SusanJ's 75 Books Challenge - Thread 4

Hello, and welcome to my fourth thread for 2016.

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

Over the past couple of years I've started to read a lot more non-fiction, so my reading is now pretty much half fiction and half non-fiction although I'd like to make it one-third to two-thirds. I typically aim for 150 books and this year I want to read at least 50 books from Mount TBR (which counts as anything bought before the end of 2015) instead of maxing out my reserve slots at the library. I wonder how that will go :-)

* = book from Mount TBR

January

1. A Notable Woman
2. The Grand Duchess of Nowhere
3. The Worst Hard Time*
4. The Night in Question
5. Nicholas and Alexandra*
6. The Happiness Industry*
7. How the Other Half Lives*
8. The Book of Unknown Americans
9. The Making of the Atomic Bomb

February

10. A People's History of London*
11. The Queen's Man*
12. The Tenderness of Wolves
13. Some Luck
14. My Brilliant Friend
15. Missing Microbes
16. Captain Swing*
17. That's Not English
18. After You
19. How Music Got Free
20. Early Warning
21. Isaac's Storm*

March

22. Spillover
23. No Such Thing as a Free Gift*
24. The Plutocrats
25. Rising Tide*
26. The Year of Living Danishly
27. The Button Box
28. Land Grabbing*
29. The Soul of a New Machine*
30. White Mughals*
31. The Making of the President 1960*
32. No Way to Treat a First Lady*
33. The Reproach of Hunger*

April

34. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy*
35. No God But Gain*
36. The Great Partition
37. The Buried Pyramid
38. The Forest of Myrrh

This year I'm starting a new NF challenge, which is to read the non-fiction winners of the Pulitzer prize. I stole this idea from Reba, who is doing a fiction challenge. Hi Reba! This is a long-term project, rather than something to be completed this year. But I've read three of them already :-) If I can't find the relevant non-fiction winner easily in the UK, I propose to substitute the winner of the history category.

Here's the list:

2015 The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
2014 Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin
2013 Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King
2012 The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
2011 The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
2010 The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy by David E. Hoffman
2009 Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A Blackmon
2008 The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945 by Saul Friedländer
2007 The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright
2006 Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya by Caroline Elkins
2005 Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
2004 Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum
2003 A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power
2002 Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution by Diane McWhorter
2001 Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan by Herbert P Bix
2000 Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John W. Dower
1999 Annals of the Former World by John McPhee
1998 Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
1997 Ashes To Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, The Public Health, And The Unabashed Triumph Of Philip Morris by Richard Kluger
1996 The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism by Tina Rosenberg
1995 The Beak Of The Finch: A Story Of Evolution In Our Time by Jonathan Weiner
1994 Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days Of The Soviet Empire by David Remnick
1993 Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America by Garry Wills
1992 The Prize: The Epic Quest For Oil, Money & Power by Daniel Yergin
1991 The Ants by Bert Holldobler and Edward O Wilson
1990 And Their Children After Them by Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson
1989 A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil Sheehan
1988 The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
1987 Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land by David K Shipler
1986 Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families by J Anthony Lukas
1986 Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and White by Joseph Lelyveld
1985 The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two by Studs Terkel
1984 The Social Transformation Of American Medicine by Paul Starr
1983 Is There No Place On Earth For Me? by Susan Sheehan
1982 The Soul of A New Machine by Tracy Kidder
1981 Fin-De Siecle Vienna: Politics And Culture by Carl E Schorske
1980 Godel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R Hofstadter
1979 On Human Nature by Edward O Wilson
1978 The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan
1977 Beautiful Swimmers by William W Warner
1976 Why Survive? Being Old In America by Robert N Butler
1975 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
1974 The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
1973 Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam by Frances Fitzgerald
1973 Children of Crisis, Vols. II and III by Robert Coles
1972 Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945 by Barbara W Tuchman
1971 The Rising Sun by John Toland
1970 Gandhi's Truth by Erik H Erikson
1969 The Armies Of The Night by Norman Mailer
1969 So Human An Animal by Rene Jules Dubos
1968 Rousseau And Revolution, The Tenth And Concluding Volume Of The Story Of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant
1967 The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture by David Brion Davis
1966 Wandering Through Winter by Edwin Way Teale
1965 O Strange New World by Howard Mumford Jones
1964 Anti-Intellectualism in American Life by Richard Hofstadter
1963 The Guns of August by Barbara W Tuchman
1962 The Making of the President 1960 by Theodore H White

26. The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell

This was a Kindle Daily Deal a few days ago, and seemed like a good light read when I needed something not too demanding. But it was much more than a comical Brits-abroad memoir. Helen Russell was the editor of the UK Marie Claire website when her husband was offered his dream job at Lego HQ in Denmark, and they moved to Jutland for a year. Russell was interested in the statistic that the Danes are the happiest people in the world and set about researching why that might be, by talking to Danes and experts and trying to get used to life in a new and very cold country as she eats her own body weight in snegles. Each month she tackles a few new topics, and ends the chapter with a list of what she's learned. It *is* very funny, particularly the neighbours Mr Beards I - III who keep a sharp eye on her recycling practices and at one point print out (and laminate) the rules for flying flags in Denmark, but it's more than just funny, and is an excellent read. Highly recommended for anyone who's been to Denmark, or lived there, or might want to go in the future. Or snegle fans. (A snegle is a pastry that non-Danes might call a "Danish". But obviously they can't do that in Denmark).

Happy New Thread, Susan and wishing you a lovely Sunday.

>5 susanj67: This sounds great. Wishlisted. I was watching 24 hours in A &E and they had a lovely doctor talking to camera about his hopes for his son to be a medic too. He noted that his dream job (the son was still a small boy) was currently to work for Lego. 'I'm sure they must need a doctor'. I am rapidly becoming addicted to that and the Channel 5 show about GPs 'Behind Closed Doors'. Both are just wonderful reminders about how hard the job is and I am practically standing on the sofa at the end shouting about the wonders of the NHS.

Sorry to read about your headache. That sounds like a whopper. I think the ibuprofen spray is good stuff.Certainly preferable to an ice bath which is also supposed to help (no way).

Hope you are feeling better Susan.

oh and #4... yes. Emphatically YES.

Sorry to read on your previous thread about the headache. That sounds awful. But I'm glad you're feeling more yourself, and I hope you enjoy your Sunday (or what remains of it)!

Happy new thread, Susan! So sorry about the headache - that sounds really miserable. You got me with The Year of Living Danishly - I do not know how you get me with so much non-fiction all the time. Pure talent, I suppose. I love the graphic in >4 susanj67:!

>6 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara :-)

>7 charl08: Charlotte, there was a good documentary on Channel 4 a while ago about people trying to get jobs with Lego, and it looked like a fun place to work. According to the book, the meeting rooms all have bowls of blocks so people can build things as they talk.

>8 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka! Heck yes re #4, as I demonstrated at lunch today.

>9 katiekrug: Katie, I think I've made the most of it. I took myself out for lunch at Canary Wharf, where I had scrambled eggs and toast at Le Pain Quotidien, and also a hot chocolate (which they make with the chocolate part in its own little jug. It seems a bit pompous to me, but Super-Fit Friend, who is half-French, approves greatly). I think the protein was helpful. Then I went to the supermarket for a few bits and pieces, and I've got some banana chocolate chip muffins in the oven at the moment. The recipe said it made 12, but that must be for a dolls' tea party, so I've got six :-)

>10 Crazymamie: Mamie, yes, headaches are the thing I really can't do. Some years ago I nearly died of peritonitis, and I remember being surprised when they told me how ill I was, because apart from the roaring pain in my stomach and the sky-high temperature I felt pretty good. No headache, you see. Just a tummy ache and could someone maybe open a window? No problem.

I'm making progress with The Button Box so I'm going to press on and read the final 60 pages now. And not watch Breaking Bad. No.

Happy new thread, Susan - and Happy Easter!

>4 susanj67: I often get strange looks in business meetings when amid a veritable forest of notebooks and foolscap pads I am sitting with nothing much beside me but whatever book I happen to be reading. I am not sure that they are fully convinced when I tell them I don't really need to take notes because I will remember whatever it is we have discussed and agreed but it is a pitch which attracts as much as it disconcerts.

Happy new thread, Susan.

>12 scaifea: Thanks Amber!

>13 PaulCranswick: Paul, you'd certainly be memorable! I am always surrounded by paper - so much for the computers doing away with paper. We just print it all out now :-)



27. The Button Box: Lifting the Lid on Women's Lives by Lynn Knight

This is a superb read, and such a fun concept - British social history told through the buttons in a button box. The author looks at the lives of her grandmother, great-aunt and mother through the clothes that the buttons recall, and also at what was happening more broadly in Britain at the time. There's a lengthy and very dangerous bibliography, and there's obviously been lots of research, but it's a very easy read. You learn things almost without realising :-) I loved the author's previous book, Lemon Sherbet and Dolly Blue, which is a family memoir, so I was very pleased to see this and I hope she writes something else soon.

Susan I'm glad to hear you are getting better. The Danish book sounds like so much fun.

>14 susanj67: Definitely an interesting concept. I enjoyed going through my grandmother's button box with her and, yes, I inherited it, but I merged it with modern buttons in my feckless 20s--wish I'd kept it pristine.

Also glad to hear you are feeling better.

Happy new thread, Susan. You got me with both The Year of Living Danishly and The Button Box. I hope the head is better.

Happy new thread, Susan. I'm catching bookbullets. ;-)

>15 luvamystery65: Thanks Roberta :-) It really was!

>16 ronincats: Roni, now it's a multi-generational box. My mother's had some of her mother's buttons, I'm sure.

>17 BLBera: Thanks Beth!

>18 DianaNL: Thanks Diana. Here's another candidate...



28. Land Grabbing: Journeys in the New Colonialism by Stefano Liberti

I bought this in the Verso sale at Christmas (no, really!) as it was about a topic that I'd tried and failed to find at the library (even getting as far as reserving a book in the catalogue before they told me that in fact they didn't have it). It's about the use of land in developing countries by richer nations to grow food, and also to grow crops for agrofuels. The food growing is taking place mostly in Africa, for Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich countries without enough food of their own. Although it is now received wisdom that China is also buying up huge chunks of Africa, this is not in fact the case. The agrofuels are concentrated in Brazil, which produces huge amounts of ethanol (as does the US, but with subsidies). The author looks at what this means for native peoples and others, and at why there are only guidelines about how companies should act, and no strict rules. It's a short but interesting read.

My next Kindle read is The Reproach of Hunger (yup, another Verso purchase) but I plan to focus on White Mughals this week. I have to return The Button Box to the library at lunchtime, so I must be Strong. I think I'll run in, scan the book on the self-service machine and run out again, all the while with a hand over my eyes, just peeping out between my fingers so as not to knock anyone over.

Happy new thread Susan. Ugh to headache.

>20 lkernagh: Thanks Lori! I'm nearly better from the headache.



29. The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder

For some reason this cover won't load, so I'll have to come back and do it later. Anyway, this was from my Pulitzer challenge, and from the bundle of books that sent me the letter before they set off from Indiana at the end of last year :-) Goodness knows what the Pulitzer field was like in the year that this won, but I'm pretty surprised, really. It's all about a team of computer techies at Data General, who were working on a new machine. The company is long gone and the machine is long forgotten, so there is little of real interest in the book although I suppose from the history of science perspective (if 1979 is "history") it might be of interest. But the book is mostly about the personalities and, while it might be amusing for a journalist to meet sociopaths, bullies and the generally unpleasant because it makes a good story, all I felt when I read this was that these people should NOT be feted as heroes, because they wreck people's lives. (Yes, I have spent 25 years working for these types of people, so this may have coloured my view. I'm only here today because of a Giant Ego which can't admit that he's not going to have something ready for me to look at before Easter. We all have to pretend that he will. Next week, when it is finally ready, he will expect me to cancel the holiday days that I am going to take then instead). Most of the time, reading about the "eccentric" geniuses, I just thought "ugh". I'm not donating this to the book exchange - I've already tossed it into the paper recycling.

Next up in my small-sized commuting read is The Making of the President 1960, another Pulitzer winner which, on the basis of a few pages this morning, looks much better. I thought it would be interesting to read it in a US election year, and compare and contrast later. But, perhaps most interestingly, it was published in 1961, so it's going to be about John F Kennedy without all the hindsight. And I don't think I've ever read a book about him that wasn't written after he died.

Today is the roomie's birthday. I stopped in at Waitrose Food & Home to get her a card. One assistant picked up the phone as she saw me approach. The other one was mid-conversation with a pal, a conversation which she didn't finish as she picked up the card and scanned it, completely ignoring me as the hahahahahahahaha went on and on. "Cheer up", she said to me eventually, "it's Tuesday". "I don't need you telling me what I should look like, thank you," I said (instead of just walking out, which I now wish I had done). But no apology - nothing. Why do I go there? Why? I should have walked the extra steps and gone to Paperchase, where they don't speak enough English to offend.

I'm always walking home the following day when I finally worm out what I should have said. I have coniptions when told I should be smiling. Argh. It seems I'm lucky my dream was never to work in Disneyland.

Hope the presidential book is as intriguing as it sounds. I think I would have given up on the computer book, never mind finishing it. Having heard relatives talk about working with early computers I'm surprised they managed to make it so dull (all those rolls of paper with holes sounds so surreal to me, and I am sufficiently dated that I had to learn BBC computer programming for my GCSE). One of the interesting bits of Elvis Costello's bio was when he described his pre fame job running the computers for an international cosmetic company's UK office. Do you think a current perspective on the failure might have helped?

Charlotte, the presidential book is really good! Already much better than the computing. I don't think an update would have worked - there was really nothing to update when all said and done. They're just gadgets, and there are plenty of them. The invention described in the book really wasn't "all that", as young people in the US like to say :-) I read another hundred pages of the Dalrymple last night and it's fabulous. I'm up to the part where the jaded Persian diarist is introduced - the one that the author describes as being like an 18th century V S Naipaul. So funny! I turned to the bibliography, hoping there was an English translation of the book mentioned, but sadly not.

I have 500 more documents to review in the giant database, so I am nearly finished. Yay! My reward will be drafting some instructions to counsel on another case. Yes, this is the sad life I lead. I offered to help with the document review to save the young people but now it seems to have been left entirely to me. Grrrr.

>23 susanj67: Dalrymple made me want to go to the British Library and order up some of those letters and look at the wills. So interesting. Shame about the translation though!

Why yes, I have finished the documents! Yay me!

>24 charl08: Charlotte, I can imagine someone saying that they learned Persian just so they could read his book. Not me, though :-) I'll double-check online that there's no translation - I suppose just because Dalrymple used the original that doesn't mean there isn't one.

I'm as excited as you are about the documents, Susan!

I am sorry about the rude shop girls. Like Charlotte, I almost always think of the perfect response once the moment is gone. Probably for the best. Carry on, sister!

>25 susanj67: Yay for Kermit (and the documemts).

ETA or even documents...

>26 Crazymamie: Mamie, that picture is sort of the face I did when telling the young person that I'd finished :-) The actual content review is fine - I love building up a picture of what happened, who said what to whom, why x hates y and so on. It's the mousing and clicking and cutting and pasting - so hard on my poor old skelington (as my brother used to call it when he was younger). It sounds ridiculous but 25 years of computer work have wrecked me.

>27 charl08: Thanks Charlotte! I swung by the book exchange on the way back from lunch and picked up a few things to label as a special treat.

>25 susanj67: That did make me smile. >:-D

>29 Helenliz: Helen, that arm shaking is pretty good for sore arms, too!

I've just been doing some nice relaxing photocopying as my secretary is on holiday forever, with a couple of hours' notice last week. Always helpful. But at least I know it's done how I like it. I called the bluff of the Ego who said I was needed this week, and I am now having tomorrow off, as clearly I am not needed. So that's five days in a row. FIVE! And I have no library books. Oooh.

Sounds like a trip to the library is in order...

Just what I was thinking!

>31 katiekrug:, >32 charl08: Y'all are ganging up on me...

I'm quite tempted by a few things from the Book Exchange, as it happens. So much good stuff down there, and nearly all in Dewey order now :-)

Well, ok then. As long as there will be books involved in your FIVE days off, and not just Netflix ;-)

Yay for 5 days off and the Book Exchange in good order!

#25 Love it!!

And whoooooOOOp for five day weekend :)

>34 katiekrug: Katie, yes, there definitely will be *looks for space in the freezer to hide the remote*

>35 ronincats: Thanks Roni! It is looking pretty awesome, if I say so myself. On Monday I was down there when the weekly new starters' tour went past, and the person leading the tour explained how it worked. Count me thrilled!

>36 BekkaJo: Bekka, yes, I'm really pleased not to be there. I'm sitting here with a mug of tea and a cinnamon swirl from the Tesco bakery. I cruised around among the pensioners, finally able to have a good look at sections of the shop that are usually far too busy on the weekend. One of the best things about being retired will be never having to shop on the weekends again.

I bought ingredients for a new muffin recipe so I'm going to try that later, but first I'm going to make the curry recipe I tried a few weeks ago again, but with squash instead of cauliflower, and with a can of chickpeas added for some protein. I also picked up a poppadom top tip from Jamie Oliver recently - apparently if you put them in the microwave, standing up in a bowl, you can air pop them to puff them up, instead of frying them. I'm scared of frying things in lots of oil (i.e. I never do it) so poppadoms are a rare treat at work on Indian days. Maybe not any more!

Oh, and I plan to make a serious amount of progress with White Mughals today. Yes. Ahem.

>37 susanj67: And why would you not make lots of progress on the Dalrymple if you're not going to touch the remote?!

Seriously though, enjoy your break. I read the Gilmore Girls are making a new series for Netflix. Now I'm tempted!

>38 charl08: Charlotte, I'm making great progress :-) No N*tfl*x at all today.

I've just made the curry again, and it looks great. And the poppadoms do work in the microwave! Delicious. I zapped them for a minute, and my oven is 1000 watts, and they floofed up nicely. So it's going to be an early dinner, and then more reading, and then episode 3 of The Secret History of My Family.

Five days off! Woohoo!

Hooray for five days off, Susan!

Sounds like an excellent start to your mini break! I had Indian for lunch, but sadly, there were no poppadums :(

>40 luvamystery65: Hi Roberta! I'd rather be having them a week later and meeting up with y'all at the retreat, but next week is going to involve Drama. So I have to make the most of them now. So far so good!

>41 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Day One has gone very well. I cooked, I read a lot and I haven't watched any Netflix. It's amazing how much reading a person can get done without just one more episode of Breaking Bad to watch.



30. White Mughals by William Dalrymple

This is a superb read, and possibly all the better for being most consumed in a couple of days. It's the story of the time of the "white mughals" in India - Europeans who integrated into Indian society so much that they dressed like the locals and married Indian women. This gradually stopped in the mid-1800s as a "them and us" mindset took over, and after the First War of Independence/Indian Mutiny there was no going back to the way things had been in the 1700s and very early 1800s. The book is mostly about James Kirkpatrick, the Resident of Hyderabad, and his wife, but looks more widely at how the East India Company fitted into India at that time, and what was expected of its employees. I've promised this to the roomie next (she's a bit stuck on his Nine Lives book and looking for a change).

I fancy another history book for my next "home" TBR hard copy read and, looking at the pile, I think it's going to be Big Chief Elizabeth.

>42 katiekrug: Hi Katie! Yes, a very good start. And lots of curry for tomorrow. And the next day #singletonproblems. I'm wondering whether I can freeze something with coconut milk in it. For some reason I think not. I should Google!

I do the singleton curry thing, as husband doesn't like it. I order a meal with sides and two dishes, then freeze it in portions for later. Never had a defrosting disaster yet...

Oooh, Big Chief Elizabeth sounds good! I'll be watching for your comments. And well done on avoiding the temptations of Netflix today! Last week when I was sick, I discovered that I could watch the first season of Fixer Upper on Netflix. I didn't get a lot of reading done while I was sick.

>46 cbl_tn: it is.

>39 susanj67: Nigella says the results might be variable. I'm pretty sure I've done it and not died. That might not be the wholehearted endorsement you were looking for though. I've seen recipes where you work out how much you want to eat, add the coconut milk to that bit and leave the rest. I am not a fan of such recipes.

Also great comments about the Dalrymple. I am definitely a fan now.Hoping to get hold of his other Mughal book.

>45 Helenliz: Helen, I've taken the plunge and frozen two containers of it. It seems that the issue with coconut milk is that it might split when it's defrosted, and the sauce will look grainy, but I'll just have to see.

>46 cbl_tn: Carrie, I'm hoping it will be (and encouraged by >47 Helenliz: - thanks Helen!). We don't have Fixer Upper on our Netflix, but I still have a few saved on the PVR until they start showing it again. I watched a lot of TV last weekend too but there is something satisfying about reading half a chunkster in a single day :-)

>48 charl08: Charlotte, ha, I saw that Nigella site too! I've taken the plunge, so I'll report the result at some point. I've left enough in the fridge for tomorrow and frozen the rest. The Last Mughal is also excellent - that's the other one I've read (and City of Djinns). I want to get to Return of a King at some point and, looking at his website, there are some others written in the 90s, but more travel than history. I loved his comments on how he researched the book, hunting through all the various collections of documents all over the place. It occurred to me as I was trawling through the document review this week that historians of the future just won't be able to do that, because so much will just disappear into thin air now that everything is electronic. We've never had more information, but less hope of it surviving even decades, let alone longer.

>14 susanj67: When I was little, my grandmother had a tin that was full of buttons. I used to love to play with those buttons, run my hands through them, and pretend that I was sewing and choosing buttons for the outfit. Your book reminded me that I want to purchase a "tin" at the dollar store and start my own button collection. Many times I intended to do so, but I haven't done it yet. Maybe I'll add it to the shopping list for this weekend.

Have a wonderful Easter.

Susan, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Hope your looooong weekend is going well. Looks like a lovely day today, and might be the best of the weekend, so hope you're making the most of it. Maybe a nice walk to the library to rack up steps and books...

>52 thornton37814: Lori, I hope you find something good. Happy Easter!

>53 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. You too.

>54 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara. I hope yours is going well too!

>55 DianaNL: Thanks Diana :-)

>56 Helenliz: Helen, it *is* gorgeous here today, so I went out early to do my steps and stop by Waitrose for a few bits and pieces. It bemuses me that the shops are open on Good Friday here when there's so much debate about Sunday opening.

I've opened the balcony door, checked out the new flats that have been going up next door(ish) for what seems like years, and I'm even considering going out there to read. Spring is here! At least until tomorrow, when rain is forecast. But that's tomorrow.

>43 susanj67: Nice review. I need to move that up on my wishlist - though there is a lot of Dalrymple on there right now.

Hope you have a very happy Easter weekend, Susan.

>58 Oberon: Me too.

>51 susanj67: Fingers crossed for the curry survival. I have mini eggs, so my easter is set. I've got to get Neurotribes read as it's due back at the library next week, but being distracted by another Janet Malcolm book.

>58 Oberon: Thanks Erik :-)

>59 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba - you too!

>60 charl08: Charlotte, I have my fingers crossed :-) I'm finally trying out the new rice steamer at the moment, so with luck tonight's curry will have brown rice to go with it. There is always the emergency naan bread in the freezer if something goes horribly wrong, though.

I've made a tiny bit of progress with The Making of the President 1960 this afternoon, but a nap intervened. Still, I'm on holiday :-) I vow to do better this evening.

In other news, I was pleased to see that my book exchange isn't the only place being deluged with unwanted sets of Fifty Shades of Grey: http://www.theguardian.com/books/shortcuts/2016/mar/23/fifty-shades-grey-book-yo...

The rice steamer was a triumph :-) No mess, no boiling over on the stove, no steaming up the kitchen - I'm sold. Today I had to go out briefly to pick up a prescription repeat, but it was raining a tiny, tiny bit so I decided to come straight home again and make muffins. Unwisely, I'd chosen a recipe that involved grating carrots and an apple (not a great idea for the arms) so I've just ordered a food processor from Amazon, and I will never have to grate anything again. Yay! It should be here by next weekend. I'm not really getting it for baking - nearly every recipe I see in the vegetarian magazines involves a food processor, so it's more for proper cooking, but grating will undoubtedly be handy too. The muffins look OK, but they're not really floofy. Still, with all the grated carrot and apple and wholemeal flour, I suppose there's a limit to what 1.5 tsp of baking powder can actually do. I might have to try one, just for quality control purposes.

OK! Well, they taste excellent, but I've put them back in for a few more minutes on just an oven rack, to see whether they might firm up a tiny bit.

I'm really enjoying The Making of the President 1960, which is a very compelling read. I'm half way through it and I have vague plans to try and finish it today.

Susan, I think you will love the food processor. I use mine more than any other kitchen appliance or tool. Besides grating, it also works for slicing vegetables like carrots and celery for soup.

Hi Susan - I hope you have enjoyed your time off. Cooking and reading, two of my favorite things... I love the Fifty Shades of Grey article; it was also on the news here.

>64 cbl_tn: Carrie, I'm hoping so. I don't really have room for it but I'll find a place. Maybe a kitchen island :-)

>65 BLBera: Beth, I am enjoying it, and there are still two more days to go!



31. The Making of the President 1960 by Theodore H White

This is another one of my Pulitzer books, and not something I would have read otherwise, but what a great read it was! It's the story of the 1960 Presidential campaign, starting with the nomination race for each party, and then the campaign between Kennedy and Nixon and the election which saw Kennedy win by a very narrow margin. There's also lots of history, and lots about the US at the time, and the characters of the various people involved. I was surprised at how it kept my attention, despite the fact that I not only knew how the election had been decided, but also at what happened afterwards. As the book was published in 1961, the author had no idea. Kennedy was beginning what might have just been his first term. Nixon wasn't a crook. Martin Luther King had recently been let out of jail thanks to Kennedy's intervention (as the candidate, not even the President). It was a very odd feeling reading something that didn't take into account what we now see as the bigger part of all their stories.

There was also a little bit of explanation of the nomination and voting system, which was helpful. I did smile when someone was scandalised that the Kennedy campaign had spent *over $100,000* just in Wisconsin, trying to win the nomination. I think it was 2008 when I read that just getting the nomination now costs over $1 billion (for all the states, not just Wisconsin :-) ) and there's no way that inflation is responsible for that. And yet now it's even easier for candidates to get their messages across. They don't have to show up in small towns any more to get headlines in the local paper and ignored everywhere else. Everything they say is accessible to everyone. It should, technically, be cheaper to reach the whole country. Even here in the UK we read just about everything Donald Trump says, and we can't even vote for him.

Have a lovely Easter, Susan!

>67 DeltaQueen50: Thanks Judy! You too :-)



32. No Way to Treat a First Lady by Christopher Buckley

As I was immersed in US politics in my last read, I decided to keep the theme going with this TBR choice. It's about the death of a US President, allegedly due to an injury suffered when a Paul Revere spittoon was thrown at him by the First Lady, leading to her trial on a charge of assassination. It was a very entertaining read, and it was fun to see Nick Naylor, the protagonist in Thank You For Smoking, appearing in this book as the PR person for a nightmare Hollywood "star" who may or may not have been intimate with the President in the Lincoln bedroom shortly before the spittoon incident.

Daylight saving started here overnight and has thrown me a bit, particularly as I stayed up late anyway, watching Breaking Bad thinking philosophical thoughts. I think this afternoon I'll try and make some progress with The Reproach of Hunger, my current Kindle choice. Maybe I need to turn off its wi-fi in order not be distracted. This time last year I had a couple of weeks of holiday, which was my Easter Reading Extravaganza. This year it's more of an Easter Reading Mini-Eggstravaganza, but still fun :-)

Brace yourself, Susan. I've ordered another book, recommended by you, from the library!

Hope you are having a good Sunday...

>88 Helenliz: Philosophical thoughts eh? Lol. Have a good Sunday. I love the set up of your novel.

Reminded me of the pretzel incident (or was it a crisp) Bush Jr almost choked on.

I'm reading Gorsky which I think I would like better if I liked The Great Gatsby more. Some great descriptions of walking around London though.

A food processor! Now we're talking! You go, girl! I love mine. And hooray fro the success of the rice steamer - is that the one that works in the microwave? Am I remembering right?

Nice reviews - I like the sounds of The Making of the president 1960. Might have to add that one to the list.

I remember last year's Easter Reading Extravaganza! Wishing you a day full of happy, however you decide to spend it. Happy Easter, Susan!

I remember enjoyng that Buckley, but Florence of Arabia is my favorite. I have his new one - The Relic Master - out from the library.

(Lack of touchstones due to wonky iPad keyboard...)

>69 Fourpawz2: Ooh, Charlotte, which book is it?

>70 charl08: Charlotte, I've never read The Great Gatsby (but don't tell Mamie!) so I don't think Gorsky sounds like one for me, but then I do love London books...

>71 Crazymamie: Mamie! Oh...hi! I'm looking forward to the food processor coming, particularly as we're about to hit salad season. And the rice steamer is the microwave one - so easy! I could never cook rice without it boiling over and making a mess, but those days are gone. I meant to tell you that I looked up the Skinnytaste blog you mentioned, and Liked it on Facebook and some great recipes are showing up! I was slightly confused by today's pasta shell and asparagus with marinara sauce recipe, as it was said to be vegetarian, but what about the marinara sauce? For some reason, watching Joey eat it through years of Friends, I'd always thought it involved seafood of some sort, but now I see it's just a plain tomato sauce. :-)) The 28oz can of tomatoes stumped me until I googled, and it's basically 2 x 400g tins. I've never seen a bigger size here. But I'm going to try it as soon as I can get some asparagus. And pasta shells. And another tin of tomatoes. Basically I'm there already.

>72 katiekrug: Katie, there's no sign of Florence in the library system (or the new one you mention). Maybe they'll have to come in my next order from Better World Books. Oooh, a new order!

Today it is blowing a gale and raining, and my tube line is closed for engineering work. I think it's going to be another quiet day inside. The TV weather people seem optimistic for this afternoon, so if it really does stop blowing I'll walk to the supermarket but I already have my delicious curry defrosting for dinner so it's not vital that I go. I may just have developed an addiction to the Waitrose pizza bread (with tomato relish and garlic butter on it) and it's handy to have some in the house.

The Reproach of Food is going well, so finishing it is my goal for today.

Well, The Reproach of Hunger isn't going to get finished today. But, in more positive news, the coconut milk in the curry that I froze didn't split when I defrosted it! It defrosted beautifully and heated up well, and I got to use the rice steamer again. I think the lesson is that coconut milk mixed with other things (in this case, tinned tomatoes) is OK to freeze.

I made it to Waitrose earlier. All the Easter chocolate was reduced. Ahem.

Oh good stuff on the coconut milk.

Reduced easter chocolate you say? Is it now reduced in quantity also?

Hmm, Susan has a Facebook account.... Hmmmm......

>75 charl08: Charlotte, after my trip it was reduced in quantity by a bag of Lindt mini-eggs, and I suppose there is very little left now. But it's chocolate! Sure, in Easter wrapping, but it's still chocolate. I don't know why they rush to reduce something that's available all the time in different wrapping. Not that I'm complaining. These eggs were the all-chocolate ones. Previously I had ones with a chocolate fondant centre, but they weren't as good. I had to eat them really quickly just to, um, get rid of them.

>76 katiekrug: Katie, for captioned cats/dogs/bears etc and Gardens of Time neighbours - really not interesting!

I watched last Thursday's The Good Wife over lunch, and they were doing a huge document review. I love the way they make the databases look on TV, all user-friendly and easy to see. Ha! Some of their arguments over what should be disclosed were also interesting. I despair of myself, I really do. It's supposed to be entertainment, not US Law 101. Actually Illinois Law 101, I suppose. But I am not exaggerating when I say that 95% of what I know about US law I learned from The Good Wife. Fortunately I'm not employed to advise on it :-) And there was the time when someone sent me a vague request for a case that someone they sort of knew had once maybe heard mentioned, and I found it because the previous evening's Good Wife had discussed it. But tonight is the OJ Simpson drama, which is also illuminating in a nerdy way. And I keep wondering if the John Travolta character really is or was that orange in real life.

>77 susanj67: Also are you still hovering over Neurotribes? It really is worth breaking the library fast for (honest).

>73 susanj67: - It's Bad Blood by Lorna Sage. I don't remember why, exactly I put it on the list. The important thing is it's there, credited to you and I'm gonna read it.

Wish I'd had a day inside today. It was pouring this AM when I got to the garage and I got pretty wet (and cold) popping into and out of the unmentionable toilets trying to do my cleaning thing. I think I'm causing the bad weather on the Mondays when I am there. It's always either raining, snowing, freezing or blowing a gale - with the exception of just one time - when I go there.

>78 charl08: Charlotte, I could go over tomorrow and take a look :-)

>79 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I got that one from Charlotte (it's lucky we know what I mean) and it's excellent! Your day sounds cold and wet - I hope it soon gets warmer.

It's the end of my little mini-break - so sad. I've just set the alarm for 7am tomorrow. I suppose at least it will be Tuesday. I've cleared three (nearly four) books from Mount TBR over the weekend so that's reasonable. I should finish the food one tomorrow, although I know I keep saying that. It's good, but seems long, although actually only 64% of the file is the main text.

I can empathise. 4 days off was really very nice. And the alarm clock for 5:50 was a very unpleasant start this morning. But, only 4 days to get through.

>78 charl08: Charlotte, there was no sign of Neurotribes when I popped over, so it looks like someone else has it for the time being. I did see Daniel Defoe and the Bank of England, which won't touchstone itself, but the authors seem to be management consultants, and I had my doubts so I left it there.

>81 Helenliz: Helen, 5.50 is early! I did wake up at 7 and managed to get out of bed by 7.30, so I counted that as pretty good for day 1.

Happy Tuesday, Susan! I loved your post in >77 susanj67:! Sorry you had to go back to work today - how had the book exchange managed in your absence?

>83 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie! The book exchange had not done very well during my one working day away from the office - it looked like hooligans had been down there when I visited this morning. It's looking better now, and I've brought some more books up to label. Once I've finished the Dewey numbers on the non-fiction, I'm considering hearts for the romance and guns for the crime, if I can figure out where to buy them, but I'm a bit stuck on a symbol for the general fiction (or maybe they don't need one). Any suggestions welcome!

Hi Susan! I'm watching the season 3 finale of Fixer Upper. Chip & Joanna are fixing up the carriage house next to their B&B for the couple that will manage the B&B for them. They're also going to show the grand opening of the silos this evening. :-)

>85 cbl_tn: Carrie, I haven't seen those ones! It's back on here in an 11am slot, which I suspect is just repeats, but I'm recording them anyway to get the ones I've missed. I did wonder who was going to look after that B&B, given that it wasn't even in Waco.

Oh look - an article telling me something I already knew about myself! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3515520/Are-grammar-Nazi-Language...

One of my recent faves was a sign near work which said "Foothpath closed. Please use opposite foothpath". I half forgave them, though, as someone had taken a pen that was as close to the background colour as possible, and carefully filled in the rogue "h"s. At least, I'm assuming it was someone from the company that put up the sign, and not a passing pedestrian.

>87 susanj67: Tell me something I don't know... love the sign editing. At work I have got myself a reputation as being a good person to review something thoroughly, that includes random apostrophes and the like. Also my one woman crusade to use data correctly; it's a plural (fingers down the blackboard moment whenever I see, "data is").

>87 susanj67: Love that grammar Nazi seems to have become an acceptable term (even by the DM).

>88 Helenliz: I am so not getting into that data question. I fact I am running away. In a singular fashion. Or possibly plurally.

>84 susanj67: Susan they sell genre stickers for library fiction books online. Our mysteries have a Sherlock Holmes on them. So cute.

>88 Helenliz: Helen, I think that the ability to review something and turn it into clear English will soon be a skill that is more valued than it is now. Some of the drafting I see!

>89 charl08: Charlotte, yes, it's sad that someone who simply values clear communication is now compared to Hitler. I haven't seen "maths Nazi" yet for a person who can add up correctly, but then I suppose they're a "nerd", "geek" or "boffin". No wonder clever kids at school are made to feel like losers.

>90 luvamystery65: Genre stickers! Thanks Roberta :-) I was searching without success among gazillions of labels, but "genre stickers" brought up exactly what I wanted, and even gave me the UK equivalent - "subject classification labels".



33. The Reproach of Hunger by David Rieff

This is an excellent look at "Food, Justice and Money in the Twenty-First Century", as the subtitle promises. It starts with the food crisis of 2007 - 08 which saw costs for the four food staples (wheat, rice, corn and soybeans) skyrocketing in poor countries, and asks why the crisis wasn't foreseen, and exactly what we're doing now to ensure that it doesn't happen again. And the answer, according to the author, is that we're not doing enough. Sure, there are the Millennium Development Goals, which include "Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty", but is a goal enough? Some people appear to think so, because having a goal means meeting that goal if you just try hard enough, right? Or, as the author says:

The assumption that poverty and hunger can be abolished if only the world can muster the determination and the money to make it happen is now the central "framing" mechanism for the way poverty is understood within the world of international development, private and governmental alike. As for those who might still argue that in fact "abolishing" poverty once and for all is beyond the capabilities of human beings, no matter how committed they were, no matter what political backing they received, and no matter how much money they had at their disposal, such persons tend to be viewed with the same pitying incredulity that a conference of astronomers would give to someone blundering into their midst insisting that the earth was flat or the sun revolved around it."

The author looks at some of the problems that remain despite the optimism that everyone now has to express (or risk being called a "spoiler", like a warlord throwing a spanner in the works and refusing to co-operate with development plans). Bill Gates and the pilanthrocapitalists don't come out of it well, but nor does any plan that relies solely on technological innovation (particularly where it hasn't actually happened yet (But it will! It will!)) without taking into account politics and actual human hopes and dreams. Recommended, despite the very long sentences, which really require some attention!

I passed White Mughals on to the roomie yesterday, and she started it last night and loves it. She commented that I could see William Dalrymple for myself at the Jaipur Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre, which is an annual thing he organises (the London offshoot of the really famous one in India). So I looked up the programme and there are all sorts of good talks: https://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/jlf-southbank-program-2016/ I've read a few of the authors being interviewed, so I think I'll get a ticket. It's just one day this year, and the roomie is now thinking of coming too :-)

After a morning of further irritation, following Tuesday's news that I am in the office this week for *no good reason*, finally something cheered me up. I was talking to someone and happened to put a hand on my hip, thereby finding what seemed like a hole in the seam of my jacket. And it's virtually new! And a nice one. And the lining is sewn down at the bottom so I couldn't even fix it. I went back to my office to inspect it further. How had such an unravelling taken place? I edged a finger in and felt...lining. But attached to the front of the jacket. I picked up a plastic knife and slid that in, and felt another seam...about the width of a pocket. And, come to think of it, the stitching did look a bit loose, like the sort of stitching they use to sew pockets closed...Yes, my jacket has the pockets I wished it had when I bought it. Quite the revelation :-)

Hooray for pockets!! A lovely discovery, Susan.

>92 susanj67: Festival programme looks good - hope you have fun. Reports back will be required!!

Sorry you're in work for no reason. That's mean.

>94 Crazymamie: Mamie, I was very pleased :-)

>95 charl08: Charlotte, I've bought my ticket :-) And reserved the 50 Lives book, which I think was a recent Guardian review. I'd wishlisted it but I should read it before I hear the author speak. The roomie is waiting to see if her husband can go, but has announced that she might come regardless. Women's Lib, millennial style :-) She wants to go to different sessions, though. I will have to stand firm so I can go to my own ones :-)

That festival looks very good. Agree with Charlotte that you will need to report back - in full!

And hooray for undiscovered pockets. But boo for being in the office for no good reason when you could be in Dallas!

>97 katiekrug: Katie, I'm so fed up about it! Work is driving me mad for a number of reasons, but this just takes the biscuit. I know you'll have an awesome time, though, and one day I'll make it, although I may get turned back at the airport after making the immigration officer ask "And what is the purpose of y'all's visit to the US?" multiple times just to hear him say it.

I just got an email from Verso Books advertising free ebooks today - six in total: http://www.versobooks.com/

>94 Crazymamie: Sorry you're at work for no good reason but hooray for the pocket!! I've had that happen to me ... "hmmm, why is this thread sticking out...Oh, look ...." :)

I've downloaded one which I think is quite restrained. Thanks for the heads up!

Okay - it's still rather early (page 10), but I'm really liking Bad Blood. The dysfunctionality really reminds me of my own 'dear' family.

>100 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I'm tempted to inspect the rest of my jackets now :-)

>101 charl08: Charlotte, that was restrained! Which one did you get?

>102 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I'm glad you like it!

Today is gorgeously sunny, and makes me wish I was out walking in it. I hope it stays like this for the weekend. I saw a great review on Heather's thread of a book called Stand on Zanzibar, and there are copies available in Newham, out in the Royal Docks, so I'm planning a stepping adventure out there tomorrow as long as it doesn't decide to rain. In other news, my food processor is supposed to arrive today, so the weekend may also involve lots of salad, and maybe some hummus :-) I am trying not to click the "Track my package" link in the Amazon email every couple of minutes, but it's not really working so far.

>103 susanj67: The one about the young man who was a genius The Boy Who Could Change the World. I have admired him since he downloaded big chunks of JStor and pointed out that we should all be able to access that academic knowledge, not put barriers up to hoard it.

>104 charl08: Charlotte, there's a Netflix documentary about him too. I read a longish article somewhere, but I haven't read the book.

Hilarity from Better World Books today with their FitBookMRK reading tracker
http://www.betterworldbooks.com/go/fitbookmrk?utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=...

"FitBookMRK™ Prize® edition comes with an image app that allows you to place your reading data seamlessly over your #Bookstagram and Snapchat images for a real time visual representation of what you’re reading. The FitBookMRK™ Prize® edition app also comes with deluxe bookish filters like “dusty bookstore,” “reading by candlelight,” “vampire lair,” “red room,” “dystopia,” and more to make sure your images tell a special story."

I bet every single recipient of the email wishes and wishes that it actually existed :-)

>66 susanj67: I have the follow up on the 1964 election and almost bought the 1968 version. I must admit though the US seems adept at putting dummies in the White House their process is compelling.

Have a lovely weekend.

>105 susanj67: THIS IS MY IDEA! I'm sure we had a conversation on here about combining books read with the fitbit. I *knew* I should have done something about that ;-)

Happy Friday, Susan.

Hooray for pockets.

The Jaipur Literature Festival sounds great. Yes, do report back.

>106 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. I would be very interested to read a 2016 version!

>107 charl08: LOL Charlotte - you should! I also liked the trophies, dystopia-free YA, vampire and romance-free paranormal etc.

>108 BLBera: Thanks Beth!

It's another sunny day here and I have gone out without a coat. Yes! I'm waiting for a train out to Custom House in search of a book. And then I plan* to walk home.

*Unless I get kidnapped and put on a train that goes to Westfield. Because that could happen.

Westfield kidnappings? Careful there...

*pops an ankle tracking gadget in Susan*.
It's OK, we'll know where you are and come and rescue you. Or should that be rescue your credit card?

>110 charl08:, >111 Helenliz: Ha! It turns out that Westfield is only about 2.5 miles from Custom House so I walked over, and am now at GBK waiting for my California burger (bean patty). I came via the old Stratford Mall, whose doom was widely predicted when Westfield opened, but the shopkeepers have said they're even busier than they were before, and I found a new branch of The Works! (for overseas readers, it's a book remainder/craft materials/puzzle books/jigsaw puzzle/stationery and colouring book emporium that I would have had to be dragged out of as a kid). I bought Grains as Mains and the lady gave me a loyalty card. Already I feel quite loyal.

Custom House library is a gorgeous little Carnegie library, recently done up and with a dinky collection of books, which included the one I went for, and also Adventures in the Anthropocene which I couldn't get as it was too heavy. But the lady was lovely and I may well go back at some point. Ooh, lunch!

oh oh oh! I used to do my weekly shop in Stratford mall, in the dinkiest sainsbugs I'd ever seen. Then catch the bus home with my shopping. Part of me wants to see what changes have been made to the area, part of me is OK with it in memory.

>113 Helenliz: Helen, that Sainsbury's is still there! The Works has taken over the space where W H Smith used to be, I think, although W H Smith has a branch over at Westfield too so they probably couldn't make enough from two of them. The mall is bigger than I originally thought, with side bits with lots more shops, and it was certainly busy today.

I'm home now, and having a nice black tea with a frozen lemon slice in it. Maybe I'll defrost the lemon next time, but it does make the tea cool enough to drink pretty quickly, so that's a plus.

The food processor arrived yesterday, and I unpacked it partly, but decided to finish it today. And LOOK why - this is the processor finally unpacked, with all the packaging it came in.



I fee embarrassed. No wonder the polar bears are melting. It's a shame I don't know the people with the little boy downstairs better, because I bet he'd like the two bottom boxes to make a hut with, but as it is they will go straight into the recycling once I've wrestled them flat.

Matthew Perry is the guest presenter on Magic FM this afternoon. His talents do not lie in radio presenting. Chandler would have been much better.

Wishing you a relaxed weekend, Susan.

As I mentioned above, Custom House library is a gorgeous little Carnegie library:



To either side of the main room with the lovely high ceiling is a smaller room - the children's area is to the left in this picture, and an adult area to the right. That has armchairs, wi-fi, computers and peace and quiet :-) The lady who checked my book out was really friendly, didn't do the death stare, didn't treat me like a nuisance and altogether I'm quite a fan. The collection is tiny but they did have some good things, everything was in good order and the shelves were immaculate. It doesn't take much to make me happy :-)

En route to Stratford, I went through West Ham and Plaistow, which is not an area I've ever been before. The most interesting building I saw was the Plaistow Red Triangle Club, which was a YMCA building, now with ugly balconies added and turned into a block of flats.

>115 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara :-)



34. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

I picked this one up as a Kindle deal after I saw Reba's review of it (Hi Reba!). It's the story of four women who acted as spies during the American Civil War - two from the Union side and two from the Confederates. It's really amazing what they got up to given how hard it was for women to do anything exciting in those days. My favourite one, who had disguised herself as a male, joined the Union army and ended up going all over the place. Extraordinary lives in extraordinary times. Recommended.

I now have Stand on Zanzibar, which is a chunky sci-fi book (most unlike me!) so I'm going to start that this afternoon. I have No God But Gain going on the Kindle (which is about slavery in Cuba) but I feel like some fiction.

>117 susanj67: Sold! Added to the wishlist.

Glad you liked Temptress Soldier Spy. I get so many books from you I'm glad to return the favor once in a while! On another note, I had no idea Carnegie had built libraries in the U.K. too.

Yay for the new food processor! I suspect you'll find all sorts of things that need processing now that you have it! The amount of packaging is extreme, isn't it? I loved playing in boxes when I was little. I still remember the fun my brother and I had with the refrigerator box when my parents replaced theirs while we were kids.

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is going into Group Two of the Susan recommended books!

Congratulations on your new acquisition! I used to own a food processor, but got rid of it because it took up so much room.

I, too, hate the ridiculous boxes and excessive packaging stuff is sent in. This the stupid one I received from amazon last year.

http://www.librarything.com/pic/5262527

Two tiny tapestry needles and they used such a giant box in order to ship them to me! Ridiculous!

Kids with boxes, makes me think of Calvin and Hobbes and his time machine... Reminds me too of a crate that my sister and I turned into a flying carpet. (I'm not sure, in retrospect, why the rug didn't become a flying carpet. Hmmm.)

>118 charl08: Charlotte, excellent! Enjoyment guaranteed or, um, I'm not sure what.

>119 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, it was an excellent recommendation :-) There are quite a few Carnegie libraries in the UK, many still going as libraries and I think they look much more like "proper" libraries than the trendy new ones. Today's one had beautiful leadlight windows.

>120 cbl_tn: Carrie, I'm really not sure what to process first :-) I need to wash all the attachments, although they did come in *thirteen* plastic bags. But maybe tomorrow...

>121 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, that is more packaging than mine! How ridiculous. They could have put those in a padded envelope. I am hoping that I'll use the food processor enough to warrant it taking up space. I like the smaller footprint and the added height they have now, rather than the old style of the motor on one side and the bowl on the other.

>122 charl08: Charlotte, probably the rug wasn't nearly as exciting as a crate :-)

It is *raining quite heavily*, which doesn't really fit with the "hotter than Barcelona" weather we were promised for the weekend. I am going to spend the evening reading, as somehow I got interrupted this afternoon and then it was 6pm. Darned recliner.

I had no idea they had Carnegie libraries in the UK! They seem like such a quintiessentially American thing.

And I just got a food processor a few weeks ago when I bought a new blender. Costco had the Ninja blender I wanted as a combo with a food processor that used the same base. It takes up a LOT less room than the old-style garage sale food processor I had in the cabinet and rarely used. This one should be a lot more convenient, but I'm not in the habit of using one and need to be more planful to get that way.

>117 susanj67: I picked that one up for my Kindle at the same time you did, Susan, and for the same reason. Still hoping to get to it...

>124 ronincats: Roni, Andrew Carnegie was born in Scotland, so I guess he wanted to give something back. But, according to a book I read recently on philanthrocapitalism, he did it at the expense of decent wages for his workers, who were expected to make do with less and less so that he could give so much money away. That takes the gloss off them, rather. But they are cute little buildings. I hope you enjoy your new food processor - I'm a tiny bit daunted by mine, but I'll wash it all and put it together later and see how it goes.

It's another lovely day here, although we are promised a cloud of agricultural smog later. Lovely. I'm making good progress with Stand on Zanzibar, which is set in 2010, but written in 1968. It's quite funny to see what the writer imagined correctly about 2010, and where he was way off (for example, they still check their phones when they get home, for messages, but the phones do have a link to an encyclopaedia. He got the internet right, but missed out the mobile phone revolution :-) ) I might step up to Whitechapel later and get a book by one of the authors appearing at the Jaipur Literature Festival. I've read one of her books, The Raj At War, but she's written one on Partition which I'd like to read. Of course, I could just reserve it and go somewhere else...

Agricultural smog? What is that?

>126 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, it's farm chemicals blowing over from Europe. A few years ago a terrible smell came with it, but today I think we're just getting the smog. All this will change if the UK leaves the EU, of course :-)

>127 susanj67: Ha! There'll be little pigs flying over in the thermals instead :-)

The food processor has arrived!! What will you use it for first?

Farm chemicals? That does not sound good.

>128 charl08: Charlotte, only if they comply with the new UK food laws, which may well ban foreign pigs being sold as British.

>129 Crazymamie: Mamie, to be honest all the ideas I had have flown straight out of my head! But I did see Jamie Oliver make a lovely fennel salad yesterday on 15 minute meals, so I could try that. I have two reversible grating and slicing blades - one is 2mm and the other 4mm. I've washed all the bits and pieces and now I just need a large box to put all the attachments in. It has a small bowl as well as a large one, but I need to read the instruction book.

>130 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, it's just one of those things. I don't notice it, but they give warnings for people with breathing problems.

I walked up to Whitechapel yesterday and got The Great Partition, which I have started and which looks good. I saw The Invention of Nature again, and actually picked it up this time, but it was too heavy given that I wanted to go to the supermarket on the way home, so I put it back reluctantly. After watching The Durrells last night (definitely worth catching up with for anyone who hasn't seen it) I want to get My Family and Other Animals, which I see Amazon has as an ebook with Gerard Durrell's two other Corfu memoirs, for just £9.99. Hmmm.

I really enjoyed My Family and other animals - looking forward to catching up with this (er, on catch up tv). Always meant to read the brother, but despite having one on the shelf, no luck so far...

The Great Partition looks good, Susan. I await your verdict, in hopes that this is another one to be added to my ever growing, recommended-by-you-know-who, category.

Susan
http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/new-on-netflix-uk-this-month

Just for academic interest.

Re the discussion on Carnegie Libraries, we have 125 of them here in Canada. Interesting background to it all. There is one here in Vancouver that now mainly serves as The Carnegie Community Centre, serving some of our poorest people in Canada. They do maintain a small library, but it is more of out reach and community centre.

>132 charl08: Charlotte, I've never read any of them either, Gerard or Lawrence. And yet Amazon also has the Alexandria Quartet...

>133 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I'm not sure it's going to make your list. It's interesting, but it's lacking...something - I can't really put my finger on it but it's not really pulling me along like I thought it would. I'm a third of the way through it at the moment.

>134 charl08: Charlotte, that *is* interesting, from an, um, academic viewpoint. I have to watch Frozen. So much hype, but I had no reason ever to see it, not being in charge of any little girls. But now it's right there on the TV, with no effort required, I should watch it to see what it's all about. And, I can turn the volume down on that annoying song :-)

>135 vancouverdeb: Deborah, there do seem to be a lot of them! One in London, which is actually called "Carnegie Library" is currently being occupied by protesters who don't want it to close and be turned into a gym. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35955378

I read a book by Lawrence Durrell two or three years ago, and I have one of Gerald Durrell's books penciled in for later this year. Two in the Bush will fit a couple of June's challenge categories.

Hi Susan. >43 susanj67: White Mughals sounds very good. I'm slowly working my way through Dalrymple's From the Holy Mountain and enjoying it so will definitely check out his other books.

>92 susanj67: Oh the Jaipur festival looks good. And I was just thinking about getting a ticket and gatecrashing joining you but we've just booked our holiday for that week.

>115 Ameise1: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy has been added to the library list and yay for Stand on Zanzibar (although I now have the 'what if she doesn't like it?' fear)

Happy Tuesday, Susan!

Stopping by to get caught up and good on you for discovering the 'hidden' pockets in your jacket! I had a pair of dress pants that had what I thought were fake pockets but on closer inspection discovered that they were just sewn shut "really good". I now inspect all new clothing before purchase (when buying in store) to see if it is detailing or if there really are pockets that have been 'closed' by the manufacturer prior to shipping. ;-)

>114 susanj67: - WOW.... that is an awful lot of packaging for the purchased product. Do they think it is going to be drop-kicked from the manufacturer to the consumer? ;-(

>116 susanj67: - Love the pic of the Carnegie library. Here is a pic of the Carnegie library building (which is no longer used as a library - too small) here in Victoria:


Joe Mabel (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Hey Susan - it's almost Friday!

>137 cbl_tn: Carrie, I'd definitely like to read a Gerard Durrell at some point. Do look out for the TV series over there - I'm sure you'd love it. It's brand new here so it might show up in a little while.

>138 souloftherose: Heather, what a shame you can't come! (but I'm sure the holiday will be even better). I do like Stand on Zanzibar, but I haven't made a lot of progress with it this week.

>139 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie! Happy Friday to you!

>140 lkernagh: Hey Lori! Yes, I',, be inspecting things more carefully from now on. Pockets are so useful. I still haven't quite managed to get rid of all that packaging as I keep forgetting to take it downstairs with me to the recycling bin. Maybe this weekend. That library is gorgeous! And much bigger than some of our little ones.

>141 charl08: Charlotte, thank goodness it is! I've had a hard week so I need it to be the weekend ASAP.

Speaking of tiny libraries, someone sent me a link to a house to look at yesterday, a couple of hours north of Auckland, at a place called Whangarei Heads. Naturally I was interested in library provision in the area, so I looked up what's available. Whangarei itself is a large-ish town, and has quite an impressive library, but there are also little "community libraries" in the district, mostly run by volunteers. I was enchanted to see the Whangarei Heads community library, and also to read, in the "History" section of the webpage, that in 1987 "the community library combined with the school library. This new combined library opened in April 1988 with the community library occupying the top shelves." Presumably because the schoolkids couldn't reach up that far :-)

Ha! Enterprising children seek stepladders? The community library sounds like a great idea.

Happy weekend, Susan.

Happy Saturday, Susan. What are you up to today?

>143 charl08: Charlotte, I thought it was a very New Zealand solution to limited resources :-)

>144 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara :-)

>145 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! I'm having a quiet day today, but there has been a lot of reading going on.



35. No God But Gain by Stephen Chambers

Subtitled "The Untold Story of Cuban Slavery, the Monroe Doctrine and the Making of the United States" this book looks at slavery in Cuba, and how the Monroe doctrine ("The American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers") actually meant that the US supported the "status quo" Spanish rule in Cuba, which included slavery. The author looks at how business and politics worked together to keep slavery in Cuba and how some old US families' fortunes were based on it. Later claims that family fortunes were made from "shipping" glossed over the fact that the products being shipped were Cuban, and produced by slaves, and were being sent all over the world. It's a worthwhile read for anyone interested in American history, or Cuba, or slavery.

36. The Great Partition by Yasmin Khan

Yasmin Khan is one of the writers I hope to hear at the Jaipur Literature Festival in May, and this book had been on my list since I read The Raj at War. I didn't think this one read quite as well, but it's still an important look at how India and Pakistan came into being as separate countries in 1947, just a few months after the British had announced that it would happen. It was a ridiculously short time in which to try and organise everything, and, while I knew that the borders had been drawn by someone who had never been to India before, I didn't realise how quick it all was, and the extent of the mistakes that were made in doing it. I can understand why it's still such a sore topic in India and Pakistan. One of the roomie's grandmas had to move from the Punjab to Delhi during that time, and it still seems to be something that they talk about quite a bit. Various novels about Partition were mentioned in the book, so I am impatiently waiting for the library catalogue to come back online after a day of "essential maintenance".



37. The Buried Pyramid by Jerry Dubs

I started a course on Ancient Egypt with the Library of Alexandria last week, and there was a lecture on Imhotep, the famous architect who built King Djoser's step pyramid at Saqqara, and who was later worshipped as a god because he was just so clever. That reminded me that I wanted to read the other books in Jerry Dubs' Imhotep series which I started last year and really enjoyed. The books' premise is that Imhotep was so awesome in ancient times because he was, in fact, an American called Tim Hope (see what he did there?) who had travelled back through time from 2005 after finding a door at the tomb complex that was accidentally left open, time-wise, due to a mistake in the painting of the hieroglyphics above it. In this second instalment, Imhotep has to go forward again to modern times to find a cure for a mysterious disease affecting his young daughter. But will he end up in the right year? And what will happen with the lovely Akila, the modern Egyptian doctor who saves his daughter? It ends on a real cliffhanger, so I had to download book 3 which I might finish this weekend...

What?! I'm shocked! Shocked to find out that gambling reading is going on here!

>148 Crazymamie: Mamie, ha! I'm quite proud of myself, especially with the Netflix available on the TV *just across the room*.

Oh, and I've also tried out the food processor :-) I made some dark chocolate bites and here's the recipe (it says walnuts but I think any nut would do)

120g walnuts
30g dark chocolate (85% cocoa solids) broken into pieces, or cocoa nibs
250g Medjool dates, pitted
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or the scraped seeds of one vanilla pod
1 - 2 tablespoons water

(Also, Super-Fit Friend said to add cinnamon, so I put in 1 teaspoon of that)

Place the walnuts and chocolate in a food processor and process until you have a fine powder

Add all the other ingredients except the water, and blend until the mixture forms a ball. Add the water if you have to, depending on the consistency of the mixture. Don't make it too sticky

Using your hands, form the mixture into bite-sized balls and refrigerate in an air-tight container for at least an hour before eating. Roll in some more cocoa or dessicated coconut if you like.

(I would add: As these have turmeric in them, wash your hands ASAP or they'll turn yellow!)

Now we're talking! Hooray for using the food processor, Susan! Thanks for sharing that recipe - I'll have to try that but without the walnuts, as I am VERY allergic to them. I bet pecans would work.

Turmeric! That's healthy, right...(ahem)
No God but Gain sounds good. I have no reservation spots left though...

Lots of good reading going on here! The novel that comes to mind about Partition is Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. One of my recent NF reads dealt somewhat with Partition and its aftereffects - The Upstairs Wife by Rafia Zakaria.

>150 Crazymamie: Mamie, yes, I'm sure pecans would be fine. If you can find any :-)

>151 charl08: Charlotte. turmeric is the new wonderfood. Or maybe wonderspice. These bites are "Sirtfood Diet" bites - I'm not really sure that what is, but it's the latest fad. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/what-sirtfood-diet (The magical foods include red wine!)

>152 cbl_tn: Thanks Carrie! I just downloaded Midnight's Children from the library. And I've reserved one that was mentioned in the book. That's *two* reserve slots I've filled - the most all year!

Happy Saturday, Susan!

I loved Partitions by Amit Majmudar - it's short but quite powerful.

>154 katiekrug: Thanks Katie, and happy Sunday :-) I've reserved that book from the library. Three slots now - virtually Charlottian in quantity.

I started Midnight's Children last night, and love it so far (14% in). I've never read any Rushdie - I think all the kerfuffle over The Satanic Verses put me off him as an author, but I think I'll try some more.

Today looks lovely outside, although I opened the balcony door and nearly got blown away, so I had to close it again. Quite breezy! I'm doing housework while I wait for the supermarket to open at 11. One good thing about the UK's silly Sunday opening hours is that it does make you do other things in the morning, and I get a fair bit done.

This afternoon I'm going to try Thai Yellow Pumpkin Curry with Millet from my new Grains as Mains cookbook. I need to find Thai yellow curry paste, so I'm hoping the big Tesco comes to the rescue. And that it has millet.

I had to go to Holland and Barrett for the millet, as I couldn't see it anywhere at Tesco, but fortunately there's a huge H&B at Surrey Quays, rather oddly as even Poundland has closed (but the 99p shop is still there). I'm sure millet is what we used to feed the budgie when I was a kid, but maybe there are different kinds. No-one tell me if there isn't. BUT, as I was looking carefully at the various "World Food" aisles at Tesco, y'all will never guess what I found. Grits! There they were, in the Afro-Caribbean section, but in a huge bag so I couldn't buy them. Maybe if I found some recipes...I also found a Thai yellow curry paste, and got the pumpkin, so I'm all set. I also saw sliced carrots in the freezer section. Is there no end to what lazy pe - oh, wait... *eyes chopped onions, garlic and ginger*. And the vegetarian freezer section (which is separate from the, um, actual vegetables) had cauliflower cheese burgers. I thought I should try them, in the interests of research.

Ah Rushdie. I read The Enchantress of Florence first and didn't like it at all but then a couple of years ago he come to Chautauqua and talked about Midnight's Children so I decided to try it and ended up really liking that one. Hope you do too.

>156 susanj67: Your recipe adventures sound like fun. I had Mexican for lunch at a new branch of Wahaca. Gorgeous food (tempted to try and make my own. Maybe!).

>157 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, so far so good. How cool to hear Rushdie speak. I wonder whether he still has the bodyguards.

>158 charl08: Charlotte, the curry is simmering at the moment and smells amazing. I have to add the chickpeas in 25 minutes and also warm up my naan bread (I'm not sure what the Thai bread is, but naan seems like a good choice). I'm going to try and make a recipe from my new book once a week. Also I urgently need to find something else that uses Thai yellow curry paste because my jar expires in six weeks. I wonder if it really does, though.

I loved both Partitions and Midnight's Children, and in fact, was thinking I'm due for a reread of MC. I'll watch for your comments.

I had to read Midnight's Children in college for a class on nationalism. I tore through it and loved it, but now I don't remember much of it, so it's on my shelf for a soonish re-read...

We had Thai for dinner, but it was delivery, not homemade :)

>160 BLBera: Beth, at the rate I'm going, I should finish it pretty quickly :-) I love it so far - it's one of those novels that makes me wonder why I'd never read it before.

>161 katiekrug: Katie, I think a reread is a great idea. There are lots of things that I'm sure will make more sense once I know the whole story. I love the way it's written, though. Your dinner sounds lovely :-)

My dinner was also lovely. Another recipe to make again! It made enough for five servings, so it's just as well I liked it :-) I'll have one tonight and the other three are in the freezer.

I just returned The Great Partition to the library, and borrowed The Boy With The Topknot, which is a memoir by Sathnam Sanghera, one of the writers at the literature festival in May. I loved his Times columns when I was a subscriber, and his novel, Marriage Material, is also very good (a reworking of an Arnold Bennett novel). I wish the library copy was slightly less grubby-looking, but I can always put newspaper on my lap, I suppose...Roll on more ebooks!

Ooh, a former work pal is visiting from Australia, and just gave me chocolate-covered Queensland macadamia nuts! I have won the snacks for today. Mmmmmm.

Hooray for the curry. I am so jealous of Katie getting Thai delivered. Truly. We had a Thai place that was decent (but not great), but sadly it went out of business. So now no Thai. *sad face* I guess I need to learn how to make it myownself.

Thai is lovely. I've not had it delivered, but a couple of home attempts have been ok (if not particularly authentic!).

Chocolate macadamias sound wonderful. I've not read Midnight's children - seems like I should add it to the list though.

>164 Crazymamie: Mamie, give it a try! It seems to be relatively easy to replicate the flavours using one of the pastes or cook-in sauces available.

>165 charl08: Charlotte, yes I'm going for the general taste rather than total authenticity :-) I've had to hide the macadamias, although that means I still know where they are. The trick seems to be putting them somewhere that involves getting up and crossing the office to get them. Midnight's Children is a delight. And I have the roomie to pronounce the names of places and tell me little histories of them and what they are like now :-)

>159 susanj67: No body guards were evident. He was a good speaker but I had my book signed by him and I must say he wasn't the friendliest author I've ever met in a book signing line!

Well I've dodged the book bullet (read Midnight's children - started it for a course at uni, hated it, finished it 10 years later and loved it). But I've been hit by some major food bullets....

Nope. Officially not enough energy to make curry tonight!

>167 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, he doesn't come across as that friendly, even to the casual observer! He either has a very high opinion of himself, or he's just sick and tired of all the kerfuffle about The Satanic Verses and the haters. Maybe half and half.

>168 BekkaJo: Bekka, I do wonder whether it would have appealed to me at University - I suspect not. But it's still rattling along, although I loved how long it took him to be born in his own narrative. There were slight echoes of Tristram Shandy, or at least the bit of it that I read before giving up. Now *there's* a book that goes on and on and on...

I've just checked my reserves page (it's such a long time since I've done that!) and the three reserves are just sitting there, doing nothing. Hmph. I hope I don't run out of stuff to read.

I've just checked my reserves page (it's such a long time since I've done that!) and the three reserves are just sitting there, doing nothing.

Yup. Same here. In my case prize goes to Man from the CAC for January which still hasn't shown up: despite being ordered in December. Perhaps it's in hiding! Or the Canadians have decided it's too good to share?

>170 charl08: Charlotte, I checked again, and nothing has happened all morning! Your December one wins, though :-)

The Verso Autumn 2016 catalogue is out now - free to download: http://www.versobooks.com/books/2209-verso-autumn-2016-catalogue.

I currently have their Britain's Empire: Resistance, Repression and Revolt going on my Kindle but so far it's just a giant catalogue of Bad Things The British Did, as if no-one else in history had ever behaved questionably. It's taking a bit of a back seat at the moment, but I really must finish it before the summer sale, as I got it in last year's summer sale and I'm trying not to let things linger too long.

Today Amazon has announced a new Kindle! http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-New-Leather-Charging-High-Resolution-Display/dp/B010... (for overseas reader, UK prices include sales tax, which is partly why it is much more expensive than the US price. The rest is just a rip-off).

I was just thinking that really I couldn't justify paying £270 for an ereader, when the roomie sent me a link to the hotel she's just booked for five days in the Maldives. "The Deluxe Water Villa?" I said, looking at the website. "No," she said. "The Jacuzzi Water Villa," I guessed, scrolling further. (A jacuzzi on the balcony! So cool.) "Noooo," she said, and confessed that in fact she'd gone for the "Honeymoon Water Villa", as the jacuzzis on the cheaper villas looked a bit small. Suddenly a new Kindle didn't seem like such a wanton extravagance :-)

Still no sign of my reserves arriving.

I'll believe it when I see it re the charging not needed for months - my current one was supposed to last for days and days - I decided it meant days and days of reading for just an hour or so a day!

Pesky reserves...

>173 charl08: Charlotte, yes, there are "readers" and then readers. On Fixer-Upper the other day, the designer lady had put some bookshelves in an office nook, saying to the client "I know you love reading". Bless her, there were three tiny shelves that might have held 30 books in total. Maybe a fortnight's reading for you :-)

I just saw that new Kindle! I sent a link to it to The Wayne since my birthday is coming up, but I am not holding my breath....

>175 katiekrug: Ha! I just pre-ordered that new Kindle because my birthday is also coming up. Craig will be excited to see what he has gotten me!

>176 Crazymamie: - *SNORK!*

I would consider doing something similar, but I've already justified several things, including tickets to two concerts and a couple of nice dinners out, with "Consider it a birthday present....." Heh. And I just found out my beloved Yankees will be playing the Rangers down here *on my actual birthday* and have hinted strongly that tickets would be a most welcome gift :D

>177 katiekrug: Yes, but Katie - YOU'RE WORTH IT!!

Well, of course :) But then there is our trip to New York....

*blinks* And?

YOU'RE NOT HELPING!!!

And that's why I love you!

>174 susanj67: I think I saw that episode yesterday! Was it the barn conversion? I had the same thought about the books. I hope he has a Kindle. If he has money left after the barn conversion, maybe he can buy one of the new ones!

*grin*

HELLO, SUSAN!

>175 katiekrug: - >181 katiekrug: Ha! You ladies! But remember, if y'all are also worth a holiday to the Maldives, I can recommend a hotel :-)

>182 cbl_tn: Carrie, I think it might have been. I watched quite a few of them over the weekend, and the "barndominium" was one of them. I thought it was one of their weaker ones - I didn't like the kitchen upstairs/bedrooms downstairs layout, and that long table was just too long. Also, there seems to be less about the houses now and more of Chip and Joanna being cutesie, and that's annoying. Maybe I need to space them out!

>183 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Happy pre-Friday :-)



38. The Forest of Myrrh by Jerry Dubs

This is book 3 in the Imhotep tetralogy (but srsly, why isn't it just called a quartet?) and yet again there is more travelling through a time portal, but this time they can't get back to modern-day Egypt, and find themselves in slightly-less-ancient-Egypt-than-before, during the life of a famous Pharaoh, and that's all I can say without giving it away. There was perhaps a little bit too much recapping what had happened in the previous two books, I suppose for people who don't read things in order *looks around sternly* but then it got going and was another fun read.

Recapping for people who don't read in order? Surely not!

Re the shiny new tech - Just make sure you all get different covers for your new kindles so you don't get them mixed up at your next meet up!

>184 susanj67: I would want a dumbwaiter if I was going to live with an upstairs kitchen and a downstairs dining room. I wonder how they're liking lugging groceries up those stairs to the kitchen?

>185 charl08: Charlotte, that's a good plan re the Kindle covers :-)

>186 cbl_tn: Carrie, I agree! Plus having the kids sleeping downstairs and the parents upstairs - that seemed odd with young kids. And when they're older, it will be far too easy for them to sneak in and out of the house.

I just went for a lunchtime walk and, while I intended to come back without crossing over to the library bit of the estate, my feet somehow walked up the stairs and across the bridge and I came back with A Strange Kind of Paradise: India Through Foreign Eyes. Well, if the reserves won't come in, what can I do? All their technology was broken, so Favourite Library Assistant wrote down my card number and the barcode number for the book, to enter them later. "It might beep at the door," he said. "I'll just run then," I said. I'm hoping he doesn't think I was serious.

>187 susanj67: Your library heist made me laugh Susan. Thanks for the giggle.

>188 charl08: Charlotte, FLA laughed too, but...nervously. Maybe there's been a spate of middle-aged ladies running off with books.

I finished series 4 of Sons of Anarchy last night, so I'm going to have a break before series 5 and devote the weekend to reading. There, I've written it down so now I have to do it. I want to finish Stand on Zanzibar and Midnight's Children and start The Boy With the Topknot and A Strange Kind of Paradise.

But, back to Netflix for a second, is there any way to get things out of my "Continue watching for Susan" list? I started a couple of things that didn't grab me, but I can't see a way to get rid of them. They're cluttering up my list of things to continue, and I can see it getting worse if I try more things I don't want to keep watching.

>189 susanj67: - I've often wanted to get rid of Netflix series from the "Continuing Watching" queue that I've finished, but so far have not seen any way to do it. However, they do seem to disappear - eventually - once I stop watching them.

Glad we won't have to bail you out of the clink for book theft. :)

>190 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I googled, and a method showed up: http://www.guidingtech.com/45049/clear-continue-watching-netflix/ I can't currently get into the "My profile" section of my account, but if you can then it might work for you!

Today my steps took me south from Surrey Quays, which is the station for the big Tesco I go to. I thought I'd walk down the road for 45 minutes and then back again, and go to the supermarket. But I just kept going, and ended up in Lewisham. Lewisham is the sort of place where, if you died in a hail of bullets, you'd really only have yourself to blame for going there in the first place, but on a Saturday morning it's OK, and I found a HUGE mall with many good shops, including a W H Smith, which is the only place that sells my favourite crossword magazines. I walked down via Greenwich, where I found a remainder bookshop and bought the Wordsworth Classics edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson. At nearly 1000 pages, it's excellent value for £3 :-) I tried a Kiindle version of it a while ago but the footnotes were at the end of every chapter or somewhere equally unhelpful, so the hard copy seems like the way to go. I got a bus back up to Tesco and got some bits and pieces for a new "bites" recipe and some banana pecan muffins. And just over 13,000 steps!

Good on you!! Nice book find and LOTS of steps.

Hi susan....I enjoyed your story of ending up someplace you hadn't planned. Hubbie and I are planning a trip to London and environs next month, and Greenwich is one of the ticks on the list of places to see. Our daughter (who, like you, is also an attorney) lives in Wimbledon (works in Surbiton) and hubs and I will be doing a whole lot of sight-seeing on our own while she is working. We're also going to Scotland and Ireland for 11 days in the middle of our 5 week visit. Was the remainder bookshop in Greenwich itself? I'm always on the lookout for good book bargains, although obviously I'll have to be careful about what I'm willing to lug back across the pond when we return.

I'd love to suggest a UK meetup, but I've not been very active on LT this year for various reasons, and don't have a great feel for any other LTers in the area. If you have any thoughts on that subject, I'm open.

13,000 steps! That's some walking.

Hope the banana muffins go well - sound delicious. I have started a summer pudding for lunch, hoping that it has worked (didn't have the correct size plate to press down the top, so had to improvise!).

Happy Sunday, Susan.

Just been trying to find if Svetlana Alexievich was appearing any further north than Cambridge (!) but wondered if this was of any interest - sounds like it might be.
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/putin-and-power-97202

>193 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba :-)

>194 tututhefirst: Tina, the shop is Greenwich Book Time, http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/greenwich-book-time-london It's tiny, and not worth a special trip, but if you're in the area anyway (and Greenwich is a great place to visit!) then you might find something. Or more than one thing... I'll PM you re a meetup.

>195 charl08: Charlotte, the muffins are good, but they do have a lot of sugar in them, so I don't think I'll make them again. All that Dolmio kerfuffle had me actually calculating sugar per muffin...oops.

>196 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara :-)

>197 charl08: Charlotte, thanks for that!

Today I've done more steps, but this time around the V&A. Super-Fit friend had a ticket for 11.30 to the Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear exhibition http://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/undressed-a-brief-history-of-underwear and asked if I'd like to go too, and go for lunch afterwards, as I can go anytime with my membership card and don't need to book. So I got there early and went to the Paul Strand exhibition (very good) http://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/paul-strand-photography-and-film-for-the-20th-c... before the underwear one. And then after lunch I walked back to Green Park afterwards to pick up the Jubilee Line.

Very nearly time for a new thread! I'll do that later, as I'll have two books to put in it.

Hi Susan! I'll look forward to your new thread. In the meantime, happy new week to you! Are you planning to read a Durrell? I loved My Family and Other Animals last year. My husband read Bitter Lemons years ago. I don't remember what he thought, but a Cypriot may always be too close, so to speak, to be able to read an "objective" account of political troubles on the island.

>199 AMQS: Hi Anne! I do want to read a Durrell, and My Family and Other Animals sounds like a good place to start. Happy new week to you too!

I've started a new thread at https://www.librarything.com/topic/221302