SusanJ's 75 Books Challenge - Thread 6

Hello, and welcome to my sixth 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.

And recently I've bought a Fitbit and turned into a stepper :-)













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
80. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
81. Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes

May reads

82. So You've Been Publicly Shamed
83. The Shipping News
84. Orley Farm
85. The Tears of the Rajas
86. Robinson Crusoe
87. Data Protection Law and Practice
88. Rachel Ray
89. Dead Wake
90. The Invention of Wings
91. To Hell or Barbados
92. The News from Waterloo
93. Romantic Outlaws
94. The Edge of the World: How the North Sea Made Us Who We Are
95. Wolf Winter
96. Her

June reads

97. The Paying Guests
98. Nightwalking
99. Cavalier: The Story of a 17th Century Playboy
100. Chocolate Wars
101. First Time in Forever
102. Sharpe's Tiger
103. We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families
104. The Night Watch
105. Sharpe's Triumph
106. Outcast London
107. Our Souls at Night
108. The Quintinshill Conspiracy
109. The Various Haunts of Men
110. Under the Lights
111. Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories
112. The Dark Net
113. My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time
114. 17 Carnations

July reads

115. Tales of the City
116. Bad Pharma
117. The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It
118. Outlaws of the Atlantic
119. Forgotten Fatherland
120. The Devil in the Marshalsea
121. I Take You
122. Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ
123. Crooked Heart
124. Concretopia
125. The English Spy
126. Trigger Warning: Is the Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech?
127. The Quality of Silence

101. First Time in Forever by Sarah Morgan

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

This is the first in a new trilogy set on Puffin Island in Maine. I love Sarah's island books - she creates such a lovely community and the same characters pop up from book to book. The next one is released for Kindle at the beginning of July, so there's not too long to wait :-)

Happy New Thread, Susan and congrats on 100 :-)

Happy new thread, Susan! I see that you rewarded yourself for reaching 100 with a Sarah Morgan read - good thinking!

Happy new thread, Susan!

Happy new thread, Susan. 100! Very impressive. I've just reached 50.

Congrats on reaching 100, Susan.

>4 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara!

>5 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie. Any occasion is perfect for a Sarah Morgan book :-) I am hoarding the last eight remaining books from her Mills & Boon medical romance series for future celebratory purposes.

>6 scaifea: Thanks Amber! I still don't think I'll catch you up :-)

>7 BLBera: Thanks Beth. 100 mostly reflects the fact that I have a lot of free time :-)

>8 DeltaQueen50: Thanks Judy :-)

A weird thing has happened. My father (who will be 86 next month) has never been a reader (of books - he's always read the newspaper). And suddenly I'm getting little book reviews in every email. It's like suddenly he's discovered reading as a hobby, which I put down partly to him being less and less mobile (osteoarthritis) and partly down to him having his cataracts done last year and now having virtually bionic vision, but he could just as easily be watching TV I suppose. I've recommended a couple of things, nervously in case he doesn't like them and decides to give up, but this morning he said he was reading Operation Mincemeat, which I have read but hadn't even got around to recommending. Maybe I could mention The News from Waterloo, and by "mention" I mean look it up in his library catalogue and tell him which branch has it :-) Also I must pay a lot more attention to those Father's Day book recommendation ads in the paper.

That's so great - I love it when people really discover books for the first time :) Plus aren't cataract ops brilliant! Granddad was despairing (he has always been a reader, though on the flip side to your Dad, decreasingly these days) before his were done - and it gave him a new lease on life.

How exciting that your dad is becoming a reader in his 80s!

>9 susanj67: Love the news about your dad. Any themes developing in the reading that you can pick up on for his gifts?

Great news about your dad, which reminds me I need to find a book for my dad for father's day.

>10 BekkaJo: Bekka, yes, the surgery is amazing. I think one of the cruellest forms of health service rationing is cataract surgery for elderly people - when you can't get out much then all you have is things to look at, whether books or TV or craft work. In NZ it seems much the same as here - one was bad enough to be done at the public hospital and he paid for the other one, which of course seemed so much worse with the bad one fixed. They put in some sort of whizz-bang lens and he was able to give his glasses away to charity :-)

>11 luvamystery65: Roberta, I am definitely excited! I don't think he's going to be a fiction reader, but there is so much amazing NF out there that I'm sure he'll find plenty.

>12 charl08: Charlotte, he's recently read Last Man Off, which is about a trawler disaster near South Georgia, Dead Wake (which I recommended), a book about the 2004 tsunami and now Operation Mincemeat, so I'm thinking narrative non-fiction, but I've just recommended Deep Sea and Foreign Going which I read last year, as I think he would like that and his library has it. I gave him the shelf reference and suggested he have a bit of a look at the 300s because there are so many interesting things in them.

>13 BLBera: Beth, I'm sure you'll find something! I'm thinking about books for Dad's birthday, but I haven't quite decided yet.



102. Sharpe's Tiger by Bernard Cornwell

Where I got it: Library ebook
Why I read it: I was looking for something else when a page of the Sharpe books popped up, and I thought I'd try the (chronologically) first one

I think Richard Sharpe may be the Georgian Jack Reacher. Woo-hoo! (Dang, I see that someone in the LT reviews also makes that comparison, but I thought it up myself.) I was worried that there might be too much military stuff in this, and there were battles, but they were based on historical fact - in this case the siege of Seringapatam, in India, where the Tippoo Sultan was defeated in 1799 - and they weren't too hard to understand. I seem to have downloaded the next one already.

I can't think of Sharpe without seeing Sean Bean *swoon*.
Is this not one of the chronologically early by published later books? I wonder of that makes a difference to how it reads. And I can never decide if you should read them in written or time order.

Hi Susan, I love the news about your father. How wonderful. I wish you a relaxed weekend.

Happy new thread Susan and great news about your Dad discovering reading as a hobby :-)

From your last thread you hit me with a BB for Chocolate Wars - I read The Dinosaur Hunters by the same author earlier this year and really enjoyed it. Plus, chocolate!

>14 susanj67: 'I think Richard Sharpe may be the Georgian Jack Reacher. Woo-hoo!'

My husband is a big fan of both series (although the Richard Sharpe books are a relatively recent discovery) and that comment made him chuckle.

>15 Helenliz: Helen, yes, it was written later but it's the first in time. I have to read things in time order :-) The second one (in time) is set four years later, and looks just as good.

>16 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara :-) I need some of those stairs for my Fitbit.

>17 souloftherose: Thanks Heather! I discovered Deborah Cadbury through your thread :-) I bought Dinosaur Hunters from World of Books, but as Chocolate Wars was right there on the ebook website I thought I'd give it a try. Thanks for the author recommendation! How great that your husband is also a Jack Reacher fan :-) I think the term is "Reacher creature", although that may only be the laydeez.



103. We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevitch

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: This was a totally random library choice last weekend. I'd heard the title, but I didn't really know what it was about

In this book, written in 1998 but republished this year, the author looks at the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and the reasons for it. It's an excellent read although the reasons remain unclear, but I don't think that's the fault of the author. I just don't know what reason there could possibly be for the murder of so many people by their friends and neighbours in such a short time. It's not a "reason-able" act, if you like. But at least now I understand *what* happened, if not *why*. Recommended if you tuned out of the news at the time because it all seemed too complicated and far away, but feel that you should have made more of an effort.

I got my Fitbit badge for 25,000 steps in a day yesterday. Yay! The last few thousand were due to the Overground experiencing "severe delays" at one point, which made me decide to walk, but I did a huge circuit around London before that, and saw some of the horses from the Trooping the Colour clip-clopping through the Wellington Arch, which was amazing. I'd never really realised before that they're all the same colour - a very dark brown, nearly black, and gorgeous. (Not that I know anything about horses, but they looked very well-cared for and brushed, and the riders' uniforms were a work of art). I had to get home before the naked cycle ride started (protesting against cars). Today I think I'm just going to walk north, and see what's there. I've only been as far as the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green before, but there is more :-)

Back from my walk, which got rained on - not badly but consistently, so it got rather damp after a while. I decided I wouldn't walk to Edinburgh this afternoon so I called it a day at just under 14,000 steps, I've increased my daily goal to 11,000 because apparently you're not just supposed to do 10,000 every day and feel pleased with yourself - you've got to keep aiming higher. This is the problem with exercise - it's always more, more, more, faster, faster, faster.

On the train on the way home I saw this BBC article about the top beach reads of the summer:
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150608-2015s-best-beach-reads

And they've just had "breaking news" on Sky to say that the Philae comet lander has woken up after six months, and sent a message back to Earth. It reminds me of The Martian just a bit :-)

Susan - I just got my first 20,000-step day last week. Overall, last week, my step average was over 12,000 steps a day, which is my goal. I found early on that when I'm teaching, I get to 10,000 without any real effort. In summer it's harder, but it's something to work for.

I just received a copy of the Gourevitch book in the mail; it's been on my list for years.

Catching up on threads and wishing I had some good European chocolate. Hershey's has made it increasingly difficult for us to get decent chocolate over here in the States by keeping out their competitors.

Happy new thread, Susan! I have been absent from LT for a while and now slowly making my way through threads. My mom surprised me last year when she recommended a book to me and admitted that she has started reading. In her case, she reads for a while in the afternoon because her doctor told her that she needs to take time where she just sits down and puts her feet up. In the past, she has always been GO, GO, GO, but it is nice to see that she is taking an interest in reading. She rather enjoyed The Help when she read it earlier this year. ;-)

Oooohhhh.... Sharpe and Sean Bean.... the perfect combination for weekend TV viewing, in my opinion.

>19 susanj67: Not sure if I'll get any 'beach' reading this year, but like the look of that list, some interesting books. I'm tempted by almost all of it - A woman loved sounds like it fits my communist Russian reading thing. Louisa Meets Bear sounds a bit like A Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing. The Gods of Tango sounds really atmospheric and I love the period focus of The Race for Paris, although fiction will have to work hard to match the real history.

>20 BLBera: Beth, that's excellent about the 20,000 steps! I've only done it a couple of times. I sense today won't be a third time :-) But I do find 10,000 no problem any more. If anyone had told me seven weeks ago that I'd be saying that, I would never have believed them. I hope you enjoy (not really the right word) the Gourevitch book.

>21 thornton37814: Lori, you do at least have mint M&Ms :-) One shop here at Canary Wharf sells them, but they're about £1.50 for a little packet. I think I paid $1.20 in New York.

>22 lkernagh: Thanks Lori :-) I'm not a Sean Bean fan so I don't see Sharpe as him, but I'm not sure which other actor I think he should be.

>23 charl08: Charlotte, I thought "beach reads" were supposed to be fluffy, but the list does look pretty good. Not that I am reserving anything from it. Yet.



104. The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I liked this author's The Paying Guests

I liked this one even more than The Paying Guests, and read the whole book yesterday afternoon/evening. Ms Waters does write page-turners! This one is set in 1947, 1944 and 1941 (in that order) and is about the experiences of four main characters during WWII. LT opinion seems to be divided, but I think I'm now officially a Sarah Waters fan. I want to read The Little Stranger next.

Only one book came away from the library with me this morning (one more than the zero books I planned to take out, but not bad). It's Tales of the City, which was on a "relaxing reads" stand. I've always wanted to read this series, but never quite got organised enough to find a nice clean copy of the first one. Four reserves are on their way, so I couldn't borrow an interesting-looking new book about female diplomats, but no doubt I'll see it again.

I loved The Nightwatch, one of my favourite books ever. Something about how she gets you to care about the characters, and shows how life can change (in the midst of relationships). Not sure. I was all set to read my own shelves (read: piles of books on the nightstand) when I read a list of recommended crime, and bang, I've got 20 books turning up sometimes soon. Although at least with crime I can rattle through them...

>14 susanj67: - Glad to see you've discovered Richard Sharpe, Susan! The first three books, chronologically, are quite good, but after that, I would switch to order of publication, as Cornwell, after starting with Sharpe's Rifles and writing through to Sharpe's Waterloo, went back and started writing books that fit in between the books he had written previously. Most of those, IMO, are not up to the standard set by him in the Rifles-to-Waterloo books. But all in all, it's a good series and nobody writes about battle better than Cornwell, or so I've always thought.

Loved The Little Stranger when I read it earlier this year for the BAC. Of all of the Waters I've read, so far, I liked The Night Watch least. I've got The Paying Guests still to read, but unfortunately it's one of my Audible books and I've temporarily lost access to them because of the storage situation on my phone. Ack - technology! I love it and I hate it!

#24 Me too - I love her books. I really enjoyed The Nightwatch and whilst it may be my least favourite of hers, that's only because I adored Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet so much :)

>25 charl08: Charlotte, 20 books! And I thought I was bad with nine. Actually seven now as I picked two up this morning. I agree about The Night Watch - even when the characters weren't nice people I still wanted to know what happened/had happened.

>26 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I hope you get that Audible access back again. Poor book, stuck like that. As Homer Simpson so memorably said when the ring-pull snapped off a can he was trying to open, "Oh no! My pudding is trapped forever." Except a book, in your case :-) Thanks for the Sharpe advice. I've just finished number 2.

>27 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka! Hmm, so now we have two least-favourites for The Night Watch and one favourite. She does seem to polarise opinion :-)



105. Sharpe's Triumph by Bernard Cornwell

Where I got it: Library ebook
Why I read it: I seem to have found a new series

This book is about the battle of Assaye, in which Sharpe finds himself acting as orderly to Sir Arthur Wellesley and trying to keep his lordship's spare horses under control. Meanwhile, his nemesis, Obadiah Hakeswill, is trying to arrest him for yet another crime he didn't commit. Even though Hakeswill was about to be trampled by an elephant at the end of the book, somehow I think we'll see him again.

I picked up Our Souls At Night and The Quintinshill Conspiracy at the library this morning. The second one is about Britain's worst rail disaster, which happened in 1915. There was a good documentary about it recently, and the author was one of the people interviewed for the programme. I know (or knew) almost nothing about it, although I do remember it being used in a book a few years ago to kill off one of the characters.

Hi Susan -- how wonderful that your father is discovering books! I love that story.

I've been eying The Night Watch for awhile. I loved Fingersmith and own (but haven't read) Tipping the Velvet. I like her writing, and your endorsement of The Night Watch is encouraging!

>29 AMQS: Hi Anne! Dad's onto his next book now - something about a legal case, but Amazon only lists an ancient version with no description. They had a copy at home, given to someone years ago. When I was reading The Night Watch I was reminded a bit of Their Finest Hour and a Half - not so much in terms of style but the relentlessness of the war.

No finishes to report this morning, but I picked up Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories at the library, which had come in on reserve, and somehow managed to get The Dark Net as well. And I was only in there for a couple of minutes.

Ruh-roh. 17 Carnations: The Windsors, The Nazis and The Cover-Up just arrived. It looks deliciously trashy. Now I have six library books out, despite all my promises to myself.

And just as I thought I might have a little look at my library wishlist (for future reserving, not today or anything) disaster has struck. A while ago when the library site was misbehaving I went to an old page I used to use and accessed the catalogue from there. It's actually (or it WAS, actually) a much better version of the catalogue, (not returning 700 results for people who aren't the person I was searching for, and stuff like that) so I was happy to find it. And it had a wishlist. I found a whole lot of books I'd forgotten about on there from the olden days, and starting adding to it enthusiastically. And you can guess what's happened, can't you? I can't get into it any more, and all my recent "wishes" are lost forever. Ding. Dang.

Nooo - darn crabby computer systems.

>32 susanj67: No!!!

That is my nightmare.

>33 BekkaJo: Bekka, exactly. It was such a handy catalogue too. Hmph.

>34 luvamystery65: Roberta, lol :-) That's a little bit how I felt!



106. Outcast London by Gareth Stedman Jones

Where I got it: Verso ebook sale at Christmas
Why I read it: I like reading about London

This book looks at the "casual poor" in London (particularly east London) at the end of the 19th century, and how society dealt with them. It was written at the beginning of the 1970s, but there's a new preface by the author, and he makes the point that when he wrote the book, he was writing about history, and didn't expect to see a very similar debate happening today. But the parallels are quite startling, although today we have the added question of whether "the poor" are actually poor or just don't have enough to keep up with all the latest consumer goods. In Victorian times they were undoubtedly poor, living crammed into dreadful tenements, diseased, starving and in rags. No-one lives like that here any more at least. But one of the causes of the poverty in London was the casual labour system, where people had no guarantee of full days of work even if technically they had the opportunity of work, and that *is* something we are seeing again now, with zero-hour contracts and the huge rise in part-time work.

But the Victorians weren't convinced that the lack of work was really the issue. The poor, they thought, were lacking something. They had no drive to work while they could sponge off the parish, and they needed showing the error of their ways to make them into productive citizens. Also a familiar argument today. We haven't, however, gone quite as far as proposing labour camps, with forced resettlement "up North" or in the colonies, which were suggestions at the time.

And, while there were many charitable projects, a lot of people thought those were making the situation worse. Charity should be given by someone known to the person receiving it, they thought, so that person was aware of where the money was coming from. Anonymous funds coming from charitable projects didn't incentivise the recipient to get up and better himself.

It was a fascinating read, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the history of London.

>35 susanj67: Oh, I love this book. Read it for 'school' but found it useful after the end of course lists. Intro sounds interesting, might do some online digging and see if I can find it.

Ha Susan, what have you done to the Verso site with all these tempting sale messages? It's just given up on me...

>37 charl08: I got about six pages through (three books in my cart) and then gave up temporarily - I bet they're swamped!

Eventually I managed to buy:

A People's History of London
Britain's Empire
The Happiness Industry
The Swing
A Colossal Wreck

There were a couple of others that looked good, but they weren't available as ebooks. I was particularly pleased to get Britain's Empire as I didn't get it last time because it was listed in the library catalogue, but it's *massive* so now I don't have to read it in a hurry.

Hi Susan - Thanks for the Verso news - I resisted! Outcast London sounds great. I added it to my list.

Hi Susan, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

I knew I'd missed something in the sale - I would have got Britain's Empire. Hopefully they'll have another one some time.

Hi Susan! A People's History of London sounds intriguing. I'll keep an eye out for your comments whenever you get around to it. I have several unread London books in my TBR stash. Maybe I should have a London category in my Category Challenge next year.

>40 BLBera: Beth, it's a great read. And I'm sure Verso will have another sale :-)

>41 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara - you too!

>42 elkiedee: Luci, maybe they'll have another one at Christmas. I'd promised myself to read last year's purchases before I bought anything in this year's sale, but I didn't realise there was going to be a mid-year one. But still, I've only got one Christmas book left to read, so I'm not doing too badly.

>43 cbl_tn: Carrie, I thought it looked a bit different, and I do love things about London :-)

I walked 30,000 steps yesterday, all the way down to Croydon, which was quite an odyssey :-) But it took me through Dulwich (which is gorgeous) and then up a huge hill to the Crystal Palace TV masts, so that was fun. Walking on the flat gets quite painful after a while, so a giant hill was actually quite a relief. And the Fitbit thought it was 48 flights of stairs :-) I picked Croydon because there's a direct train home, which was just as well, really. I was, as we would say in NZ, a total had-it case at the end of it. I got the directions through walkit.com, which is a very useful site, and I discovered last night that they do a "circular" route from any starting point, so I think I'll try one of those today. Not a four-hour one, though...



107. Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I love Mr Haruf's books

This short novel is about two neighbours in their seventies in the town of Holt, Colorado (where all his books are set) who decide to try and change their lives. And I loved it. His writing is just beautiful, and it's so sad that this is his last book.

I read a bit of all of my other library books yesterday too, just an hour on each one (apart from Tales of the City as it didn't come in on reserve), and that was fun. Andrew Morton's book about Edward VIII is a particularly guilty pleasure. I'm sure that a couple of his haven't been released here because of the libel laws, but everyone in this one is long dead now, so the publisher must have been relieved :-)

>44 susanj67: What an amazingly walk, Susan. I suppose you didn't had rain like we had.

Susan, I just read Beryl Bainbridge's Forever England: North and South which apparently accompanied a television series. As I was reading it, I was wondering if any of my UK friends had seen the series. It offered interesting stories of the lives of ordinary families living in the north and south of England.

>45 Ameise1: Barbara, it was supposed to rain, so I took an umbrella, but there was no sign of rain the whole way. Grrrrr!

>46 thornton37814: Lori, I haven't seen that one, but I always look at the listings for the Yesterday channel on TV so it might show up :-)



108. The Quintinshill Conspiracy by Jack Richards and Adrian Searle

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I saw a good documentary about the disaster and one of the people interviewed for it was an author of this book

Subtitled "The Shocking True Story Behind Britain's Worst Rail Disaster", the book looks at the terrible accident at Quintinshill (sometimes called the Gretna disaster as Gretna is not far away, and much better known) in 1915, when three trains collided near the signal box. Blame was placed on two signalmen who had been in the box at the time, but the authors argue that the official investigations were a whitewash, and that far more things contributed to the deaths of nearly 300 people than a moment's inattention by two railway employees. And they definitely have a point. But I wasn't that convinced by their argument that one of the signalmen was actually an epilepsy sufferer, and was recovering from a fit that morning, causing him to totally forget about the presence of a train that he had just got off. They cite evidence which points to *something* being wrong with him, but they later say that he died aged 77, in 1961, and it struck me as unlikely that someone with uncontrolled epilepsy would have lived that long at that time, particularly with no-one else noticing or saying anything.

But certainly there was more to the accident than just a signal issue. Most of the people who died were soldiers on their way to Liverpool, who were travelling in old, decrepit carriages with wooden frames and *gas lighting*. The fire that killed most of the victims was started by the escape of gas, and fuelled by the wood. And, even though the carriages were old and hopeless, there was a new, powerful, express engine pulling them, which was going too fast to stop safely if there was an obstruction on the line. Railway historians will find a lot to interest them in this book, and legal nerds will also marvel at how things were then - particularly how short the inquiries were, and how one barrister represented three key people despite a clear conflict of interest. I thought that overall it was well done, and certainly brings the disaster to public attention after it was hushed up at the time in order not to lower morale during a war.

>47 susanj67: really interesting review - I used to pass a sign / plaque on the train fairly regularly noting this disaster, and it always surprised me as rail these days seems such a safe form of transport. I saw Rush over the weekend (70s racing drivers), and the shots of people on planes with cigarette lighters seems as odd as the thought of gas lighting on a train...

>48 charl08: Charlotte, the authors mentioned the memorials - it seems there are several, and I suppose it's better-known in the local community than elsewhere. But, happening just after Gallipoli and the sinking of the Lusitania, I can understand why the Government might have wanted to play it down. People being killed by the enemy was bad enough, but to die before they'd even left Britain would have been too much for the public to take.

Yesterday a plastic crate of books appeared in the book exchange. A whole crate! Dry-cleaning lady could only tell me that "a man" had brought it in, on a trolley. I think it must have come from one of the departments that is getting ready to move to a new floor. Sometimes groups have little book collections of their own, brought in by a few people and swapped around. I shelved them before anyone could change their mind or decide that they should have gone somewhere else :-) But crime is totally full now, which is problematic. I'm trying to find out whether the book exchange will survive the move (everyone is moving eventually) but no word yet.

The Quintinshill Conspiracy looks good, Susan. I love disaster tales - if love is the right word - and am always on the lookout for them. This one does not seem to be available yet, but one to keep in mind for later on.

>50 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, it's very new, so keep looking!



109. The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill

Where I got it: Kindle cheapie at some point
Why I read it: A friend recommended the series...

...and I won't be telling him I've read this, because it was terrible - a weird mix of chick-lit, a serial-killer murder mystery and some psychic nonsense thrown in. What a mess! In the end, the police didn't even work out who the killer was. He gave himself away. But at least I'm not committed to another series now :-)

The Fitbit just called me a STEPGEEK, which is odd as I got the bus to work this morning and I've only done 1,300 steps. Maybe it can tell that I'm only 3,000 steps behind Mamie right now. Yep, that must be it :-)

Apparently the book exchange may not survive the move, and if it does it will be smaller. I have to weed stuff out today :-(

Oh no re the book exchange. This Does Not Seem fair. Could an Anonymous petition be started to defend the books? Or a mini library system set up outside the door?

>51 susanj67: - Oh, boo :( I *loved* The Various Haunts of Men even though I almost threw it across the room towards the end. I also ended up with a crush on Simon...

Double boo to the book exchange not surviving in its current form. The only answer, really, is for you to take all those books and open your own secondhand shop full of the cleanest and non-smelliest used books! I would definitely shop there. If I lived in London.

Hi Susan - I was another who did like The Various Haunts of Men although my reaction at the end was like Katie's.

Boo to your book exchange news.

Way to go Stepgeek!

>52 charl08: Charlotte, I fear not. I wondered if we could have one section per floor, but that would no doubt just confuse people. I weeded quite a few out this morning so at least crime has a bit more room now, and I'm tempted to get rid of all the old (by which I mean "in poor condition") classics, because people will read those on their tablets etc for free rather than lugging books around.

>53 katiekrug: Katie, oops :-) It just didn't work for me. And how could the author do that thing that made you want to throw it across the room? (which no doubt is the same thing that provoked an identical reaction in me, except I was on the bus at the time, *and* on the Kindle Fire, and they frown on that sort of behaviour, which isn't to say it's unknown). Thank you for wanting to shop in my bookshop!

>54 BLBera: Beth, oops 2 :-)

I fear the Fitbit will chide me tomorrow for my lack of progress today - I just felt wiped out after the weekend but tomorrow I must do better. Mamie's lead has opened up again.

What sort of fitbit do you have, susan? I need some motivation to get off my ever increasing behind. Wondering if that might be a useful tool.

>56 Helenliz: Helen, I have a Fitbit One, which is the little one that goes into a clip, rather than a wristband one. I just keep it in my pocket, but it also clips onto a waistband or underwear (ruining the line of tops...). It's great for counting steps but easily confused with flights of stairs as it measures changes in pressure, the idea being that pressure changes as you ascend, but pressure can change for other reasons too and mine racks up dozens of flights in strong wind. I think the wristband ones are better in that respect. But it's certainly been a great motivation!

You are SO brave to even try to keep up with Mamie!! You're doing a great job of it though. I have to content myself with being in the middle of the pack of my group of 11 friends.

>58 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, most of the time I just shake my head and giggle when I look at the leader board, but right now we are only 1,256 steps apart! Of course, I am now at my desk and Mamie isn't awake yet...

Hi Mamie (when you read this :-) )



110. Under the Lights by Shannon Stacey

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

This is the first in a new series by Shannon Stacey, who wrote the fabulous Kowalski brothers novels which I *loved*. This time, the story is set in a small town in New Hampshire, where the school board has voted to cut the funding for the high school football team. Various alumni from a championship team 15 years earlier are asked to take part in a fundraising drive to try and reinstate the team, so cue various heroes returning to the town where they grew up, and seeing the heroines in a whole new light. This was very well done, and set up the next two books nicely. I just wish it wasn't November before book 2 is published.

Oooooh, sports romance! My favorite sub-genre :)

Boo on the book exchange news! It seems the U.K. has Little Free Libraries. Perhaps you can start one?

>60 katiekrug: Katie, you should definitely try Shannon Stacey! Exclusively Yours is the first one in her other series, and it's a total hoot (not exactly sports-related, but excellent)

>61 luvamystery65: Roberta, it would last about five minutes in my street, and that would include the actual box :-) I had no idea the UK had them, but they're a great idea (in a nicer area!)

I'm nearly finished Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories which is fabulous, and which I commend to you all (and all y'all, for US readers) but this week has been slow progress on my library books. I must do better over the weekend.

Holy carp! I walked into the office this morning, and just checked my Fitbit dashboard and I'm (very temporarily) *ahead of Mamie*!!! If only I knew how to do a screenshot so I could save this historic, probably never-to-be-repeated moment! I kinda feel like Wonderwoman. If she walked a lot.

Nicely done, Wonderwoman Susan!! I don't know how to do the screenshot thing, either, or I would post it for you. Happy Friday, dear!

>63 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie! Happy Friday to you too. I asked mY roomie about the screenshot (after I made her come over and look at the actual screen) and she didn't know either. I thought Young People were supposed to know these things. It's gorgeous over here, but apparently very hot* next week, so I need to get those steps in while I can. That walking video Roberta linked to on your thread is good - I'm not sure I can go as fast as the lady in it but it's an alternative when the temperatures go up, particularly as I don't have that much space. I went on a "low-sun" walk around the estate at lunchtime - a route I have devised which keeps me in the shade as much as possible - and that got me another 2,500 steps.

* "hot" by UK standards. Maybe 30C. Hotter than BARBADOS! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/weather/11700073/UK-weather-Britain-set-to-be-ho...

>62 susanj67: WOW! Congratulations, Susan...beating Mamie, a feat only you could do. I'm probably going to have a slow couple of days because it's supposed to be raining hard here over the weekend. My dear friend who is as big a walker as you two is arriving today, however, and she may get me out there even in the rain.

Hi Susan, I wish you a great walking weekend.

>65 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, normal service has been resumed today - Mamie is back in the lead :-) I hope you manage to get some steps in even with the bad weather - it's only water!

>66 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara - I've done today's steps so now I'm planning tomorrow.

This morning I went into the West End, in search of a top that's appeared on a couple of websites, but no luck. I think it's just too new, so I'll have to wait a couple of weeks.



I did buy a cute weekend shirt http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10701_10001_054010405749..., and a navy cardigan in the Jigsaw sale: http://www.jigsaw-online.com/products/rice-stitch-blanket-cardigan-9859. And a new pair of black trousers may be hanging in the wardrobe. But I'm always on the lookout for black trousers, and I've been looking for a navy cardigan in a more up-to-date style than the one I bought 20 years ago (M&S from the good old days - still going strong :-) ). So really the shirt was my only impulse buy. I walked most of the way home but it's really hot and sticky out there, so I got the bus from St Paul's once I'd done my steps.



111. Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories by Thomas Grant

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I saw it reviewed

Jeremy Hutchinson QC was one of the best-known advocates at the criminal bar from the 1950s to the 1980s, and the author has collected together some of his best-known cases in this book, which looks not only at the legal issues, but also at how society was changing at the time, and how the cases represented those changes. Rather than arranging them chronologically, they're in groups according to theme, like the Obscene Publications Act cases (Lord Hutchinson was counsel for Penguin books in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case, against the prosecutor who famously asked the jury "Is it a book that you would even wish your wife or your servants to read?"), the spy cases (George Black, Jeremy Vassell), the Official Secrets Act cases, the "Eccentrics and Folk Heroes" cases (art forger Tom Keating and drug-smuggler Howard Marks) and a final section about Mary Whitehouse and her attempts to clean up popular culture, which led to the prosecution of the director of The Romans in Britain at the National Theatre under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 on the basis that he had procured an act of gross indecency.

I really enjoyed learning about the background to some of the cases I'd heard of but only vaguely. I didn't know, for example, that Penguin Books agreed to be prosecuted for the Lady Chatterley trial, and handed over copies of the book to a police officer so that a "publication" had occurred without the need to involve a third-party bookseller. I was also interested in the Mary Whitehouse chapter because I bought Ban This Filth! recently, which is about her campaign. But really it was all interesting, and really well written. The legal nerd in your life will love this, but so will anyone interested in life in Britain at that time. The book was written with lots of input from Lord Hutchinson, who writes a final chapter about his career and the future of the criminal bar. Very highly recommended.

>67 susanj67: I'm actually wearing a new outfit today too. I purchased a pair of "seashore blue" bermuda shorts and a cute top at one of the bargain stores around here the other day. I pulled them out to wear today.

>68 thornton37814: Lori, there's definitely something about a new outfit that gives you a bit of a lift, isn't there? I'm not a big clothes shopper but I was quite excited by all the choice available today!

I took a look of your shirt and cardigan, Susan. I like them both.

>70 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara :-) I already have the shirt in white, with the stitched motifs in purple thread, and I love it. The blue with white motifs looks completely different, though.

>67 susanj67: - Oh, I like that top! I hear you about always being on the look out for black trousers. I am always on the look out for stylish white button front shirts.

Sounds like you are experiencing the same warm summer weather we are having here on the west coast of Canada.

And we, here in southern New England, somehow seem to have gotten hold of UK weather, it being about 69 and not a speck of sun in sight. Expecting rain tomorrow.

Susan I was admiring this shirt and was very tempted,when I realised I already have it (or something v similar) in navy on navy. It is wonderful, not least because I have a talent for spilling, but so cool too. Somehow I ended up on the dresses sale page, dangerous territory... They're also not terribly practical for the bike.

>72 lkernagh: Lori, I decided to order the top online rather than have to go looking for it again. I looked at the same style they had for this season and worked out my size. I nearly bought the current one in the sale, but it was grey and I'm supposed to be buying more colour :-)

>73 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I might be prepared to swap :-) It was sticky when I went out at 8.15 this morning and now I have the roof window open in the living room as well as the balcony door. Sometimes whole summers pass without this happening.

>74 charl08: Charlotte, they do seem to do it in a few colours. I love anything with stitching on it, so I snapped it up :-) Maybe you could buy a dress for a non-bike day?



112. The Dark Net by Jamie Bartlett

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: Impulse-borrow

This is about what's going on in the murky depths of the internet that we never encounter when we're posting pictures of cats with captions, shopping and reviewing books :-) It was interesting but pretty bleak, for the most part. There are some dreadful people out there.

113. My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time by Liz Jensen

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: Charlotte and Katie liked it

This was a fun time-travel romp in which the characters moved between 19th century Denmark and modern-day London, and there were some very funny parts indeed. I thought it took a little while to get going but, as Katie said, I really did care about what happened to Charlotte, the main character, and I think that means a book is a success ;-)

Oh, yay! Glad you liked it, too. Charlotte (LT Charlotte, not time traveler Charlotte) has such good taste :) And that cover is way nicer than mine...

>76 susanj67:: Just beginning that book too.

>77 katiekrug: Just going to be preening around today based on that... :-)

>75 susanj67: (Ha! Three dresses are on their way, and I'm hoping at least one doesn't fit, because the decision-making is going to be tricky. Good sale!)

>75 susanj67: - no deal Susan! Although it is still very cool for the time of year - It rained like a fiend yesterday and it's 55 degrees now and expected to remain cloudy all day. Hope it gets better by the weekend; Fourth of July in the rain is not a lot of fun.

Threw My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time on the ol' wishlist. The library seems to have it so will like try to get hold of it there.

Hi Susan - I HATE clothes shopping. My goal is to live in jeans, sweats and T-shirts after retirement. I have My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time from the library, and would like to get to it soonish after all the positive feedback.

Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories also sounds fascinating. I wonder if I'll be able to find it here? Off to check.

Have a great Monday.

>77 katiekrug: Katie, I think my favourite sentence was " 'This is the train station,' he said as we next joined a mixed herd of scoundrels, gentlefolk, tarts and ragamuffins all queuing before a tall metal box." Pretty much a perfect description of travel on the Underground in London :-)

>78 elkiedee: Luci, enjoy!

>79 charl08: Charlotte, I believe it is a Rule of Shopping that everything will fit and look amazing when a choice has to be made.

>80 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I could do with some rain. It's hot again today and it's supposed to be 33C by Wednesday. aaaaargh.

>81 BLBera: Beth, I keep seeing things that would be perfect for a retirement wardrobe, but always when I'm looking for things for work.

I've had the day off work today, so I went to the V&A to see the "Shoes: Pleasure and Pain" exhibition, which was OK, but there were a lot of shoes. Yes, I know...Then I went to a room of photographs of India and Burma taken in the 1850s, which is part of their India season that has just started. I did think about going to Alexander McQueen again, but the queue for people *with tickets* was many yards long, so I changed my mind. The queue for *getting tickets* was even longer. I loved it when I saw it so I'll leave it at that. Then I walked down to the river and crossed via the Albert Bridge, aiming to go through Battersea Park, but sadly it was closed for the dismantling of an event that was on there over the weekend, so I walked all around the edges of the park and then back over Chelsea Bridge and along to Westminster. It wasn't where I was hoping to go, but it was steppy so at least there was that :-) Now I'm going to declutter one of the hall cupboards and then try to make some more progress with the Andrew Morton book about Edward VIII.

>82 susanj67: - - "Shoes: Pleasure and Pain" - I think that pretty much describes my experience with shoes. Perfect name for the exhibition, I should think.

Am so envious of you and all the museums you have access to - when there aren't mile-long lines ahead of you. Lucky dog!

Enjoy your day off, Susan!

>82 susanj67: we're thinking about a trip to see that exhibition. I do lurve shoes. Especially heels...

>83 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I think the popularity of the McQueen exhibition took even the museum by surprise. I bought an annual membership so I could go any time I wanted, but even members have to queue in the "people with tickets" section if it's busy, because the entry times are every 15 minutes. Last time it wasn't busy at all, and I went straight in, but it's only got another month to run, which might explain it. It's the best-staged exhibition I've ever seen, though, so I hope lots of people get to see it.

>84 Helenliz: Helen, if you're a shoe-lover then there's lots in this that you'll enjoy. They have the Vivienne Westwood shoes that Naomi Campbell fell over in, and an interesting selection of modern and really old things. They even have the glass slipper made for the most recent "Cinderella" actress, on loan from Walt Disney. And there's some great video. Also no queue to get in :-) But, as I stood there in my Skechers, I felt like I wasn't quite the target audience!

My retirement ambition? Never to have to wear shoes again...

>86 BekkaJo: Bekka, does that mean you're moving to a tropical island? :-) My ambition is to have the perfect pair of sneakers for every occasion.



114. 17 Carnations by Andrew Morton

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I saw it reviewed

Subtitled "The Royals, The Nazis and the Biggest Cover-Up in History" (at least on the US edition, which frankly I think is pushing it a bit) this is the story of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's contact with, and approval of, the Nazi regime in Germany. The carnations in the title refers to the number of carnations that von Ribbentrop sent the Duchess on various occasions, due to them having allegedly been lovers, or perhaps because she was a German SPY, or a number of other reasons. The majority of the book looks at what happened to them following the Duke's abdication, and is entertaining (the Queen Mother comes out of it very badly indeed) but the final section is about how the British government tried to cover up the extent of his contact with the Germans during the war, and various statements he made that were potentially treasonous, and that part's a bit of a snooze. Overall I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the period. It's given me several names of other things to read, and I definitely want to get Deborah Cadbury's Princes at War, which also looks at the same time period.

I got back to the office this morning to find an internal mail envelope containing an article from yesterday's Financial Times titled "The dismal narcisissm of executive step-counters". "I saw this and thought of you," said post-it note from the friend (or maybe "friend") who sent it to me. Now I'm not sure what to think. But I don't think I'll be rushing to go out with her at lunchtime any time soon...

Eew to the "friend." Your LT friends love your stepping stories!

>88 katiekrug: Thanks Katie. I've definitely got the pip with her. (Does anyone here say that? It's NZ thing, definitely). I must try and get over myself.

I just went down to the mall, which is ICY cold, as it's BOILING HOT outside (Srsly. It's 31 and tomorrow may be 34. 34!!). This morning I was seen hot-footing it through Wapping with BARE ARMS. And the world does not need to see my vampire-pale arms. Even when I got to the office I was, for a time, still too hot to put anything else on.

Then I came back to try and arrange an electrician to come next week and fix my hot water. I emailed a fortnight ago and no-one answered, but apparently they left a message on my mobile. Except they didn't. And why couldn't they just email back? Fortunately I now think the problem is not the element but the switch, so it might actually be for the best that they didn't come sooner and replace a perfectly good element. So now I have Strange Men in the House on Monday. And I'm hoping that the booster switch which heats half a tank doesn't conk out on me in the meantime :-)

>87 susanj67: - 17 Carnations sounds like a worthy book to get from the library. Not sure it needed the subtitle. The picture of the Windsors and Hitler are surely enough of a hint for the potential reader. The mention of 17 carnations alone is enough to intrigue me. Why carnations? Why 17? (Don't tell me.) Carnations are so pedestrian. Can't imagine they could have been a gift or anything. Yup - this one is definitely going on the ol' library list.

Yeah, your friend kind of blundered there, I think. Would be interested in reading the FT story, though. Just to see what they are bellyaching about.

What Katie said. The nerve!

>89 susanj67: I have never heard that expression before, but I love it. Totally stealing that one!

>90 Fourpawz2: You made me laugh with "Carnations are so pedestrian," Charlotte!!! One of my mom's favorite flowers was the carnation, and I have always hated them with a passion. The Pecan Paradisio has a ban on them!

>90 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, definitely get it as a library book. The UK subtitle was a little less breathless (but I've returned it now so I can't say what it was).

>91 Crazymamie: Mamie, thanks :-) I've still got the pip, it turns out.

I didn't have any views on carnations, but I think now that I don't like them :-) I agree that it was a bit of an odd choice for a romantic flower, if the gift was supposed to be romantic. It's hard to tell which bits of the hating of Mrs Simpson were actually true.

Today is the hottest day in the last decade. Yes, it is 98F. I put F there so all y'all in the States can have a good giggle at heat, British style. A ball boy has fainted at Wimbledon. Trains have been cancelled and others are running slowly in case the heat warps the rails. I am going to leave my cardigan in the office when I go to a client dinner shortly (trust me, this is rarer than fainting ball boys and slow trains).

I'd agree it's a trifle warm. I've even removed my cardigan all together - this is almost unheard of.
Mind you, it'll all be over soon, a classic British summer comprising of 3 fine days and a thunder storm...

Oh my Susan, you've got the pip with someone and vampire-pale arms! Carnations are pedestrian aren't they? LOL!

Will you continue with the Hillerman reads? I wasn't sure if you were able to locate a copy of People of Darkness.

Oh it's so hot isn't it? It was unbearable in work as we don't have air-conditioning - a little cooler at home, thank goodness!

98F! I think it's only 95 today in Dallas which is reasonably pleasant, but only thanks to the fact that I don't go outside except to leave the over-air conditioned buildings to walk to my air conditioned car. 98 is hot, even in the States!

How long is the heat supposed to last there?

Oof! Thank goodness for strawberries and cream or this weather would be Too Much.

I hope things cool off for you soon. We had a couple of really hot weeks in June when we reached the high 90s F, but it's so much worse where you are. I have air conditioning at home, at work, and in the car, and I hardly need to be out in the heat. Air conditioning isn't the norm for London since it isn't needed most of the year. I remember from when I lived there how miserable it felt when the temperatures climbed that high. I made a point to avoid the tube in that kind of heat, particularly at rush hour.

Yikes to the heat wave you have been surviving through, Susan! I have been surviving through our warmer than usual summer weather by making a lot of fresh fruit and ice cream blender drinks. they are refreshing but probably a bit high on calories too. Oh well, just means I go for longer walks. ;-)

Susan, the Debenhams sale stuff turned up, and as predicted, almost all of it fitted (including, of course, the most expensive item ordered!!). Swanned around in the heat in my new frock yesterday. Fab. New gym gear has (almost) all turned up too, so No Excuses!

>93 Helenliz: Helen, yes, I see rain is forecast for lunchtime :-) I'd be tempted to go and stand outside in it, but I an running a seminar this afternoon for the vacation students.

>94 luvamystery65: Roberta, I'm in danger of losing my vampire pallor! Short sleeves = pink colour. I've fallen behind on the Hillerman reads - sorry. I've just reserved People of Darkness so I will catch up. (Also I see that Gut, The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ is "in transit". Rather appropriate).

>95 SandDune: Rhian, I couldn't have survived yesterday at work without air-conditioning. It was ridiculous!

>96 katiekrug: Katie, today is down to 26C (allegedly - it still feels like a sauna out there), tomorrow is 28 and Saturday 27 and then it drops a bit next week.

>97 charl08: Charlotte, I did have strawberries on my white chocolate cheesecake last night for dinner.

>98 cbl_tn: Carrie, there are all the usual stories about how hot it is on the tube - hotter than animals could be transported and so on. Last night I walked down from Covent Garden to Embankment station hoping it would be a bit cooler, but no luck. At least we got a taxi (with air-conditioning) from the office to Covent Garden.

>99 lkernagh: Lori, I really don't have the work wardrobe for it :-)

>100 charl08: Charlotte, yay! My top should arrive today I think. My roomie says it needs pearls and she will bring some in. I could kind of do without being restyled by someone young enough to be my daughter, but I'm playing nicely for the time being. There will be no pearls, however :-)

Heat report: Still hot. Steps are suffering. But the aim is to feel better, not to collapse in the heat, or at least that's what I'm telling myself :-)

Last night I visited the library branch nearer home after being led astray on Charlotte's thread (hi charl08!) and got The Devil in the Marshalsea and Crooked Heart (yay!) and then I also saw Owen Jones's The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It so I had to get that too, in order to feel cross at all the hating.

And I've just signed up for the Group Read of Evelina so I'll have a booky weekend again, which might help to take my mind off the Stranger who is coming on Monday to get my hot water going again (the booster switch means I still have it, probably at £1 a minute, but the off-peak switch has given up the ghost). This means a bit of a tidy-up, but mostly worrying about escaping water (never far from my mind).

I'm sure LT-ers will love this article in today's Telegraph about private libraries: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/11713923/Welcome-to-the-worlds-most-lux... It mostly seems to be a rewritten press release for Heywood Hill in Mayfair, but it's none the worse for that, and it mentions another intriguing shop in Piccadilly that I've never been to - Maison Assouline. As well as books, they sell all sorts of booky lifestyle items, including library-scented candles! http://www.assouline.com/shop/gifts/candles.html Free shipping for US orders over US$250 as well :-)

>103 susanj67: Thanks for posting the Telegraph article. There are really nice libraries. I wish you a lovely weekend. Here it's still 37C and no end in sight.

>104 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara. Sorry you still have 37! It is cooler here now (about 28 by lunchtime) but with 93% humidity -ugh!

I wasn't sure I could do all my steps outside today, so I walked to St Paul's (stopping at the Monument branch of McDonald's, where an Iced Mocha Frappe perked me up considerably) and then got the tube out to Westfield. I'm on an air-conditioned Overground train now, heading home on a route I've never used before, but I can't argue with air-conditioning! I found a new tea shop called T2 which had an amazing range of teas, so that was fun. I can't wait to try my strawberries and cream fruit infusion, which I sampled as an iced variety.

>105 susanj67: Well, such a high humidity isn't funny, so congrats on doing your steps.

A train with AC? Wow. I think I'd just stay on that for the day. Hope you get to enjoy the well deserved relaxation you've earned!

>106 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara! It feels good to get back to them again, but inside with air-con :-)

>107 charl08: Charlotte, the Overground trains (the orange line on the tube map - except the routes from Liverpool Street, which Transport for London has only just taken over) have air-conditioning - sooo lovely.



115. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: It's one of those series that I always meant to try

I really liked this, and I'm going to get the second one as soon as I can, before I forget all the interlinking stories. Set in San Francisco in the 1970s, some of the popular culture references mystified me (thank goodness for Google) but this was still a great read.

#92 I'm a bit behind... as always.

Last week we had the hottest June day in Jersey since records began and the hottest day in 12 years. All I can say is oooffff.... lovely if you didn't have to be places/do things/run around like a blue-arsed-fly :)

#108 Been meaning to read these - may have to pick up :)

>109 BekkaJo: Bekka, yes it's fine if you're inside with your feet in a bowl of cold water. For example. I had to go to a client dinner in Covent Garden, which fortunately involved an air-conditioned taxi on the way there, but the tube on the way home. Ugh!

I went to the library which promised a copy of More Tales of the City today, but there was no sign of it. I picked up Naomi Novik's Temeraire, though, so that was something :-) And then I walked home again, in the rain. It was great weather for ducks here today. Now I'm watching Sky News's report on The Christening. Prince George looks a bit confused at seeing screaming crowds *again* - it's like they show up wherever he goes...

I started The Establishment this afternoon - nothing like a hatey polemic for a Sunday afternoon :-)

Nice timing reading with the christening. I'm spoiled for choice and now have no idea what to read!

The Establishment is quite a page-turner, which surprised me a bit. I'm saving the novels as a reward for having a Stranger here tomorrow. Everything looks very tidy, though, which is one plus point. And if he fixes the switch for my off-peak hot water, that will be another one, not least because I currently have to get up half an hour early to switch the booster switch on. I'm not saying I never set the oven timer and go back to bed, though :-)

>108 susanj67: Oh, hooray! Good timing, Susan, as I have just finished up my current audiobook, and here you are reminding me that I have this one on audio. Sounds like a perfect match for my mood.

>113 Crazymamie: Mamie, it's a fun, light read (or listen). I've reserved the second one as it was nowhere to be seen at the library.

Strange Man update: The first (as it turns out) Strange Man has been, diagnosed the problem and sorted out an electrician, who will be here between 10 and 1. I decided to stay home and get it all over with today (touch wood). Plus it's a lovely day :-) But if he comes nearer to the 10am end of the slot, I'll go into the office this afternoon.



116. Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre

Where I got it: Kindle cheapie at some point
Why I read it: It looked interesting

This book looks at how medicine is broken and how we can fix it (UK subtitle)/how drug companies mislead doctors and harm patients (US subtitle) but those two subtitles give the gist of the book - problems with drugs in terms of research, licensing, advertising, prescribing and so on. If you thought that your new drug was the best on the market because it's just been approved, think again. It only has to be better than a sugar pill - i.e. nothing at all. Research that shows even where this basic test is failed, it is covered up and far more positive trials get published than negative ones, leading to an unbalanced picture of a drug's effectiveness. No-one tests whether drug A is better than drug B, which is pretty shocking. There's also a lot about how pharma companies pay for doctors' continuing medical education, by inviting them to talks and conferences and giving gifts and so on. If they're a Key Opinion Leader in their area or field of medicine, they can expect speaking invitations, and even to have scholarly papers ghost-written for them to publish. And the regulators just twiddle their thumbs. It's a real eye-opener, and deserves attention from everyone because we all use drugs at some point in our lives.

>114 susanj67: This has been on my 'should read' list for so long - I'm afraid I'd get some kind of blood pressure issue reading it though. I really liked his Bad Science columns for ?the Guardian, pulling apart the stats quoted by the headlines. Maybe small portions is the secret and I should get it on the kindle to read in bits when travelling.

>115 charl08: Charlotte, to be honest I think it would seem very repetitive read in bits, because some of the misdeeds are quite similar to others and if you read it in bigger chunks you can see the differences. I've had it going on the Kindle for about ten days and it was better when I was really concentrating on it.

The electrician came, put in a new switch and left again, so I thought I'd better show up at the office. I won't know till tonight whether it's all worked because I think the off-peak hours are 12 - 7 but I suppose I'll know tomorrow morning. Another early start, just to check whether it's heating. But in the meantime, a tentative yay. I'm super-stressed by anything to do with the water, so I just Need It To Be Over.

ETA but I have a firm yay after my top arrived from Debenhams (finally!). I love it. I saw it a couple of times in the shops over the weekend - I must have been just a few days early last weekend.

Crossing my fingers that you water woes are over, Susan. I started Tales of the City, and it is sitting just right with me - fun and light is exactly what it delivers.

You and Lucy have left me in your Fitbit dust, so I will have to start slowly catching up with you today!

>117 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie :-) I think you're about 5K ahead of me today, even though I just went to the library and the supermarket. I'll have to walk home. At least it's a bit cooler!

At the library I picked up Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Under-Rated Organ, (the touchstone goes to the German version, so I assume this isn't out in the US yet). Thank goodness the pictures are line drawings, is all I can say. But it's had a bit of press over here, so I'm looking forward to it in a gross-me-out way.

I have hot water! Yay! Everything seemed to work overnight, and now I just get to enjoy my very tidy flat. I always resolve to keep it super-tidy after Strange People have been, but it never quite works out like that...Maybe I should go and buy some ring binders. That might help :-)



117. The Establishment And How They Get Away With It by Owen Jones

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: It's been getting a lot of attention here

In this book, the author looks at how "the Establishment" is bleeding Britain dry, while putting all the blame for our current economic difficulties on ordinary people just trying to get by. Broadly I agree with what he says about the current state of things, and particularly the ridiculous amounts of public money being spent on tax credits and housing benefit because employers don't pay their staff enough to live on. (This also has the effect of turning a lot of people into benefit claimants when, if they just earned a little bit more, they wouldn't be). I also agree with his view that privatisation of utilities has been a disaster, that companies like Atos (now in charge of assessments of people for disability benefit) and A4e (supposed to be helping people back into work, but failing) are appalling and that, overall, things *are* run for the benefit of "the Establishment".

But I don't agree with his assumption that, if we could just rid ourselves of old Etonians and Oxbridge alumni in positions of power, things would be better. Things would be *different*, but there would just be a new set of people in charge, who wouldn't necessarily do things any better. For example, he interviews John Prescott, (a Labour politician who started life in a proper job (i.e. not politics or PR) but who, once Labour gained power in 1997, quickly became known as "two Jags" for his two ministerial cars, and was famously criticised for a trip of 100 yards at a party conference so his wife's hair wouldn't get blown around). He campaigned for abolition of the House of Lords, but is now a member of it. Ditto Neil Kinnock, a former Labour leader, who also campaigned and who is also now a member.

Another example which he doesn't use, but which struck me as I was reading the book, was the late Bob Crow, a rail union leader who, despite his six-figure salary, lived shamelessly in a Housing Association property (i.e. subsidised housing) when clearly he had no need of it, and, in the opinion of a lot of people, no moral right to it. Would things be better with people like that in charge? I would say not. That's not to say that we don't need change - I think we *do*, but I think Jones's solution overlooks the fact that power corrupts, love of money is the root of all evil and so on. People who aren't "Establishment" aren't necessarily good people just because of that - they just haven't had their shot at life's good things yet, and they may turn into quite different people when they do.

>119 susanj67: - That one sounds interesting. There is a similar mindset over here that drives me bonkers. Over-simplifying the issue a bit, rich=greedy and bad and poor=noble and good. Because humanity *always* fits so nicely into well-labeled categories.... *sigh*

>120 susanj67: - I saw that graphic on Facebook yesterday and immediately posted it on my timeline :)

>120 susanj67: :-)

>119 susanj67: I'm keeping quiet on this one. Ha!

Great review of The Establishment, Susan!

>121 katiekrug: Katie, that's exactly it - the "solution" is far too binary. People are awful in all walks of life.

>122 charl08: Charlotte, I saw this and thought of all of us :-)

>123 charl08: Fair enough! It's a jolly good read, though. I was surprised at the extent to which I agreed with him, apart from his proposed solution, and that's not something I really expected to write!

>124 lkernagh: Thanks Lori :-)

There's a kids' beach volleyball court outside my office at the moment (sand inside a big inflatable rubber rectangle). A school class of kids showed up this morning to play in it, and when I looked out mid-morning there was volleyball going on, but also two little girls sitting under the net building a sandcastle. That's *exactly* what I would have been doing during PE lessons decades ago, so it did make me giggle.

>125 susanj67: that last paragraph so deserves a"like". Me? I'd be with the sandcastle makers as well.
>:-D

>126 Helenliz: Helen, it's quite overcast here today, promising rain, which will be great for castle-friendly sand :-)



118. Outlaws of the Atlantic: Sailors, Pirates and Motley Crews in the Age of Sail by Marcus Rediker

Where I got it: Verso Christmas sale
Why I read it: I like this subject

This shortish book is a collection of essays from the author's work, looking pretty much at what the title suggests. I've read some of his other work, so there were things I'd read about before, but this was an excellent look at life on the sea, and how the sailors, pirates etc helped to shape Atlantic history before being quietly written out of it in favour of the efforts of the landlubbers.

And I've finished all the books I bought in the sale! Now there's just the midsummer sale books to go...

Hi Susan -- any relief from the heat yet? It was hot (upper 80's) and very humid yesterday but a cold front is supposed to be nearing so we may have a nice weekend coming up. I've posted a PM for you.

Well, my sun lounger is in delivery hell, so perhaps it's a good thing it's been raining every evening so far this week... My ice lolly maker, however, is Genius! Roll on August.

>128 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, it's about 20 today so a lot better :-) Plus there was a torrential rain shower at lunchtime. I've answered the PM.

>129 charl08: Charlotte, boo for delivery hell! My new top was stuck in it but eventually came, so fingers crossed that your chair isn't far away. And as it's rained all week you would only have been looking at it and feeling cross had it been there.

The London tube strike is on from about 18.30 tonight, so I'll be walking in and back tomorrow, although the more I do it the shorter the distance seems. And there's a free breakfast in the canteen for people who make it in. I think a lot of people will work from home, though, as remote access is very good now and some people have terrible commutes. I wonder what will happen to the queue for the new apartments on the estate which go on sale tomorrow. There is a marketing suite in the mall downstairs and about 20 people are already in the queue outside, which is madness. Some are professional queuers. (It's lucky there isn't an Apple launch tomorrow, I suppose). The tube strike will make things more of a challenge but I suppose if there's a bargain to be had*, it's worth it.

*With studios starting at £395,000, "bargain" is a relative term. But they're going on sale here in the UK first, instead of in Asia, which is good news for local buyers who actually want to live in them instead of having them sit empty as an investment. Of course I suppose there's nothing to stop someone ringing up from overseas, but at least people here get to hear about them at the same time so they're in with a chance.

Wow. Ones down the road going for less than a quarter of that. So much for northern powerhouse!

I like the sound of the free breakfast: when I was working in Victoria, one friend got a boat a bus and walked - commuter equivalent of the Amazing Race.

>131 charl08: They're pretty competitively priced for the area (particularly as they'll be on the super-secure, beautifully clean and landscaped Canary Wharf estate instead of the wilds of greater Tower Hamlets) but I thought £495,000 was a bit cheap for the 1-beds, and sure enough the salesman confessed last week that there was only one at that price, and that most of the others would be upwards of £600,000. But they're quite big for 1-beds - over 600sq ft when the typical new build in this area is about 550 or less. Some are even 700sq ft, which would be so lovely...I'm going to go down later and get a price list, but meanwhile here's what I'm wittering on about in case anyone wants to take a look: http://canarywharf.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/canary-wharf-residential-10-pa... What I'd also be very curious to know is what the service charges are going to be, because all that loveliness doesn't come cheap.

I walked in this morning and claimed my free breakfast, but it is pretty quiet. The queue for the boat at Canary Riverside seemed to stretch down into Millwall, but I could be exaggerating. Masses of people, though. And, as usual, lots of pictures of people queuing for buses in central London. I can't help thinking that most of them could walk it quicker. I know that not everyone can, but most London commuters are pretty hale and hearty, and all they need are a pair of sunglasses and sneakers, and they might discover a whole new world.

Wow, impressive and something I would not consider buying into because I can't do high rises. The thought of living in a unit 8 floors or higher makes me think of hotels. That, and I would never use the balcony. I have a thing about heights. Otherwise, quite lovely.

*checking job openings in our London office*

>133 lkernagh: Lori, if you're not into high rises then I agree, these are not for you :-) I'm not sure I'd like to be way up high, not because of a fear of heights but just because it's very far away from the view, if you see what I mean. I like being closer to the water, not seeing it teeny weeny in the distance.

>134 katiekrug: Katie, they're not finished till 2019, so bookmark that job page! It's quite funny to see the CGI mock-ups because at the moment the site is just dirt, with lots of machinery. Not even a basement. It's fun watching them build it, although quite noisy at times.



119. Forgotten Fatherland by Ben Macintyre

Where I got it: Kindle cheapie
Why I read it: I liked this author's Operation Mincemeat

This book has a very different subject-matter, and I think was written earlier than the WWII books, but it was an excellent read. It looks at the life of Elisabeth Nietzsche, sister of the philosopher, and her attempt (with her husband) to establish "New Germany" in Paraguay in the 1880s, which would be populated only by Aryan families. We tend to think of anti-semitism as being related to Hitler (and she knew and admired him later in her life) but it was popular a lot earlier, and there was considerable support for the project. The author visits Paraguay to try and find what's left of the colony, but also looks at what was going on in Germany at the time, and how Elisabeth took over guardianship of her brother's work and reputation after his death, making him into someone who is now associated with Nazisim, even though, during his lifetime, he couldn't abide his sister's anti-semitism and had quite a few Jewish friends. I didn't really know anything about him so the whole book was interesting to me, and I'd recommend it.



120. The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I saw it advertised in the Telegraph, and then I read Charlotte's review

This was a great read, and introduces the character of Thomas Hawkins, who finds himself thrown into the Marshalsea prison for debt, and then offered a way out by solving a murder. The bodies quickly stack up as he goes about his inquiries. Highly recommended for fans of historical crime novels, although for some reason this was just sitting in the general fiction at the library where I found it, so don't forget to look there too.

>135 susanj67: Your Devil in the Marshalsea comments make me even more keen to get my hands on the sequel. Which is still on the reservations list!

The pictures of the flat do make it look very green and lovely. I used to catch the train past flats like these in Manchester, and it was always funny (to me) how people used their balconies differently - some like in the beautiful picture with elegant table and chair sets to enjoy the Manchester weather (!!!) - but others with prams and bikes stuck at odd angles, washing dryers, plants, bbqs even.

have you had a look at the OUP sale? Argh...

>136 charl08: Charlotte, I bet there will be an (enforced) ban on drying washing on these balconies! I wouldn't be surprised if bbqs are also banned. But yes, people do seem to use them as a bit of a dumping ground. I suppose it's not surprising when flats are so small.

>137 charl08: Well, I *hadn't*...but now my library wishlist is bulging and I've signed up to their mailing list :-)

I went over to the library at lunchtime to return The Devil in the Marshalsea and thought Trigger Warning: Is The Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech? on the new books shelf looked interesting, so that's coming home with me tonight. Perhaps inevitably, there's a quote on the cover from Salman Rushdie. I have an eclectic little pile for the weekend :-)

121. I Take You by Eliza Kennedy

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I must have seen it reviewed somewhere

This could be a romance if it didn't break all the rules of romancelandia, so instead it's deliciously snarky chick-lit set mostly in Key West, and featuring a heroine who is due to get married in a week. And that's a disaster. An excellent cast of secondary characters, and a totally brilliant scene involving a deposition, had me giggling throughout, and I read it in one sitting last night.

Hot again, but I've done my steps, and I included a visit to the library which apparently had The Great Explosion, but it was on its way somewhere else. "That's not supposed to happen," said the library assistant, frowning at the screen. "It's too new. I'll get it sent back here. Would you like to reserve it?" (No, she's never met me before). Up popped a list of all my reserves (currently standing at nine). "I'm near my limit," I commented as she added it. "Oh, we don't mind," she said, "or at least *I* don't." So it seems that they can override the limit. Useful to know :-)

*Very* useful!

Lol. Sounds like she and "my" guy who let's me have more than the checkout max could for some kind of rebellious librarian association. Shelvers anonymous?

>140 katiekrug: Katie, I have of course vowed not to have more than three things on my reserve list this year. Heh :-)

>141 charl08: Charlotte, there definitely seem to be some who are determined to encourage reading instead of the filling up of libraries with everything but books.



122. Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ by Guilia Enders

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: It's had quite a bit of press coverage here

This is an excellent, chatty and accessible read about the gut. Not the most romantic of subjects, but I learned multiple new things on every page. It's superb, and I'd recommend it to everyone.

Just started Night walking Susan:finally. I do love a beautifully produced, brand new library hardback. :-)

(I read two paragraphs of Will Self's introduction and decided I could skip it without penalty).

>143 charl08: Charlotte, it is beautifully produced, isn't it? I'm glad I'm not the only one to find Will Self unreadable :-)

I was all set for a walk to the Museum of London in Docklands to see a photography exhibition, but I fell out of the shower (which is over the bath) this morning, and ended up *whack* on the bathroom floor, accompanied by the shower curtain and much of the contents of the counter-top. That horrible feeling of falling, and being unable to stop...I hit my head on the tiles, but I think I broke the fall a bit as my elbow is a black and red mess, so I didn't fall from all 5ft 10 of me. But still, I have the NHS head injuries page bookmarked and I think I should stay at home in case bad things happen. The rest of me is OK (and in fact the head injuries page says "Minor head injuries often cause a bump or bruise. As long as the person is conscious (awake), with no deep cuts, there is unlikely to be any serious damage" and I didn't lose consciousness, or break anything (amazingly) - I got straight up and continued as usual).

I had a headache anyway, and it doesn't seem any worse, but all I can think is Natasha Richardson. So I'm a bit tearful, not helped by living alone - the NHS page unhelpfully says "If you have sustained a head injury, ask a friend or family member to stay with you for the following 24 hours to keep an eye on you" - nothing about what to do if you don't have one, but I suppose the answer is carry on as normal because you have no choice. Well now I'm wallowing in self -pity, so I'd better stop this post and go and do something useful. It's about half an hour since I fell, and I don't feel any worse so that's something.

A very sore spot is now coming up on the back of me, at the top of my pelvis, I think (if the pelvis goes round to the back of a person - anatomy isn't my strong point) but I think that, and my elbow, must have broken my fall. Thank goodness for my 18-year-old bone density (according to my dentist last year) :-) I'll get some bruise cream onto the sore bit, but I've also ordered an old-lady anti-slip mat for in the bath, which I'll pick up tomorrow. I keep thinking how much worse it could have been, quite apart from my head. Freaky. I must try and stop thinking about it. I wonder how I do that.

I'm sorry about your falL I'm too far away to come and sit with you, but I'll keep checking in here to see how you're doing.

I love the bruise cream you can buy over there. I don't think they sell anything like it in the US, at least not without a prescription.

Sorry to hear you had what sounds like a scary fall. Hope you feel more yourself soon. I would go for a walk in Greenwich sunshine (assuming the weather is cooperating) and treat myself to a churro after admiring all the beautiful crafts, but I don't know how feasible that is in terms of how sore you are feeling. I walked a measly distance yesterday and am feeling v stiff today, so all power to you and the other fit-bitters for keeping going with the steps.

>146 cbl_tn: Thanks Carrie :-) I'm going to keep posting because it helps me to assess myself. So far no confusion with words, double vision or any of the other scary symptoms on the list.

>147 charl08: Thanks Charlotte. I think I'll stay at home at least for the morning, and then see how I feel. I've started Crooked Heart which I *love* so far, so that's cheering me up.

Ouch, Susan, you be careful there.

That horrible feeling of falling, and being unable to stop...
My husband would be symathising with you on that front. We were at Mum's having a scouting session in the loft yesterday. It's partly boarded, but not all of the boards are fixed. Some of them are just laid across the rafters. He was moving a box, overbalanced, tried to put a foot out to steady himself, the board moved and and he put the foot through the ceiling. He was OK once the fright had passed - a couple of nasty grazes and that's it. But that's another job that needs doing before we move everything out. Ho hum.

>148 susanj67: Glad to hear there are no scary symptoms!

Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear about your fall. Take care and feel better soon.

>149 Helenliz: Helen, yes, I imagine nearly falling through the ceiling *would* produce a similar feeling! I hope he's OK.

>150 cbl_tn: Thanks Carrie. From time to time I talk to myself, to make sure I'm not slurring my words :-)

>151 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara :-)

Lunchtime now, and I'm going to spin out the wonderful Crooked Heart by watching last week's "Empire" and "Person of Interest". And any episodes of Mystery Diner that may have recorded themselves and which I haven't already seen.

BTW, I thought of you yesterday afternoon. In between stretches in the kitchen I watched several episodes of Tiny House Hunters. I don't forsee a tiny house in my future. I don't need a huge house, but I do need enough space for my family history files.

>153 cbl_tn: Carrie, they showed 11 episodes of it here, and then it vanished with no explanation. I loved the way it made my flat seem huge, though :-) I think I'm caught up on my recorded "must-sees" now (does anyone else watch Jane the Virgin? So funny). I'll pick up my book again,

Glad to hear Crooked Heart going well. No sign so far of her first book turning up at my library. Although that's probably a good thing given the backlog...

Hi Susan! Just got back from church and thought I'd check in to see how you're doing. Sorry you're not getting the Tiny House series any longer. Maybe they'll make some new episodes soon.

>156 cbl_tn: Thanks for checking, Carrie :-) I've downloaded Alphabetty Saga onto my Kindle, which is like Candy Crush, except with words. What a time sink! I just don't want to finish my book, because then I won't have it to read any more :-( Now it's pouring with rain (not like the monsoon, as my roomie would remind me) so I'm pretty glad not to be out in it. Pretty glad just to be in one working piece, quite honestly.

OOF! Sorry to hear about your fall, Susan, but I'm glad you seem to be okay apart from the bumps and bruises...

>158 katiekrug: Thanks Katie. I'm a bit scared to go to sleep tonight, but at least I haven't felt sleepy today, which is unusual for me as weekend afternoons are nap central :-)

123. Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: Charlotte mentioned it on her thread and I *loved* the author's Their Finest Hour and a Half

And I loved this one too! As one of the newspaper reviews on the LT page says, it's an "odd couple" tale, about a ten-year-old boy and a woman of fortyish, who takes him in as her evacuee on the offchance that she might be able to make some spare cash from looking after him. It's got a great sense of place, and both the main characters are beautifully drawn. Very highly recommended.

I'm going to sign off now for the day - thank you so much to everyone who popped in and cheered me up. I think I'll have the day off tomorrow, because I can feel all sorts of ache and pains announcing themselves, and I can't imagine that a day at my desk will help them.

>139 susanj67: - That one looks like a fun read!

>144 susanj67: - Yikes! Bathrooms are one of the more common places for household accidents. Gad to see you continue to post updates of how you are doing. If bumps and bruises are the worst of it, that is good news.

Morning Susan. Hope that a night's sleep has settled the head and that the bumps and bruises are aching less than yesterday.

Hope you feel more the thing today Susan.

Some friends of mine moved into an adapted flat after the elderly lady who had owned it went into a home. She left a seat in the shower, which I am rather jealous of, as it is also very handy for shaving legs / using a pumice stone on the feet etc!! Not that I am suggesting you need an adaptive bathroom, just that your comment about a bath mat made me think of it...

>161 lkernagh: Thanks Lori. I survived the night :-)

>162 Helenliz: Thanks Helen. My neck started hurting yesterday evening, and it seems (according to the NHS website, which really is a great resource) that I have whiplash, which I thought was just caused by car accidents, but it seems that "A slip or fall where the head is suddenly and violently jolted backwards can also cause whiplash". Yup. Average recovery time, 32 days. I thought I might pop down to the physio at work and get a lovely collar, but "If you have whiplash, it's better to move your neck rather than keep it still using a neck brace or collar." Dang. I'm currently icing it with my trusty bag of frozen corn kernels (Boots WebMD website suggestion). They're organic, so I'm sure that will aid my recovery :-) I really must label them at some stage so I never try to eat them.

>163 charl08: Thanks Charlotte. I think adapted bathrooms are a great idea. When he was about 80, my father mentioned that he was doing some work in their ensuite bathroom, and there was a reference to tiling and grab-handles and what-not, and it turned out that he was converting it into a wet room (a nifty little project for after a quadruple heart bypass) and it looked fabulous when it was finished, even though it was intended to stop falls, facilitate sitting and so on. When I had my bathroom renovated in 2008 I did think about taking out the bath and putting in a big shower, but I decided against it on the basis that baths are so popular here and I thought taking it out would affect the resale value. I wish I'd just done it anyway. My downstairs neighbour did, and hers looked great. And sold in days :-)

I think I'll go into the office today - brooding at home with flashbacks won't really help me. Plus my old-lady mat should be delivered to the Waitrose along the street from work later. And there's the canteen...I just have to brave the shower first.

Susan, I think it would be wise to stop in a health clinic and get checked out.
Especially with the whiplash. Of course, my last two falls have ended up with broken bones...

Oh, Susan! Sorry to hear about your fall - how scary! Hope you are feeling better very soon.

I was so far behind, I skimmed. Lots of good reading here. I will never get through all of the books on my wishlist. I hope your bruises are fading. No head trauma? You sound your usual self. :)

Sorry to read about your fall. I was dealing with food poisoning yesterday and am just now getting around to catching up on many of the threads, including yours. I do hope you are doing better today.

>144 susanj67: Oh, sorry to hear about your fall. That does sound scary and I winced in sympathy. Maybe it's worth speaking to the physio at work or seeing if you can get checked out at a doctor's just to make sure everything's ok?

You have still managed to hit me with book bullets even when injured! The Devil in the Marshalsea was already on my library list but has moved closer to the top of the list and Crooked Heart sounds good (and v positive reviews on Amazon).

>165 ronincats: Roni, I probably should, but I really have no symptoms any more, so I suspect they'd just stare at me and say I seemed fine! Nothing is broken and my neck is a lot better today - lots more movement although it hurts to sit up (from lying down) or lie down (from sitting), probably because I do it wrong and use my neck too much.

>166 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! I think I'll be OK, but I feel much better today than yesterday. And my anti-slip bathmat for in the bath is excellent. Everyone should get one!

>167 BLBera: Thanks Beth. I haven't had any signs of head trauma (apart from the bruises and bumps). On Sunday it was quite useful to be able to post on here periodically to check that I could still remember words, and type them, and not see double, and read them out without slurring.

>168 thornton37814: Oh Lori, how terrible that sounds! I hope you're feeling much better. Don't go there again!

>169 souloftherose: Heather, I might go to the physio if the neck pain doesn't go, but it seems to be a lot better today. I'm just taking it easy (medical advice I can really get on board with). According to the NHS website, 700,000 people suffer head injuries in the UK every year. I was amazed. Those are great books! I particularly loved Crooked Heart.

Last night I started Trigger Warning, about free speech and the right to be offensive. "This is not a book about Charlie Hebdo" said the author's note at the front, but so far it mostly seems to be. The author notes an increasing use of "but" in the context of free speech, as in "I believe in free speech, but..." He calls these people "but-heads". Nice. I believe in it although (see what I did there?) I don't see the point of wasting your life by winding people up with tired old offensive comments/cartoons/whatever and then getting murdered for it. It's one thing to have something important to say, and quite another just to be offensive for the sake of causing offence. I wouldn't legislate against it, but it just seems like a pointless waste of a life. Also it gives *more publicity* to people who, ideally, I would like to see the media just ignore.

Glad that you are feeling better today, Susan, and that your nonslip bathmat is now in place.

Your "photo" on Fitbit made me laugh out loud!

Hi Susan, I was finally catching up with your thread and was sorry to read about your fall. I hope you are recovering, but a fall like that is quite a shock to the system so it will probably take some time for everything to settle down.

I love the look of the condos at Canary Wharf, so modern. We are thinking about selling the house and moving into an apartment one of these years, but one thing I know for sure that we need is a walk-in shower!

Belated hi! Been very awol lately - catching up I'm so sorry to hear about your fall. It's that horrible feeling of waiting and assessing every thing in case :/ Glad things are easing out, if still sore.

Anyway waving bye again for now - you take care of yourself!

Glad to hear you're feeling a bit better today, Susan.

>171 Crazymamie: Mamie, I really need to get stepping again! I've done about half my goal over the last couple of days which isn't too bad, and my neck is better again this morning so I'm better able to look around me for cyclists on the pavement, little kids on scooters and things running red lights. I've had to go very slowly so I could turn my whole self around to look.

>172 DeltaQueen50: Judy, yes, I think a walk-in shower solves a lot of issues! I was very shaken up after the fall but I'm doing better now.

>173 BekkaJo: Bekka, that's exactly it - even if you seem fine at the time, there's always things that can go wrong. The bruising is worrying me a bit (blood clots) but I haven't yet resorted to measuring my legs :-)

>174 Helenliz: Thanks Helen.

Trigger Warning continues to entertain, and there are quite a few US examples as well as UK ones, so I think it would appeal to a lot of LT-ers. But I do seem to be slightly distracted by Alphabetty Saga, which is evil. Evil, evil, evil. And I say that because I'm nearly out of the free gold they gave me, and I'll either have to wait for the next level to open or *pay money* to open it immediately. And I am such a cheapskate that I can't see myself doing that...

#176 Just tried to 'like' that... d'oh!

>178 susanj67: Bekka, I've done that myself!



124. Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain by John Grindrod

Where I got it: Kindle deal at some point
Why I read it: I thought it sounded good

This was very good indeed - a sort of social history of the post-war years from the point of view of the architecture that created new public buildings, and indeed entire new towns, and of course homes for the many millions of people who were bombed out, and those who were living in housing that was already substandard. The author looks at the "Brutalist" style, and where it came from and how it developed in the UK, and the book is not just an architectural treatise, but full of interviews with people who moved to the new towns, lived on the new estates and those who've experienced buildings like the National Theatre and the Barbican as public spaces. The most immediately interesting thing I learned was that the tall tower I can see from my balcony, with walkways to a separate services tower for the lifts, is Balfron tower, designed by Erno Goldfinger, who is possibly more famous for Trellick tower in west London (although it is equally possible that I haven't been paying close enough attention). Here's a picture, looking at it from the other direction:



But there was something interesting on every page, and I'd recommend this very highly indeed for UK readers.

Nice book image. Concretopia sounds interesting, have seen a few docs on the gap between how planners thought people would live in the new designed communities and how people did live. Intriguing stuff. I'm still Nightwalking, kind of amazed at how many different authors he manages to quote from / flit between.

>179 charl08: Yes, it's made me want (yet again) to read Family and Kinship in East London, which is about the slum clearances in Bethnal Green and the relocation of the residents to Essex - I think to Harlow, although they give the town a pseudonym in the book. There was a chapter on the Barbican where someone said that high-rise can work, but you have to have it permanently staffed at ground level, and the lifts have to work. And at the Barbican they do, although it's expensive to live there in terms of levies for repair work and service charges etc. One thing I didn't know about the Barbican which, even when it was public housing didn't have the anti-social behaviour problems of a lot of other places, is that a majority of the flats are 1-beds. That would also make a difference!

A family friend lives there and the amenities are wonderful. You can even rent visitor flats for your friends when they come to stay!

>181 charl08: The Corporation of London's main library is there too. I used to be a member when I worked in the City (you just had to show a business card with a rate-paying address on it) and it was excellent.

Mistresses of Cliveden and The Quality of Silence were waiting for me at the library at lunchtime. The latter is the new Rosamund Upton book (Sister, Afterwards) and I'm very excited to have it!

I also received an email from Canary Wharf about the new flats, which launched last week. The original pricing was studios from £395,000 and 1-beds from £495,000 (although more like £600,000, they told me). But they must have sold all those because now it's:

Studio Apartments from £555,000
1 Bedroom Apartments from £800,000
2 Bedroom Apartments from £835,000
3 Bedroom Apartments from £1,375,000

Oof! I can stop the decluttering because I won't be moving :-)

And I've got my Fitbit Serengeti badge, for 500 lifetime miles! I think they could have called it the Proclaimers badge, but never mind.

Funny. The Proclaimers' song is Scout's favorite. Every time she comes to my house, she asks for "musica," and the 500 miles song has to be the first one.

Flat prices - ouch.

>183 BLBera: Beth, it's an excellent song! And the flat prices are an ouch - £800,000 for a 1-bed is fairly extreme even for London, for that type of flat, at least, although there's a big development going up near me where the prices are similar. But it seems like the locals got a shot at the "cheap(er)" ones, so that's something. The rest will probably go to foreign money, as London is a very popular place for stashing savings if you're from a country where they might be taken off you at any minute.

125. The English Spy by Daniel Silva

Where I got it: Library ebook
Why I read it: It's the new instalment in the Gabriel Allon series

This was another great story, revisiting some old friends (and enemies) and involving lots of baddies getting what they deserved in a variety of locations. It downloaded on release day, even though there was someone supposedly in the queue before me. I suppose it's possible that they started reading at midnight :-)

I've fallen to fifth on the Fitbit leaderboard :-( "Who's ahead of you?" asked my roomie when I remarked on this.

"Well, there's Mamie," I said.

"Well of course," she said. I read out the other step totals. "I'm embarrassed for you," she said. "I expect a better report on Monday."

So today I walked up to Liverpool Street to get the train out to Westfield, and I also came home that way, and I've done nearly 15,000 steps. Yay! But I'm still fifth. I did, however, get a new watch battery, thank *goodness* as it's been driving me nuts. The place that used to do it at the Wharf closed (despite the 110,000 people working there being the sort of people who would wear watches and need batteries, and the jewellers charge a fortune) but there was a branch at Westfield and it only took half an hour. The new battery apparently lasts forever and I've got a guarantee for it. I must put that somewhere safe.

Your office mate is hilarious. I'm still impressed by the stepping, honest.

I think my brain must be in recovery mode after the unusual demands of yesterday because I read half a chapter of Nightwalking, full of the excitements of arrested streetwalkers and fell asleep on the sofa. Must try harder...

Your colleague is too funny!

The Gabriel Allon series is on my list of series to try once I catch up with a few in progress...

>186 charl08: Charlotte, she is very funny. And very bossy for someone 20 years younger than I am. From time to time she teaches me how to pronounce Indian words I am dumb enough to attempt ("There is no "w" in Diwali") and explains things like e.g. the eight different ways of pronouncing "t" in Hindi, and she ran me through the (online) menu for a restaurant I went to yesterday with someone else, and picked out something that wouldn't be too spicy for me. She also taught me how to pronounce it. Of course, as she wasn't there when I ordered, I pronounced it "This one, please" as I pointed to the dish on the menu.

>187 katiekrug: Katie, it's my very favourite series. Gabriel is even more awesome than Jack Reacher, but don't tell Jack I said that. This book was number 15, so I am very envious of you having all those great books ahead of you! I caught up about four years ago. It's a long wait from July to July every year.



126. Trigger Warning: Is the Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech? by Mick Hume

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: It was a random library book, but I saw the title and thought "yes", which is why I borrowed it

This is *superb*. Yes, really, that good. The author looks at how free speech was won, and how it's being chipped away at, not primarily by legislation in the US and UK (which are the focus of the book) but by the outrage of people who don't agree with what other people are saying, or "reverse-Voltaires", according to the author. Accusations that someone is a x-phobic, or an "apologist" or a "denier" or that "the debate is over" are all subtle (or maybe not that subtle) attempts to shut out opposing views, because they are not considered the right views to have. The x-phobic one was particularly interesting - homophobic, Islamophobic etc - because a phobia is a medical condition, so that by accusing someone of having one, the haters (my word) are basically accusing that person of being mentally ill. And yet when newspapers are criticised for calling someone a "madman", how can that be OK?

There was also a short section on "check your privilege", an expression that has never been used on me (perhaps because I don't comment in the Guardian) but I will end up in *custody* the day it is. But despite all the doom and gloom, there are many lovely turns of phrase that had me giggling, and I was nodding along in agreement, particularly when he said that "there is generally little to celebrate in self-conscious and often self-serving acts of offensiveness" (although they should still be allowed) which was the point I was trying to get at in my post above. Highly recommended for everyone.

127. The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton

Where I got it: Library
Why I read it: I loved this author's other books

Ooooh, this was great! I don't want to give too much away, so all I will say is that y'all should read it for yourselves and agree with me :-)

I've just started Naomi Novik's Temeraire, which is OK so far but not grabbing me massively. And I've picked my next Kindle read, which is Christian Wolmar's Fire and Steam: A New History of the Railways in Britain. My hard-copy non-fiction is The Mistresses of Cliveden, which I started last night. With six library reserves in transit, this schedule may change :-)

Sorry to read Temeraire isn't grabbing you. Are you reading or listening to an audiobook? I will admit that my read of His Majesty's Dragon was as an audiobook read and the reader did a really good job of bringing Temeraire to life.

I hope you have had a lovely weekend!

>190 lkernagh: Hi Lori! Actually the one I am reading seems to be His Majesty's Dragon, which is the first one in the series. Here it's called Temeraire, which is confusing! I'm reading it as I can't get on with audiobooks. Maybe I should give it more than two chapters, but I think I'm comparing the dragony bits with Tooth and Claw and I liked that world a lot more.

The weekend has been gorgeous, and I've done lots of steps. I also added some cocoa nibs to the granola that I made yesterday, for something different. But at £9 for 300 grams, I'm not adding that many per batch!

The Quality of Silence won't be released in the US until next year :( But considering I still haven't read either of her two previous books, maybe I should get going on those....

>190 lkernagh: I agree with Lori about the audiobook reader. I am listening to His Majesty's Dragon right now and I love what the reader is doing with it.

>192 katiekrug: Katie, yes, that would be a good interim plan :-)

>193 cbl_tn: Carrie, who is your reader? I didn't manage to pick it up again last night as I got caught up in The Mistresses of Cliveden and then a great documentary on a burial ground they have found while building Crossrail. That project has led to so much of interest, quite apart from trains!

Today has started raining (or "teeming", as my mother would have said - not really a word I hear here) - the sort of rain where I was trying to flag down the bus while still standing in the bus shelter. That rainy. I'm hoping it stops by lunchtime so I can increase the step total :-) But my not-quite-three-months-old Skechers slip-on shoes have sprung a *hole* in the toe! (or more accurate a nearly-hole - I am getting every last bit of wear out of them before an actual toe is visible). I know they don't cost a fortune, but nor are they dirt-cheap. Humph. I'm hoping the sneakers last longer, and wondering whether the woven upper fabric is to blame.

I knew there was something on that I meant to watch last night. Will try and catch that on catchup this evening - thanks!

ETA Do you know if there is a book about the archaeology of the digging?

Also - if the water is coming in anyway, what about a pair of walking sandals? ;-) http://www.karrimor.com/karrimor-antibes-ladies-sandals-188066?colcode=18806603

>195 charl08: Charlotte, I haven't heard of a book, but the project has another three (I think) years to run, so I'd expect something at the end of it. One of my friends met one of the archaeologists at a dinner party and said that he had many interesting stories to tell. They do have an archaeology section on their website: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/sustainability/archaeology/ Last night's programme was about the Liverpool Street dig and the Bedlam burial ground. Also, if you're on the All4 website and you didn't see the one about the 1348 plague on More4 last night, that's also worth watching. It's also based on what they've found doing Crossrail, but it was a repeat. Lots of mournful choral singing as they said We Are All Going To Die, but not just yet :-)

>196 charl08: Hmmm, there are the tights to consider, though. Ooh, socks! :-)

>194 susanj67: - I am not sure if Carrie has the same reader for the Novik read, but I do know the reader for the audiobook I listened to was Simon Vance. ;-)

Off to check out The Quality of Silence.

>198 lkernagh: Lori, thanks. I'm about half-way into it now, and it's growing on me :-)

>199 BLBera: Beth, it's one of those books that starts off being what you think is a certain kind of novel, and then turns into something different. A real page-turner!

I got home last night, expecting to find yet more parcels for my neighbour, the Queen of Shopping, in the foyer (she's currently doing gardening, as evidenced by the bag of Miracle Grow a couple of weeks ago, and then a lot of things shaped like planters) but all I found was a package from Better World Books. "Hey," I thought, "one of the neighbours has discovered BWB!" Then I looked at it more closely and it had *my* name on it. But I hadn't ordered anything. Had I? It turned out that I'd *completely forgotten* the order from 3 July (but, on the bright side, I hadn't been fretting about where the book was). It was Jane Smiley's The Greenlanders, which I saw mentioned on Charlotte's thread but which the library didn't have. And it looks pretty much brand new - a bit shop-worn, maybe, but I don't think it's been read.

Before that, I'd been to the library to return a couple of things and saw Dreamstreets: A Journey Through Britain's Village Utopias, which is about housing projects like Bourneville and Port Sunlight, developed by paternalistic employers so their staff had somewhere to live that wasn't horrible slums. It fits really well with some of my recent reading, so I snapped it up.

>198 lkernagh: Yes, Simon Vance is the reader for my audio version.