." LOL. It's a never ending cycle!

>136 Crazymamie: Mamie, you were so right! I just checked my email to see if any more badges had arrived, and found a Transport for London weekend tube update (they list line closures etc). I thought I hardly needed to read it as I'll be *walking* everywhere :-) But then I also have a stack of books to get through...

Hi Susan, I picked King Solomon's Mines for my first Daily Lit. This is such a great way of reading classics that you always meant to read but never got around to them.

I miss DailyLit - used to be able to get it at work, where I used it very much like a fag break. When we were sold in 2013 one of the first things I realised was that my firewall stops it :(

Wah!

Any way the fitbit could combine the Daily Lit? (You've walked 10,000 steps and read 2 chapters?!!)

>138 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I'll have to look for that one. I think it's a great idea - already I've read three things that I'd never got around to, and I'm enjoying Robinson Crusoe although he is a bit whiny :-)

>139 BekkaJo: Bekka, there are hints here that we might be losing webmail later in the year - nooooooo! They allowed us access to it so that all the personal stuff could be dealt with away from the firm's own email address, so it seems crazy, but apparently it's a confidentiality thing. I just hope it's still available on the "personal" half of my BlackBerry. Would DailyLit not work on your phone, or is it a work phone?

>140 charl08: Charlotte, you could be onto something there! FitbitLit. Hmmm, I like it! Yesterday I managed 11,275 steps, but my day included a trip out to zone 4 and a 15-minute walk from the tube station to where I was going. Bless it, it can't count stairs properly though - it counts downward flights, and also escalators when I'm standing still. It must sense up/down movement so yesterday I appeared to have climbed 25 flights of stairs (and got a "Redwood Forest" badge). I'd be in a *coma* if I attempted that :-) But I got my "Sneakers" badge for 10,000 steps :-)

Another reserve has come in, so I'll have to pick that up later even though the last thing I need for the weekend is more books.

74. The Age of Edison by Ernest Freeburg

Where I got it: Random library book
Why I read it: New and clean, essentially

This is a really good look at how electric light came to the US, and at all the people other than Edison who played a part in it. He's the one who's remembered as the "inventor" of the light bulb, but it's more complicated than that. It's really a social history rather than a scientific one, and there are alarming accounts of just how many people were killed by electricity cables in the early days, and how quite a few people were reluctant to convert from gas, as electricity was seen as so dangerous (I think it's the other way around today). I liked it a lot, but it took a while to read due to distractions (hi Fitbit!). It could have been a faster read if I'd devoted myself to it.

Today I'm going on a walk to the Chrisp Street market spring festival (and a visit to the library, which is a branch I've never been to before. Not that I need any more books). Mostly I'm going for the steps, but it should be a change of scenery. I have so many books to read now that a morning away from them will make scant difference!

That sounds like a lovely morning. Hope the steps are plentiful. I went on a tour of a Manchester library, the Rylands, built at the turn of the century. The guide explained that what looked like gas pipes were for electricity, generated on site. I'd never considered that an electrician was a new profession, and there was a bit whilst everyone improvised.

Hi Susan, I wish you a elaxed weekend.

>143 charl08: Charlotte, originally people needed their own dynamo to generate the power for their light bulbs, so while public lighting was quick to take off, home lighting was slower, as only the rich had the money and space for the machinery. And at least one Fifth Avenue mogul's neighbours complained about the noise from the dynamo in his back garden. I think basement extensions may be the new dynamos :-)

>144 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara - you too!

10,797 steps! At one point I took the Fibit out of my pocket to check on progress and it flashed up "You rock". LOL :-) It was a good walk, and the library was *fabulous*. Light and bright and BIG! For some reason I imagined it as a tiny branch, but, while it's smaller than Whitechapel, it has a ton of books, and multiple copies of lots of things. There were even tables with popular series displayed in rows and piles (and multiple copies of each book) with "Please feel free to borrow" on little cards. I haven't seen that before. And the main shelves were incredibly neat, with everything in beautiful order, and *clean*! They had a copy of The Paying Guests (which was filthy at Whitechapel) and it looked new, which it is. There were some older ladies browsing and stacking up armfuls of books to borrow, so it's clearly popular, and there were quite a few students studying quietly too. I foresee some more visits :-) But I managed not to borrow anything as I wanted to go on up to Westfield so for the time being I will just look forward to going again at some point. Maybe when I've finished all the stuff I have, if that ever happens!

I was just asking you over on my thread where your walk was going to take you, and now I have my answer! Sounds a very nice morning, but I can't believe you didn't snag at least one bright and shiny and clean book :)

>146 katiekrug: Katie, I was overwhelmed by choice :-) I thought that if I picked one thing, I'd pick 12 more. And I'm a bit stressed about all my current library books, although I've made some progress with my book about Captain John Smith and Pocahontas this afternoon.

#141 LOL - I have an old school Nokia brick phone ;) I do have a blackberry for work but it wouldn't really do to read off. Nah I'll have to stick to Gutenberg books if I crack up at work. Life is so hard ;)

>148 BekkaJo: Hmmm, I can see it might be a challenge with an old Nokia :-) Project Gutenberg for you, then! I actually found the scrolling too hard on my BlackBerry with Robinson Crusoe (prior to that I'd been reading the emails on the Kindle Fire) so I switched to a freebie Amazon version of it using McDonald's free wi-fi when I was out one day, and I've stuck with it.



75. (!) A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and the Founding of America by Peter Firstbrook

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I saw a review of it somewhere

Oooh, this was a great read, and I'm so pleased it was book 75 (!). It's partly a biography of John Smith, who was one of the founders of Jamestown in Virginia, and partly a history of the colony, and it's really well done. Plus, of course, it has Pocahontas. Although Smith is best known for his time in America, the first couple of hundred pages look at his earlier life, and all the madcap adventures he had in Europe, which included being sold into slavery and being marched to Istanbul, and then to Russia, from where he escaped. These days he'd have millions of Twitter followers, but instead his 400,000 words of written output was in the form of books and pamphlets, which the author quotes from quite extensively. Highly recommended for anyone interested in very early US history.

Today my steps took me to the V&A's Museum of Childhood, up in Bethnal Green, which is having a dolls house exhibition that I've read bits and pieces about. It was quite well done, but many of the other patrons were knee-height, so I had to be careful where I walked. And this time I saw one in a Superman outfit with feet. It wasn't as far from home as I'd thought, so afterwards I walked along the Roman Road and checked out the library branch at Bow, which was just OK (no copy of The Paying Guests to compare with the others). It has a smaller collection than Canary Wharf and wasn't a patch on yesterday's library, but at least now I've seen it. In fact I think I've collected the whole set now as Bethnal Green is closed for renovations until later in the year. Currently I'm on 12,108 steps for the day, and I've done 40 "very active" minutes (goal: 30). Yay! Plus, apparently, 14 flights of stairs (nope).

Congratulations on reaching 75 books! 12,000 plus steps in one day is impressive too!

>150 cbl_tn: Thanks Carrie! I'm not going to pretend I couldn't lie down right now and sleep till tomorrow, but I'm trying to power my way through it :-) I've worked out next Saturday's trip - to the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Sunday is the London marathon, so that will be a day off unless I do circuits around Wapping :-) We're locked off from the outside world apart from the tube, and they close the station if it looks busy...

Congrats on the 75 books. So many of them doorstops as well!

#149 75??? Seriously? Wow. You are well on your way to 200 this year! Well done you :)

>152 charl08: Balloons! Thanks Charlotte :-)

>153 BekkaJo: Thanks Bekka. But now that I have to walk five miles a day, I think the reading might suffer!

Congrats on 75, Susan.

It sounds like you are enjoying your Fitbit. I have found since I got mine that I pay much more attention to my movement during the day. Now that the weather is nicer, I can take a walk around a park, which is about six blocks from my house. One circuit around the lake is 1.8 miles, so it's a nice walk. Other days, I can do the gym.

#154 Audio books?

>155 BLBera: Thanks Beth! I'm starting to feel more aware of what I'm doing too. How nice to have a park so close to home. You can have a good long walk with no traffic lights to stop at to cross the road, which is what slows me down in the city.

>156 BekkaJo: Bekka, I can't hear them. I tried listening to the radio on the bus recently, heard nothing, pressed the key to increase the volume and got the "Warning - you are about to deafen yourself" message, kept pressing, still heard nothing. But the chap next to me looked slightly irked so I think he could hear it :-) I need to build steps into my lunch hour instead of eating lunch at my desk and surfing the Evening Standard. Then I won't have to go to the gym after work with all the naked people (brrr) and I'll get home on time. That's my new plan.

Congrats on 75, Susan!

Congratulations on both reaching your first 75 books for the year and for all that walking. Sounds like you are truly motivated which is why I am considering a fitbit for myself.

#157 I definitely approve that as a plan - I'm a gym-URGH person myself. I keep thinking I need to do more exercise - and I probably do. But I've walked up my hill from town (pretty steep, bout 10-15 mins of straight up depending on which way you go). I'm fine, my kids do it and often race me up it - and my friends who are far thinner are gasping. As a family we walk everywhere - even the kids do at least 2-4 miles a day.

What I'm trying to say is that walking is great :)

Woo hoo! Congratulations on hitting the 75 book mark already!

>158 katiekrug: Thanks Katie!

>159 DeltaQueen50: Thanks Judy :-) I'm only five days into the Fitbit, so I'm not sure whether it's just new and shiny excitement, but time will tell!

>160 BekkaJo: Bekka, ooh, hills. I would be doing the gasping. I can hardly walk up a flight of stairs without seeing black spots. That's why it's so funny that the Fitbit keeps saying I've climbed lots of stairs (six flights this morning as against the *one* I have *actually* climbed). London is mostly very flat, so hills aren't something I encounter often (as opposed to Auckland which, being built on extinct volcanoes, has tons of them).

>161 ronincats: Thanks Roni!

This morning I have "found" 3,000 steps just getting to the office, by walking up to Shadwell to get the Docklands Light Railway instead of the bus across the road from home, and then going to the library to return A Man Most Driven. I had to hand it in at the desk as it wouldn't work on the machine. The library assistant read out a message from the system to say that they hadn't been able to get another reserved book for me, and I joked that I had plenty to be going on with anyway.

Then a couple of minutes later he came up to me and said "Are you...Susan?" "Yes," I said. "Susan...(and then he said my last name)?" "Yes," I said, wondering if they'd finally decided to confiscate my card for too much borrowing, and whether I should just make a run for it.

"One of our avid readers," he said with a smile, and then pointed out a Pulitzer display they'd just put up. "It's announced today," he said, "Just some exciting reader news!"

Ahhhh :-) So I felt I should borrow something, because I was pretty sure he'd check :-) They had The Shipping News which this time wasn't full of hair, but would nevertheless have required tongs to pick it up. I am destined not to get that book from a library. Also Lonesome Dove, which I've read, and Five Days at Memorial (ditto), two copies of The Goldfinch but then I don't think people have liked that, a couple of second books in a series, which obviously I can't read before the first ones, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, so I got that, mostly because it was quite new and clean-looking. I've never heard of it before, but I see it won in 2013. They also had We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves but I couldn't remember the general LT opinion on that one so I left it. I see the prizes are announced tonight at 8pm London time, so I must remember to look up the website this evening.

Ooh, special treatment. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao came top of a critics list the BBC did, so be interested to see what you think of it!

Cool being known to the librarians as a special customer. Also, I'm in awe of 75 books in April! Fitbit is working on taking over my life. I walked for 1 1/2 hours this morning (clocking only 8000 steps to my disappointment). I take the long way to most places, walk when I would have driven, take a turn around the block to finish up my 10,000, etc. All new, and good, things. The stair climbing report is a mystery to me. It tells me I've climbed several flights when I haven't and doesn't give me credit sometimes when I have. I have no idea what it is actually measuring. It's great to be able to share this with you and Mamie :)

Congrats! And number 75 does sound good!

>163 charl08: Charlotte, that sounds promising! I see All The Light We Cannot See won the prize last night.

>164 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, yes, I was quite surprised to be recognised as one of their biggest readers, but then again I think I probably am - it was more just surprise at anyone noticing! I'm starting to look for extra steps too - isn't it funny?! I walked up to get the train again this morning and dropped by the library to return another book when I got here, so I'm 3,200 steps up for the day so far, but there is a lecture at lunchtime so I am worrying about lost steps already! I got my "marathon" badge yesterday for walking 26 miles (cumulatively). It's so gimmicky, but such fun!

>165 drneutron: Thanks Jim! And it was :-)



76. Country House Society: The Private Lives of England's Upper Class After the First World War by Pamela Horn

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I must have seen a review of it somewhere

Although written entirely from secondary sources, this is an excellent look at how life changed for the wealthy old families of Britain after WWI. As massive taxes caused land to be sold off and new opportunities for young working-class people meant that it was harder and harder to get good staff, old ways of doing things had to change, and the author looks at some of those changes, from downsizing of housing (mansions to mansion flats) to children of the wealthy actually going out and getting jobs. Of course there is still massive wealth in the landed classes, but it's not as massive as it used to be, and I doubt we'll ever see a year in which 11,000 gamekeepers are gainfully employed, as was once the case. Recommended for anyone with an interest in this period, although if you've read a lot then some of the sources will be familiar.

Congratulations on reading 75 books and doing so well with your fitbit Susan!

Congrats on 75 - already! WooHoo!!

>166 susanj67: I saw a review of Country House Society somewhere also. It sounded interesting at the time, but I think I didn't add it to my massive TBR list because I figured I would never make it around to it.

Congrats on

>167 souloftherose: Thanks Heather! The threat of having to go to the gym at work to make up any necessary steps is the best motivation *ever* to get walking :-)

>168 scaifea: Thanks Amber! Here's to the next 75 :-)

>169 thornton37814: Lori, I think many of the issues in this one were dealt with better in the superb book Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey, about a wealthy family in the north of England and the huge coal deposits under their land. It was set over a longer period, but I recall quite a bit about the General Strike of 1926 and similar issues. It remains probably my top non-fiction read.

>170 Ameise1: What a clever picture, Barbara! Thank you :-)

Next up I'm going to read some fiction, I think. I've got Olive Kitteridge, The Round House and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Oh, and The Shipping News! I finally found a copy that makes it onto my library book acceptable hygiene scale, albeit at the lower end. I should read Olive Kitteridge first, as I'll get a pre-overdue notice for it if I'm not careful :-)

Wow, blowing past 75 already! Congrats!

Susan - I loved, loved The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I'll be anxious to see what you think of it.

Have fun with The Shipping News. I'm such a fan of E. Annie Proulx.

>172 ronincats: Thanks Roni!

>173 BLBera: Beth, I'm a bit ashamed never to have heard of it when it seems to be so well-known!

>174 charl08: Charlotte, we have Accordion Crimes in the book exchange so that might be my next one after The Shipping News.

Last night I started Olive Kitteridge which looks promising, and then Fashion on the Ration, which is the book that goes with the exhibition I went to a couple of months ago. Four things are in transit, but they're taking their time, which is probably just as well :-)

I'm drinking a Cherry Bakewell green tea, which is a new Twinings flavour, and it is *excellent*! Really almondy (if that is the thing in a Bakewell tart). A change from Beetroot Burst, definitely. They've also just released Fudge Melts green tea, which is supposed to be a vanilla flavour, but Waitrose likes to torment me by only stocking some of the flavours so I will have to look elsewhere for that one.

>176 scaifea: Cherry Bakewell?! I just made an order from Twinings and didn't see that on the menu! I wonder if it's not sold here...

>176 scaifea: Amber, I just checked the Twinings US site and it seems that its teas are pretty much entirely different to the ones in the UK (as is the packaging - a bit like book covers :-) ) We have a lot more green teas http://www.twinings.co.uk/tea/green-tea , and fruit infusions, but we don't have things like the cold brewed iced tea (I would love that!) or anything in the K-cup format (that's the one Roni helped me to work out when I was in New York, wondering why the office tea machine brewed a cup with tiny pieces of tea leaf in it). Oooh, and I've just seen "Orange Bliss" flavoured black tea. That's also unknown here. How funny that the sites are so different!

Congratulations on reading 75 books , and so soon! You make me think I should purchase a new fit bit. A couple of years ago I purchased the fit bit that attached to my zipper, but it kept falling off, since I did not always were a zippered coat. But it wrist fit bit would stay on and would help me fit in my daily activity, or lack thereof! :)

>178 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deborah! I've got the Fitbit One, which has a little case with a clip on it, and I just put it in my pocket and it seems to work fine (apart from stairs - apparently I've climbed ten flights already this morning against the *one* flight I have actually climbed. But at least I know how many I've climbed - a week or so ago I would have actively gone out of my way to avoid them).



77. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I've seen it mentioned on LT and the TV series is on over here, although not on a channel I can get. But the ads looked good :-)

Oooh, this *was* good! I read it over two evenings and I loved it, although I'm sure there are many more themes and messages than the ones I could see. It's the sort of book that needs a reread, I think. Highly recommended.

This morning I took it back to the library, and Favourite Library Assistant came over to talk about the Pulitzer Prize. Neither of us has read the novel that won, but I said I'd borrowed The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao from his display, and he said he was reading it at the moment too. I had Olive Kitteridge in my hand and recommended it. Then he said they'd got a lot of new books in on Tuesday, and I found The Shore, which I'd reserved, so I asked whether I could borrow that copy and cancel the reserve. And Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes was waiting for me. So one book back, two more out :-) It's so nice to have someone in RL to discuss books with! I have always wanted a library where the staff *actually read stuff*, instead of treating books like just another commodity they have to wrangle during their working day.

It's cooler here today, which is good news for the marathon on Sunday. Having said last week that I'd have Sunday "off" because we can't really get out of Wapping, I'm now horrified at the thought of missing my steps, and I have a grand circuit planned for early in the morning before the spectators start arriving on The Highway (which is the main road running across the top of the area. The runners are on it in both directions on the way to and from Canary Wharf). Mamie has drawn my attention to the "Serengeti" badge for walking 500 miles, and every little helps :-)

Bit horrified by the idea of being stuck in by the marathon (although not for exercise reasons, I hasten to add!). When I was in Edinburgh various events used to run past both ends of our road, but the police were always very nice about helping cross it as needed (although none were on the scale of the London Marathon). Is the road closed for the whole day? I'm finally coming to the end of In These Times which has been such a great recommendation, thank you. Not sure I would have stuck with it without your endorsement!

>177 susanj67: "Orange Bliss" is one of my favorites! And yeah, K-cups are a huge thing here, although I'm not a fan - the idea of *all* of those little plastic things getting thrown away every day = not good.

>180 charl08: Charlotte, it's closed for most of the day, although for pedestrian traffic there's a tunnel (brrr) but it will be super-busy as The Highway always has people watching on both sides. If the station is open then we're not totally stuck, but they have been known to close it if it gets busy. So it's best just to stay in, or at least not to try and walk or drive anywhere. Or shop - Waitrose revels in a bona fide excuse for having no milk or bread. I'm glad you've enjoyed In These Times!

>181 scaifea: Amber, I've never encountered a K-cup here, but then we have been in this building for years and years with the same drinks machine, so maybe newer offices have them. I thought it might be instant tea (again, not something we have here) so I tipped the tea leaves into a paper cup and added boiling water, but quickly realised I'd done something wrong. Fortunately Roni saw my post and explained how to do it for the next day :-) I had only just mastered the ice + water machine, which I wish we could have here too.

Awesomeness abounds in Tower Hamlets today as the corrupt mayor has finally been thrown out of office, with at least one crony, and the mayoral election is to be rerun. I spent the morning trying to read a textbook with a Twitter feed from someone who was in court open on my screen. I got further along than I thought with the book, but then it got really exciting as the tweets started summarising the judge's findings (bribery, corruption, making false statements about an opponent and "spiritual influence" (not used since the mid 1800s, but that's quite fitting for Tower Hamlets, which is rapidly headed back to the 1300s) - summarised as "serious and widespread electoral malpractice" by the judge). I'll have to save the 200pp judgment for the weekend, though, assuming I can find it online. The usual websites don't have it yet. Dang!

Just heard the Labour candidate speaking about the new Tower Hamlets mayoral elections on the news. Fascinating story. Wonder if someone will write a book about it?

>182 susanj67: I saw the headlines on the BBC website about the mayor, but I didn't realise it was 'your' mayor.

I have to admit that the thought of all those little plastic cups littering the environment fills me with horror! I will stick with tea bag and mug.

>183 charl08: Charlotte, it wouldn't surprise me if Andrew Gilligan wrote something. He has been following the story very closely for years, despite the inevitable cries of "racist!"in response to anything he wrote. But I'm not sure, having lived through it, that I could bear to read it.

>184 SandDune: Rhian, not strictly "mine", as the judgment was clear that his activities only ever benefited one sector of the community, but yes, that is the rotten state of Tower Hamlets. It's such a relief finally to have an independent outsider say what has been so clear to people in the borough. Re the K-cups, I was enchanted in New York with all the different flavours, because our drinks machine in London only does plain tea (although it is PG Tips, which surprised me slightly because I assumed a drinks machine would be the ideal place for something unbranded and not-that-great) but then again there's minimal waste. My roomie and I are also big fans of the mug and tea bag. And the Twinings website :-)

Fair enough! I promise not to mention it if a) it is published and b) I read it. I was hoping for a sunny weekend reading, but the forecast with me is not looking good. Maybe I'll have to take on board all this fitbit chatter and read at the gym instead...

>186 charl08: Well, I'm sure I'll change my mind if it's actually published :-) Gilligan has a piece in the Telegraph today which I've had to read on my BlackBerry due to having used up all my free articles for the month via website access. For some reason the BB doesn't seem to count and always works.

I've fallen a bit behind with my steps today. I got the bus to work because the DLR was broken, and I've been walking at lunchtime but I'm only up to 6,300. At this rate I'll have to walk home! I do have to go to a meeting later, out of the building, so that should add another few hundred.

I loved Olive Kitteridge. I'm glad you liked it too.

Hi susan, I wish you a wonderful weekend.

>188 Ameise1: Barbara, the library has Amy and Isabelle too - have you read that one?

>189 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara :-)



78. Fashion on the Ration: Style in the Second World War by Julie Summers

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I went to the exhibition of the same name at the Imperial War Museum

This was a good read, by the author of Jambusters which I read a year or so ago (and which is shortly to be broadcast as "Home Fires" on ITV). The book was written in conjunction with the exhibition, and it described some of the clothing that I remember seeing as exhibits. It was full of interesting facts, and I'd recommend it for anyone interested in the period. One totally sweet fact that I'd never heard before was that Barbara Cartland (best-known as a romance novelist, but also a well-connected society person) started a collection of wedding dresses for brides in one of the services, who would otherwise have had to get married in their uniforms. She went around buying up the dresses, often spending her own money, and then donated them for the use of the brides, who would have them cleaned and returned afterwards. But what a grim time it must have been all round, really. It's hard to imagine that just 70-odd years ago people would even countenance rationing. These days it would have no hope whatsoever of even getting off the ground, let alone lasting so many years.

Today's steps took me up to Hoxton, which is the heart of hipster territory, and I did see some fairly hipsterish young people hanging out at the cafes, but I started at the Shoreditch library, which isn't in my borough, but from which I can borrow, and then walked home from there. At one stage I found myself outside Book Madness on Moorgate, which tends to happen when you go that way deliberately...but they were *closed*. Humph. And they were advertising a closing-down sale, too. 11602 steps for the day, and that's about all there will be. I started Been in the Storm So Long this morning, but I'm going to have to renew it as it's a real chunkster and due back on 5 May.

Susan, our library has several Elizabeth Strout's book also Amy and Isabelle but I have only read Olive Kitteridge so far.

Happy Saturday, Susan! Way to go with the steps! Bummer about the book store being closed and even sadder that they will be going out of business. Hoping that your weekend is full of fabulous! And steps!

I didn't realise Home Fires was based on a book...

Sad to hear another bookshop closing. Well done on those steps. I think I have done about 100 (mostly in a circuit around the couch!).

>191 Ameise1: Barbara, if I ever finish the current batch of library books, I'll borrow it!

>192 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie! Book Madness is a remainder shop and they have some great bargains. But I think the whole row of buildings is being demolished for the Crossrail project, so I expected it to disappear at some point. I have had a weekend full of steps!

>193 charl08: Charlotte, yes, and the TV series starts next Sunday. I finally saw a trailer with a date on it.

Today I did my steps before 10am, so I feel vastly smug. I went out early and decided to map out a route around Wapping for those days when I don't want to go far away. It included walking along The Highway, which is the marathon route, but the footpaths were open and the various sponsors were setting up water and other things, and there were balloons. Lots and lots of balloons. There was even a sausage sizzle on the other side of the road. Spectators were starting to arrive, but not many, at least at the eastern end, although as I walked west it got a bit busier. I had to find some more steps by going under Tower Bridge and towards the City, at least till I came across the "mini marathon" and then I had to turn back. But there was a good atmosphere out there, and it is just possible that next year I might go up and watch. The Highway is usually one of the most polluted roads in the area, but with no traffic it was lovely. In fact the whole of Wapping was pretty much traffic-free, as it was too early for people to be going to Waitrose and that's about the only place they could go in a car. I got home and I'm watching it on TV, which I usually do until the elite women finish.

Yesterday I started The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which is quite a challenge, with all the Spanish phrases and non-stop references to comics and video games. I was googling one of the Spanish phrases when I came across an Oscar Wao "annotations" site put together by a confused reader, and that has been a great help, but constantly stopping to look things up is making it quite a choppy read. I'm not sure whether to continue or not, but I think I'll start something else today. At least I have plenty of choice!

Susan - I was wondering about how Oscar Wao transfers across cultures. I lived in the Dominican Republic and speak Spanish. I am not familiar with video games, so that part did slow me down, but I still absolutely loved the book. Sorry it's not working for you.

>195 BLBera: Beth, some Spanish would definitely be useful! It's just a lot of work for a novel, and I have other things to get back to the library, but I read another book today so I'll give Oscar another try.



79. The Shore by Sara Taylor

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: Katie mentioned it on her thread and it looked good. And then I saw Beth's excellent review...

This was fabulous, and I read it pretty much in one sitting (with a tiny nap in the middle, but that was due to five miles of walking, not the book). It's a series of stories by different narrators about life on some islands in the Chesapeake Bay (which, co-incidentally, I've just read quite a bit about in A Man Most Driven). The stories move back and forth in time, and relate to two branches of a family, and they're really well done. I agree with Beth, though, that just as you get involved with a particular narrator the book moves onto the next one, which can be a bit frustrating, but still I loved it.

I think I'll try another chapter of Oscar Wao now, with the annotations website open on the Kindle. And then maybe the first couple of chapter of Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes, which is the latest library book. And later it's the final in the first series of Poldark, and, if it's true to the books, a Very Sad Thing happens. I can still remember this from the books, all these years later.

I love the cover of your copy of The Shore. I'm so glad you liked it.

Oh I really must get a copy of The Shore. Sounds like my kind of book.

>197 BLBera: Beth, I like the US cover! And an Oscar Wao update: I've read chapters 2 and 3 which have now taken me to about half-way, and I'm liking it a lot more. Lola's and Beli's chapters were, I think, a better read than chapter 1, and the annotations website is really helping. I know nothing about the more modern history of the Dominican Republic (I've read a bit about it from the Hispaniola/slavery days) so that's something else I have to get to grips with - all the names and the awful things they did.

>198 charl08: Charlotte, definitely! If you can find a spare reserve slot, get it next :-)

Glad to hear that you liked Olive Kitteridge. I've got a copy in the TBR stacks. Would like to push it up toward the front, but am not sure where in the different piles it is. Perhaps I can encourage Jane to knock over a few of the stacks in hopes that its location will thereby be revealed.

>196 susanj67: Added The Shore to the wishlist: I love that cover too!

>200 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, there's no telling what Jane might uncover if she starts knocking over the stacks - maybe something you want to read even more!

>201 SandDune: Hi Rhian! The library had another copy on the new books shelf this morning when I returned mine, so I think it's going to be all over the place.

Favourite Library Assistant came over this morning and asked how I was getting on with Oscar Wao (he's reading it too). I told him about the annotations website and we agreed that it was a very different sort of reading experience than a typical novel because of all the unfamiliar language, but overall it's worth it. I should finish it tonight, I think, which is just as well because So You've Been Publicly Shamed was waiting for me, along with Tears of the Rajas: Mutiny, Money and Marriage in India 1805-1905 which is a mahoosive 650-odd pages. Yikes! No TV for me for quite some time :-)

I disappear from your thread for a couple of weeks only to come back and discover the book exchange is expanding, you have joined the Fitbit world - Congrats! - you are having fun with all the geeklike data that your Fitbit spits out and then you go and top everything else by blowing past 75 books read and we are still in April.... APRIL! ;-)

>179 susanj67: - Yay for Olive Kitteridge love! That was one of my favorite reads back in ...... 2010 - I had to go and check when it was I had read it.

Trying to get caught with LT after a week offline is just as bad as trying to get caught up with work after a week away from the office, but at least I am caught up with all that is happening here on your thread, Susan.

>203 lkernagh: Hi Lori! Welcome back :-) I am indeed addicted to my Fitbit, and yesterday hit my highest step score so far - just over 13,000. I think I need 15,000 for my next badge, though :-) I kept seeing people referring to Olive Kitteridge favourably, which is the main reason I tried it, and the library has at least one of her other books, although I am about six things away from being able to take anything new out.

I'm just about to start a new thread and review book 80. And now here it is: https://www.librarything.com/topic/190536#