Paul C's 2016 Reading and Life - 12

What do I miss? Occasionally an English country garden.

In my formative youth, I was also formalist in my versifying and optimistic also. I came across this little bit of scribbling in a folder yesterday and know it was both about our own garden at home and the gardens I used to visit in Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

This is in Buxton, Derbyshire



the optimistic little poem is called Tree Whispers

There is Larch silently protesting the position he has been assigned
next to the spoil heap, next to the flames,
whilst others escape to some shaded corner with far less claims
than he, whom the autumnal wind bends
toward the fire; leafless fingers are burnt ends -
Could not the garden have been better designed?

Don't weep Willow, you know that we are all good friends
and as such it is right for you to remain here
a sight for sore, salted eyes; water feature near -
no hope of recompense,
no hint of common sense,
there for as many days as He chooses to send.

Summer - a chariot painted gold by burnishing sun
sets all garden life at contented ease.
Jay and Lark come and go as they please
Swallow and Swift take rest in our arms
as Caterpillar deigns to sample our charms
and hope springs eternal, as it always has done.

OPENING LINES

I am reading a few books at the moment, but this is from a book I started yesterday and is for the CAC Challenge wherein I am falling irreparably behind. The simply named Emily St. John Mandel (do you pronounce St. John, "Sinjun" as you do in England?) has had much success with:



Station Eleven

The King stood in a pool of blue light, unmoored.

First Quarter

JANUARY
1. Ru by Kim Thuy (2009) 153 pp
2. A Story I am in : Selected Poems by James Berry (2011) 208 pp
3. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (1983) 200 pp
4. Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis (2015) 159 pp
5. Clem Attlee by Francis Beckett (2015) 476 pp
6. The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman by Denis Theriault (2005) 117 pp
7. 40 Sonnets by Don Paterson (2015) 44 pp
8. The Quality of Mercy by Barry Unsworth (2011) 294 pp
9. The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry (2010) 92 pp
10. A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler (1993) 269 pp
11. Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen (1998) 104 pp
12. Coast to Coast by Jan Morris (1956) 238 pp
13. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler (1982) 314 pp
14. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (2014) 688 pp
15. The Perfect Stranger by P.J. Kavanagh (1966) 182 pp
16. The Manticore by Robertson Davies (1972) 255 pp

FEBRUARY
17. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (1934) 347 pp
18. The Zimmermann Telegram by Barbara Tuchman (1958) 200 pp
19. Coventry by Helen Humphreys (2008) 169 pp
20. Selected Poems by Cecil Day Lewis (1951) 158 pp
21. Return of a King : The Battle for Afghanistan by William Dalrymple (2013) 487 pp

MARCH
22. Assalamualaikum : Observations on the Islamisation of Malaysia by Zaid Ibrahim (2015) 200 pp
23. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo (2009) 339 pp
24. How to be Both by Ali Smith (2014) 372 pp
25. Towards Asmara by Thomas Keneally (1989) 320 pp
26. New Selected Poems by Robert Minhinnick (2012) 185 pp
27. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (1986) 664 pp
28. Around the World ichael Palin (1989) 241 pp
29. Poems of the Past and the Present by Thomas Hardy (1901) 96 pp
30. The Boat Who Wouldn't Float by Farley Mowat (1969) 243 pp

BOOKS READ IN 2016

Second Quarter

APRIL
31. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (1991) 371 pp
32. What Work Is by Philip Levine (1991) 77 pp
33. Eventide by Kent Haruf (2004) 300 pp
34. A New Selected Poems by Galway Kinnell (2001) 179 pp
35. The Black Album by Hanif Kureishi (1995) 276 pp
36. Demelza by Winston Graham (1946) 521 pp
37. Geography III by Elizabethe Bishop (1976) 50 pp
38. The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1855) 142 pp
39. Why I am not a Christian by Bertrand Russell (1957) 259 pp

MAY
40. Belfast Confetti by Ciaran Carson (1989) 108 pp
41. Ruby by Cynthia Bond (2015) 330 pp
42. The Bird Artist by Howard Norman (1994) 289 pp
43. The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig (1982) 275 pp
44. Make Me by Lee Child (2015) 544 pp
45. Old Filth by Jane Gardam (2004) 290 pp
46. The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin (1964) 46 pp
47. Fault Line by Robert Goddard (2012) 509 pp
48. AWOPBOPALOOBOPALOPBAMBOOM by Nik Cohn (1972) 247 pp
49. Risk by C.K. Stead (2012) 267 pp

JUNE
50. Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey (2006) 46 pp
51. The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad (1917) 145 pp

Reading Plans and a little about me

Me?
I am 50 this coming September and have enough unread reading material on my shelves to take me safely into my seventies! I have lived in Malaysia since 1994 and have a long suffering (but never quietly) wife, Hani (sometimes referred to as SWMBO), three children Yasmyne (18), Kyran (16) and Belle (12 - well almost), as well as a supporting cast which includes Saad Yasmyne's Egyptian boyfriend and very much part of the family fabric, my book smuggling assistants Azim (also my driver and a part time bouncer who, despite his muscles, lives in almost as much fear of my wife as I do) and Erni (my housemaid, almost-little sister and the worlds greatest coffee maker). On this thread you'll probably read as much about the vagaries of life, book buying and group related statistics as you do about the actual books themselves.


clockwise from top left: Kyran, Saad, Yasmyne, Belle, Hani & I

2016 Reading

British Author Challenge - This is on its second year with two books/authors a month. Since I administer this challenge I will keep up with this one fairly religiously.

American Author Challenge - Mark (msf59) is on the third year of this great challenge where the task is to read a work by a featured US author each month.

Canadian Author Challenge - This is its inaugural year and I will try to read (and find books for!) as many of the 24 authors featured as I can.

ANZAC Challenge - Set up by Kerry this year. I will try to follow this one alternating between Oz/Nz

Pulitzer Challenge - Bill has created a challenge to read a Pulitzer winner each month in 2016

Chunkster Challenge - Also set up by Bill to take care of that small matter of books over 600 pages!

Non-Fiction Challenge - Suz (Chatterbox) has put this up and I will follow this one too

TIOLI Challenge - Surely needs no introduction!

1001 Books First Edition - I am working my way through these. So far at 262.

Booker Prize Winners - Another one I am wending my way through

Nobel Laureates - I am trying to read something by all the Laureates - so far have read 57 of the 112 winners.

Poetry - I will be trying to read a different collection/anthology each week and at the same time promote poetry in the group (tough one that) which will include my own occasion clumsy scribblings.

Series I have so many I follow Montalbano, Reacher, Hole, Banks, Davenport, Sejer, Allon, Lennox .....and I will be trying to read many of those as I can.

History Another favourite of mine

Political Biography - I am of the left in political terms so I prefer to read more from my heroes than my villains but sometimes it pays to check out what the opposition are up to!

I will try to combine challenges as much as I can to do something in each challenge each month.

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE 2016

May thread : http://www.librarything.com/topic/222705

January : Susan Hill & Barry Unsworth
February : Agatha Christie & William Dalrymple
March : Ali Smith & Thomas Hardy
April : George Eliot & Hanif Kureishi
May : Jane Gardam & Robert Goddard
June : Lady Antonia Fraser & Joseph Conrad
July : Bernice Rubens & H.G. Wells
August : Diana Wynne-Jones & Ian McEwan
September : Doris Lessing & Laurie Lee
October : Kate Atkinson & William Golding
November : Rebecca West & Len Deighton
December : WEST YORKSHIRE writers
Wildcard : Rumer Godden and George Orwell

READING PLANS

As usual I am aiming high in May ever the eternal optimist:

To finish

1 The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (CAC) (1001 BOOKS)
2 Middlemarch by George Eliot (BAC) (DOORSTOPPER) (1001 BOOKS)

Month Planned Reads

3 Ruby by Cynthia Bond (Women's Prize Shortlist - WPS) COMPLETED
4 The Green Road by Anne Enright (WPS) READING
5 The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney (WPS)
6 The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie (WPS)
7 The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild (WPS)
8 A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (WPS)
9 Old Filth by Jane Gardam (BAC) COMPLETED
10 Fault Line by Robert Goddard (BAC) COMPLETED
11 The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig (AAC) COMPLETED
12 Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (CAC) READING
13 The Heart Laid Bare by Michel Tremblay (CAC)
14 March by Geraldine Brooks (Pulitzer Challenge / ANZAC)
15 Risk by CK Stead (ANZAC)
16 Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey (Poetry/Pulitzer)
17 High Windows by Philip Larkin (Poetry) COMPLETED
18 Belfast Confetti by Ciaran Carson (Poetry) COMPLETED
19 Make Me by Lee Child (Series) COMPLETED
20 AWOPBOPALOOBOPALOPBAMBOOM by Nik Cohn (Non-Fiction Challenge/ Bowie Books) COMPLETED
21 The Bird Artist by Howard Norman (Bowie Books Group Road) COMPLETED
22 Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham (Series; Poldark 3)
23 Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo (Series: Scandi; Harry Hole)

Round up of Stats

1001 Books First Edition - Read 263 of 1001

Nobel Winners - Read something by 59 of the 112 Laureates

Pulitzer Fiction/Novel Winners - Read 13 of 88 outright winners

Booker Winners - Read 21 of the 50 winners

Bowie 100 Books - 21 read a further 22 owned

TBR Records Update : (TO UPDATE)

Year reading record to date:

January 1st frozen TBR : 3,714

Books read : 33

Revised TBR : 3,681

January 1st Pages : 1,300,667

Pages read in completed books : 8,396

Revised TBR pages : 1,292,271

Other Books added since 1 January : 132
Pages : 45,190
Read : 6
Read Pages : 1,593
Books still to read from this year's purchases : 126
Pages to read : 43,597

Total Books Read in 2016 - 39
Total Pages Read in 2016 - 9,989

Total TBR Physical Books @ 1 May 2016 - 3,807
Total TBR Pages - 1,335,868

BOOKS ADDED SINCE 1 JANUARY 2016

1. Fifteen Dogs Andre Alexis (2015) 159 pp (Added 6 Jan) COMPLETED
2. Rain by Barney Campbell (2015) 362 pp (Added 6 Jan)
3. Coventry by Helen Humphreys (2008) 169 pp (Added 7 Jan -Secret Santa (Katie)) COMPLETED
4. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro (2015) 362 pp (Added 14 Jan)
5. How Good We Can Be by Will Hutton (2015) 250 pp (Added 14 Jan)
6. Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco (1988) 641 pp (Added 14 Jan)
7. The Chimes by Anna Smaill (2015) 289 pp (Added 14 Jan)
8. Wild Swans by Jung Chang (1991) 669 pp (Added 14 Jan)
9. The Black Moon by Winston Graham (1973) 546 PP (Added 14 Jan)
10. Let Me Be Frank With You by Richard Ford (2014) 238 pp (Added 22 Jan)
11. Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker (1992) 270 pp (Added 22 Jan)
12. Cat and Mouse by Gunter Grass (1961) 191 pp (Added 22 Jan)
13. The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino (1969) 129 pp (Added 22 Jan)
14. The Enigma of Arrival by VS Naipaul (1987) 387 pp (Added 22 Jan)
15. Mao II by Don DeLillo (1991) 241 pp (Added 22 Jan)
16. A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham (1990) 343 pp (Added 22 Jan)
17. Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburo Oe (1958) 189 pp (Added 22 Jan)
18. Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord by Louis de Bernieres (1991) 280 pp (Added 22 Jan)
19. Spring Flowers, Spring Frost by Ismail Kadare (2000) 182 pp (Added 22 Jan)
20. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (1972) 172 pp (Added 22 Jan)
21. Napoleon the Great by Andrew Roberts (2014) (Added 29 Jan)
22. March by Geraldine Brooks (Added 29 Jan)
23. The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen (1935) (added 29 Jan)
24. Mary Barton by Mary Gaskell (1848) (added 29 Jan)
25. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (1990) (added 29 Jan)

26. White Crocodile by KT Medina (2014) 374 pp (added 8 Feb)
27. A Brief Stop on the Road From Auschwitz by Goran Rosenberg (2012) 331 pp (added 13 Feb)
28. Martin Dressler by Steven Millhauser (1996) 274 pp (added 13 Feb)
29. The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien (1967) 199 pp (added 20 Feb)
30. The End : Germany 1944-45 by Ian Kershaw (2011) 400 pp (added 20 Feb)
31. In the Light of What We Know by Zia Haider Rahman (2014) 555 pp (added 20 Feb)
32. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (1929) 293 pp (added 20 Feb)
33. Peacemakers : Six Months That Changed the World by Margaret MacMillan (2001) 500 pp (added 20 Feb)
34. My Life as a Foreign Country by Brian Turner (2014) 224 pp (added 20 Feb)
35. Astragal by Albertine Sarrazin (1965) 190 pp (added 20 Feb)
36. If He Hollers Let Him Go by Chester Himes (1945) 259 pp (added 20 Feb)
37. The Seven Madmen by Roberto Arlt (1929) 304 pp (added 20 Feb)
38. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (2012) 331 pp (added 20 Feb)
39. Six Days : How the 1967 War Shaped the Middle East by Jeremy Bowen (2003) 373 pp (added 22 Feb)
40. I, The Jury by Mickey Spillane (1947) 164 pp (added 22 Feb)
41. The Life of Elves by Muriel Barbery (2015) 258 pp (added 22 Feb)
42. Ostland by David Thomas (2013) 430 pp (added 22 Feb)
43. Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz (2015) 310 pp (added 26 Feb)
44. The Pier Falls by Mark Haddon (2016) 321 pp (added 26 Feb)
45. Assalamualaikum, May Peace Be Upon You: Observations on the Islamisation of Malaysia by Zaid Ibrahim (2015) 200 pp (added 27 Feb) COMPLETED
46. The Illuminations by Andrew O'Hagan (2015) 293 pp (added 27 Feb)
47. The Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter (1958) 216 pp (added 27 Feb)
48. Armada by Ernest Cline (2015) 349 pp (added 28 Feb)
49. The Walk and Other Stories by Robert Walser (1957) 197 pp (added 28 Feb)
50. Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette (1977) 98 pp (added 28 Feb)
51. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout (2016) 191 pp (added 28 Feb)
52. The Civil War : A History by Harry Hansen (1961) 655 pp (added 28 Feb)
53. The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo (2013) 420 pp (added 28 Feb)
54. Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg (1998) 562 pp (added 28 Feb)
55. The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Edward Shepherd Creasy (1851) 380 pp (added 28 Feb)
56. Hitler's Spy by James Hayward (2012) 278 pp (added 28 Feb)

57. A Cautious Approach by Stanley Middleton (2010) 220 pp (added 2 March)
58. Incandescence by Craig Nova (1979) 297 pp (added 2 March)
59. Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid (2014) 343 pp (added 2 March)
60. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (1977) 337 pp (added 2 March)
61. Love in Winter by Storm Jameson (1935) 407 pp (added 2 March)
62. How I Became a Holy Mother by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1976) 363 pp (added 2 March)
63. On Horseback and Other Stories by Guy de Maupassant (1877) 130 pp (added 2 March)
64. Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski (2007) 349 pp (added 2 March)
65. Anything but the Law by Tommy Thomas (2016) 334 pp (added 4 March)
66. The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker (2011) 841 pp (added 4 March)
67. Why the West Rules by Ian Morris (2010) 645 pp (added 4 March)
68. Out of Africa by Karen Blixen (1937) 330 pp (added 4 March)
69. Make Me by Lee Child (2015) 544 pp (added 4 March) COMPLETED
70. The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall (2015) 432 pp (added 4 March)
71. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936) 984 pp (added 4 March)
72. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (1986) 664 pp (added 7 March) COMPLETED
73. From Restoration to Reform by Jonathan Clarke (2014) 299 pp (added 7 March)
74. Josephine : Desire, Ambitions, Napoleon by Kate Williams (2013) 303 pp (added 7 March)
75. Britain's Royal Families : The Complete Genealogy by Alison Weir (2008) 331 pp (added 7 March)
76. A Brief History of Indonesia by Tim Hannigan (2015) 277 pp (added 12 March)
77. Max Havelaar by Multatuli (1860) 320 pp (added 12 March)
78. Jernigan by David Gates (1991) 339 pp (added 12 March)
79. Private Life by Jane Smiley (2010) 480 pp (added 12 March)
80. Betrayal : The Crisis in the Catholic Church by Matt Carroll (and others) (2002) 265 pp (added 12 March)
81. The Green Road by Anne Enright (2015) 310 pp (added 12 March)
82. When I was Old by Georges Simenon (1970) 452 pp (added 15 March)
83. The Full Catastrophe : Inside the Greek Crisis by James Angelos (2015) 292 pp (added 15 March)
84. No Highway by Nevil Shute (1948) 325 pp (added 19 March)
85. The Italian Girl by Iris Murdoch (1964) 171 pp (added 19 March)
86. Diary of a Mad Old Man by Junichiro Tanizaki (1961) 177 pp (added 19 March)
87. Most Secret by Nevil Shute (1945) 346 pp (added 19 March)
88. Kathleen and Frank by Christopher Isherwood (1971) 510 pp (added 19 March)
89. The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin (1980) 101 pp (added 19 March)
90. The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen (1948) 330 pp (added 19 March)
91. Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville (2011) 304 pp (added 19 March)
92. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn (1980) 688 pp (added 27 March)
93. Home : A Time Traveller's Tales from Britain's Pre-History by Francis Pryor (2014) 290 pp (added 27 March)
94. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing (1962) 576 pp (added 27 March)
95. Ultimate Questions by Bryan Magee (2016) 127 pp (added 31 March)
96. The Four Books by Yan Lianke (2015) 338 pp (added 31 March)
97. Find Me by Laura Van Den Berg (2015) 278 pp (added 31 March)
98. A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell (2015) 371 pp (added 31 March)
99. The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1855) 142 pp (added 31 March) COMPLETED
100. The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1762) 168 pp (added 31 March)

Books bought second quarter

101 The Carpathians by Janet Frame (1988) 196 pp (Added 2 April)
102 Georgy Girl by Margaret Forster (1965) 171 pp (Added 2 April)
103 Great Apes by Will Self (1997) 404 pp (Added 2 April)
104 The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (Added 14 April)
105 My Son, My Son by Howard Spring (Added 14 April)
106 A Very British Coup by Chris Mullin (Added 14 April)
107 Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins (Added 14 April)
108 The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma (Added 15 April)
109 Common Ground by Andrew Cowan (Added 15 April)
110 The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard (Added 18 April)
111 AWOPBOPALOOBOPALOPBAMBOOM by Nik Cohn (Added 18 April) COMPLETED
112 Montalbano's First Case by Andrea Camilleri (Added 18 April)
113 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad (Added 18 April)
114 I am Radar by Reif Larsen (2015) (Added 18 April)
115Ruby by Cynthia Bond (2015) (Added 18 April) COMPLETED
116 The Faithful Couple by A.D. Miller (Added 18 April)
117 A Strangeness in my Mind by Orhan Pamuk (Added 18 April)
118 The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens (Added 18 April)
119 How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup by JL Carr (Added 18 April)
120 The Outsider by Colin Wilson (Added 20 April)
121 Puckoon by Spike Milligan (Added 20 April)
122 Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell (Added 20 April) COMPLETED
123 Arcadia by Iain Pears (Added 22 April)
124 The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney (Added 22 April)
125 The Vegetarian by Han Kang (Added 24 April)
126 A Whole Life : A Novel by Robert Seethaler (Added 24 April)
127 The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild (Added 24 April)
128 The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie (Added 24 April)
129 The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (Added 24 April)
130 The Bird Artist by Howard Norman (Added 27 April) COMPLETED
131 The Edge of the World : How the North Sea Made Us Who We Are by Michael Pye (Added 27 April)
132 A Heart so White by Javier Marias (Added 14 April)

133 Silas Marner by George Eliot (added 3 May)
134 The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley (added 13 May)
135 Girl at War by Sara Novic (added 13 May)
136 Flood of Fire by Amitav Ghosh (added 13 May)
137 I Saw a Man by Owen Sheers (added 13 May)
138 The Mandarins by Simone de Beauvoir (added 20 May)
139 Unknown Soldiers by Vaino Linna (added 20 May)
140 Stop Time by Frank Conroy (added 20 May)
141 What Is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman (added 25 May)
142 Black Dogs by Ian McEwan (added 25 May)
143 S. : A Novel about the Balkans by Slavenka Drakulic (added 25 May)
144 The Angry Tide by Winston Graham (added 25 May)
145 The Master by Colm Toibin (added 25 May)
146 Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (added 25 May)
147 The Secret History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani (added 25 May)

NEXT ONE IS YOURS

Off to the aiport to collect Saad as Yasmyne just informed me his dad is not in town. Will populate the thread later.

Happy new thread, Paul! A lovely beginning up there.

>14 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie. Keyboard playing up again!

Happy New Thread, Mr. Ambassador! Love that English garden!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Paul.

Happy new thread!! Liking the thread topper.

Hi Paul! Lovely photo at the top.

Happy new thread Paul. That picture looks like a great place for a walk.

Happy new thread, Paul! Great opening photo, mate.

>16 msf59: Thanks Mark. I am not sure that Mr. Ambassador ought to stick though!

>17 foggidawn: Thanks Foggi.

>18 Ameise1: Glad you found time from your garden to remember me Barbara.

>19 Thebookdiva: Thanks Abby. It is good now that your new thread is set fair that you help me get mine going.xx

>20 karenmarie: Thanks Karen. It was a favourite spot of mine when I lived in Derby about 25 years ago.

>21 charl08: Thank you Charlotte. Buxton is a decent little spa town. It is also famous for its bottled water.

>22 kidzdoc: Cheers Darryl. When are you hitting the road Spain way?

Congrats on yet another new thread!

>25 Berly: Thanks Kimmers!

BOOKS READING LEAGUE

Qualification is 50 posts.
Left off Brodie, Jim, Richard and Nora for whom I cannot work out how many books have been read

1 Charl08 144
2 inge87 133
3 Chatterbox 111
4 Dejah_Thoris 101
5 kmartin802 100
6 PaulStalder 99
7 smiler69 97
8 harrygbutler 95
9 luvamystery65 91
10 avatiakh 84
11 scaifea 83
12 yoyogod 81
13 Dianekeenoy 78
14 seasonoflove 78
15 souloftherose 78
16 jillbone 75
17 Swynn 72
18 TheBookDiva 72
19 foggidawn 66
20 fuzzi 66
21 countrylife 65
22 nittnut 65
23 crazymamie 63
24 msf59 63
25 hredwards 62
26 jnwelch 62
27 amanda4242 60
28 arubabookwoman 60
29 CDVicarage 60
30 rretzler 60
31 susanna.fraser 58
32 rosalita 57
33 Sibyx 57
34 cbl_tn 56
35 okrysmastree 56
36 bell7 55
37 dk_phoenix 55
38 ronincats 55
39 SusanJ67 55
40 klobrien2 52
41 mstrust 52
42 lindapanzo 51
43 storeetllr 50
44 Morphy 49
45 eclecticdodo 48
46 johnsimpson 47
47 Luxx 47
48 lyzard 47
49 tymfos 47
50 PaulCranswick 46
51 SqueakyChu 46
52 torontoc 46
53 drneutron 45
54 BBLBera 44
55 EBT1002 44
56 Streamsong 44
57 Donna 43
58 laytonwoman3rd 43
59 cyderry 42
60 Deedledee 42
61 lovelyluck 42
62 MickyFine 41
63 AnneDC 40
64 BerlinBibliophile 40
65 karenmarie 40
66 Berly 39
67 SirFurboy 39
68 thornton37814 39
69 Whisper1 39
70 bluesalamanders 38
71 DianaNL 38
72 FamilyHistorian 38
73 mckait 38
74 Ursula 38
75 fairywings 37
76 kac522 37
77 Kassilem 37
78 KatieKrug 37
79 lkernagh 37
80 Oberon 37
81 CassieBash 36
82 kgodey 36
83 lycomayflower 36
84 tututhefirst 36
85 ccookie 35
86 ctpress 35
87 dajashby 35
88 kgriffith 35
89 Weird_O 35
90 witchyrichy 35
91 Ameise1 34
92 Deern 34
93 evilmoose 34
94 Fourpawz2 34
95 Porch_Reader 34
96 The_Hibernator 34
97 AMQS 33
98 coppers 33
99 LibraryLover23 33
100 Xymon81 33
101 dragonaria 32
102 FAMeulstee 32
103 ireadthereforeiam 32
104 Rbeffa 32
105 SandDune 32
106 mahsdad 31
107 MichiganTrumpet 31
108 qebo 31
109 RandyMetcalfe 31
110 SuziQOregon 31
111 archerygirl 30
112 beeg 29
113 Cariola 29
114 jennyifer24 29
115 LoisB 29
116 vancouverdeb 29
117 kidzdoc 28
118 lit_chick 28
119 Banjo 27
120 JustJoey4 27
121 LizzieD 27
122 ffortsa 26
123 aktakukac 25
124 Carmenere 25
125 scvlad 25
126 walklover 25
127 Bekkajo 24
128 cal8767 24
129 connie53 24
130 elliepotten 24
131 _zoe_ 23
132 tiffin 23
133 abergsman 22
134 Ape 22
135 rosylibrarian 22
136 BBGirl55 21
137 laurelkeet 21
138 mdoris 21
139 rebarelishesreading 21
140 Aunt Clio 20
141 someguyinvirginia 19
142 Cait86 18
143 crazy4reading 18
144 jessibud2 18
145 labwriter 18
146 Humouress 16
147 mmignano11 16
148 LauraBrook 14
149 leahbird 14
brodiew 14
150 roundballnz 13
151 cameling 12
152 maggie1944 12
153 PersephonesLibrary 12
154 drachenbraut23 11
155 HanGerg 11
156 catarina1 10
157 cushlareads 9

Happy New Thread, Paul. Also love your topper!
I'm happy even to register on your books read list in this group.
Hope your weekend is restorative. We are having the world's best time.

>28 LizzieD: Pleased to hear that Peggy. About to sleep ready for a new week and a hope that the keyboard is rested enough for me to get my thread set up properly.

Horray for Book Stats!! 18, very happy with that!

Happy new thread!

Thanks for sharing more of your poetry, Paul. I hope you have a good week ahead!

I'm always in the middle! Not complaining, just observing. :)

Hello, just dropping by, trying to keep up. (It ain't easy!)

I know you were an admirer of Being Mortal, Paul, so I thought you might also appreciate This essay about end-of-life experiences written by the wife of a distant cousin of mine. I just met John and Ginger T. Manley at my Mom's on Friday, and we had a grand chat about many things. I hadn't seen them since I was a teenager before this meeting, but I have read two of Ginger's books, Disarmed, and Gotcha Covered. She's delightful in person, and as a psychotherapist she's seen a lot. She has a number of excellent essays on her website on various subjects.

Happy New thread, Paul! Whoa, that's the lowest I've ever been in the books read ranking, and I'm at my usual pace so it has to be 18 other people reading a lot more.

Happy New thread, Paul! Happy enough with my reading stats. Enjoyment is the top thing! :)

>30 Thebookdiva: Posting is down Abby but reading is not! 16 already passing 75 and not even the end of May is stellar.

>31 amanda4242: Thanks Amanda. xx

>32 Donna828: Thank you Donna. I culled that from something I had written thirty years ago.

>33 ursula: There is nothing wrong with the middle, Ursula. I am in there with you!

>34 laytonwoman3rd: I don't think that I am normally as low as 50th either, Roni. I would like to think that it is everyone else doing better!

>35 ronincats: It is very much for fun, Deb, especially for those of us who simply want to bask in how well everyone else is doing!

>24 PaulCranswick: When are you hitting the road Spain way?

I'll fly from Atlanta to Amsterdam on June 1st, and fly from there to Barcelona on June 13th. Bianca will fly from Dusseldorf to Barcelona that morning. We'll stay in Barcelona until the 19th, travel from there to Sevilla that morning, spend two days going through the White Villages of Andalucía starting on the 22nd on our way to Granada, drive from there back to Barcelona on the 26th, and leave from there on the 27th. I'll meet up with Claire (@Sakerfalcon) and her sister in Amsterdam, along with several other Dutch and Belgian LTers in different cities before I leave for Spain.

Do let us know if you're able to meet up with us!

Happy New Thread Paul! I'm excited to see I'm somewhere near the top of one of your lists! No matter how many books I manage to read, I always feel the pressure of that great mount TBR crashing over my head... still, 99 books read so far (as of today) is leagues away from the handful of books I was able to manage in my crazy work days.

Wishing you a great week!

Happy new thread Paul! Thanks, as always, for the interesting stats.

Hi Paul, I enjoy your posting of the 75ers reading stats. I have got 80 books under my belt so far this year which puts me on a course for over 200 this year.

>39 kidzdoc: I will be travelling in June, Darryl and will certainly be in Europe at some stage during your trip. Let's see whether I can tweak my own schedule to meet-up as it would be great to do so.

>40 Smiler69: I did note your impressive total Ilana but then again I am not in the least surprised as you can really rattle them off when you are of a mind, I know. xx

>41 The_Hibernator: Thanks Rachel. You are welcome, my dear.

>42 DeltaQueen50: How I wish you were back in the group posting so that I could slot you into the list dear Guru! 80 is about what I would have expected from you as you normally worry either side of 200 a year. xx

Happy new thread and more stats! Lots of impressive numbers in that list so being number 72 isn't bad. At 38 I am on track for 75 books or so this year, down a bit from previous years but those challenge books are so long!

Happy New Thread and Happy Week, Paul! :)
Argh, this must be my worst reading year yet. Almost June and still miles away from 75 half-point. Well, sometimes priorities change. And reading speed. I wish I could sit on that bench by the river in >1 PaulCranswick: with a nice book and no useless worries on my mind... *dream*

Edit: miscounted my books, am exactly at half-point now after the latest update. I hope the Booker will get me out of my low again as in previous years.

>45 Familyhistorian: Thank you Meg. I have never failed to reach a hundred books (although I nearly did a few years ago) and am safely ahead of that target too.

>46 Deern: Yes Nathalie you are normally well ahead of me if I am not mistaken and I am a little down on where I would expect to be.
It would be nice to dream of no 'useless worries' and settle on that beach; trouble is with Hani in tow she never stop talking so we'd have to keep her eating and drinking to give the rest of us some peace and quiet!

Good Monday to you, Paul!
>13 PaulCranswick: Now, if Yasmyne had her own Beetle.......you'd have time to populate. Just sayin' ;0)

>27 PaulCranswick: Egads! I think I'm spending too much time on Words with Friends and not enough time reading :0(

Happy new thread Paul, great photo to start with, we love Buxton and combine our visits with a tour around Bakewell where I came across Elliepotten a few years ago. Hope you had a good weekend mate and I see you played taxi driver, we always do don't we mate with our kids, lol.

>48 Carmenere: Hahaha thank you Lynda. Very, erm, helpful suggestion.

It is difficult to combine a lit of posting with a lot of reading isn't it?

>49 johnsimpson: Ah! yes Ellie is from Derbyshire isn't she? Bakewell and Castleton are lovely spots mate and so is Matlock.

Happy new week, Paul!

>51 scaifea: Thank you Amber dear. I am hoping for a good one but expecting the torrid time to be later in the week - let's see!

Happy new thread, Paul!

>53 DianaNL: Thank you Diana. It is great to see you so active in the group again this year. xx

They have picked Woakes for Stokes so we were right that nothing would be done.

>27 PaulCranswick: I am always amazed and awed by how much people read here. I am no slouch and think I do pretty good between my print books and audios but this crowd really can crank 'em out. Bravo LT Marathoners!

>55 johnsimpson: Just seen that John.
If I was put into James Whitaker's brain to give him some common sense:

Hales and Cook obviously keep their places. Root and Bairstow need no discussion. I would not pick Compton as he is simply too ponderous and would prefer either Bell-Drummond or Hildreth. I think that Root eventually needs to come in one down and Bell-Drummond is next opener in line (or Stoneman) so Hildreth in for Compton. Stokes is out and Woakes isn't bad but Plunkett gives more vim and threat in the conditions especially if the Sri Lankans revert to type and attack. I don't think Ali has done enough with bat or ball but spinners are at a premium but I would look at Ollie Rayner as at least a proper spinner and play him at Lords.
So:
Cook, Hales, Root, Hildreth, Bairstow, Vince, Ali, Plunkett, Broad, Anderson, Finn
12th man : Rayner

>56 msf59: No slouch indeed Mark. 63 books already is mightily impressive if you ask me.

But Charlotte has read 144? That's not fair!! Stomps foot!

>43 PaulCranswick: Sounds good, Paul. I hope that our paths can cross in the Low Countries or Spain next month.

>57 PaulCranswick:, I agree with your selections mate.

>59 msf59: That was more than a day ago. I reckon she will have more already. 144? That's gross!

>60 kidzdoc: That would be great Darryl. I have a lot of travelling planned in June mate so you never know.

>61 johnsimpson: it's a shame we weren't picking the team John. See that LVG has just been sacked and my lot seem set fair for a new manager. You get The Special One while we get Karl Robinson!

Did someone mention my name?! Cheek!

:-)

I'm way behind on my challenge reading, hoping the Gardam I ordered comes in at the library soonish to make up for it.

>63 charl08: I would hate to see how many books you would have read if you were ever in front!

>27 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Numbers again. Thank you for taking the time to do this for us.

65 not wonderful..... but at least a tangentially "significant" number (birthdays that end in 0 or 5 are significant so am stealing a bit). 40, however, is quite wonderful, since 4 is half of my lucky number 8. I had hoped to have read more books by now to get to a 10-book-a-month rate, but the Outlander series is causing a serious problem. Page-wise, I'm at 16,144 pages for books finished this year.

I hope things are going well for you this week so far.

>65 karenmarie: Your great Karen as you always find something in the numbers I would never have seen there.

Page total is impressive though.

>62 PaulCranswick:, I only hope he doesn't get rid of the youth system. Your boys just need shut of Cellino and then things will turn around, I couldn't see Cellino and Mourinho as a good fit, can you imagine all the hissy fits that would take place.

>43 PaulCranswick: Obviously, as far as impressive reading numbers go, it does help that I'm home full-time and that reading is one of my favourite activities (such a rarity in this group!) and, not least of all, that I really enjoy audiobooks, which I can listen to speeded-up as well. It's not cheating of course, but it does mean I tend to get through books rather more quickly than someone working full-time and with family responsiblities. I shudder to think how few books I was reading by the time I hit the job market and throughout my abbreviated career, and I guess I'm making up for those 'lost' years in a way while listening only—goes without saying—to unabridged productions! ;-)

>2 PaulCranswick: I am interested to hear your thought on Station Eleven, Paul. I have tried to audio book twice, but stalled each time. Does is bear perseverance?

>27 PaulCranswick: I appreciate you including me in those not included. ;-) I am at 14 completed with the Jon Cryer memoir.

Paul, as to how Emily St. John Mandel would be pronounced in Canada or the the USA, it would pronounced as Saint John, not sinjun, as you might say in Britain. We have so many places called St John, St. Johns etc ( it is usually abbreviated and is a place name . On my local tv station, we do have a news announcer named St. John Alexander. People were so confused by the pronunciation of " Sinjin" as he pronounces it, there have been online disucssions as to what is his name and why is it pronounced that way! :) Here is a link - http://bc.ctvnews.ca/about-us/team-bios/st-john-alexander-1.872322

Happy new thread, Paul, and nice updated books read stats! I'm fairly pleased with myself keeping up a pretty impressive rate so far. I haven't been following along with the ABC challenges at all, really, but have started reading Old Filth. I'm only a short way in but I think I will enjoy it when I finally sit for a spell with it instead of reading a few pages here and there before I go to bed.

Thanks for the numbers, Paul. I am pleased to be ahead of last years and I might actually make 75 this year!! I always seem to be on track and then lose it in November and December, so I am trying to get out ahead. ; )

>70 vancouverdeb: I was scanning for the St. John pronunciation discussion, I ever could get the Sinjin pronunciation. It sounds very odd to me, and maybe toffee- nosed?
(is that an insult?, I think it get be, but it's just my impression anyway)
*getting out of here before foot goes through back of head*

Happiest of new threads to you Paul!

Hello, Paul! Thanks so much for the stats, as ever, friend.

Thanks for collecting and posting those reading stats, Paul! SO fun. I see that my daughter has eclipsed me, but I am tied with Mark. And Charlotte is WAY out in front.

Hoping that Tuesday was kind to you. Mine is just beginning, so we'll see.

>67 johnsimpson: Who we get next John is important and I personally like the chap who has gotten two promotions running for Bristol Rovers but Leeds is a big step up. I feel Cellino's heart is in the right place but he is simply not cut out for the English game. His treatment of managers no longer wanted - i.e. moving in the new before dismissing the old is reprehensible.

>68 Smiler69: I know Ilana, who would have thought this lot would be into reading?!

>69 brodiew2: Nice to see you here Brodie. Am only a little way into Station Eleven but I am enjoying it. I am chewing up the Robert Goddard at the moment.
Of course you would get a mention on threads I couldn't completely fathom! - you are very much part of the group now! I will add your numbers.

>70 vancouverdeb: I thought regular Canadians wouldn't follow that archaic form, Deb. It sounds really posh though doesn't it?

>71 bell7: My reading has improved a little this month Mary, but nowhere near where I want it to be yet. I hope you continue to enjoy Old Filth - you should as I think it gets better as you go along.

>72 Berly: I am normally not too bad in November and December Kimmers, but by then it is normally too late for me!

>73 LovingLit: I think toffee-nosed is an insult Megan but whether it is insulting the nose or the toffee is a moot point! I agree that it is strange. There was a decidedly toffee-nosed Tory politician called Norman St. John Stevas who pronounced it "sinjun"

"Sinjun" Stevas with his toffee nose,
His bowler hat and his Savile Row clothes
Ancestry traced from Tudor times came
then to have that simply pretentious name -
once was a toffee nose in doublet and hose.

>74 scaifea: My pleasure, Amber. Perhaps your figures should be halved as Charlie is reading half the words for you!

>75 Crazymamie: I am as usual one of the wheezy boys sneaking a fag behind the bike sheds, Mamie! Abby is going great guns again this year.

Hi Paul!

I loved Station Eleven. How many post-apocalyptic novels have a troupe of musicians/Shakespearian actors as the protagonists? It puts an interesting twist on things.

"Saint John" is interesting - Saint John in Canada and probably the US, sinjun in England. When I lived in New London, Connecticut, I was startled when I heard that the Thames River was not pronounced Tems but pronounced Thames.

I was raised in Southern California, where there are many Hispanic street and place words, and when I was coming up we were required to take Spanish in 6th-8th grades (ages 11-13). I am always surprised when people who don't understand the rules of pronunciation of Spanish mangle words so badly. Of course, you wouldn't want me to try to pronounce something in French because I'd mangle it badly.

>79 karenmarie: A troupe of musicians have a place in most things for me Karen! I love singing and in an LT karaoke I would definitely be the one hogging the microphone.

Pronunciation is a wonderful minefield isn't it? I cringe when I hear most westerners speak Bahasa Melayu (Malay) as the accent is so terribly garbled and the words bear little relation to their normal usage.

I am officially co-opting your thread to spread the word about this great book by the Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay. He is one of the authors that is going to be featured on the Canadian Author read later this year. Under Heaven might be a good book to start with.

River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay is is an excellent blend of fact, fiction, and fantasy. As with "Under Heaven," Kay is light on the fantasy and heavy on the storytelling. This novel is a sequel of sorts to "Under Heaven" but by the time the events of this novel take place the Tang Dynasty is long buried. Imperial China is faced with a new threat - the Mongols, and this novel is all about how they deal with that threat. Kay has created memorable characters that stick with you. You like the heroes and hate the villains, but the reader also likes those in the book who fail, because Kay helps you to understand why they have failed. Like "Under Heaven," this is a work of fantasy, but the fantasy elements are light and are almost missed. They are not the main focus of this novel. This is just plain great adventure reading on the same scale as the work of Bartle Bull. Even at 630 pages this is a great ride!

I will confess that I waited for this book to be published and then hesitated to read it due to its length, but it was worth the ride in every since of reading. I am not an expert on Chinese history, but just as "Under Heaven" did, this novel made me want to read more about Imperial China and all of its dynasties. When a work of fiction does that it has succeeded. I cannot wait to read more of this author and hope that he is not done with this series on Imperial China.

I have been fascinated by the Sinjun/St. John discussion. I had no idea that Sinjun was a diminutive of St. John. I always wondered where that strange English name came from and now I know. I only hope that somebody can now explain where in the heck Tarquin came from?

I have noticed that the popularity of the name Sinjun or Sinjin, for boys has been growing here in the U.S. According to the Baby Center web site, it reached its zenith of popularity in the late 1990's and now is on the rise again - as of 2014.

Maybe this is covered in the article Deb linked to (I haven't read it yet), but I learned the "Sinjin" pronunciation of St. John from Jane Eyre. (As in St. John Rivers.) It came as a surprise to me at the time (probably high school), as there was a celebrity journalist named Adela Rogers St. Johns (pronounced Saint Johns) in those days who was often on the talk show circuit.

>81 benitastrnad: Co-opt with pleasure Benita. I have a couple of his books on the shelves and look forward to trying him soon. With help from pals like Roni and Nina I have realised that whilst sci-fi is not quite my thing fantasy is another thing entirely and much more my cup of tea to mix metaphors shamelessly.

>82 benitastrnad: I think that Megan is probably right that the Sinjun pronunciation may have as much to do with snobbery as anything else. Probably an abbreviation of Saint and an effort by protestantism to deflect too much idolatry!

>83 laytonwoman3rd: Ah yes, Linda, Jane Eyre - also of course not really written down as you would pronounce it!

Just stopping by to say hello, mate. Looks like everything is going swimmingly here.

I'm glad you're enjoying Station Eleven.

>85 jnwelch: Thanks mate. It is indeed. I am just about to remove the armbands!

The Sinjin / Saint John pronunciation - apparently St. John Alexander has British parents and they were aware of the name " St.John" aka pronounced Sinjin in Jane Eyre, and that is origin of our local news broadcaster's name. I was initially so puzzled by it, I thought perhaps it a French pronunciation? But a check with my french Canadian Uncle said no -he thought it was British . And indeed it is. He is so handsome and nicely mannered I entirely embrace his name, but my husband does think it a little ' toffee nosed", which makes me chuckle.

>78 PaulCranswick: thank you for immortalizing my judgmental comments in a poem :)

There is a character on George and Mildred called Tarquin. The neighbour's son, and they (well, the father at least) is definitely toffee-nosed.

>87 vancouverdeb: I have to agree with you, your husband and Megan, Deb. The English usage of the name is toffee nosed in the extreme.

>88 LovingLit: Tarquin would also fall into the category too, Megan. What we would call Hooray Henry names would also include Rupert, Peregrine, Bertram and Montague. Wilbur and Lenny are, on the other hand, good, solid and manly names.

What is interesting though it that though now identified with the Old Tory set in England, the term actually derives from the American Damon Runyan who referred to a character in his short story "Tight Shoes" as a "Hoorah Henry".

I hope you like Station Eleven, Paul;. It was one of my faves last year.

And fun poem!

>90 banjo123: So far so very good Rhonda. I will finish up the Robert Goddard book tonight and then turn my attentions to it fully.

Managed to add a few new ones today while waiting for a meeting in the Twin Towers:

What is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman (2010) 243 pp
According to the Washington Post it "offers a kind of rough-hewn poetry throughout"

Black Dogs by Ian McEwan (1992) 174 pp
The New York Times Book Review lauded his "superbly evocative prose" 1001 Books 1st Ed

S. : A Novel About the Balkans by Slavenka Drakulic (1999) 201 pp
The San Francisco Chronicle advises that "Drakulic has given the world a gift"

The Angry Tide by Winston Graham (1977) 612 pp
I am happy to get the 7th Poldark but chagrined that I haven't yet got the 6th!

The Master by Colm Toibin (2004) 359 pp
John Updike thought that this novel on Henry James was a "marvel of lightly worn research"

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (2015) 179 pp
"One of the great poets of the modern novel", Peter Carey felt Haruf to be. Sadly missed.

The History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani (2014) 319 pp
"the most courageous writing working right now" was the opinion of Dave Eggers.

>92 PaulCranswick: Oh, I loved Our Souls at Night as well as his others. In fact, there was an almost new copy of it yesterday while we were setting up for my local library book sale and I made one of the other women buy it (along with 3 others!) Well, she asked me what was good...I saw her sneaking out the back door a little later without say good bye (or thanks!) Maybe, I was a little too excited...I'll have to take it down a notch tomorrow when I go back to help with opening day.

>92 PaulCranswick: That Drakulic is on the 1001 Books list (I'm sure you know that). I had been hoping to find that one in Dubrovnik but they only had another Drakulic on the shelf (non-fiction, I think Cafe Europa. Instead I went with a different Croatian author, Predrag Matvejevic, and his book The Other Venice, which seemed interesting all things considered.

>93 Dianekeenoy: Hahaha our group is both helpful as well as under appreciated Diane! I have read the first two of his Holt County books and think them simply wonderful.
Library sales............................***wistful***....................

>94 ursula: I sort of half realised it Ursula since it is also known as As if I am not there. It is one that I see myself reading sooner rather than later. I saw highlights of a football game between Spain and Yugoslavia from the UEFA Championships in Holland back in the late 1980s and it is amazing that those people living so close together turned on each other so completely - or conversely that so much hatred was kept hidden for so long so close to the surface.

Interesting discussion about the name St John. Of course, it had to be British. Who else gave us the pronunciations of Gloucestershire or
Worcestershire?

>96 Familyhistorian: And Bicester and Leicester and Ainscough.

47. Fault Line by Robert Goddard

Date of Publication : 2012
Pages : 509
British Author Challenge May 2016

Robert Goddard has consistently delivered thriller mysteries normally involving a normal chap caught up in events which involve a secret from the past.

This one is no different as Jonathan Kellaway gets himself embroiled in a family mystery centered on the china clay business and involving a suicide unexplained and impacting across generations.

Not his best, not his worst; simply Robert Goddard doing what he proficiently does.

8/10

Hey, Paul! Maybe I will join you on reading The Master. I have been wanting to read that since I featured Henry James on the AAC.

Planning on starting Last Night in Montreal, later today. Hope you love Station Eleven, as much as I did.

Never mind John Updike Paul, I thought The Master was good. (Ha!)

>99 msf59: To be quite honest Mark I would be more confident of Toibin than James.

>100 charl08: I would trust your judgement more than his anyhow Charlotte.

'lo Paul!

>103 PaulCranswick: Hi Amber!

Hi Paul, not a bad day's play in the Test with Hales and Root getting to the eighties but falling when big hundreds were on the cards. Once again Compton failed and his place must be under threat now and I would give Hildreth a chance. Hope you have a good weekend mate.

Hi Paul , catching up. I've been cataloging our extensive dvd collection here but under a different profile. A big job but almost done now. Also got our cd collection lined up but feel that I need a break before I tackle that job. Anyway been too busy to read that much this month though have a Goddard sitting at top of my tbr pile. I've decided to get up to date with Jason Webster's Max Camera series which is mostly set in Valencia.

Thanks for doing the reading stats, I'm impressed that I made the top ten especially as I haven't been able to read as much of late.

I remember that you lived a short while in Gibralter. Did you ever read Scruffy by Paul Gallico? I'm currently reading it though it's not my main read, very enjoyable so far.

>104 johnsimpson: Stolid Compton must be thinking his number is up, John. Hildreth is surely overdue a chance.

>105 avatiakh: You have me intrigued as usual with Scruffy, Kerry. I haven't read it but since I thoroughly enjoyed my short time in Gib, I will look for it.

I can't say that I'm caught up, Paul, but I did stop by before the thread was too long to even try. I'll only add, YAY *POLDARK*! And - When you finish are you going to try *Lymond Chronicles*, or are you already a convert?

>107 LizzieD: Nice to see you here Peggy. I read the first Lymond book many years ago and really ought to look at it again.

Paul! Just saying hello to my dear friend. Love that you are still posting stats and wishing you a wonderful weekend.

(*not a Poldark fan*)

>109 EBT1002: I do rather go together with the stats Ellen, my dear, but i am a little concerned about the state of my laptop as the keyboard seems to have gone haywire and seems to have taken on a mind of its own. My book spreadsheets as well as the LT stats are all on there so I hope i will be able to retrieve them.

ETA I am a sucker for the sweeping and soppy personified by the Poldark saga. I can certainly see why many others whose judgement I respect don't agree.

>98 PaulCranswick: I toyed with the thought of reading Fault Line for my first Goddard as it was sitting on my shelf but I decided to read Caught in the Light instead. >99 msf59: I am reading Last Night in Montreal too. What is strange about reading these two books at the same time is that both have male characters looking for women who have chosen to go missing.

>111 Familyhistorian: I would place Caught in the Light somewhere in the middle of Goddard's oeuvre. I couldn't really advise the best place to start with his books as, other than a couple of books featuring Harry Barnett and the recent World War trilogy, none of them are remotely linked. I would also struggle to rate them in terms of preference but I do recall being immensely impressed with the first few I read; Dying to Tell, In Pale Battalions and Past Caring.

48. AWOPBOPALOOBOPALOPBAMBOOM by Nik Cohn

Date of Publication : 1972
Pages : 247
Suzanne's Non Fiction Challenge May - Arts
Bowie Books

I spent most of this being irritated by the hyperbolic writing style - his descriptions of the early rockers and Little Richard in particular are so ridiculously overblown that they descend into pastiche of pastiche.

This was wilfully opinionated and I found myself either grumbling or nodding along depending upon my own prejudices which showed i suppose in the long run a journo doing his job.

He was also prescient. He described the late Cilla Black thus:

"Genuinely, she's warm and she makes people glow........she'll become institutionalized."

Some of his succinct profiles of The Who, Ray Davies, Sandie Shaw and The Move are sufficient raise this above the irritating to a little above the commonplace.

6/10

Hi Paul, thanks for the stats, nice to see i'm somewhere in the middle right now. If this keeps up I might just reach the target this year :)

Hope your weekend is off to a AWOPBOPALOOBOPALOPBAMBOOM start! Thanks for that review, by the way. I won't be adding it to my wishlist despite having been on Bowie's bookshelf.

Hi Paul! It may not make sense for you, but I have keyboard that I plug into a USB port on my laptop because it's bigger and easier to type on. They're not overly expensive and it may give you more laptop life.

>110 PaulCranswick: I bought a backup disk after I had a bad episode of " what is the computer doing-is it dead?" (thank goodness for the Apple staff and store near me.)

>113 PaulCranswick: Catchy title, innit? I think I'll skip that one, thanks Paul.

>114 fairywings: Your welcome, Adrienne. It is great to see you posting and reading a fair (y) old bit in 2016.

>115 Carmenere: No and I don't blame you Lynda. I found the most part of the book's tone irritating - I only liked it better when I agreed with his opinions - which was not that often!

>116 karenmarie: That is a really good idea Karen and I might well try that. Makes sense also considering my stubby fingers!

>117 torontoc: I used Belle's laptop yesterday which is an Apple MacAir thingy or something and am seriously tempted to switch. I am back on the DELL this morning and it is behaving so far as I have cleaned the touch pad thingy carefully.

>118 Smiler69: Well. Ilana, I had to type it out for the touchstone extremely carefully. There are enough books in the world to be honest without spending undue time looking for that. Loved The Bird Artist which Bowie also picked - he wasn't infallible!

>113 PaulCranswick: that one is on Bowie's top 100 list? I thought I would have recognised the title, it certainly looks a mouthful!!

Eta: oh...now I see. It has an alternative title!

>121 LovingLit: It seems to have a few alternative titles Megan, but that doesn't mask the fact that this is not the history of rock and roll at its best IMO.

Hey Paul - re your pop music review wondered of you saw there is a new Macca bio out?

>123 charl08: I hadn't yet noticed that one Charlotte and I am a huge Beatles fan although more a John than a Paul acolyte in truth.

>120 PaulCranswick: I agree with you about The Bird Artist: I found it simply sublime, and one of those books I'd like to eventually reread (a rare 5-star rating from me on this one). Probably wouldn't have read it at this juncture if it hadn't been on Bowie's list.

Hi Paul! Another vote for THe Bird Artist... I am going to have to look for it.

Hope you're having a good weekend, mate. We get an extra day for it here in the States.

I'm another one who loved The Bird Artist. Great to see the rekindled interest in it.

>125 Smiler69: I certainly wouldn't have read it Ilana as it was a US import in Kino and was almost double the price of other books locally. I am glad though that Kimmers and Megan persuaded me to buy and read it.

>126 banjo123: You should Rhonda, you should!

>127 jnwelch: Keeping my posts short, Joe, due to my pesky keyboard playing up. Memorial Day has its equivalence in UK in November, I guess.

STAT ATTACK

Longest threads

Some of us start looking at making a new thread after 150 posts, 200, some 250 and some even 300. A few sometimes go beyond that.

16 of us have notched up threads of more than 300 posts this year so far. Those 16 and their longest threads are:

1 Ellen 349
2 Peggy 348
3 Paul 340
4 Mamie 323
5 Reba 321
6 Amber 319
7 Karen 311
8 Beth 310
9 Mark 310
10 Barbara 307
11 Julia 304
12 Rhonda 304
13 Caro 303
14 Lori 303
15 Karen 302
16 Charlotte 301

Of these Mamie has passed 300 posts on 12 threads, Mark 6, Peggy, Amber, Beth, Barbara and myself 2 times.

>130 PaulCranswick: where is the thread police!! RD, I mean- he used to swoop in at 250 posts and demand a new thread be started, remember?!

>131 LovingLit: I do indeed Megan. I also remember that he usually ignored his own dictum and often exceeded 300 posts himself. Miss him though.

>120 PaulCranswick: Dare I also mention that you might want to consider a wireless mouse instead of the "touch pad thingy"? And if you get a separate monitor (I have a DELL S S2340L 23-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor), you don't have to deal with the laptop directly at all at your primary location.

>130 PaulCranswick: I think that it depends on what's been posted on the thread. Those with a lot of pictures take a long time to load. Those of us who have tried posting pictures and failed miserably and get the gift of a few pictures here and there from friends don't feel as bad with long threads.

>132 PaulCranswick: RD is alive and well on Facebook even if he doesn't post here.

I am late to the party, but I started reading As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee over the weekend. I plan on taking it with me on my next trip and so far it is very engaging. 50 pages in and he has made me smile at the foibles of youth.

Doing the drive-by-waving thing - Happy week, Paul!

err.. not really interested in early rockers and Little Richard, but the title in >113 PaulCranswick: was tempting for a moment.

>133 karenmarie: I am sure you dare, Karen! One of the irritating things is that I rarely use the touch pad thingy so I don't really understand why it is playing up so much.

You are as I am included among the 16 with over 300 posts in at least one thread and it wasn't a criticism at all just an observation that some people's are longer than others!

Hani keeps up regularly with RD on Facebook although I rarely use that one myself.

>134 benitastrnad: Lovely Laurie Lee, Benita! All his memoirs are wonderful experiences to read.

>135 Deern: A pleasure as always Nathalie. The title was one of the best things about the book and I wasn't overly fond o.f the title

Is it taboo to go to 300 posts? I just figured when I get to 300, it's time to start a new one. I didn't even think about it being hard to load the thread.

Happy Tuesday, Paul - still Monday morning for me, but I am guessing you have moved on. Hoping it is full of fabulous!

Hi Paul, a good bank holiday weekend for the England team beating a Sri Lanka team under going a re-build. Nice to see Cook reach the 10,000 run barrier but Compton has had his chance and time to see someone else given a chance. Once again Yorkshire had a top order collapse in the Roses match at Headingley but Rashid and Bresnan followed by Hodd and Patterson rescue the innings. Today they added five runs before reducing Lancashire to 196 all out before reaching 77 for 3 at the close, Lyth is unbeaten on 44 but Lees, Leaning and Balance (yet again) failing. There was a tight finish in the Surrey V Somerset game with Somerset getting a one wicket win chasing 301. Hope you and the family have had a good weekend mate.

Completely unable to use my keyboard at home this morning - so I will attempt Karen's strategy and see how this helps me. I am going to send my laptop for service but I am also considering replacement and my first AppleMac.

Closing in on completing four books before the month end:

The Green Road by Anne Enright
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Risk by C.K. Stead
&
Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey

Enjoying all of them but surprisingly maybe most taken with the CK Stead which I am reading for the Anzac challenge.

>138 Crazymamie: Certainly no taboo, Mamie. After all you have managed the feat 12 threads in a row and I can't think of a more popular gal in the group! I just think it interesting that the length of threads differs. You and Mark have slightly longer threads (300 average); Amber, Joe and Katie a little less (260 average); Charlotte and myself in between at about 280 average. There are some threads that like to renew just past 150 or just past 200 - whatever works for each of us is great.

>139 johnsimpson: At least Sri Lanka showed a bit more appetite for it this time and did so by playing more to their strengths, although to be fair the dropped catch by Bairstow saved them from an innings defeat most probably.
I see Compton has kept his place. The selectors are not ruthless enough and take the position that with the series won there is no point in changing the team. I take the opposite view that it is exactly the time to experiment.

Taking advantage of the fact that I am not tired to spend some rather late night LT time. Glad to see that your mother is showing signs that she is on the mend. My mom has been having some dietary issues but given her age, I pay more attention to how she sounds during my usual call home to assess how she is doing. While I don't live as far away from my mom as you do from your's, I still feel the distance and thankful I have siblings (4) that I can tag to put in a quick "on site" inspection when mom doesn't sound good.

Glad to see you enjoyed Old Filth! I found Edward Feathers to be a wonderful character, even if he rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

I am woefully behind with my BAC and CAC reading.

Wishing you a lovely week, Paul!

All caught up here again. : ) Happy Tuesday!!

Chiming into say that I recall the " Thread Police" - perhaps RD - coming round to say - at about 250 posts or so , start a new thread!:) Sorry to hear you are having computer troubles. Very frustrating! I have some troubles with my old desktop off and on and I forsee needing a new computer sooner than later. Best of luck with your computer, Paul.

Yes, like the UK , we have Remembrance Day in November. Our " Queen Victoria " holiday long weekend was last weekend.

>142 lkernagh: Glad one of us is not tired Lori! I am up to my bullish little neck at the moment with work. Old Filth was a slow burner but warmed me eventually.
My CAC reading is lagging somewhat but I am the tortoise and will pass the hare at some stage hopefully.

>143 Berly: It is happy every day you visit dear Kimmers!

>144 vancouverdeb: Richard was and remains of course a complete original. Irascible certainly, opinionated definitely, a rapier wit whose nerve endings often appear very close to the surface. Not everyone's cup of tea but I remember his warmth of heart on numerous occasions. We may have had the occasional ups and downs as friends sometimes do but I miss him dearly in the group.

The computer is having one of its occasional bursts of compliance so I am able to reply without a jumping mouse and cursor.

Deb, I like our tradition of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to remember the fallen such that we all can stand still.

Hey Paul! Well, having work up to your bullish little neck is a double edge sword, isn't it? Sure, it takes time away from reading and buying new reads but it indicates that business is going very well, so congrats to that.

It's funny, when I was just a babe to LT, I recall seeing RD's "Thread Police" alerts. His "rule" is ingrained in me now and just as if he were traversing the threads on a regular basis, I create a new one at 200 or so. It was in a time when many, many LTer's still had dial up connections which were slow so it was understandable that the technologically advanced had to be reminded of those who weren't. I suppose there are still a few die-hards out there.

>147 Carmenere: Business is not too bad at present Lynda but still trying to close out some of the problems that last year foisted on my cashflow.
I have always started looking towards a new thread at around 250 posts but end up somewhere between 265 and 300 normally. Occasionally if I find myself treading water and unmotivated I will start one sooner to give me a perk up and sometimes if I am travelling or up to that bullish neck I will let it slide beyond 300.

I am sorry your computer acts up, Paul.
My last transition to a new laptop (in March) went a lot easier than before, as I bought an extern harddrive the year before. I update it once a month or so, and could easy put everything back on the new laptop.

I like to post photos and I also get bored around 200 posts so I have been starting new ones around there. But as you said, whatever works for people.

>149 FAMeulstee: Surprisingly has worked OK until just now!

>150 ursula: The number of images and length of posts is obviously a factor too, Ursula.

Hi you will be happy to know that I am lingering on LT. Happy with my position in the stats. Love stats thanks for that. I am happy just to make it to 200 posts like I am happy if I hit 60+ books in a year. 'Post Police' I miss Richard here too. 200 posts is an ideal length of thread as I do most of my LTing on my phone. But if I hit 180's I start to think about a new Tread.

Sorry to hear about your laptop trouble!

I know what you mean about the computer woes, Paul. I have a desktop that was my main computer but when Microsoft sent out Windows 10 everything froze and eventually I couldn't get on it anymore. My son revived it by setting up Linux - take that Microsoft! Now I can do somethings on my desktop but nothing windows related and, since I started a blog, I can't post to it from my desktop but have to use a Netbook which misbehaves constantly when I am trying to copy stuff.

I hope that you are able to sort out your computer problems - I plan to buy a new laptop but hate having to get used to new technology (and it will come with Windows 10 - oh no!)

Chiming in as another who misses Richard round here. And the 250 Rule is ingrained for me, too.

>152 BBGirl55: I do think that if I was using my phone for LT 200 would be the maximum I could go to. I am certainly happy to see you on LT more this year Bryony. xx

>153 Familyhistorian: Windows 10 is a pain in the neck so far. Charlie, my business partner, is convinced that the whole thing is spyware formulated for the CIA but then again he trusts no-one much outside him and me and our wives!
Hope your computer woes are now a thing of the past, Meg.

>154 scaifea: Amber - RD is along with Claudia, Stasia, Bonnie, dear Pat, Dee and so many others greatly missed in the group.

Hiya, Paul.

I've got the RD 250 ingrained in me, too. He's still active on Facebook, but I miss his snark here on LT.

Hi Paul, the Yorkshire bowlers did us proud and put Lancashire to the sword and now we are 2nd in the table to the old enemy on the same points only because they have won more games. It was good to listen to Dizzy giving Dave Callaghan the exclusive about his position and that he is staying with the white rose as their is still much to do.

Hi Paul - Thanks for the stats. And I started a new thread - I wanted to wait for June 1. I'm glad you're enjoying Station Eleven. It is one of my recent favorites.

Hi Paul. This is the first time I remember the data regarding thread length. I also well and fondly remember the Thread Police and I think it is his legacy that I do start thinking about a new thread once I reach 200 posts. I usually go on for some time after that before I actually do anything about it, but the thinking is an important part of the process. :-) I also know that super long threads can start taking a while to download, especially if they have lots of pictures and if someone has a slower computer. So I try to keep them from getting too long. And, of course, I say all that while I sit atop the list of longest-thread-owners. I wonder what my average thread length is.

Oh, and I must confess something about Poldark. I've never actually read any in the series. I did watch two installments of the PBS series and chose to shift my attention elsewhere.

Speaking of slow computers, I'm sorry yours is giving you fits. I am rather patient with people but I can be brought to my knees or sent into a murderous rage quite quickly in the face of technology that doesn't work. Grr.

>156 jnwelch: RD as "The Snark" - I think that he would probably like that but can't imagine him admitting it!

>157 johnsimpson: Solid win John and it is nice to see us picking up a little momentum. Batting still looks a tad frail though. I wish Leeds United could manage with it's Head Coaches how Yorkshire CCC manage with theirs.

>158 BLBera: Glad to see you and Peggy making new threads at much the same time, Beth. Revised makes yours the 4th longest individual thread of the year:

Peggy 363
Ellen 349
Paul C 340
Beth 331

>159 EBT1002: I couldn't agree with you more, Ellen. The thinking about the new thread - whether it has a theme; what is the cover photo; what are the opening lines; updating new and old stats................
I hate my laptop!

Sorry about your laptop woes - Tomm woke up to his keyboard not working *at all* and he's a bit panicked about a big budget meeting later today, for which he needs files on said computer but can't reach them because... Sheesh. Technology, eh?

Happy Thursday!

>162 scaifea: I had something similar Amber as my Sao Tome proposal was on it and I needed to brief the board on the thing. Got through it though.

Managed to grab some egg rolls and some new books to start June this lunchtime in Kino:

148. Love and Obstacles by Aleksandr Hemon (2009) 210 pp
"Read and Rejoice" advises GQ magazine
149. The Book of Memory by Pettina Gappah (2015) 270 pp
From the Bailey's Longlist. "Startlingly vivid" opines the Observer
150, The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu (2015) 618 pp
Fantasy and SFX reckon this "will leave a lasting impression on the genre"
151. The Four Swans by Winston Graham (1976) 581 pp
Poldark. Bought hurriedly as I realized I had already bought #7 and this is #6
152. Three Tales by Gustave Flaubert (1877) 104 pp
A "vibrant new translation" according to the publisher - they would say that though wouldn't they?

>159 EBT1002: "I am rather patient with people but I can be brought to my knees or sent into a murderous rage quite quickly in the face of technology that doesn't work. " Me, too, Ellen!

Paul, I think you should invest in a new laptop. We NEED you to be available to us. Think of it as a public service.

>165 Crazymamie: Hahaha soldiering on at the moment though, Mamie.

Hi Paul! I agree with >165 Crazymamie: Mamie. Dead and dying laptops are infrastructure and need to be replaced. My own recent experience of Windows 10 was harrowing and should serve as a cautionary tale to everybody.

Yes - you should get a new laptop- in my opinion-but I am lucky in that I have my own tech consultant ( my brother)

>167 karenmarie: Karen, I despise Windows 10 and that is to put it mildly! I am going to get it looked at first to see if it just a maintenance issue with the keyboard as some have told me.

>168 torontoc: Cyrel, my technical support are my three bread-snappers - Kyran, Belle and Yasmyne. They would not recommend any solution that left me with a better computer than they have for themselves!

>169 PaulCranswick: That is extremely short-sighted of them, as it is YOUR computer's functioning that provides them with the means to have their own computers (and electricity and room and board--just saying!).

>170 ronincats: Yasmyne is studying economics Roni and, she knows what she is about I can assure you. They know Daddy will soldier on!

>169 PaulCranswick: Dell sells Windows 7 Professional computers, don't know anything about them in detail, but they are definitely not 10. Just sayin'.

>172 karenmarie: Windows 10 has a habit of trying to load itself onto existing computers, Karen whether you want it or not.

>170 ronincats: This is truth!

Paul, you need a new computer. Personally I love the Apple Macbook, but I know everyone has their own opinion. Bottom line, you deserve a new one. Enough said.

>174 Crazymamie: ******Edging towards purchase!******

*sits down to wait and make sure that he actually does it*

>175 PaulCranswick: Go Paul! Go Paul!

Despite the computer woes, I hope your week went well.

>176 Crazymamie: :D

>177 msf59: Not half bad so far Mark - a little bit more to go!

STATS UPDATE

Posting League

Those over 40 posts:

1 crazymamie 3930
2 msf59 3642
3 scaifea 3509
4 PaulCranswick 3269
5 jnwelch 3015
6 Charl08 2359
7 kidzdoc 2273
8 KatieKrug 1931
9 EBT1002 1649
10 Ameise1 1380
11 Berly 1347
12 Carmenere 1176
13 vancouverdeb 1174
14 cbl_tn 1166
15 lkernagh 1104
16 DianaNL 1024
17 SusanJ67 1007
18 ireadthereforeiam 971
19 BBLBera 942
20 ronincats 905
21 Whisper1 905
22 lit_chick 829
23 thornton37814 752
24 mstrust 750
25 FamilyHistorian 731
26 LizzieD 696
27 johnsimpson 679
28 Deern 657
29 Chatterbox 626
30 Ape 624
31 smiler69 623
32 MichiganTrumpet 597
33 Sibyx 583
34 Donna 580
35 lyzard 537
36 bell7 533
37 souloftherose 519
38 rosalita 517
39 The_Hibernator 515
40 drneutron 507
41 Weird_O 505
42 Ursula 477
43 SandDune 462
44 coppers 461
45 Oberon 451
46 laytonwoman3rd 427
47 laurelkeet 421
48 tymfos 408
49 avatiakh 407
50 nittnut 400
51 Dianekeenoy 399
52 Streamsong 397
53 luvamystery65 394
54 maggie1944 392
55 foggidawn 386
56 karenmarie 385
57 ctpress 384
58 mahsdad 381
59 qebo 372
60 AMQS 370
61 TheBookDiva 366
62 PaulStalder 360
63 FAMeulstee 359
64 rebarelishesreading 352
65 norabelle414 338
66 lindapanzo 336
67 MickyFine 335
68 Banjo 327
69 Swynn 306
70 cameling 303
71 storeetllr 283
72 SqueakyChu 277
73 harrygbutler 269
74 mdoris 264
75 labwriter 261
76 inge87 258
77 dk_phoenix 250
78 BBGirl55 243
79 eclecticdodo 234
80 Humouress 229
81 _zoe_ 208
82 Morphy 208
83 Porch_Reader 208
84 RichardDerus 203
85 lycomayflower 201
86 evilmoose 197
87 ffortsa 191
88 rosylibrarian 191
89 Fourpawz2 187
90 rretzler 180
91 Kassilem 174
92 archerygirl 173
93 Luxx 164
94 fuzzi 163
95 Cariola 145
96 dragonaria 145
97 seasonoflove 141
98 SuziQOregon 138
99 Aunt Clio 136
100 lovelyluck 132
101 Xymon81 130
102 Bekkajo 127
103 elliepotten 124
104 cyderry 120
105 arubabookwoman 119
106 Cait86 119
107 kac522 114
108 tiffin 113
109 kmartin802 108
110 catarina1 106
111 jessibud2 105
112 roundballnz 105
113 aktakukac 103
114 klobrien2 102
115 LauraBrook 101
116 jillbone 99
117 mckait 99
118 dajashby 98
119 Rbeffa 98
120 kgodey 97
121 susanna.fraser 94
122 brodiew2 93
123 leahbird 92
124 amanda4242 91
125 hredwards 91
126 tututhefirst 90
127 okrysmastree 89
128 cushlareads 88
129 CassieBash 86
130 torontoc 84
131 JustJoey4 80
132 yoyogod 80
133 connie53 78
134 LoisB 76
135 ccookie 75
136 SirFurboy 75
137 walklover 74
138 Deedledee 73
139 beeg 72
140 bluesalamanders 72
141 witchyrichy 71
142 CDVicarage 66
143 countrylife 65
144 HanGerg 65
145 fairywings 64
146 magicians_nephew 63
147 jennyifer24 62
148 LibraryLover23 62
149 AnneDC 61
150 scvlad 61
151 Dejah_Thoris 60
152 drachenbraut23 60
153 kgriffith 60
154 abergsman 58
155 RandyMetcalfe 58
156 BerlinBibliophile 56
157 cal8767 56
158 crazy4reading 55
159 mmignano11 55
160 someguyinvirginia 54
161 BookieBeth 53
162 takenby05 53
163 blackdogbooks 52
164 alsvidur 51
165 PersephonesLibrary 51
166 Forthwith 49
167 MarissaKings 48
168 EllaTim 47
169 vivians 47
170 tapestry100 44
171 weejane 44
172 Helenoel 42
173 cindystark 41

Finished my first book of the month which is Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey which won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 2007. Wonderful stuff I must say. Review to come but I need to go and plan my June reading after failing so badly (as usual) in May.
Target : 23 books (I know....it was never gonna happen)
Achievement : 10 books

Interesting to see the computer discussion. I too would recommend an Apple MacBook, and although you are welcome to ignore me, here are some reasons why that are intended to be non partisan. To be fair, I add some reasons not to also.

1. Windows 10 is dreadful, but it is also necessary to play the MS game and keep your OS up to date. There are ever increasing risks in running an old OS. However if you are going to have to get used to a whole new interface, I recommend doing it once. Go to OSX instead and thereafter upgrades will be much more painless.

2. OSX works on a Unix core which has certain design decisions behind it that will always make it more stable and responsive than Windows. I would acknowledge that MS finally got a clue about security contexts that have, at last, made them less susceptible to viruses, but those design decisions will always give Unix based systems and edge.

3. Macs really do beat MS on usability, including recovery from sleep modes, system startup, etc.

4. Controlled Mac hardware means that there are fewer issues with poor drivers and similar failures. Hardware just does what it is meant to.

I could make other points but I don't want to start a holy war. Here, in the interest of fairness, are the problems with buying a Mac:

1. Mac hardware costs more. Apple control their machine configuration carefully, but because you are essentially buying the hardware and getting software for free, your hardware costs are higher. You can offset some of that by not needing to upgrade as often, and higher resale value of your equipment, but there is an up front Apple premium.

2. You may have PC software that you want to keep. This can run on a Mac in VMware or Parallels, and this is relatively seamless but it does add cost, and involves some additional setup work.

3. If you have a Mac and your significant others don't, they will soon be borrowing it!

In the interests of full disclosure, I am not in anyway associated with Apple although I do have some of their shares... which probably won't change in value just because you buy a Mac ;)

>181 sirfurboy: Hahaha I think it depends how many Macs I actually buy!
Thanks for that extremely detailed and entertaining precis of why I will probably be putting my hand into my pocket this weekend!

MacBook is good, Paul. You may remember that my Toshiba laptop croaked a couple of months ago, and so sure was I that it was bereft of life, that I almost immediately went shopping for an Apple. Bought a MacBook Pro and have been using it since. I've had to adjust...

I don't like how the directory of files is presented; I got accustomed to the Windows display of folders and subfolders during the 25+ years I've used the Microsoft setup.

I don't like Apple's Pages word processing program. Again, I got accustomed to Word.

The MacBook keyboard has a reduced number of keys. I miss the number pad. I miss having separate "delete" and "back space" keys.

I bagged the touch pad after a couple of weeks, even though it works vastly better than that on previous laptops I've owned, and switched to the wireless mouse I'd been using with the Toshiba.

I LOVE the battery life. I love the slim package and the fit and finish.

In an effort to retrieve files created between the last time I backed up files to an external hard drive--and yes, it was longer ago than I remembered--and the computer's demise, I took it to a repair depot. The computer wasn't dead, its hard drive was. So whilst a wizard replaced the drive, he also retrieved everything from the dead drive and--whoopie! (meant in an ironic sort of way)--upgraded to Windows 10. Boy, does that suck.

Now using Google Docs for processing words, storing the files in Google's Cloud. But not entirely satisfied with that.

>183 weird_O: I noticed when I used Belle's Mac last weekend that the keyboard seemed to be missing a few old friends, Bill. I have Yasmyne and her chum from University who have finished their foundation year and decided that it would be fun to foist themselves on me for work experience. I took them with me to a project meeting on a renovation site this afternoon which we are doing for a Swiss company and got talking on the way back on adapting to new technologies. I noted that both girls use both thumbs to send text messages on their phones much faster than I ever could using mainly my index finger for the same tasks. "Dad, you can't help being old and a spastic" was Yasmyne's helpful comment!

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE THREAD FOR JUNE IS UP:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/224242

Lady Antonia Fraser & Joseph Conrad

>184 PaulCranswick: With me, it is granddaughters. But yeah, same thing.

>186 weird_O: Bill, I have just that pipe!

>186 weird_O: Loving the computer design!

Paul, I've never worked on or owned anything but a Mac, and the very word 'PC' makes me a bit nervous, so I'm obvious strongly biased. All I can add is go for it!

First, so pleased to be still in the top 60 for posting. Like the Whos in Horton Hears a Who, "I'm Here, I'm Here, I'm Here!" :)

Secondly, I too love the old-timeyness of that computer image.

There is a company that is converting old typewriters into USB/Bluetooth keyboards. I so want one. :)

http://www.usbtypewriter.com/#gs.NIUWHpc

>188 Smiler69: Owning a Mac would therefore put me in blessed company, Ilana. What stronger recommendation?

>189 mahsdad: I love that tag line Jeff......A GROUNDBREAKING ADVANCEMENT IN THE FIELD OF OBSOLESCENCE

>179 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Being number 56 is good because 7*8 = 56. 7 and 8 are good next to each other and 8 is, as always, my lucky number. And 385!! Could hardly be better. Two eights, 3+5 and 8 itself.

Good luck if and when you buy a new computer.

>179 PaulCranswick:



^^Need I say more?

>192 msf59: Very cool graphic, Mark! I am impressed you found my name in print!

So, Paul, when will your new computer be arriving? Just think about how much fun it would be to gather and post the stats with a brand new laptop. It's and experience guaranteed to be full of fabulous!

>191 karenmarie: Plenty of eights there for you Karen - I was sure you'd be pleased. xx

>192 msf59: Cool graphic, Mark and I agree with the tenor of it too!

>193 Crazymamie: Go Mamie Go! I have a young lady on work experience in my office called Mimie and I have called her Mamie on several occasions - I simply can't think why?

Oh, dear - truly, I am honored.

Oh wow, I make the top 50 and I've been MIA quite a bit these past few weeks.

My laptop was giving me a few pains so was advised to have a new harddrive installed about a week ago and then discovered that it was probably a faulty battery causing the problems so have a new one of that as well. Now I've also had to replace my USB hub, bought a powered one and so the wireless mouse decided to go on strike......I'm fine with Win10 at least.

>195 Crazymamie: No it is we who are honoured, Mamie

>196 avatiakh: Your computer woes make mine appear tame, Kerry. Glad to see you back.

Just checking in -- I am amazed I make it still into the top 50!

Howdy Paul! My laptop downloaded Windows 10 last night automatically. I was fuming! If you could have heard me cussing you would have turned crimson. Now reading your thread has me very nervous. I do have a Mac that I need to get out and start using again. I had some troubles last Christmas and stopped using it because going to the Apple store in December or January is just crazy.

Nice to see my place in the STATS as I've been gone quite a bit this year. My reading hasn't suffered but I've been reading a lot of graphic novels. Like, Ilana I listen to a lot of audios at a higher speed and that increases numbers. It's rare I listen to an audio at regular speed anymore.

Take care and please give Hani my best.

Hi Paul! May was a particularly good reading month for me in terms of quality, and Station Eleven and Old Filth were two of the highlights.

Old fogey takes the plunge and gets help from MAC savvy youngest daughter.

>198 sibylline: I am not surprised at all, Lucy - you rarely ever drop as low as outside the top forty. Abby's rush to start a new thread last weekend brought to mind your own rushes to pass 200 by particular month ends in LT days of yore.

>199 luvamystery65: I am suddenly quite anti-Microsoft given my recent travails with the DELL. I am not convinced in this spyware business but downloading an entire operating system that wasn't asked for is more than a little too much.

Hani says Hi back at yer, Roberta.

>200 cbl_tn: I haven't quite done with Station Eleven but it is highly original and Old Filth deserves its considerable plaudits. I have noticed your strong month, Carrie.

>201 PaulCranswick: Aw. Lovely pic Paul. Hope your weekend is going well.

>187 PaulCranswick: Thank you. SO sweet.

>201 PaulCranswick: I really love that photo, Paul. SO did you buy yourself one or are you just driving one of the kid's laptops?

>203 charl08: Actually Charlotte it has been a bit of a challenging weekend to be honest so far. Disturbed my eldest daughter this morning as I wanted my car keys and she was to put it mildly worse for drink. I found my keys in her handbag along with a bottle of Sapphire Gin and in consequence we had quite a set to this morning resulting in her going to her auntie's house. She came back late morning and apologised and we had a cuddle but I was pretty upset given that my brother is a recovering alcoholic and he used to do the self same things at her age. In all fairness she wasn't drinking and driving - she had sat out on our balcony with her boyfriend quietly drinking and had hidden the bottle in her bag so that Hani wouldn't see it. Hani has again gone to Johor Bahru on a flying visit to see her mum before Ramadhan begins and she in turn was distraught and in tears as she feels (wrongly of course) that the kids don't love and appreciate her tough style of motherhood. But hey! I got a new computer!

>204 Crazymamie: No, Mamie it is 100% mine and brand spanking new. A 13 inch Mac Air whatever that means.

Muhammad Ali RIP



Whether you think he was the Greatest or not he sure made a huge impact on the World.

Sorry about the parenting woes, Paul. It's tough to be in charge and to know how to convey our concerns and our worries without seeming judgmental. Becoming an adult is a rocky road, and whether you feel it now or not, she will be thankful for your wisdom and your concern. It is actually a very lovely thing that she can take your love and the knowledge that you will always be there for her for granted. Means you're doing good.

And HOORAY for a new computer - I'm so proud!!! Rae has that exact same laptop!

Hooray for the Mac! I have never gone that route but folks sure seem to be devoted.

Go Paul! Go Paul!

Hi Paul! New computer, fantastic!

I was saddened to hear about Muhammad Ali. Larger than life, and like you said, made a definite impact on the world in so many ways.

I can relate to the drinking child scare because we have alcoholism in our family too - my mother and her siblings and my great-grandfather, husband's mother AND father and possibly one grandmother. We've spoken with daughter a lot over the years about the dangers of alcohol. In my family especially, it seems to skip a generation. We know daughter drinks because (so far in her almost 23-years) she tells us pretty much everything, and so far we believe her that she doesn't drink and drive. Of course, if you'd seen me in college, you would probably think that I was an alcoholic, but it was definitely a phase, about 4 years long, and now I have the occasional glass of wine and perhaps one or two mixed drinks a year.

But it is scary, and especially with your brother's situation, an emotional roller-coaster. Sorry about the angst for you, Hani, and your daughter.

>207 Crazymamie: Nineteen is a funny age I guess, Mamie, but I said that about all the ones that preceded it!
I am happy as Larry that I had the good sense to get the same laptop as Rae. Miss her in these parts - please extend my best wishes to her and all the gang at the Paradisio. xx

>208 msf59: Thanks buddy. Seems funny having less keys to hit!

>209 karenmarie: Well I like a drink too Karen but tend to know my limit (although it is a fairly considerable one by many people's standards) and I am not at all anti-drinking in moderation, but the bag carrying spooked me a bit and did cause me to lose my temper a wee bit. Ramadhan is coming and I will not be drinking from its eve which is tomorrow as it is difficult to fast if you are drinking with the need to take on water.
I have no religious or moral antipathy against the demon alcohol - the Koran does not, despite what many muslims portray specifically ban its consumption but it does warn against its consequences. I do however like to keep an eye on things as my brother was (he has been sober four years) and my sister is a heavy drinker.

Muhammad Ali's fight with Liston many felt were rigged or Liston was got at; many didn't believe his fight with Foreman, but in his prime he was a supreme athlete and showman. How sad to see his later decline but with what dignity he bore his afflictions. A real icon and actually a prime mover in removing race barriers as he was genuinely loved and admired across the world.

Congrats on the new laptop, Paul. I hope you end up being a devotee like me. In all fairness though, I haven't felt quite the same about Apple since Job's passing, but hope they keep giving me reasons to remain a devoted fan.

Sorry about the parenting woes, Paul. It is tricky raising young adults, because we know that there are so many dangers.... but most of the time our kids don't want to take our advise. I am sympathetic with that, because when I was 19, I also thought I knew it all.

I was also sad about Ali. I am sure that he is now floating like a butterfly on a whole new plane!

RIP Muhammad Ali. Loved that guy. I got to shake his hand in Chicago back in 1980, and tell him what a fan I was.

Hi Paul.

Yay for a new laptop - I was reading through and expecting a post saying you'd tossed your old one out the window.

Sorry about the challenging weekend - hope it gets better

Welcome to the Mac side... :)

>212 Smiler69: Thanks Ilana. I come to the franchise without any Steve Jobs preconceptions and so far - apart from the reduced keyboard size, I am a happy camper.

>213 banjo123: Actually Yasmyne normally listens to me but rails against the mother. I think part of the problem is the fact that I am more from the Western laissez-faire tradition whereby a parent allows the children slack and is there to pick them up a little when they slip, whilst Hani is very much an Asiatic mum who believes in firm parental control. I think those differing styles confuse the kids sometimes and Hani and I have a find a way to approach problems that doesn't serve to put everyone at odds.

>214 jnwelch: That's so cool, Joe. I know the chap who was one of the last if not the last to get knocked out by the great man - Richard Dunn. A heavyweight from Bradford in Yorkshire was pummelled by Ali in Germany in the 1970s and seemed in retrospect to be grateful for every punch that landed and enabled him to have a little piece of the Ali legend.

>215 SuziQoregon: I am still using it Juli as I figure out ways to transport information from one laptop to another without having to redo a lot of my precious files. Then the window beckons (although living on the top floor of a condominium I didn't really ought!)

>216 drneutron: Thanks Darth, erm, Jim.

Glad that you have a new computer, Paul! What a big relief! We were fortunate that our kids did not drink. Our eldest son occasionally has a drink if we are out for dinner, but he stops at one. He is 31 . Younger son is a non- drinker. Parenting teens/ young adults is a challenge and I suppose every parent has to sort it our for themselves.

>220 PaulCranswick: Yes Deb, I guess parenting is a skill without a single answer to the many questions and challenges posed. I am loathe to try to prevent Yasmyne drinking entirely as it will only serve to drive it underground, but I do hope to counsel her on the virtues of moderation.

I am playing around with my new computer today and setting up new spreadsheets for a few things so and in the evening we go to Charles' house to meet his daughter from his first marriage Isabelle who is visiting from England. I will not therefore get as much time as I would like to visit so many threads today but I will make it up over the coming days, promise!

Review of May 2016

Books Read : 10
Year to date : 49

Genre : Literary Fiction : 5 (Year to date 26)
Thrillers/Sci Fi : 2 (Year to date 3)
Poetry : 2 (Year to date 11)
Plays : 0
Non-Fiction : 1 (Year to date 9)

Author Nationality : UK : 6 (Year to date 23)
Canada : 0 (Year to date 6)
USA : 3 (Year to date 15)
France : (Year to date 1)
Jamaica : (Year to date 1)
Australia : 0 (Year to date 1)
Malaysia : 0 (Year to date 1)
New Zealand: 1 (Year to date 1)

Author Gender : Male : 8 (Year to date 36)
Female : 2 (Year to date 13)

Booker Winners : 0 (Year to date 1) // 21/50 done

Pulitzer Fiction/Novel Winners : 0 (Year to date 2) // 13/88 winners

Nobel Winners : 0 // 59/112 winners

1001 Books First Edition : 0 // 262/1001

British Author Challenge : 2 (Jane Gardam & Robert Goddard ) (Year to date 9/10)

American Author Challenge : 1 Ivan Doig (Year to date 5/5)

Canadian Author Challenge : 0 (Year to date 4/10)

ANZAC Challenge : 1 C.K. Stead (Year to date 2)

Doorstopper Challenge : 0 (Year to date 2)

Non-Fiction Challenge : 1 : Rock from the Beginning (Year to date 5/5)

Pages Read : 2,915 ( Year to date 12,904)
Average Pages per day : 94.03 (Year to date 84.89)
Average Pages per book : 291.50 (Year to date 263.35)

Books Added : 15 (Year to date 147)

Book of the Month : The Bird Artist by Howard Norman

Reading Plan for June 2016

My plans for May 2016 were wildly optimistic and, as usual unfulfilled. I go into June with the same misplaced optimism.

I will have primary and then secondary targets this month so I hope to hit at least the former and some of the latter.

Primary Targets (1) - Unfinished books

1 The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (CAC, 1001) Reading
2 The Green Road by Anne Enright Reading
3 Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (CAC) Reading
4 Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey (Poetry) COMPLETED

Primary Targets (2) Main Challenges

5 The Shadow-Line by Joseph Conrad (BAC, 1001) COMPLETED
6 Mary Queen of Scots by Lady Antonia Fraser (BAC, Doorstopper) Reading
7 Bird Cloud by Annie Proulx (AAC) Reading
8 The Orenda by Joseph Boyden (CAC)
9 Famous Last Words by Timothy Findley (CAC)
10 March by Geraldine Brooks (ANZAC, Pulitzer)
11 White Noise by Don DeLillo (Bowie Books, 1001)
12 A Zoo in My Luggage by Gerald Durrell (Non-Fiction Challenge- Natural History)
13 Crow by Ted Hughes (Poetry)

Secondary Targets - Catch-ups and Other Challenges

14 Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham (Series)
15 An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell (Scandi)
16 Holiday by Stanley Middleton (Booker)
17 The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien (1001)
18 Ake : The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka (Nobel)
19 The Heart Laid Bare by Michel Tremblay (CAC)
20 Silas Marner by George Eliot (BAC & 1001)
21 Desire by Frank Bidart (Poetry)
22 Penguin Modern Poets 7 : Murphy, Silkin & Tarn (Poetry)

>206 PaulCranswick: awesome pic :)

And great plans for June! Love the primary and secondary targets ;)

Love stats! Made the first half of that list (just)!

>224 LovingLit: Thanks Megan. I am looking forward to getting back into the groove of visiting all the threads which has been hampered by a dodgy computer. Since I bought the MAC it has behaved itself wonderfully and quite perversely!

>225 BBGirl55: You are of course way beyond your 130 posts of 2015, Bryony. xx

Oh that is hard, Paul. I feel very lucky that our daughter shows no interest or inclination to "use" anything -- indeed, I think her take on it is that everything is difficult enough to figure out without adding more complications. She does like a glass of wine with dinner and that is just civilized, eh? There is some serious alcoholism in my spouse's family and she does know about that, but I suspect she is not susceptible either.

Now how can a computer be both wonderful and perverse?

I unashamedly love my MAC.

>227 sibylline: Well it is wonderful because it was performing just as it used to - perverse because it waited for the MAC to do so.
I think it is parental overreaction rather than a real fear of alcoholism but it is better sometimes to take such things seriously. A glass of wine with food is definitely civilised.

Hi Paul!

The Robber Bride sounds great - I have it on my shelves just on general principles and may pull it down so that it's staring me in the face as a gentle reminder.

Hi Paul,

My apologies for being, lets be honest, an ass, and not dropping by sooner; and for not leaving even a thank you note.

In my defence (not that it is much of a defence), events in Singapore kind of caught me off-guard. The 2 weekdays I spent there were as hectic as I expected them to be; and over the weekend, it somehow turned into a b-school reunion where quite a few of us, who now live in different parts of the world, by a freak coincidence found themselves in Singapore; and well, most of us reverted to being not-our-age again (spending entire, consecutive, nights bar hopping and at pubs isn't something I do anymore).

For everyone else - the meet-up with Paul was awesome; he is as good a person in real life, as he is here. He treated me some good food and some weak beer; and more importantly, got me three books. I would definitely want to meet up with him again, in KL, SG, Mumbai or any other part of the world we find ourselves at the same time (if he consents to, after the oafish manner in which I have behaved).

Paul - My Spike Milligan didn't quite make the trip back Singapore happened; but I do expect that I will be able to recover it during one of my subsequent SG trips.

Now, the reason(s) for my long absence:-
1. My forgetfulness and laziness
2. My router blowing up (not quite so literally)
3. My forgetfulness and laziness
4. Work
5. My forgetfulness and laziness
6 Travelling domestically for work and to meet family
7. My forgetfulness and laziness

Congrats on your new acquisition, Paul! You've joined the ranks of Mac lovers... or at least I hope you will end up doing so as you get used to your new machine.

I loved Piyush's reasons for his absence, mostly 'My forgetfulness and laziness', which is probably the most accurate explanation for most things I leave undone.

>229 karenmarie: The book is sardonic, sarcastic and tells a tale of a quite horrid lady splendidly, Karen.

>230 PiyushC: Life does tend to get in the way a little sometimes, Piyush - don't worry about it unduly as it is just nice to see you back amongst us. I was a little worried that I had put you off LT Meet-ups for good with that weak beer! Nice list by the way and you never know I may make it to Mumbai one day quite soon for a return visit.

>231 Smiler69: It will take me a while to learn how to use it Ilana, as it is a quite different user experience to the Windows operating systems. The spreadsheet in particular seems a little unusual in comparison to that which I am used to. I started work and used to swear by Lotus 123 and then along came Excel which was effectively forced on all of us. Now I am replacing it myself and there is a feeling of liberation fighting to emerge from the trepidation.

One thing I've always enjoyed about Apple products is how user-friendly and intuitive they are. I don't know how far that carries when it comes to spreadsheets, admittedly, since that is something I don't normally touch with a ten-foot-pole, but I'm sure glad you do, to our great benefit!

Hi Paul, hope you had a good weekend mate.

I am glad that you liked Native Guard; Natasha Trethewey is a national treasure.

>233 Smiler69: I do need spreadsheets for my stats, Ilana, but I will figure out how to best use "Numbers".

>234 johnsimpson: Fair to Middleton, John. The passing of Ali was a downer of course but the fact that Leeds United have finally got a new manager and one who may prove to be a wise appointment has cheered me up some.

>235 banjo123: It really was excellent. I will get my few reviews done shortly, Rhonda.

Happy new month, Paul!

>237 The_Hibernator: Thank you Rachel. A new month always brings new hopes and I hope that your new month brings all you want of it. xx

49. Risk by C.K. Stead

Date of Publication : 2012
Pages : 267 pp
ANZAC Challenge

Very engaging and well written novel about a divorced banking lawyer from New Zealand starting again in London during the period in the run up to the Iraq war and all its consequences.

Some of the moral compass displayed by our leading man made me a little uncomfortable but there was enough in this novel to get your teeth into and it is well worth a read.

8/10

50. Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey

Date of publication : 2006
Pages : 46
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

There have been a couple of excellent reviews of this in the group already including notably Joe's way back in 2012.

This collection is split into three parts; the first section deals with the loss of her mother, the second with racism in a civil war context and the third section with her growing up in a mixed race family in the 1960s and 1970s.

I have seen some criticism on the workpage that this collection was in some way cliched. To be frank such sure-handed originality is designed to be imitated rather than being imitative. This is one of the best collections - though sadly a rather short one - written by an american in my lifetime.

I could make a quote from almost any one of the poems included in the anthology but I suppose I was most struck by the title poem most which displayed a sharply ironic front to the idea of the black regiment keeping guard over their white prisoners:

We know it is our duty now to keep
white men as prisoners -- rebel soldiers,
would-be masters. We’re all bondsmen here, each
to the other. Freedom has gotten them
captivity. For us a conscription
we have chosen -- jailors to those who still
would have us slaves.


Some of the poems lamenting her mother or reflecting on the difficulties of being raced with a white father and a black mother are also extremely well done. Strongly recommended.

9/10

51. The Shadow-Line by Joseph Conrad

Date of Publication : 1917
Pages : 145
British Author Challenge
1001 Books First Edition 263/1001

I have never considered Conrad's books among my favourites ~ and this shortish novel does little to dispel that.

I have on the other hand always admired his full-life, the scope of his imagination and his facility in English when at best it was his third language, being born a Pole and speaking French from infancy. Unfortunately, and maybe because his maritime concerns are little concern of mine, I have steadfastly found his writing to be ditchwater dull. Even in Under Western Eyes and The Secret Agent which augur Ambler and Greene the writing is as stodgy as it is devoid of the lightness of touch and expression of some of his contemporaries and successors.

That said this in a form of memoir as it closely was apparently has the virtue of being short and of interest to the extent that it is based in a part of the world that I am now intimate with.

Conrad will never be quite my thing, I'm afraid.

5/10

Glad to see your new computer. I hope you get on well with it.

Congrats with your new computer, Paul. Writing this on my Macbook :)

Tragic demise of Muhammed Ali - also his last fights was a joke and I guess contributed to his Parkinson's - and just another sign of the sickness in the sport with money totally ruling who's going to fight who. But I remember in his heyday how we watched some of the big games back then although it was late at night. Would like to see the brilliant documentary "Rumble in the Jungle" again. Great movie.

Been rather funny reading the "to MAC or Not To MAC" storyline .... working technology is rather important in our connected world ..... not quite essential but many would state so vehemently

My MAC is well overdue top be replaced ...I transferred to dark side back in 2005, but still use Windows at work, so have got rather good at switching .... if Numbers is not to your liking you can get "Excel for MAC" might be be more comfortable ...

Have you finished Station eleven yet or did i miss that as well ??

Woot for MacBook Air! I've one myself, dontchaknow.

>242 sirfurboy: Thank you. So far what I can say is that it is nice to switch something on knowing what will happen when I do so. The Dell had become so reliable in its unpredictability!

>243 ctpress: It would seem that it is the machine of choice in the group, Carsten.
Muhammad Ali was a one off and I remember watching a documentary about him wherein people were throwing punches at him and he was just dodging out of harm's way with a huge grin on his face. I would much sooner remember the supreme athlete than the sad figure he cut in deciding to carry on too long. The "fight" with Larry Holmes was a travesty and credit to Holmes for not wanting to hurt him too much.
You should read Norman Mailer's The Fight about Ali/Foreman which was very redolent of the atmosphere that it must have generated.

>244 roundballnz: I will look for excel for Mac, Alex as I think my familiarity with that spreadsheet form will save me some grief.
I am plodding through Station Eleven but it is an enjoyable, if slightly ponderous, plod. When I don't finish a book before a month cut-off it does tend to de-prioritise it for me.

>245 scaifea: It is clear to me, Amber dear, that I am in extremely good company. xx

Hi, Paul.

Conrad will never be quite my thing, I'm afraid. Me either. Maybe we can start a Not Quite My Thing Club. Respect, plenty. Enjoyment, not so much.

I'm another fan of Native Guard and Natasha Trethewey. I'm glad that one worked well for you.

>248 jnwelch: Sometimes the similarity of our tastes is a little unnerving buddy. When I read your excellent review of Native Guard on the book's work page I noticed that we even choose the same excerpt to quote from!

That club would be a good idea - who would you place alongside Conrad?

Hi Paul! Congratulations on your new computer.

"liberation fighting to emerge from the trepidation"

*smile*

>250 karenmarie: Thanks Karen - hopefully the Mac will inspire me to be unknowingly eloquent!

Excellent reading plans for June
I'm on the fence about Station Eleven I read two of her earlier books and had extremely mixed feelings about both.

I am going to be joining you in the computer buying wars. I have already decided on a Dell, I think it is more compatible in the work world in which I live. I did purchase a Netbook last fall and like it, so a Dell laptop it will be. Along with an iPad or some other tablet type to carry around.

>252 SuziQoregon: I can see why so many people like this one Juli, but I feel that it sort of gets stuck between genres somewhat. As if the author couldn't quite decide which direction to go and choose to go off at tangents instead.

>253 benitastrnad: I really liked my Dell and wouldn't have changed it until it started to really cheese me off with its temperamental keyboard. An external keyboard as Karen suggested might solve that potential problem. Good luck, Benita. xx

Hi Paul! Good luck with Ramadan. Looking forward to the slimmer you. Grins...

Getting used to the Mac?

>255 msf59: Slowly but surely buddy on both counts. I got weighed this morning and won't share the shameful news, but I hope to report in one month's time how many pounds have been shed.

Only quirk so far is that I find the caps lock key a little reluctant to follow the imprecations of my smallest pinkie resulting in a change of typing style.

Howdy Paul! Woot to you on the purchase of your MacAir! Our HP is relatively new but after Windows 10 downloaded itself after we've been putting off installing it on our own really is the last draw. After this desktop, I have declared NO MAS Microsoft! The next one will be a Mac!
Have fun with your new toy!

>257 Carmenere: It is a sign of arrogance on their part that they are foisting this unwanted software "update" on everyone and alienating their client base in the process. Like you, Lynda, that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back (where the heck is Caro by the way?) for me.

>249 PaulCranswick: Hmm, what other authors/books would I include for the Not Quite My Thing Club? There's a provocative question! I'll give it some thought. One recent read that would qualify is Anne Tyler's Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. Respect, yes. Enjoyment, not so much.

We both used the same excerpt from a Native Guard poem - ha! Love it. We are on the same wavelength, mate.

>259 jnwelch: Don DeLillo would presently be in that club for me, Joe. I read Americana and Underworld and didn't really get myself wowed. Hanif Kureishi would also get my nomination. I am sure James Joyce would be on many people's list but not really mine as his wordsmithery was able to get under my skin.

Marukami for me. Just doesn't do anything for me.

>261 charl08: I have only read Norwegian Wood and was a bit disappointed that John Lennon featured not at all.

Hope you are enjoying the Mac, my laptop is on its last legs and has to be plugged into the mains at all times and freezes but not on LT. I was going to get one in the sale but other things took precedence but I hope it won't be too long before I have a replacement.

>263 johnsimpson: It is a shame John that Nissan don't do computers!

>264 PaulCranswick:, I know mate, love my Qashqai's.

>265 johnsimpson: Where the hard disks are brakes.

Hello Paul wanted to stop by I hope to get a tread started on Wednesday as I only work in the morning.

>267 GeezLouise: Lovely to see you Rae. I will be looking out for your thread of course. xx

Hello Dear Paul'
I've been MIA. I do hope that after next surgery's recovery period, I can re-claim my life and become active in LT once again.

As always, it looks like you deserve an A+ for book accumulation. 2015-2016 was a banner year for me as well.

All good wishes to you!

>269 Whisper1: Lovely to see you Linda, dear. I have followed your progress (if that is the right word for your enforced surgical misadventures) with as much hope as concern. You really do deserve a break and I don't mean of the bones! xx

I am a little envious of all those library sales - I am sure I would make hay in Pennsylvania!

>260 PaulCranswick: Oh yeah, James Joyce would be included as Not Quite My Thing for me. I'm impressed he got under your skin; I was impervious for some reason, although Dubliners had its moments. Ulysses was a chore, unfortunately, as I know so many love it.

I haven't read Hanif Kureishi or Don Delillo yet. (As Mark would say, bad Joe). I do have the latter's Zero K in my sights.

>271 jnwelch: Another for me would be Jean Rhys and possibly Angela Carter who I want so much to like but who often leaves me non-plussed.

>272 PaulCranswick: Angela Carter I can agree with for the Not Quite My Thing Club, and I haven't read Jean Rhys. Herman Melville would qualify for me. Can I give a special Club award for Tolstoy's Second Epilogue in W & P? It still aggravates me.

>273 jnwelch: I haven't braved Melville yet, Joe, but on reputation alone he is bound to be there!