Smiler's Balancing Act - Fourth Page

  
Two from my "Reading Love" Pinterest board: paintings by Lin Wang and Sophie Blackall.

Hi, I'm Ilana, living in Montreal with my furkids, cats Mimi and Ezra and newcomer Charley, a two-and-a-half year-old 'Biwawa' (bichon & chihuahua mix). I lost my beloved toy poodle mix Coco in the third week of February—he was considered by many (including myself) to be the cutest dog in the world, but Charley comes in at a pretty close second place. You'll doubtless see pictures of him peppered throughout my threads. I usually have several books going at any one time; a print book, an ebook, an audiobook and several books I like to browse through slowly. When I'm not reading, I like to work on my art: I've started what I call the Metro Series—photorealistic pencil portraits of people I see on the metro, which I share on FB and occasionally on my threads here on LT. I completed just over 200 books in 2015, Mostly thanks to the fact that I can spend quite a few daytime hours listening to audiobooks, as I do chores and my artwork. I'm less present on the threads than I'd like, though I try to keep a presence in this group and I've taken up hosting the first edition of the Canadian Author Challenge this year (which can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/209622). This group is definitely part of my daily life, hence... the balancing act of trying to fit in everything I love into each and every day.



Table of Contents:
• Reading Plans for July
• Books Completed in April - July
• Books Completed in January - March
• Reading Plans for 2016 (CAC, BAC, AAC, group reads, etc)
• Picked for Me! 2016 Challenge
• Booker & Pulitzer Prize Books
• A Century of Books!
• Reading Bingo
• Ongoing Series

Currently reading, listening to, and occasionally browsing through:
✔ All the World's Birds: Buffon's Illustrated Natural History General and Particular of Birds by Georges-Louis Leclerc
ⓔ Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin by Calvin Trillin
❉ Tout Maigret, Tome 10 by Georges Simenon (short stories)
♫ Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser

      



Favourites of 2016: (★★★★½ and up, by reading order)
Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse
Eldorado by Laurent Gaudé
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth
H is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Le grand cahier / The Notebook by Agota Kristof (review)
Heap House: Book One (The Iremonger Trilogy) by Edward Carey ★★★★★ (review)
The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys ★★★★★
♫ Carmilla: a Vampyre Tale by Sheridan Le Fanu (radio drama) ★★★★★
From The Holy Mountain William Dalrymple
The Road Home by Rose Tremain (review)
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - picked by Mary/@mdoris
The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat - picked by @Deern
Plumdog by Emma Chichester Clark
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
♫ Cold Comfort Farm (Dramatised) By Stella Gibbons
Venice by Jan Morris
Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat ★★★★★
Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit
The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
The Narrow Corner by W. Somerset Maugham
The Bird Artist by Howard Norman ★★★★★
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
Good Evening, Mrs Craven by Mollie Panter-Downes
Sweetland by Michael Crummey
The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Julian Fellowes's Belgravia



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

⅛ ¼ ⅓ ½ ¾ ⅞

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



Reserving first ten or so posts for organizational and planning needs.

July Reading Plans:

ⓔ Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin by Calvin Trillin - Browsing
✪✔ Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery - CAC, TIOLI #9: fits into one of the group challenges
✭❉ The Golden Trail: The Story of the Klondike Rush by Pierre Berton - CAC, TIOLI #14: On my summer vacation I am going to visit ______
✭✔ Mr Wakefield's Crusade Bernice Rubens - BAC, TIOLI #9 - COMPLETED
✪♫ The Island of Dr Moreau by H.G. Wells - BAC, #10: with an acronym or abbreviation in the title
✭♫ Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck - AAC, TIOLI #9
✭♫ Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser - BAC, TIOLI #9
✭✔ Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden - CAC, TIOLI #9
✭♫ Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault - Booker Challenge, TIOLI #6: Read a hot book
♫ The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel (09-07-16)
✪♫ The Bat by Jo Nesbø (16-08-16) - TIOLI #16: Read a book in which the main character is away from home
✪♫ The Ritual Bath by Faye Kellerman - TIOLI #1: Read a book with an article of clothing in the title (alb)
✭♫ An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales by Oliver Sacks - TIOLI #3: Read a book with a 7 or seven in the title
✭♫ The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud - TIOLI #12: one or more words in the title have either a good or bad undertone - COMPLETED
❉ⓔ Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey
✭❉ⓔ Lab Girl by Hope Jahren - TIOLI #10
✪♫ Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli - TIOLI #3

Spur of the moment:



***

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

- Listening
- Reading
- COMPLETED

Books completed in July
131. ♫ The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud ★★★
132. ✔ Mr Wakefield's Crusade Bernice Rubens
133.
134.
135.

Books completed in June
106. ❉ⓔ Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal ★★★½ (review)
107. ♫ Absolution by Murder: A Sister Fidelma Mystery by Peter Tremayne ★★★¾
108. ❉ Maigret in Exile / La maison du juge by Georges Simenon ★★★★
109. ♫ Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye ★★★½
110. ♫ Game of Mirrors by Andrea Camilleri ★★★½
111. ♫ Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain ★★★½ (review)
112. ♫ The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff ★★★½
113. ❉ Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel ★★★★⅓
114. ♫ Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad ★★★½ (review)
115. ✔ Slightly Foxed: No. 47: Curiouser and Curiouser by Gail Pirkis, Hazel Wood (Editors) ★★★★
116. ♫ The Shipping News Annie Proulx (reread) ★★★★
117. ♫ Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys ★★★★½
118. ✔ The Bedside Book of Beasts: A Wildlife Miscellany by Graeme Gibson ★★★★
119. ♫ Julian Fellowes's Belgravia (Weekly serial) ★★★★½
120. ♫ Barkskins by Annie Proulx ★★★½ (review)
121. ♫ The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf ★★★★⅓
122. ♫ Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx (reread) ★★★★½
123. ♫ Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith ★★★
124. ♫ Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan ★★★½ (review)
125. ♫ A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker ★★★½
126. ✔ The Piano Man's Daughter by Timothy Findley ★★★½
127. ❉ Les belles-soeurs by Michel Tremblay ★★★★
128. ♫ The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg ★★★★
129. ♫ Before the Fall by Noah Hawley ★★★¾
130. ✔ Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift ★★★★⅓

Unfinished
♫ The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

May
84. ♫ The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien ★★★★
85. ♫ Girl in the Dark: A Memoir by Anna Lyndsey ★★★★⅓
86. ❉ The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi ★★★★½
87. ♫ At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier ★★★★
88. ❉ C't'à ton tour Laura Cadieux by Michel Tremblay ★★★★ (review)
89. ✔ Nana fait des histoires by Jacqueline Duheme ★★★★⅓
90. ♫ Pax by Sara Pennypacker ★★★★
91. ♫ A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin ★★★½ (review)
92. ♫ The Ways of the World by Robert Goddard ★★½
93. ♫ The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder ★★★★⅓
94. ♫ Mort by Terry Pratchett ★★★⅓
95. ♫ SPQR I: The King's Gambit by John Maddox Roberts ★★★½
96. ⓔ Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund ★★★★¾
97. ❉ Le troisième mensonge / The Third Lie by Ágota Kristóf ★★★★
98. ♫ The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith ★★★½ (review)
99. ❉ The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam ★★★★⅓
100. ❉ Maigret and the Hotel Majestic by Georges Simenon ★★★★⅓
101. ♫ The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen ★★★½
102. ♫ The Vanishing Velázquez: A 19th Century Bookseller's Obsession with a Lost Masterpiece by Laura Cumming ★★★★⅓
103. ♫ Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett ★★½
104. ♫ Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier ★★★
105. ♫ Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd ★★★★½ (review)

Unfinished
♫ Imperium by Robert Harris
♫ The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

April
68. ♫ Monk's Hood: The Third Chronicle of Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters ★★★½
69. ♫ The Relic Master: A Novel by Christopher Buckley ★★★★½
70. ❉ⓔ A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley ★★★★½
71. La preuve / The Proof by Ágota Kristóf ★★★★
72. ♫ Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys ★★★★
73. ✔ Good Evening, Mrs Craven by Mollie Panter-Downes - picked by Heather/@souloftherose ★★★★½ (review)
74. ♫ The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood ★★★
75. ♫ All Fall Down by Sally Nicholls ★★★★
76. ❉ⓔ Sweetland by Michael Crummey ★★★★½
77. ⓔ Death of a Dissident by Stuart Kaminsky ★★★★⅓
78. ♫ How to Be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell ★★★★
79. ♫ Something Fresh by P.G. Wodehouse ★★½
80. ✔ Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston ★★★★⅓ (review)
81. ♫ The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett ★★★
82. ❉ Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ Giulia Enders ★★★★ (review)
83. ♫ The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood ★★★½

Unfinished
❉ How to Be Both by Ali Smith
♫ Yes Please by Amy Poehler
♫ Galore by Michael Crummey
♫ The Great Leader by Jim Harrison

Books completed in March
46. ♫ Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud ★★★★
47. ♫ Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - picked by Mary/mdoris ★★★★½
48. ✔ The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat - picked by @Deern (in 2015) ★★★★½
49. ♫ Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer ★★★★
50. ❉ Plumdog by Emma Chichester Clark ★★★★½
51. ♫ The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy ★★★★⅓
52. ♫ On the Road by Jack Kerouac ★★★★
53. ♫ The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge ★★★★½
54. ♫ Cold Comfort Farm (Dramatised) By Stella Gibbons ★★★★½
55. ♫ The Trilogy of Two by Juman Malouf ★★½
56. ✔ Venice by Jan Morris ★★★★½
57. ♫ Company of Liars by Karen Maitland ★★★★⅓
58. ♫ Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat ★★★★★
59. ♫ The Collector by John Fowles ★★★★
60. ♫ Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit ★★★★½
61. ✔ The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami ★★★★¾
62. ♫ We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler ★★★
63. ✔ The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff ★★★★½
64. ♫ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling ★★★★½
65. ❉ Maigret Returns by Georges Simenon ★★★★
66. ♫ The Narrow Corner by W. Somerset Maugham ★★★★½
67. ❉ The Bird Artist by Howard Norman ★★★★★

February
25. ❉ⓔ Heap House: Book One (The Iremonger Trilogy) by Edward Carey ★★★★★ (review)
26. ❉ⓔ Mr. Wilson's Cabinet Of Wonder by Lawrence Weschler ★★★★½
27. ♫ A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin ★★★½
28. ❉ⓔ Foulsham: Book Two (The Iremonger Trilogy) by Edward Carey ★★★★⅓
29. ♫ One Corpse too Many by Ellis Peters ★★★★
30. ♫ The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli ★★★
31. ♫ Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf ★★★
32. ♫ Uprooted by Naomi Novik ★★★★
33. ✔ The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys ★★★★★
34. ♫ The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu ★★½
35. ♫ The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes ★★★★
36. ❉ⓔ A Celtic Temperament: Robertson Davies as Diarist by Robertson Davies ★★★★
37. ♫ Poirot Investigates by Agatha Chrisite ★★★½
38. ♫ The Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett ★★★★ (review)
39. ❉ Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh ★★★★⅓
40. ♫ The Colour by Rose Tremain ★★★★½
41. ♫ Carmilla: a Vampyre Tale by Sheridan Le Fanu ★★★★★
42. ✔ War and Peace by Leo Tolstloy ★★★★⅓
43. ✔ From The Holy Mountain William Dalrymple ★★★★½
44. ♫ The Road Home by Rose Tremain - picked by Peggy/@LizzieD ★★★★½ (review)
45. ❉ⓔ Lungdon: Book Three (The Iremonger Trilogy) by Edward Carey ★★★★⅓

January
1. ♫ Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff ★★★★⅓
2. ♫ Le Spleen de Paris by Charles Baudelaire ★★★★
3. ✔ Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse ★★★★½
4. ✔ Ru by Kim Thúy ★★★½
5. ♫ Funny Girl by Nick Hornby ★★★★⅓
6. ♫ Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell ★★★★
7. ♫ Eldorado by Laurent Gaudé ★★★★½
8. ♫ Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett ★★★★⅓
9. ♫ Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert ★★★★⅓
10. ✔ Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler ★★½ (review)
11. ✔ The Manticore by Robertson Davies ★★★★⅓
12. ♫ Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth ★★★★½
13. ♫ Le dernier ami / The Last Friend by Tahar Ben Jelloun ★★★★½
14. ♫ Angelica's Smile by Andrea Camilleri ★★★
15. ✔ World of Wonders by Robertson Davies ★★★★
16. ♫ H is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald ★★★★½
17. ♫ La femme qui attendait / The Woman Who Waited by Andreï Makine ★★★⅓
18. ♫ A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters ★★★★
19. ♫ Le grand cahier / The Notebook by Agota Kristof ★★★★½ (review)
20. ❉ⓔ Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes ★★★★⅓
21. ♫ The Songs of the Kings by Barry Unsworth ★★★★⅓
22. ♫ A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman ★★★½
23. ♫ La promesse de l'aube / Promise at Dawn by Romain Gary ★★★½
24. ♫ The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman ★★★¾

Unfinished
♫ Le vice-consul by Marguerite Duras

2016 Plans

August:
♫ The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordechai Richler (CAC)
❉ Bonheur d'occasion by Gabrielle Roy (CAC)
❉♫ Sweet Tooth Ian McEwan (BAC)
♫ Lovely, Dark, Deep by Joyce Carol Oates (AAC)

September:
✔ A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (CAC)
♫ L'énigme du retour Dany Laferrière (CAC)
♫ The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing (BAC)
✔ Cider with Rosie Laurie Lee (BAC)
♫ A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (AAC)

October:
✔ The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (CAC)
❉ The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart (CAC)
✔ When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson (BAC)
♫ The Spire by William Golding (BAC)
✔ The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (AAC)

November:
✔ In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje (CAC)
❉ The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence (CAC)
✔ The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West (BAC)
♫ Berlin Game by Len Deighton (BAC)
✔ Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (AAC), (NFC - Essays)

December:
ⓔ The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro (CAC)
❉♫ De Niro's Game by Rawi Hage (CAC)
♫ The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë (BAC)
❉ White Noise by Don DeLillo (AAC)

***

Weird_O's Doorstopper Challenge

Dead Weight:
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1296 pages) - January/Febuary - COMPLETED
Camilla by Fanny Burney (992 pages)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (832 pages)
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (944 pages)
Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeta Naslund (703 pages) - COMPLETED
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (640 pages) - COMPLETED
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess (656 pages/)
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (1184 pages)
The Stonecutter by Camilla Läckberg (830 pages/16h)
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber (824 pages/41h36)
The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss (736 pages/27h58)
Skippy Dies by Patrick Murray (672 pages/23h41)
Birds Without Wings by Louis De Bernieres (640 pages)

Also
Possession by A.S. Byatt (528 pages)
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (448 pages)
Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault (448 pages)

Wedge:
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh (128 pages)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (133 pages/3h30) - COMPLETED
C't'à ton tour Laura Cadieux by Tremblay Michel (144 pages) - CAC - COMPLETED
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (146 pages/3h00) - BAC - COMPLETED
The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden (160 pages) - BAC
The Elements of Style Illustrated by William J. Strunk and Maira Kalman (176 pages)
Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell (178 pages)
Maigret Returns by Georges Simenon (160 pages) - COMPLETED
Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (183 pages/3/h45) - CAC - COMPLETED
Madame Sousatzka by Bernice Rubens (187) pages - BAC
Mr Wakefield's Crusade by Bernice Rubens (190 pages)
The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys (192 pages) - CAC - COMPLETED
The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden (192 pages) - BAC
Crete by Barry Unsworth (192 pages) - BAC
All Shot Up by Chester Himes (192 pages/4h30)
Deceived With Kindness by Angelica Garnett (192)
*Being Mortal by Atul Gawande (182 pages/6 hours) - PfM! - COMPLETED
Timbuktu by Paul Auster (193 pages)
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (193 pages)
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (198 pages) - Pulitzer Prize
*Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes (200 pages) - PfM! - COMPLETED

***

Pulitzer Prize Challenge: Possibilities from my tbr:

1923: One of Ours by Willa Sibert Cather
1928: The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder - COMPLETED
1937: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
1941: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
1947: All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren
1965: The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
1975: The Killer Angels by Michard Shaara
1977: Roots by Alex Haley (Special Citation)
1981: Peter the Great by Peter K. Massie (Biography/Autobriography)
1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1989: Breathing Lessons Anne Tyler - COMPLETED
1989: Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellmann (Biography/Autobriography)
1997: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
1998: American Pastoral by Philip Roth
2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
2003: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
2004: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
2005: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
2006: Polio: An American Story by David M. Oshinsky (History)
2010: The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt T. J. Stiles (Biography/Autobriography)
2011: The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (General Nonfiction)
2014: The Goldfinch Donna Tartt
2016: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen - COMPLETED



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

Picked for Me 2016:
My fifth year with this personal challenge. I love having fellow book-lovers look through my "to be read" section and pick out their favourites. This year I limited it to twelve selections as there are so many other challenges I want to participate in, plus I want to completed books that are left over from the 2015 list.

1. ✔ Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Thurston - picked by Charlotte/@Fourpawz2 - COMPLETED / April
2. ♫ Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell - picked by Kerry/@avatiakh - COMPLETED / January
3. ♫ H is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald - picked by Mark/@msf59 - COMPLETED / January
4. ✔ As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee - picked by Paul/@PaulCranswick - COMPLETED 2015
5. ♫ Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - picked by Mary/@mdoris - COMPLETED / March
6. ✔ Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund - picked by Ellen/@EBT1002 - COMPLETED / May
7. ♫ Mystic River by Dennis Lehane - picked by Jim/@drneutron
8. ♫ The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezani - picked by Judy/@DeltaQueen50
9. ✔ The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru - picked by Deborah/@Cariola
10. ✔ Good Evening, Mrs Craven by Mollie Panter-Downes - picked by Heather/@souloftherose - COMPLETED / April
11. ⓔ History of the Rain by Niall Williams - picked by Charlotte/@charl08
12. ♫ The Road Home by Rose Tremain - picked by Peggy/@LizzieD - COMPLETED / February

Left over from 2015 (aka the list of shame)
✔+♫ Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts - picked by @lunacat
ⓔ The Midnight Bell by Francis Lathom - picked by @lyzard (tutored read)
✔ The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher - picked by @LauraBrook
✔+♫ A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - picked by @kidzdoc
✔ The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat - picked by @Deern - COMPLETED / March

Booker Prize Books
I try to read as many Booker books on the tbr as possible each year. I also keep track of those books I've already read to see how complete I can make this list over time.

Read in 2016: (in reading order)
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (Booker Prize 1992)
Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes (Shortlist 1984)
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler (Shortlist 2014)




On my TBR (and previously read)
Bruno's Dream by Iris Murdoch (Shortlist 1970)
*Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault (Shortlist 1970)
¹⁴The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (Booker Prize 1970)
¹⁴Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (Shortlist 1971)
¹⁴The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (Booker Prize 1973)
*The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer (Booker Prize 1974)
¹⁵The Children Of Dynmouth by William Trevor (Shortlist 1976)
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (Shortlist 1977)
¹⁵Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood (Shortlist 1977)
¹⁴A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens (Shortlist 1978)
*The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (Shortlist 1978)
¹³The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (Booker Prize 1978)
¹⁴A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr (Shortlist 1980)
*Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess (Shortlist 1980)
¹³Good Behaviour by Molly Keane (Shortlist 1981)
¹⁵Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (Booker Prize 1981)
¹⁵An Ice-cream War by William Boyd (Shortlist 1982)
¹⁵Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally (Booker Prize 1982)
*Waterland by Graham Swift (Shortlist 1983)
*Small World by David Lodge (Shortlist 1984)
¹²Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner (Booker Prize 1984)
The Good Apprentice by Iris Murdoch (Shortlist 1985)
The Bone People by Keri Hulme (Booker Prize 1985)
¹³The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 1986)
¹⁵An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (Shortlist 1986)
⁸⁷The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies (Shortlist 1986)
⁸⁷What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies (Shortlist 1986)
¹⁵Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (Booker Prize 1987)
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (Shortlist 1988)
*Nice Work by David Lodge (Shortlist 1988)
¹⁵Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (Booker Prize 1988)
¹⁴Restoration by Rose Tremain(Shortlist 1989)
The Book of Evidence by John Banville (Shortlist 1989)
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 1989)
¹³The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro(Booker Prize 1989)
Possession by A.S. Byatt (Booker Prize 1990)
*Two Lives by William Trevor (Shortlist 1991)
¹⁴The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje(Booker Prize 1992)
Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer (Shortlist 1993)
¹³Morality Play by Barry Unsworth (Shortlist 1995)
¹¹The Ghost Road by Pat Barker (Booker Prize 1995)
¹⁰Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 1996)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (Shortlist 1996)
*Last Orders by Graham Swift (Booker Prize 1996)
⁰⁸The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Booker Prize 1997)
¹⁵Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge (Shortlist 1998)
¹⁴Amsterdam by Ian Mcewan (Booker Prize 1998)
¹³Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee (Booker Prize 1999)
⁰⁸The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Booker Prize 2000)
Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri (Longlist 2001)
¹²Atonement by Ian McEwan (Shortlist 2001)
⁰⁹True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (Booker Prize 2001)
¹⁰Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (Shortlist 2002)
*Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry (Shortlist 2002)
⁰⁵Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Booker Prize 2002)
Astonishing Splashes Of Colour by Clare Morrall (Shortlist 2003)
Brick Lane by Monica Ali (Shortlist 2003)
¹³What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller (Shortlist 2003)
¹⁵Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Shortlist 2003)
The Master by Colm Toibin (Shortlist 2004)
⁰⁸The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (Booker Prize 2004)
¹⁵Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel (Longlist 2005)
¹⁰Arthur & George by Julian Barnes (Shortlist 2005)
⁰⁸Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Shortlist 2005)
⁰⁶On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Shortlist 2005)
⁰⁸Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Shortlist 2005)
The Accidental by Ali Smith (Shortlist 2005)
⁰⁹The Sea by John Banville (Booker Prize 2005)
¹⁴The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth (Longlist 2006)
¹⁵Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (Longlist 2006)
¹²The Secret River by Kate Grenville (Shortlist 2006)
Mother's Milk by Edward St. Aubyn (Shortlist 2006)
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Booker Prize 2006)
¹⁵The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (Longlist 2007)
¹⁴Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (Shortlist 2007)
⁰⁹On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Shortlist 2007)
¹⁵Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Longlist 2008)
¹³The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Shortlist 2008)
¹²Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (Shortlist 2008)
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz (Shortlist 2008)
⁰⁸The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Booker Prize 2008) (to reread)
Heliopolis by James Scudamore (Longlist 2009)
¹¹The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt (Shortlist 2009)
¹²The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (Shortlist 2009)
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Shortlist 2009)
¹²Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Booker Prize 2009) (to reread)
Trespass by Rose Tremain (Longlist 2010)
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (Longlist 2010)
¹⁴Room by Emma Donoghue (Shortlist 2010)
¹¹The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (Shortlist 2011)
Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch (Shortlist 2011)
¹¹The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (Booker Prize 2011)
¹⁴The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (Shortlist 2012)
¹²Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Booker Prize 2012)
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Longlist 2013)
Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson (Longlist 2013)
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri (Shortlist 2013)
¹³The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin (Shortlist 2013)
¹³Harvest by Jim Crace (Shortlist 2013)
¹³The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (Booker Prize 2013)
*Orfeo by Richard Powers (Longlist 2014)
*The Blazing World by Siri Hustdvedt (Longlist 2014)
*History of the Rain by Niall Williams (Longlist 2014)
¹⁴The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan (Booker Prize 2014)
*The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma (Shortlist 2015)
*A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (Booker Prize 2015)

¹⁵ = read in 2015
¹⁴ = read in 2014
¹³ = read in 2013
& etc.
* = recent additions to the tbr

(Much more on the wishlist of course!)

A Century of Books! 1900-1999
I originally stole this challenge idea from Heather/@souloftherose. I'm trying to read a book published in every year of the 20th century. I've been at this one for a few years now, and hope to complete it in 2016 so I can move on to the 19th century!

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

Reading Bingo (still editing)
Since I obviously don't have enough challenges going already, I got this card from the 2016 Catergory challenge, where there are two designs to choose from. I'll fill it in with whatever books I've picked up along the way and not worry about completing it: it's just for fun!

Here is the General Category Card:



✭1. Less than 200 pages: Le dernier ami / The Last Friend by Tahar Ben Jelloun
✭2. Senior citizen as the protagonist: Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
✭3. Survival Story: Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit
✭4. About an airplane flight: Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
✭5. About a writer: The Woman Who Waited by Andreï Makine

✭6. About the environment: The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf
✭7. Author born in 1916: The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
✭8. Autobiography or memoir: La promesse de l'aube / Promise at Dawn by Romain Gary
✭9. Adventure: Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
✭10. One-word title: Eldorado by Laurent Gaudé

11. Title has a musical reference:
✭12. Title uses wordlplay: Foulsham: Book Two (The Iremonger Trilogy) by Edward Carey
✭13. Category Challenge - FREE Space!
✭14. A body of water in the title: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
✭15. About/by an indigenous person: Barkskins by Annie Proulx

✭16. Food is important: Angelica's Smile by Andrea Camilleri
✭17. Published before you were born: Le Spleen de Paris by Charles Baudelaire
✭18. Features a theatre: World of Wonders by Robertson Davies
✭19. Debut book: Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
✭20. In translation: Game of Mirrors by Andrea Camilleri

✭21. Focus on art: The Vanishing Velázquez: A 19th Century Bookseller's Obsession with a Lost Masterpiece by Laura Cumming
✭22. Coming of age story: The Manticore by Robertson Davies
✭23. Comics, graphic novel, manga, etc: Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
24. Self-published:
✭25. You want the protagonist's job or hobby: A Celtic Temperament: Robertson Davies as Diarist by Robertson Davies




And here is one centred on Women Authors (found here):



✭1. A "new-to-you" author: Ru by Kim Thúy
✭2. Author over 60 years old: A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
3. African author:
✭4. Male pseudonym: One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters
5. Author from the Middle East:

✭6. Set in Latin America or Asia: The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli
✭7. Made into a movie: Le grand cahier / The Notebook by Agota Kristof
✭8. About a female critter: H is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald
✭9. Published before 2000: Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer
✭10. Set in Europe, Australia, or NZ: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

✭11. Different genre by same author: Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert (self-help)
✭12. Award winner: Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
✭13. By or about a woman The Road Home by Rose Tremain
✭14. 1920-30s detective fiction: Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie
15. Poetry or Play:

16. Women in non-traditional roles:
✭17. Less than 10 years old: Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
✭18. From tbr pile: Venice by Jan Morris
✭19. Autobiography, memoir or correspondence: Girl in the Dark: A Memoir by Anna Lyndsey
20. About a spy:

✭21. Short story collection: The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys
✭22. Women in science: The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
23. Women in combat:
24. About a female ruler:
✭25. African-American author: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

✭ = completed

Ongoing Series
Series I have in my TBR but haven't started on yet are covered in the second list.

❉ African Trilogy - Next up: No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe (2/3)
ⓔ Alan Grant Mysteries - Next up: The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey (1/6 - read out of order)
*♫ All Creatures Great and Small" - Next up: All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot (2/5)
♫ The Australian Trilogy - Next up: Tommo and Hawk by Bryce Courtenay (⅔)
ⓔ The Balkan Trilogy - Next up: The Spoilt City by Olivia Manning (2 of 3)
*♫ Barsetshire Books - Next up: August Folly by Angela Thirkell (4/29)
♫ Bartimaeus Trilogy - Next up: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud (Prequel)
Bernie Gunther - Next up: A German Requiem by Philip Kerr (3/9)
♫ Bloody Jack Adventures - Next up: Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L. A. Meyer (2/12)
✔ Border Trilogy - Next up: The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy (⅔)
*♫ Brother Cadfael: St. Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters (4/20)
❉ Cannery Row - Next up: Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck (2/2)
♫ Cazalet Chronicles - Next up: Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard (2/5)
♫ The Cemetery of Forgotten Books - Next up: The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (2/3)
❉ Chief Inspector Armand Gamache - Next up: A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (2/10)
Chocolat - Next up: The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris (2/3)
♫ The Chronicles of Barsetshire - Next up: Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope (2/6)
♫ The Chronicles of St Mary's - Next up: A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor (2/4)
✔ Claudius - Next up: Claudius the God by Robert Graves (2/2)
♫ La Comédie Humaine - Next up: Le curé de Tours by Honoré de Balzac (31/88 - read out of order)
✔ Commissario Brunetti - Next up: Acqua Alta by Donna Leon (5/23 - read out of order)
*✔ Commissario Montalbano - Next up: A Beam of Light by Andrea Camilleri (19/20)
❉ Corfu Trilogy: The Garden of the Gods by Gerald Durrell (3/3)
*♫ Cormoran >: Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (3/3)
♫ The Cousins' War: The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (2/6)
✔ The Dark is Rising Sequence - Next up: The Grey King by Susan Cooper (4/5)
♫ Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Next up: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (2/3)
❉ De Luca Trilogy - Next up: The Damned Season by Carlo Lucarelli (2/3)
* The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies - COMPLETED
♫ The Dresden Files: Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (3/15)
❉ Dr. Siri Paiboun - Next up: Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill (5/10)
*♫ Dublin Murder Squad - Next up: Faithful Place by Tana French (3/5)
*❉ The Earthsea Cycle - Next up: The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin (3/6)
♫ Easy Rawlins Mystery - Next up: White Butterfly by Walter Mosley (3/11)
ⓔ Elizabeth and her German Garden - Next up: The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim (2/2)
✔ Empire Trilogy - Next up: The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell (3/3)
*❉♫ Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström - Next up: The Stonecutter by Camilla Läckberg (3/9)
❉♫ Flavia de Luce - Next up: A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (3/7)
♫ Forsyte Saga - Next up: To Let by John Galsworthy (3/3)
❉ Green Town - Next up: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (2/2)
❉ The Harlem Cycle - Next up: All Shot Up by Chester Himes (4/8)
*♫ Harry Potter - Next up: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (reread) (6/7)
*♫ Hercule Poirot - Next up: Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie (2/39 - read out of order)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Dramatization - Next up: Tertiary Phase (BBC Radio Collection) by Douglas Adams (3/5)
♫ The House of Earth Trilogy - Next up: Sons by Pearl S. Buck (2/3)
❉ The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place - Next up: The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood (¾)
*ⓔ Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov - Next up: Black Knight in Red Square by Stuart M. Kaminsky 2/16)
Inspector Yashim Togalu - Next up: The Snake Stone by Jason Goodwin (2/5)
♫ Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries - Next up: The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith (3/10)
♫ Jack Reacher - Next up: The Enemy by Lee Child (8/20)
✔ Jackson Brodie - Next up: When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson (3/4)
♫ John Russell - Next up: Lehrter Station by David Downing (5/6)
*♫Joseph O'Loughlin - Next up: Shatter by Michael Robotham (3/7)
♫ Kenzie & Gennaro - Next up: Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane (2/6 - read out of order)
♫ Kurt Wallander - Next up: The White Lioness by Henning Mankell (3/11)
*♫❉ Lady Trent's Memoirs - Next up: The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan (2/4)
The Last Lion - Next up: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940 by William Manchester (2 of 3)
* Leo Demidov - Next up: The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith (2 of 3)
♫ Leviathan - Next up: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (⅔)
*♫ Lockwood & Co. - Next up: The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud (2/4)
♫ The Lord of the Rings - Next up: The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien (3/4)
✔ Lord Peter Wimsey - Next up: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (5/15)
*♫❉ MaddAddam Trilogy: MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood (3 of 3)
*❉ Maigret - Next up: Maigret and the Spinster by Georges Simenon (22/76)
ⓔ Mapp and Lucia - Next up: Lucia in London by E. F. Benson (3 of 8)
*♫ Marcus Didius Falco - Next up: Shadows in Bronze by Lyndsey David (2/20)
♫ Matthew Shardlake by C. J. Samson - Next up: Awaiting publication (7/7)
Miss Marple - Next up: The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (2/12)
*♫ Neapolitan Novels: The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferranted (2 of 4)
❉ Night Soldiers - Next up: Dark Star by Alan Furst (2/13)
❉ The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Next up: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith (6/15)
♫ The Obelisk Trilogy - Next up: Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller (2/3)
Oxford Time Travel series - Next up: Blackout by Connie Willis (3/4)
Parker - Next up: The Mourner by Richard Stark (4/24)
✔ Philip Marlowe - Next up: The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (6/9 - read out of order)
*♫ Phryne Fisher Mysteries - Next up: Blood and Circuses by Kerry Greenwood (6/20)
*✔ The Power Of One - Next up: Tandia by Bryce Courtenay (2/2)
The Prairie Trilogy - Next up: The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (⅔)
✔ The Raj Quartet - Next up: The Towers Of Silence by Paul Scott (3/4)
♫ Ranger's Apprentice: The Icebound Land by John Flanagan (3/12)
❉♫ The Raven Cycle Next up: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (2/4)
✔ Richard Hannay - Next up: Greenmantle by John Buchan (2/5)
❉♫ Les Rois Maudits - Next up: Quand un roi perd la France (7/7)
❉ Les Rougon-Macquart - Next up: La joie de vivre by Émile Zola (12/20)
♫ Ruby Trilogy - Next up: Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier (2 of 3)
*♫ Rumpole of the Bailey: The Trials of Rumpole by John Mortimer (2/20)
*♫ Sacred Hunger: The Quality of Mercy by Barry Unsworth (2 of 2)
✔ Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Next up: The Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman (2/4)
*♫ Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (5/9)
*♫ Small Change - Next up: Ha'penny by Jo Walton (2/3)
*♫ A Song of Ice and Fire - Up to date
❉ Sookie Stackhouse - Next up: Club Dead by Charlaine Harris (3/14)
❉ The Spiderwick Chronicles - Next up: The Nixie's Song by Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi (6/8)
*♫ Tales of the City - Next up: Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (3/6)
♫ Tales of the Otori - Next up: Brilliance of the Moon by Lian Hearn (3/4+prequel)
*♫ Thomas De Quincey - Next up: Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell (2/2)
❉ Three Men in a Boat - Next up: Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome (2/2)
♫ Tom Ripley - Next up: The Boy Who Followed Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (4/5)
* Victor Legris - Next up: La disparue du Père-Lachaise by Claude Izner (2/11)
Wolf Hall Trilogy - Next up: The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (awaiting publication) (3/3) - Up to date
Wolves Chronicles - Next up: Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken (3/11)
❉ Wyoming Stories - Next up: Bad Dirt by Annie Proulx (2/3)

***

First in Series on my TBR
♫ Albert Campion: The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham (1/19)
✔ The American Trilogy: American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1/3)
✔ Aristide Ravel Mysteries : The Cavalier of the Apocalypse by Susanne Alleyn (1/4)
✔ The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson (½)
♫ Aubrey-Maturin: Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian (1/21)
♫ Avalon: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1/7)
*♫ Bernard Samson Novels: Berlin Game by Len Deighton (1/9)
✔ The Book of Lies - Twins Trilogy: The Notebook by Ágota Kristóf (1/3)
✔ The Borrible Trilogy: The Borribles by Michael De Larrabeiti (1 of 3)
*♫ Captain Gregor Reinhardt : The Man from Berlin by Luke McCallin (1 of 3)
✔ Carl Webster: The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard (1/3)
♫ Chief Inspector Adamsberg: The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas (1/9)
♫ Cicero: Imperium by Robert Harris (1 of 3)
*♫ Clifton Chronicles: Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer (1/6)
♫ A Dance to the Music of Time: A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement, Spring by Anthony Powell (1/4)
✔ Danzig Trilogy: The Tin Drum by Günter Grass (1 of 3)
*♫ Edie Kiglatuk: White Heat by M. J. McGrath (1 of 3)
✔ Empress Orchid: Empress Orchid by Anchee Min (1 of 2)
✔ Eustace and Hilda: The Shrimp and the Anemone by L. P. Hartley (1 of 3)
*♫ Hank Thompson: Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston (1/3)
✔ Haroun: Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (1/2)
♫ Harry Hole: The Bat by Jo Nesbø (1/10)
✔ Henrietta's War: Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front 1939-1942 by Joyce Dennys (1/2)
✔ The Hummingbird's Daughter: The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea (1/2)
♫ The Inheritance Cycle: Eragon by Christopher Paolini (1 of 4)
♫ In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way by Marcel Proust (1/8)
♫ James Bond: Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (1/14)
♫ Joona Linna: The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler (1 of 3)
*♫ Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (1 of 2)
*♫ The Kingkiller Chronicle : The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (1/3)
✔ Latin American Trilogy: The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by Louis de Bernières (1/3)
♫ Leonid McGill: The Long Fall by Walter Mosley (1 of 4)
*♫ The Magicians: The Magicians by Lev Grossman (1/3)
♫ McCaskill Trilogy: English Creek by Ivan Doig (1/3)
✔ Micah Dalton: The Echelon Vendetta by David Stone (1/4)
♫ Michael Forsythe: Dead I Well May Be by Adrian McKinty (1/3)
✔ Mistress of the Art of Death: Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin (1/5)
*♫ On Foot to Constantinople: A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor (1/3)
♫ Outlander: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (1/9)
♫+ⓔ Patrick Melrose: Never Mind by Edward St. Aubyn (1/5)
*♫ Prisoner of Night and Fog Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman (1 of 2)
✔ The Psammead Trilogy: Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (1/3)
♫+✔ Quirke: Christine Falls by Benjamin Black (1/6)
♫ Revelation Space: Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds (1/7)
*✔ The Salterton Trilogy: Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies (1 of 3)
*♫ San-Anonio: Réglez-lui son compte! by San-Antonio (1/175)
*♫ Sean Duffy: The Cold Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty (1/4)
♫ Shanghai Girls: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (1 of 2)
*♫ Ship Breaker: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (1 of 2)
♫ Sprawl: Neuromancer by William Gibson (1 of 3)
♫ Swallows and Amazons: Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (1/12)
♫ Sword of Honour: Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh (1 of 3)
*♫ The Vampire Chronicles: Interview with the Vampire (reread) by Anne Rice (1/10)
*♫ The Wolves of Mercy Falls: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (1/4)
♫ World War II Saga: The Winds of War by Herman Wouk (1/2)



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



eta: Touchstones not working.

Here's another one by Sophie Blackall which is a great representation of the kind of day we're having today: absolute cats and dogs!



Next one's free!

Yours may be the first thread I have seen that carries a table of contents, Ilana!

Happy new thread, my dear.

>12 PaulCranswick: Welcome, Paul! I saw the need for a TOC when I kept scrolling up and down my lists every day and found I could locate information more easily. Just takes a bit of html tweaking and... easy peasy!

>13 Smiler69: You also like me carry quite a lot of information up at the top of your thread and have the skills to do the layout (which I don't) so why not. xx

>14 PaulCranswick: If ever you'd like me to give you a few tips, just ask! I'll be happy to share my (online) organizational skills. :-)

>12 PaulCranswick: :)

I love your reading plans for the rest of the year! I see some challenges are wedging their way in to your plans. I need to read A Prayer for Owen Meany again, I think it was one of the few books I read as a teenager. (another was Chickenhawk - straight off my dad's shelf).

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek I very much enjoyed too, and I was amazed that she was so young when she wrote it, another of hers to look at is her memoir, An American Childhood, which I just loved.

Happy new thread Ilana. I've been quiet on the threads of late to go along with my lack of reading . Just wanted to add my enthusiasm for the Lymond Chronicles that Lucy mentioned. I'm up to the last book now. I haven't rushed through them at all but have enjoyed all of them. Read them didn't listen to them.
Currently enjoying John Lee narrating another Alastair Reynold's scifi, before that it was Nigel Davenport on bk 2&3 of Durrell's Corfu trilogy.

>16 LovingLit: Welcome, Megan! I really enjoy the challenges, although I don't participate in the discussions much these days. However, it's a neat way to help me pick books from my expansive collection as well as discover new-to-me authors. I haven't read anything by Annie Dillard yet, for example, so looking forward to it in November (if I manage to slot it in that month!)

>17 avatiakh: Hi Kerry! I was just lurking on your thread earlier, and wanted to leave a message but I think I was on my iPad which I hate typing on. I'll definitely add you as a recommender for the Lymond Chronicles, and am very tempted to spend an Audible credit on the first book right away. But yet another series... can't avoid them I guess, eh? I saw that you'd finished the Gerald Durrell trilogy. I absolutely fell in love with the first book, so I guess it was inevitable that the second book felt a bit flat by comparison, but I'll get the third book soon and I'm sure I'll want to revisit all three, and not just My Family and Other Animals. Don't know if I ever mentioned to you that I have it in several editions and watched the movie version last year, which both Pierre and I absolutely loved. I think I got the movie on your recommendation, if I'm not mistaken. It's looking like 'Pierre and I' might be a thing of the past at this point, but so be it.

Happy New Thread, Ilana!

Loving the Lin Wang illustration and the two by Sophie Blackall. Next week I should be getting my hands on the adult book by Blackall, called Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found. Really looking forward to it.

>20 jnwelch: Joe, I hope you enjoy Missed Connections. I need to sit down with that book, as haven't yet seen the series all gathered up between those two covers. I'm pretty sure I suggested that book to you a few months ago, so will be pleased to take the credit if you end up loving it. If you don't, then I'll swear it wasn't me! ;-)

Looks like I'm single again. I'll miss the daily interaction and Charley will miss his friend, but so be it.

Sorry to hear about your singledom status, I know you enjoyed the companionship over these past months. All the best.

My daughter and I watch the dvd of My family and other animals at least once a year. I enjoyed the last two Durrell books, sure they weren't quite up to the first one but gave me plenty of laughs for all that.

Congrats on the new thread! Great illustrations, as always.

>9 Smiler69: Ooh, I like the General Category card. Wish I had seen that one. I'm doing the WomanUp card but probably won't make all the squares. But I see that you're counting a few books in more than one square, which I hadn't been doing, so I may do that if I get desperarte towards the end of the year.

>6 Smiler69: I won't mind if you don't get around toThe Impressionist, but I do hope you will love History of the Rain as much as I did. I see that you have it on audio; I read it on my kindle. It's one of the few books on which I've actually used the highlighting feature.

>22 Smiler69: Oh no! Hope this is temporary, but you know what is best.

I am having a reading dry spell: read 50+ pages in two books today, and both went into the library donation bag unfinished.

You mentioned elsewhere that Charley was running away when you called him rather than coming. Who knows, in his past life, he may only have been called to be punished. (Or maybe he just likes to be the boss . . . ) Glad to hear that he is doing better. It may just have taken some time for him to trust you.

Happy New Thread, Ilana! I love the bookish toppers. Hope you had a good weekend.

I am just starting Jane Steele.

>22 Smiler69: I'm sorry to hear this. I remember when I was a single mother (a very long time ago!) that certain people came into my life at times when they had something to offer that was right for that time. I guess I could also include dogs in that statement as well. One of our first was Charlie, our first Bichon. I needed to buy a couch and my two daughters talked me into a puppy instead. He helped all three of us heal.

>23 avatiakh: I can certainly see why you and your daughter would want to watch My Family and Other Animals every year, Kerry. It's such a charming movie, I may very well end up doing the same.

>24 Cariola: I see that you're counting a few books in more than one square

Eek! That wasn't at all intentional! I think I've deleted the duplicates. I doubt I'll manage to finish both squares because there are categories that are tougher to fill (Women in Combat, for instance).

You've recommended The Impressionists to me more than once, Deborah, so I will be sure to get to it this year. I have The History of the Rain in kindle version as well as audio, and I'm really not sure which to go with. I seem to recall reading somewhere that it was best read visually because the writing is so beautiful it needs to be taken in slowly, or something along those lines. What do you think?

We got the distinct impression Charley may have been mistreated in his former home, which would explain his initial unwillingness to approach us when called. There's been a dramatic shift as far as that goes, though you can tell he goes through an interior struggle every time, but I think he's realising that the advantages of approaching us far outweigh the risks. It's really gratifying to see him slowly build up trust.

>25 msf59: Hi Mark! Thanks for dropping by. I'm sure you'll enjoy Jane Steele plenty.

>26 Dianekeenoy: A puppy instead of a couch sounds like the right kind of tradeoff to me, Diane!

>27 Smiler69: I would definitely recommend reading History of Rain on the kindle. Yes, the writing is beautiful, and I found myself highlighting a lot of passages about writing in the book.

On Charley: love and kindness works wonders. And discipline, done right, is also love and kindness.

>28 Cariola: Then Kindle it'll be for HotR (I just noticed my previous touchstone was pointing to the wrong book, sorry & fixed). I used to dislike the idea of ebooks, but I've gotten used to reading them on my iPad now. I keep thinking maybe I'll get a Kindle reader, but just can't justify the expense somehow, because that's what I mostly use my iPad for.

Very much agreed that the right kind of discipline is also a mark of love. He gets loads and loads of cuddles too—probably more than he ever bargained for! :-)

LOADS of audiobooks came in these past few days. For one thing, the latest sale on Audible has some amazing titles on offer; editor's picks in various categories, and I think something for everybody. I know several books on my wishlist were on offer at $4.95, so of course I splurged. And the library always has some interesting offerings via OverDrive too. Here is the list of recent acquisitions:

🍒 Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
(for a reread)
🍒 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend
(a favourite of Nathalie's)
🍒 A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Hasrkness
(if I like the first book, the others are available at the library)
🍒 Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
(have a couple by her on the tbr now)
🍒 Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy
(from the history section. Intrigued by this author.)
🍒 Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
(from the wishlist)
🐸 Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
(for a reread)
🐸 Don Quixote: Translated by Edith Grossman
(I'll get to it eventually!)
🐸 An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales by Oliver Sacks
(another reread)
🐸 Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
(for the Pulitzer Challenge)
🐸 The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
🐸 SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry
(an impulse buy because of a 4.8 rating and Alan Corduner narrating)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay by William Boyd
(because I've loved every Boyd book I've read so far)
The Histories by Herodotus
(a new version narrated by David Timson, a favourite of mine)
The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
(recommended on this thread by both Lucy and Kerry)
The Swiss Spy by Alex Gerlis
(new series recommended by Suz)
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf
(Audible Daily Deal; perfect for this month's NF challenge)
❉ The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee
❉ A Country Road, a Tree by Jo Baker
(Narrated by David Rintoul)
❉ Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
(for a TIOLI food memoir challenge)

Also... a physical book from BookOutlet.ca
Elizabeth's London by Liza Picard

🍒= Current Audible Editor's Sale
🐸= Last week's $4.95 sale
❉= OverDrive (library)

>30 Smiler69: 22 audio books - you have fast become the auditory doppelganger of my trad book book splurging self.

I have some of the books on your list of new ones. You will get a kick out of Kitchen Confidential. Elizabeth's London is a fun way to learn about the times.

I resisted getting a kindle for a long, long time--but now I love it. I like that I can adjust the font size and that I can store hundred of books in less space than a single paperback takes up. I listened to a LOT more audiobooks when I was commuting to work daily. Now I am getting pickier about them; so many of the narrators have irritating voices or overdramatize their readings. I must have about a dozen credits stacked up.

>21 Smiler69: Ha! I'm glad you reminded me about the Sophie Blackall recommendation. I suspect I'll like it and end up giving you credit. :-)

At some point I'm going to read An Anthropologist on Mars. Your deciding to re-read it is encouraging.

Thanks for visiting and commenting, friends. I'll respond tomorrow. The day has seemed endless and filled with tears. Losing a friend and partner certainly leaves a big hole in my life, but somehow the thing that makes me saddest of all is the thought that Charley has lost his great buddy.

I'm just catching up but wanted to comment that I really hoped The Summer Before the War would actually be available on TN Reads in audiobook format. It is, but not for this trip.

Well, The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry left this reader completely cold, so about ⅔ of the way through, I decided to give up and get my Audible credit refunded. I can return books without any qualms whatsoever considering what a dedicated Audible client I've been since 2011, with over 900 purchases to my name. I don't even want to stop and consider what kind of financial investment that represents, albeit the majority of the books were purchased on sale, or with one of those kindle+audiobook deals that are always advantageous. I decided to switch over from Dolssa to Game of Mirrors by Andrea Camilleri, which brings me up to book 19, though now there's books 20 coming out in November, I'm not quite caught up with the Montalbano series.

Sleeping more than ever, trying to fill in time that used to be taken up with many little interactions with Pierre, but since we're no longer talking as of this weekend, I'm suddenly finding the days extremely long. I'll soon get used to being single again, I'm sure, since that's been my default status for most of my adult life, but in the meantime, I'm mourning all the little things that couplehood brings on a daily basis. Such is life.

>31 PaulCranswick: Paul, whether I'm willing to admit it or not, it seems I've always aspired to be your equal in terms of book purchasing power. Since I can't make more room in my apartment for physical books, their audio equivalent is proving mighty handy as I don't have the onus of having to store them, even electronically. Mighty handy, that! Also helps that I love being read to by really skilled narrators.

>32 Cariola: I don't know why I've been resisting food memoirs for so long, Deborah. They've been all the rage for several years now, but I always figured 'I'm not really a foodie', thinking I wouldn't be that interested, which is silly, since I recall being an avid watched of 'Hell's Kitchen' and 'Master Chef' at one point. I'm guessing Bourdain will deliver some of that fire, and glad to know you were a fan; will add you as a recommender so I can thank you once I've read it. I got the Folio edition of Liza Picard's Restoration London: Everyday Life in London 1660-1670 last year, and adding Elizabeth's London to my collection made sense since I read so much historical fiction and both periods are heavily covered in fiction, as you know better than most.

eta: just updating my catalogue, I notice I forgot to mention I also have Picard's Victorian London, so on my way to having the full set!

>33 jnwelch: Yes Joe, please DO forget all about my recommendation if you end up not loving Missed Connections! ;-)
Somehow, I doubt that will come to pass however.

I've read two or three books by Oliver Sacks in the past, now long, long ago way back in the 90s, I believe but found them fascinating, both in content and approach. I remember also loving The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and so also got that one in a gorgeously illustrated Folio edition. I've accumulated quite a collection of Sacks titles by now, on various formats, and just need to make time for them. Migraine is one I will probably read soonest, for obvious reasons.

***

Just saw the news of the shooting on Dizingof street in Tel-Aviv. Though my dad doesn't live in the city, I just tried to reach him on the phone so he could assure me everyone we know is ok. I'll be waiting for news from him eagerly, especially as his health hasn't been very good and I'd be glad of an update.

>36 Smiler69: Just thought I would mention Marcus Samuelsson's Yes, Chef as another food-related book that I enjoyed. He has led a really fascinating life. He and his sister are originally from Ethiopia, and they were adopted by a Swedish family. He has traveled a lot for his training and has settled in NYC, where he has several successful restaurants. He is very open in the book about some of the mistakes he has made, particularly in relationships. I like that he has gone back to his Ethiopian roots, and that his main restaurant is in Harlem, where he also lives.

>37 Cariola: - I actually listened to Samuelsson read this to me on the audiobook. I really enjoyed it!

>37 Cariola: Deborah, I actually downloaded Yes, Chef from OverDrive this afternoon, after doing a quick search for food memoirs. Several people over at TIOLI are reading it this month, so I may or may not join them. Glad to know you were a fan.

eta: I'm halfway through Kitchen Confidential and enjoying it quite a bit.

I might join you on Kitchen Confidential, I've been meaning to read it for a long while.

>38 jessibud2:, >39 Smiler69: I also "read" the audiobook of Yes, Chef.

>22 Smiler69: So sorry to have overlooked your short but fairly devastating message above. Don't know if this is one of those things that time heals and you get to talk things over and I, of course, don't want to pry. I know you were happy and that Pierre made you happy. Sad for you dear Ilana and I won't insult you with platitudes other than to remind you that you have a goodly number of people here who care about you, who will be thinking about you and who will be wishing for your happiness in whichever manner you choose to seek it. xx

I'm finally here to wish you a happy new thread and discover that you aren't so happy right now. I'm sorry, my friend, and I'll add my agreement with Paul.
Please count me among those who think that you need to read both History of the Rain AND *The Lymond Chronicles*. I started rereading the latter for the 3rd or maybe 4th time because of Lucy..... I'm taking a short break in the 2nd book, but I'll be back. There's nothing else quite like them.

Dear Ilana - what Paul so eloquently says above, ditto from me.

Same here, Ilana. I thought I had posted something earlier, but apparently not. Moving on is hard work . . . Give Charley an extra hug today.

Ilana, just now catching up with you. Charley is charming! Your artwork, as always, is stunning - just so very detailed and gorgeous. Makes my jaw drop every time.

And I am so sorry about your relationship. I think Paul spoke for all of us with his thoughtful message above. Let me just add that you are in my thoughts and in my heart. Sending you hugs, dear one.

Finished listening to Kitchen Confidential this evening, which was an interesting trip to some of the busiest professional kitchens around New York City. Having watched many episodes of Hell's Kitchen at one point, Bourdain's revelations about the foul language and tempers and criminal elements that people the restaurant industry didn't come as a surprise, but his tale about becoming and then trying to remain an employable chef through drug addiction and other personal issues was an interesting one.

Now have moved on to The Danish Girl. I'm not sure how that one will go over, but right now taking in some rather enjoyable writing. As for that whole gender reassignment thing... I struggle with keeping an open mind, so perhaps this book will help me be more understanding? Perhaps.

>42 PaulCranswick: Dear Paul, I'm fairly devastated over the sudden turn of events. Pierre and I were great companions, but we had plenty of disagreements which too frequently became major blowups because of our overheated temperaments. I could wish we would remain friends and continue seeing each other, but it seems Pierre has very different ideas and no longer wishes to communicate with me. What time will bring... who knows. For now it's making for very lonely days.

>43 LizzieD: I'll definitely eye-read History of the Rain, but have already gotten the first book of the Lymond Chronicles as an audiobook. Not sure when I'll plunge into that saga, but I'm looking forward to it.

>44 PrueGallagher: Thanks, Prue.

>45 Cariola: I thought you'd said something before too, Deborah, and thanks. I took Charley on an errand in the busy downtown shopping district today and he was a real champ, remaining so quiet in his little sling carrier that at time I forgot he was even there. That's one of the things I loved about Coco—being able to take him everywhere with me, knowing he'd be well-behaved.

>46 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie, thanks for dropping by. I'm feeling a bit at a loss this week, which I guess is normal. Always felt like there were not enough hours in the day before, and now suddenly the days just seem to drag on forever. I'll get over feeling sorry for myself soon enough, I should hope.

>47 Smiler69: Sending you a virtual cuddle/hug. xx

>48 PaulCranswick: Gratefully received. xo

>22 Smiler69: (((((Ilana))))) (((((Charley)))))

>147 Smiler69: Good morning, Ilana. I found The Danish Girl fascinating!

Catching up here Ilana. Sorry to hear about Pierre.

Me, too, Ilana. Hope you're doing okay.

>50 EBT1002: Thank you, my dear Ellen. Charley is lucky. Apparently he lives in the moment all the time, so he can't miss what and whoever is not there, though I have my doubts about how accurate that is.

>51 Dianekeenoy: Hi Diane, I must say I was dreading The Danish Girl a bit before I tackled it, because the topic it deals with is one that makes me uncomfortable, but I must say I really like the way the author has constructed his story and brought so many elements into it. I'm about halfway through, and while I can't say the novel is making me review my outlook very much, it is proving to be a good read, and that's already quite something.

>52 SandDune: Hi Rhian. Thanks for your sympathy. I keep wanting to call him and try to talk him into remaining friends, but then I've always been the one to extend the peace pipe in the face of anger and aloofness, and I'm no longer feeling like breaking that ice once again. It's a shame really that we couldn't make it work, but then we both face tremendous personal challenges, and it seems for the moment we are better off facing them alone. Or anyway, I gather that's the message life is sending me at the moment.

>53 jnwelch: Joe, I'm ok, but rather blue, which isn't surprising. I'm dreading the fact that we're a month away from my birthday (on the 11th), and I'll probably have to face it alone, once again. I tend to get blue a few weeks before my birthday anyway, and feeling lonely never helps matters much. But then, I've been through that so many times by now I shouldn't let it phase me. Plus, who knows what might happen between now and then?

{{Ilana}} The thing about a situation like this, and grief in general, is that it is really physically draining. The only advice I can offer is: allow it. Give in to it, when you can, and if you must, and use it to recharge the batteries that have been drained. Then use that renewed energy to your advantage. You have your books and your art. You have Charley, and that is good; at least he can get you out of the house on something of a schedule!

At least it isn't winter, dark and dreary. I think that might be harder. By then, as you say, who knows where the road will take you between now and then...

>55 jessibud2: Thank you for that comment, Shelley. I agree with you on every point: letting myself feel the sadness and allowing myself all the sleeping I need (and then some!), to help me get through a rough patch. That's been my way to get through most difficulties. Everyone has their own coping mechanisms: for some people it's overwork, or too much drink, or binge eating and/or exercising, etc. I... sleep. It's not as restful as it sounds though, because my dreams are rarely what you'd call soothing, but at least I don't have to be entirely conscious when dealing with the unpleasantness.

I'm really glad Charley is here to keep me in line as far as adhering to some kind of schedule and getting out of the house. That was the primary reason for me to get a dog before I'd even adopted Coco, because I was such a hermit that I could go weeks with going beyond my doorstep, and went that far only to pick up deliveries. I'm lucky also to have two very affectionate cats... having put together this little menagerie to create my own little family here at home in times before ever Pierre came along, I'm now glad that means I'm never truly alone. I know everyone always says that: 'You're not ever alone', but the actual fact is that on a day-to-day basis in the real physical realm, not a lot of humans come into my world. That's mostly deliberate on my part, but even loners get lonely, obviously. Now I'm tempted to go out and adopt a bunny or two to add to the brood, but I won't. For one, three is plenty of little lives for me to care for, besides which Charley would only look upon more little bodies as that many more victims to torment!

As you say, I have my endless supply of books, and an art project or two (or three!) that keep me plenty interested. Amen to that!

Speaking of art projects, I just posted this update on my latest Metro drawing on FB, so some of my visitors will have seen this by now (to see my more frequent updates on FB, just friend me: Ilana Shamir in Montreal—just please let me know who you are on LT as I don't friend complete strangers):

 
(zoom in to see more detail)

Hi Ilana, your artwork is stunning as always. I was sorry to read of your and Pierre's estrangement but can't improve on the words that Paul posted. Take care of yourself and give Charley an extra cuddle from me.

Another amazing drawing. You are so talented, Ilana. And I ditto what everyone has said previously and then so eloquently by Paul. That is good that Charley and the cats are there for company, even though the three of them don't get along too well at the moment (but hopefully, that will change). I understand too well about the loneliness - there are days when I don't speak with anyone other than my two cats - but at least they are not too demanding and don't argue with me.

>57 Smiler69: Oh my goodness, your talent never ceases to amaze me! I feel like I'm sitting across from her.

The Danish Girl had me googling these characters as soon as I finished the book. These were unbelievable surgeries for that time in history.

Living in the moment has its up-side and sometimes I wish I could approach things in that manner. It's how Abby does things, too. On the other hand, good literature would never exist if humans always lived only in the moment. Heh.

xoxo

Thinking about you this weekend a little more than usual, Ilana.

>22 Smiler69: & >34 Smiler69: So sorry to hear about you and Pierre.... Thinking of you.

The weather has been grey and cool this week (around 12C or 54F), but I'm not complaining. I often feel better in this kind of weather; when the sunshine and people are all out with their smiles, I often don't feel I can measure up. Thankfully not too much migraine activity, though I'm sure Botox and Cesamet have a lot to do with that. I tried to cut back on the Cesamet last night, and regret doing so today, because low pressure system is acting on my cranium, but it's the kind of pain I've learned I can handle.

Two new books started last night. Actually, make that one new book and one reread. There's The Piano Man's Daughter by new-to-me CAC author Timothy Findley. A biggish book (500 pages) which I'll probably live with for a while. Then, revisiting The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. I'd read the latter in 2010, possibly just before joining this group at the end of that year. Now listening to the audiobook version for the AAC. I could have picked something by Proulx I haven't read yet, but I do enjoying revisiting books and haven't done so in a while.

Happy Sunday, Ilana! We have a cool day here too, after a scorcher yesterday.
I loved The Shipping News. I plan on starting my Proulx today too.

Did you ever finish Jane Steele? I only have a few pages left. I think it has been terrific.

Book #114: ♫ The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad ★★★½
Source: Audible.com
Edition: Naxos Audiobooks (2010), Unabridged MP3, 4h38
Read for: British Author Challenge, June TIOLI #7: something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!", A Century of Books! (1902)
Original publication ldate: 1902

The Heart of Darkness was an interesting experience for the BAC. I had expected to more or less hate it because so many readers before me have, but the narrator, David Horovitch helped me appreciate the beautiful writing. The story of Robert Marlowe travelling by steamship into the heart of the Congo and witnessing the horrific treatment of black slaves is not an easy one to take in, but it became positively bizarre when the character of Kurtz was introduced. I can certainly see how Marlon Brando's Kurtz in Apocalypse Now was based on the fictional one (that famous line: "The horror! The horror!"). Conrad is considered a racist by some, and I have yet to read more about the man or his work to form a more informed impression, but if he is considered so because of this specific book, I'd have to say I disagree. While the language he uses to describe the black natives is predictably politically incorrect to the modern reader, the character of Marlowe, while he doesn't intervene to help the slaves, also observes their treatment with palpable horror, and Conrad seems to make a strong case against colonialism. A book I'll eventually have to revisit to make sense of Kurtz (can one ever make sense of a madman??), and next time I'll take in Kenneth Branagh's narration to compare between two great performances.

>65 msf59: Hi Mark, and welcome. Yes, I did finish Jane Steele. I didn't have very much to say about it because I think other readers in this group will spread the word about it much better than I can... also, while I found it clever and entertaining, it was so obviously geared to be a 'fun book', that it stopped me from enjoying it as much as I might have, had I been in a different headspace.

As for Proulx, I remember listening to Brokeback Mountain some years back, as performed by Campbell Scott, and thought it was so excellent that I should revisit it asap, especially given how short it is. I just may do that this month once I've gotten the audiobook from the library again.

Just noticed I haven't responded to messages from several people a bit higher up. Meant to, but I guess my head was worse than I claimed, and now it is a furious little ball of pain, so I know you will all forgive me for responding later. Have a great week everyone!

>58 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy, thanks so much for dropping by. It's sad business losing a partner and a friend, but Charley at least seems to be living right in the moment. As for me, day by day I'm finding my bearings again.

>59 catarina1: I know exactly what you mean about days when you only speak with your animals... have had plenty of those over the years... and yes, isn't it nice that they can't argue back?? Thanks for your kind comments on my drawing. This one seems to be rolling along quite briskly, compared to the other ones I've done so far; either I'm getting better or I'm slacking on the quality! :-)

>60 Dianekeenoy: I'm glad my drawing conveys that sense of intimacy, Diane. I'm glad I read The Danish Girl, because it made for a great read and I learned things, but I'm sorry to say somehow I couldn't muster up all the sympathy I expect most readers would feel.

>61 EBT1002: I guess you're right Ellen. I live in the moment by default, simply because my memory is shot to pieces. I can barely remember things from one moment to the next, which sometimes (often) is annoying when I'm reading: 'how did that sentence begin again'??

>62 PaulCranswick: Thanks for your sympathy, Paul.

>63 souloftherose: Yeah, it kind of sucks. Especially since it seems Pierre is determined not to communicate with me anymore. I would like to remain friends, especially as having an artist friend is precious to me, but it's out of my hands now.

***

Really enjoying revisiting The Shipping News, and I've reserved Brokeback Mountain in audio from the library for another reread. I guess I should make room for Annie Proulx books I haven't read yet, but rereading favourites is a special treat too.

>66 Smiler69: I've read Heart of Darkness twice fairly recently as it was one I was studying as part of my OU course. As you say, it is very politically incorrect in today's terms, but it seemed to me that it was not in favour of colonialism by any means. Before I read the book I always assumed that the description 'heart of darkness' referred to Africa, but on reading it carefully it seems much more to me that it refers both to the European capitals who were sending men out to exploit central Africa, and to the darkness that those men carried inside them.

>70 SandDune: Interesting comments, Rhian. I think you're probably right about the inspiration for the title, but I'll probably have to read it a second time too to pick up on what it refers to. That being said, I usually allow a lot of leeway for 'political incorrectness' when it comes to reading books from other eras. After all, what was politically correct at the time of writing was usually very different from what we expect today, and I don't think it's fair to judge the author's intention because of terms we consider derogatory today, no matter how uncomfortable it makes me to come across them. After all, we tend to take for granted that women didn't have much of a role outside the home in most novels predating WWII, and that doesn't mean we agree that is the only place for women. I'm trying to make a simple argument here, but having a hard time finding the right words...

I've been thinking about rereading The Shipping News as I have long thought of it as one of my all-time favorite novels. I guess it should be on the list of rereads under consideration on the long post about rereading over on my thread. I was trying to do Annie Proulx book I had not yet read but Postcards doesn't appeal to me and I'm in a very long queue for Barkskins. Ah the dilemmas of the reading life. :-)

Sending you strength and resolve and lots of self-care-and-compassion. xo

Hi, Ilana.

I'm about halfway through Jane Steele, and enjoying it. As you say, a fun book.

The Heart of Darkness didn't grab me, but I'm glad I read it.

I actually love Heart of Darkness - and the Kenneth Branagh narration is truly fabulous.

>57 Smiler69: I love seeing your art come to life. SO lovely!

I am also wanting to revisit The Shipping News and had wondered about the audio.

Keeping you in my thoughts, Ilana, and wishing you happy.

>71 Smiler69: After all, what was politically correct at the time of writing was usually very different from what we expect today, and I don't think it's fair to judge the author's intention because of terms we consider derogatory today, no matter how uncomfortable it makes me to come across them

Those are my thoughts exactly!

>72 EBT1002: Ah the dilemmas of the reading life. :-)

I love having those kinds of problems too, Ellen, and lucky for me, I face it every time I finish a book and am faced with picking my next read or listen (i.e. two, three, or more times each week). I'm tempted to get the audiobook for Barkskins (no waiting queue!), but it's so very long and I'm already so overbooked and really wanting to get to the books I've planned for this month...

I'll be following your thread to see whether you get permission to share that rereading challenge with us. And I'll think up a shortlist of books I'd want to reread for it.

By the by, just started on Salt to the Sea last night. Very promising.

>73 jnwelch: Joe, I've read several books by Lyndsay Faye at this point (starting with the Timothy Wilde trilogy), and I find that though she broaches some really tough issues, her books make for light reading. Not a bad thing by any means, but it does mean that if I'm in an overly critical mode I tend to be somewhat dismissive. So yes, I found Jane Steele fun, but can't say it left much of an impression on me. Certainly not the way Heart of Darkness did, but then that is not a fair comparison by any means.

>74 Crazymamie: Mamie, I had those two audio version of Heart of Darkness to choose from, and I have no doubt that Kenneth Branagh is brilliant in his version, but I happen to have developed a great fondness for David Horovitch, who is certainly not as well-known as Branagh, but has such a warm voice which I find has a magnetic quality: pulls me in every time, and I'd happily listen to him narrate every single book I listen to... So the Branagh version will be next when I 'reread' that novel.

And, oh yes! DO get your hands on the audio version of The Shipping News. I was a bit skeptical about whether I'd like Paul Hecht as a narrator when I listened to a sample, because he somehow came off as extremely dry and detached initially, but having listened to his fantastic performance of TSN, I'll be looking out for more audiobooks narrated by him.

>75 SandDune: Rhian, I don't know if you enjoy classics as much as I do, but I do know that any reader who isn't willing to make those sorts of allowances can't possibly enjoy anything from the 19th century... I think it's nice to have reminders that despite the fact that humanity still has a long way to come, we HAVE come a long way since then. Or have we really?

There's been an interesting discussion about rereading books over on Ellen's thread, and a few people have posted very short lists of books they would revisit. For my part, I have an entire LT collection of "To Reread" books, with has just over 270 titles at this time. I've narrowed it down to 10% of those (plus one to grow on) to come up with a reasonable list of books at the top of my rereading wishlist:

The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
All of Jane Austen
Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac
Regeneration by Pat Barker
*Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Cornish Trilogy by Robertson Davies
My family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Middlemarch by George Eliot
*The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Old Filth by Jane Gardam
*The Wind in The Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
The Iliad / The Odyssey by Homer
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Being There by Jerzy Kosinski
Les Liaisons Dangereuses Choderlos de Laclos
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
*Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Chess Story by Stefan Zweig

And yes, I've cheated to narrow it down to '28'.

eta: * indicates books I've already reread at least once.

Also... MUST add Restoration by Rose Tremain to this list.

>77 Smiler69: As I mentioned over on Ellen's thread, Ilana, that's a nice list and would make a good basis for a taught course. :-)

>77 Smiler69: Interestingly, two of them WERE included in my seminar in Historical Fiction (Wolf Hall and Regeneration, along with Restoration, Small Island, and Atonement). I've also taught Mrs. Dalloway.

>76 Smiler69: I'm still waiting for the third part of Mantel's Cromwell trilogy, but then I want to reread the entire series. I'd definitely reread a number of the books on your list!

Sorry to hear about Your breakup with Pierre, Ilana. It's hard! A good friend of mine is 7 months into her third tough breakup, and is suffering for it....I really feel for her. I hope you are holding up ok.

>77 Smiler69: I am getting more and more into the concept of rereading books. The few times I have done it I have certainly got more from the book. I've been put off beofre for not wanting the 2nd read to ruin any illusions I had of it! The Great Gatsby I have read 4 times, and loved it more each time.

>78 jnwelch: I was thinking after I posted that list, Joe, that I should create some kind of challenge from that list.

>79 Cariola: Restoration!!! Of course! How could I have left it off my list?! How I adored that book, and it's sequel, Merivel. That was a gross oversight on my part, thanks for bringing it up, Deborah. And I think many of us will be rereading the first two books in the Wolf Hall trilogy before moving on the The Mirror and the Light when it finally comes out.

>80 LovingLit: Thanks so much Megan. Breakups always suck. But somehow I seem to be better at breakups than maintaining relationships. I would have liked to maintain a friendship with Pierre, but seems it's not his 'thing'. He told me when we started seeing each other that he's 'flushed out' people from his life regularly and I understood that if/when we broke up I could probably expect the same.

I've reread a few of the books on my list above, and some selections are on that list because I've purchased several editions of the same title (Jane Eyre, Great Gatsby, Jane Austen come to mind) and want to read from each one of those eventually. The movie version of The Great Gatsby has been among my all-time favourites, and I was delighted when I finally read it to find the movie had so well conveyed the spirit of the novel.

^ by movie version you mean the Robert Redford/Mia Farrow one I presume? I watched all three (are there more?) versions not that long ago, and I found that one the best by far.

Hi, Ilana! Lots of bookish things to comment on. I have The Heart of Darkness lined up on audio. This will be a reread. I liked it a lot the first time I read it. I do not remember who narrates my version.

I am so glad you were enjoying your revisit with The Shipping News. I would love to return to that one,
on audio.

I am like you as far as listing books I would like to reread. It would be volumes. LOL. Honestly, everything on my "keeper" shelves, is something I want to reread.

That said, I do very few rereads. I am so crazy busy with the mountain of books, I have not read and it is a mountain that never gets smaller. But, the dream remains...

>76 Smiler69: Okay, thanks so much for that - I completely trust your judgement with audios, so I will pick up that version of The Shipping News - I had thought the sample sounded not great, so I am relieved to hear you say the same thing.

Happy Wednesday to you, dear!

Hi Megan, Mark and Mamie!, and thanks for leaving messages. I'll respond later today, as need to leave the house soon to go visit with my friend Liselotte, whom I haven't seen in a few weeks.

Just wanted to mention that I stayed up in bed to listen to the final chapters of Salt to the Sea last night... something I don't usually do, as bedtime is reserved for eye-reading usually. Loved it. I should take a few moments to write a proper review. I WILL do so. Yes I will.

Bye for now!

>85 Smiler69: Loved that book! It was a 4.5 star read for me!

>85 Smiler69: Great book. Glad it grabbed you like that.

Though I have plenty of planned reads I want to get to before the end of the month, I couldn't resist spending a credit on Annie Proulx newly released Barkskins and got started on it today. Very very promising start to this very long novel.

>82 LovingLit: Oh, that's right, I should have specified which movie version. I haven't seen the others because I think, the Mia Farrow/Robert Redford version can't be improved upon. I'm glad you concur having seen the others, Megan.

>83 msf59: Mark, I should have also mentioned that my entire Folio Society collection, whether they be books I've already read or not, were purchased with the idea that I would probably want to read those tomes more than once, so that right there adds quite a few more to the "To Reread" collection (close to 200 more books, in fact)!

>84 Crazymamie: Mamie, I got the audiobook for The Shipping News from the library, but I think if I hadn't gotten it for free I wouldn't have wanted to plonk down one of my precious credits to get it from Audible, based on the sample. I'm really enjoying her newest release right now, great narration again.

>86 Dianekeenoy: Same here Diane, 4.5 stars for Salt to the Sea. It grabbed me much more than her also very good Between Shades of Grey.

>87 jnwelch: Joe, the book grew on me really quickly. I didn't really know what it was about until I was about a quarter of the way through and read the publisher's summary. At first I was a bit cool about it, but obviously that didn't last too long!

Off for a long session of drawing in a minute, but just wanted to share this quote from an NPR interview with writer Annie Proulx about Barkskins:

On her decision to kill some characters off in violent, excruciating ways

I was myself surprised at the unusual ways that people died in past centuries — different kinds of accidents and so forth. So now when we see that a logger was caught in the cleft of a tree or that someone froze to death on his way back home in an ice storm aboard a ship, we're rather amazed. But no, these things happened to people. ... I mean, if you've got to kill off a character, you might as well do it with a bit of panache.

>88 Smiler69: I put Barkskins in my audible wish list the day it was released. I'll be looking to see what you think of it in the end. The accent in the sample seemed a little extreme . . .

>91 Cariola: Deborah, I was concerned about the accent becoming an issue, especially as I'm less tolerant than most when in comes to bad French accents and awful pronunciation of French words, but I'm finding the narrator is doing a good job of it. The French accent is convincing enough and of course only comes up in the dialogues. I'm really enjoying it so far now I'm maybe a fifth of the way in...

Hello Ilana. I am taking advantage of a cold and overcast Saturday to get caught up with some threads. To answer your question to me back on your previous thread, my copy of Good Evening, Mrs Craven is a Persephone Classics. Not sure if that is the one you have. I tend to get confused when they add things like "Classics" to the publication.

Happy new thread! You are doing great with your Bingo cards!

>30 Smiler69: - Amazing audiobook haul!

Relationships can be tough (says one who has just had an argument with her other half). Sorry to read of your change in relationship status and that Pierre doesn't want to remain friends post breakup.

>57 Smiler69: - Wonderful job on the drawing!

Wishing you a lovely weekend.

>93 lkernagh: Thanks so much for dropping by Lori. I think you probably have the Persephone Classics cover. Their standard editions all come in a grey slipcover with a textile print on the overleaf, whereas their 'classics' line come with an illustrated cover. Both are wonderful.

I wasn't too concerned about completing the Bingo challenge, but now I see we're only halfway through the year and I have so many categories covered, I just may make a little effort to read books in the categories I didn't think I'd fill in. Just because... we never have enough reading challenges, do we?!

Speaking of the drawing, it's nearly finished now and there are good chances I'll be able to start on something new sometime this week. Here are the latest developments, as just posted on FB:

  
Metro Series #11: Reflections. I'm not sure what this piece will be called in the end, but it's almost finished. Everything is in place, just working on finishing touches now.

>94 Smiler69: Great!

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

Fantastic!

That's an amazing reflection in the window. Well done.

Ilana, I am so fascinated by your talent. I have to ask you: are these commissioned pieces or do you this on your own? Do you sketch quickly while riding the subway? I ask because just today, I was riding the subway here in Toronto and was startled to see artwork in the trains, called *Art in Transit - Sketching the Line*. It reminded me of what you were doing though not nearly as detailed or exquisite. After getting home, I had to google and found out that this is a project in several cities, not just in Canada. Here is a link, though it's from last year. I couldn't find a 2016 version. Interesting that Montreal is not on that list :

http://www.artintransit.ca/archives/portfolio/sketching-line-march-2015

I realize that your work is far more detailed but because your subjects are on the subways, I made that connection.

I wish I had some artistic talent.....

>95 jnwelch: >96 LizzieD: >97 lkernagh: >98 catarina1: Thanks for your encouraging comments, friends. I'm excited about the prospect of starting a new art project in the coming week. As nice as it is to finish a piece, it's hard not to get completely fed up of looking at the same artwork for weeks at a time!

>98 catarina1: Catarina, I like the way those reflections bring in more depth and perspective to the whole piece. It certainly made for an interesting challenge!

>99 jessibud2: Shelley, everybody has their own talents, and there are plenty of things I'm useless at. That being said, drawing is a skill that can be learned, the same way one can learn cooking or embroidery, say. Drawing is just something I picked up along the way, then neglected for decades, and finally came back to with a vengeance. The Metro series is self-directed. It just started from one drawing, which gave me the idea for the series. I want to create a couple of dozen of these, and then will hopefully find a gallery space to exhibit them in. Thanks for the link the Art in Transit. Really interesting project. I don't work from sketches, but from photos, which is what allows me to work in so much detail. I'm interested in recreating moments that would otherwise be completely unmemorable, even though sometimes I 'invent' those moments by combining elements from more than one photograph. In this instance though, I was able to work from a single photo. The woman in the photo is a friend of mine who happens to work as an artist's model (this is how I originally met her). The other characters in the drawing are 'walk-on extras', I guess you could say! :-)

Book #120: ♫ Barkskins by Annie Proulx
Source: Audible.com
Edition: Simon & Schuster Audio (2016), Unabridged MP3; 26h00
Read for: American Author Challenge, June TIOLI #13: Read a book which you have a specific reason to read
Original publication ldate: 14 June 2016

Just finished this novel a short while ago, as I was putting some of the finishing touches on my latest drawing. Barkskins is a multi-generational saga, but the main character of the story is the forest—the ancient forests that covered the world and most of North America before the settlers arrived and decided they must conquer the forest as well as the native Indians who had been living in peaceful harmony with the ancient trees before the arrival of the colonizers. The story begins with two French settlers who have signed on as indentured servants to work in New France. They are the originators of two 'dynasties': the Sels, and the Dukes. The Dukes are descendent from Charles Duquet, who literally escapes from his obligations into the woods, and through years of travel and trading, and an eventual marriage to a wealthy Dutch woman, establishes a foresting company that will operate over several generations and be partly responsible for the clear-cutting and deforestation of North America and New Zealand, from the 17th through the 21st century. The Sels are descendants from René Sel, who is forced into a marriage with a native Micmac woman and therefore fathers mixed-heritage children, who are all faced with the problems plaguing the native Indians as the settlers methodically took away their lands and their rights, striving strive to keep their Micmac origins alive despite the overwhelming challenges and persecution they face.

By necessity, some of the characters weren't as fully developed as others, and I found the huge cast of characters quite daunting, though there is a helpful family tree provided with the book (and comes as as a pdf chart with the audiobook). I had to refer to this often, but eventually it ceased to be an issue as a handful of characters were fully developed and came to the fore, carrying the bulk of the story with them. Proulx clearly wanted to show how the white Colonialists, motivated by greed and hubris, systematically destroyed forest land which they assumed was endless and would continue to regenerate itself. Of course we now know otherwise and are suffering the consequences of events which Proulx makes clear originated from the very beginning of the discovery of the Americas by the Europeans.

It's too early right now for me to decide on a rating. I very much wanted to love this story, but found it somewhat overwhelming at times, and the environmental message, while it is one I think is important to keep in mind, seemed overbearing at times, if not always explicitly stated. The word 'Barkskins' is an invention by Proulx, who says in an NPR interview that she's not entirely sure where the word originated, admitting she might have coined it herself, and that (her novel) "was Barkskins before even the first word was written." (http://www.npr.org/2016/06/10/481449357/annie-proulx-s-bloody-new-novel-barkskins-is-about-more-than-deforestation)

The audio version is much recommended. The narrator handled the various accents very well, including the French accents at the beginning of the tale.

***

I didn't think I had it in me to write a review right now, as I'm totally exhausted and ready for bed. So it is what it is... will probably want to edit it a bit when I'm more fully awake tomorrow.

I was having a bit of a ponder for a suitable title for your latest super work but then I thought it would be rather more fun to wait and see what you decide to call it.

Have a lovely weekend.

>102 PaulCranswick: Oh yes, Paul, if you have suggestions, please DO share them. Most of my titles are very straightforward and suggested themselves to me before I've laid pencil to paper, but this one escapes me somehow.

I have a title suggestion: Transported. The young lady is being transported by the train, by her book, and by the music on her iPod.

>104 Cariola:- I like that suggestion!

>104 Cariola: >105 jessibud2: Thank you, I'll definitely keep that one in mind.

Happy Sunday, Ilana! Your Reflections drawing may be my favorite. Great job!

I just skimmed your review of Barkskins. I always want to know very little, about a book I plan on reading but I did see you had mixed feelings. I think you found enough to admire, to keep my interest. That is good news!

>107 msf59: Hi Mark, it'll be interesting to see all my drawings gathered together on wall surfaces eventually, to form an impression of the whole series. I'm glad my latest drawing is your favourite. Should always be that way! :-)

The one thing I'll say about Barkskins I don't think will constitute any kind of spoiler is that I think Proulx took on a bit too much and tried to fit in too many people in what perhaps she should have developed into a series. But then, I hadn't realized that she's getting on in years, so perhaps that idea was not practical for her.

I have not read all of her work but it seems like this is Proulx's most ambitious project. Maybe it was too much for the old gal? Grins...

My version of Heart of Darkness is narrated by Scott Brick. I do not think you are a fan of him are you? I think he is doing a serviceable job but his affecting English accent might drive you nuts.

I wish I could have heard the Branagh version.

>100 Smiler69: - Thanks, Ilana, for the insight into your process. Always fascinating to me. I must have been an artist in a previous life because I am always drawn to specific art forms, process, mood etc. Just can't execute it, can't get it out of my hands! My mom is an artist and I did not inherit a single molecule from her, except maybe the appreciation. ;-)

>109 msf59: Yes, the publisher blurb says something about Barkskins being Proulx' Moby Dick, and apparently took ten years to write. I think Scott Brick is very good, depending on the book. I wouldn't choose him to narrate any of the British classics, because doesn't make sense to me to hear them read in an American accent. But that's just me, of course. Otherwise I think he's very good, but perhaps not among my big favourites.

>110 jessibud2: It's said hereditary traits often skip a generation, Shelley, but I have to say that if your mom transmitted to you a love and appreciation of art, then she did a great job!

***

    

Listening to The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf, which I picked up as an Audible Daily Deal recently, and happens to be perfect for this month's Natural Science topic over at the Non Fiction Challenge. I'm thankful to Suz for putting together this challenge, which is encouraging me to fit in a LOT more NF than I ever did before. Fascinating to read about this hugely influential scientist who among other things, inspired Darwin to get on the HMS Beagle in the first place! and has somehow fallen into obscurity. Interesting observations about some of the very famous people he knew and events from the early 19th century as well.

Also, picked up volume containing all the Maigret short stories by Georges Simenon from the library, and reading it bit by bit during my bedtime reading session. This and Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin are nice treats to browse from on a daily (nightly) basis. So many gems in the Calvin Trillin. Strongly recommended.

>112 DianaNL: Thanks Diana! Wishing the same to you too!

***



Revisited Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx last night on audio with Campbell Scott narrating. Once again, I was blown away with how much her characters go through and just how much story she manages to pack into this incredibly short novella. It's really no more than a short story, but does it ever pack a punch. Not that I should be making unfair comparisons, but somehow, that hour or less of story affected me much more than 20 hours of Barkskins. Or maybe it's just the concentrated effect which leaves such an impression. I don't think I need to tell anyone the story is about two rough cowboys falling in love, do I? Definitely recommended, for the force of the writing. ★★★★½

Hi Ilana, your artwork is stunning, as always. I can just imagine the effect that having a group of these Subway drawings hanging together will have. I see you are reading up a storm, it's been fun jumping ahead of each other on the TIOLI Meter, along with Joyce and Paul. I think this has inspired me to read more books than usual, but I am a little bogged down right now with a couple of chunksters.

>114 DeltaQueen50: I know what you mean about chunksters, Judy. I've got The Piano Man's Daughter, and now Career of Evil, both at around 500 pages, kind of bogging me down too. I'm especially eager to finish the latter. I just posted a semi-rant on Mamie's thread about CoE:

I'm nearly finished with Career of Evil and must say, not for the first time, that 'Robert Galbraith's' books make me deeply uncomfortable. And it makes me even more uncomfortable to think that so many people love this stuff. I personally dislike thinking about, or being in the mind of psychopaths, and some of the issues the author raises, such as people who actually want to lose a limb in this latest novel, are truly very very sick and twisted, deeply disturbing. I'm making myself finish this book, because I need some resolution, but I don't think I'll be reading the other upcoming books in the series. What's kept me going was Cormoran and Robin, but they come with a package that frankly freaks me out. There. I've spoken my peace and will now copy/paste onto my own thread. Will be interested in your response, since you say you truly loved this book. I'm flummoxed.

eta: and yes, it's been fun skipping over each other on the TIOLI meter!

>115 Smiler69: Wow, that sounds like something I would definitely avoid (but I probably wouldn't even think about reading it anyway).

>116 Cariola: Yes, I've finished the book now and glad it's over. It's really a shame, because I really like the two main characters in the series, and want to find out how their relationship evolves, but the last two books in the Cormoran Strike series have featured some truly deranged individuals that I'd rather not have as potential nightmare visitors. I do enjoy a good thriller once in a while, but don't need to keep up to date on all the latest releases either.

Hi, Ilana! Sorry, about the mix-up about Scott Brick. You must have been disappointed in something he narrated. I have mixed feelings about him, myself. I think he is over-rated but I did like his narration on Heart of Darkness.

I NEED to get to The Silkworm. I have no idea, why I am dragging my feet on that one.

BTW- I did get an audio copy of Barkskins, so I'll be checking it out for myself, in a few months.

Howdy Ilana! It's been way too long. Thank you for coming by my thread and checking on me. It means a lot. I'm very sorry to hear that you and Pierre are no longer together.

I plan to read Moby Dick next year in January so I am very interested in all books related to or inspired by Moby Dick. I think I may try to tackle it like Amber did with the Big read Moby Dick podcast project. A different narrator reads every chapter. Lots of good ones, including Stephen Fry and Benedict Cumberbatch. Here is the link www.mobydickbigread.com

I remember all too well today why I spent the better part of my adult life avoiding the news. The news is always worrisome, seldom, if ever, good. I get worried sick, as today, now the Brexit results are in. I'm very concerned about the rise of the right on a global level, and this latest development doesn't bode well for other countries where national sentiment is growing stronger every day. With the Trump menace in place as a continual refrain these days... I really ought to consider adopting the much more comfortable ostrich stance and stick to my books.

And that's about as much political commentary as you're likely to ever find on one of my threads, but there it is.

***



I picked up and finished Last Night at the Lobster, my first Stewart O'Nan book last night. Will there be more by this author for me? I don't know, but possibly? This novella describes the last night of operation of a Red Lobster restaurant which is scheduled for permanent closure the next day. The manager, Manny DeLeon has always taken pride in running a tight ship while treating his employees well, and as he starts his shift, is unsure that his staff will turn up for their last night on the job on time, if at all. He's got a lot more than work on his mind too, as they are days away from Christmas, and he's got personal relationship issues to resolve, having had an affair with one of his waitresses while his girlfriend is pregnant with his first child and he can't make up his mind to do the 'right' thing and marry her. I've seen O'Nan described as the working class bard, or something to that effect, and it's true enough he makes the details and goings on of this last night at the Lobster interesting, despite, or maybe because of the commonplace setting. It's not a masterpiece, but it's a piece of solid (short) fiction all the same. ★★★½ (Book #124)

I've been listening to A Country Road, A Tree, the latest release from Jo Baker of Longbourn fame. While I strongly recommend the latter, I'm not quite sure what to make of this novel, and wondering at this point whether I have the patience to stick with it. It's a historical novel set in France during WWII. The main protagonist is an unnamed Irishman, the story is delivered in the present tense and the writing has a highly impressionistic quality which is strongly hinted at in the title itself. There isn't much emphasis put on advancing the story (there is a woman, he joins the resistance, their cell is discovered and they break up their activities, he is doing his best to survive the war at this point), so much as building up a set of impressions and details, which can be very interesting I'm sure if one is in the mood for that sort of thing, which I'm obviously not right now as I'm not being grabbed by it at all, and in fact wondering why I should give it another three hours of my life. The up side is that Jo Baker does write beautifully, and the audiobook is performed by David Rintoul, who really has a wonderfully soothing voice, which in itself feels like it has therapeutic qualities. For that alone, I'm tempted to pursue the audiobook to the end. In any case, I doubt I will much change my mind about the novel if I do finish it, so let this be a review of sorts.

eta: well I did finish it, finally. Had I read the publisher's summary supplied on the OverDrive site, I would have known that this story is loosely based around Samuel Beckett's wartime experience. Then an unknown young writer, he had worked with James Joyce, translating some of his work and was struggling to put words together on paper. James Joyce is part of the narrative here, which I guess should have been a tip-off that the unnamed author was someone equally well-known. In any case, my overall impression hasn't changed. Beautiful writing, but completely centred on details and impressions. The overall effect felt claustrophobic somehow, but perhaps that is just me. I know at least one LTer, Charlotte (@charl08) really loved this book, so please don't let my take on this book influence you. ★★★½

Just some random thoughts here, Ilana. I'm caught up with you once again and am sorry about the breakup with Pierre. It's too bad the friendship part couldn't continue but men in general seem to find this hard. Poor Charley. I'm sure he will get over it as you are the anchor in his new life. He is such a darling. I'm glad your loving discipline is paying off.

I have Barkskins waiting for me at the library. I hope we have some cooler weather coming up as this would be the perfect book to read outside in my new "park" area. We have lots of trees on the north side of our house which is where we put up the swing for the grandkids. They want to spend lots of time out there when they visit and have been calling it Grandma's Park. I look forward to spending time reading out there during our breaks from high temps and humidity.

I had a break from the news while I was in Colorado last week. It's amazing how well I did without knowing all the terrible things going on in the world. I particularly needed a reprieve from the Trump/Clinton fiasco. For the first time since I turned 21, I am flummoxed about how to cast my vote in a presidential election.

I'm enjoying the stories in Close Range this month. I see that Brokeback Mountain is the last one. I enjoyed the movie when it came out years ago and now I'm looking forward to Annie's "punch". I do enjoy her writing. Have you come up with a rating for Barkskins yet?

I continue to enjoy following the progression of your subway drawings. Your talent is amazing and I thank you for sharing it with us.

>121 Smiler69: I've been wondering about that one. I knew it was based on Beckett's time in France, and I read somewhere that the author attempted to create the kind of atmosphere typical of his work (which is often, as you note here, more details and hardly any action). I took a seminar in Beckett in grad school--but that doesn't make me any more interested in reading this book. I will likely pass unless I read some reviews that change my mind.

>122 Donna828: Donna, I often need to take a breather from the news, especially the political. I don't much care for either candidate, but to me it's pretty clear which one will do less damage in four years. That's not a very optimistic way to vote, but there is too much at stake just to flip a coin.

>122 Donna828: What a lovely collection of random thoughts, Donna! Feel free to free-associate on my thread any time you like! :-)
I managed to get through to Pierre the other day when I sent him an email telling him I'd like to recuperate my things after all. I thought he might leave my request unanswered, and gave him the option of leaving my things on my balcony if he wanted to avoid a meeting, and he said he'd contact me at the beginning of the week and come over, signing off with an expression of caring. That's the biggest development in the last three weeks, and I'm hopeful it means he's not averse to meeting up once in a while. But if so, as you say, I'll just put it down to him being typically manly in that way. He's not the most flexible person I've ever met, so I can't reasonably expect him to act out of character just for me.

Your Grandma's Park sounds just lovely, and you make me want to join you over there, if only we weren't so far apart. When my mum was still living outside Montreal, she and her husband were living in a country house with a bit of land and she did quite a bit of gardening and had set aside my own little corner in a lovely shady spot. I miss having that kind of private space to go to, but then public parks often offer all kinds of little spots one can claim for one's own for an hour or two as need be.

Annie Proulx strikes me as probably being one tough cookie, despite the fact she's so tuned into the full range of human emotions. I really turned this month into a sort of Annie Proulx festival which was completely unplanned and just sort of came together. I ended up giving Barkskins a rating of 3.5, which I think is a fair one, considering the various impressions it made on me. I wanted very much to adore it, and ended up just liking it well enough. I'm sure there will be a wide range of reactions to this work and am curious to see what you'll make of it.

Thanks for the comments on my subway drawings. Usually I don't ask myself too many questions about it, such as why and what for and so on, because those tend to run me to the ground pretty quick. It's the first time in my artistic life I've latched on to a project quite this strongly and I keep telling myself I just need to hold on and go for the full ride, but on days when I'm feeling insecure I allow myself to wonder what it's all for and whether I'm not just royally wasting my time with such a mundane project, which essentially boils down to reproducing photographs. This happened a couple of days ago as I was looking around for my next metro subject and was dismayed to find I found the whole thing completely uninspiring. Thankfully, I've gone through this impression often enough that I recognized it for what it was, i.e. just a passing things that I just had to ride out. By next day I felt a bit more conviction, but it certainly isn't always smooth riding. This is where audiobooks become essential: forces me to shut down all those negative voices in my head when I'm trying to make something.

Oh dear... I have gone on, haven't I? lol

>123 Cariola: Deborah, I wondered, after the fact, whether my general impressions of A Country Road, A Tree would have been any different had I known it was about Samuel Beckett all along, and of course there's no way to know that for sure. I do think I would probably have been a bit more patient with what Jo Baker was trying to do, that it was an homage to his stylistic approach and so on. As you probably know, I've only listened to his Waiting for Godot, but that gave me a good enough impression of his approach. Somehow though, I think in the end I would have walked away with the same conclusion: a whole pile of detail and very little story isn't really my thing.

As for the US vote, of course you would be in your rights to say I need to butt out and mind my own business as a Canadian citizen, but I am extremely worried about the worldwide impact that a Trump presidency would have. For that reason I very much hope that all those folks hesitating right now will do the right thing come November and vote en masse to ensure to keep Trump OUT of the White House. Otherwise, that outcome can only have dire consequences.

... I haven't posted any of my anti Trump memes here, as I have done on FB, but here is one I reposted yesterday—a reaction to the Donald's telling the Scots they did the right thing in 'voting to get out of the EU' (when in truth they did the exact opposite), which I think is too precious to keep away from my LT friends!


I especially like "Ferret Wearing Shitgibbon". :-)

>126 Smiler69: I rather like "cockwomble" myself.

>125 Smiler69: As the vote for Brexit proved, we are all linked economically and politically. And you are right, Trump's FU isolationist attitude towards everyone else is hardly a recipe for world peace, cooperation, and mutual respect. I may not be thrilled with the recipient of my vote, but I'll have no hesitation to mark the box for Hillary when compared to the alternative.

>127 Cariola: I hope all those masses of people who equally don't like Hilary (to whatever degree), but know Trump is an insane choice will do like you, Deborah. I dearly hope and wish that we'll all be able to look back on this time and laugh that Trump was even ever a real prospect as presidential material!

>122 Donna828: - For the first time since I turned 21, I am flummoxed about how to cast my vote in a presidential election.

Are you actually considering voting for Trump? I must say, you are the first person I have encountered who is actually wavering. Or admitting to wavering. I wish you luck. I can't say I agree, though, even though Clinton would normally not be my first choice. Granted, I am Canadian so don't have a say but we are watching (with trepidation!)

>126 Smiler69: - Priceless! :-)

>113 Smiler69: I loved this short book too. It was heart-squishing.

>126 Smiler69: 'shitgibbon'- not an insult I have heard before! But in this context, more an insult to the gibbon than anyone else ;) Either way, I love it.

>129 jessibud2: I've never been this nervous about a US election before. Ok... maybe when Bush jr. was in the race, but I was too young to really care or understand somehow. I think the whole world is holding its breath at this point.

>131 LovingLit: 'heart-squisihing'. Like that one.

Don't you feel sorry for the ferrets too? Think of all the innocent creatures the man must have had murdered just to cover that ugly (orange) head...

>77 Smiler69: I love that list! Truly, it's a great collection.

>101 Smiler69: You did it. You did Barkskins on audio. Nice comments. I remain in the queue at the library for this one but I have to admit that I'm not in a great hurry to get it. The reviews from LTers I trust (including you) have been somewhat mixed, and the Seattle Times had some similar caveats to yours: the moral of the story almost undoes the story. Still, I will give it a try when my turn comes up.

I still have Longbourne on the TBR shelves....

>115 Smiler69: Hmm - to date I hadn't read any of J. K. Rowling's/Robert Galbraith's Cormoran Strike books as they sounded like they might be too gritty for me and I think you've just confirmed that.

>120 Smiler69: 'I get worried sick, as today, now the Brexit results are in.' And it just seems to have got worse since Thursday...

Glad to hear you've had some contact with Pierre and hope it means he might be willing to have at least occasional contact with you and Charley.

>133 EBT1002: Ellen, seeing your comment, I just looked over that list again, and must say I'm eager to reread all of those, and quite a few would make any such list I put together (thinking of the great classics; Jane Auster, Brontë, Collins, Eliot, for example), but I'm sure said list would vary according to my moods. Mostly, I'd need to just make it longer to fit more in! :-)

I really don't want to discourage anyone from reading Barkskins, because of course, being an Annie Proulx novel, it has lots of merit. All the same, I'll look out for the Seattle Times review you mention. Haven't read any other reviews save for that NPR interview I think I posted the link to.

Longbourne was a true joy. Though now I think of it, there is quite a bit of it describing a soldier's life which is not light stuff by any means. In any case, that's another one for the 'To Reread' collection!

>134 souloftherose: Hi dear Heather. Good to hear from you as I know you've been struggling with fatigue and stress of late. Honestly, having followed your reading preferences for a good while, I'd say you're probably better off staying away from the Cormoran Strike series. 'Gritty' is a word that definitely describes the general mood of these books; I'd be tempted to add they are extremely gruesome and peopled with very sick individuals, which I don't think is purely a matter of personal opinion. This one made me yearn for the cozy mysteries of Agatha Christie, D. L. Sayers and their sister golden age writers.

More on Pierre follows:

***

I feel like a big huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, which is what Pierre said himself in a brief email to me last night in response to a note I sent him. He came over as arranged yesterday afternoon with a bag of things of mine he had at his place, and I had likewise prepared a bag of thing to return to him (lots and lots of DVDs—he's a real movie buff). I invited him in for a lemonade, which most people wouldn't refuse these days, as we're experiencing sweltering heat here in Montreal, and he ended up staying for a good little while while we chatted about one thing and another. He's not been doing well at all in these past few weeks, it seems, and is having trouble getting started on a painting. We went on a little stroll with Charley and left each other with friendly kisses on the cheek and a nice hug, saying we'd keep in touch one way or another. Charley was of course very happy to see him (it seemed reciprocal). Pierre has a lot of health problems, which have followed a major health crisis he had a few years ago, when he was hospitalised for a month and came close to dying several times. Countless blood transfusions. He's always been incredibly energetic, he tells me, but has basically experiencing chronic fatigue ever since. Understandably, he hasn't much energy left over for the emotional demands a relationship entails. But it's clear we were both extremely relieved to see each other in a friendly setting and make peace again.

On the reading front, I thought The Power of Habit was filled with helpful insights and suggestions. I'm not a big one for self-help or 'personal growth' books, but I'm not averse to them once in a while when they seem to offer helpful advice. I need to stop getting up to eat cereal during the night (a habit that's resulted in extra weight, obviously). I wake up countless times every night, and started munching away my stressful dreams in the last few years. I also want to start exercising regularly. Not so much obsessed with losing weight as wanting to make sure I don't keep packing on more pounds. I'm accepting of my curves, but wouldn't be happy with any more. Already, the sensation of my thighs rubbing together on a really hot, sweat-making day is unpleasant enough as it is. To think I had liposuction to remove that 'extra' fat in my 30s! Would rather spend all that money on books now. And Diane von Furstenberg wrap dresses: my latest extravagance, which I posted about on FB yesterday, after spoiling myself with one such dress which I'm justifying as a pre-birthday gift to celebrate my curves...

>135 Smiler69: So glad you met with Pierre and were able to put a better closure on the situation (and see a possible friendship down the road).

The dress looks wonderful on you!

>136 Cariola: Deborah, I felt like our meet-up yesterday was more in keeping with the respect and appreciation we've shown each other since we first met, so of course it's a huge relief to part on friendly terms. I'm in love with that dress, and went and got myself a black one too since they're on sale... not that I can afford either of them. The black one doesn't fit all that well (as I found out when I tried it on again at home this evening), so I'll see if the size down fits, because it's one of those perfect LBDs (little black dresses) that is classic and a wardrobe staple that won't ever go out of style. Otherwise, I'll just have to 'make do' with the dress shown above! It's a tough life I tell 'ya! :-)

Hi Ilana - so pleased to read that you and Pierre cleared the air a little. Love the wrap dress and sounds like the black one would be a great addition to your wardrobe.

Good morning, Ilana. I'm so pleased to hear that Pierre came over and you had that rather sweet time together (and for Charley, too!). It feels like some closure occurred and this will help you maintain some kind of connection but also to move on.

I will definitely read Barkskins.

Hi Ilana, that dress looks fabulous on you! Everyone needs a LBD (or a navy print dress) as you never know what's around the corner.

Happy for you that you and Pierre were able to get together and start to define your relationship. Having someone whom you each spent so much time with suddenly disappear from your life leaves such a big hole, so glad that you are taking some steps toward friendship.

S**t! I haven't been here (or anywhere else much) in quite a while, so I read it only now and wasn't here to send you {{{hugs}}} earlier, I'm sorry. Sending some extra ones now.

Hi, Ilana!

>126 Smiler69: Love these! What a doofus he is (I'm putting it a bit milder).

>138 avatiakh: Hi Kerry, it's funny how seeing Pierre and clearing the air with him seems to have truly brought me closure, because somehow I've felt I've been enjoying my aloneness a lot more since. I guess just knowing I have the option to call him up if I want takes away the restriction I felt when we were out of touch completely.

I really don't know about the black dress. The fit isn't right, and as it is, I really shouldn't have purchased the first one as seen on the pic, as my credit card is quite overloaded as it is. Instead of rushing to the store to try another size today, I'll give it a day or more... that way if the other sizes are still there and one of them fits well, it's meant to be; otherwise I'll be just as well just returning it and clearing the Visa a bit.

>139 EBT1002: Ellen, I guess my response just above applies to your comment perfectly. Closure is a good thing. It can so rarely be obtained somehow (in my experience anyway). A luxury I am grateful to have this time.
I will be curious to see what you make of Barkskins when you're ready to comment on it.

>140 DeltaQueen50: as you never know what's around the corner.

That was exactly my reasoning, Judy. I have several fantastic dresses that have served me well in the past whenever I've had to clean up nicely for any kind of event, but they are all much too small for me now. I've never bought myself any pricy frocks when I've been on the higher end of the scale, so as not to 'encourage myself' to keep the weight on, but now I think I may as well have something nice to wear whatever my size. Plus, I tend to buy myself a nice dress every year sometime in June, thinking to have something nice to wear on my b-day in July.

>141 Deern: Don't worry about it Nathalie. I've not visited threads much so far this year, though now I'm single and have more free time again, I've started slowly (very slowly) doing the rounds. Appreciate the load of hugs, and happy to be over the worst hump.

>143 Smiler69: Yeah, I hesitated a bit to share that meme on my LT page precisely because of the strong language, Joe. Don't want to offend anyone... because of the saltiness. However, potentially offending Trump supporters isn't of much concern to me... considering how wrong-headed and morally corrupted the man is. Doofus is a nice all-round insult that definitely applies in this case too.

I'm 100% pleased to read that you and Pierre - and Charley! - had some pleasant time together. It's a real rip in the fabric of life when somebody you've been close to pulls out with bad feeling. Friendship is always better than not!!!
And you know I think the dress looks fabulous!

>126 Smiler69: Lol.

I've read a lot of Stewart O'Nan, and although I know Last Night at the Lobster was very popular, it's probably my least favorite of his (well, not probably, definitely).

Sorry to read of your breakup, but I hope a friendship is able to grow.

>145 LizzieD: Oh... Charley was so pleased to see his old friend... barking with joy, he was. Very sweet.

>146 Copperskye: Curious to know which were your favourite Stewart O'Nan books. You're making me think I need to discover more of his work, Joanne.

Just saw the news about Elie Wiesel's passing. I've been meaning to read/listen to his Night, Dawn, Day trilogy for ages and have just reserved it all from the library, as narrated by George Guidal. I'm sure he does a great job of it. RIP Elie Wiesel.

Here is something very spooky. Today, we had a small LT meetup. There were 8 of us initially, then 7. After our brunch, we went to BMV, a terrific bookstore across the street from where we ate. Cyrel (torontoc) and I were strolling the aisles and we stopped in front of a book by Wiesel. I asked her, is he still alive? She said yes. Then a few hours later I heard this news. I nearly did a double take.

I read several books by Wiesel many years ago. I just googled and the New York Times already has this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/world/europe/elie-wiesel-auschwitz-survivor-an...

RIP indeed. He was one of a kind

>149 jessibud2: That is indeed a very odd incident, Shelley. I just watch the short video on the Times obit page and found it very affecting. Growing up in Israel and going to school there as a child, we were very much aware of the holocaust and were taken to exhibits and shown documentaries which were honestly traumatizing to see at age ten or twelve. For that reason, it took me many years before I was willing to look at movies or read anything that treated on that subject. My father, who lost many family members to the camps, still refuses to expose himself to anything treating on the holocaust, though he himself was spared all that by the sheer and incredible spirit of my grandmother, who somehow managed to flee Russia with her two small children during the war. All of that probably explains why I haven't read Wiesel's books yet, but I think now I am ready for them.

will post review on next thread.

can't I start another thread yet?

ah, here we go.