Smiler's Balancing Act - Part 6

  
From my ever-expanding "Reading Love" Pinterest board: "Eva Reading" (the artist's daughter) by Scott E. Bartner
and "Down East Dockside" by Chad Gowey.



Table of Contents:
• Reading Plans
• Books Completed in September-December
• Books Completed in May-August
• Books Completed in January-April
• AAC, BAC, ANZAC, Zweig Reading Challenges
• Picked for Me! Challenge
• Picked for Me! 2016 Planning
• Booker Prize Books
• A Century of Books!
• Reading Bingo
• Ongoing Series

Currently reading, listening to, and occasionally browsing through:

✔ All the World's Birds: Buffon's Illustrated Natural History General and Particular of Birds by Georges-Louis Leclerc
✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 47: Curiouser and Curiouser by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors)
*✔ The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher
✔ Cecilia by Fanny Burney (group read)
❉ⓔ Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan

        



Favourites of 2015: (★★★★½ and up, by reading order)
Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth (review)
The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace
The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal ★★★★★ (review)
Babette's Feast by Isak Dinesen
Clockwork by Philip Pullman (review)
Lamentation by C. J. Sansom
The Scapegoat by Daphne Du Maurier (review)
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
Small Gods: Discworld #13 by Terry Pratchett (review)
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro ★★★★★ (review)
Fräulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim (review)
The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (reread - tutored read with Liz)
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (reread)
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
The Leopard by Guisepe Di Lampedusa
Ross Poldark by Winston Graham (review—sort of)
The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble (review)
The Accursed Kings: The Iron King (Part 1) by Maurice Druon
The Accursed Kings: The Strangled Queen (Part 2) by Maurice Druon
The Accursed Kings: The Royal Succession (Part 4) by Maurice Druon
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (reread)
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (mini-review)
Nothing Like the Sun by Anthony Burgess (review)
The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield
Parle-leur de batailles de rois et d'éléphants by Mathias Enard (review)
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
Les gens de l'ours by LB (manuscript) ★★★★★
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (reread)

Favourites of 2014:
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng ★★★★★ (review)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household (review)
The New York Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton
Lady Susan by Jane Austen (review)
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan (review)
Restoration by Rose Tremain ★★★★★ (review)
The Quick by Lauren Owen (ARC) ★★★★★ (review)
Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson (review)
Dissolution by C. J. Samson (review)
The Unstrung Harp: Or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel by Edward Gorey ★★★★★
Treehorn Times Three by Florence Parry Heide & Edward Gorey
Merivel by Rose Tremain (review)
A Café on the Nile by Bartle Bull (review)
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (review)
The Waiting Game by Bernice Reubens (review)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar (review)
Love-Letters Between A Nobleman And His Sister (Volume II) (tutored read)
Breakfast With Lucian: A Portrait of the Artist by Geordie Greig (review)
The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth ★★★★★ (review)
Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming (review)
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Le joueur d'échecs / Chess Story by Stefan Zweig ★★★★★
La Petite Bijou by Patrick Modiano

My rating system:
★ - Hated it (May or may not have finished it)
★★ - Has some redeeming qualities (Just ok)
★★★ - Enjoyed it well enough (Good)
★★★★ - Loved it! (Very good)
★★★★½ - Favourites of the year (Want to read it again!)
★★★★★ - All-time favourite (Would read again, and again... and again!)

⅛ ¼ ⅓ ½ ¾ ⅞

♫ = audiobook
✔ = off the shelf
❉ = library book
ⓔ = eBook
☀ = TIOLI
* = Picked for Me



Reserving first 10 posts for organizational and planning needs.

November (totally unrealistic) plans:

✭♫ Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver - AAC, TIOLI #4: Read a challenging book - COMPLETED
✭♫ Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood - ANZAC, TIOLI #14: Read a book that was first published at the end of a war (1991–92 South Ossetia War)
✪✔ The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark - BAC, TIOLI #19: Read a book written by a Scottish-born author
✪✔ An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd - BAC, TIOLI #2: one of the characters is a military veteran or is currently serving
✪✔ Cecilia by Fanny Burney - Group read (Nov/Dec), TIOLI #4: Read a challenging book - Reading
✭♫ Farthing by Jo Walton (before 27/11) - TIOLI #5: Read a Fantasy
✭❉ L'écluse No 1 (Maigret #18) by Georges Simenon - TIOLI #3: 11th (or later) book in a series
✭♫ The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri - TIOLI #3 - COMPLETED
✭❉ⓔ Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan - TIOLI #5: Read a Fantasy - Reading

Ideas for Non-Fiction November
✭♫ All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot - ACoB! (1972), TIOLI #9: Read a book whose title completes the phrase "I am thankful for"
✪♫ Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates - TIOLI #1: Read a book whose author's name contains a mark other than plain English letters
✭♫ Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson - #10: a book by an author whose name contains no repeating vowels
♫ The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony
♫ The Bafut Beagles by Gerald Durrell
✪♫ H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
♫ Promise at Dawn / La promesse de l'aube by Romain Gary
♫ Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard by Laura Bates
♫ Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
♫ A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre
♫ Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
♫ Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison
♫ Just Kids by Patti Smith
♫ M Train by Patti Smith
✭*✔ The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher - TIOLI #7: Read a work with some connection to the visual arts
✭✔ The Young Ardizzone by Edward Adizzone - TIOLI #9
✭✔ A Cab at the Door by V. S. Pritchett - TIOLI #9
✔ A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen by Harold Bloom
✔ As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee
✔ West with the Night by Beryl Markham
ⓔ Migraine by Oliver Sacks

Spur of the moment:



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

Books completed in November
162. ♫ The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri ★★★★
163. ♫ Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver ★★★★
164.
165.

October
140. ♫ Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle ★★★★
141. ♫ Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie ★★★★
142. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 3: Sharks, Otters and Fast Cars by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★
143. ✔ Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie ★★★★
144. ♫ Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver ★★★¾
145. ❉ Le fou de Bergerac / The Madman of Bergerac Maigret #16 by Georges Simenon ★★★★⅓
146. ♫ Past Caring by Robert Goddard ★★★★
147. ♫ Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier ★★★★
148. ✔ Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov ★★★½
149. ♫ The Siege by Helen Dunmore ★★★★⅓
150. ✔ The Children Of Dynmouth by William Trevor ★★★★½
151. ♫ The Toll-Gate by Georgette Heyer ★★½
152. ✔ Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor ★★★★⅓
153. ♫ All Our Worldly Goods by Irène Némirovsky ★★★★
154. ❉ The Rights of the Reader / Comme un roman by Daniel Pennac ★★★½
155. ❉ Liberty Bar by Georges Simenon (Maigret #17) ★★★★
156. ♫ Black Swan Green by David Mitchell ★★★★½ (review)
157. ♫ Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O' Connor ★★★★⅓
158. Les gens de l'ours by LB (manuscript) ★★★★★
159. ♫ Le Grand Meaulnes by Alain-Fournier ★★★½
160. ♫ The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss ★★★★
161. ✔ Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (reread) ★★★★½

Unfinished
❉ The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge

September
126. ♫ The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis ★★★
127. *♫ My Antonia by Willa Cather ★★★
128. ♫ A Dead Man in Deptford by Anthony Burgess ★★★★
129. ♫ The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham ★★★½
130. ♫ Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie ★★★★
131. ♫ August Heat by Andrea Camilleri ★★★★⅓
132. ✔The Fortnight in September by R. C. Sherriff ★★★½
133. ♫ The Wings of the Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri ★★★★⅓
134. *♫ A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute ★★★★
135. ❉ Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie ★★★★
136. ♫ The Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri ★★★
137. ♫ The Likeness by Tana French ★★★★⅓
138. ♫ Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell ★★★★⅓
139. ♫ The Potter's Field by Andrea Camilleri ★★★★⅓

Unfinished
✔ The Bone People by Keri Hulme

Book completed in August
111. ✔+♫ Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey ★★★★½
112. ♫❉ La mort du roi Tsongor / Death of an Ancient King (Goncourt des lycéens 2002) by Laurent Gaudé ★★★★⅓
113. *✔ The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson ★★★ (review)
114. *♫❉ The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry ★★¾ (didn't enjoy)
115. ♫❉ Le soleil des Scorta / The House of Scorta by Laurent Gaudé ★★★★
116. ♫❉ Pas Pleurer by Lydie Salvayre ★★★
117. ❉ La bibliothèque idéale RTL edited by Bernard Lehut ★★★★½
118. ♫❉ L'étranger / The Stranger by Albert Camus (reread) ★★★★
119. ✔ Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene ★★★★
120. ❉ Matin Brun by Franck Pavloff ★★★★
121. *♫ The Bell by Iris Murdoch ★★★★
122. ❉ Meursault, contre-enquête / The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud ★★★
123. ♫❉ Dead Man's Land by Robert Ryan ★★★★ (review)
124. ♫ The Accursed Kings: The Lily and the Lion (part 6) by Maurice Druon ★★★★⅓
125. ♫❉ La vérité sur l'affaire Harry Quebert / The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker ★½

July
87. ♫ All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr ★★★★¾
88. ♫ Nothing Like the Sun by Anthony Burgess ★★★★½ (review)
89. ♫ L'échappée belle / French Leave by Anna Gavalda ★★★½
90. ♫ A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent, Book 1 by Marie Brennan ★★★★
91. ✔ The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield ★★★★½
92. ♫ Orlando by Virginia Woolf ★★★ (review)
93. ❉ River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh (reread) ★★★★⅓
94. *✔ Catharine: and Other Writings by Jane Austen ★★★★
95. ❉ The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Leguin ★★★★ (review)
96. ♫ Evelina by Fanny Burney ★★★★⅓
97. ♫ The Collectors by Philip Pullman ★★★★
98. ♫ Lettres by Madame de Sévigné ★★★★
99. ♫ Parle-leur de batailles de rois et d'éléphants by Mathias Enard ★★★★½ (review)
100. ❉ Le Port des brumes / Maigret and the Death of a Harbor-Master #15 by Georges Simenon ★★★★ (review)
101. ♫ Fifth Business by Robertson Davies ★★★★½
102. ♫ Rue des boutiques obscures / Missing Person by Patrick Modiano ★★★½
103. ❉ The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami ★★★½
104. ❉ Unterzakhn by Leela Corman ★★★★
105. ❉ My Favorite Things by Maira Kalman ★★★½
❉ The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt ; pictures by Oliver Jeffers ★★★★
106. ❉ⓔ Flood of Fire by Amitav Ghosh
107. *♫ Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (reread) ★★★★⅓
108. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 46: Grecian Hours by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors)
109. ❉ The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett ★★★½
110. ♫ The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith ★★★★

Unfinished
♫ Circling the Sun by Paula McLain (review)

June
75. ♫ The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman ★★★¾
76. ♫ The Strangled Queen (The Accursed Kings, Part 2) by Maurice Druon ★★★★½
77. ✔ Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh ★★★★½ (reread)
78. ♫ Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis ★★★½
79. ♫ The Accursed Kings: The Poisoned Crown (Part 3) by Maurice Druon ★★★★⅓
80. ✔ Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge ★★★★⅓ (review)
81. ♫ The Accursed Kings: The Royal Succession (Part 4) by Maurice Druon ★★★★½
82. ❉ Maigret chez les Flamands / Maigret and the Flemish Shop #14 by Georges Simenon ★★★★
83. ♫ Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner ★★★★
84. ♫ The Accursed Kings: The She-Wolf of France (Part 5) by Maurice Druon ★★★★
85. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 33: A World of Shining Beauty by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★
86. ♫ The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera ★★★★

May
62. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 31: The Return of Grouse by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★
63. ♫ The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer ★★★★½
64. ♫ The Parasites by Daphne du Maurier ★★¾
65. ♫ The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann ★★★★⅓
66. ✔ Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth (group read)
67. ♫ The Leopard by Guisepe Di Lampedusa ★★★★½
68. ♫ L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre / Maigret Goes Home #13 by Georges Simenon ★★★★
69. ✔ Ross Poldark by Winston Graham ★★★★¾ (review—sort of)
70. ♫ The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye ★★★⅓
71. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 32: At Home with the Pewters by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★
72. ♫ Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith ★★★★
73. ✔ The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble ★★★★½ (review)
74. ♫ The Iron King (The Accursed Kings, Part 1) by Maurice Druon ★★★★½




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

⅛ ¼ ⅓ ½ ¾ ⅞

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

Books completed in April
45. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 28: Happy Ever After by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★½
46. ❉ Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol ★★★★⅓
❉ Ah-Ha to Zig-Zag: 31 Objects from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum by Maira Kalman ★★★★
47. ♫ The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne ★★★★½
48. ✔+♫ Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham ★★★★⅓
49. ✔ Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (reread - tutored read with Liz) ★★★★½
50. ♫ The Round House by Louise Erdrich ★★★½
51. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 29: An Editorial Peacock by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors)
52. *♫ I, Dreyfus by Bernice Rubens ★★★★⅓
53. ❉ Maigret Mystified / L'Ombre chinoise by Georges Simenon ★★★★
54. ♫ Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (reread) ★★★★½
55. ✔ The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter ★★★★½
56. ♫ The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham ★★★★
57. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 30: A Personal Landscape by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors)
58. ♫ Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood ★★★★⅓
59. ♫ The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan ★★★★⅓
60. ✔ High Rising by Angela Thirkell ★★★★⅓
61. ♫ The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham ★★★★⅓
✔ The Love of Erika Ewald by Stefan Zweig (short story)

March
31. ♫ Lamentation by C. J. Sansom ★★★★¾
32. ♫ Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch ★★★
33. ♫ The Scapegoat by Daphne Du Maurier ★★★★½ (review)
34. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 27: Well Done, Carruthers! by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★½
35. ♫ What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris ★★★★
36. ⓔ The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng ★★★★½
37. ♫ Small Gods: Discworld #13 by Terry Pratchett ★★★★½ (review)
38. ⓔ Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood ★★★★⅓ (review)
39. ✔ Slightly Foxed: Part 45: Frankly, My Dear by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★
40. ♫ The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro ★★★★★ (review)
41. ♫ Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier ★★★★⅓ (review)
42. ⓔ Fräulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim ★★★★½ (review)
43. ♫ Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey ★★¾
44. ♫ Guards! Guards!: Discworld, Book 8 by Terry Pratchett ★★★★⅓

Unfinished
♫ Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
♫ Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

February
16. ❉ An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro ★★★★⅓
Rêves oubliés (Vergessene Träume) by Stefan Zweig ★★★★⅓ (short story)
Printemps au Prater (Praterfrühling) by Stefan Zweig ★★★★⅓ (short story)
Un redoublant by Stefan Zweig ★★★★⅓ (short story)
Babette's Feast by Isak Dinesen ★★★★½ (short story)
17. ❉ⓔ Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast ★★ (review)
18. ♫ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling ★★★★⅓
19. La Guinguette à deux sous / The Bar on the Seine (Maigret #11) by Georges Simenon ★★★★
20. ♫ The Europeans by Henry James ★★★
21. ♫ Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh ★★★★⅓
22. ♫ The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion ★★★★⅓ (review)
23. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 26: A Nightmare on Wheels by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★½
24. ♫ Affinity by Sarah Waters ★★★★⅓ (review)
25. ♫ Vol de nuit / Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ★★★½
26. ♫ Clockwork by Philip Pullman ★★★★½ (review)
27. ♫ A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh ★★★★⅓
28. ✔ Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh ★★★ (review)
29. ✔ Diary Of A Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield ★★★★
30. ♫ Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel ★★★

January
1. Slightly Foxed: 44: My Grandfather and Mr. Standfast by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★½ (review)
2. ♫ Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth ★★★★½ (review)
3. ✔ Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally ★★★★ (review)
4. ♫ Chocolat by Joanne Harris ★★★★⅓ (review)
5. ♫ Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill ★★★★⅓ (review)
6. Slightly Foxed: No. 24: A Pash for Nash by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★½ (review)
7. ♫ Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel ★★★½ (review)
8. ⓔ Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively ★★★½ (review)
9. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 25: A Date with Iris by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★½
10. ♫ Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell ★★★★⅓
11. ❉ⓔ The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher: Stories by Hilary Mantel ★★★¾
12. ✔ The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace ★★★★½
13. ♫ The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy ★★★★
14. ❉ Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers ★★★★⅓
15. ♫ The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal ★★★★★ (review)

American Authors Challenge (AAC)
January: ❉ Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers - COMPLETED
February: The Europeans by Henry James - COMPLETED
March: ❉♫ The Sportswriter by Richard Ford - wasn't up to it
April: *ⓔ The Round House by Louise Erdrich - Picked for Me! - COMPLETED
May: ♫ Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis - COMPLETED
June: ♫ Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - COMPLETED
July: ❉ The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin - COMPLETED
August: *♫ The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry - COMPLETED
September: ♫ Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O' Connor - COMPLETED
October: ✔ Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (reread) - COMPLETED
November: ♫ Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver - COMPLETED
December: ✔ Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow

***

British Authors Challenge (BAC)
January
ⓔ Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively - COMPLETED
❉ An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro - COMPLETED
February
*♫ Affinity by Sarah Waters - Picked for Me! - COMPLETED
✔ Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh - COMPLETED
March
*✔ Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier - Picked for Me! - COMPLETED
♫ Railsea by China Mieville - wasn't up to it
April
✔ The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter - COMPLETED
✔ Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham - COMPLETED
May
✔ The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble - COMPLETED
♫ The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis
June
✔ Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge - COMPLETED
♫ A Dead Man in Deptford by Anthony Burgess - COMPLETED
July
♫ Orlando by Virginia Woolf - COMPLETED
August
♫ The Bell by Iris Murdoch - COMPLETED
✔ Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene - COMPLETED
September
✔ Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie - COMPLETED
❉ The Long Song Andrea Levy
October
♫ The Siege by Helen Dunmore - COMPLETED
♫ Black Swan Green by David Mitchell - COMPLETED
November
✔ The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark
✔ An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd
December
♫ The Giant, O'Brien by Hilary Mantel
✔ Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse

***

ANZAC Author Reading Challenge 2015
April: Once Were Warriors by Alan Duff - lost at library, will try to get somewhere else.
May: The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield - COMPLETED
June: Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera - COMPLETED
July: Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey - COMPLETED
August: The Bone People by Keri Hulme - Unfinished
November: Phryne Fisher mysteries Kerry Greenwood

***

Tutored and Group Reads
February: ✔ Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield - shared read with Liz - COMPLETED
March: ✔ Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - tutored read with Liz - COMPLETED
July: ♫ Evelina by Fanny Burney - Group read - COMPLETED
✔ Fifth Business by Robertson Davies - shared read with Ellen - COMPLETED
November / December: ✔ Cecilia by Fanny Burney - Group read - Reading
???: ⓔ The Midnight Bell by Francis Lathom - Tutored read

***

Reading Stefan Zweig
I discovered Stefan Zweig in April 2012 and found a soulmate. I've since acquired a treasure in the form of a luxurious La Pléiade leather-bound two volume collection of his complete novels and stories in French translations. I'd like to read at least one of his short stories or novels per month. I'll list what I've read here:

January: Dans la neige (Im Schnee), 1901
February: Printemps au Prater (Praterfrühling) & Un redoublant
March: Deux Solitudes (1901), Le Voyage (1902)
April: L’Amour d’Érika Ewald / The Love of Erika Ewald (1904)
May: L'étoile au-dessus de la forêt / The Star Over the Forest (1903)
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:



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

This is my fourth year with this personal challenge. It's a real treat reading something that was specifically chosen for me from my TBR by this wonderful bunch of passionate readers, and of course helps reduce that pile which I seem to never stop adding to. I asked participants select a book from my "To Read" collection then tell me, in a few words why you they though I should read the suggested work. I'm doing pretty well so far, and should complete the main list by the end of the year.

1. ♫ The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy - picked by @Ameise1 - COMPLETED in January
2. ✔ The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace - picked by @luvamystery65 - COMPLETED in January
3. ✔+♫ Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts - picked by @lunacat
4. ⓔ The Midnight Bell by Francis Lathom - picked by @lyzard (tutored read)
5. ♫ I, Dreyfus by Bernice Rubens - picked by @avatiakh - COMPLETED in April
6. ✔ The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson - picked by @LizzieD - COMPLETED in August
7. ♫ The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry - picked by @msf59 (August - AAC) - COMPLETED in August
8. ♫ A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute - picked by @DeltaQueen50 (ACoB!, 1952) - COMPLETED in September
9. ♫ The Lost City of Z by David Grann - picked by @drneutron - COMPLETED in May
10. ⓔ The Round House by Louise Erdrich - picked by @Donna828 (April - AAC) - COMPLETED in April
11. ♫ Affinity by Sarah Waters - picked by @PaulCranswick - COMPLETED in February
12. ✔ Catharine and Other Writings by Jane Austen - picked by @souloftherose - COMPLETED in July
13. ✔ The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher - picked by @LauraBrook
14. ♫ The Bell by Iris Murdoch - picked by @sibyx (August - AAC) - COMPLETED in August
15. ♫ The Leopard by Guisepe Di Lampedusa - picked by @Ireadthereforeiam - COMPLETED in May
16. ✔ The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards - picked by @jolerie
17. ✔+♫ A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - picked by @kidzdoc
18. ♫ Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier - picked by @Fourpawz2 - COMPLETED in October
19. ♫ Chocolat by Joanne Harris - picked by @Crazymamie - COMPLETED in January
20. ♫ My Antonia by Willa Cather - picked by @jnwelch - COMPLETED in September
21. ♫ Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier - picked by @Cee- (March - BAC) - COMPLETED in March
22. ♫ Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (reread) - picked by @cameling (ACoB!, 1985) - COMPLETED in July
23. ✔ The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat - picked by @Deern

Extra Picks (optional)
ⓔ A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - picked by @lunacat (reread)
✔ Dessins d'écrivains by Pierre Belfond - picked by @Cee-
♫ The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold - picked by @Cee-
✔ The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - picked by @Cee- (reread) (ACoB!, 1908)

♫ = audiobook
✔ = off the shelf
ⓔ = eBook

Booker Prize Books

Read in 2015 (in reading order)
Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally (Booker Prize 1982)
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (Booker Prize 1987)
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (Shortlist 1986)
Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel Longlist 2005)
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (Longlist 2007)
Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood (Shortlist 1977)
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 2003)
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Longlist 2008)
Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge (Shortlist 1998)
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (Booker Prize 1988)
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (Booker Prize 1981)
The Children Of Dynmouth by William Trevor (Shortlist 1976)
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (Longlist 2006)



On my TBR (and previously read)
Bruno's Dream by Iris Murdoch (Shortlist 1970)
*Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault (Shortlist 1970)
¹⁴The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (Booker Prize 1970)
¹⁴Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (Shortlist 1971)
¹⁴The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (Booker Prize 1973)
*The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer (Booker Prize 1974)
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (Shortlist 1977)
¹⁴A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens (Shortlist 1978)
*The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (Shortlist 1978)
¹³The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (Booker Prize 1978)
¹⁴A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr (Shortlist 1980)
*Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess (Shortlist 1980)
¹³Good Behaviour by Molly Keane (Shortlist 1981)
*An Ice-cream War by William Boyd (Shortlist 1982)
*Waterland by Graham Swift (Shortlist 1983)
*Small World by David Lodge (Shortlist 1984)
¹²Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner (Booker Prize 1984)
The Good Apprentice by Iris Murdoch (Shortlist 1985)
The Bone People by Keri Hulme (Booker Prize 1985)
¹³The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 1986)
⁸⁷The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies (Shortlist 1986)
⁸⁷What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies (Shortlist 1986)
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (Shortlist 1988)
*Nice Work by David Lodge (Shortlist 1988)
¹⁴Restoration by Rose Tremain(Shortlist 1989)
The Book of Evidence by John Banville (Shortlist 1989)
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 1989)
¹³The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro(Booker Prize 1989)
Possession by A.S. Byatt (Booker Prize 1990)
*Two Lives by William Trevor (Shortlist 1991)
¹⁴The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje(Booker Prize 1992)
*Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (Booker Prize 1992)
Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer (Shortlist 1993)
¹³Morality Play by Barry Unsworth (Shortlist 1995)
¹¹The Ghost Road by Pat Barker (Booker Prize 1995)
¹⁰Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 1996)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (Shortlist 1996)
*Last Orders by Graham Swift (Booker Prize 1996)
⁰⁸The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Booker Prize 1997)
¹⁴Amsterdam by Ian Mcewan (Booker Prize 1998)
¹³Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee (Booker Prize 1999)
⁰⁸The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Booker Prize 2000)
Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri (Longlist 2001)
¹²Atonement by Ian McEwan (Shortlist 2001)
⁰⁹True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (Booker Prize 2001)
¹⁰Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (Shortlist 2002)
*Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry (Shortlist 2002)
⁰⁵Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Booker Prize 2002)
Astonishing Splashes Of Colour by Clare Morrall (Shortlist 2003)
Brick Lane by Monica Ali (Shortlist 2003)
¹³What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller (Shortlist 2003)
The Master by Colm Toibin (Shortlist 2004)
⁰⁸The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (Booker Prize 2004)
¹⁰Arthur & George by Julian Barnes (Shortlist 2005)
⁰⁸Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Shortlist 2005)
⁰⁶On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Shortlist 2005)
⁰⁸Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Shortlist 2005)
The Accidental by Ali Smith (Shortlist 2005)
⁰⁹The Sea by John Banville (Booker Prize 2005)
¹⁴The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth (Longlist 2006)
¹²The Secret River by Kate Grenville (Shortlist 2006)
Mother's Milk by Edward St. Aubyn (Shortlist 2006)
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Booker Prize 2006)
¹⁴Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (Shortlist 2007)
⁰⁹On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Shortlist 2007)
¹³The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Shortlist 2008)
¹²Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (Shortlist 2008)
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz (Shortlist 2008)
⁰⁸The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Booker Prize 2008) (to reread)
Heliopolis by James Scudamore (Longlist 2009)
¹¹The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt (Shortlist 2009)
¹²The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (Shortlist 2009)
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Shortlist 2009)
¹²Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Booker Prize 2009) (to reread)
Trespass by Rose Tremain (Longlist 2010)
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (Longlist 2010)
¹⁴Room by Emma Donoghue (Shortlist 2010)
¹¹The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (Shortlist 2011)
Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch (Shortlist 2011)
¹¹The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (Booker Prize 2011)
¹⁴The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (Shortlist 2012)
¹²Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Booker Prize 2012)
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Longlist 2013)
Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson (Longlist 2013)
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri (Shortlist 2013)
¹³The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin (Shortlist 2013)
¹³Harvest by Jim Crace (Shortlist 2013)
¹³The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (Booker Prize 2013)
*Orfeo by Richard Powers (Longlist 2014)
*The Blazing World by Siri Hustdvedt (Longlist 2014)
*History of the Rain by Niall Williams (Longlist 2014)
*We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler (Shortlist 2014)
¹⁴The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan (Booker Prize 2014)

¹² = read in 2012
¹³ = read in 2013
¹⁴ = read in 2014
& etc.
* = recent additions

(Much more on the wishlist of course!)

A Century of Books! 1900-1999
I stole this challenge idea from Heather/souloftherose. I'm trying to read a book published in every year of the 20th century; I've been at it for a couple of years already, so obviously haven't set myself a time limit to complete it. Hopefully I'll put a good dent in this one in 2015!

1900
1901
1902
1903
1904 The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
1905
1906
1907 Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim
1908 The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913 O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
1914
1915 Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
1916
1917
1918 The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
1919
1920 In Chancery by John Galsworthy
1921
1922 Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
1923 Murder on the Links by Agatha Chrisite
1924
1925 The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
1926 These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer
1927
1928 Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayer
1929 Journey Into the Past by Stefan Zweig
1930 Le Bal by Irène Némirovsky
1931 Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett by Georges Simenon
1932 Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
1933 High Rising by Angela Thirkell
1934 Miss Buncle's Book bu D. E. Stevenson
1935
1936 The Dark Frontier by Eric Ambler
1937
1938 Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler
1939 Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household
1940 Native Son by Richard Wright
1941 Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers
1942 Le joueur d'échecs / Chess Story by Stefan Zweig
1943 Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
1944 Dragonwyck by Anya Seton
1945 Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
1946 Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey
1947 Wolf Story by William Mccleery
1948 A Russian Journal by John Steinbeck and Robert Capa
1949
1950 Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
1951 My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
1952 A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
1953 The Unstrung Harp: Or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel by Edward Gorey
1954 Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan
1955
1956 The Accursed Kings: The Poisoned Crown (Part 3) by Maurice Druon
1957 The Scapegoat by Daphne Du Maurier
1958 10146::The Leopard by Guisepe Di Lampedusa
1959
1960 The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning
1961 Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
1962 Cover Her Face by P. D. James
1963
1964 Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken
1965 Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin
1966 The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott
1967
1968 A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
1969 The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens
1970 Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
1971 Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
1972
1973 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
1974 Greenwitch by Susan Cooper
1975
1976 The Children Of Dynmouth by William Trevor
1977 Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood
1978 A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
1979 The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
1980 A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
1981 Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini
1982 Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally
1983 The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
1984
1985
1986 An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
1987 Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
1988 Night Soldiers by Alan Furst
1989 Restoration by Rose Tremain
1990 The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard
1991 The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
1992 All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
1993 A Dead Man in Deptford by Anthony Burgess
1994 The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
1995 Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
1996 The Terracotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri
1997 Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin
1998 Amsterdam Ian McEwan
1999 Chocolat by Joanne Harris

One last category to go...
I got this card from the 2015 Catergory challenge, where there are three fun designs to choose from. Unlike last year, I'll count any book that fits the criteria, as opposed to counting only books that I rate 4 stars and up, to give myself a chance to complete the challenge...



✭1. With a protagonist of the opposite gender: Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally ★★★★
✭2. Chosen by someone else: Chocolat by Joanne Harris ★★★★⅓
✭3. That I've owned for more than one year: Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively ★★★½
✭4. With scientists: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion ★★★★⅓
✭5. On a subject I'm unfamiliar with: An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro ★★★★⅓

✭6. Translated from a language I don't speak: Babette's Feast by Isak Dinesen ★★★★½
✭7. With a natural disaster: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel ★★★½
✭8. About Autism: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion ★★★★⅓
✭9. With an LGBTQ character: Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers ★★★★⅓
✭10. Set in a country other than my own: Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill ★★★★⅓

11. About language:
✭12. Published in 1915: Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
✭13. Category Challenge - FREE Space!
✭14. That reminds me of my childhood: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter ★★★★½
✭15. Where prophecies or portents are part of the plot: The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng ★★★★½

✭16. Based on a fairy tale or myth: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth ★★★★½
✭17. Inspired by another piece of fiction: Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell ★★★★⅓
✭18. With correspondence or letters: The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace ★★★★½
✭19. By an LT author: A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent, Book 1 by Marie Brennan ★★★★
✭20. Where an animal is of importance: Small Gods: Discworld #13 by Terry Pratchett ★★★★½

✭21. With a mythical creature: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling ★★★★⅓
✭22. Centered around a major historical event: The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan ★★★★⅓
✭23. Whose author shares an ancestor's first name: The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal ★★★★★
✭24. That is a Genre Bender: Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
✭25. That is completely outside my comfort zone: Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast ★★

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

❉ African Trilogy - Next up: No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe (2/3)
ⓔ Alan Grant Mysteries - Next up: The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey (1/6 - read out of order)
♫ The Australian Trilogy - Next up: Tommo and Hawk by Bryce Courtenay (⅔)
ⓔ The Balkan Trilogy - Next up: The Spoilt City by Olivia Manning (2 of 3)
*♫ Barsetshire Books - Next up: August Folly by Angela Thirkell (4/29)
♫ Bartimaeus Trilogy - Next up: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud (Prequel)
Bernie Gunther - Next up: A German Requiem by Philip Kerr (3/9)
♫ Bloody Jack Adventures - Next up: Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L. A. Meyer (2/12)
✔ Border Trilogy - Next up: The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy (2/3)
❉ Cannery Row - Next up: Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck (2/2)
♫ Cazalet Chronicles - Next up: Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard (2/5)
♫ The Cemetery of Forgotten Books - Next up: The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (2/3)
❉ Chief Inspector Armand Gamache - Next up: A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (2/10)
Chocolat - Next up: The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris (2/3)
♫ The Chronicles of Barsetshire - Next up: Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope (2/6)
♫ The Chronicles of St Mary's - Next up: A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor (2/4)
✔ Claudius - Next up: Claudius the God by Robert Graves (2/2)
♫ La Comédie Humaine - Next up: Le curé de Tours by Honoré de Balzac (31/88 - read out of order)
✔ Commissario Brunetti - Next up: Acqua Alta by Donna Leon (5/23 - read out of order)
*✔ Commissario Montalbano - Next up: The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri (15/19)
❉ Corfu Trilogy: The Garden of the Gods by Gerald Durrell (3/3)
♫ The Cousins' War: The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (2/6)
✔ The Dark is Rising Sequence - Next up: The Grey King by Susan Cooper (4/5)
♫ Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Next up: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (2/3)
❉ De Luca Trilogy - Next up: The Damned Season by Carlo Lucarelli (2/3)
✔ The Deptford Trilogy - Next up: World of Wonders by Robertson Davies (3/3)
♫ The Dresden Files: Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (3/15)
❉ Dr. Siri Paiboun - Next up: Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill (5/10)
*♫ Dublin Murder Squad - Next up: Faithful Place by Tana French (3/5)
*❉ The Earthsea Cycle - Next up: The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin (3/6)
♫ Easy Rawlins Mystery - Next up: White Butterfly by Walter Mosley (3/11)
ⓔ Elizabeth and her German Garden - Next up: The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim (2/2)
✔ Empire Trilogy - Next up: The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell (3/3)
❉♫ Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström - Next up: The Preacher by Camilla Läckberg (2/9)
❉♫ Flavia de Luce - Next up: A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (3/7)
♫ Forsyte Saga - Next up: To Let by John Galsworthy (3/3)
❉ Green Town - Next up: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (2/2)
❉ The Harlem Cycle - Next up: All Shot Up by Chester Himes (4/8)
♫ Harry Potter - Next up: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling (reread) (5/7)
*♫ Hercule Poirot - Next up: Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie (2/39 - read out of order)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Dramatization - Next up: Tertiary Phase (BBC Radio Collection) by Douglas Adams (3/5)
♫ The House of Earth Trilogy - Next up: Sons by Pearl S. Buck (2/3)
*The Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh - COMPLETED in August
❉ The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place - Next up: The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood (3/4)
Inspector Yashim Togalu - Next up: The Snake Stone by Jason Goodwin (2/5)
♫ Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries - Next up: The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith (3/10)
♫ Jack Reacher - Next up: The Enemy by Lee Child (8/20)
✔ Jackson Brodie - Next up: When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson (3/4)
♫ John Russell - Next up: Lehrter Station by David Downing (5/6)
Joseph O'Loughlin - Next up: Shatter by Michael Robotham (3/7)
♫ Kenzie & Gennaro - Next up: Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane (2/6 - read out of order)
♫ Kurt Wallander - Next up: The White Lioness by Henning Mankell (3/11)
*♫❉ Lady Trent's Memoirs - Next up: The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan (2/4)
The Last Lion - Next up: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940 by William Manchester (2 of 3)
* Leo Demidov - Next up: The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith (2 of 3)
♫ Leviathan - Next up: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (2/3)
♫ The Lord of the Rings - Next up: The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien (3/4)
✔ Lord Peter Wimsey - Next up: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (5/15)
*♫❉ MaddAddam Trilogy: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood (2 of 3)
*❉ Maigret - Next up: The Lock at Charenton by Georges Simenon (18/76)
ⓔ Mapp and Lucia - Next up: Lucia in London by E. F. Benson (3 of 8)
*♫ Marcus Didius Falco - Next up: Shadows in Bronze by Lyndsey David (2/20)
♫ Matthew Shardlake by C. J. Samson - Next up: Awaiting publication (7/7)
Miss Marple - Next up: The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (2/12)
❉ Night Soldiers - Next up: Dark Star by Alan Furst (2/13)
❉ The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Next up: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith (6/15)
♫ The Obelisk Trilogy - Next up: Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller (2/3)
Oxford Time Travel series - Next up: Blackout by Connie Willis (3/4)
Parker - Next up: The Mourner by Richard Stark (4/24)
✔ Philip Marlowe - Next up: The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (6/9 - read out of order)
ⓔ Phryne Fisher Mysteries - Next up: Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood (4/20)
* The Power Of One - Next up: Tandia by Bryce Courtenay (2/2)
The Prairie Trilogy - Next up: The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (2/3)
✔ The Raj Quartet - Next up: The Towers Of Silence by Paul Scott (3/4)
♫ Ranger's Apprentice: The Icebound Land by John Flanagan (3/12)
❉♫ The Raven Cycle Next up: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (2/4)
*✔ Richard Hannay - Next up: Greenmantle by John Buchan (2/5)
*❉♫ Les Rois Maudits - Next up: Quand un roi perd la France (7/7)
❉ Les Rougon-Macquart - Next up: La joie de vivre by Émile Zola (12/20)
♫ Ruby Trilogy - Next up: Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier (2/3)
✔ Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Next up: The Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman (2/4)
*♫ Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (5/9)
♫ A Song of Ice and Fire - Next up: A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin (5/7)
❉ Sookie Stackhouse - Next up: Club Dead by Charlaine Harris (3/14)
❉ The Spiderwick Chronicles - Next up: The Nixie's Song by Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi (6/8)
♫ Tales of the City - Next up: Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (3/6)
♫ Tales of the Otori - Next up: Brilliance of the Moon by Lian Hearn (3/4+prequel)
*♫ Thomas De Quincey - Next up: Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell (2/2)
❉ Three Men in a Boat - Next up: Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome (2/2)
Timothy Wilde Lyndsay Faye (3/3) - COMPLETED in June
♫ Tom Ripley - Next up: The Boy Who Followed Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (4/5)
❉ Victor Legris - Next up: La disparue du Père-Lachaise by Claude Izner (2/11)
Wolf Hall Trilogy - Next up: The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (awaiting publication) (3/3)
Wolves Chronicles - Next up: Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken (3/11)
❉ Wyoming Stories: Bad Dirt by Annie Proulx (2/3)

***

First in Series on my TBR
♫ Albert Campion: The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham (1/19)
✔ The American Trilogy: American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1/3)
✔ Aristide Ravel Mysteries : The Cavalier of the Apocalypse by Susanne Alleyn (1/4)
✔ The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson (1/2)
♫ Aubrey-Maturin: Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian (1/21)
♫ Avalon: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1/7)
✔ The Book of Lies - Twins Trilogy: The Notebook by Ágota Kristóf (1/3)
✔ The Borrible Trilogy: The Borribles by Michael De Larrabeiti (1 of 3)
*♫ Captain Gregor Reinhardt : The Man from Berlin by Luke McCallin (1 of 3)
✔ Carl Webster: The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard (1/3)
♫ Chief Inspector Adamsberg: The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas (1/9)
♫ Cicero: Imperium by Robert Harris (1/2)
♫ A Dance to the Music of Time: A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement, Spring by Anthony Powell (1/4)
✔ Danzig Trilogy: The Tin Drum by Günter Grass (1/3)
✔ Empress Orchid: Empress Orchid by Anchee Min (1 of 2)
*✔ Eustace and Hilda: The Shrimp and the Anemone by L. P. Hartley (1 of 3)
✔ Hank Thompson: Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston (1/3)
✔ Haroun: Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (1/2)
*♫ Harry Hole: The Bat by Jo Nesbø (1/10)
✔ Henrietta's War: Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front 1939-1942 by Joyce Dennys (1/2)
✔ The Hummingbird's Daughter: The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea (1/2)
*♫ The Inheritance Cycle: Eragon by Christopher Paolini (1 of 4)
♫ In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way by Marcel Proust (1/8)
♫ James Bond: Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (1/14)
♫ Joona Linna: The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler (1/3)
ⓔ The Kingkiller Chronicle : The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (1/3)
✔ Latin American Trilogy: The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by Louis de Bernières (1/3)
♫ Leonid McGill: The Long Fall by Walter Mosley (1 of 4)
✔❉♫ The Magicians: The Magicians by Lev Grossman (1/3)
♫ McCaskill Trilogy: English Creek by Ivan Doig (1/3)
✔ Micah Dalton: The Echelon Vendetta by David Stone (1/4)
♫ Michael Forsythe: Dead I Well May Be by Adrian McKinty (1/3)
✔ Mistress of the Art of Death: Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin (1/5)
✔ On Foot to Constantinople: A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor (1/3)
♫ Outlander: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (1/9)
♫+ⓔ Patrick Melrose: Never Mind by Edward St. Aubyn (1/5)
✔ The Psammead Trilogy: Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (1/3)
*♫+✔ Quirke: Christine Falls by Benjamin Black (1/6)
♫ Revelation Space: Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds (1/7)
*✔ Sacred Hunger: Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (1 of 2)
*❉♫Sean Duffy: The Cold Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty (1/4)
♫ Shanghai Girls: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (1/2)
*♫ Small Change: Farthing by Jo Walton (1/3)
♫ Sprawl: Neuromancer by William Gibson (1/3)
♫ Swallows and Amazons: Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (1/12)
♫ Sword of Honour: Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh (1 of 3)
The Vampire Chronicles: Interview with the Vampire (reread) by Anne Rice (1/10)
❉♫ The Wolves of Mercy Falls: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (1/4)
♫ World War II Saga: The Winds of War by Herman Wouk (1/2)



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

Next one's free. I haven't been all that active in the group this year with my days being shared between drawing and time with Pierre for the most part, but I do check in every day to at least update my reading and catch up on a couple of threads at a time, and visitors are always more than welcome!

Hi Ilana, looks I've the first one here. The reading you've accomplished so far this year is impressive.

Hi Catarina, you are very welcome as the first visitor to my new thread! It helps with my reading that I can listen to audiobooks while I do other activities, like drawing for example, otherwise I'd probably read at the most half of what I manage in a year.

Howdy Ilana! I was wondering if you were going to do pick for me again next year. I love seeing what (and why) various people pick for you and your progress throughout the year.

Lovely new thread again. Going back to your question about my preference for paperbacks on the last thread. I just meant that they're easier for reading from than a 1000 page hardback.

Happy New Thread, Ilana! Love those toppers. I found the O' Connor collection to be pretty dark and depressing. I preferred her first collection. Curious, to see how you feel about it.

I had mixed feelings about the Rushdie but I sure love that beautiful edition.

Congratulations on the new thread, Ilana! I like those toppers, too.

It feels like a good time of year to read Camilleri and Agatha Christie, although I suppose any time of year is good to read those two. I just read the most recent Montalbano, and as always enjoyed it.

>15 luvamystery65: Hi Roberta! I wasn't sure about running the Picked for Me challenge again in 2016, but since you put your vote in, I guess I will! I'll start asking for picks in a month or so and will look forward to seeing what you choose for me next time! Will you do the same too?

>16 avatiakh: Hi Kerry! I see what you mean about preferring a paperback to a huge hardback. I thought I preferred those too, but since I discovered Folio, I don't so much mind bearing the weight of a huge volume in exchange for the pleasure of holding a gorgeous edition in my hands, but I wouldn't lug them around if my life depended on it!

>17 msf59: Hey Mark, so far I've only listened to three of O'Connor stories from Everything That Rises Must Converge, and while I agree they certainly aren't cheery, I've really loved her characterisations and all the layers of relationships and details she puts into her stories. I'm taking them in slowly, when I'm in the mood for them between other audiobooks, which helps me to appreciate them better, probably. Not sure I'd like them as much if I forced myself to take in the whole thing all at once.

I was far from loving Midnight's Children the first time around, when I got through only half the book, I think. But this time around, perhaps because I knew what to expect to a certain degree, he's hitting the right note for me. I can't comment on his writing in general since I haven't read anything else by him yet, but I have a few others on the tbr, like Haroun and the Sea of Stories and of course the infamous Satanic Verses!

>18 jnwelch: Hey Joe! I see we've been crossing paths on Pinterest today! I've become quite hooked on pinning these past few weeks, even though I didn't really see the point of the whole thing for the first year or two I was on it. But now I find it's like virtual scrapbooking and a resource to keep a bunch of my favourite things and visual references and I'm really loving the excuse it's giving me to look at imagery I like on a daily basis!

I really enjoyed the latest Camilleri I just finished, Potter's Field. Did NOT appreciate The Track of Sand so much because of the main topic, which as you may recall is about a horribly mutilated and murdered horse. But I can see myself catching up with the series this year now I'm properly hooked. And you're right, Dame Christie is right just about anytime! :-)

Lovely toppers and I think it's cool that you have a functional table of contents. :-)

Happy new thread Ilana. Love the opening images.

Catching up -

Glad Coco is OK. How scary!

I love your category "Depressing as Hell"!!! I will say that The Bone People as I remember it, shifts gears at some point (2/3 - 3/4?) and while it doesn't exactly become a happy story, the worst things abate, and even stop altogether, and people start doing positive things to help themselves and others.

>19 Smiler69: I'm new enough to the concept, Ilana, that I didn't even realize we were crossing paths on Pinterest. I've started a Book Board to keep track of illustrations I've liked, mostly of people reading. I hope I pick up on the path-crossing going forward.

Yeah, I remember the horse in The Track of Sand, and I can understand your discomfort with that one. I don't remember anything close to that in the ones that come after. Such a great series. I'm amazed that Camilleri continues to bring out high quality new ones when he's in his 80s.

>23 jnwelch: Joe is right. Long live longevity! Camilleri is amazing.

Have a lovely Sunday, dear lady. xx

Happy New Thread, Ilana! I'll love coming in and looking at those particular pictures of young readers. Somehow, the little girl's fingers make me happy.

Sorry I've been AWOL the last few days, between computer problems (do NOT upgrade to OS El Capitan if you're on a Mac platform until they've ironed out the bugs!) and persistent and dreadful migraine the last few days, I've been barely functional.

On the reading front, I just finished Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle yesterday, which tells the story of Catherine Parr from the death of her second husband, Latimer to her own death following childbirth and goes over her years of marriage with Henry VIII when he was already a stinking old man with a foul temper. Boy am I glad I wasn't in her shoes! I really enjoyed this historical fiction novel, despite the fact that it was a bit heavy on the romance side. Now have picked up some reading comfort in the form of Murder on the Links, which is Poirot #2 by Agatha Christie (an early one from 1923).

Should be finally (!) finishing Midnight's Children sometime this week. One has to be in the mood for lots of meandering for this novel. It's worked for me so far, but I do look forward to moving on at this point.

***

>20 EBT1002: Hi Ellen, thanks for dropping by! The functional table of contents is something I worked on a while back since I refer to and update my lists frequently on a daily basis. Now it's just a question up updating the links from one thread to the next.

>21 souloftherose: Hi dear Heather. I've got so many more wonderful images of readers accumulating daily on my Pinterest boards, so I thought it made sense to share some of them with this lovely bunch of people here on LT.

>22 sibylline: Hi Lucy, thanks for taking the time to catch up with my old thread. I'm extremely relieve the Coco health incident turned out to be just a 24-hour thing, both for my love of the little guy and for the sake of my ailing finances. I've been most grateful every single day since to see evidence of his good health on our daily walks. I've discovered in the process that giving your dog a helping on unsweetened pumpkin on a daily basis does wonders for their digestive system. Though you might be interested to know this.

>23 jnwelch: Joe, by "crossing paths" on Pinterest, I just meant that I saw you'd repinned some of the pins I'd put up from my "Reading Love" board, since you get notified whenever there's activity on any of the pins you put up. I've got a growing collection of boards now, and you might be interested in my new "Books Live Here" board, where I post images of libraries, books shelves and (eventually) ideal reading spots (for which I plan to repin some images you've put up on your various threads).

I've asked the library to get the last 3 Camilleris so I can continue to listen to the audiobooks, which I've really enjoyed. I'm up to #14 next, with The Age of Doubt, which I'll probably pick up this month, if not this week.

>24 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! I'm glad I stuck it out with the Montalbano series, even if I wasn't all that enamoured with it from the get-go as it's been steadily growing on me. I was quite out to lunch yesterday between migraine-induced exhaustion and having to reformat my computer, but I trust things will start looking up once this bout of migraine is behind me.

>25 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, I know what you mean about those fingers... you can see the artist's love pouring into and out of that painting.

>23 jnwelch: Got it, thanks, Ilana. I'll see whether I can figure out how to get to your "Books Live Here" board.

You've got good Montalbanos out ahead of you.

Hi Ilana! Happy New Thread. And I really love those pictures of kids reading in your topper. They are wonderful.

Day 3 of punishing migraines. Ugh. Have taken fiorinal which doesn't seem to make much of a difference today. Double ugh. I guess I should count my blessings, and I'm lucky that I can stay home in peace and quiet, while Pierre takes care of errands and makes sure I have plenty to eat and drink.

Have just 30 pages left to Midnight's Children, which I'll probably finish shortly while laying on the couch. Finished Murder on the Links last night, which was good fun, which means I'll be starting on a new audiobook today.

***

>27 jnwelch: Joe, I'm sure you'll figure it out! It's easy enough to get the hang of Pinterest once you've visited a few times. If you need any tips I'll be glad to help if I can.

>28 connie53: Hi Connie, and welcome!

Sorry to hear about your old enemy Mr. Migraine, being in residence in full force again. If only he would just let up already!

You are a better person than I re: Midnight's Children. I chose it for one of last month's BAC reads (because I had it in the house already), but as I am still reading Small Island and it is now October, I am cravenly planning to return it to the herd. I've missed a number of the BAC books and have promised myself that I will read them all, one way or another, but MC might not be one of them. I did try to read it in 2014 or 2013 and failed. The memory of what little I did get read is still with me and it's not helping me pick it up again.

I wonder if I should try that pumpkin thing with Jane. She's fine, but I wonder if giving her pumpkin now will be beneficial toward maintaining her health in the distant future?

Hope today is a better day for you. All my best to Ezra, Mimi and Coco.

>30 Fourpawz2: Hi Charlotte, lovely to have a visit from you! I'm very thankful today that the migraine has abated quite a bit so I'm feeling normal again, thank heavens!

I don't know that I'm a better person that you because I completed Midnight's Children... I think the fact that I got it as a Folio edition is probably what spurred me on. I ended up quite enjoying as a whole, even though it rather grated on me in many parts, if that makes any sense at all.

I definitely recommend you try Jane on a daily dose of pumpkin. If she'll eat it, it will do wonders for her digestive tract which in the end always improves overall health. This is why I've almost* always given my pets holistic foods too, though of course there's an added cost involved, but I figure it'll save me on vet bills in the long run AND keep my pets living longer (or so I should hope).

* I only discovered I should do this after I'd had Ezra for a couple of years already.

Finished Liesl & Po today, which I found to be a rather charming story about a little girl who meets a ghost, and the audiobook version by Jim Dale was an especially nice treat. Now I'm listening to a short story from Every that Rises Must Converge, as I've been doing between each audiobook since last month, and I'll be starting on Past Caring by Robert Goddard shortly, which will be my first book by this writer.

Happy new thread, Ilana! I am finally getting caught up with your threads and continue to marvel at your amazing artistic abilities. Your drawings are phenomenal!

>29 Smiler69: - I am currently listening to The Tracks of Sand and while I love that it is so easy to dip back into Camilleri's novels and not feel confused, I am not sure what I think so far about this racing horse story, except to say that I love that Ingrid is in the story. I am hoping to plow through the rest of the Montalbano books that have been translated into English before the year is out.

>26 Smiler69: - Technology issues seem to abound at the moment. Sorry to read that you have had to suffer through them and a migraine at the same time!

>26 Smiler69: That is interesting - sweet potato is also recommended I've heard?

Sorry about the migraines. I have one here and there (mild compared to yours, believe me!) and I've had two in the last couple of weeks and am blaming it on the season shift.

Ilana, I am so glad you started a new thread. I've gotten woefully behind, though I am keeping up with your artwork via FB. Life gets busy sometimes, doesn't it? I'm sorry you are still being plagued by headaches. I must be lucky. I have other aches but my head is pain free most of the time.

I am very interested in books about India so Midnight's Children resonated with me. I am enjoying the TV series about events surrounding India's independence. It's called Indian Summers on PBS.

Oh yay! Visitors! Thanks so much for leaving messages Lori, Lucy and Donna. I'm in a bit of a rush, as off to see my friend Liselotte (now 96 going on 97 in March) in a short while, so will respond to each of you personally a little later.

For now, I thought I'd post the two latest shots of my drawing (from Oct. 7th and today), Metro Series #8: My Neighbour Sophie, so those of you who aren't on FB can see what I've been up to. If you want to see regular updates of my artwork on FB, don't hesitate to friend me there (Ilana Shamir in Montreal, QC).

  

I love that drawing! Really beautiful! I'm going to look for you on FB.

>36 Smiler69: Brilliant, as always!

How are you getting on with Mr. Goddard because I am certainly not past caring (sorry about the pun)

Wishing you a splendid and migraine free Happy Thanksgiving. xx

So far, another day of respite from too-punishing migraine... just the regular hum in the head which I've grown accustomed to, after what will be two years of continual migraine come November. So really, I'm quite happy and definitely not complaining. Have given up on The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge, though I was very reluctant to as I was very taken with Master Georgie thanks to the BAC and was looking forward to reading more Bainbridge. I read half the novel, or around 90 pages and it was a bit of a slog for me as the story and characters somehow rubbed me the wrong way. Not sure why really, so I'll probably pick it up again at some other time. Sometimes when I know what the tone of a book is, I can eventually pick it up again when I feel the mood is right. Have picked up Nabokov's Pnin instead, though have only read a few pages when was supremely tired and not in a position to express an opinion about it as yet.

***

>33 lkernagh: Hi Lori! So lovely of you to take time to catch up with me. I'm very happy to have finally incorporated my art practice into my daily life, now it's going on 18 months or so of daily work and that it has become an essential part of my daily routine; it somehow brings a needed balance to my life.

As I've mentioned, the Montalbano series has been steadily growing on me, but I'm certain the subject matter of A Track of Sand, which centres around the horrid mutilation and murder of a horse would have bothered me extremely in any book by any writer, being the animal lover I am. All the same, not sorry I read it as it was a very good mystery and I enjoyed all the humorous goings-on, but I'm grateful this topic is just a one-time thing.

I think going back to the Yosemite OS for now was the right choice for me, because Apple needs to iron out issues with the new El Capitan platform to make it useable for me. It was a bit of a bother, but I didn't lose much information and was already able to borrow the audiobooks I lost in the transfer from the library again (silly me, hadn't had a backup in over a month because of another tech issue, which is also resolved now!)

>34 sibylline: Hi Lucy! Sorry to hear you too suffer from the occasional migraine. Mine use to come at irregular intervals too, and I remember a coworker going on prolonged sick-leave and only coming in one day a week because she had a continual migraine. I thought that must be the most horrible kind of experience and could hardly believe it was even possible, until it happened to me too. One learns to live with what one can't control, and I'm just grateful the kind of pain I was in for 3-4 days at the beginning of the week has abated again.

Now you mention it, I'm sure sweet potato (or yams—I believe they are one and the same, or are they?*) are also a very good idea as a dietary supplement for our four-legged friends. I used to eat loads of them when I was on a fitness regimen and they are extremely nutritious and a low-carb source of fibre. Now I want to get some to put on my own plate again! :-)

* Hmmm... apparently not.

>35 Donna828: Hi Donna, lovely to get a visit from you, and I know what you mean about it being easier to jump into new threads. Probably what made me appreciate Midnight's Children more this time around is precisely because I've read quite a lot more about India and the partition in the intervening years since I'd attempted to read it last time, with Paul Scott's Jewel in the Crown and Day Of The Scorpion among others. I'm sorry I wasn't able to enjoy those two books as much as many of you did last year, but I have the second volume of the quartet and will get back to them eventually.

>37 connie53: Hi Connie, thanks so much for your lovely comment on my drawing, and also for friending me on FB! :-)

>38 PaulCranswick: Paul, I'll be finishing Past Caring today, most likely and really look forward to plunging back into it. Just two hours of listening left (or less than 100 pages or so) and the intrigue just keeps getting thicker and thicker, even while revelations keep coming. He's definitely got me hooked in! Paul Shelley—a fellow Yorkshireman I'm sure you're familiar with—does the narration on this audio version and he's quite wonderful at it. I saw Goddard came out with a new first in series fairly recently with Ways of the World: A James Maxted Thriller in June and there's a good chance I'll get my hands on that one in near future.

Thank you for the Thanksgiving wishes and wishing you a great week ahead my friend! xx

Happy Sunday, Ilana! Sorry to hear about the continuing migraine misery. You could definitely use a break.

I LOVE the Sophie drawing. It may be my favorite, so far...

Thanks Mark! Glad you enjoy my latest drawing. There are plenty more being planned for this series. I think I may do the next one in watercolours as a new challenge, we'll see.

Ooh, that sounds nice...

Metro series #8 - another wonderful drawing. I'm going to have to pop on over to FB to see others. What are the dimensions of these?

Had a nice family Thanksgiving dinner last night. Ate too much, as is the tradition and then was glad to get home early to get more work done on my drawing and listen to another chunk of Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier, which Charlotte had chosen for my Picked for Me challenge. I'm really enjoying this story set at the beginning of the 20th century about two families linked together by neighbouring plots in a cemetery and the suffragette movement. My last listen, Past Caring also touched on the suffragettes, so it seems to be a theme for me this month!

>44 catarina1: Hi Catarina, the drawings are all around 11 x 14 inches or thereabouts.

Finished The Siege by Helen Dunmore last night for the BAC. Truly and excellent book and I loved that we got to experience this harrowing time through the lens of Anna and her small circle, which made the horror of the starving people of Leningrad during WWII a bit easier to bear.

As I wrote to my mum yesterday, I've been sleeping badly lately and having lots of nightmares, probably because there’s been lots of tree-murdering in my neighbourhood this month, with two 200-to-300 year-old trees behind buildings across the street from me, one of which was perfectly healthy, taken down because of “risk”. Probably the owner had to pay extra insurance for them. They were part of the skyline and now are gone. Then a park just near me which is close to an overhanging highway exit has been destroyed and half the trees razed in the last week because of major highway repairs they are doing. It had been supposedly “temporarily closed” (till 2019!) according to signs they put up on the fence surrounding it, but now I don’t think we’ll ever get it back again.

All this to say that, I felt ready for some comfort reading last night when came time to pick a new book for bedtime reading. I put two books recommended by Slightly Foxed Quarterly on my bedside table, The Young Visiters, or Mr Salteena's Plan and Thus Was Adonis Murdered, but then having previously set aside The Children of Dynmouth, I thought I'd read the first paragraph of each book to decide which to go with. I knew from the book blurb that Dynmouth was going to be very creepy, but got hooked into Trevor's writing from the get-go. So much for comfort reading! The main protagonist is a 15-year-old teenager of questionable sanity who harasses all the residents of the small town of Dynmouth and is not beyond stealing, bullying and blackmailing to get what he wants. EEk! But somehow unputdownable.

>46 Smiler69: As with most of Trevor's novels The Children of Dynmouth is a shortish piece of work but what a piece of work!

It does irritate royally the destruction of trees and, of course, I am writing this from Malaysia, one of the worst culprits for destroying our eco-system in bowing to the greed of the loggers.

Just thinking that there isn't actually a place called Dynmouth but there is a Lynmouth in Devon and this is probably what Trevor, who lives in Devon, had in mind.



Have a lovely weekend, dear lady. xx

Hi Ilana. The Children of Dynmouth has been on my wishlist for some time. I like creepy so I will have to give this one a little nudge.

>36 Smiler69: I'll say it again, I am in awe of your talent!!!! I do hope today is a headache free one for you.

Just back to see that you did at last enjoy Midnight's Children. It blew me away and started my long love-fest with Rushdie. I guess I may be a bit less enthusiastic now than I was; I'm still fretting though because I didn't get a copy of *Two Years*etc. from ER several months ago. (And as I've noted before, they sent it to at least one person who just didn't get it at all. Boo. Hiss.) (Oh well. I guess I had been feeling entitled.)
I also hope you're having a migraine-free weekend and that your weather is as lovely as ours. Perfect fall days coming up! Or - you may be getting snow????? That would not be perfect for me.
Maybe *Dynmouth* would finally get me to read Trevor? *being firm with self* "I do not need a new book when I haven't read even one of the old ones yet."
And I love your neighbor!

>47 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, as I said on your thread The Children of Dynmouth certainly made a strong impression on me and I don't regret one bit going to sleep extra late to finish it. I knew Dynmouth was a fictional name, but thanks for the photo showing the kind of place Trevor probably had in mind for his location. It'll help me visualize it better next time I read it, because there definitely will be a next time!

>48 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I second Paul in urging you to pick up The Children of Dynmouth asap! It's very creepy, and also extremely well written. I'm fairly sure it won't disappoint!

>49 Whisper1: Thanks so much Linda. The past couple of days have been as pain-free as things get for me, i.e. 5-6 out of 10 and not necessitating extra medication. I hate taking fiorinal because when I do it messes up my digestive system for a few days which is already a bit haywire because of all the other medication I have to take. Don't you love them side-effects? I saw on FB you'd had some set-backs with you healing progress and am very sorry that is the case. Wishing you all the fortitude in the world!

>50 LizzieD: Peggy, I have several other Salman Rushdie books on the tbr, but don't know that I'm in a great rush to pick them up... so many other books beckoning all the time! You know the drill of course.

Yesterday we had cold fall weather, with a mix of rain and snow and a bit of hail thrown in for good measure. Last night we went to freezing temperatures and I as I look outside m window now, I see what looks to be snow steadily falling from the skies. Fine stuff which doesn't seem to be collecting on the ground. Not yet, anyway!

***

I'll be finishing The Toll-Gate by Georgette Heyer today on audio. I wanted some light fluffy reading, and she certainly delivers that. As much as I enjoyed The Grand Sophy (tremendously, in fact), this one doesn't do much for me. A better sort of regency Harlequin romance, is how it strikes me, and I'm always annoyed by these romances of people falling in love at first sight. I'm mostly annoyed with romances, period, but all the same, it's been harmless good fun.

For bedtime physical book reading, I picked up Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor last night. I hadn't realised it was the last book she wrote before dying and while the topic at hand is a sad one, dealing with death and widowhood and guilt as it does, it's so well written that I got wrapped up in it immediately and will probably finish it rather quickly. Helps it's a short novel, but I can tell I'm enthused by a book when I go well past my regular 30-page sitting, which is usually all I can manage before drifting off to sleep.

Hey Ilana. I am so far behind here. I am a huge William Trevor fan (thanks entirely to Paul's introduction) despite having read very little of his work. So far. I have been mentioning on a few threads as I'm trying to catch up around here that I am thinking I'll dedicate 2016 largely to making progress on reading authors whose oeuvres I've started but not completed and series in the same boat. William Trevor would be one of the authors and the Montalbanos would be one of the series. It looks like you'll complete that series pretty soon.

I'm also seeing that you completed Midnight's Children. Good going! I was going to read Shame last month for the BAC but never got to it. I mean, I'll get to it one of these days, but it didn't happen in September.

Going off to put The Children of Dynmouth on hold at the library.

Hi Ilana! I started a NF thread for next month. If you plan to read any NF or want to knock something off your list, please come join us.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/198771

>52 EBT1002: Hi Ellen, lovely to have your visit. I owe you one myself, for sure. I'm glad I already have more William Trevor on my shelves, as I look forward to reading more from him. You did well to put Dynmouth on hold right away. Love it that I can still hit with my book bullets even with just a few offhand comments!

>53 luvamystery65: Hi Roberta, thanks so much for posting about NF month! I'm definitely in, especially as I don't naturally pick up NF very often, and definitely have loads accumulating on the tbr. I'll be over on the thread in a minute.

By the way, I continue to love the images you share of your art unfolding. It's a treat. Thank you.

And hugs for Coco and the felines. :-)

Just stopping by to say hello, Ilana, and to say that I have enjoyed seeing the progress of Sophie on facebook. Glad you enjoyed Blaming - I remember liking that one but find I can't remember much about it now which is unusual for me with Taylor's novels.

  

Pierre helped me put up these new shelves a few weeks back, and now I've found a way of optimising my new book nook. Next starts the real job of sorting the books in order of colour, author, or whatever fancy happens to take me at the moment (I mostly grabbed book stacks and dumped them there to get started, but since this is in my bedroom, I'll probably bring in the ones I want to get to sooner than later... or maybe just the pretty ones?)

eta: You can zoom in to catch some of the titles...

>55 EBT1002: Ellen, Coco is sitting on me right this moment, and I've already given him a friendly squeeze on your behalf. Thanks for the comment on my artwork, I get a kick out of sharing it, and comments like yours of course encourage me to continue doing so!

>56 souloftherose: Hi dear Heather! I have lots of catching up to do on your thread. Glad you've dropped by and that you're enjoying seeing Sophie "grow" on FB. I really enjoy reading Elizabeth Taylor novels, and I know what you mean about not remembering details, because I find it's more a question of how she writes than the topics she writes about. I'd say so far two exceptions are Angel and Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, which I both found rather memorable. I'm happy to still have lots more of her work on the tbr, and am sure she'll stand up to multiple rereadings very well.

The books and bookshelves look great. I like your use of the smaller table on top of the larger one to create more "shelf" space. Very creative.

>59 catarina1: Thanks Catarina. I have what is become a very large collection on Pinterest called "Books Live Here" (https://www.pinterest.com/smiler69/books-live-here/) which is an excuse to collect all kinds of photos of book arrangements, or any space with books in it, basically. That's what reminded me I'd stacked those two tables for shelving before, but I think I'd done it more to support audio-visual media. I'm glad they both fit in there so well, as if it were meant to be! :-)

>57 Smiler69: Nice!

>61 jnwelch: Thanks Joe!

After some discussion on Paul's thread recently, where the excitement of the 2016 BAC planning is going full tilt, it was suggested we run a Canadian Authors Challenge in 2016 also, and I've taken it upon myself to organize it, as a good way to participate in this group more than I have done so far this year.

I've put together the CAC (Canadian Author's Challenge) 2016 thread here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/201195

Come one, come all to discuss which authors you'd most like to see represented!

Don't forget to keep the home fires burning over here too, Ilana!

Have a lovely weekend, dear lady. xx

>64 PaulCranswick: Heh, I was just thinking the same Paul, when I realised what my last post was here. Most of my energy has been going to the CAC over the past few days, I guess understandably enough. I even skipped my drawing session yesterday... which I haven't done in months now! So yes, an update is due over here, and a little breather over there maybe.

Off to see my old friend Liselotte (going on 97) now for my weekly visit. Thanks for dropping by and hope you're enjoying the weekend too. xx

I finished Black Swan Green yesterday, and it ended up being among my favourites this year. It helps that Mitchell is exactly my age and we were both 13 in 1982, which is when the book is set, so that so many experiences and cultural references were incredibly familiar—as seen from a similar point of view, as it were. I'm grateful for the BAC for giving me an extra incentive to pick it up this month. I do want to read Cloud Atlas eventually. As a follow-up audiobook, my choice was already made for me, since Le Grand Meaulnes by Alain-Fournier is mentioned several times in Black Swan Green (and also at the very end of the book, which proved a helpful reminder), and as it happened to already be loaded on my listening device, it was a natural transition to go to.

Perhaps I should take a few minutes to write something approaching a review for Black Swan Green, so will do so in a moment.

Book #156: ❉♫ Black Swan Green by David Mitchell ★★★★½
Source: National Library OverDrive collection
Edition: Random House Audio (2006), Unabridged MP3; 13h08
Awards & Distinctions: Booker Prize Longlist, Alex Award, Costa Shortlist, ALA Best Books for Young Adults,
ALA Notable Books for Adults, The New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Read for: British Authors Challenge, October TIOLI #8: a coloured object in the title
Original publication date: 2006

Our narrator, Jason Taylor is thirteen years old at the beginning of 1982 and tells us about his daily life, his family, his experiences with boys in his neighbourhood of Black Swan Green, a fictional village in Worcestershire, England. Jason is an especially sensitive boy who publishes his poetry in the local parish bulletin, but as he tells us early on, writing poetry is "gay" so he does so under a pseudonym and is careful not to let his secret out. And with good reason; having developed a speech impediment, Jason sees his popularity sink over the course of the following year, becoming the victim of relentless bullying, while weathering through a tense environment at home, where his mother and father are continually at war with one another, with intimations that Mr Taylor has taken out a second mortgage on the family home secretly and that there might be another woman in the wings. This is very much a coming of age story, and what made it especially appealing to me is that it rung very true and seemed all too familiar. Like David Mitchell, I too was born in 1969 and saw life through a similar perspective as the author reveals to us in the in this semi-autobiographical novel. For me, the Falklands War was something happening very far away from Montreal, Canada, but for Jason it's an exciting event, and an opportunity for hero worship; his reverence and trust in Margaret Thatcher is endearing, and tells us not to rely entirely on this inexperienced narrator. Many references to pop culture, including the music and pastimes favoured by adolescents were similar to what I experienced, which may have influenced me in giving this novel what is I consider to be a high rating, as I would probably otherwise have given it a four-star rating. Mitchell writes very well, and very convincingly, as well as realistically; toward the end of the story, our hero makes large strides towards asserting himself and figuring out what his priorities are, while the rest of his world remains as imperfect and fragile as it is in real life. Definitely recommended.

Happy Sunday, Ilana! Great review of Black Swan Green. Big Thumb! I have been wanting to read this one forever. How was the audio? I have it saved in that format. I read Slade House recently, but I might consider adding this one too.

Hey Mark, I really enjoyed Kirby Heyborne's narration of Black Swan Green. He's an American narrator, but did the whole thing with what I found to be a convincing British accent. I'll look out for your comments on Slade House.

Excellent review of Black Swan Green, Ilana. Thumb from me, too. I've read two David Mitchell books, and I'm looking forward to reading more.

>70 jnwelch: Same here Joe, and thanks for the thumb!

>1 Smiler69: wow her expression is amazingly captured in that painting. Beautiful.

>39 Smiler69: love the yam/sweet potato comments. Here we call sweet potato kumara, the version being endemic to here, I think. they come in purple and orange, fun! Yams, not so fun. I don't have much time for yams ;)

>72 LovingLit: Hi Megan, thanks for dropping by! I'm glad you like that opening image. I'm very selfish when it comes time to choosing my thread toppers; since I refer to my various lists often and see the images I chose many times in a given week, I do tend to pick ones that make me happy to look at every single time.

Purple sweet potatoes sound like fun. I wonder if we might find some on our side of the pond? Worth looking into...

Well, I haven't reported on book acquisitions in quite a long time, mostly because the books just keep coming in at a steady pace which was getting hard to keep up with, not to mention embarrassing to report... but I've just gotten a couple of deliveries today that I'm really pleased about:



The first is the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: Illustrated Edition, which I've just taken some time to leaf through and is absolutely gorgeous! There are illustrations on the majority of the pages and even those pages without drawings have background "texture" which makes the whole thing incredibly rich. Those of you on FB know I was seriously considering getting the Deluxe edition, but decided against it when I had unexpected vet bills to take care of. I can assure you that the regular edition is well-worth the price!

The other box is the result of a recent sale on BookOutlet, where I got the following:

The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharnow - YA about the Holocaust, rec'd by Kerry (@avatiakh)
Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh - rec'd by Lucy (@sibyx)
As Assembly Such as This: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy Gentleman by Pamela Aidan - for the Jane Austen fan I've become
Jane Austen's England by Roy & Lesley Adkins - (as above)
Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gale - another recommendation from Kerry
Wise Children by Angela Carter - I want to read everything she wrote after discovering her this year with the BAC!
Saul Steinberg: A Biography by Deirdre Bair - about one of my all-time favourite artists.

I might even be able to find shelf-space somewhere for my new arrivals!

>74 Smiler69: Wow, that Harry Potter book looks and sounds beautiful.

>75 jnwelch: Definitely worth looking out for, Joe.

Metro Series #8: My Neighbour Sophie. Finished!

Had to wait a couple of days to take the photo since it had been too cloudy, but finally a bit of sunshine appeared today so I can now show the final result.

Another great drawing!

>77 Smiler69: Very impressive! And very beautiful!

>77 Smiler69: I LOVE it! Beautifully done. She reminds me of, the actress, Natalie Portman.

>77 Smiler69: Great!

>78 catarina1: >79 connie53: >80 msf59: >81 jnwelch: A big thanks all around!

Hi, Ilana!

Just stopping by to let you know that the thread for the Cecilia group read is up - here. No hurry about starting but please drop in and "sign up". :)

Amazing art work, as always! Is it strange to say that the fine detail in the transport poster behind her really caught my eye? (Constant public transport user here, perhaps that's why?)

>83 lyzard: I'll be sure to drop by soon Liz, thanks for the link. I'm pleased the poster caught your eye; after all, it appears on 7 out of 8 drawings in that series so far and is rather painstaking to draw, so not at all strange, I'd say! :-)

I've thought about it and decided I'll be running the challenge again for the fifth year in 2016, but since there are so many challenges going (what with the Canadian Author challenge added to the mix), I'll only take 12 picks this time, i.e. one per month. I'm not sure how best to proceed, as I ruffled some feathers last year and do want to give new visitors and longtime friends a chance to participate, so right now, not taking any book suggestions, but rather asking how you think I should go about organizing my challenge so people get to participate and nobody feels left out, considering the limited number of books I'll commit to for this challenge in 2016?

>85 Smiler69: Erm that is a toughie. How to weed out in a fair way? Few suggestions:

1 First come first served (first 12 valid suggestions)

2 The drawing of lots

3 By process of elimination; the one suggesting to outline why he/she is nominating that book in order to convince you

4 By means of reward; select by those who posted the most on your thread in the previous 24 months for example

5 Via prejudice; i.e. you pick the books on the basis of which of them you most fancy reading

6 Hybrids, combinations or variants of the above

Oh and by the way, have a lovely weekend ruminating dear lady.

I agree, with Paul- This is a tough one. I like the idea of setting up a TBR bookshelf and having someone pick the shelf #, along with a book #. Shelf 3, book 7. I did this a few years ago and had a lot of fun with it.

Have 12 people pick. First come, first serve.

May I suggest you have people pick first come first serve but pick 24 books. Of those 24 commit yourself to 12. It gives you more options to suit your mood. I love this part of your journey every year!

>74 Smiler69: Two book that I recommended, how great! You'll love Notes from an exhibition (I hope). And you got the illustrated Harry Potter, lucky you. I looked at it at the bookshop but haven't succumbed as yet. I did get the illustrated paperback edition of The Wolf Wilder a YA that I've been looking forward to, Gelrev Ongbico is the artist, he's from the Philippines and I'm looking forward to discovering more of his work.

>86 PaulCranswick: >87 PaulCranswick: I knew I could count on you Paul for a well thought out list of possibilities! Taking it all under advisement. I do like the idea of having more picks and choosing my favourites among those, but I worry people might feel slighted when I don't pick their book...

>88 msf59: I like the idea of a tbr bookshelf, Mark, only my tbr is the size of my apartment basically! Shelves everywhere, and almost all of them books that are waiting for me to crack them open... You first come first serve solution sounds good, but then I do like to give my long-standing LT friends a chance to participate too...

>89 luvamystery65: I definitely like your idea Roberta, but as I mention to Paul above, I wonder how the people whose books I won't choose will feel about that?

>90 avatiakh: Kerry, I always have to be careful about visiting your threads, because your book bullets hit home more often than not! However, it's been a long while since I've visited you so I should mosey on over there soon. Will have to look up Ongbico. I'm surprised you were able to look at the illustrated Harry Potter and not bring it home immediately! I certainly could not have resisted!

Finished The Black Count, which tells the story of the author Alexandre Dumas' father, who was a general in the French army throughout the French Revolution and fought with and for Napoleon. A fascinating story, even though I'm not keen on reading about army manoeuvres, but it's a rather gripping tale. I guess I was a bit in advance for Non-Fiction November with that one!

Also finished my reread of Fahrenheit 451. I hadn't enjoyed that novel so much the first time I read it, which was before I joined this group, but this time I was able to concentrate on the writing and somehow ended up loving it, which proves once again that timing can be everything with any given book. It's among my favourites of the year now.

Off to see with my friend Liselotte soon, in what has become a weekly visit. We're going to the museum to see the Beaver Hall Group exhibition, which should be interesting.

>76 Smiler69: Great review of Black Swan Green. I'd planned to read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet this month but I decided I just wasn't in the mood.

>74 Smiler69: From what I've seen the new illustrated edition looks gorgeous (even the non deluxe edition) but I do wonder if the later books in the series are going to be a little unwieldy in that format given how long the regular editions were. It is tempting to start collecting the illustrated editions though...

>77 Smiler69: Stunning!

>85 Smiler69: & >86 PaulCranswick: I think options numbered 1, 2 or 5 from Paul's suggestions sound like possibilities to me. 2 is probably least likely to give rise to ruffled feathers. Or a variant: let as many people as want to select a book. Then assign each one of those a number, then use a random number generator to select a book each month next year? That way you are still only committing to read 12 but everyone gets a pick. You could combine with Mark's suggestion by taking a picture of the suggested books on a shelf.

I've just thought that might have been what Paul meant by option 2 and not a variant at all.

>92 Smiler69: I'm glad you enjoyed The Black Count - I was also surprised how much I enjoyed reading about army manoeuvres in this context!

Perhaps another idea for the books - Have the first twenty or so nominate a book and then let everyone vote for the top 12. LT has a nifty vote feature using vote and your text such as Do you think I should read XXX? /vote with the pointy tags.The downside is that you can only have one vote per message.

Oh good grief. Why such torment? You're just fielding book suggestions; it should be fun. No one here is so petty that a declined suggestion will ruffle their feathers. Put all the suggested titles on a list, commit to reading one a month, and each month, pick a title that appeals to you (since you are doing the reading). Then read it. Easy peasy...

My wife is forever saying, "I need a book to read." I always take the bait and get out three or four books. And she usually rejects all. Eh! That's life. (I still adore her.)

What Bill says, but I do know that some people might get their feelings hurt, it should not take the joy out of a category that is meant for fun and a shared reading experience. Don't get too complicated Ilana. Do this for you and only you.

Paul gave you just about every possible way to choose your books (message 84). Since I'm pretty selfish with my reading time, if it were up to me, I'd choose #5, choosing the books from the suggestions that you most fancy reading. While that might put some noses out of joint, so will choosing a book that someone loves and then hating it or not being able to finish it. Second option would be #3, to have the suggester convince you; third would be #2, to draw lots.

First come, first served--well, that may serve your posters, but will it really best serve YOU? Same goes for #4, rewarding the suggestors who post most often on your thread. Some people have more time for social networking than others, some are more talkative than others, etc.

The suggestion in message 89 is also a good one. I was going to suggest that if you go with first come, first served, you add a list of alternates and reserve the option of quitting a read if it isn't suiting you and moving on down the list.

In seeing your replies to suggestions on how to pick, Ilana, I think you just need not to worry about whether people are upset that you didn't pick their book. As I said, they would probably also be upset if you hated it, so maybe better to just start off saying it doesn't appeal to you but you will keep it on a list for later reading. I think it's kind of childish to get that upset if someone rejects one of your favorite books; happens to me a lot. We all have different tastes and different moods.

Speaking of moods, I like the suggestion to keep this list more flexible, choosing whatever book on that shelf appeals to you when you're ready to move to a new read.

Having everyone vote for the first 20-25 suggestions would put the burden of choice (and ruffled feathers) on everyone else, if that really bothers you so much.

Of course, you could always pick your books by their covers . . . .

I've never joined any of the themed read groups because I just want to read what I feel like reading. Those lists make it seem like school assignments. And I NEVER want to be assigned to read Heart of Darkness again!

Not much I can add to what's already been said, Ilana, but I love Roberta's idea of 24 books being originally picked and you narrowing it down to reading 12. That gives you some wiggle room in case you just aren't in the mood for a chosen read. And like everyone else says, have fun with this challenge!

>93 souloftherose: Heather, Jacob De Zoet was the first book by Mitchell I read, around the time it was released (Mark headed a group reading of it, as I recall). It's obvious this author has plenty of range.

Good point about the rest of the Harry Potter series being a lot more voluminous. Will be interesting to see what they do with them, which we inevitably will over the next six years...

Thanks for piping in on suggestions for my challenge. I'll have to deliberate on it a bit, as I see lots of great ideas have been put forth already.

>95 streamsong: I like the idea of using the "vote" feature, thanks for suggesting it!

>96 weird_O: I know what you mean Bill, why so much fuss... but some people are more sensitive than others and I managed to hurt feelings last year, which is something I don't want to repeat. Since I've come up for this challenge for myself and haven't really seen it taken up by others, I honestly don't know what the best way or running it is, so I thought I'd try putting the question out there to see if I could find a better solution, which might also prove more interesting for me while I'm at it.

>97 luvamystery65: Thanks Roberta. The initial idea was that I have tonnes of great books I look forward to reading, and I like when other devoted readers pick out suggestions for me and encourage me to read from my vast tbr. After that, yes, there is a question of mood reading, so it's good to have more than less options to go with.

>98 Cariola: Deborah, I know from experience that sometimes when I don't like a book, the person who suggested it feels the need to apologize for it, as if they were responsible for my moods and personal tastes, which of course isn't the case. I agree about the "first come first serve" model not being optimal for me, because it stands to reason that I'd prefer to get suggestions from readers I already follow and who have similar tastes as I do. But then again, letting people I'm less familiar with pick from my collection is bound to yield interesting results.

I do "mood reading" quite a bit, but I often find myself overwhelmed by the sheer number of options, so I quite like making lists for myself every month and then using them simply as suggestions; I always give myself plenty of leeway for whims and happenstance along the way. Thanks for weighing in!

>99 DeltaQueen50: Thanks Judy, I must say it gives me quite a rush knowing people will look through my tbr and pick some of their favourite books from my collection. Not sure why that is... maybe just a way to showing off my precious wares! I must say I do like the idea of having a wider list to chose from, as long as people understand that their picks might not make the cut in that time-frame.

Really wiped out today after a visit to the museum with my friend Liselotte. She is a dear, but I find myself quite tired after, since I'm always on alert with her and trying to anticipate her needs, even though she hates me to do that and rarely—almost never—wants any help with anything, even though she is quite obviously getting frailer all the time and experiencing reduced mobility, which after all, is quite normal at the ripe old age of 96. But she is my adoptive grandmother and time with her is precious. But then the rest of the evening was spent with Pierre who is going through a hard time with his own mother, who is 94 and terribly ill and been in and out of hospital countless times over the last few months with very serious ailments. I'm somehow keeping my morale up, but must say it's all making me terribly tired. I should really respond to all the feedback there's been on the Canadian Reading Challenge thread; am terribly pleased with all the response we've gotten, but I think it's probably ok if I take things in my own time and put out the efforts when I feel I have energy to give.

Sorry, blabbing. Off to get ready for bed. I'm listening to Montalbano #14 with The Age of Doubt, which seems an apt title somehow. Not sure what physical book I'll pick for bedtime reading yet... not that there are options lacking obviously!

Great conversation here on your dilemma on books chosen for you. Had a laugh at Bill's post - he's a great find this year asit is so refreshing to have opinions expressed so decisively. His experience with his wife and choosing books for her to read perfectly mirrors my own experiences with SWMBO.

On reflection I think Deborah's appraisal is the correct one. There is an innate selfishness about reading in that it is you and the book. Pick which ones you like the best. If you don't pick mine I will cry for a fortnight but you'll still be my pal forever. xx

I should think that you would be tired! Bless you for keeping your morale up! I'm sorry to hear about Pierre's mother. My own dear one turns 94 this month, so I know how fragile even a very healthy nonagenarian can be. Time is precious as you say.
I think that if you say to all suggesters before you open the nominations, "I can read only 12 of these. Please don't join in this year if your feelings will be hurt if I don't read your book. I want to read them all. I'll remember, if I don't get to it this year, that you recommended this book to me, and I'll be glad for the good words when I do get to it." Would that do it?

>102 PaulCranswick: I agree Paul that the comments about how I should handle my challenge have been interesting. You're right about Bill, he's certainly outspoken and his messages often make me smile.

If you don't pick mine I will cry for a fortnight but you'll still be my pal forever. xx

Of course, that comment makes me smile wide. xx

>103 LizzieD: Peggy, I sort of took a day off today, meaning I asked Pierre to give me plenty of alone time today and did only what I felt like doing. Which isn't really that different from any other day, except I'm giving myself a free pass to sort of mope around.

I love your suggestion and I think I may just quote you verbatim when I officially launch my challenge.

>103 LizzieD:, 104 I like Peggy's statement as well!

I've been lurking here since my latest return, but didn't comment as I've been such an unreliable LTer this year and didn't want to turn up and disappear yet again. I hope things are so much in order now that I'll stay through the remaining weeks of this year and that 2016 will be alltogether better.

I so admire your metro series. When I saw the earlier pics of the girl I thought you had switched from drawing to using parts of the actual photo to work with. All those really people come to life in your drawings, like you were adding some tiny life spark, you expect them to move, to turn and and look at you any moment, absolutely amazing.

Also love the shelves (and what's on them). You're tempting me to read Black Swan Green and to order an illustrated HP1 as well... but Christmas is approaching and I have to control my spendings.

I always chose books for you of which I had never heard before, of course hoping you'd end up liking them. I liked the random element of the picking from your tbr, thinking that during the year we catch lots of recommendations already from reviews. I apologize as well if someone doesn't like a book I loved when they caught the BB on my thread, but mainly because I always see others doing it. Tastes and moods just differ. I looked through some old threads recently and saw I loved books in 2010 which I probably wouldn't finish now.

Wishing you a lovely week!

My exciting outing of the day will be going to my family doctor to get a flu shot shortly. This might come in just at the right time because Pierre has been complaining about various discomforts in the past few days which sound an awful lot like symptoms of flu to me. Let's just hope they've targeted the right flu strains this year, as they were quite off the mark last winter...

Am enjoying reading Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan, which was a totally unplanned novel which I found among the OverDrive offerings from my library. I was intrigued by the novel's description which states:

"Beauty Is a Wound astonishes from its opening line: One afternoon on a weekend in May, Dewi Ayu rose from her grave after being dead for twenty-one years.... Drawing on local sources―folk tales and the all-night shadow puppet plays, with their bawdy wit and epic scope―and inspired by Melville and Gogol, Kurniawan’s distinctive voice brings something luscious yet astringent to contemporary literature."

It's certainly out of the ordinary and a rather astonishing tale, as promised, and I'm glad I always make room for last-minute additions to my eternal long lists, which I never feel badly about not completing.

>105 Cariola: Yes, it's definitely a useful clause! After letting all the suggestions sink in, I think I'll do a combination of what has been suggested, and accept nominations for books for a defined period of time (thus allowing newcomers and old friends alike to make suggestions), with the said proviso by Peggy. I'll definitely have more suggestions than I'll know what to do with, but I'll also have a great range to choose my 2016-dozen from!

>106 Deern: Lovely visit Nathalie! Please don't worry about leaving or not leaving messages here. I've been less than punctual in my visits to various threads this year for a range of reasons, and I'm sure nobody is bothered by the various comings and goings. We all understand there is a life to live away from the computer!

Thank you so much for your wonderful comments about my drawings! This kind of feedback is what keeps me going in the moments when I think to myself "why the hell am I doing this again?", which does tend to happen more often than I like to admit.

I may or not get to the Farley Mowat book you chose for me in 2015. I'm considering putting it off for March, during which Mowat is featured on the Canadian Author Challenge. I'll also want to fit in his Never Cry Wolf then. Hope you don't mind the delay, and of course I hope you'll come in to nominate a book for the next edition of PfM! I'll be setting that up sometime later today or tomorrow, with details on how to participate.

Off to get that shot now!

>109 Smiler69: I will be doing the same thing tomorrow.

I just spent a little time comparing my favorites with your library. Most of the books I would have chosen for you I see that you've already read and enjoyed. But I have two in mind. I'll be looking for your opening date for suggestions!

>96 weird_O: I agree with Bill! Totally. It's your challenge, you have to read the books.

>110 Cariola: Deborah, I look forward to seeing what you'll come up with for me. I'll post the details of the challenge tomorrow with a link to me "to read" collection specifically, though you probably figured that part out for yourself already.

>111 connie53: Thanks for the encouragement Connie!

***

Too tired to say anything worthwhile right now, other than Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver is growing on me. I was really apprehensive about it, not sure why exactly; having the audiobook version narrated by the author was off-putting initially, and the story line hadn't grabbed me, but Kingsolver reads her own material well, despite a rather reedy voice. Really enjoying Cecilia by Fanny Burney, which I never thought I would get to and a group reading is making this monster novel (close to 1000 pages) somehow more approachable. It's great entertainment. Looking forward to my next instalment of Beauty is a Wound at bedtime.

Now off to work on a bird watercolour and pencil drawing I started on a couple of days ago.

I'm delighted that you liked my suggestion! I preen.
Hope you have no reaction to your flu shot although I think they like for you to react a little bit. I also hope that they got the strains right this year. While I'm hoping, I do hope that Pierre is not coming down with it. Y'all do your best to stay healthy!
I did like Flight Behavior, but it's not my favorite Kingsolver. My memory of it is that it went on too long.
Hmmm. I have Cecilia, but she would finish me off in a year when I feel as though I've read only long books.
I'll look forward to sticking a book in the challenge and hope that if you choose it, you like it better than the one I put in this year!

Wicked, wicked migraine all day today. Went to see my neurologist and was very saddened to find out he's taking his retirement in December. On the up side, I'll be getting botox injections in a month and will be transferred to the neurologist who'll be doing the injections, who was trained by Dr. Aubé, my current neurologist and of whom Dr. Aubé only had very nice things to say. Dr. Veilleux is apparently the #1 neurologist in QC on Rate Your Doctor, which I'll have to go check out myself, though if he says so, must be true.

Peggy, will reply tomorrow. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a lovely message. I'm just wasted, and Fiorinal isn't helping any, blast it!

>114 Smiler69: Sorry you are feeling so badly, Ilana. Hope you can get some sleep and that it helps.

Better today after a good long sleep. Off to take a walk on Mount Royal today with my friend Kim and our dogs (she has a standard poodle who is a handful). Haven't seen her in a long time, and her daughter has recently gone off to study in London, so we'll have plenty of catching up to do I'm sure.

>113 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, do preen away, your suggestion was brilliant and ties up nicely with other suggestions. I haven't reacted to the flu shot other than experienced a sore arm at the injection site, which is what usually happens for me.
My first Kingsolver was The Poisonwood Bible which I found simply brilliant. I've only read her Bean Trees after that, which I wasn't crazy about, though I am looking forward to The Lacuna. Didn't pick that one up this month as I've committed to several physical books and didn't think I could fit that one in too. What are your favourites by her?
What's just one more big book among many others? I'm hugely enjoying Cecilia and it does help that the chapters are mostly very short at just about 4 pages each, which breaks down the huge mass into very digestible portions.

>114 Smiler69: Thanks Deborah, I am indeed much better today and I thank heavens for the fact yesterday's punishing headache didn't turn into a prolonged multi-day one, which tends to happen more often than I like.

***

I guess now is as good a time as ever to launch my challenge, so I'll start assembling that post now...

As I've said higher up the thread, I'm running this challenge for the fifth year in 2016, but with so many challenges going (and with the Canadian Author Challenge added to the mix), I'll only commit to 12 picks next year. After deliberating for some time how best to run the challenge this time and with thanks for your helpful suggestions, I'll be taking any number of nominations for a full week, till Wednesday, November 11th (inclusive) to allow anyone who would like to participate to do so. Everyone may suggest ONE title and one title only, and from the final list, I will choose the 12 books to read over the year according to my mood.

As I say, I can read only 12 of these. Please don't join in this year if your feelings will be hurt if I don't read your book. Obviously I want to read them all, or they wouldn't be on my tbr. I'll remember, if I don't get to it this year, that you recommended this book to me (because of my extensive tagging system), and I'll be glad for the good words when I do get to it.*

If you are interested in participating, please stick to the following instructions TO THE LETTER†:

1. To select a book, go to my "To Read" collection by following this link: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Smiler69/toread
You'll find over seventeen hundred titles choose from. You can sort the list by titles, authors etc. You can also use my helpful tag system; for example, click on "Fiction" or "Non-Fiction", "Classics", "English Literature", "Historical Fiction", "Crime Fiction", etc. Alternatively, you can also use the search box in the top right-hand corner that says "search this library".

2. To make sure the same book isn't picked twice, I'll list the books picked here but also look for the last tag; if you find "Picked for Me 2016", then it's already been chosen by someone else.

3. Only ONE pick per person. Please, no exceptions.

4. I'd like you to tell me, in a few words (or a few lines) why you think I should read your suggested work (or direct me to your review if you've written one).

* This sentence adapted from a clause helpfully provided by Peggy/@LizzieD
† Please make allowances for typos.

***

Suggestions so far:

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Thurston - picked by Charlotte/@Fourpawz2
2. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell - picked by Kerry/@avatiakh
3. H is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald - picked by Mark/@msf59
4. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee - picked by Paul/@PaulCranswick
5. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - picked by Mary/@mdoris
6. Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund - picked by Ellen/@EBT1002
7. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane - picked by Jim/@drneutron
8. The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezani - picked by Judy/@DeltaQueen50
9. The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru - picked by Deborah/@Cariola
10. Good Evening, Mrs Craven by Mollie Panter-Downes - picked by Heather/@souloftherose
11. History of the Rain by Niall Williams - picked by Charlotte/@charl08
12. The Road Home by Rose Tremain - picked by Peggy/@LizzieD
13.
14.
15.

*scrolling through your books feverishly*

Got it!

My choice for you is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Thurston. I chose this one for you, using what is, for me, the best criterion - that is to say, it is a book I read and loved. And I think you would, too.

Well, darn it! The book I wanted to suggest isn't there. :( I'll see what else I can find on your list.

I'll pick Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. I wanted to pick a nonfiction read as you will be reading a lot of fiction with all the challenges flying around for next year. I read this a few years ago and think it gives a good look at life for the less fortunate in the 1920s.

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. It's a wonderful children's story full of laughs and adventure and great characters, but even adults can lose ourselves in Bilbo's story. Plus a dragon!

I will have to pick, H is For Hawk. This remains, one of the best books I have read this year. A perfectly, written memoir and the audiobook, narrated very admirably by the author, is fantastic.

Woohoo, great picks so far! Thanks so much guys!

>118 Fourpawz2: I've been meaning to read Their Eyes Were Watching God for ages, Charlotte and had actually booked it in last year as an alternate choice for the AAC, so one way or the other, I'll make room for it sooner than later since it comes highly recommended from so many quarters. Thanks for playing!

>119 Cariola: Sorry the book you chose is out of the running Deborah. Now I'm intensely curious to find out what it was! And of course looking forward to seeing what your pick will be.

>120 avatiakh: Ah! Another one I've been wanting to get to for a long time! I've accumulated quite a few George Orwell titles over time and so far have only read Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm several times each. Thanks for another great pick Kerry!

>121 drneutron: AHA! Now I know you DID NOT follow my instructions Jim. I fully agree The Hobbit is an amazing story, having read it several times over the years, and it's DEFINITELY NOT in my "to read" collection. I'd love for you to pick out something for me though, just please use this link to make your pick: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Smiler69/toread

>122 msf59: Another books I've been meaning to get to, Mark. It's actually on my tentative plans for Non-Fiction November, so there's a chance I might get to it sooner than later! Thanks for your participation!

I will have to nominate the Laurie Lee you have in your collection: As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning. Makes no difference that you haven't gotten to Cider With Rosie yet as it stands on its own. He was a poet writing in prose who could almost make words edible.

>124 PaulCranswick: Great pick Paul! I wonder if Lee will end up being your selection for September 2016? If so, it would make your selection a sure thing... not that I'm trying to influence your choice obviously, because I'd be just as happy with Durrell or Dahl for the BAC, as I've mentioned on your thread.

>125 Smiler69: Hahaha I'll pretend I didn't see that! Honestly, Ilana, it could be anyone of the three at this stage and all three suit me almost equally too.

I will suggest Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. I read it this year and just thought everyone in the world should read this book! It amazed me.
p.s. this is such an interesting idea, I have only just recently heard about this as an idea getting group input into your reading choices.

>123 Smiler69: Oh, I didn't mention that I really enjoyed it. I knew it would be one that you've been meaning to get to so happy to help you along.

>124 PaulCranswick: I agree with Paul, I read Cider with Rosie last, it really has nothing to do with the other books, just precedes them in his life. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning is just wonderful.

>123 Smiler69: The book I really WANTED to suggest for you is How to Be Both by Ali Smith. Be sure to put it on your list! I read it in print (well, on my kindle); I would not recommend relying on the audiobook for this one. It is fairly complex, and you'll want to flip back and forth as you read. I would have chosen it for you because it is about two artists, one a minor Italian Renaissance master, the other a young girl in our times. The story is told twice, once from the perspective of each, and they intersect with one another. I think you'd really love it!

That said, I went through your whole list and jotted down about 20 books. I'm going to wait a day or two to see what kinds of things others are recommending. It will definitely be fiction. There are several books on the list that I was surprised to see that you hadn't read yet.

>130 Cariola: I did something similar Deborah! My own to-read list is a little on the cumbersome side but it is in the nature of the like-minded to seek inspiration by wallowing in a friends collection.

>131 PaulCranswick: I really should make a To Be Read list. I just keep adding everything to My Library and a few other categories. Considering the hundreds of books I've given away in the last few years and the number of boxes stashed in my closet, it's a wonder I have any idea what's there.

Here is my pick for you for 2016: Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund.

I have had this book on my bedside table for over a year. It was loaned to me by a friend and colleague, one of my favorite souls on Earth, who loved it so much that she and her spouse named their daughter Una after a character in the novel. What greater endorsement could there be?

Yesterday I was sitting by this friend in a meeting and I mentioned that I still have her copy of Ahab's Wife and I mouthed (we were, after all, in a meeting) "Una" to her and her eyes went soft. It motivated me to Read. This. Book. I would love to have you choose it (though my feelings will not be hurt if you don't) so that we could read it together. I will read it in 2016, regardless.

>123 Smiler69: Well, that's just weird, 'cause I could have sworn I did use the link... Hmm, ok, Mystic River since Lehane is one of my favorite authors and this is one of his best!

Hi Ilana, I am going to recommend The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezani which is a historical fiction read that I remember loving. I see you have it both in print and audible so by reading it you can get two books off your TBR list. If you don't get to it, no problem. You have an wonderful TBR list and I can see an abundance of rich reading material whatever you decide to go with!

I thought about a few of the classics on your list (Hardy, Wharton, Trollope, Lawrence), but there were a few books on your list that really WOWED me when I first read them, so that's where I'm going. The book I choose for you is The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. If you read any of the highbrow reviews, they'll tell you it's a parody of Rudyard Kipling's Kim or a satire on the British Empire in India. Eh, maybe, but forget all that. It's an absolutely brilliant novel that subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) explores identity in all its various forms: gender, race, color, class, nationality, religion, etc. The main character, Pran, is born with an identity that is a lie (although he doesn't yet know it). Through the course of the novel, that identity changes: sometimes a new identity is thrust upon him, sometimes it is expedient or essential to survival. Each new identity took me by surprise. The book gave rise to a lot of questions about what determines our identity. Are we what others see or what they say we are? Can we create our own identity? Is our identity constant or flexible? Beyond these questions, this is just an astonishing, exotic, rip-roaring story. I love nothing better than a book that really makes me think while I'm ENJOYING it. I hope you choose The Impressionist and love it as much as I do!

How exciting! I'm very heartened to see the response to my special request so far. Thanks so much for participating in the 5th edition of the Picked for Me Challenge!

Another day, another punishing migraine, only this time I was lucky enough to be able to keep it under control with a good dose of Fiorinal. I pray the botox injections I'll be getting next month will help reduce my migraine index (as my neurologist puts it), and make the migraines less intense overall, though we're not even talking about a possibility of eliminating them altogether or making them less frequent. But who knows? Hope springs eternal.

Still having a lot of fun with Cecilia; which is a good thing, because I'll probably be reading it for the next six weeks or so... I also look forward to my nightly sessions with Beauty is a Wound, which can only be a good sign of course. Getting very excited about all the 2016 planning with the BAC over on Paul's thread, the AAC the upcoming Canadian Author's Challenge and of course your choices from my tbr. 2016 will be a great year of reading to be sure!

I've started what is projected to become a series of bird watercolour drawings this week. Here is where the first bird, a bluebird is at right now, with a very few more sessions to go still to get to something I'm happy with:

 

>126 PaulCranswick: Yes well, as we both know, you couldn't resist making your selection a sure bet, couldn't you Paul? ;-)xx

>127 mdoris: Mary, I've seen many people state that Being Mortal should be required reading. I definitely to make it a priority, though until now I've been shirking it. Thanks for the suggestion!

>128 avatiakh: I'm glad to see your put your stamp of approval on As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, Kerry. I'll definitely be reading it in September, since Paul made Laurie Lee the male author selection for that month.

>129 Cariola: Deborah, it seems I'd already put you down as a recommender for How to Be Both at some point. I obviously read your review and was impressed by it. Thanks for steering me away from the audio version; I'll heed your warning and get a visual version from the library when I get to it. I would really like to read it soon as I haven't read anything by Ali Smith yet. I have The Accidental on the tbr, which I thought to read in March for the BAC but there's a good chance I'll pick up the former too at some point in the year, if not also in march.

>130 Cariola: Are those 20 books ones you jotted down as suggestions for you, or ideas for what you'd like to suggest for my challenge?

>133 EBT1002: Ellen, I got Ahab's Wife as a Kindle Daily Deal sometime last year and am very curious about it, having read some great reviews. The only thing I was wondering about was whether I wouldn't get more out of it if I read Mody Dick first? That being said, I'm sure it stands alone very well. I'd be happy to share another read with you... let's see where my reading moods take me in 2016!

>134 drneutron: Some weird glitch then, Jim. Or maybe I somehow left The Hobbit in my tbr collection? In any case, thanks for suggesting Mystic River. I've been meaning to read more Dennis Lehane for ages.

>135 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy! Thanks so much for your suggestion! I'm guilty of all too often getting the audio versions of books when they go on sale, because I always figure I have more listening time than book-reading time in any given day and that I might get to the audiobook versions faster. In any case, I've taken down your suggestion... and see I'd already put you down as a recommender in my tags at some point!

>136 Cariola: Deborah, I got The Impressionist because you've mentioned it to me more than once as one of your favourite books. I'll definitely look forward to it, thanks for putting so much thought into this!

>140 Smiler69: Ilana, the 20 books I jotted down were ones I have read that I thought you might like. I was focused on that rather than books for myself. I've really been trying to cut down on the TBR piles/boxes, shelves, drawers, and bags, so I've been resisting getting new books until things are trimmed down. When I retired earlier this year, I gave away well over 400 books to students and to their annual book drive. The year before I began the purge and gave over 250 to the library's annual sale, and I gave them about 150 more this year. I also gave away well over 250 Virago Modern Classics to LT friends. Right now I have a HUGE box in my home office of academic books that I listed for sale on Amazon. I sold about eight but haven't had any bites in awhile. I'm getting tired of tripping over them, so they will probably be going to the library soon. Secondhand book dealers here are a rip-off; I'd rather give them away than take a dime for a like new hardcover (they pay according to the publication date, regardless of the condition or if it is in demand). I am reading more on the kindle--takes up no space at all!

I am listening to books less now that I'm not driving back and forth to work every day.

I liked The Accidental, but I REALLY liked There But for the and loved How to Be Both. I've read a few of Smith's earlier novels that didn't do much for me, however.

I will definitely go back to your TBR list one of these days on my own behalf!

Love the bluebird--I am a bird watcher. It's just beautiful. I will be looking for more in this series.

Even though I was an English professor for years, I was never tempted to read Moby Dick. I did, however, read Ahab's Wife, and I don't think you need to have read that doorstop to enjoy it.

>138 Smiler69: Such a wonderful talent you have, Ilana. The drawings and now watercolors. Just amazing.

>137 Smiler69: "Another day, another punishing migraine..." Damn. I'm glad the meds seemed to help but my real hope would be No. More. Migraines.

>140 Smiler69: Hmm. I've never read Moby Dick. I'll ask my friend about that.....

I, too, loved How to be both.

>101 Smiler69: I love that you have a friend from a completely different generation. And I bet both you and she were tired after a big day out like that!

So, I missed the picked for me challeng set-up? Darn it :/
I get what you were talking about up there with not wanting to slight anyone whose book you didn't choose. I feel uncomfortable recommending books, and also giving feedback on books that have been recommended to me.

>103 LizzieD: I like Peggy's suggestion too!

>117 Smiler69: Already some really interesting selections there - I haven't read any of the picks so far but a number are on my TBR/wishlist. My pick is Good Evening, Mrs Craven by Mollie Panter-Downes because it's one of the books in your TBR pile tagged as recommended by me, I loved it and I'm currently reading (and loving) another short story collection from Persephone and considering that perhaps I do enjoy short stories after all! Also because Good Evening, Mrs Craven is a bit different from the other books picked for you so far. I am 100% fine with you not reading it if it doesn't call to you next year.

>137 Smiler69: Sorry to hear about the return of the migraine. I hope the botox injections give you some relief from the constant headaches.

>138 Smiler69: Beautiful!

All the discussions about Ali Smith and How to Be Both are inclining me to line that one up for the BAC next year.

>146 souloftherose: I think that will be my choice for Ms. Smith too, Heather. I hadn't heard of your pick for Ilana but it does look interesting especially given the generally enthusiastic reception given it by group memebers Deborah, Laura, Jennifer and your goodself in the review section of the book's homepage.

History of the Rain is one of my favourites read this year. It is unashamedly Irish in style and you get a rich sense of a small Irish community where everyone knows everyone, the narrator is a young woman who loves books, and it made me laugh out loud. I hope you do get to read it (even if it doesn't make the cut this year).

Forgot to add - the bird watercolours are beautiful.

>138 Smiler69: Happy Friday, Ilana! Love the bluebird drawing. They warble, don't they?

I will also give a nod to, Mystic River. It is an amazing crime novel and Lehane's best novel.

>148 charl08: I loved History of the Rain, too, but I must have missed it on Ilana's TBR list. It was my #1 read for 2014. So glad you recommended it!

Ilana, I've been in lurk and am about half through your TBR list. I'll try to finish and decide on the one book that I hope you'll read!
I will be so happy one day when I come to your thread and see that something has finally made an appreciable difference in the intensity of your migraines. May it be the BOTOX!
I echo love for History of the Rain and also enjoyed Mystic River although you may find that one a bit gritty. Oh! And I very much enjoyed How To Be Both. I've read it and Hotel World and am a fan.
Meanwhile, I'm thrilled with your color sense and the bluebird! Happiness!

O.K. That was fast. (I hadn't looked at nearly half your TBR after all, but I found the ONE!) I do hope that in 2016 you'll read Rose Tremain's The Road Home. It is my favorite of her books, and I tend to like her a lot. The reason is simply Lev. Here's the relevant sentence from my review, the first that I wrote, I think, when I joined LT........ "It is such a pleasure to read a piece of serious contemporary fiction that doesn't depend on dysfunction, incest, spouse or child abuse, or psychiatric abnormalities as a springboard to some final life-affirming statement. Lev has his problems, but he is basically a sweet, decent human being and I loved accompanying him on his journey."

>153 LizzieD: - I don't know about Ilana, but your one sentence from TRH made me glad that I found this book (which I've not read yet) at a second hand bookstore last year.

Hi, Ilana - love your bluebird! :)

Ugh, sorry about the migraines; I have a few health issues myself at the moment so I fully sympathise.

I have stepped back from your Pick-For-Me this time, which I see is already chockers with great choices, but I am very much looking forward to reading Emma with you in the New Year, and The Midnight Bell...sometime! :D

I'll probably be finishing Flight Behaviour sometime today, as I work on my bluebird or prepare dinner. It's been a very interesting read and I've quite liked, but somehow not loved it. This may be due to my own prejudices—reading about poor Tennesseeans seems a bit outside my comfort zone, but Kingsolver makes them very real and somewhat easy to relate to.

More great books suggestions, yay!

>141 Cariola: Deborah, I wish I'd been around for the Virago Modern Classics! But then sending them to Canada would NOT have been affordable, considering we're considered as being "overseas". I did suspect Ahab's Wife lived well on its own, simply because I suspect most people haven't read Moby Dick; case in point, you being and English teacher and having never tackled it! I guess I'll make How To Be Both my first Ali Smith book for the BAC, since you recommend it so highly. Might as well start with one of her stronger novels.

>142 catarina1: Thanks Catarina! I hadn't done any watercolours in quite a long while, so it's nice getting my hand in again.

>143 EBT1002: >144 EBT1002: Ellen, my neurologist has told me over and over again I can't expect the migraines to go away altogether and the best I can hope for is less intense ones, maybe a bit less frequently. Of course I'd like them to stop for good, but at this point I'll take any improvement that's available to me.
I've added you among the recommenders for How To Be Both. If anything, the storyline alone is very intriguing to me, so it's a near sure bet I'll be reading it in 2016 what with the BAC and everything.

>145 LovingLit: Hi Megan. My friendship with Liselotte mean a lot to me, and I'm glad our paths crossed and we can share some time together. I got her to tell me some stories from her childhood and recorded that conversation, and am hoping we'll have the opportunity to delve into her past some more... seems like good stuff to put into a novel, eventually, maybe. In any case, I know (because she told me so) that she loves sharing her past with someone who is a willing listener.

I understand your hesitation about commenting on books that were recommended to you, but I think this bunch is very understanding of the fact that books affect each individual very differently, and that's part of the fun of talking about them!

>146 souloftherose: Heather, thanks for your suggestion of Mrs Craven. I've promised myself not to buy any more Persephones until I've read at least a couple more of them from my shelf. Not a hard promise to keep since they are horrendously expensive to get here in Canada, what with the dollar not being very strong and shipping costs soaring through the roof.

I asked my neurologist whether the botox injections (about 20 of them, mostly around the hairline, as I understand it) would at all paralize my facial muscles and he said not really, but that I would look like a Hollywood star. When I said this to Pierre, he said I already look like one. Is it any wonder I adore him?; if I look anything like a Hollywood star, then it's a very tired, overweight and unkempt one! :-)

It looks like we might perhaps end up reading How To Be Both for the same TIOLI challenge sometimes in March!

>148 charl08: >149 charl08: Thanks for your suggestion Charlotte, have tagged the book and added it to the Picked for Me 2016 collection. It's a title I remember Peggy and Deborah being very enthusiastic about and I look forward to getting to it. Thanks for the comment on my bird drawing. I'm not quite happy with it, and don't know whether I'll be entirely satisfied with the final result, but it's helping me practice my watercolouring skills again.

>150 msf59: Hi Mark! I saw the movie of Mystic River in a film class as a student and really loved it, so I'm sure I'll enjoy the book too.

>151 Cariola: Deborah, I already had you down as a recommender for History of the Rain in my tags.

>152 LizzieD: >153 LizzieD: Peggy, I've added you as a recommender for Mystic River. It's been on my tbr for 5 years now, so it's about time I get to it. I consider Rose Tremain to be one of my favourite authors after reading and adoring Music and Silence, Restoration and Merivel, and have accummulated several of her titles on the tbr, but have yet to discover her contemporary fiction, so I'll look forward to The Road Home, especially as it had been on my tentative reading plans for October.

>155 lyzard: Thank you Liz! That bird seems to be very popular both here and on FB! I'm also looking forward to Emma AND The Midnight Bell, and since the latter was your pick for me last year and I haven't gotten to it yet, I'm the one who needs to get with the program! We'll definitely slot it in in the New Year. The migraines... just yech. I'd be running to my Fiorinal dispenser right now if it weren't the beginning of the month and me having already taken lots of them so far (with only 12 days granted per month to take them without fear of rebound migraines)

Ilana - here's a link to a youtube clip on one of the cover designers for Penguin books, Coralie Bickford-Smith. The clip shows her design work before focusing on the illustrations in her own book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qiP9qMc-Hg

>159 avatiakh: Cool clip Kerry, thanks for sharing. She certainly is a very talented designer. I'll try to see whether our library has her book.