AlisonY's leap year literary loitering

Hi, I'm Alison and this is my 2nd year in Club Read. I live in the countryside in N. Ireland just a few miles outside of Belfast, and have 2 young kids at primary school. I'm in the early stages of a tech start up so I don't know how many books I'll manage to get through this year, but if I manage to do 4 a month I'll be happy.

I mostly read literary fiction with the odd biography or history book thrown in. Last year I had quite a set plan laid out - as this year is likely to be a busy one I'm going to read as my mood takes me with no major plans.

Last year I read 74 books, of which 64 were fiction / 10 non-fiction.

Favourite Fiction of the Year
The Major of Casterbridge
To the Lighthouse
Bastard Out of Carolina
Plainsong
Girl with a Pearl Earring
The Shipping News
My Struggle Book One: A Death in the Family

Favourite Non-Fiction of the Year
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail

My previous thread was here:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/193878

Hahaha, I'm already way into my 2016 thinking! :P

2016 Reading Track

January
1. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim - read (4 stars)
2. A Man in Love by Karl Ove Knaussgaard - read (5 stars)
3. Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekback - read (4 stars)
4. The Uncannily Strange and Brief Life of Amedeo Modigliani by Velibor Colic - read (3 stars)
5. Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi - read (4.5 stars)

February
6. Atonement by Ian McEwan - read (3.5 stars)
7. Post Office by Charles Bukowski - read (4 stars)
8. A Room With a View by E.M. Forster - read (2.5 stars)

March
9 & 10. Basic Bech: Bech: A Book, Bech is Back by John Updike - read (3 stars)
11. Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski - read (3.5 stars)
12. Tess of the D'Urbervillles by Thomas Hardy - read (5 stars)
13. The Housekeeper + The Professor by Yoko Ogawa - in progress

Currently reading and next up

>4 AlisonY: That reminds me that I want to start the second Knausgaard book soon. But I have too much going on right now. Gives me something to look forward to at least. :)

I think it'll be next up, although it's a bit weighty for dragging around on the bus to work next week.

I enjoyed The Enchanted April more than I expected to.

>8 AlisonY: me too! Enjoying it more than Excellent Women by Barbara Pym - it's funnier.

I look forward to your thoughts about My Struggle: Book Two, Alison. I'll read it soon, as I'm enjoying Book One so far.

I keep forgetting about Enchanted April, need to definitely get to it this year.

I love the title of your thread! Last year I read In The Mountains and it ended up on my list of faves. I'm also planning on reading Enchanted April soon.

>9 kidzdoc: looking forward to getting into it too! Getting less reading time over the holidays than normal which seems ironic!

>10 mabith: it's really fun - a good comfort read when you need it.

>11 avidmom: thank you! Must check out In the Mountains - I knew nothing of this author until I stumbled across The Enchanted April in the library.

>7 rebeccanyc: and >8 AlisonY: that makes me glad - I'm going to try The Enchanted April this year. It was one of Waterstones' Rediscovered Classics series and I'm trying to read them all (though it's not a challenge, just a soft goal).

1. Review - The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

Someone keep me off the internet or I'll be booking tickets to Italy to find San Salvatore before the evening's out...

What a funny, clever observation of life this little classic is. Published in 1922, this novel could as easily have been written yesterday. Social graces may change over the years, but the intricacies of human interaction stay the same.

Lotty Wilkins finds herself reading an ad for a castle to rent in Italy one day at her London lunch club, and not having done anything spur of the moment or exciting for years decides on a whim to invite a relative stranger sitting nearby - who she's only seen before at church - to join her in renting the castle for the month of April. Somehow she manages to persuade the quiet, good living Rose Arbuthnot to join her on her mad adventure, and to lessen the damage to her rainy day nest egg they place an ad for two other women to join them to share the rent.

Thus begins the madcap tale of their month in an Italian castle with a wealthy, churlish widow and a beautiful young socialite who is tired of the world falling at her feet.

Funny yet tender, von Arnim so accurately depicts how differently people can feel on the inside to how they appear on the outside, how we can fear those who threaten our own perceptions of ourselves, and how different people can bring out totally polar sides of our characters, making us bloom or cutting the wind out of our sails.

The depictions of the two marriages in the story were particularly cleverly observed - for different reasons, both parties in the two marriages were feeling cut off and unloved, yet it only took for one person in the marriage to reach their hand across the chasm and the other happily reached out to grab hold. I thought that was so smartly executed - actions that come so naturally in the good times can seem such big steps to take when the going gets tough, and yet sometimes it only takes a little change to make everything fall into place again.

4 stars - a smart and humorous classic that's still very relevant today.

>13 thebookmagpie: I hope you enjoy it. Try Dorothy Whipple too if you get a chance - she's another forgotten gem.

>14 AlisonY:. Have you ever seen the film of Enchanted April? It is delightful.

>16 NanaCC: no Colleen - just Googled it and it sounds great. Miranda Richardson and Josie Lawrence - what a brilliant combination!

Enjoyed your review of The Enchanted April which sounds like a delightful read.

>14 AlisonY: Great review! I only heard about Elizabeth Von Arnim recently (here in Club Read of course!) but she sounds like an author I should read. The Enchanted April was already in my wishlist, and now I have added In the Mountains.

>14 AlisonY: that sounds like a lovely read. Reservation at the library placed...

Just echoing Colleen's recommendation of the movie--it really did the book justice, and the cast is uniformly great.

From last year's thread--about the Nemirovsky: "it was like reading the narrative through a thick pane of glass." Great way of putting that feeling which I have had with other novels.

From this last review: "Social graces may change over the years, but the intricacies of human interaction stay the same." Ah yes and yes. And it is a case where the book and movie are equally enchanting.

Too bad the book on sensitive boys was a flop. I had a similar experience with an "only child" book!

>18 baswood:, >19 FlorenceArt:, >20 Helenliz:, >21 cabegley:, >22 sibylline: - thank you all for stopping by! I'm looking forward to checking out the movie based on your recommendations.

Hope those of you that have The Enchanted April on your wish lists enjoy it as much as I did.

I'm adding Elizabeth Von Arnim to my list of authors I should try out.

Looking to following you again Alison.

>24 dchaikin: thanks Dan. Likewise. It's a shame we've lost Steven from the group - he'd have loved your reading plan for this year.

>14 AlisonY: I'm another reader who enjoyed Enchanted April more than I expected to. I bought a used mass market paperback shortly after I fell in love with the film version of Room with a View. But then it sat in my shelves for years, and I finally took it along on a trip to Italy in 2009. My husband's family and friends always need to spend 16 hours a day just chatting, so I have lots of time to go off and read when I get tired of trying to follow the conversation. Enchanted April is set about 50 miles from where his family lives, so it was even more fun to read for that reason, and also we had been in England just before Italy. I had planned to slightly lighten make room in my luggage for the return home and leave my copy behind, but it was too good and I brought it back home.

>26 Nickelini: that's a lovely story - must have been great reading it while you were so near to the actual place! Is your husband Italian?

>27 AlisonY: My husband was born in Canada, but his parents had just arrived from Italy. He didn't speak English until he went to school, and spent lots of summer vacations back in Italy, where they'd go for 2-3 months. His parents also only socialized with other people from their part of Italy (Lucca), so you can't get much more Italian while still being Canadian. Lucca is in Tuscany, so he speaks lovely, correct textbook Italian. He and our daughters got their Italian citizenship a few years ago and my older daughter actually got a passport so she can go work in the EU. I have the paperwork to get mine too, but there are so many hoops to jump through, and only want it because it would be "cool," so I probably won't bother.

Go ahead and jump through those hoops, Joyce. You never know what the future will bring. I need to finish jumping through the hoops that will make my German residence and work permit permanent.

>28 Nickelini: ditto what Kay said! Tuscany's gorgeous - I met a guy a long time ago on a ski holiday who came from near San Gimignano and spent a great long weekend there one April ('Enchanted April' - must be something in it, lol!). Also enjoyed time in Siena with my husband too - opening huge old windows to look out at those big velvet skies was unforgettable.

>28 Nickelini: I don't know if you had told me before where your husband's family is from - my family is also from Lucca, how funny.

We holidayed in a village just outside Lucca in 2014. Cycled around the old town one day, it is a beautiful place.

>28 Nickelini: >31 ursula: And Lucca was a place in the two books I read most recently: the novella "Fine Arts" in The Liar's Wife by Mary Gordon and Just One Evil Act by Elizabeth George! And I thought it was coincidence enough for Lucca to be in two books I read back to back.

Nice review of The Enchanted April, Alison!

>29 RidgewayGirl:, >30 AlisonY:, >31 ursula:, >32 zenomax:. >33 rebeccanyc:

Wow, most people I come across don't have a clue where Lucca is--we're most often met with blank stares.

Yes, one day I'll jump through the hoops, but it's never the most important thing I need to do.

>35 Nickelini: I once had an Italian in the US tell me that the population of Lucca have a reputation for emigration; that the joke is that when Columbus arrived in the New World, the first people he met there were from Lucca. :)

Joining the chorus of Lucca lovers. It's a beautiful town!

Add me to the Lucca fans.

I've just learned something interesting about A Room with a View as I'm reading Into the Silence, the story of Mallory's attempt to scale Everest. I had no idea he was a tangential member of the Bloomsbury crowd but he was (all the fellas had the hots for him). He is the model for George Emerson, apparently.

Now that you've read The Enchanted April you might enjoy the film, which is pure eye candy. It's one of my favorites.

Enjoyed your review of The Enchanted April by von Arnim as well as all the conversation it generated. Tell me something - because it's been years since I read it and my memory might be playing tricks on me - did things turns a bit sour when the husband showed up? I always had the suspicion that von Arnim's husband was a disagreeable type. She referred to him as "the man of wrath".

ETA: I just referred to Wikipedia and it seems both her husbands were disagreeable types. Also found out she was a cousin of Katherine Mansfield, whose husband John Middleton Murray described von Arnim's book Vera as "Wuthering Heights by Jane Austen".

>40 VivienneR: - no Vivienne: she got things straightened out with him.

>39 Poquette: looking forward to catching the movie! I must have been living in a bubble that this novel was completely new to me.

>34 kidzdoc: thanks Darryl!

>31 ursula:, >32 zenomax:, >33 rebeccanyc:, >35 Nickelini:, >36 ursula:, >37 janemarieprice:, >38 sibylline: OK - the Club Read 2016 party is in Lucca....

>1 AlisonY: I really love your list of favorites. Bastard Out of Carolina is one of my favorite books ever.

I'm moving my long-waiting copy of The Enchanted April up my reading list.

Thanks Alison. I edited my reply as you posted. Looks like it's time for a re-read!

>36 ursula: - That's funny! Strange thing-- my husband and his family are involved with the Tuscano Society here in Vancouver. Almost all the members are from Lucca. None from Florence, Sienna, Pisa, or anywhere else in Tuscany. So there might be some truth to that!

>38 sibylline: 've just learned something interesting about A Room with a View as I'm reading Into the Silence, the story of Mallory's attempt to scale Everest. I had no idea he was a tangential member of the Bloomsbury crowd but he was (all the fellas had the hots for him). He is the model for George Emerson, apparently.

Very interesting!

>42 nancyewhite: thanks Nancy. I still think about Bastard out of Carolina - great book.

>40 VivienneR: just read that Wikipedia entry. Wow - she was some girl! I'm sure there must be a sizzling biography about her somewhere out there.

>4 AlisonY: HI! I see you've embarked on the Knausgaard adventure. I'm too afraid to begin, but I look forward to your comments.
>14 AlisonY: Enchanted April sounds so interesting!

>25 AlisonY: I miss Steven. I'm tempted to start a thread titled "hey Steve, post here". Maybe he will show up, assuming he's healthy. Maybe we could all start reviewing Plato and see if it creates some vibes to attract him back here.

>41 AlisonY: I'm in for a ClubRead party in Lucca. I think we will end up there this coming summer, so not a stretch for me.

>48 dchaikin: Great idea!

>47 reva8: Don't be afraid! The first book was absolutely one of the standouts for me last year, probably the #1 read of the year, really.

>41 AlisonY:, >49 Nickelini: Let's do it! I haven't been there yet. :)

>47 reva8: I agree with Ursula - I LOVED his first book. Really enjoying the second one too.

>48 dchaikin: totally agree - loved his thread. He's left a big gap.

Forgot to add My Struggle: A Death in the Family to my favourites of last year, so edited my first post. Missed it as I dropped it half a star to 4.5 stars due to some too-long passages of self-indulgent philosophising, but this book has stayed in my mind since reading it so belongs in my favourites of the year list.

Hi Alison

I haven't started on the Knausgaard series yet, though have the first (my plan is to catch up with both this and the Ferante series's this year. I've read and enjoyed all the ther favourite fiction you list for last year).

I love The Enchanted April and there was a wonderful film version too with Josie Lawrence, Michael Kitchen and others in.

>28 Nickelini: Adding my name to the Lucca fans. The local wine is wonderful, and loved Puccini's House. I've only visited whist staying elsewhere, but plan to stay there at sometime.

ETA: looking at your last year's reading I see so many books I love, what a reading year you had. Can I recommend William Styron's Sophie's Choice, more heartbreaking for a mum, I accept, but extraordinary as a story, characters, and wonderful writing.

Btw ROFLMAO at 116 in your last thread, and the cat looks just like my long departed Jasper.

>53 Caroline_McElwee: Hi Caroline, I am becoming totally hooked on Knausgaard - hope you enjoy the first book in the series when you get to it.

Everyone has me totally sold on The Enchanted April movie - would love to watch it soon whilst the book is fresh in my mind.

Thanks for recommending Sophie's Choice - I think I might have it on Mount Wish List already. Will have a wee look.

For the Knausgaard fans, I really enjoyed watching this interview with him:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFTvESIIzEo

Just catching up on this thread -- great conversation.

>56 janeajones: thanks for dropping by!

2. Review - A Man in Love: My Struggle Book 2 by Karl Ove Knausgaard

I owe my husband an apology. For the past week I've been having an affair; a turbulent, crazy love affair with a complicated, intelligent, philosophising Norwegian. The affair has left space for neither domestic chores nor conversation. It has been all consuming.

And now it's over.

I feel bereft and emotionally drained.

This is what 672 pages of Karl Ove Knausgaard does to you.

Picking up from Book 1, Book 2 is about Karl Ove's life in Sweden in his mid-30s. Looking for something "more' from life, he has left his first wife Tonje and moved on a whim to Stockholm, where before too long he falls in love with Linda, a girl he'd met previously on a writing course. In the extreme honest form that is Knausgaard, we live the highs and (mostly) lows of his emotions, his internal struggle between family and personal freedom, and the conflict between what he feels life should be and what it is in reality. We are pulled into the absolute minutiae of his daily life, from changing his daughter's nappy to having a smoke outside in the yard, yet it is utterly compelling fly-on-the-wall stuff.

This is the book equivalent of intelligent reality TV (if such a thing existed) - we are 24/7 inside Knausgaard's life, and more importantly inside his head. He describes in detail thoughts most people would never admit to - the abject boredom of looking after young kids, of trying to make polite conversation with friends of your partner that you're not that interested in, of achieving your dreams but finding yourself no closer to personal happiness. This is a man whose glass is most definitely half empty, so the optimists amongst book readers out there may not enjoy his consistent angst, but for me it was every bit amazing as book 1, possibly even better.

There was a lot of examination of the differences between Swedes and Norwegians in this book which fascinated me. He describes Swedes as a nation obsessed with following rules, who are less relaxed and open than his Norwegian family and friends. I found this particularly interesting, as it made sense of the major culture shock myself and work colleagues noticed when our company was sold to an international Swedish company. The 'following the rules' part really rang true - in that business no one would make the smallest decision until half a dozen other departments were consulted, and making a change was viewed with deep scepticism.

Understanding daily living in Stockholm was incredibly interesting. He talks about flat rentals being agreements for life - fail to be a good neighbour and you will feel the full force of the rental authority's might). Washing machines seem to be a luxury item, with most apartment dwellers doing their washing at set times in a communal basement. These little details fascinated me - how could washing machines be a luxury item in modern day Sweden? I gather it's more a question of that's just how the laundry system goes, rather than people being able to afford their own washing machine. The rules of Swedish life, again.

I've been thinking about this series of books since finishing Book 2 this morning. How does this compare with literary fiction? Can you even call it fiction? It's more an incredibly long, philosophical essay. He's not tied down to the traditional writing problems of finding a voice for his characters, of plot, of literary style. Or is he? Is what makes these books so fabulous their utter honesty, the way you can properly live inside the protagonist's head in a way so detailed it's incomparable with other books, or is it that you get to experience Scandinavian life almost first-hand, or is it that it's simply amazing writing? Is that he's a fascinating character, a free spirit with a bit of a bad boy image? For me I think it's all of those and more.

5 stars - I'm a 'woman in love'.

Great review, Alison!

>58 AlisonY: Wow! I think I have the first book in my wishlist but haven't really considered reading it soon. Thanks to you I'm getting closer.

I'll keep the Knausgaard books in mind once I finish and recover from the Ferrante quartet. I've looked at them and thought, "reading about a white guy's feelings for thousands of pages sounds dreadful," but then all the reviews have said they aren't.

As for the washing machines, the apartments (in Germany at least) aren't set up for them. And since space is limited, communal machines in the basement are not uncommon (although that is changing). We're in a house and so have our own washer and dryer, but they are set up so that the washer drains into a nearby sink and the dryer has a compartment for the water that I empty after every use.

>61 RidgewayGirl: A lot of apartments here (in Belgium, and I believe NL is likewise) have a hookup in the bathroom you can potentially use, but indeed, space is very limited; our washer is a tiny rectangle and even so it takes up a lot of our bathroom space, and is directly in front of the toilet, quite obnoxious. In our old place the washer emptied into the shower, so you couldn't really use it at the same time. Here, there is a pipe out of the wall it drains down. Dryers are not a thing in apartments, washing get hung to dry. I feel the majority in apartments here don't bother having a washing machine due to the space/lack of dryer (it doesn't normally bother me, but for linens it can be a pain). Laundromats are liberally scattered, you generally can't go more than a couple blocks without passing one.

>62 .Monkey.: We were in a tiny house fifteen years ago where the washer/dryer was in the bathroom and it did make the bathroom smaller. Also, it was a combo washer/dryer*, so each tiny load took six hours. And we had a new baby. Good times.

*We could not hang things out to dry in winter - the village we were in was called Moos, which translates as marsh. It was always damp. The cottage we lived in had been built to hold workers for the fishery ponds that surrounded the house until it was turned into protected wetlands. Gorgeous location. So glad to currently be living in a city!

Great review Alison.

>63 RidgewayGirl: Yeah, hanging things in winter/on rainy days is irritating, but unless we want to schlep to a laundromat, eh, we manage. Lol. Our former place bred moisture, it was incredibly disturbing, we had to keep a dehumidifier running most of the time to keep it bearable (and keep mold away). Fortunately this place is far better and not a mold pit, haha.

>59 fuzzy_patters:, >60 FlorenceArt:, >64 baswood: thank you kindly!

>61 RidgewayGirl:, >62 .Monkey.:, >63 RidgewayGirl:, >65 .Monkey.: thanks for shedding light on the washing machine issue. Bizarre as it sounds, it's those little details that give you a real sense of what it's like living in a certain place.

>58 AlisonY: I barely, barely skimmed that because I don't want to know anything before I start it, but I get the idea. :) So looking forward to it. And I watched the interview you linked in >55 AlisonY: - super interesting.

>67 ursula: - tried not to give any major spoilers away! Difficult with this one as I could just natter on about it for pages and pages...!

I don't think I can face thousands of pages of real guy's life even if he is in Sweden and philosophizes. Sox I'm glad to read these reviews.

When we lived in NYC in the late 70s, we went to the laundromat around the corner until we had a baby and bought a small washer that hooked up to the faucet on the kitchen sink.

Great review, Alison. I've been on the fence about these books, but I think you're helping to push me over.

>50 ursula:, >51 AlisonY:, >58 AlisonY: Okay, I'm sold. My local library has them, so this year I'll tackle Knausgaard too.

>69 janeajones: - I thought that too, but he gets under your skin if you let him.

>70 cabegley:,>71 reva8: now I will feel REALLY bad if you read Book 1 and don't enjoy it!

My musical hero since I was 15. True love lasts a lifetime. x

A great loss Alison. I was a fan too. He will be missed, but always there in our lives through his work.

>74 Caroline_McElwee: oh totally. What a musical legacy to leave behind. Legend doesn't even cover it.

I'm very sad about Bowie too.

I'm soon to embark on book 2 of the Knausgaard ouevre, so I can't read the review! Nothing can come between me and him!

He's really something, isn't he?

>76 sibylline: totally. Enjoy the affair, lol!!

Great review of Knausgard! I just finished the last one (number 6), which is again about Linda and his kids. He writes part 6 while part 2 is being published. Imagine! Now I feel like reading part 2 again, especially after your review!

By the way, this weekend I'll see him live! Knausgard will be interviewed in a theater near by and I've got tickets!

>78 Simone2: Wow! Will need a FULL account of your Knausgaard theatre event!!

I don't think Book 6 is published in the UK anyway. Which was your favourite of the 6?

>58 AlisonY: A quite excellent review of Knausgaard, possibly the only one that has made me think I might be missing out by not reading him. I'm afraid until now I've been in the same camp as >63 RidgewayGirl: and >69 janeajones:. Perhaps one day I'll attempt at least book one.

Fabulous review of My Struggle: Book Two, Alison! I loved Book One, although I haven't written a review of it yet, and I'll probably start Book Two in either February or March.

>79 AlisonY: I think my favourites are the first two and the last. The fifth was a bit disappointing to me, but overall I find it a really great novel. I admire Knausard immensely for being so honest and so human. It is in some places painfullly recognizable.
To all of you afraid of starting, try it, you will be captured by it in less than half an hour. If not, you know he's not for you! But especially when you are about his age, I think you'll like it from the start!

>73 AlisonY: Nice tribute to the Thin White Duke.

>82 Simone2: interesting - was there anything specially that you felt made book 5 weaker? It's only on release in the UK in March of this year.

>83 baswood: he had some exit, huh? I listened to the new Black Star album last night for the first time and couldn't believe that nearly every song was about him dying and saying goodbye. Only Bowie could release that as a final farewell and then die 3 days later.

>84 AlisonY: According to Le Monde, he fooled the press too. They had no article ready because they had no idea he was ill.

>85 FlorenceArt: I love that. Well done Bowie for doing it his way. Original to the end.

Wonderful reviews of The Enchanted April and My Struggle Book 2, Alison. Luckily I already own the first two Knausgard, so I just need to find the time to read them. I'm looking forward to following your reading.

>Thanks Linda. Likewise re. your books.

Terrific review of My Struggle book 2.

>89 dchaikin: thanks Dan. One of those reads where you really want to write about it afterwards to collect your own thoughts.

Another observance on the Swedes that I forgot to mention in my review was that Knausgaard comments on how it's so cheap for them to eat out all the time compared to Norway. And sure enough, a lot of his time seems to be spent having dinner out, having lunch out, buying take-way breakfast to eat at home etc. As someone who finds no love in cooking I seem to be living in the wrong country (or perhaps I just need to move out of the countryside into the city).

>84 AlisonY: I don't remember exactly why I liked Knausgard's book 5 less. I think it was because of less happening and the story/his life just going on and on. Just like real life sometimes! In the context of all the others however, it can't be missed and completes the series absolutely.

I'm just getting caught up on threads. Well, I might never get caught up at this rate.

>58 AlisonY: Excellent review!

>73 AlisonY: Very sad news about Bowie. I'm also a long time fan. And so soon after hearing about Motörhead's loss of Phil "Philthy" Taylor and Lemmy Kilmister. I just bought Bowie and Motörhead albums recently. (Am I the last person to buy albums?)

>92 VivienneR: oh definitely not. Did you hear that in the UK Top 40 album chart last week after his death Bowie had 19 albums in the chart?

I must admit I haven't bought any music in ages, but I'm really getting into Bowie's Blackstar album on YouTube so definitely want to buy that (if I can figure out what my Apple passcode might be for my iPod, that is...).

I hadn't heard about the UK Top 40 list but my daughter-in-law told me a satellite radio station was entirely devoted to Bowie. Blackstar isn't my favourite, but I have to have it.

>94 VivienneR: it's a grower. I thought it too weird to begin with, but even my 6 year old loves it now (well, those she's allowed to listen to off it).

3. Review - Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekback

The year is 1717. A couple and their two daughters move from the Finnish coast seeking a new life away from family fears on a remote mountain in Swedish Lapland. Before long their daughters make a gruesome discovery; it becomes apparent that there is a darkness at work on the mountain, and that this Wolf Winter will be one that can never be forgotten.

This is an amazing debut thriller, full of dark suspense and evocatively described winter hardship. Layer upon layer of intrigue creates a page turning web of tension and unpredictability, with superbly drawn out characters.

4 stars - an unusual and most enjoyable read.

>96 AlisonY: On the list it goes - looks great!

>96 AlisonY: This sounds like one for my wishlist.

>97 japaul22:, >98 NanaCC: one to be read for any of you coping with the great eastern snowstorm at the moment!

4. Review - The Uncannily Strange and Brief Life of Amedeo Modigliani by Velibor Colic

I must preface this review with the confession that I know next to nothing about art. I can recognise the classics that we all know, but beyond that I'm a total art philistine. Such therefore is the joy of the random library pick up, of coming home with a book that would never normally end up on your wish list or mount TBR.

To embarrass myself with my own art ignorance even further, it was only in the middle of reading this book that I realised I have had 2 Modigliani prints hanging on the walls of various homes for the past 15 years without knowing a jot about who had painted the originals.

Anyway, this is an odd little book, printed in smaller than normal size, and written in a poetical randomness which echoes the opium and alcohol fuelled craziness of the painter's short life. Love, drugs, prison, prostitutes, drugs, muses, murder, vagrancy - he lived a life of chaos and debauchery as all the best writers and artists have done for centuries.

3 stars - an interesting read on an artist who was previously unknown to me. But now I will forever understand the pupil-less eyes of the love of his life who stare down at me from the wall of my sun room.

>96 AlisonY: Ahh, another one for the wishlist. My TBR has been growing a lot faster since I joined this Group Read.

Nice story about you and the Modigliani's

>96 AlisonY: I have that near the top of a pile, might get to it soonish Alison.

>101 Simone2:, >103 Caroline_McElwee: my review doesn't do it justice - it's a very enjoyable read.

>102 baswood: thank you!

>What are the chances of that, that you would unknowingly have artwork up by an artist you are reading about? Or are your walls covered in many prints? Anyway, good story.

>105 dchaikin: no, don't have that many art prints up Dan - you could count them on one hand. This is one of them (think it's one of his more famous works):

>106 AlisonY: i'm no art critic, but it is quite pretty. (I don't recognize it)

5. Review - Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

I've been wanting to read this autobiography for years, and it didn't disappoint. I'm not a big sports fan, and not at all a tennis follower, save for one fleeting summer. It was 1992, I was finishing off my first year at university, and my flatmates and I were all glued to a little portable TV set watching Agassi breaking all the rules at Wimbledon with his crazy hair and earrings. Of course the fact that half the crazy hair was a wig was unbeknown to us at the time - that summer he was just uber cool (and seriously cute).

Before any gents reading this review turn off completely, cuteness aside this is an amazing book. More biography than autobiography as Agassi's main input was recounting his life to a ghost writer's tape recorder, but that's neither here nor there. Whether you like tennis or have minimal interest in it, this is an immense read, less about the sport and more about one man's struggle to find himself and to lose his demons.

From Andre's birth his father, an Iranian immigrant, had one goal in life - to make his son the number one tennis player in the world. He had no tennis background of his own (he was an amateur boxer in Iran), but was resolutely fixated on this path for his child. He moved out into the desert of Las Vegas so he could afford a plot with a yard big enough to build a tennis court, and from the outset removed the right of choice from the his son. Whether he enjoyed it or not (and he didn't), he was going to be out hitting 2,500 balls every day from the age of six.

By the time he was turned pro in his teens, after several miserable years when he was shipped off by his father to live in a tennis academy in Florida, he was an unhappy, rebellious tennis prodigy who hated rules and hated the sport more. Despite his successes and grand slam wins, throughout his 20 years of professional playing he continued to struggle with his hatred for his sport, or moreover his hatred of a life that he was not in control of.

This book is very cleverly written in that although there is the backdrop of his great tennis successes and failures, the tennis matches are covered just enough to frame the scene without becoming too tedious. Moreover they form the backdrop of a fascinating life story filled with larger than life characters and a myriad of personal battles. There is the sadness of his relationship with his father who fails to ever emotionally connect with the child who is living out his dreams for him, the heartache of a marriage with a wife whose life is just too different from his (Brooke Shields), the unbreakable bond with his trainer Gil throughout his career, a giant of a man who loves him like a son, his unwavering friendships with his old pals from Vegas (including an old school friend who leads him to crystal meth), his loyal coach Brad who works tirelessly to rebuild him, and ultimately his path to loving life and tennis through his new love Steffi Graff and a transformation to choice.

I'm sure behind the stories of many great athletes are similar tales of tiger parents who push their children from the moment they emerge from the womb. Agassi is full of contradictions, which is what makes his book so engaging - despite his personal psychological conflicts with the game, he went on to have one of the longest tennis careers and was one of the oldest grand slam winners. An ultimate story of triumph, I had tears in my eyes by the end.

4.5 stars - game, set and match.

Still musing in my own head about the Agassi book. It's made me think about famous people (be it sports stars, singers, actors, whatever) and their entourages.

Agassi had a small group of people who spent 20 years of their lives going around the circuit with him. Is that true love, friendship and loyalty? Is it the ultimate selfless act of a group of people who have that person's success and happiness at the forefront of their life (as Agassi saw them), or are these people hangers on (as his first wife Brooke Shields considered them to be)? Do they stick with these famous people because of the lifestyle and the monetary benefits?

The jury is still out in my own head. I think the truth is probably a combination of all of the above.

>108 AlisonY: What a fascinating story! I dont think I will read this book, but thank you for this great review. I always feel bad about parents doing this to their children.

>108 AlisonY: Great review, Alison.

>110 FlorenceArt:, >111 NanaCC: thank you both. This was a perfect read in what was a very stressful week.

>108 AlisonY: Terrific thoughts on Open. I saw you were reading it and thought it would probably still work for someone who wasn't a tennis fan. Glad I was right. He tells an interesting story, especially as I remember so much of it - that "image is everything" campaign was particularly fascinating to read about from the other side. I remember how much flak he got about that, and to find out the battles he was having with himself over the hair loss, his image, his career, everything ... well, it certainly put it all in an entirely different perspective. And yes, I was also very touched by how he not only came to terms with the game but in fact found himself really wanting that last win.

>109 AlisonY: On the subject of entourages ... I have thought about this a bit because Rafa Nadal has a large and long-standing entourage he travels with. I can understand wanting to take some sort of "home" with you since you travel so much, but at some point being so close with a group of people might hold you back. You aren't likely to fire your family, after all. And if you are having issues in your career, a shakeup might be just what you need. If you aren't willing to be the "boss" and/or they are the type to want to hang on to the gravy train, you can find yourself in trouble with that. But I think you're right, that it's probably a little of Column A, a little of Column B.

I just feel so bad for child-Agassi being made to do all of that. It's why I can never really enjoy most of the Olympics, I worry too much about whether it was the child's choice all the way. And then even if it was the child's choice when the family makes huge changes and sacrifices for one child's interest when there are other siblings too... It just turns me off.

>113 ursula: thanks - sounds like you enjoyed Open too. So many stars seem to very desperately need to be surrounded by friends all the time. Makes you wonder if many of them are trying to make up for feeling somewhat unloved by their own families.

>114 mabith: absolutely. Above all Agassi just seemed to miserable a lot of the time. On paper he had everything you could wish for, but ultimately it was never his dream.

Great review of Open, Alison. You read my mind with the first sentence of the second paragraph!

I really enjoyed your comments about the Andre Agassi book. I don't think I'd read it, but I'm going to look for a copy for my husband --I think he'd really enjoy it and then he can tell me about it.

>116 kidzdoc:, >117 Nickelini: it's a book that would definitely appeal to men or women if you were of a certain age in the Agassi era.

Terrific review Alison. I think I might want to read this. I'm not a huge tennis fan, but Agassi has just been around so much of my life. And I think I was moved by your review.

Is Moehringer the ghost writer? That's a pretty good ghost writer.

>119 dchaikin: yes Dan - Moehringer was the ghost writer, and to be fair to Agassi he gives him his due acknowledgement at the end.

It's a hugely enjoyable book - a great life story even if you're not a major tennis fan.

Really liked your review of Open. Agassi has always fascinated me. I grew up with a girl whose father had similar dreams. I remember her swimming at the lake during the summer and her father standing on the beach and screaming at her to get out and practice tennis. I think she was on the Junior Circuit for a few years, but never really made it. For every Agassi or Olympic athlete raised like that, how many more are out there who also have to live with the disappointment of their parents?

Great review of Andre Agassi's book. One for the wishlist.

>121 cabegley: oh, totally. The saddest part with Agassi was that his many of his successes actually meant little to him because it was never his dream in the first place. It's very sad that so many parents put their own ambitions for their kids (usually born out of their own failures) before their children's own choices and happiness. No wonder so many famous people end up on drink & drugs - it's such a hollow success. Ultimately your friend probably had a lucky escape not quite making it.

>122 VivienneR: I'm sure you'd enjoy it, Vivienne. I noticed that it seems to stay in lots of the top 100 biography lists even though it's been out for quite a few years and Agassi's day has been and gone, which I think says something for how well written it is.

>108 AlisonY: an interesting review Alison. I'm not into sport at all, but I could see it would interest me. The ambition of parents can be a mixed blessing. If only they were ambitious for what the child wants, rather than wanting mini-me's, or kids that achieve in areas not available to themselves.

>124 Caroline_McElwee: you have got it spot on, Caroline. Hope you enjoy the book if you get to it.

That picture on the top of your thread is fascinating. Did you just change it, or am I just not very observant?

Ooo yes, new fascinating picture!

>126 NanaCC:, >127 Caroline_McElwee: yes - randomly changed it as I spotted this picture on my main Pinterest page and it intrigued me.

That is a marvelous image - I've noticedthere seems to be a whole category of decaying books, exposed to the elements imagery out there. And I am a sucker for it!

>108 AlisonY: I found a nice used edition of Open today. I bought it for my husband, but I might end up reading it. Thanks for pointing it out.

>129 sibylline: thanks - think it affects our souls seeing books left orphaned and unloved like that!

>130 Nickelini: excellent. Hope you both enjoy it!

I'm slowing up on my reading this month as work is incredibly busy and I'm also finding Atonement a bit slower going than I'd have liked, but in the meantime I've been flicking through a couple of other areas of reading material that I won't count towards my books read total but which have been interesting nonetheless.

One is a children's book my son picked up from the library last week. It's so brilliant I just have to share it. It's called Why Can't I Tickle Myself?: Big Questions from Little People Answered by Some Very Big People, published in aid of the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in the UK).



At first I thought it was just a fun fact book, but then I flicked inside it and saw who the contributing writers were and the topics they address, and it's just pure genius. For example:

How do you fall in love?... Jeanette Winterson and David Nicholls
What should you do when you can't think what to draw or paint?.... Tracey Emin
Why was Guy Fawkes so naughty?... Philippa Gregory
Are there any undiscovered animals?... David Attenborough
How do story writers get ideas for characters?... Dame Jacqueline Wilson
How to sportspeople concentrate when the crowd is noisy?... Colin Montgomerie
How do you keep going when you're losing at sport?... Dame Kelly Holmes
How do chefs get ideas for recipes?... Gordon Ramsey
Are we all related?... Dr. Richard Dawkins
If a cow didn't fart for a year and then did one big fart would it fly into space?... Mary Roach
Why can't we live forever?... Richard Holloway

I could go on and on as there are so many famous scientists, authors, psychologists, chefs, comedians and more answering just brilliant questions for kids and adults alike. A snippet from one of my favourites:

Why are some people mean?... Dr. Oliver James

"...Someone has done something to them that makes them angry or sad. And they want to get rid of that feeling. So they try to make you angry or sad. It's like using other people as a dustbin for rubbish. They have this rubbish feeling so they try to dump it in you. For a little bit afterwards they feel relief. They think 'Thank goodness I got rid of that rubbish'."

My son was being troubled by bullies a little while back, and I thought this was a great way to explain why people sometimes act in a way that hurts other people.

Age-wise I would say this works best for kids of 8+. Some of the answers my son couldn't grasp so well as the authors had tried to be a little too clever for the target age group, but he's enjoyed dipping in and out of it nonetheless. Some of the contributors may not be as well known outside of the UK (like Bear Grylls, Heston Blumenthal and Miranda Hart), but I think the answers make for enjoyable reading anyway.

And just to add - cows can't fart. Who knew?

Cows can't fart? How do they get rid of the gas then? Do they burp? I remember hearing at school that sometimes a cow can swallow a whole apple that gets stuck somewhere (the throat?) and then the gas accumulates because it can't escape, and you have to make a hole in the cow's belly to save her. I wonder if she would explode otherwise.

Yes - they can only burp apparently.

>132 AlisonY: Sounds interesting - I imagine my kids would have gotten a kick out of it at the appropriate age. Bear Grylls at least is pretty well-known in the US thanks to doing a tv show about surviving in the wilderness that was a bit controversial for what occasionally happened behind the scenes (staying in hotels instead of barren wastelands). But he apparently still has a show, which President Obama was on last year. (I didn't see it, but I see that it aired in the US last fall.)

>132 AlisonY: that sounds like a great book Alison. I don't normally do kids books, but I might have to pick that one up.

>135 ursula: I hadn't watched BG shows before Ursula, but I did see the Obama one (I'm in the UK. Interesting but tame. It was a platform for a climate change conscious outgoing President I felt. I suspect that will become his focus in the future.

We have a great outdoors survival guy in the UK called Ray Mears, I love his programmes.

>135 ursula: yes, Bear and his producers were a tad idiotic pretending that he was stranded in the wilderness when he really went off to his hotel for a comfy night's sleep, but I find him very hard to dislike. He's the UK Chief Scout, and I couldn't think of a better man for the job.

> love Ray Mears too. I'm very happy to watch people on TV do outdoors survival so long as I can remain comfortable on my own couch.

>132 AlisonY: I would have loved that book as a kid! Sounds really fun. Might have to find it for my nephew's next birthday.

>137 AlisonY: I'm with you on that Alison, but if I had to do something outdoorsy, I'd want Ray on my team.

>96 AlisonY: We're having our only really cold weather of this winter and Wolf Winter sounds like exactly what I should be reading!

>138 mabith: it's a great book even for adults (or maybe even more so for adults as we can appreciate who the authors are).

>140 Linda92007: it's definitely a curl up with the fire on a cold evening kind of book!

>141 AlisonY: Definitely one I'd order with plenty of time to read it before I have to hand it over. Or to keep with me to read with him when he visits if I really like it...

6. Review - Atonement by Ian McEwan

I'm finding it hard to review this book, as I'm torn over how I feel about it.

Told in 4 parts, Atonement is a cleverly construed idea of how a young teenager's total misunderstanding of a chain of adult events leads to a family being split apart.

It ticked a lot of my reading boxes - a setting that shifted from a big English country house to the Dunkirk retreat and then to the London hospital war effort, all nicely tied together by the huge sense of loss affecting all the characters on the back of the child's error of judgement. A little bit Downton Abbey meets Brideshead Revisted, I definitely enjoyed it, but I can't help feeling a little bit disappointed by it.

The second half of the book was excellent - a definite page turner with plenty to keep the reader sitting up into the wee small hours to finish it. But the first part of the book I found slow going. It took far too long to get to the main event of the novel, and I was well over 100 pages in before I started to care about the storyline and commit myself to finishing it. At the beginning the prose seemed unnecessarily dense and over descriptive, which I haven't found in the other McEwan novels I've read, and rather than build up suspense it just dragged on too much and felt boring in parts.

If I was scoring this book on parts 2-3 it would be 4 stars plus, but part 1 was at least 50 pages too long, and part 4 felt a little rushed.

3.5 stars - worth a read, but not destined for this year's hot list.

Interested by your review of Atonement. I'm glad to hear that his others books are less descriptive and boring. I couldn't get past part 1. My main reason was the feeling of dread that something horrible and avoidable is going to happen, but frankly I wasn't too impressed by the writing. All the characters seemed to speak with the same voice, which made them unbelievable, especially the girl.

I keep telling myself I should try another of McEwan's book.

>144 FlorenceArt: I've read The Cement Garden and On Chesil Beach and found them to be very different from this one - I really empathised with the characters in those novels, but those in Atonement didn't touch me much at all.

Those other two books I found to be much more subtle, driven by emotions rather than plot.

Thanks for the recommendation, these books sound like I could like them. On the wishlist!

>145 AlisonY: agreeing with Alison. I did prefer his earlier writing. And I'd add Enduring Love as another of the middle years, which I really liked.

I'm not a McEwan fan, it seems. I read Atonement a while back and didn't enjoy it, and then read Amsterdam last year and although I enjoyed much of it, thought the ending was idiotic and that pretty much did the book in for me. I still have more of his to read from the 1001 books list, so we'll see if any of them win me over.

One thing about McEwan is that he doesn't write one kind of book. They're each so different from one another. If you don't like one, you'll like a different one and vice versa. Enduring Love is one I really liked.

>146 FlorenceArt: As Caroline and Kay have pointed out, Enduring Love is supposed to be great although I haven't got to it yet myself.

>147 Caroline_McElwee:, >148 ursula:, >149 RidgewayGirl: Enjoying the McEwan debate. The Children Act seems to be another one of his books that very much divides people.

I've read almost everything by McEwan, so obviously I'm a fan. His books are all different, and I'd say Atonement is the most different. It was the first McEwan I read, and I was immediately drawn in -- I was absolutely blown away by the first section, and then the rest of the book sort of lagged for me. I love that book for the strength of the first section alone.

I also agree with the recommendation of Enduring Love. I read that in one day while on holiday and ignored my family and Hawai'i because of it.

As I said before, I disliked Atonement and then when I read excerpts of On Chesil Beach in The New Yorker I didn't like those either so I've read no more McEwan. But it's so long ago (and pre-LT) that I can't remember why I disliked them.

On Chesil Beach is a novel that would make absolutely no sense in excerpts. Thanks, New Yorker, for ruining a book for someone.

>151 Nickelini: interesting that you enjoyed part 1 of Atonement when that was the part that I found slow. There's the joy of books for you - we all like different things.

Another vote for Enduring Love This one grips from the start.

>152 rebeccanyc:, >153 Nickelini:

Well I read the entirety of the book and still hated it so there's that. :P

>156 lilisin: one man's meat is another man's poison!

7. Review - Post Office by Charles Bukowski

Set in the Beatnik era, Post Office is an almost autobiographical account of Bukowski's time spent working for the US postal service.

This is a window into the mundane, ordinary life of blue collar anti-hero Henry Chinaski. Chinaski is one of life's losers - a drinker with an aversion to authority and a general lack of commitment to anything. Despite himself, he can't help continually coming full circle back to his dead-end job at the postal sorting office.

Essentially this is an account of an ordinary life at a time when responsibilities mattered little and self-satisfaction was the priority. Not to be read with a feminist or politically correct head on (expect plenty of 'pussy' and 'tits' references), this is a book about a snapshot in time in Everydayville. You may not agree with many of Chinaski's ideals and turns of phrase, but it is a clever book of dark humour and cynicism against the System.

I enjoyed this much more than On the Road as a Beatnik book - if you enjoy Updike's Rabbit series this may be one for you.

4 stars - good fun, not to be taken too seriously.

>158 AlisonY: Good review of Bukowskii. I've been meaning to read him.

The only thing I know about Bukowski is that he turned up drunk at Apostrophe (very well known literary TV show in France) in the 80s and wreaked havoc. I never tried to read any of his books. Not sure I ever will, but I enjoyed your review.

I've heard about Bukowski for years, but never read anything by him. Wasn't he primarily a poet?

>160 FlorenceArt: if Post Office was as autobiographical as we're led to believe, I can quite imagine him thoroughly enjoying putting two fingers up to the literary programme you mention and generally breaking all the rules of etiquette and expected behaviour.

>161 rebeccanyc: I think he was a poet, and also a screenwriter.

I'm just catching up after a week visiting grandchildren. Atonement is on my TBR. I've never read anything by McEwan, so I'm glad to have read your review.

I don't know if Bukowski is for me, but I'll check into the book based upon your review.

>143 AlisonY: I have never been able to make it through Atonement but maybe one day...

>158 AlisonY: I loved Post Office! I thought it was hilarious. You're right that's it not to be taken it too seriously and if people read it with a PC lens they will totally hate it. I want to read some of Bukowski's other novels, but they are very hard to track down. The only reason I ever read Post Office is that I finally ordered it online when I had a gift card!

>143 AlisonY: I finished this recently as well and had a similar reaction. I think the slow first part was sort of necessary to get all the background for the characters but I was really tired of it and somewhat tempted to drop the book towards the beginning.

Oh Post Office that is a book I've meant to read for so long . . .

Glad too to hear some criticism of Ian MacEwan who, if I had to sum it up in one word, strikes me as cold. Just cold. I can't get into his work, no matter how much I try.

>166 sibylline: Glad too to hear some criticism of Ian MacEwan who, if I had to sum it up in one word, strikes me as cold. Just cold. I can't get into his work, no matter how much I try.

Now that's an interesting observation. I've never noticed him being cold before and will now look out for it. Mind you, it's likely that I don't mind "cold" as much as some people, and so what you see as a deterrent is something that I like. Maybe. Anyway, as someone who has been talking about McEwan for a couple of decades, I find that he has almost as many detractors as fans, so there is lots of criticism of him out there for you to enjoy.

>158 AlisonY: I have read Post Office, but have considered it many times. 20 years ago, I enjoyed the heck out of Bukowski's Pulp which I found outlandishly funny, if embittered.

>166 sibylline: Though I have only read one McEwan, Amsterdam, I agree that it was a cold and seemingly dispassionate story. I had trouble getting through it and have not read another McEwan since.

>163 NanaCC: if you can live with the first part being a bit slow it might be your kind of book, Colleen.

>164 Tara1Reads: haven't checked out his other novels yet. I did enjoy Post Office, but don't feel a burning need to grab another one just yet.

>165 janemarieprice: me too. I kept thinking "This is the kind of book I usually love - why am I not getting into this?". It just felt over-written in the first part.

>166 sibylline:, >167 Nickelini: I suppose there's not too much human happiness in his books, but I don't mind that so long as I can properly "feel" what the character is feeling.

>168 brodiew2: is Pulp a similar anti-hero type of novel? On McEwan, Amsterdam hasn't tempted me yet. I think he's a bit like some of my favourite singers - just because I like a lot of their work, doesn't mean I like all the songs on an album (can we still say album nowadays, or am I showing my age?).

Clearly McEwan has a bit of a marmite to him, but his books that I do like I really love and they're in my favourites.

>169 AlisonY: As I recall, Pulp is a noirish private eye romp which employs much of the same type of language you described from Post Office. It is most definitely an anti-hero novel.

>169 AlisonY: - I agree about the McEwan/Marmite effect Alison, but would add that you may switch your tastes in regard to him. The first of his novels that I really didn't like was Saturday, and I've not read many post that.

>171 Caroline_McElwee: I read Saturday, and haven't read him since.

Alison - enjoyed catching up. I just read your reviews on Atonemnent and Post Office. I have read a book of poetry by Bukowski, and at one time wanted to read Factotum, but I can't remember why. I'm certainly not surprised that his novel is not pc (or that he showed up drunk for an interview-see >160 FlorenceArt:).

Thanks for that review of Charles Bukowski's Post Office. It sounds very much like a book of its times.

>173 baswood: thanks for stopping by to read it!

Just catching up on your thread and enjoying the discussions here.

I'm finding your discussion of Ian McEwan interesting. I have Atonement and Saturday on my shelves and hope to get to them soon while the comments are still fresh in my mind.

I'm one of those who reads most of McEwan's books, although not always right away. I think I would call him 'clinical' rather than outright 'cold', but that's probably a matter of degree. This was beginning to wear and I was almost ready to give him a rest, when The Children Act came out and all was forgiven. I was a fan again. I haven't made it to Enduring Love yet (good that LT recognizes titles!).

Post Office sounds like a good one.

8. Review - A Room with a View by EM Forster

I've a feeling I'm going to be out on a limb with this review, but, despite having loved the other EM Forster novels I've read, I found A Room with a View to be as dull as ditchwater. I've been looking forward to reading this book for ages, so my disappointment is only multiplied.

This was definitely a case for me where the film totally surpassed the book. I loved the film - those gorgeous Florentine views, the fanning of the flames of desire between Lucy and George, the humorous dialogue played out so well by Bonham-Carter in particular. But the book fell so flat! The first 150 pages bored me rigid - it was only in the last 50 that it got mildly interesting.

I get that Forester wanted us to feel Lucy's growing sense of boredom and desire to feel that wonderment in life, but I felt entrenched in the dullness of her world. The characters she engaged with were largely pretentious and emotionless, and I just couldn't feel anything for any of them. Even the budding romance between Lucy and George left me cold. There was so little interaction between them it was hard to feel from those 4 or 5 short encounters any building of the desire between them.

It was obvious by page 20 what was going to happen in the end, and I was just glad to reach that point so I could shut the cover forever and move on.

2.5 stars - yaaaaawwwwwnnnnnnnnnn

How disappointing Alison. I too loved the film, but have not read the book. I love Howards End, recently reread, A Passage to India read several times, and I'm sure I've read at least one other of his books. I guess we can't expect writers to strike gold for us all the time, and the setting is probably what wooed us most in the film.

That's interesting! I loved A Room with a View, liked Howard's End, and despised A Passage to India.

>179 Caroline_McElwee:, >180 japaul22: I really loved Howard's End too and also Maurice. Ah well - still feeling the love for old Forster based on those two alone.

>178 AlisonY: I read A Room With a View a million years ago and felt much the way you do. The film is so very very fabulous. Sometimes the book just can't compete.

I love both the film and the book of A Room with a View

Sorry that I'm not reaching many people's threads at the moment, or posting too much on my own thread. Work is all consuming at the moment - don't think this year's final book count is going to be too high!

I would say Howard's End is somehow the one I loved best too. What a way to go, being done in by a bookcase! A Passage to India a tad histrionic. And I can't quite remember A Room With a View, the book, but BOTH movies were quite good in their own way. I think I prefer the older one though

Love the marmite/MacEwan! Of course that is not exactly cold, but sort of yeasty and sour!

>185 sibylline: such brilliant actors in those movies - loved them.

I seem to be in a bit of a mediocre book choice phase - need to order some corkers from the library.

>184 AlisonY: Time to read something you wouldn't necessarily indulge in, no matter how silly it is. Those times when other things take us away from reading are awful. I sympathize.

You remind me that I haven't yet read A Room with a View, although I was sure I had. I know I've read Howard's End and A Passage to India each more than once, so what happened to the room, I'm not sure.

9 & 10. Review - Basic Bech: Bech a Book, Bech is Back by John Updike

This is a collection of two quasi-novels of inter-linked short stories about Updike's fictional author character Henry Bech.

Although Updike wrote three books about Bech, they have never reached anywhere near the legion of fans that the Rabbit series of books have (indeed, if you look on Amazon there are a mere handful of reviews). There is a simple reason for that - the Bech series is simply not as enjoyable as the Rabbit books - but having said that, although I plodded through these two in places, there was undoubtedly a lot of the usual Updike brilliance in there too.

Bech is a celebrated American author who has had one meteoric success which entered the hallowed halls of 'classic' status, as well as writing a handful of other books which invariably declined from OK to poor. In Bech: A Book, the stories are based on Bech eking out a living by doing book tours around the world on the back of his first major success. A few of these travels were to communist countries during the Cold War era, which were particularly interesting and comic in places, but often they descended too far into literary musings and I definitely grew weary at points. The focus on this book was more on the places and the life of a celebrated author than on Bech's character. There were glimpses of his black humour and commitment phobia (imagine a more intelligent version of Rabbit Angstrom), but as these were short stories his romantic dalliances were brief, and without a consistent set of supporting characters Bech himself wasn't developed as much as I'd hoped.

In Bech is Back Updike writes more about Bech's reluctant descension into domesticity and eventual marriage, and with a more consistent backdrop of characters this book showed more of the Updike that I love. After more than a decade in the writing wilderness, Bech is strongly 'encouraged' into writing another book by his wife. It feels semi-autobiographical in places as Bech describes his process of figuring out characters, and carries around the fear of never being able to write as well as his first big success. I wonder if this is how Updike felt after the success of the Rabbit series.

Overall this collection of two books was hit and miss for me, probably more miss than hit, but when I started to get agitated at the tedium of some stories I forced myself to focus on the language again and appreciated more what I was reading.

3 stars - mediocre, but my Updike love affair holds strong.

Interesting review, but I don't think it's enough to lure me back to Updike -- I read the Rabbit books in the 70s, but the last of his I read was The Witches of Eastwick.

>189 janeajones: what did you think of The Witches of Eastwick? I've avoided it as I have this preconception that it will be Updike with a totally different style of writing which I won't like, but I haven't totally ruled it out.

190> Alison, as I remember it, it had a definitely masculinist, if not misogynistic, bent that annoyed me.

>191 janeajones: fairly standard for Updike!

I have read one of the Bech books and it did not have the same buzz as the Rabbit books, but I enjoy Updike's writing and so I am encouraged by your review to try again with Bech.

>191 janeajones: >192 AlisonY: Snort! He was my mother's favorite writer - so I read everything of his and I agree about his brilliance, but he drove me INSANE with his predatory attitude and assumptions about women and I tried to talk to my mother about that. Her attitude was that that was not the point but that he captured "how it was". I think she more or less lived Couples and felt he understood her generation. Certainly I remember being one of a pack of children running around unsupervised during cocktail parties . . .

>193 baswood: if you started with the first Bech book I think you'll enjoy the second more, but still I've enjoyed other books by him a lot more.

>194 sibylline: that did make me chortle! I do agree with your Mum, though - he's totally masculinist, but I think he captured a mood of a certain group within that generation.

11. Review - Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski

Set in the period post WWII, Little Boy Lost is the tale of a broken man and his conflicted search for his five year old child in France. I don't think I can easily say anything else about this book without giving away what makes it such a poignant and page-turning read.

Thoroughly enjoyable - emotionally charged.

3.5 stars - another Persephone classic that hits the spot.

>196 AlisonY: I think that was one of the first Persephone books I bought Alison, I've probably got a dozen or so now.

>197 Caroline_McElwee: they're like a big hearty bowl of soup, aren't they?

>196 AlisonY: Little Boy Lost sounds good, Alison.

>199 NanaCC: my review doesn't do it justice Colleen, but it's one of those books that's engaging and an easy page turner. Something to pick up when you don't want to have to concentrate too hard on a book.

12. Review - Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy is fast becoming one of my favourite authors; that man knew how to spin a seriously good yarn, and I am going to have serious book hangover now after finishing Tess. Emotion wrenching characterisation? Tick. Amazing imagery? Tick. Page-turning plot? Tick. 500 pages felt like 50.

Tess is an amazing protagonist - beautiful and pure at heart, she stalwartly endures the major change in circumstances thrown at her throughout the book, tearing our hearts apart with her readiness to carry the can for the men who have wronged her. Alec d'Urberville is a superb and complex villain of conflicting layers, and Angel Clare... well, let's just say Hardy played with his character so cleverly that at one point I shouted aloud "what a complete s**t!" much to the surprise and consternation of my husband.

These trials and tribulations were all played out with the backdrop of Wessex painted as if with an artist's delicate brushstrokes. I watched the mist clear across lush green valleys as I walked side-by-side with Tess along the lanes and byways, felt the dew on the hems of my skirts, and felt the warmth of the sun on my face as I looked out across the dairy courtyard to the views beyond.

My only criticism with this book is with this particular Penguin Popular Classic edition, which felt a need to give away most of the plot on the book jacket. This spoilt a number of plot points which Hardy had done a great job of concealing, and seemed very unnecessary.

5 stars and then some for the literary equivalent of John Constable.

>201 AlisonY: What a good review of a great book indeed. What other book by Hardy would you recommend?

>201 AlisonY: great review, Alison. I have not read it, but now I want to get to it some day.

>201 AlisonY:

Loved your review :) Hardy is one of my favorites since high school - initially because of Tess but later I've liked his other books as well.

>202 Simone2:, >203 NanaCC:, >204 AnnieMod: thanks all - fantastic book.

>202 Simone2: - I've only on my second Hardy book, but would heartily recommend The Mayor of Casterbridge. It took me 50 or so pages to get into it, but it was one of my favourite reads of last year.

>201 AlisonY: >202 Simone2: Some years ago I read Jude the Obscure and while I somewhat enjoyed it, it put me off Thomas Hardy for a while. I do own Tess of the D'Urbervilles so I might try Hardy again.

Touchstones don't seem to be working right now.

>201 AlisonY: I read Tess when I was a teenager and I know I really liked it, but I remember next to nothing about it. I'm currently reading Far from the Madding Crowd and really enjoying it too.

I've read Tess and Far from the Madding Crowd and while I liked the writing style of both, they were so disastrous and depressing I had to take a Hardy break. Maybe I'll give him another go soon.

>206 rebeccanyc: I found Tess an easy page turner. Might be worth giving Hardy another go.

>207 ursula: really fancy Far from the Madding Crowd - I think it will be my next Hardy sometime in the not too distant future. It was serialised in a new adaptation on TV recently, which I'm looking forward to watching after I read the book.

>201 AlisonY: Another big Hardy fan here. Loved your comparison to Constable.

It is very annoying when the plot is given away on something as obvious as the cover. I no longer read introductions first, but sometimes it is even dangerous to read the notes. The whole plot was given away for Robert Louis Stevenson's The Black Arrow in a small footnote and one of the greatest storytellers was defeated in a second. I finished the book, would have figured out the device, but it was such a letdown.

I love Hardy as well, with Far From the Madding Crowd being my favorite of the ones I've read. Given that I love Elizabeth Gaskell and am enjoying George Eliot as well I seem to just have a thing for Victorian authors.

>210 SassyLassy: I agree totally - I was very annoyed that the book cover on Tess contained major plot spoilers.

>211 mabith: glad to hear Far from the Madding Crowd is good too. Did you read The Woodlanders last year too? I thought it was on your thread, but I could be wrong.

How stupid to put too much on a cover! I read Tess in high school, but am ready to read it again, remembering very very little, just snippets. Have I raved here about Alan Rickman reading The Return of the Native? If you like audio at all or have a subscription it is a MUST. I kept hoping he would do more Hardy, but alas, that will not be.

I, too, love Victorian lit. Actually I love 18th century novels too - Smollett and Fielding and that crowd too. No, wait, maybe, I just love a good novel! But seriously, there is something about the Victorian novel -- an expansive "all the time in the world" feeling?

>213 sibylline: I'm not a big audio fan, but I can imagine Alan Rickman would have had the perfect voice for a classic novel narration. Is The Return of the Native a good tale then?

Fielding and Smollett are totally new to me - which books would you recommend in particular?

I agree there is just something so compelling about Victorian literature, and perhaps you've hit the nail on the head - there isn't the rush, rush of modern day life. It's a virtual escape off the hamster wheel.

Yes, I like that explanation of my love of Victorian literature and long books in general. I love to really settle into a book.

>214 AlisonY: I'm currently reading Smollett's Travels through France and Italy, it's a series of letters he wrote to friends at home about his traveling experiences. He's full of detail about the costs of coaches, horses, houses, furniture, food, servants etc. He's always telling you the local economy, what they grow, what they make, what they sell. He's also quite fabulously grumpy. I'm quite fond of him.

I read The return of the native last year, my first foray into Hardy since I was completely put off in school. It's not a cheery tale. The first chapter, about Egdon Heath, is quite amazing piece of description, it comes alive in front of your eyes. But I'm can't say I'm going to seek him out again - too glum for me.
Edited to add: Having said which, my next audio book from the library is Hardy - Wessex tales.

>216 Helenliz: I don't think Hardy does joy in a big way, but I don't mind that. I look forward to hearing what you think of Wessex Tales.

I'd never even hear of Smollett until Sibyx mentioned him earlier. Sounds like an interesting book you're reading - be sure to post a review when you're done.

Also loved your review of Tess of the D'Urbervilles Hardy is also a favourite of mine although he can be a tad depressing.

>218 baswood: thank you! For some reason I need my Victorian dramas to be full of angst and woe. I'm sure Freud would read something into that...

>213 sibylline: >214 AlisonY: I don't do much audio either, but I bought Alan Rickman reading The Return of the Native years ago, and loved it. I leant the tapes to a friend recently, and have it digitally too.