Ridgeway Girl Reads in Different Places, Part One

I'll be officially opening this thread on January 1, 2016.

My reading goals for the year are to continue to read more books written by women (which was last year's goal) and add to it an increased proportion of books written outside of the US and the UK. Last year, 76% of my reading was set in those two countries! I'd like to see it reduced to 60%, with the remaining 40% scattered across the rest of the world. And as for my reading by US and UK authors, I'd like a little more of that to come from the voices we hear less from.

I'll be living in Munich for the first half of the year, and then moving back to South Carolina. I usually have no problem reading a hundred books, but the move might slow me down.

Currently Reading



Recently Read



Recently Acquired

Category One



Termagant Titles
Books written by women

1. How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz

Category Two



Texts in Translation
Books originally written in a language other than English

1. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (German)
2. One of Us: Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne Seierstad (Norwegian)
3. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (Japanese)

Category Three



New in the Neighborhood
Books written by immigrants or expats

Category Four



New and Shiny Books
Books published within the last three years

1. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

Category Five



Aged Pages
Books off of my tbr

Category Six



Temporary Titles
Borrowed or library books

1. The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine by Alexander McCall Smith

Category Seven



Noteworthy Novels
Shortlisted or award-winning books

1. The Whites by Richard Price (Contestant - Tournament of Books)
2. The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard (Contestant - Tournament of Books)

Category Eight



International Editions
Books set outside of the US and the UK or written by authors living outside of the US or UK

1. The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes (Ireland)
2. A Fort of Nine Towers by Qais Akbar Omar (Afghanistan)

Category Nine



Various Volumes
Books by authors of color

1. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
2. The Turner House by Angela Flournoy

Category Ten



A Compendium of CATs
Books that fulfill a CAT, a group read or book club book

1. Fashion Victims: The Dangers of Dress Past and Present by Alison Matthews David (RandomCAT January: Embrace your Uniqueness)
2. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (RandomCAT February: It Takes Two)

Woman BingoPUP



7. The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
9. How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz (author usually writes mysteries)

BingoDOG



3. A Fort of Nine Towers by Qais Akbar Omar
5. The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes
10. The Whites by Richard Price
18. Fashion Victims: The Dangers of Dress Past and Present by Alison Matthews David
20. One of Us: Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne Seierstad

Nationalities of Authors Read:



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Where the Books are Set:



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You're finally here! (jumps up & down in joy). Great photos for your categories. I can't believe it's time for you to come back to the states - seems like you just left. I'm sure there'll be some BBs here for me next year too.

Good to see your thread! I'll be following along and looking forward to getting hit with many BBs.

(Moving back to SC) YAY!!!
Have you starred

Yay, welcome back! Looking forward to seeing what you read for the translation category in particular.

Welcome back to the challenge and to the States. Will you be sorry to leave?

Betty, it feels like I just got here to me, too! Still, it will be good to be home.

Likewise, Vivienne!

Victoria, it will be good to see you in person, rather than just texting you.

rp, I'm interested in that category, myself. It's the one that might be a stretch.

Jean, I will miss a lot about Munich. And the traveling that we've been able to do. And the museums. But there are people I miss, so there's a good reason to go home.

I love your category photos and I'm looking forward to following your reading again next year, especially the tournament of books. When you move back to SC, we'll practically be neighbors. Happy New Year!

Thanks, Shannon! I'm eager for the Tournament of Books to announce their shortlist. The long list is too long for me to make any decisions as to what to read at 84 books!

Great set of categories, and I'm looking forward to following along. Even when I wasn't doing the category challenge, I still followed a few threads - yours included - but I'll try to do more than lurk now :)

Great to see your thread up! I love the vintage images you have chosen for your various categories.

Love your category illustrations! Wow, your time in Germany has just flown by, hasn't it?!

Found and starred you, Kay! Looking forward to your return to South Carolina. We'll have to get together again after you get somewhat settled.

>24 katiekrug: I'm glad you'll be here, Katie!

Thanks, Lori. It really has, Eva.

Definitely, Lori. It's time for another meet-up. I think that this time it's up to Victoria and I to drive west.

>28 RidgewayGirl: We can introduce you to McKays. Victoria is well-acquainted with it, I'm sure.

>28 RidgewayGirl: You're on Kay!
>29 thornton37814: Lori, I love McKays. Although I preferred their old building, I have been to the new site once. I think it lost some of its charm but I know they needed the space. Here in Greenville we have Mr K's - it makes me laugh.

Great group of categories. Love all of the old photos. Good luck with your move later in the year and happy reading!

>30 VictoriaPL: Well, alternately, we could do White Pine Books, although they've expanded too. They are still smaller than McKays though. Of course, we could do both.

>32 thornton37814: Lori, I'm sure whatever we do, we will have a great time!

Love your category toppers. Only one day or so until the new year. Hope 2016 is a great one for you.

Yeah! Good to see you. And love your photos.

Hi, Staci, and welcome to my thread! Your cat is impressive. I do like a larger cat, so of course ours is long and lanky.

Thanks, Katie and mamzel. I'll be reading your threads with pleasure. Always fun to make a fresh start.

I can't wait, Victoria and Lori! Plan for late summer, early autumn? There is no reason not to visit both, as long as there is a break for lunch!

Great choice of categories, that should guarantee some good reading. Have fun and enjoy your last months in Europe! :)

Just dropping my star and saying hi!

Interesting categories, love the pics - look forward to following your reads.

Thanks, Chrischi! It will fly by, but still not looking forward to moving the entire household!

Lisa! Good to see you here.

Hi, Jan_1! Welcome. Are you going to have a reading thread?

yes, I've set myself a challenge based on book awards, not sure how to link to it here, have possibly been over-ambitious lol - but really looking forward to giving it a go

Oh, I love following book awards and await the release of shortlists with baited breath. I'll go find your thread.

Love the pictures you are using for your categories!

Hope the move goes smoothly. Your summer will be a busy one.

Weee! Happy last day of the year!

Ready for the short list for TOB to be announced. As usual, looking forward to following your reading.

Hailelib, it will be a busy summer. If I can get the school stuff sorted before the move, I'd like to travel a bit with the kids while my husband sets things up back in SC. We'll see.

Happy New Year, Katie!

Stacey, I am so ready for that shortlist. I've been placing holds at the library based on what I guess might make the shortlist, but I'd like confirmation!

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2016!

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George reminded me of exactly why I don't like books that are self-consciously charming and heart-warming. Had I not felt obligated to read this book for a book club meeting, I would have happily abandoned it somewhere in the middle of the first chapter.

"I've got about thirty thousand stories in my head, which isn't very many, you know, given that there are over a million titles available in France alone. I've got the most useful eight thousand works here, as a first-aid kit, but I also compile courses of treatment. I prepare a medicine made of letters: a cookbook with recipes that read like a wonderful family Sunday. A novel whose hero resembles the reader; poetry to make tears flow that would otherwise be poisonous if swallowed. I listen with..."

Perdu pointed to his solar plexus.

"And I listen to this too." He rubbed the back of his head.

"And to this." Now he pointed to the soft spot above his upper lip. "If it tingles here..."

The aptly named Monsieur Perdu (and if you think the reader will not be bludgeoned over the head, repeatedly, with the aptness of this name, you've got another thing coming) owns a longboat docked near the Place de la Concorde in Paris. It's called "The Literary Apothecary" and he, with his ability to see instantly which book a customer should read, is the bookseller. He lives in a charming building based on the one in The Elegance of the Hedgehog, with it's eccentric inhabitants and irascible concierge. As he walks between his apartment and his longboat, neighbors lean from their windows and request books, and he passes along perfect advice to the grocer as he walks by. Surprisingly, no one bursts into song, but maybe this is being saved for the movie version. But despite his Hollywood sound stage surroundings, Monsieur Perdu is harboring a deep and terrible grief. His lover left him, leaving nothing but a letter behind. He can't bear to be touched. Everyday is an effort. He is bereft. When she first left, he walled up her favorite room in his apartment (luckily, she was not fond of the bathroom or kitchen), and the unopened letter he put in a drawer, along with the corkscrew she had stolen for him (so poignant!) and painted the drawer shut. Then he smashed up most of his possessions, as one does. She left twenty years ago, and his pain is just as deep and, well, painful as it was the day after she left. Because Monsieur is a man of Very Deep Feels.

When a beautiful woman, with a tragic history (but of course) moves into the building, he gives her the table, along with a stack of the books he could tell she needed to read, although they only spoke briefly through a closed door. Such are the powers of Monsieur Perdu, they were exactly the right books! She finds the letter, and invites him to dinner, and he reads the letter at long last, only to find that it wasn't of the Dear John variety. Overcome with many new feels, Monsieur Perdu undertakes an impetuous journey, joined along the way by colorful characters as well as a pair of extra adorable cats. The Little Paris Bookshop is the story of that charming and poignant journey, and of the emotional journey Monsieur Perdu must take to find himself and heal his heart. Also, there are some recipes.

I cannot fully express how much I disliked this book. Not without employing offensive language and smashing up a room of my own.

I usually end up hating self-consciously charming books too. Thanks for making it very clear that I should never be led towards this one ever!

I'm not a member of the group but sought out your thread after seeing your review on my connections news.

>48 RidgewayGirl: I love your review, that was quite glorious!

Avoid it, Dee! But if you aren't drawn to twee and charming books, you'd never pick it up in the first place.

Thanks, Jackie. The idea of being able to express my feelings in a review did help me to finish the book.

Thumbs-up for your review! I especially liked the part about how fortunate it was that she wasn't fond of the bathroom or the kitchen.

Re the recipes, are they "delicious" recipes or just normal kind? All the cozy mysteries seem to come with "delicious" recipes, which makes me laugh. "But what if I wanted terrible recipes?"

Haha, such a great review! But I'm sorry your first book of 2016 was such a dud!

I've been known to read some "charming" books but there is a line which must not be crossed. Evidently George crossed it. Thanks for your excellent - and entertaining - review! My favourite line was:

Surprisingly, no one bursts into song, but maybe this is being saved for the movie version.

rp, the recipes are just labeled "recipes" in an uncharacteristic restrained manner. However, the soup recipe is guaranteed to raise anyone's spirits.

Christina, my reading is bound to improve dramatically.

Vivienne, I have been charmed by books. I'm not an utter cynic (yet). I liked A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency series, which are all about being heart-warming. This book felt like an exploitation.

It's only January 2nd and I'm already behind on threads! I would love to join you, Lori, and Victoria on a tour of our local bookstores.

>48 RidgewayGirl: Making a mental note to avoid this one. I don't like books that make me feel like I'm being manipulated or exploited.

Note to self - stay far away from this book. Thanks for taking the hit for all of us.

Yes, Thank you for taking the hit on this one. I will be avoiding it.

"Because Monsieur is a man of Very Deep Feels. "

*SNORK*

Reviews of books that the reviewer does not like are the very best reviews of all.

Definitely a book to avoid!

>48 RidgewayGirl: - I believe yours is the second rather "not recommended" review for The Little Paris Bookshop I have read in just the past couple of days. Like you, I don't do well with books that are "self-consciously charming and heart-warming" unless I am totally looking for mindless fluff, in which case, I then gravitate towards a chick lit that has some humor in it.

Great review! Here is hoping your next read is a more stellar read! ;-)

Finally made it to your thread, will be following along in 2016. Sorry about the Paris bookshop. I think I would have given up before the end, book club or no.

Carrie, I'm looking forward to the Official LibraryThing Meet-Up (mid-Appalachian branch). We'll have to make it work.

Thanks, Betty, Stacey, Tricia and Lori. I was motivated with the promise of being able to write a review once I'd finished. Also, the blind stubbornness kicked in - I would not be defeated by this book!

Katie, they're easier to write than books that I enjoyed. And now I understand why there is so much snark on the internet.

Charlotte, I've already skipped one book (and the subsequent meeting) and not finished another. I'm a bad book group member.

One would not necessarily think that a book with a skeleton on its front cover would be a lot of fun to read, especially when it's written by a professor and meant to accompany a museum exhibit that I did not see, but Fashion Victims: The Dangers of Dress Past and Present is highly entertaining. Alison Matthews David looks at how articles of clothing have posed serious health risks to both the workers making the clothes and the wearers themselves. Focusing on Western Europe between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, this book looked at everything from disease to poison to flammability.

What made this book so fun was Matthews David's enthusiasm for everything related to the subject. So she not only discusses the health dangers in the mercury used in hat-making to the workers employed to make them, but she also goes into detail about what happens in mercury poisoning, giving detailed historical accounts of specific victims and she fully explains how hats were made, and why mercury was needed. And it's lavishly illustrated, with an odd combination of illustrations of the diseased victims, as well as gorgeous pictures of the deadly clothing.



My favorite chapter was the one on how arsenic was used to make a brilliant green pigment that was both cheap and lasting. It would have been a delight to find this brilliant shade in a world where clothing, especially for the working classes, was dull and tended to fade. Even reading about what it did to the wearers did not subdue my love for this shade. I would have been covered in boils, but looking fabulous, was the lesson I learned from this book.

As today, people who made the clothes were injured and died at a much higher rate than the more affluent people wearing the clothes. While hatters used their entire unprotected forearms to spread mercury over the felt, the wearers would be protected by the hat's lining, making the hat almost safe, until the wearer sweated or was caught in a downpour. The mercury-laden rabbit fur (which was used to make men's hats once beaver fur had grown too expensive due to over-hunting) would fly through the air of the workshops and would be carried home on workers' clothing. Arsenic used to dye clothing was used in large quantities, polluting well water for those living near workshops. As it was a pigment, and not a dye, it rubbed off of the fabric and was an especially hazard for the servants who cared for the clothing.



And as today, the female wearers of dangerous clothing were deemed as morally deficient, choosing to wear, for example, crinolines (hoop skirts) despite the fire hazard they created. The combination of layers of light fabrics with layers of air created a situation where a single spark could create a sizable fire in just a few seconds. But with every single other woman wearing a crinoline, there was simply no other option.

And new inventions that saved endangered animals were not without their own high cost. Celluloid was developed as elephant ivory and turtleshell was becoming difficult to find, and seemed the ideal solution. Beautiful combs, as well as collars that were easy to keep clean seemed to be without drawback, but those first early plastics were reactive to heat, burning quickly not only when exposed to flame, but when temperatures were as low as what could easily be found sitting near a fireplace. And the factories regularly and disastrously burned.

This book was a wonderful education in how clothing was once made. Fashion Victims combines lavish photography of truly beautiful items with the unvarnished truth about the true cost of those very items, to both the producers and the wearers.

Fashion Victims sounds terrific...and horrific.

The combination of layers of light fabrics with layers of air created a situation where a single spark could create a sizable fire in just a few seconds. But with every single other woman wearing a crinoline, there was simply no other option.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's second wife died from fire when a match rolled under her skirt.

>65 clue: Yes, that was mentioned in the book. This was a world with open fires and women in layers and layers of light clothing, held away from their bodies. It's a wonder there were not more deaths (and there were a lot of deaths). Also, ballerinas danced in those full, gauzy Monet skirts, which were heavily treated with extra-flammable starch. They danced in front of open gaslights.

>64 RidgewayGirl: - that's really interesting, Kay. I was thinking it might be a book for the Dewey, but there's no Dewey # on the work page. Is this new? I need to go to the library later to return books, so maybe I'll check it out while I'm there.

Betty, it's new - published in September.

Yes I just checked our state library site and no libraries in the state have it. Oh well - might have to put it in my "in the future" list.

I think I heard her speaking on the radio about this. She was saying how ballet dancers' death rates were worse than soldiers! And the stuff about the diseases being spread when rich people sent their laundry out (and laundry and mending being done in very poor homes where there were lots of illnesses). Her enthusiasm came across very well 'from her voice' - if I were closer I'd be keen to see the exhibit.

That sounds like a fascinating book but, alas, not available at the local library. I hope I stumble across it someday.

I checked Amazon.ca. It's available on Kindle, which I don't have, and in hardcover for >$50. Hmmm, I do want it though. I wonder if the uni library has it. Off to check . . .

ETA: Chapters-Indigo has it for $38 CAN

Glad to see you have set up shop, and with such gorgeous pictures, too! Starred you, and I'm loking forward to your reviews. There's nothing like a well-honed "Verriss" to get a bad book off your chest.

Just posting a comment to make it easier to follow along! :-)

>64 RidgewayGirl: I love that cover. Also, the content sounds fascinating! Adding to my to-read list in the slim hope of my library picking it up.

Edit: Whoa! My library has ordered it already! I am now 35th in line.

And if you want to learn more about arsenic use other than clothes, The Arsenic Century by James Whorton is worth reading.

I found the broadcast - I think even international visitors (ie outside the UK) can listen if via computer

Thinking Allowed - Fashion and Beauty - @bbcradio4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06sj050

>64 RidgewayGirl: This sounds really good. My library doesn't have it, but I am adding it to my wish list.

Happy New Year!

Fashion Victims sounds fantastic. The history of things you don't think about often, like the dangers in clothes from decades and centuries past is fascinating. Also, I love to skeletons on the covers of books. ;)

For anyone in or near Toronto, the exhibition that goes with Fashion Victims: The Dangers of Dress Past and Present is showing until June at the Bata Shoe Museum.

http://www.batashoemuseum.ca/fashion-victims/

Given the amount of press this is receiving, I think that more libraries will be adding this book. It was just recently released.

rp, there's a waiting list of 35 for the book? I'm sorry you have to wait, but that's awesome.

A good bunch of categories and topped with wonderful pics as always. Good luck with your challenge!

>79 RidgewayGirl: Aw man I was just in Toronto! But I can easily go back there. Thanks for the heads-up!

>64 RidgewayGirl: That's fascinating! I've been watching the BBC TV show Hidden Killers of the Victorian Home presented by Suzannah Lipscomb, which is a similar topic. Like the pigment used in fabric, wallpaper was laden with arsenic too. The stuff they added to food was unbelievable, killing more people than nourishing.

>64 RidgewayGirl:
Looks so intriguing - BB for me!

Happy New Year, Kay. I see you have gotten the year off to a fun start with one scathing review and then one that is a book bullet for many of us. Looking forward to following along again this year.

BB taken for the Fashion Victims book!

I'm both surprised and happy that so many of my fellow readers find the combination of fashion and disease irresistible. It is a fun book (I'm aware of how odd that sounds).

Well, fashion and diseases are both interesting topics for me.... but who knew they could be combined into one book! ;-)

Definitely sounds fascinating! On my wishlist it goes.

This book was well-written and deeply researched, but it was also a difficult book to read. Åsne Seierstad is known for her journalism in places like Chechnya and Afghanistan. In One of Us: Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway, she returns home to cover an event that has scarred Norway. On July 22, 2011, Breivik parked a van containing a bomb in the government district of Oslo, Norway. After detonating the bomb, which killed eight people, he then went to Utøya, a small island near Oslo where a group of teenagers in the youth wing of the Norwegian labor party were camping. He gained access to the island by posing as a policeman. Once there, he murdered 69 more people, mostly teenagers, and injured several more before he surrendered to the police.

Seierstad works her way chronologically through the story, so that the massacre occurs in a long, almost unreadable chapter in the center of the book. This chapter is unreadable because although Seierstad relays the events of the day in a dispassionate, journalistic fashion, she has also spent the first half of the book telling the reader not just about Anders Breivik's childhood and bizarre motivations, but also the childhood and aspirations of several of the teenagers camping on the Utøya. There was Simon Sæbø, a popular, warm-hearted boy who drew people to him. He had two close friends and they all went to the camp together. There was Bano Rashid, who had fled Iraq with her family and found asylum in Norway when she was seven. She'd saved her money to buy a Norwegian folk costume, which Norwegians wear on holidays or to weddings and similar events. She took her younger sister, Lara, with her to the camp and was over-joyed when Gro Harlem Brundtland, the ex-prime minister, borrowed her rain boots.

Breivik is depicted as an odd character. He's both narcissistic and insecure, grandiose and ingratiating. He moved from activity to activity, working hard at first, and then discarding it when he didn't reach the upper echelons of whatever he was doing quickly enough. He had a series of photographs of himself taken shortly before his murders so as to have flattering pictures to give the media. He was petulant when the trial and events surrounding his arrest didn't follow as he wanted, and he seems to have had a fantasy about his life after his arrest and conviction in which he would be viewed as a respected hero by the right-wing groups he was seeking to impress. He wrote a 1,500 page manifesto, but couldn't find a publisher. Seierstad explains that she wanted to interview Breivik, but he made her including an abridged version of his manifesto into her finished book as a requirement, so she has made do with his own writings, diary entries and interviews with people who knew him instead.

This is an important book and I'm glad I read it. But what turned Breivik from just another loudmouth on the internet into a terrorist is still unclear to me. What is clear is the impact of his actions on Norway and on the survivors of his rampage. It is to that country's credit that they have reacted not with fear or hate, but with a renewed determination that democracy, inclusion and equality are worthy national aspirations.

>89 RidgewayGirl:
Very interesting. I don't know much about this (or anything really), but it sounds like a fascinating exploration of current history.

>89 RidgewayGirl:
That was such a terrible day. The book is on my to-read list, but I haven't been in the right mood yet.

Andrea, it was fascinating. The look inside of Norwegian culture was especially compelling. I got the feeling that, probably due to Seierstad's years of living in foreign cultures, that she was able to look at Norway both as a native and as an outsider.

Eva, I can see not wanting to read this. It was difficult as an outsider looking in to get through some parts.

I think that's on my list of books I just couldn't bear to read (although I admire you for doing so). Beyond tragic.

My first Bowie album was Let's Dance. He'll be missed.



Caitlin Moran

>94 RidgewayGirl: So sad! Bowie was one of the greatest influences on music over the last 40+ years. He will be missed!

OMG! I hadn't heard about his passing, so sad. He was truly a genius. My favorite all time video was the one he and Mick Jagger did of "Dancing In the Street" - so much attitude!

David Bowie is one of those people you never think would actually die, let alone at the relatively young age of 69. Awful news.

I was unprepared for how hard Bowie's death hit me, but all the tributes were comforting. German radio was all Bowie all day yesterday, and I read a long article about how important his concert in Berlin had been.

I'm currently reading A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. It deserves the awards and reputation it has garnered, and despite the dialect and large cast of characters, it's surprisingly easy to follow. However, so far it is an emotionally draining read and I can't read it at night, as I've already had nightmares. I blame the author. He writes vividly about life in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica in the 1970s. So there are a few lighter books that I've been reading at the same time.

One of my all time favorite movies:

>98 RidgewayGirl: Ah, yiss (as Kate Beaton would say)!

The first half of Karin Slaughter's Pretty Girls was a tightly plotted crime novel up until halfway through, when something utterly implausible happened and switched the novel over to a thriller. So, while the first half had me reading about plausible characters - the carefully manicured, tennis-playing wife of a wealthy architect and her estranged sister, the second half had the feel of being tailor-made for a Hollywood blockbuster. I'm not complaining; this was a fun book to read, but what it gained in excitement, it lost in reliability.

Clare is the polished stay-at-home wife of a successful businessman. She busies herself with tennis and charity work until a moment of uncontrolled anger leads her to a stint of house-arrest. While celebrating her release, she and her husband are robbed, and in the ensuing melee, her husband is stabbed. Lydia is Clare's older sister. They lost contact as Lydia fell into drug addiction. She's pulled herself back together, has a teenage daughter, a moderately successful dog-grooming business and a fellow recovering addict as a boyfriend. When Clare's world falls apart, she calls Lydia, and together they negotiate the discovery that Clare's husband was someone very different than she'd thought he was.

Pretty Girls was a fun book and Karin Slaughter is good at creating vivid and believable characters. This was successful as a solid escapist read. The first half of the novel led me to expect there would be more substance to it, but it was still a reasonably enjoyable book.

>98 RidgewayGirl: In 1983 I read a book about the art and drug scene in Berlin, and Bowie was the most important muse/favourite star for the people in the group.

>101 RidgewayGirl: Hmm, it's on my tbr mostly because I want to try the author. Sounds like a good one to save for vacation.

Joyce, he lived in Berlin for three years and the German media certainly treated his death as they would the death of a native son.

Shannon, it's a fun escapist read. Just don't think too hard about how it all hangs together.

>98 RidgewayGirl: Sorry about the nightmares. I agree it deserved the awards given, a gripping read. I was staying up late to finish by the last few chapters.

>98 RidgewayGirl: I'm planning to tackle that one later this year. I'm estimating it will be March or April.

Yes, I too have been thinking of Labyrinth and David's most righteous mullet wig lately. Yes, he will be missed.

Charlotte, I can see that happening. There's been a fair amount of Just-One-More-Chapter happening already.

I'm interested in finding out what you think about it, Lori.

Katie, is there anyone else who could look so good in that wig?

Yay! The Morning News Tournament of Books has just announced their shortlist, the zombie list and the judges!

http://www.themorningnews.org/article/the-2016-tournament-of-books-shortlist-and...

For the uninitiated, the Tournament of Books is run like a basketball competition - two books are pitted against each other, with the winner advancing to the next round of competition. Each judge reads the two books, writes about them and declares a winner. At the end, two books are brought back in a final zombie round - two books that were voted on by readers - to compete with the finalists. At the end a winner is declared, but along the way there is a spirited discussion about books; in the essays written by the judges, in the color commentary from the two Morning News editors who organize the tournament and in the comments section. It is the most fun, and the most transparent, of the literary awards.

I've opened a discussion of the Tournament of Books for anyone who would like to follow the competition and comment about the books, the judges or anything, really.

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?group=17836

Looks like a great reading challenge for you this year and I'll enjoy following along. Took 2 book bullets - One of Us and Pretty Girls and also enjoyed getting warned off of The Little Paris Bookshop.

I was pretty shocked and affected by David Bowie's passing as well. My first dog was named Bowie and of course listened to his albums a million times over... I some how picked up a copy of Heroes in German, a great rendition.

Lisa, Bowie is a great name for a dog. We are sadly dog-less at the moment and my son is choosing names for the dog(s) we'll get once we're resettled in the US. I'm not sure I want a dog named Robot.

>111 RidgewayGirl: hmmm, Robot, I agree, hopefully that name will fall from the top of the list!

I've pointed out to my son that as he is twelve, it's likely that he will move out while this theoretical dog is still living with me and therefore, I should name it. I have also reminded him that when we got the cat, he was so overcome with emotion that he wanted to call the cat "Kitty Cabootigans." This didn't happen, as I am the kind of selfish mother who refused to stand on the doorstep at night and call the cat in by name if the name is Kitty Cabootigans. Hence, the compromise name of "Tarzan."

The good thing of not having a dog for an entire year is that both children are so desperate for one, they will agree to any conditions imposed. Of course, my husband and I are equally desperate, but we are not telling the kids that.

Is it weird that I kind of like Robot for a dog?

Also, love the Bowie tribute here. I've had "Modern Love" stuck in my head since I heard.

David Bowie's death was a great loss.

>113 RidgewayGirl:
Tarzan is a fantastically hilarious name for a dog. :)

>114 christina_reads:
I also like Robot for a dog.

Alan Rickman's best film was Truly, Madly, Deeply. Seriously, if you haven't seen it, go watch it now.

It's been a week, hasn't it. :-(

>116 RidgewayGirl: A long-time favorite of mine as well. I must have watched it three times in a row when it first came out on video.

>116 RidgewayGirl: Hoping they might screen it here in tribute. So sad!

>111 RidgewayGirl:. I think by the time you get re-settled Stateside that you will be ready to be adopted again. It doesn't truly matter what you call the dog as they have their own true Pollicle name.

I'm so glad I read your review of The Little Paris Bookshop. Not being chained to it by a book club, I gave up on it about a third of the way through, but I felt slightly guilty because everything I'd heard about it was glowing. I kept thinking maybe I should give it another go. Happy to know that I can just forget about it and cease feeling quitter's guilt.

Joyce, it's been a week that has sucked all of the optimism out of it being a new year.

Shannon, it's an unrecognized masterpiece. Charlotte, iTunes doesn't have it. I'll have to find a copy elsewhere. I owned it back when vhs tapes were a thing.

Victoria, we will eventually have a dog (or two). It's lonely without one, though, as I'm sure you know.

Traci, you were a wiser woman than myself. And you missed nothing.

>116 RidgewayGirl: Guess we'll never get that Galaxy Quest sequel after all now. Or if we do it certainly won't be the same without him.

>116 RidgewayGirl: This is terrible news. He will be sorely missed.

Loved your review of The Little Paris Bookshop.

>113 RidgewayGirl: - My husband just IM'd me that he wanted to name our next dog Delores. Mind you, we have a perfectly good dog and are not in the market for another (at least *I'm* not), so this came out of the blue. But I kind of like Delores. I've always given my dogs human names, but rather old fashioned ones (Boris, Luther, Louis, etc.)

>116 RidgewayGirl: - TMD is also my favorite Rickman film. I am having a really hard time finding a DVD of it. Amazon has it for sale by third-party sellers for $60 and up...

Wolfe and rp, he will be missed. That voice and that charm. And coming just four days after we lost Bowie. : (

Thanks, Pam!

Katie, I like the name Delores. Our last dogs were Emmie and Meatloaf, so it's not like we're committed to a theme or anything. And I'm unhappy that Truly, Madly, Deeply isn't available on iTunes or Netflix.

I'm having trouble believing that Alan Rickman was actually 69. He aged better than a lot of celebrities.

>128 cbl_tn: You are right about that!

Marian Keyes is my go-to author for a solidly satisfying escapist read. And with The Woman Who Stole My Life, she did not disappoint. I spent one cold, rainy and windy day curled up on the sofa, entirely content to get nothing done. Keyes writes well, with a breezy style and an ear for dialogue. Her books are more substantive than the typical chick-lit novel, but her real talent is for creating engaging characters, from the protagonist to the most tertiary of characters.

The Woman Who Stole My Life was both fun and satisfying. Stella Sweeny has always done what's expected of her, content to let her self-absorbed husband and driven, outgoing sister hog the spotlight. She works hard, cares for her family and keeps the household running, content to allow those around her dictate the shape of her life. And then things come crashing down around her and she's forced to make decisions for herself.

This isn't great literature, or even award-nominated literature. Instead, it's that rarer thing - a novel to read for the pure pleasure of it, without being annoyed by an unlikely plot, cardboard characters or poor writing. I was neither challenged nor educated, but I was entertained.

Great to see Marian Keyes continues to entertain.

Lori, she is one of those authors who is consistently good - I've read all of hers and only one was less than perfect. Also, I have her on my twitter feed and she is clearly nuts.

I'm going to have to make room in my reading life for Marian Keyes.

Joyce, I'd recommend beginning with Rachel's Holiday, The Mystery of Mercy Close or Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married.

thanks. I'll add those to my wishlist.

I LOVE Truly Madly Deeply. I think that was the first film I ever saw him in, and I became a huge fan from that second on!

In a few months, I'll be packing up (or watching strangers pack up) my household and shipping it back to the US. In the spirit of my mother's favorite saying, "three moves are as good as a fire," I got rid of a lot of stuff before we traded our large, closet-rich house for a smaller, closet-free house for three years. Now that the return is in sight, I thought it would be worthwhile to see if there are any further objects that can be gotten rid of, reasoning that once they are put away in those closets, I won't get around to it. To that end, I picked up a copy of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, hoping for inspiration and a few practical tips to speed up the process.

I didn't hate this book. By the end of the first chapter, I was pretty sure I would. Kondo is selling a complete transformation, and she promises that not only will you never have to tidy up again (she contradicts this later on), but that you will also probably lose weight. She insists that her program be followed through in its entirety and she praises minimalism to a degree I do not share. She writes with the sort of familiar, hectoring tone that felt very much like a fourteen year old girl writing a blog. Her focus is largely on adults living with their parents and young people in their first apartments.

She divides up possessions into five groups; clothing, papers, books, mementos, and everything else. Which makes her method - that of putting every single item you own in a single category in one big pile on the floor and discarding and putting things away from there - a bit unwieldy for that enormous, jumbled miscellaneous pile. I spent some time imagining what this enormous pile of kitchen items, toiletries, sports equipment, art supplies, tools and every other thing that isn't clothing, book, paper or souvenir would look like. I imagined my family negotiating this mountain of stuff for days (Kondo says the tidying process should take about six months), occasionally reaching in for shampoo or a plate. I decided not to subject any of us to that. I have enough trouble getting my son to use soap as it is.

I did like her method of folding, however, and her method of organizing clothing in a drawer. I did my dresser (although skipping socks and underwear, because that was never going to happen) and found that I have a lot more space, despite only purging a handful of items. It looks very tidy. Here's her folding method:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIjGlMD0Nz8

So I'm happy to have a new way to organize my t-shirts and sweaters. That's something. I'm not going to thank them for their service, however. Not even silently, which Kondo says is acceptable if one is too shy to speak to one's clothing aloud.

As for her comments about book ownership, I am just going to draw a discreet veil over that portion of the book and agree to disagree with her. Not everyone has to like owning a book. Or two.

>137 RidgewayGirl: I heard a podcast about this book and was pretty sure it wasn't for me. Thanks for confirming. They were aghast at her comments on books too, but apparently she's revised it elsewhere. Something to do with "if lots of books bring you joy, keep lots of books". Or something.

eta: I'm going to refold my T shirt drawer today.

I'm afraid to ask what her views are on book ownership!

I also love Marion Keyes. Her book about alcoholism was an eye opener for me. And her twitter feed is a complete joy, often making me laugh out loud.

The t-shirt folding thing is clever, Joyce. I liked that part. Could have skipped the rest.

Charlotte, there was some astonishment that some people are book hoarders - sometimes owning 30 books! And some own up to 100 - although she was quick to say that such people were mainly stockpiling books related to their profession. She also thinks the appropriate place for a bookshelf is inside the closet, where it won't be visible. She also feels that having visible words around is unsettling. She recommends removing any tags or labels with words on them to increase the peacefulness of the home. She and I will never be housemates.

And Marian Keyes's twitter feed is wonderful. She is clearly nuts.

She also feels that having visible words around is unsettling. She recommends removing any tags or labels with words on them to increase the peacefulness of the home. She and I will never be housemates.

Wow. She'd hate my house. I decorate with words, especially Emma Bridgewater Toast & Marmalade.

Hearing of this book in other places, I was pretty sure it wasn't for me and your review has confirmed that. Although the shirt folding is interesting. That's not to say that I couldn't get rid of a thing or two ( ok - two hundred) but her method is not for me.

That's beautiful, Joyce.

Her method is not for me, either, Betty.

I was rather underwhelmed by Kondo's book as well. Certainly one should cull one's "stuff" from time to time but I think her extreme minimalism is a bit to far. If everything fits and the living space feels comfortable to the people living there then that's good enough .

Update on the folding. I did several of my drawers. It felt good in a meditative sort of way. Then I went into the tornado of a room that is my 15 yr old daughter's and did several of her drawers (didn't touch the mountains of stuff on her floor though). What can I fold next?

I agree with you, entirely, Tricia. I'd rather spend time in a home that's comfortable and looks lived in, than in a place where no personal possessions are visible. I can go to a hotel for that.

Joyce, it is strangely compulsive! I have all my drawers done. I'd do the other family member's clothing, but I'm trying to stay on track with organizing the household stuff.

>137 RidgewayGirl:
I like reading about minimalism, because it inspires me to clear out and declutter, at least for a while. I've never found a system that lasts me in the long term yet.

I'm curious about this one though, as I've heard about it from others, too. It sounds like it might have some interesting tips, although I don't quite buy that there's one way of doing things that will solve all the problems for all the people (I noticed similar skepticism in your review).

>140 RidgewayGirl:
A bookshelf inside a closet? Oye. No, thanks.

>141 Nickelini:
What a lovely collection of objects with words!

>137 RidgewayGirl: I looked at some of those YouTube videos and found them interesting. I have been trying to get more organized and get rid of a lot of stuff for some time now, and I may use some of the methods she suggests.

I am definitely not going to take all of my books off of my bookshelves and then put them all in one big pile and ask the joy question though...

Kondo's book sounds intriguing, but I fear that reading the section on books would just leave me in a rage. My husband and I have an ongoing disagreement. He thinks our house looks messy because we have too many books. I think it looks messy because we don't have enough bookcases. Actually, now that I've been using my e-reader regularly, the number of books has stabilized (not decreasing, but not increasing either).

Andrea, yeah, I think some methods work better you and some work better for me. And people have differing ideas of what a house should look like. Mine has a lot of books in it. It's fine if your* ideal house has none (but I will secretly judge you for that).

*hypothetical you, obviously.

Lisa, I do like the folding things. I had not known that about myself.

Paulina, you could use the study that showed that children who grow up in homes full of books attain a higher level of education than those who don't. It studied a huge number of families, in different countries, over twenty years, and found that the presence of books in a home increases the number of years of schooling - 500 books equated to three more years.

I'm the tidiest one in this family (the kids are just being kids, but the husband is a pack rat) so my book habit is the one thing my husband can encourage in me so that he can feel okay with his own tendencies. I do try not to get on him about his stuff, although I am not above not making fun of him when I discover, for example, that he still owns clothes he wore in high school. He did manage to either get rid of them (my point: yes, you will someday be able to fit in those clothes again, but will they be clothes you will want to wear?) or at least hide them in the garage.

I do want to do a general weeding of my books, to remove the few I thought I wanted to keep after I'd read it, but now a few years later, I don't think I need to keep it after all. This has to be done carefully, however. I tend to get too zealous and end up having to go buy copies to replace a few of the ones I'd donated. Kondo says people do not regret throwing away too much, but I know that's not true.

Marlon James's novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, was the book I kept running into last year. First it did well, and received accolades during The Morning News Tournament of Books, then it won the Man Booker Prize. In between those two events, it was the topic of many discussions and the receiver of many glowing reviews. It really didn't interest me, being described as being the complex story of an attempted assassination attempt on the Jamaican Reggae singer, Bob Marley, with the book being narrated by an uncountable number of characters and much of it in impenetrable dialect. It sounded like a book that was more appreciated than loved, and one that was fueled mostly by testosterone.

All of those things that made me not want to read A Brief History of Seven Killings are true, except that, after the first few chapters, the dialect was not so impenetrable as I'd feared. There are a lot of characters narrating a chaotic and wide-reaching plot, but they are each different from one another, and the cacophony of voices serves to create a clearer picture, rather than to confuse. It is a story set in a deeply misogynistic time and place, both in Jamaica in the 1970s and New York in the subsequent decades, but James has put as the novel's most well-rounded and empathetic character, a woman as counterpoint. The presence of Nina Burgess in the novel does not completely counter the sheer quantity of rape, abuse and dismissal perpetuated on any woman unfortunate enough to exist in this novel, but it does remind the reader that women existed as people even when the men running things didn't see them as such.

The novel follows a number of characters, as they negotiate life in West Kingston, and mostly in the slum called Copenhagen City. Marley, who is simply called the singer, is someone who can bridge the divide between the warring factions of the city, the two political parties whose conflict roams bloodily through the slums. He's a constant presence off-stage, as the various characters revolve around his presences, or absence. He's the never clearly seen center of the novel, giving it a structure and plot, so that what looks from the outside like chaos is really a carefully planned and executed look at Jamaican life during a tumultuous point in its past.

For me, this novel worked best when I finally stopped wanting to understand what every word meant and how each character fit into the story. Once I just let myself just read, it fell into place around me. I still don't know what "bombocloth" means. This is a brilliantly written book that deserves the accolades which it has received; it's a book which pulls none of its punches and smooths none of its rough edges for ease of consumption.

Great review although not the book for me.

Betty, it's brilliant, but there is a lot of very graphic violence. I had a few bad dreams while i was reading it.

I've had A Brief History of Seven Killings on my radar for some time. I will probably pick it up at some point and give it a try but probably not until it show up in my second hand bookstore.

>137 RidgewayGirl: - I read the Kondo book last year, slowly, from August - December. When I went on vacation I packed my suitcase with clothes folded in her KonMari method. I - and my family - was amazed at how much I was able to fit in a carry- on bag. At home I've only organized my shirt drawer using her folding technique. I love being able to see each shirt when I open the drawer. I'll probably do my pajama and work out clothes drawers as well-- eventually. I'm happy with the methods I already use for the rest of my clothes. I do plan on weeding out my saved papers, after tax season. And going through my photos. I don't ever look at my old photos. When I die no one will care to go through my old vacation photos or photos of the dogs in the yard in 1986. I found parts of the book really amusing, thanking your clothes, putting your clothes with like clothes, because clothes, like people, are more comfortable with others that are just like them. Ha!

Hi Kay: I love your review of A Brief History of Seven Killings. Admittedly, it is not a book everyone will enjoy. I resisted it at first, because of the size, the dialect, and maybe it being too manly, but I enjoyed it immensely, and it was a five star read for me.

I have no comment on the folding discussion, I've been resisting my mother's efforts at doing things the right way aka as her way most of my life. Truth be told my brother might fold things more to her liking than any of her three daughters.

>151 RidgewayGirl: Excellent review of A Brief History of Seven Killings. The cover and title give a different idea of the content.

Judy, I am a big fan of finally reading books once I've found a copy at a book sale.

Kelly, I've done all my drawers, and do love how they look. But I disagree with her that people prefer to be with people similar to themselves. Some people do like to travel and experience new things. Of course, I also disagree with her about books, so. But having helped to clear out the apartments and homes of relatives who have died, you are absolutely right about no one wanting the old photos and souvenirs.

Lisa, your enthusiasm pushed me into reading A Brief History of Seven Killings now rather at some nebulous future time.

Vivienne, the title is explained at the very end of the novel. It doesn't make sense until then. I have no idea about why they stuck a bird on the front cover, unless it's referring to the Marley song Three Little Birds?

The Turner House, Angela Flournoy's debut novel, shares its bones with another competitor in this year's Tournament of Books. Like Anne Tyler's A Spool of Blue Thread, it's the story of adult children coming together to determine the fate of the family home. Francis and Viola Turner came to Detroit from Arkansas and worked hard to provide for their family, eventually managing to buy a house in a solid neighborhood, despite housing restrictions placed on African American buyers. They raised their thirteen children in that house, from the oldest son, Cha-Cha, who now has Viola living with him and his wife, to Lelah, the youngest, who sees her life derailed by her gambling.

This isn't a loud book, but it is a vivid one. This is a book about Detroit, about what it was like to be the son of an Arkansan sharecropper newly arrived and looking to find work, about living in a Detroit neighborhood when it was slowly sinking, and what it's like to have a home surrounded by vacant lots and uninhabited houses. Some of the Turner children left Detroit for easier places to make a life, but others stayed, moving to the suburbs or stuck where they are. Flournoy writes like a much more experienced author, and her characters are all complex and fascinating. She has the talent to give even the tertiary characters a real presence. I enjoyed my time with the Turner family enormously and I look forward with anticipation to Flournoy's next novel.

>159 RidgewayGirl: - I've got this one on my Kindle and I'm really looking forward to reading it. Glad to know it was a winner for you.

I'm looking forward to finding out what you think about it, Katie.

I think that Alexander McCall Smith is getting a little tired of writing The Number One Ladies Detective Agency books, because The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine felt both tired and stale. In this installation, Mma Ramotswe takes a vacation, forced into it unwillingly by Mma Makutsi and Mr. JLB Maketoni. The mystery is so slight, it doesn't show up until halfway through, and could have been solved by a simple conversation between two characters who frequently discuss things. I will not give away whether or not Mma Ramotswe was able to get to the bottom of it.

The thing that made this series such pleasant reading for me has to do with the basic good nature and empathetic dispositions of all of the characters, especially Mma Ramotswe. This book largely follows her thinking things to herself, most of which is recycled from previous books. A few of her less sympathetic musings seem more in keeping with the author's experiences than Mma Ramotswe, and in this book the references to her traditional build felt less good natured than usual. I disapprove of this new tendency for her to subdue bad characters by sitting on them.

I hope this installation is merely a hiccup in what has been a fine and enjoyable series of light mystery novels.

>162 RidgewayGirl: I disapprove of this new tendency for her to subdue bad characters by sitting on them.

Oh dear! So do I! I'm several volumes behind in this series and I won't be looking forward to catching up completely.

Seriously, Carrie. She's traditionally built, not a figure of fun. I do love how Smith evokes the heat and atmosphere of Botswana, though. I hope this is just a hiccup for him. The other reviewers on LT were all very positive about the book, though.

So the rules have changed, and so I have to take classes to make my residence permit permanent. I took a German test yesterday and did better than I'd expected, so will only have four weeks of refresher classes (it's been fifteen years since I last took a German class) and two of citizenship classes. My astonishment on doing well on the test is because I have largely learned German by living in Germany. My grammar skills (beyond the beginner classes I took once upon a time) are all non-existent. I took the test by filling in the word that sounded right to me. So it will be good to put a bit of grammatical underpinning to my German.

>164 RidgewayGirl: That's interesting. Is there a set curriculum for the citizenship classes? They probably teach stuff us natives should know but don't...

From what little they said, it's stuff like basic geography and political structure. I'm curious as to whether there will be cultural stuff in there, too. I'll let you know what I learn.

When my BIL moved to Sweden and married there, he had to take classes too, language etc. I think it's a good practice.

It's excellent, Victoria. I'm at the point where I can do fine with the German I have, so I need a little push to make me improve it.

>164 RidgewayGirl: I think I missed something. Permanent? I thought you were coming home this summer.

It's just the residence permit that would be permanent, Lori. Yours truly will be back in SC this summer. It just seemed like it would be a waste not to go ahead and get it.

>170 RidgewayGirl: Oh, okay. I was thinking I'd missed something somewhere! Looking forward to getting together with you and VictoriaPL.

>170 RidgewayGirl: I was crossing my fingers that was the case. Yay!!

Me, too, Lori.

Good luck with the classes. The British citizenship one amuses me - about half of the stuff on the test I would not have a clue about.

>164 RidgewayGirl:
That's hands-down the best way to learn a language, especially if you have the theory somewhere at the back of your head. Congrats!

How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz just hit me in the sweet spot. I enjoyed every minute spent with this fantastic novel. It is, at its essence, a character study of three women and their friendship. Kate and Anna meet when they are assigned to share a dorm room. Despite their differences, or maybe because of them, they become best friends. Anna's a daredevil, constantly pushing the envelope and coming up with new ways to have fun. Kate lives inside her own head. One night, leaving a party, they find another student passed out on the lawn, and drag her back to the dorm with them. George is an athletic outdoors person with horrible taste in boyfriends (and later husbands).

For the first several chapters, the book reads as though Lutz had thrown all of the pages into the air and reassembled the book at random, but as the story continues, the novel comes into focus like a jigsaw puzzle coming together. I appreciated how Lutz crafted this story - the three women don't always get along, but they never cease being supportive of one another.

Excellent review of How to Start a Fire. I've added it to my wishlist. Good to hear of a "new to me" author.

>176 RidgewayGirl: I have a feeling I read a review of this that was less than complimentary, but your comments are pushing me towards picking it up....

The Whites, which was written by Richard Price under the name of Harry Brandt (no reason that I could find, but it is odd, given that both names appear on the cover), is the story of a night watch detective who used to be part of a group of young uniformed officers who banded together and called themselves the Wild Geese. Time has since scattered them, but they remain connected, meeting for dinner now and again to discuss their White Whales - the ones that got away and that they'd still like to arrest. Each has one. Billy's is the man he's convinced shot three women to death. Now those Whites are being knocked off, one by one.

This is a solid, gritty crime novel. The cops are bad, but the bad guys are worse and Billy is just trying to do his job and take care of his family. He sees police break the rules or get a little rough all the time, and does so himself, but he tries to keep a lid on the worst of it. He sees himself as a good cop, but when it comes down to supporting his friends or doing the right thing, it's not so clear after all.

The Whites is a busy novel. Along with the question of who is killing the Whites, each of the former Wild Geese are involved in problems of their own. Billy is consumed with finding out who is threatening his family and in protecting them, as the threats, beginning with a red handprint on his son's jacket, escalate rapidly. The reader is also privy to the story from the point of view of the man making the threats.

All in all, The Whites was a decent crime novel. It stayed true to the usual format and packed in a lot of plot threads. It's not ground-breaking, but that's not the purpose of genre fiction. If you like your crime novels violent, gritty and full of moral ambiguity, you will probably enjoy The Whites.

>179 RidgewayGirl: A few days ago I saw an interview with Richard Price, and there he said that he had planned to write the book for mainly economic reasons - and therefore didn't want the book connected to his name. But when it turned out to become a book on a similar level as his others, it was too late to have the alias removed. The German translation was published under Richard Price, though (I think).

When I wanted to find it at the library, it was filed under Richard Price too. Interesting that he didn't want it connected with his name and now it's up for an award.

>179 RidgewayGirl: I am always confused when a pseudonym and the author's real name both appear on a book cover. I thought pseudonyms were intended for authors to try different genres or styles with a bit more freedom than they might get with using their real name. Putting the real name on the cover seems to defeat the purpose (although perhaps it is to drive sales).

>162 RidgewayGirl:
I haven't read any of these detective novels, but I can see how an author might get tired of writing the same characters again and again. Switching to a new series would shake things up, but it would probably also mean starting over with rebuilding a fan base.

>176 RidgewayGirl:
How to Start a Fire sounds lovely and has such a great title.

Thanks, Chrischi, that's good to know! I was listening to a book podcast yesterday that was all mystified as to why both names appeared on the cover and I was thinking, "I know, I know!" the whole time.

I've since read that the paperback will just be by Richard Price.

Andrea, I've read that when a series is going well (as The Number One Ladies Detective Agency is), it's almost impossible for an author to stop writing it. The publisher is going to want to stick with the sure thing. And Smith has other series that aren't as popular. Financially, he's stuck, whether his heart is in it or not.

Also, I loved How to Start a Fire.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff tells the story of a marriage, first from Lotto's viewpoint, then from Mathilde's. Lotto is the golden boy; wealthy, charismatic, talented and alluring. He sees Mathilde at a college party and his previous life as a Lothario is over. He's smitten. Within two weeks, they're married. His mother cuts them off, but they are happy. He struggles to find success as an actor, but is a spectacular hit as a playwright. And all through his charmed life, his wife manages everything for him. He adores her, but he really knows very little about her. Lotto is taken in by his own charm, which leaves no room for anyone else in his life to be anything but a secondary character. Then the viewpoint shifts to Mathilde, and her story is finally told.

This is a very well done novel. The writing is elaborate, and in keeping with Lotto's expansive personality. Groff really does make him a believable character, but also a fantastic, almost mythical one. People are drawn to him, and he is open and focused on them as long as they stay in his field of view. He's interested in what interests him, which leads to him hurting people, not deliberately, but with shocking carelessness.

>185 RidgewayGirl: I've seen a lot of praise for that one lately. I really haven't decided if it's one I want to try or not.

I've got this one on the TBR pile from the library. Not sure why it's sitting there and not been read yet!

Lori, this is the second book by Groff I've read. I think she's a talented writer with interesting ideas, but I've not yet connected with a book she's written. Still, this is a thought-provoking picture of a marriage.

Charlotte, I look forward to finding out what you think about it. There's one scene set at a symposium that I thought was brilliant.

I've begun my German classes. Because I did well on the placement exam, I've been put in a class that has spent five hours a day together for six months already. And they are exhausted. So the class is going very slowly. I did learn a few new things, but before I left early (for a legitimate reason!) we'd spent an hour and a half covering material that should have taken half that time. I've decided that I need to be more patient, so I'll give it a week and if it's still frustrating, I'll just get a private tutor for a few weeks to teach me the names and rules for the stuff I already know.

Since I basically learned most of my German (I had three short classes almost two decades ago) by speaking it, reading and watching TV, I know what word should be used when, but I don't know the rules or reasons why. I'd like to know what those are. But my boredom threshold is low. I frequently got into trouble in school for reading during class. Still, I'm sitting next to a nice old guy from South Africa and I like how very international the class is.

So wish me patience, guys.

Good luck on your German class. I had to smile when I read "I frequently got into trouble in school for reading during class." as it happened often to me too.

Vivienne, I would be surprised if that were not something we all had in common!

Junior High was the best cause detention was held in the school library and reading was the punishment!!!

In high school I had a class where the girl sitting in front of me had incredible hair! It was almost to her waist, very thick and very curly. Our desks were close together and sometimes I would get aggravated because her hair would pretty much cover my desk. But then again, when I had a "forbidden" book on my desk I would just push it forward against the back of her chair and it would go under her hair!

I used to get bored in algebra class when our teacher went over the answers to our homework from the previous day. I'd get out a book and read. One of the other students complained one day - or maybe asked if they could read, too - and the teacher said I could do whatever I wanted to as long as I got the homework right. (I usually got 100s.) He was one of my favorite teachers. I don't remember much of the math, but I remember his football stories. (Like most math teachers, he was a football coach.)

>189 RidgewayGirl: Wow. That's a lot of language class. Wishing you patience. I gave up a French class for that reason - we spent half the class going over the answers in exhaustive detail from the homework from the previous week. It was just so tedious. The teacher had the best intentions (getting everyone to speak), but OMG.

Today we had a new teacher and German class was much better. Also, I left early so I could go to a tour of an art exhibit I'd signed up for before I'd started this German class. Also, the restaurant we went to for lunch had this drink they called "hot ginger ale" but was ginger juice, lemon and honey. It was delicious and I'm going to have to pick up some ginger juice so I can make it myself the next time someone has a cold.

I've never seen ginger juice before. It's one of my favourite flavours so I'd buy it in an instant!

>196 RidgewayGirl: Just checking in on your thread to see if you had posted today. My dear Hubs was worried about you and your clan and that awful train wreck.

>196 RidgewayGirl: Brilliant. Glad to hear it. (Ginger *and* new teacher). Have just finished The Book of Unknown Americans which forcibly reminded me of the experience of not speaking the language (and that was not even anything permanent like trying to buy a house or work out job visas).

Vivienne, the deli near my house has some. I'd noticed it while waiting to be served one day and wondered who on earth would buy that. Now I know.

Victoria, yes that was a huge shock here. So many people hurt and no word yet on why it happened. Because it was during a school holiday, there were fewer children on the trains than usual, which is the only good thing.

Charlotte, there is no question that speaking the language well enough to do all the ordinary things makes life here much, much easier. I have no problem holding a conversation, but if you want me to tell you why a word is used in that tense or variation at any specific time, I have no idea. I didn't learn anything but the basics in a class. So, while the class is boring, it is useful.

Good luck with your German class. Glad to see you have a new teacher. I know when I was learning French it made a huge difference for me which French teacher I got. Different teaching styles and paces can be frustrating when trying to not only learn how to properly pronounce words, but the rules around their use. My French is so rusty now I would be embarrassed to even attempt a basic conversation. ;-)

Lori, I bet if you went to Quebec or France, your French would return in a hurry! That's my experience, in any case. It's fun, too, because I'd be talking to someone and half my mind would be going, "oh, hey, I remember that word!" while the other half mangled the conversation. But it became noticeably easier to converse toward the end of the week in France.

And German class is going well. It's an unusual experience for me to be perceived as one of the better students. Which falls apart when someone asks me why a specific word is used instead of another and my best answer is, "because it sounds right."

Glad you got a better teacher in German.

Me, too, Lori.

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