avatiakh (Kerry)'s literary travels, part 3

Reading in cafes, a recent indulgence was reviewing cafes across my city. I started because I had a particularly bad coffee at one of my regular haunts and the barista's second attempt was as bad as the first. I've learnt fast that visiting different cafes isn't always a great idea and that once you find a few good places then stick with them.

Currently reading:
Falling for Science: asking the big questions by Bernard Beckett
The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher (iPod audio)
The Book of Intimate Grammar by David Grossman

I'm also over in the category challenge group:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/205430

1: Spotlight on Terry Pratchett
2: Time Out 1000 Books to Change Your Life
3: Serious Fiction
4: Hemingwayesque
5: Israel & Diaspora - Jewish & Israeli fiction
6: International Fiction - books in translation
7: Fiction: antiheroes/cult/unreliable narrators
8: Fiction: epistolary, diary or journal
9: Historical / Sagas
10: Favourites - writers, genres, series etc
11: Scifi with a focus on Peter F. Hamilton
12: Fantasy with focus on Dragons
13: Literary Collections - fairy tales, folktales, short stories, essays
14: Nonfiction Light: Travel & Food
15: Nonfiction Heavy: History, Politics & Science
16: Illustrated and books for the young
Overflow

This will be for the GeoCAT, the BAC, and the ANZAC challenge:

Jan GeoCAT on South America:
Andean Express by Juan de Recacoechea (Bolivia)
Clandestine in Chile by Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia)
The secret in their eyes by Eduardo Sacheri (Argentina) - loved the film

British Author's Challenge:
January
Susan Hill - Strange Meeting
Barry Unsworth - The songs of the kings
February
William Dalrymple - From the Holy Mountain - READING
Mar/Apr/May/Jun/Jul

ANZAC
Jan/Feb
James McNeish - Lovelock
Ronald Hugh Morrieson - Pallet on the floor
Jenny Pattrick - The Denniston Rose
Thomas Keneally - Gossip from the forest
Judith Armstrong - The French Tutor - READING
Kate Forsyth - The Beast's Garden
Mar/Apr
Hamish Clayton - The Pale North
Nine Parts Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women
May/Jun
Kickback by Garry Disher
Paydirt by Garry Disher
Deathdeal by Garry Disher
Crosskill by Garry Disher
Port Vila Blues by Garry Disher
The Fallout by Garry Disher
Wyatt by Garry Disher
The Heat by Garry Disher
Spinners by Anthony McCarten
Smith's Dream by C.K. Stead
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

Jul/Aug : http://www.librarything.com/topic/226042
Remembering Babylon by David Malouf
Shot by Sarah Quigley
Acid Song by Bernard Beckett
The Girl with the dogs by Anna Funder
Coming home in the dark by Owen Marshall

Sep/Oct
Coda by Thea Astley

@chatterbox's Nonfiction challenge here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/208642

January: Biography/Memoir/Autobiography
Memoirs of a Warsaw Ghetto Fighter by Kazik
The unexpected professor: An Oxford Life in Books by John Carey
February: History
The Reckoning: How the Killing of One Man Changed the Fate of the Promised Land by Patrick Bishop
The Ottoman Centuries by Lord Kinross - try for later in year
March: Travel
From the Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple - carry over from BAC Feb
April: Religion & Spirituality (Easter/Passover)
-
May: The Arts
Ways of Seeing by John Berger
June: Natural History/Environment/Health
H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald
July: Current Affairs
Making David into Goliath: How the World Turned Against Israel by Joshua Muravchik
Why Vote Leave by Daniel Hannan
August: Science and Technology

September: Philosophy/History of Ideas

October: Politics/Economics & Business/Commentary

November: Essays

December: Quirky/Who Knew?

___-

Planned reading for July:

Again lots of challenge reading, though as I put together this year's ANZAC challenge I'm more focused on that one. These lists are more guides as they get quite lengthy but are useful for referring back to.

carry overs from June
Scruffy by Paul Gallico
Port Vila Blues by Garry Disher (Wyatt #5)
A body in Barcelona by Jason Webster (Max Cámara #5)
The art of reading by Damon Young
Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn #2) - e-book

ANZAC:
Shot by Sarah Quigley
Acid Song by Bernard Beckett
All that I am by Anna Funder
BAC:
Birds of Passage by Bernice Rubens

Suzannes's Current Affairs Nonfiction challenge - July:
Exit Right: the people who left the left and reshaped the American century by Daniel Oppenheimer
Making David into Goliath: how the world turned against Israel by Joshua Muravchik

Book for review:
The heritage by Jack Michonik

Library books & TIOLI:
Waking lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen - Israel
Silver Bullets by Elmer Mendoza - crime
The girls in the velvet frame by Adèle Geras - childrens
The emergency zoo by Miriam Halahmy - children's based on true story
Vango: between earth and sky by Timothee de Fombelle

other library books:
To build a land by Sally Watson - children's
The Dog of Knots by Kathy Walden Kaplan - children's
Jordan and the dreadful golem by Karen Goldman - children's
Life from Elsewhere: journeys through world literature - essays
Reclaiming Travel by Ilan Stavans
After Midnight by Irmgard Keun - e-book
No Wind of Blame by Georgette Heyer - e-book
The Assault by Harry Mulisch - e-book
The Strangler Vine by M. J. Carter - e-book

others:
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
The Jewish Dog by Asher Krawitz
A constellation of vital phenomena by Anthony Marra
H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald - nonfiction
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Genesis 1948 by Dan Kurzman - nonfiction
The Book of Intimate Grammar by David Grossman

open for business

Wow, that was fast! Lol. Happy New Thread Kerry!

SO fast that I almost missed changing the thread topper from '2' to '3', caught that in time.

caught that in time.

Whew!

After seeing your opening photo, I just reserved Le collier rouge by Christophe Rufin on audio from the library. Read by the author. It's short and sweet, at just under 3.5 hours.

To continue the discussion about abridged/unabridged from your last thread, whenever I'm in doubt about audiobooks from the library (which they maddeningly often don't label properly), I check out the listing on Audible, as they are usually accurately identified as abridged or not. I've made a few rare exceptions and gotten a few abridged version of books—usually ones I've already read—because they feature narrators I particularly like. Derek Jacobi and Juliet Stevenson come to mind.

Happy New Thread, Kerry!

>10 ronincats: Hi Roni

>9 Smiler69: I usually check when I'm getting them, I just never thought about this one. The more I think about it the more I think I'll wait a few months and then read The Great Fortune as well as the other two. There are too many interesting characters in the book not too.

99) Scruffy by Paul Gallico (1962)
fiction
I found this an extremely entertaining novel, hilarious at times. 'Legend has it that as long as the Barbary apes roam the rock of Gibraltar, the territory will remain safely under British rule.' So this is a fictional story about how the last few remaining apes during World War Two fared and how the army set about increasing the population. Scruffy is the most despicable of the apes, he comes down into the town and creates havoc, and poor Gunner Lovejoy, Keeper of the Apes and Captain Bailey, OIC Apes (Officer in Charge of Apes) are not the most popular residents in Gibraltar. Into their lives steps Felicity, daughter of Admiral French and Major Clyde from the intelligence service, not to mention bumbling Treugang Ramirez, a Nazi sympathiser.
I've visited Gilbraltar several times and this book was a welcome revist.

Happy new thread! Scruffy looks like a fun read. :)

More thread greetings from me. I would never have guessed from the title Scruffy the topic of the book...

Happy new thread, Kerry!

Happy new thread, Kerry! Scruffy sounds interesting; I'll be on the lookout for it.

Happy new thread, Kerry, I like the pictures of books with coffee :-)

Oh, I didn't recognize the title, but I've read Scruffy many years ago--I remember the plot outline.

>12 avatiakh: Scruffy sounds like something I might enjoy. Adding it to the wishlist.

>13 nittnut: >14 charl08: >15 scaifea: >16 kidzdoc: Took me a while to really get into it due to the small font, but was quite hilarious once I got going.

>17 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. Thanks. I have to take 50 photos and review ten food places to become a neighbourhood expert. Adding the books turned it into an artistic endeavour. One more for you. While you quickly grow tired of taking the photos and many cafes serve lousy coffee, the site itself, Zomato, has been great for discovering good budget Asian eateries in my neighbourhood.

>18 ronincats: Hi Roni, I've enjoyed reading Paul Gallico, this is my third one for the year.

>19 Smiler69: Ilana, definitely good to have a few fun reads ready to pull off the shelf.

100) Port Vila Blues by Garry Disher (1995)
crime
Wyatt #5. Wyatt picks up a stunning Tiffany brooch in a burglary and discovers when he takes it to a fence that it's a hot item, already stolen in a previous burglary. Now he's suspected of being part of the magnetic drill gang and when he's targeted in a shooting decides to take the law into his own hands. Part of the book is set in Vanuatu. Still enjoying this series and this is the first in a 2-in-1 omnibus so I have The Fallout to follow on with.

A slightly belated happy new thread, Kerry. Have a lovely weekend. xx

101) A body in Barcelona by Jason Webster (2015)
crime
Chief Inspector Max Cámara #5. Okay, at last I'm up to date with a series. I'm enjoying these books about a Valencian detective. Max has moved from the murder squad and with his friend, Torres, are the new Special Crimes Unit. Their first case is the kidnapping & death of the 10 yr old illegitimate son of a supermarket magnate. The case leads them to Ceuta and Barcelona and uncovers an elaborate plot pertaining to Catalan independence.


102) The girls in the velvet frame by Adèle Geras (1978)
childrens
Delightful story set in pre-WW1 Jerusalem and about the 5 daughters of an impoverished widow. Rivka is almost 13 and about to take up a position at the nearby bakery, a match is being arranged for her with a boy from a good family. The other four daughters are aged from 3-10 yrs and their worries more everyday ones such as adopting a cat, feeding the neighbour's rabbit, visiting the old rabbi who lives in the shed in the garden etc. Their aunt is much more worldly and arranges for a photograph of the 5 girls so they can surprise their mother. Their brother has taken off to America and they have been waiting for almost a year to hear from him.

From a post by Adèle Geras on The History Girls blog: 'When I wrote my first full-length novel for children, THE GIRLS IN THE VELVET FRAME, the notion of 'research' never entered my head. I'd taken for inspiration this photograph of my mother and four of my aunts and gone from there. I'd asked my mother what had gone on during this visit to the photographer's studio and she had, oddly, no memory of it whatsoever. That gave me carte blanche. I could make up whatever I felt like...Where were my mother's three brothers? I turned these questions into a whole plot constructed around the search for a missing brother who's emigrated to the United States of America. I gave the girls the characters of my real aunts, or at least, I made them what I thought they might have been. So the characters were there in one form. I just had to change them from adults to children, a task which I found very enjoyable and in no way complicated. I had to situate the story somewhere so I used my grandmother's flat in Jerusalem, which I knew from earliest childhood.'

_
103) The Fallout by Garry Disher (1997)
crime
Wyatt #6. Second in the 2-in-1 omnibus edition, The Wyatt Butterfly. Wyatt's nephew turns up in this one. Raymond is also following a life of crime, he's the bush bandit, a robber of rural banks. Will they team up?
I've got two more in the series to read, Wyatt & The Heat, these are more recent publications as Disher revisited Wyatt in 2010 and 2015.

>23 avatiakh: That does seem like a photo that could spark the imagination - such different expressions. Love pictures from that era, I've been to a few exhibits of UK ones.

>25 charl08: She gave each sister such distinct personalities, it was quite the delight. I was happyto come across the blog post and find out that the photograph inspired the story as it plays such a central role in the book and is how they finally make contact with the missing brother.

104) The dog of knots by Kathy Walden Kaplan (2004)
childrens

Miyam and her mother moved from Jerusalem to live in the hills above Haifa after Mayim's father's death in the Six Day War. Six years later, 9 year old Mayim can't remember her father at all. On their street wanders every day an old stray dog with a very straggly and knotted coat, all the neighbours have a name for him as he visits for scraps. He disappears each day to a nearby wadi.
This is set just before and during the Yom Kippur War and is quietly a really great read about the effects of war at a child's level. In Israel, every generation has fought and the sacrifices of lost loved ones is present throughout the story. Kaplan injects lots of everyday Hebrew into the story, there's a glossary at the back, giving the young reader an immersion into Israeli culture. Political dissent and Israel's backstory are touched on in a neutral unobtrusive way and it's fitting that this story is set in Haifa, a peaceful city with a mixed population of Jews and Arabs. The old dog ties the story together in a warm hearted way.
This is a debut novel and I must see if Kaplan has written anything else.

_

Yesterday I visited The Legendary Hard to Find (but worth the effort) secondhand bookshop in Onehunga and came away with a few treasures -
Mephisto by Klaus Mann (son of Thomas) - I've been wanting to rewatch the film but this is probably better
A handful of dust by Evelyn Waugh
Lunch with a soldier by Derek Hansen - I've read the first in the Lunch with... series
Great New Zealand Arguments: ideas about ourselves ed. Russelll Brown - essays, speeches
The spectre of Alexander Wolf by Gaito Gazdanov - mainly because it's a beautiful Pushkin Press copy
Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra - good clean copy, must start this some day soon
Prophets without honour: a background to Freud, Kafka, Einstein and their world by Frederic Grunfeld - looks interesting & from an LT review 'This is a marvelous book for someone looking to expand a reading list. You come out of it with a list of titles a mile long'
Memoirs of an Assassin by 'Avner' - about the Stern Gang
Happy Alchemy: on the pleasures of music and theatre by Robertson Davies - nice edition

I spent the morning making my first visit to the Central Auckland Research Centre at the Auckland Libraries main branch to do a little research on my family history project. Well, I quickly gathered that I need to do my homework before coming though I managed to find some useful resources. Next visit I'll be more prepped.
I'll be visiting Adelaide in South Australia next month so want to visit the many sites where my ancestors settled when they arrived in 1839. I also became aware that I need to read a general history of South Australia and Adelaide in particular. I think Adelaide might have been a Wakefield colony like those in New Zealand, though I'm still not sure.
As my great x 3 & 4 grandfathers were publicans as well as farmers, I asked for a history of pubs in New Zealand and while the books themselves were not overly helpful they were fascinating. I have to get Tavern in the Town by James McNeish (ANZAC Jan/Feb author) out one time for a proper read, that one really stood out.

from the library:
audio cds of:
The dreaming void by Peter F. Hamilton - my audible copy disappeared, lucky I can get it from the library, though 18 cds are a chore to copy, still John Lee, narrator, is worth the effort
Johnson's Life of London:The People Who Made the City that Made the World by Boris Johnson - wanted to know a little more about Boris, but this seems like a good compromise, he narrates - 10cds
The Jaguar Children by John Vaillant - BB from Katie - 8cds

in the mail:
The Kalevala - my daughter is reading this Finnish epic and I thought she deserved her own copy
Heirs to forgotten kingdoms: Journeys Into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East by Gerard Russell

Last night I noticed a newish book being promoted on twitter, Cursed Legacy: The Tragic Life of Klaus Mann by Frederic Spotts. It sounds very interesting, apparently Thomas Mann was a bit of a paragon when it came to his children.
http://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/cursed-legacy-the-tragic-life-of-klaus-man...

105) Birds of Passage by Bernice Rubens (1982)
fiction
Read for the BAC challenge. A few years back I read many of Rubens' books, so had only 3 or 4 left to choose from Mt tbr for this challenge. I enjoyed this though it does have a few dark moments.
This one is described on the cover as 'a new comedy of manners' by the Guardian. It's about two newly widowed women embarking on a 21 day Mediterranean cruise. They've planned this trip, long before their husbands' deaths, always expecting to outlive their spouses. I'm finding it hard to comment on, because on one hand it is an excellent story focused on the cruise industry and the retirees who flock to them, on the other it deals with a darker side of preying on lonely older women.

I might have to pick up another before the month is out.

106) Vango: Between Sky and Earth by Timothee de Fombelle (2010 French) (2013 Eng)
YA
First of two books about Vango, a young man with a mysterious past. Full of adventure, villains, a zeppelin, monks, intrepid young women, honour, and love. Years before, Vango and his nanny are found on a beach on an island off the coast of Sicily. His parentage remains a mystery, the nanny has lost her memory but can speak several languages. As Vango grows it becomes clear his life is still in danger, so he sets off to discover the mystery of himself. This is set in 1930s Europe and was an exciting read.
I've requested the sequel Vango: A Prince without a Kingdom from the library.

>31 avatiakh: Love that cover.

Hard to find looks like the kind of place I'd like to visit. And great haul! I read the Alexander Wolf book in the Pushkin edition - really lovely.

Hope your family research continues to go well. An ancestor who ran a pub sounds interesting. I wonder if they would crop up in local newspapers (I thought of fights ending up in court, but perhaps for nicer reasons like sponsorship of events or business association meetings).

I've searched through PapersPast and pulled out quite a few mentions, usually for the annual licensing notice. Also found mention that they set up beverage tents at the annual Steeplechase Event, community picnics, hosted the Caledonian society events. They were also cousins of the founder one of the well known breweries in Edinburgh. I enjoy this as I worked in quality control at Lion Breweries here in NZ for a while.

Brought home from the library:

Indelible Shadows: film and the Holocaust - just want to browse this one
Shtum by Jem Lesser - interesting sounding novel
The Monstrous Child by Francesca Simon - childrens, #3 in her Norse Gods series, should be fun
The Wildings by Nilanjana Roy - this looks good, cats in Delhi
Golden Windows - Jerusalem stories for children by Adele Geras

and I'm enjoying The Secret Heiress by Luke Devenish, an Australian Gothic novel

Happy New Thread, Kerry! I hope all is well with you. Good to see you are busy with the books, which makes me happy.

>33 avatiakh: That's fascinating stuff about your ancestors. When the wind's blowing the right way you still get the hoppy smell where I used to live in Edinburgh - I've never asked about their archives although I remember going to the People's Museum and seeing photos etc about the workers in the breweries. Hope your Adelaide trip goes well.

I liked Shtum - from the comments made by the author based on his own experience with his son, which did make me read it a little differently to much of my fiction reading I think. Look forward to hearing what you think.

>31 avatiakh: >32 charl08: I agree. The cover of Vango is striking. The story also sounds mysterious and intriguing. thanks for sharing.

Vango sounds pretty exciting. Just looked at the library listing, and they have both books in the original French edition, either in two volumes or grouped into a single volume edition. I see the books are also available on Audible in the English version. Very tempted to borrow it NOW, but when will I ever read everything I've planned for?? These are the kinds of hard decisions we dedicated readers are faced with far too often... ;-)

eta: and yes, very nice cover.

> I see what you mean about planned reading, Smiler69. I've read a third of my planned reading for 2016, but the rest is nonficton stuff that is not calling to me at the moment.

>33 avatiakh: I love family history. I grew up listening to my Mother, Grandmother and G-grandmother talking into the night about their research. When we moved to NZ, my mother was excited to tell me that the sister of her Great-great grandmother had emigrated from Cornwall in the early-mid 1800's. They had been recruited from the tin mines to work in the gold mines. All she had was the birth and marriage record in Cornwall and the death record from Thames, NZ.
In April, we were driving from Coromandel up to Auckland, so we took a short detour to Thames and went to find her grave. We were wandering around the graveyard trying to locate her plot and having no luck. We realized we needed help. About that time, a man appeared out of the bush with a dog. He turned out to be the caretaker. He asked if we needed help. He rang his wife and had her look up the plot number in his Big Red Book. He then took us up over the hill into a very old part of the graveyard we never would have found on our own. It was closed to the public because of storm damage. We found her grave, we tidied it up, and took some photos for my mother. The gravestone cleared up some questions about the spelling of her name, which gave me a nice sense of accomplishment. :) I had one of those sort of universe expanding moments when I rang my mom to talk about it and got a flashback to listening to her talk to her mom. I guess I've joined the generational craze. Next step is to try and locate some of her descendants and see if we can piece together some of their history here in NZ.

>39 nittnut: That's a great story. I have found a few skeletons in my NZ closet.
Two easy and quick ways for you to do research is to sign up for a free two week trial at ancestry.com, they have all the NZ & worldwide records and two weeks is ample time to do a heap of research if you are so inclined. The other site is free, PapersPast, you can narrow down by date or by publication and you could find info that way.

My Scottish ancestors are of interest as my daughter shares the exact birthday 200 years later of her greatx6 grandmother, so a bond of sorts with this woman who took her family out to Australia in 1839. They came out on a well known voyage on the ship 'Palmyra', known because it also carried the 'father of Auckland', John Logan Campbell. When we visited Scotland briefly in 1998 I made sure we visited Coldingham, a border town where she was born. It was a great few hours, we walked a creel path down to St Abbs, a fishing village and had a fish n chip picnic by the sea.
I'd love to go again with all the info I've gathered over the years since then. At the time I just had the date of birth and where. We visited on a Sunday so couldn't do much, also had no time as I was taking my two youngest on a quick trip around the UK in 6 or 7 days only.

I think her oldest son, my greatx4 grandfather kept having to prove himself, he left the UK a year later in 1840 with his wife & infant son (my greatx3) and after 12 years in South Australia came to Nelson, NZ in 1852. He was publican for many years at the Trafalger Hotel there and his oldest daughter married into a brewing family, the Harleys.

>34 msf59: Hi Mark, thanks for visiting. I'll be back to your thread, it moves so quick.

>35 charl08: I only recently made the connection to the Disher brewery in Edinburgh through old newspapers online, just following the clues in the marriage/death/births notices etc. What I've sort of found fascinating is how the children from well off families fell so easily onto hard times. So many ended up in the poorhouse including Robert Disher's son who was a failed hops salesman (or something to do with hops) in London. Easy to see why people at the time felt it better to take a chance in one of the colonies.
http://www.edinburghbrewing.co.uk/edinburgh_pale_ale_lifeblood.htm

Looking forward to Shtum - I first came across a review via twitter. I seem to pick up a lot of interesting reads through following a variety of publishers etc.
I came across The Wildings when I visited the Pushkin Press to look at their recent publications for their childrens' imprint.

>36 brodiew2: >37 Smiler69: Yes, it's rather different and very striking. I went for this rather than his sequel to Toby Alone, due to the unusual cover and the plot description. It's not perfect but is entertaining.

>38 brodiew2: Don't talk to me about planned reads, I've fallen right behind. :)

107) To build a land by Sally Watson (1959)
YA
I'm fairly sure that these older books set in Israel that I've been reading all came to my notice with a library search on 'Jerusalem' that I did a few weeks back. Anyway I'd call this a junior version of Leon Uris' Exodus. Looking at reviews over on goodreads it seems to have been a 'first encounter with Israel/Palestine' book for a number of people back when it first came out, a book that left a strong impression on them. It's very good, the range of characters of the children is well done, almost all are Holocaust survivors and have all had different experiences during the war, all have been left orphans.

The story mainly follows Italian Leo and his sister Mia as they are taken off the streets of Naples by the Red Cross and then sent to a Youth Aliyah Centre in Marseilles. Mia is full of fear and Leo is angry and answers to no-one. The children arrive in Palestine as part of an illegal landing during the Mandate period and the story continues to show how all of them slowly come into their own while living at a children's farm near the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem highway. The book covers The War of Independence, friendly and combative Arabs, the British soldiers, pacifists and Zionists.

I'm amazed that I have never come across Watson till now, she's written several books set in Israel, lots of historical novels set in Britain and Egypt and books about cats. She lived many years in England before returning to the US where she now lives, she's in her nineties and is involved with feral cat rescue. She traveled several times to Israel and the surrounding Arab countries.

>42 avatiakh: Dangerous over here Kerry as I always finish up making a list of books I NEED to add to my pile. This latest being a case in point.

Have a lovely Sunday.

108) Wyatt by Garry Disher (2010)
crime
Wyatt #7. Another great crime caper. I've already started the last book in the series, though it has to be low priority as I'm neglecting a lot of other reading to get through these Wyatt books.

109) The Heat by Garry Disher (2015)
crime
Wyatt #8. The latest Wyatt so I'm up to date with the series. This one was really good, set mostly in Noosa, a beach resort north of Brisbane. Wyatt pulls out of a job in Melbourne, he doesn't feel the other players are professional enough and goes north where he's been offered $100,000 to lift an artwork, a solo job. It's a Holocaust/Nazi era artwork going back to it's rightful owner after normal legal processes have been exhausted. However others on the periphery have plans of their own.
I've really enjoyed this series, and these latest two books would work as standalone reads. Hope that there's another in the works.

110) The secret heiress : a tale of dark shadows and extraordinary deception by Luke Devenish (2016)
fiction
I enjoyed this rather a lot. Described as Australian gothic, it is a very entertaining story of deception. The story jumps back and forward between the 1880s and 1904-ish at the beautiful Summersby House, a rural residence in Castlemaine, Victoria, several hours travel from Melbourne. Devenish gives us a plot full of twists and layers of deception that even if you can't keep up with at times, still delivers because the story has two delightful vivid main characters, both servants. Ida is taken on as a housemaid at Summersby, Miss Margaret George is adamant that she wants a girl who is more inquisitive than bright but even before Ida can start her new job the mistress is dead.
Sixteen years later, young Biddy who has fallen on desperate times arrives from Melbourne to try nabbing the job of cook.

Devenish was previously a long running script editor & script producer and writer for famous Aussie soap, Neighbours and other tv series. In the acknowledgements he mentions a nonfiction book that helped him, I've requested it from the library as it looks like a useful read for my family history research, Black kettle and full moon : daily life in a vanished Australia by Geoffrey Blainey.

It was rather startling to have Devenish 'like' my reading now status today over on goodreads, now we are GR friends.

>46 avatiakh: That does sound disconcerting. Can you see what the author is reading?

Oh, it was fine I was just surprised, he comments on all the people reading it over on the GR site, I hadn't noticed. He seems like a polite guy who is enthusiastic about his book. It was a fun read.
Anyone can see what anyone else is reading over on GR. I use the site as my giant tbr list.

Reading more serious fare now:
Shot by Sarah Quigley - a woman bystander is shot in the head and her life flashes before her eyes
Making David into Goliath - nonfiction about Israel
The Heritage - I got a free copy, now must read and review, enjoying it so far
The Dreaming Void - audio, first in a scifi trilogy

The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson (2016)
picturebook
Lovely rhyming story about a dog that loves the smell of books and tracks down a book thief.
...the smell of the thief, and - how very exciting - thousands of pages, all covered in writing
For young booklovers. The illustrations by Sara Ogilvie are suitably comic.

The Travels of Benjamin Tudela: Through Three Continents in the Twelfth Century by Uri Shulevitz (2005)
picturebook

Benjamin of Tudela is known for writing one of the first travel books, The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela : Travels in the Middle Ages , he undertook an epic 14 year journey to the East. Here Shulevitz brings the story of Benjamin's journey to life for the young reader. He says in the notes that he treid to keep it as close to the authentic as possible, going to other primary sources to add detail and inform his artwork. Also included is his extensive bibliography which I might just take a copy of. I need to look out an adult version of this, or maybe something fictional along the lines of Leo Africanus which I read a couple of years ago.

One of the many highlights of my time in Spain early last year was making a short visit to Tudela in Navarre. We were going to spend the night there but instead stayed a few km north in a beautiful parador, a medieval fairytale castle in Olite.
There are several really good websites for planning travel around Spain, many 'rutas' to choose from depending on your interests. I was interested to visit as many older Jewish centres as possible and Tudela definitely makes the list, now it's more known for having the best vegetables in the country.

continuing on about Tudela, I just came across this story of an archival discovery: http://www.travel-watch.com/tudela.htm

111) The Emergency Zoo by Miriam Halahmy (2016)
childrens

Quite an interesting story written to draw attention to all the beloved pets that were put down at the start of WW2 in the UK, especially London. Over 750,000 cats & dogs etc were euthanised in one chaotic week as the panicked idea was that the pets would become terrorised, wounded or gassed by falling bombs and a nuisance at bomb shelters and a problem with possible food rationing etc.
Tilly and her friends are determined to save their pets though they are also looking at being evacuated in a few days time themselves. They set up a shelter in the nearby woods where they hide their pets and hope they can find somehow a way to save them for the duration of the war.
Halahmy brings together a diverse cast of characters drawing attention to the social divide, the kindertransport and also that many Jewish refugees had to go into service as the only way to get a visa to the UK.

The pet cull: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24478532
A nonfiction read about animals during war: Bonzo's War: Animals Under Fire 1939 -1945 by Clare Campbell

Such an interesting (and unfamiliar) array of reading material here, Kerry!

>52 avatiakh: aw, that sounds like it could induce pet-fears. Lately (since our cats brush with death), W has been concerned about us losing our cat. :(
Life lessons I suppose.

>46 avatiakh: That sounds like a good read. Another BB for me. :)

I have had an author like my review on GR before as well. It surprised me for sure. I do like that we can have a little contact with authors though, especially if they are polite and sincerely excited about their work. I leave reviews on GR most of the time, but I really use it to keep my list of TBR books. :)

>52 avatiakh: Interesting. I had not heard or considered this facet of the war. The cover certainly doesn't denote the sadness and weight of the subject matter. Perhaps, a little melancholy. Lovely cover.

Nice review of The Emergency Zoo, Kerry, and thanks for the link to the BBC News Magazine article, which I just read. I hadn't heard of this tragic pet culling, either.

>52 avatiakh: I am another one who hadn't realised that sad fact.

I can usually rely on being enlightened by visits here, Kerry.

Have a great weekend.

>53 ronincats: Thanks Roni, I try to mix it up a bit.

>54 LovingLit: It wasn't too disheartening as the children in the story were intent on their pets surviving, so more about kids working together to solve an almost unsolvable problem.

>55 nittnut: I think you'd like it. It's a lighter read and though I got a bit mixed up between two characters (you'll understand if you read it) it didn't detract from the overall story.

I'm reading a review copy from a GR author, he posted in a group I was in and I'm enjoying the book, can see that it needed a bit of an edit, but overall the story is strong enough. We had quite a few emails back and forth in order for me to get the e-book as neither of us were that clued up on the process.

>56 brodiew2: >57 kidzdoc: >58 PaulCranswick: I had come across mention of this before though this was the first time I'd come across it in depth. Pleased that this book covers the topic.
I read only last week an article about all the abandoned pets in Venezuela now that there is no food available. Horrific what is happening there.

112) Shot by Sarah Quigley (2003)
fiction
Read for the Jul/Aug ANZAC challenge. First I have to say I love this cover, the colours are brilliant and the photograph at such an unusual angle.
I wasn't that thrilled when I started this one to find it was set in the US, I was looking forward to a more homegrown read.
The story starts off with Lena, a 20-something, getting in the way of a random bullet when she is on her way to buy a doughnut in her favourite childhood bakery in Tenderloin, a dangerous neighbourhood in San Francisco. The first third of the book is a slow-mo of the bullet hitting her in the head and her body crashing to the ground and her childhood flashing vividly through her mind. The middle third is set in the aftermath of the bullet, Lena survives but this becomes a turning point in her life.
For me the book really took off in the last third when the action moves to a remote area in northern Alaska, the novel moved from being an OK read to an engrossing one.

I'd recommend readers to try Quigley's The Conductor because that is such a great read, nothing else by her could possibly compare.

Just stopping bye to say: hi Kerry, as I can't find translations of all these great books you read.

113) The Monstrous Child by Francesca Simon (2016)
YA
This is set in the world of her other two rather hilarious Mortal Gods books, but is aimed at teens rather than the middle grade readers the other two are aimed at. I disliked this one, even looking at the cover art shows that it is lacking much of what I enjoyed about the other two - the humour.
This book is about Hel from Norse mythology, the daughter of Loki. She's born half-girl, half corpse and is sent by Odin to live with the dead. The story is about how she builds her hall and waits, always waits. The waiting is only interrupted by the arrival of the God Baldr.
I think it's probably a good retelling of the story of Hel, though as I said I didn't enjoy, maybe because I didn't much want to spend a few days among the stench of rotting bodies as Hel is forced to do.

_

>61 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. Shame that these books aren't translated immediately on publication! Is anything by Timothee de Fombelle available in Dutch?

>63 avatiakh: Thanks Kerry, YES! I will see if the library has any :-)

Anita reminded me of the great work done by translators to bring us gems from across the world of literature. My life would have been so less rich without the sympathetic work done to render the likes of Zola, Balzac, Tolstoy, Wiesel, Levi, Dostoevsky, Marquez and the Scandis from the vernacular.

Have a lovely weekend, Kerry.

Yes, translators do a magnificent job and so do the small press publishers that specialise in these books.

Home from the library:
City of Secrets by Stewart O'Nan - set in 1940s Jerusalem
Soft in the Head by Marie-Sabine Roger - I enjoyed the film based on this French novel, so now can finally enjoy the book, newly published by Pushkin Press
The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso - set in 1975 Portugal about those who've fled the Angolan War

from the library sale table:
The night Manager by John Le Carre - chuffed, a few loose pages but as i've recently watched the tv series I'm happy to get a chance at the novel.

My Lightbox/DVD watch:
I finished the 3rd series of the Swedish/Danish 'The Bridge' and enjoyed it immensely. I really love the lead characters even though the male lead has changed, the new guy is compelling too.

Suits - I finally binged on season 3 and have watched the first episode of season 4, though as they are now pitching the two main characters against each other I'm not so happy.

Spiral - I watched the first two seasons of this French police procedural over a year ago and am now watching seasons 3&4. Really like this, the French police and law courts works differently from the English system so adds interest. Set in Paris, covers the crime networks from East European, Turkish, Kurdish and North African communities as well as the corruption in French local politics.

Hi. Just dropped by Goodreads and found that Luke Devenish had left a nice message being happy that I've marked his book "to read". No pressure for review purposes, right? Lol

I am so behind on TV. I don't watch much at all. My sister finally convinced me to watch Gilmore Girls, so I'm a little over half way into the first season. It's mostly cute, but I can already tell that the whole conflicted love interest scenario is going to drive me bonkers.

I'm about halfway through Syria Burning - did I get that recommendation from you? I still can't tell exactly where the author's sympathies lie, although I've got my suspicions. It's an interesting indictment of foreign influence on Syria's government.

After the conversation over on Paul's thread I thought I'd make a list of lesser known books I've read that deserve a wider audience.
Just browsing my category challenges from 2009 & 2010 and came across mention of all these:

Fiction
Address unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor - powerful novella
Beaufort by Ron Leshem - Israeli war novel set during the Lebanon War
Adjusting Sights by Haim Sabato - Israeli war novel set during the Yom Kippur War
Friday or the other island by Michel Tournier - a retelling of Robinson Crusoe
The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander - one of my all time favourites, Buenos Aires
Say you're one of them by Uwem Akpan - powerful short stories from 5 African countries, I heard him speak at a writers festival, a humble and gracious man
Came a Hot Friday by Ronald Hugh Morrieson - dark humour, NZ
The Year of the Shanghai Shark by Mo Zhi Hong - memorable, NZ
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey - coming of age in 1950s Australia
Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson - hilarious, expats in Italy

Fantasy/scifi
Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar - favourite werewolf novel, comes with humour
The Inferior by Peadar O'Guilin - YA, for lovers of Hunger Games, warning, comes with cannibals, written by a vegan
The Last Elf by Silvana De Mari - Italian fantasy parable
The Borribles by Michael De Larrabeiti - YA, subversive and brilliant alt London story

children's / YA
The house of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong - haunting WW2 story set in China
The Spirit Wind by Max Fatchen - Australia during colonial times
The Naming of Tishkin Silk by Glenda Millard - brilliant, sensitive story for children, first in a series
Emil and Karl by Yankev Glatchteyn - riveting, written just before WW2 broke out, recently translated from Yiddish
The Diddakoi, or Gypsy Girl by Rumer Godden - lovely and sad

Nonfiction:
Tschiffely's Ride: Southern Cross to Pole Star by AF Tschiffely - about his amazing 1925 horseride from Argentina to the USA
School Blues by Daniel Pennac - about schools and education in France

A Fortunate Life by A. B. Facey - read this years ago, amazing autobiography of an ordinary man. I did a Human Development paper at university that focused on autobiography and this was my chosen book, before I read it I had no idea how good it was, it just fitted the criteria for the course.
Becoming Attached: First Relationships and How They Shape Our Capacity to Love by Robert Karen - another textbook that was really readable from a Human Development course.

>67 nittnut: Oh, I watched Gilmore Girls almost straight through earlier this year. At times I wanted to throw something at the screen, especially at the mother, Lorelai. Started it with my daughter as I thought it might appeal to her, and I remembered watching the occasional episode on Sunday afternoons when it was first on.

Luke Devenish just seems to be a very nice author. I picked up a free read of The Heritage by Jack Michonik over on GR, just finished it but will have to polish up my reviewing skills before I mark it read. Quite an OK read and I loved the ending, the formatting was awful at times though, many words joined together throughout.

I've mentioned Syria Burning here as I had it out as an e-book from the library. I didn't get started on it though. I'll have to re-book it. I was looking at other books by him just the other day.

>68 avatiakh: Thanks for that list Kerry. I have a couple of the fiction books (Englander and Morrieson) on the shelves and will start to slowly track down the rest.

and a few more memorable reads

Fiction
Who will remember the people by Jean Raspail - fascinating, about the Kaweskar people who lived around Tierra del Fuego
Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer - Hungary in the 1950s
The Pendragon Legend by Antal Szerb - gothic horror set in Wales
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban - cult novel
The Conductor by Sarah Quigley - wonderful novel about the Leningrad siege
There Once Lived A Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: scary fairy tales by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya - her stories are amazing, Russian
There once lived a girl who seduced her sister's husband and he hanged himself: love stories by Lyudmila Petrushevskaya
The Jump Artist by Austin Ratner - novel based on the amazing life of Philippe Halsman
When We Were Bad by Charlotte Mendelson - black comedy about a dysfunctional London Jewish family
A Man you can bank on by Derek Hansen - great crime caper, Australia
The cleansing of Mahommed by Chris McCourt - Afghans in Australia during WW1
Death of a superhero by Anthony McCarten - love this one & the sequel
Proxopera a tale of Modern Ireland by Benedict Kiely - IRA
How the soldier repairs the gramophone by Saša Stanišic - coming of age in a war zone
Things We Didn't See Coming by Steven Amsterdam - brilliant set of stories
Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical by Robert Shearman - well crafted stories from the man who brought back the Daleks
A stricken field by Martha Gelhorn - Prague just before WW2 based on Gelhorn's own experiences
The Spider King's Daughter by Chibundu Onuzo - modern day Romeo & Juliet set in Lagos
Sword of Honour trilogy by Evelyn Waugh - welll known writer
Gingerbread by Robert Dinsdale - enchanting
The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg - this helps you understand why so many Swedes emigrated to the US
The White King by Gyorgy Dragoman - excellent, about growing up in communist East Europe
Foster by Claire Keegan - beautiful language, novella

Nonfiction
The Road by Jack London - tramping in the US
Twelve minutes of love: a tango story by Kapka Kassabova - about an obsession with tango
The man who fell into a puddle: Israeli lives by Igal Sarna - excellent stories
Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the present by Michael Oren - gives a good overview
Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef - excellent
Story of a Secret State by Jan Karski - riveting memoir of the man who brought the news of the Final Solution to the Allies and they didn't listen

Children's & YA
The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler by Gene Kemp - wow
A world between us by Lynda Symons - YA on the Spanish Civil War
The Freedom Tree by James Watson - another YA on the Spanish Civil War
The Tin Snail by Cameron McAllister - great little story about how the Citreon 2CV car was invented and kept secret from the Nazis
The story of the Blue Planet by Andri Snaer Magnason - great for children
How to become king by Jan Terlouw - Dutch, brilliant
The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt - Dutch, I loved this and thought the sequel was even better
Phoenix by SF Said - brilliant scifi for children
The Outsiders of Uskoken Castle by Kurt Held - German classic for children
The Various by Steve Augarde - first in a trilogy about faeire
Sophie's Misfortunes, A room at the Guardian Angel Inn & General Dourakine by Comtesse De Ségur - I've loved all three books, newly translated by Australian Stephanie Smee, funny and hard to believe they were written in the 1860s
Children of the Red King by Madeleine Polland - around the time of the English conquest of Ireland
Over a thousand hills I walk with you by Hanna Jansen - YA based on Rwandan genocide, based on a true story if I remember correctly

>71 avatiakh: Another great list. I have read a couple of the fiction list and have a few more on the shelves but none of the YA.

Thanks for the lists - I see very few that even look familiar so will be looking out to see if I can track them down.

I'm a fan of The Bridge but missed the third series. Currently watching the Danish 'Dicte' - very good. I like how these Scandinavian dramas give good serious roles to women past 40.

I always enjoy visiting your threads. You read such great books, and I like your lists.

>72 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. I'll try for a Jewish writers list in the next few days.

>73 charl08: Thanks Charlotte. I probably added too many but I got enthusiastic all over again when I saw the titles as I skimmed my old threads.

>74 Whisper1: Hi Linda. Thanks for visiting.

114) Stone Rider by David Hofmeyer (2015)
YA
A dystopian adventure written with reluctant boy readers in mind. Described as a Mad Max meets Hunger Games, this is a fun read based around a no-holds barred style epic bike race. The prize at stake is a ticket from the bleak mining towns on Earth to life up on one of the many space stations where the elite population live. The Blackwater race is only open to those under 19 and it's brutal. We follow the action from the POV of Adam Stone, whose brother lost a leg the last time the race was held.
The bikes are quite special, family heirlooms that have raced through generations, each racer leaving a sort of DNA imprint that helps the next rider. And yes, there is a girl racer in it, Sadie Blood. Caution, there is quite violent content.
There's a sequel coming out next year, Blood Racer.

Hoot Owl: master of disguise by Sean Taylor (2015)
picturebook

This has to be one of the best picturebooks I've read in a long time. Charming, funny and engaging starring anti-hero Hoot. The illustrations by Jean Jullian are big, bold and perfect for the text.




How I learned Geography by Uri Shuletvitz (2008)
picturebook
Based on Shulevitz's own boyhood experience as a war refugee living in Turkestan after living six years in the Soviet Union having fled Poland at the start of WW2. His father brings a world map home from the market one day instead of food even though they are starving.
_

115) The Heritage by Jack Michonik (2006, Spanish) (2015 Eng)
fiction
Michonik has based this on his own family experience, it's the story of Jewish immigrants leaving the shetls of East Europe and Russia and travelling to the New World, 1920s South America, where they must build new lives while keeping their Jewish heritage intact. I enjoyed this, at times there is a touch too much explanation or backgrounding, though I think that it is perhaps necessary to give the impact of the ending its necessary heft. The ending...I really really liked the last chapter, so enjoyed how Michonik leaves the story in mid stream, though entirely appropriate place to finish and not give in to the temptation of an epilogue style finish.

Life in the New World is complemented by letters from the main character's friend and neighbour who has made his new life in Palestine. These letters add some of the background to world events, the establishment of Israel and the importance of the Jewish faith in the lives of the characters.

There were some formatting problems, spaces between words were missing on almost every page. This wasn't a handicap for reading, one adjusts, though it needs to be fixed.

I received this free e-book over on GoodReads direct from the author in exchange for a promise to read and post a review.

116) Making David into Goliath: How the World Turned Against Israel by Joshua Muravchik (2014)
nonfiction

Still thinking about this, it was a valuable read, giving the reader an understanding into how the current mostly hostile view of Israel in the media, at the UN and in many countries has grown to be. The book takes as the turning point the unexpected Israeli victory in the Six Day War which was fought on three sides against Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

Each chapter builds a background on a particular topic and then discusses how this has built the animosity towards Israel. Until and including the Six Day War, Israel was seen as up against the Arab World, but soon after the view pivoted to the Palestinians vs Israel, a completely different dynamic hence the title.
There's chapters on terrorism, the power of Arab oil in world politics, the Arab bloc's influence at the United Nations, European socialism, Edward Said and academia, the consequences of Israel's swing from socialist Labour to conservative Likud in the 1970s, Israel's homegrown leftist activists, academics, journalists, and new historians, the new Left in the world and how it moved from class struggle to an ethnic focus and intersectionality, international reporting on Israel and international organisations.

Very impressed with Muravchik's ability to add clarity to all this, he seems to have covered a lot of ground and there are several reports, articles and books I've noted for future reading. He's probably not everyone's flavour of the month, an ex-liberal now neo-conservative but I always think it pays to read from a wide range of viewpoints.
I'll definitely be reading more of his books, he has one on socialism, Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism and another The Next Founders: Voices of Democracy in the Middle East both look like interesting reads.

117) Why Vote Leave by Daniel Hannan (2016)
nonfiction

This was written for the Brexit side of the argument in the recent UK referendum. Hannan is a MEP (Member of the European Parliament) and so knows the inner workings of the Brussells' bureaucracy well. He lays out the background to Britain joining the EEC back in the 1970s and the history of how the EU has over the years grown to be in control of much that is usually the business of a nation state. An interesting read and a convincing argument, so I really need now to read something from the Remain camp.

118) The Art of Reading by Damon Young (2016)
nonfiction

First up, I just adore this book cover. Damon Young is a well known writer & philosopher in Australia and this is his latest work. With this book he's discussing being a reader and looks at this using Aristotle's virtues of reading. So we get chapters headed courage, curiosity, pride, patience, justice and temperance.
To be honest I found this quite a dense heavy going read as I'm not familiar with all the philosophers and their theories and thoughts that are mentioned. On the other hand there were parts that were totally fascinating and made this worth sticking with.
I noticed that LTer Lisa from the ANZLitLovers blog has been reading and commenting on the book and as she always does lovely extensive comments I suggest you go there to learn more:
Snippet: https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/04/30/sensational-snippets-the-art-of-reading-by-d...
on the chapter about Patience: https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/05/01/on-patience-the-art-of-reading-by-damon-youn...

Like Lisa I was captivated when Young discusses 'Patience' using the example of the Queen from Bennett's The Uncommon Reader reading Henry James. Young brings into the discussion Henry James' brother, William, who was a philosopher. With Curiosity, Young begins by discussing Borges and his 'The Library of Babel' and on and on.

I'm intrigued by the titles of Young's other books, they're all about philosophy but those titles are compelling - How to Think About Exercise, Distraction: A Philosopher's Guide to Being Free, Philosophy in the Garden. I'm smitten, though I should probably just search out his newspaper articles.

Ok, I can probably start planning my August reading now. I've added many titles to the TIOLI challenge already.

TIOLI August:

The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History - Boris Johnson - nonfiction
The Siege of Krishnapur - J.G. Farrell - classic
Into the Grey - Celine Kiernan - Irish YA ghost story
Annan Water - Kate Thompson - Irish YA
Battlesaurus: Clash of Empires - Brian Falkner - YA, loved book #1
An Island of Our Own - Sally Nichoulls - children's, been on the tbr pile all year
The Return - Dulce Maria Cardoso - 1970s Angolan civil war

Call it sleep - Henry Roth - classic
Checkmate - Dorothy Dunnett - time to tackle the last Lymond book
Mother Russia - Bernice Rubens - keen to read this
Soft in the head - Marie-Sabine Roger - French
The Mukhtar's Children - Sally Watson - YA, set in 1948 Israel

ANZAC reading:
Acid Song by Bernard Beckett
Remembering Babylon by David Malouf
Anna Funder - if there's time

other possibles:
Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp - Die Hard movie was based on this one
Pumpkin Flowers: a soldiers story by Matti Friedman
Judenstaat by Simone Zelitch
Shtum by Jem Lester

that should be enough!

no, I realise I have a few more to consider -
Coming home in the dark - Owen Marshall - short stories, ANZAC challenge
Falling for Science by Bernard Beckett - Non Fiction & ANZAC challenge
The AWA Book of New Zealand Science edited by Rebecca Priestley - Non Fiction challenge - doesn't fit criteria so considering Herding Hemingway's Cats: Understanding how our genes work by Arney Kat .

and the BAC challenge
Conrad's Fate by Dianna Wynne Jones

and my long lasting audiobook
The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamiton

>81 avatiakh: Thanks for the links with reviews. I found a copy so will have to get on with reading. I don't know much about philosophy either so it will be an education.

>82 avatiakh: Looks like you've got a great month of reading planned.

And Hoot Owl looks like a beautiful book. How tempting!

119) City of Secrets by Stewart O'Nan (2016)
fiction
A quiet thriller of sorts set just before the ending of the British Mandate in Palestine. Brand, a Holocaust survivor, hasn't got much to live for, his wife and family were killed He's ended up in Jerusalem and has been recruited into the Irgun.
I was a little perplexed by this one, it starts of in the manner of a thriller but as one gets further in, the story is much more about Brand himself and becomes a more introspective type read. The story builds towards one of the more pivotal events of the last days of the Mandate.
This was my first read of O'Nan, who is a favourite writer for some LTers.

>83 charl08: Charlotte - The Art of Reading is one of those reads that's interesting though hard to keep focused. It took me a couple of months to get past the introductory chapter, I kept rereading the same few pages each time I picked it up.
I'm looking forward to my August reading, I've tried to include some extra ones from the shelves rather than from the library.

120) CHERUB: New Guard by Robert Muchamore (2016)
YA

CHERUB #17, this is the last in the CHERUB series which I have enjoyed immensely over the years. I think this is a fantastic adventure series involving child/teen agents sent in undercover where adult agents/police can't access to solve crime or espionage cases.
This last one involves current CHERUB agents initially sniffing out Islamic terror supporters in the UK and uncovering a kidnapping of oil company engineers. A black ops mission is formed involving adult ex-CHERUBs, including James and his younger sister Lauren, who started the series, going on one last mission together, deep into Islamic State territory. Fun escapism, and yes, I'm far too old to be enjoying these books, but I do.

I have 3 more Henderson Boys books to read which is about the WW2 origins of CHERUB and then I'll head into Muchamore's Rock Wars series.

>80 avatiakh: Daniel Hannan is a very articulate advocate of BREXIT, I must say. I saw an Oxford Union debate on the issue in which he gave an extremely effective speech.

I am also looking to fit in Malouf and Anna Funder next month.

Have a great weekend.

121) Golden Windows and other stories from Jerusalem by Adèle Geras (1993)
children's fiction

A follow up read to Geras' The girls in the velvet frame, this is set about 30 years later and is five stories about other members of this family. One of the stories is set during the siege of Jerusalem in 1947/48 when food supplies couldn't get through to the Jewish population. All the stories are great, evocative of childhood, the people and streets of Jerusalem.

Visited what used to be my local library in nearby Howick this morning, it's only a couple of miles away, anyway they had a library sale going on that I didn't know about but I was quick to fill a bag for only $2.

my haul:
There once lived a woman who tried to kill her neighbour's baby: scary fairy tales by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya - I've read it, so this copy is for my daughter
The Road to Ballyshannon by David Martin - slim volume about the Irish Civil War 1922
Three Miles by Robert Dinsdale - enjoyed 2 others by him
Acts of Faith by Erich Segal - not sure about this, possibly pulp fiction
Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan - graphic novel, I've read this but have wanted my on copy
The Towers of Trebizond byRose Macaulay - classic fiction set in Turkey
Paradise Park by Allegra Goodman - blurb -'abandoned by her folk-dancing partner, Gary, in a Honolulu hotel room...' - just what I need
Parable of the Talents by Octavia F. Butler - on my 'to read' list for yonks
Someone at a distance by Dorothy Whipple - a Persephone Book
Sharpe's Sword by Bernard Cornwall - was hoping this was one of the first Sharpe books, not sure of reading order for the series
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne - Penguin Classics edition
The Life of Charles Dickens: the illustrated edition by John Forster - beautiful large hardback, an abridged edition of a 3 volume work, but packed with images.

122) Soft in the head by Marie-Sabine Roger (French 2008) (Eng 2016)
fiction

Germain meets Margueritte in the park one afternoon and they become friends. Margueritte is an old lady who has had a successful life, and Germain is in his prime, has had a string of casual jobs, he's a bit simple. Margueritte introduces Germain to the power of literature and words. An enjoyable read, if not compelling.
I would have preferred for the English edition to have the alternative title, My afternoons with Magueritte.

I saw the film made from this book and it was quite charming even though it stars Gérard Depardieu. Here's a link to the trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDkJjYtpCQE

123) An island of our own by Sally Nicholls (2015)
children's fiction

Delightful children's story starring 12 yr old Holly who lives with her two brothers. When her mother died, her oldest brother was just old enough to be their guardian and so the family wasn't split up, but it's forever a struggle. Jonathan has given up his chance of university, and 7 yr old Davey needs a lot of support. The story revolves around the chance of a shared inheritance from their great aunt, an aunt who has hidden all her savings and jewelry in obscure locations.

124) Shtum by Jem Lester (2016)
fiction

This was a compelling read. It's based on Lester's own experience of raising an autistic child and the battle with the local council to get their son into a residential school that was best suited for his needs.
Ben and his wife, Emma love their son Jonah, but at eleven he's mute, still in nappies, increasingly violent at times and difficult to care for. Their own lives have been put on hold since he was diagnosed as a severe autistic. Jonah will be leaving his current school in the following year and the couple know that his best needs can only be met at a specialised residential school. They have to convince their local council that this is the best option for Jonah as the school is only open to students paid for by their local councils, it's a difficult legal process.
Emma comes up with a plan to give them their best chance, suggesting that they fake a marriage breakup and that Ben and Jonah move in with Ben's estranged father so that the application will come from a struggling single father.
Lester shows how hard it is to care for a growing autistic child. He wanted to be honest and show the world that severe autism has devastating effects for a family. Nothing can be normal. Every trip out into the public is a possible minefield. He builds it into a story of the relationships between the three males. It's sad but illuminating and Ben is certainly not perfect, in fact he's been running away from himself all his life.

Link to an article

>77 avatiakh: I need to find a copy of this book! I love his illustrations.

>93 Whisper1: Yes, I also seek out his picturebooks. Such beautiful artwork. Have you read his Writing with Pictures?

Ok, even though I made a huge list of August reading plans up in post #82, I'm going to take a short break from reading for a few days. I need to help one of my sons tackle some projects and I'm not very helpful if I always feel the need to finish what I'm reading. So I'll limit reading to a chapter before sleep.

>77 avatiakh: Both of the picture books look amazing. I love the pictures in Hoot Owl.

>90 avatiakh: The film does look charming. I've added it to my list of films to watch. :)

>92 avatiakh: Phew! That looks like a heart breaking story. Of course I'll read it. :)

>95 avatiakh: Good luck not falling asleep while reading. :)

Hope the projects go well.

Great review of Shtum. I did feel I understood more about the demands on the parents than before I read it.

>95 avatiakh: Just a chapter before sleep was what I managed too yesterday in my bronchial distress.

Good luck with helping out on the projects and have a great weekend.

>96 nittnut: Yes, two delightful picturebooks.

Soft in the Head - I think that the film rules over the book in this one.

Shtum is a good read, not bleak, there is a soulful humour running through and it draws awareness to an important topic

Yeah, I'm reading late at night and early morning trying to sneak in an extra chapter or two.

>97 charl08: Thanks Charlotte. It mostly involves making myself informed on political stuff, so lots of articles rather than book reading.

>98 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. Looks like the Olympics is going to be a focus for the next couple of weeks in this household. I'll watch a little, my husband is the more devoted sports fanatic

125) Nothing lasts forever by Roderick Thorp (1979)
fiction

I was curious to find out if the novel that inspired the Bruce Willis film Die Hard was a worthwhile read. What I found out was that if you've seen the film as many times as I have, then it's a difficult thing to judge. There are several differences in plot, and those scenes where he jumps off buildings with firehose or leaps into an elevator shaft are much easier on film than to painstaking read through in the book.
Overall if you have a spare afternoon, this is a rather entertaining read with enough differences to keep you going.

I'll just say that Joe Leland (John McClane in film) is older, not NYPD and it's his daughter that works in the building not the estranged wife as portrayed in the film.

126) Conrad's Fate by Diana Wynne Jones (2005)
YA
Chrestomanci #5. I read this for the BAC challenge. I've read most of Diana Wynne Jones' books, so only this and book #6 The Pinhoe Egg were on my radar.
A good solid entry in the series, I simply flew through the book, loved the story.


127) The Mukhtar's Children by Sally Watson (1968)
YA
This was a followup to Watson's To build a land which I read a few weeks ago. While I really liked TBAL, I found this one to be even better. It's set in Israel, just at the end of the War of Independence in 1948/9. The leader or mukhtar of a small Arab village on the border with Syria is facing the problems of encroaching modernisation from the nearby establishment of a kibbutz. While a few in the village talk of fighting, talk that is hopefully quashed, the mukhtar's children find themselves drawn to the Jewish workers who are friendly and welcoming. Jasmin is 12, she is about to be betrothed to an older man, but all she wants is to learn to read and be educated. Her twin, Kahil, is fascinated by the machinery and would love to become a mechanic. Semil, their friend wants to be a teacher.
Eventually after misunderstandings, attacks and rebellion the mukhtar must decide if tradition can be enough for the ensuing generations or to embrace change if his people are to stay and live in peace in Israel.

128) The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamilton (2007)
scifi / audiobook

This is the 5th Commonwealth book and the 1st in the Void trilogy. So it's set in the Commonwealth but is 1500 years after the first four books. Some characters return, after all this is a future where rejuvenation and relife-ing technology has been advancing all the time, now we get to contemplate multiples who share the same consciousness. Anyway this book sets us up for a grand adventure in the next two books, we are introduced to a great new cast of characters and reminded of some of the great times from the previous books. Overall compelling, and I have to mention that it was read by my favourite narrator, John Lee.

There's a dreamer cult on one of the outlying planets near the Void, formed from sharing the dreams of an astrophysicist, Inigo, the First Dreamer, dreams that follow the exploits of humans who live in a microuniverse in the Void, a black hole. Plans are underway for the dreamers to travel into the Void to find this world, but it could put the whole universe at risk so other factions are working at sabotaging this voyage before it can start.

129) Coming home in the dark by Owen Marshall (1995)
short stories

I read this for the Jul/Aug ANZAC challenge. Marshall is the undoubted king of New Zealand short story writing, a writer that I hadn't read till now though I own a fair number of his books, picked up over time from charity bookshops etc.
This is an early collection of his work and I have found them quite a diverse selection. The most common thread has been their New Zealand setting, mostly 1950s to 1990s. Only two or three are set away from NZ. The last story in the book is the title story and boy, it didn't turn out how I was expecting it to, a fair bit of gruesome tucked into a pleasant day's outing to the mountains.
I'll probably try one of his novels when I turn to him again, The Lanarchs tells the story of the people behind Lanarch Castle in Dunedin.

>90 avatiakh: >91 avatiakh: I enjoyed your comments on both of these and will look into them further.

>103 avatiakh: It is frustrating that, despite relative geographical proximity, New Zealand authors are so overlooked in Malaysia and Owen Marshall's books are simply not available. Maybe a cost thing as NZ books are pricey aren't they?

Have a great weekend, Kerry.

>105 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul - that's where e-books come into their own.

130) Vango: a prince without a kingdom by Timothée de Fombelle (2011 French) (2015 Eng)
YA
This is the sequel to Vango: between earth and sky which I read in July. This one takes us through World War Two as Vango tries to uncover the mystery of his birth, protect his friends and find his enemies. Large cast of characters, at times I needed to remember who was who. I loved it for the adventure, the old style plot where opportunities are missed by seconds and the eventual harmony of the ending. Yes, Vango does have illustrious ancestors and that explains why his life has been in jeopardy all these years.

131) Annan Water by Kate Thompson (2004)
YA
This was on a list I found of recommended Irish children's books a few weeks back. I've read two of Thompson's New Policeman books and have loved her melding of Irish folklore and Celtic music to create quite fascinating reads.
This is an enchanting read, she's woven a modern story into a haunting old Scottish ballad. And it comes with horses.

Some of the lyrics used in the book:

'The mare flew on o'er moor and moss and when she reached the Annan Waters,
She couldn't have ridden a furlong more had a thousand whips been laid upon her.

And woe betide you Annan Waters, by night you are a gloomy river,
And over you I'll build a bridge, that never more true love may sever.'

https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/The-Voice-Squad/Annan-Waters

Here's a simplified version of the ballad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzo7fADr_50

132) Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan (2011)
YA
This was another YA book on that list of recommended Irish children's fiction that I came across recently and it is an incredibly good ghost story. The writing is impressive and makes me keen to finally dip into Kiernan's Moorhawke Trilogy. Into the Grey won several awards in Ireland.
Twins, Pat and Dom, and their family are forced to relocate to a rundown holiday cottage in a small seaside village after their Nana who suffers from Alzheimers accidentally burns down their home. They've stayed here before for boisterous summer holidays with their cousins but this time it's quieter and colder, the cottage feels different and the boys, especially Pat, begin to have dreams that feel very real.

From wikipedia: Into the Grey is set in 1974 Ireland, and continues Kiernan's exploration of political, historical and philosophical themes through fantasy elements. It is the first book to receive both the CBI Book of the Year Award (formerly known as the Bisto Award) and the CBI Children's Choice Award - both of which were awarded on 28 May 2012. It won the 2013 Readers' Association of Ireland Award for best book.

>108 avatiakh:, >109 avatiakh: Both of those look like good ones. For me and Miss M, I think. Doing flying visits to a few threads this am before things get crazy. :)

>110 nittnut: I really enjoyed both these books, I'd suggest you read Into the Grey first before pressing it into Miss M's hands, just because it does get a bit creepy and Kiernan is very descriptive in her writing.

Planning for my trip next week. First I've returned a swag of library books today so I don't freak out trying to finish too many before I leave. I've got quite a few digital books out from the library at present and will take a few older paperbacks that I don't mind discarding.
It feels quite liberating to only have 5 library books kicking around, should only be 3 but I overlooked a couple this morning.


returned today

Decided to turf Judenstaat, it's just not drawing me in. I've read 70 pgs and have spent all those pages trying to sort the story, haven't really got to know the main character let alone have sympathy for her.
It's an alternate history where after WW2, the Jews are given Saxony in Europe as their state. The main character is a film archivist whose husband was murdered several years earlier. She uncovers information about a secret plot from the time of the establishment of the state.
That sounds interesting but the novel is literary rather than thriller and so is a go-slow type read. Possibly I'll give it another go when I'm less pressured. I'll keep an eye out for more reviews.

Looking forward to hearing how you like The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, Kerry, and How to Talk to Girls at Parties, too.

Judenstaat sounded promising. I'm sorry to hear that it wasn't a good read for you, Kerry.

>107 avatiakh: I found the first Vango book, Between earth and sky at the library :-)

>110 nittnut: I will do that. Although, she does creepy really well. Better than my boys. :) We like to say she is firmly grounded in reality. Lol

>114 jnwelch: Joe, I'll get both those GNs back out at the wend of September.

>115 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl, I'll probably end up reading it later on when I'm feeling less impatient

>116 FAMeulstee: Anita - I hope you enjoy it.

>117 nittnut: Good, just that it deals with 'possession' so not just the average ghost story. So well done though.

I ended up taking all my library books back even the two I was reading and enjoying. I'll pick them up again later in the year. I have a few ANZAC books I want to finish this month and the library books were taking me away from those.

133) Acid Song by Bernard Beckett (2008)
fiction
I really liked this novel which mixes politics with science, ethics and controversy. A genetics professor has uncovered some discrepancies regarding IQ and genes in a couple of trials that while not concluding anything warrant more investigation. This controversial idea is simmering in the background along with election day voting in the lives and relationships of various couples who come into the orbit of the professor.
I'm also reading Beckett's Falling for Science: asking the big questions which he wrote just before the novel and discusses many of the ethical ideas involved in science. These books are also from the period when he wrote Genesis. All these books are products of his 2006 New Zealand Science, Mathematics and Technology Teacher Fellowship where he worked on a project examining DNA mutations.

Read for the Jul/Aug ANZAC challenge.

134) The Temporal Void by Peter F. Hamilton
scifi
Void Trilogy #2. Continuing the epic Void story, part of the Commonwealth Saga and the story is deep and wide and totally captivating. The 25 hours of listening time just flew by. Already loaded up the final one, The Evolutionary Void onto my iPod. I have to see where all the story is going.

Hope your trip is going well Kerry. Or is that still to come?

>121 charl08: I leave in the morning. I'd assumed for weeks that we were leaving on Wednesday and only checked the tickets on Saturday and saw that it was a Tuesday departure!

I've only packed a few paperbacks, am trying hard to go digital when I travel.

>120 avatiakh: Good morning, avatiakh. I have never know what to do with Hamilton. I had a friend who loved the Commonwealth, but must have been intimidated by the size of the books. 25 hours seems a lot, but you say it just flew by. I may have to give this series a try.

>122 avatiakh: Just a few? Yikes. How self controlled.

>123 brodiew2: Hi Brodie . If the size of his Commonwealth saga books is intimidating then I suggest you start with his Greg Mandel series.
I've ended up listening to all the Commonwealth books as I love John Lee's narration otherwise I'd also be put off by the size of the books. These Void books include an ongoing dream story eminating from the unknown Void that is really compelling.

>124 charl08: Yes, has to be paperbacks I don't mind turfing as I go.

What?!? John Lee? I love John Lee. Maybe I'll give book one a try. Lee narrated one of my favorite audiobooks, The Confessor. He stopped doing Daniel Silva's books after that and, shamefully, I lost interest in the author.

Oh another John Lee fan! My first was Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. You might have to look around as I noticed that they have introduced a new narrator lately for some of Peter F. Hamilton's books.

Lee also narrated The Count of Monte Cristo.

Nice. I was planning to read The Count of Monte Cristo in print, but this news may change that. Snow Crash as well. I have wanted to read it but have never taken the plunge.

In fact, I just completed Double Cross Spies narrated by Lee.

I just finished Vango: Between Sky and Earth by Timothee de Fombelle, Kerry, can't wait for the sequel, so thanks for recommending this writer :-)

>128 brodiew2: Oh, yes,go for them. Snow Crash is such fun.

>129 FAMeulstee: Anita, so pleased that you enjoyed it. Read Timothee's wikipedia bio, he had an interesting childhood.

We've just had our 24hrs in Melbourne. In the morning we leave by car for a coastal drive. We had dinner last night in a Greek restaurant, Tsindos, and today brunched in Cafe Krimper, visited Books for Cooks bookshop, made a friend in the Greek Shop, called in to the Victoria State Library to see Ned Kelly's armour, rode the free trams around the CBD and ate sticky dumplings in an tiny laneway kiosk, Shandong Mama. Called in to Embiggen Books and walked up graffitti-ed Hosier Lane to check out the restaurant MoVida as I have one of the chef's cookbooks, MoVida Solera. Having a rest now before going out for dinner. It's cold now the sun has gone down. Bought a book, Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar which has been shortlisted for a few awards, most recently for the Miles Franklin Award.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/salt-creek-by-lucy-treloar-a-colonial-...

135) The girl with the dogs by Anna Funder (2016)
novella
More short story than novella though published in book form. I liked rather than loved this relationship story based on a 'what if' premise.


136) Remembering Babylon by David Malouf (1993)
fiction
This won a few Australian awards and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I loved this for the story and Malouf's wonderful way with words. A stranger stumbles into a small remote settlement north of Brisbane. Jem's spent the last sixteen years living with aborigines. While he's accepted by some, his strangeness and inability to adapt back to European life causes many tensions and dark undercurrents in the small community.

I read both these books for the ANZAC challenge.

137) Checkmate by Dorothy Dunnett (1975)
fiction
Lymond Chronicles #6. Last in the series.... I've loved every book and the ending was well worth the wait, every time I thought there would be resolution, Dunnett threw in another twist. You really have to wait till the last pages of the last book to get your perfect ending. This book's plot was set around the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to Francis, Dauphin of France. The politics are intense and unfortunately I can't say anymore as no spoilers here, except do jump in and meet the fab Frances and the other wonderful characters in this series.

I read the first book just before I joined the 75ers group so getting to the end of this series has taken me a very slow 8 years. Others have read them in 8 weeks! I'm lining up Dunnett's stand alone King Hereafter for one of my 'big books' reads for next year.

>131 avatiakh: Oh I love the cover of the Anna Funder book. Those penguins that play with the orange design are so clever. Sorry the content wasn't so great though.

138) Raging Robots and Unruly Uncles by Margaret Mahy (1981)
children's fiction
This is one of my daughter's favourite books and I've kept meaning to read it but never have. I love Mahy's books, every single story she's written has the fabulous Mahy magic and this is such fun. Mahy is a master of word play and this book is another wonderful example. Twin brothers, one a villian with seven sons, the other a virtuous man with one daughter. The boys build a doll that takes goodness to an extreme and gift it to their cousin. In return their cousin builds a robot that is excessively bad. Madness and mayhem.


139) Blood Runner by James Riordan (2011)
children's fiction
I enjoyed Riordan's Sweet Clarinet but found this one slightly lacking. It's a story of the ending of Apartheid in South Africa and how a boy grew up to become South Africa's first black athlete to win a gold at the Olympics (in the marathon). The childhood story is different from the real athlete's story, more traumatic, though the actual Olympic race is the same. Riordan has made the changes to allow the young reader to learn more about the state of the country before the ending of apartheid and what it was like to be young, poor and black at the time. A good educational read though it is more fiction than fact.

Here's some info on the real gold medalist, Josia Thugwane: http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/13340173/once-lauded-nelson-mandela-...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y09hMhzcND4

140) Coda by Thea Astley (1994)
fiction
I read this for the Sep/Oct ANZAC challenge. This is my first book by Astley and I'm impressed with her style in this satire on old age. The plot was inspired by news articles about granny dumping, reports of vulnerable old people being abandoned in public places by their adult children, generally the seniors suffered from Alzheimer’s and could not tell the authorities who they were or where they lived.
Kathleen finds that she recalls her early married life in detail while her present day motivations come in and out of focus. She dislikes her adult children as much as they are at odds with her.

>130 avatiakh: The second book Vango : A Prince Without a Kingdom was good too, Kerry and thanks for the suggestion to read his bio, certainly interesting!
Meanwhile I read the two translated books of the Dragonkeeper series, you recommended to me years ago :-)

Hi Anita - good that your library had the second Vango book. Oh, Dragonkeeper is good.

141) Zoo Station by David Downing (2007)
fiction
I feel like one of the last to get to this series. Anyway I read it for the September Sequels & Series theme read.
John Russell is a journalist based in Berlin, he's drawn to help a Jewish family as Germany teeters on the brink of war and slowly gets involved in the world of espionage.

Tor.com is featuring this monthly roundup of publications in Australia and New Zealand--what do you think of it?

http://www.tor.com/2016/09/07/aurora-australis-alphabetised-again/#more-226151

Interesting list, I've only read one book and don't recognise any other names. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff's Illuminae, a YA scifi which was quite entertaining though not a 'must-read' recommendation from me.

I'd personally recommend that you try Steven Amsterdam, he's an American who lives in Melbourne, Australia. Start with Things We Didn't See Coming, a good dystopian read. What the Family Needed is his next book and I'm not sure if it continues with same characters or not, I don't think so and I really enjoyed this as well.
For Aussie scifi, I'd probably look through Text Publishing's YA list - https://www.textpublishing.com.au/kids-and-teens
I've just added Underground by Andrew McGahan to my to-read list while looking for any scifi by Australian writers.

For New Zealand scifi, there's an enthusiastic publisher in Wellington, he's been a bit quiet of late but he's helped get a few writers into print - http://www.steampress.co.nz/
James Norcliffe would be one of my picks for New Zealand fantasy writers, he's done adult stuff, but I've mainly read his children's & YA books.

Ok, my 9th LT thingaversary was a couple of days ago, I was in Australia at the time, so 10 books now. I had a few on pre-order that came in, a few purchases in Australia and today a couple at the library's sale table.

From Oz:
Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham
The World's War by David Olusoga - I had the kindle version, but this was only $5.
A gardener's Latin by Richard Bird - looks cute
The great soul of Siberia: Passion, Obsession, and One Man's Quest for the World's Most Elusive Tiger by Sooyong Park - another $5 purchase
Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar - drove through Salt Creek so thought this would be an interesting read, historical fiction
!Taco Loco! by Jonas Cramby - Mexican street food by Swedish travel writer & recipes - cheap KMart purchase
The Adelaide Hills: a history by Neville C. Collins - for genealogy purposes
Hahndorf: A brief look at the town and its history by Anni Luur Fox - also genealogy background
East of Orphanides: my Middle Eastern Food by George Lassalle - living and cooking in Cyprus
_
and in Ballarat I went to Known World Bookshop and grabbed a few older Puffin paperbacks from the children's room, what a great little shop, she pulled several nonfiction books by Elaine Mitchell off the shelves, I looked at several titles by our current ANZAC writers, Thea Astley and Christopher J. Koch. The shop has a couple of little tables to offer coffee, I would have loved to sat there and explored more, but it was our last day and we had to get to the airport.
I did buy a dvd of the film of Koch's book The year of living dangerously later on, it stars Mel Gibson.

A saddle at Bontharambo: a story of Australian pioneers by H.J. Samuel
The Boundary Riders by Joan Phipson - another Aussie tale
The sound of coaches by Leon Garfield - love his books
The strange affair of Adelaide Harris by Leon Garfield
Knights of God: tales and legends of Irish Saints by Patricia Lynch - famous Irish storyteller
The Grey Goose of Kilnevin by Patricia Lynch

pre-order books:
The Call by Paedar o'Guillin - lots of buzz around this
The beginning woods by Malcolm McNeill
The Book that Made Me: a collection of 32 personal stories edited by Judith Ridge - Judith is an Australian children's literature expert, stories are from a range of Aussie & NZ YA writers: Shaun Tan, Markus Zusak, Mandy Hager, Ted Dawe etc

from the library today:
Pig in the middle by Sam Llewellyn - children's book set on Scottish coast
The song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde - sequel to The last dragonslayer which I've read

Currently reading Garnethill by Denise Mina for the September series and sequels theme. It's the first in a trilogy and Mina is a writer I've been meaning to try for forever. Also started The Old Man and the Sea yesterday on my mobile, very impressed with this classic story so far.
I'll probably put aside other reading to pick up The Call by Paedar O'Guillin - he's a writer I follow on his blog & twitter since enjoying his The Inferior.

Will post a few photos from my trip eventually but need to make some soup stock and I soaked chickpeas last night so need to get busy turning them into dinner.

142) Garnethill by Denise Mina (1998)
crime fiction
First in a trilogy and one I've been meaning to read for a long while. I liked this and thought Maureen was a great character. Won't say much more than that except that it wasn't a police procedural as I had been expecting.

>141 avatiakh: Nice haul from Australia, avatiakh! I was reading Australian aboriginal tales to my kids recently. They seems to enjoy Stories from the Billabong. They are fun and interesting creation myths.

Great Thingaversary book haul, Kerry!

>145 brodiew2: Yes, the aboriginal myths are interesting. I need to take another look at them. I also want to read some of Patricia Wrightson's work, she incorporates aboriginal myth into her children's fantasy novels.

>146 kidzdoc: I thought so too.The books all just happened along.


143) The Call by Peadar O'Guilin (2016)
YA
I've been looking forward to this one for a while and then devoured it in a couple of sittings. There are tones of horror in this, but I loved the story and the horror is needed for the story to work. Sometime in the far away past, the Irish people threw the Sidhe fairy folk from their land and now the Sidhe have finally begun to fight back with vengeance. Ireland has been cut off from the rest of the world and each human child during adolescence must face the Call, 3 minutes 4 seconds in our time, but an entire day in the terrible Greylands where the Sidhe now live. Not many survive, some return with horrific injuries or their bodies modified in strange ways. All are haunted by their memories of their ordeal. Teenagers must attend survival schools, where they are trained at athletics, fighting and well versed in survivors' testimonials. Nessa, with her twisted legs from polio, is strong mentally and determined to be a survivor.
I've followed Peadar's blog for some years now since reading his The Inferior.

>141 avatiakh: Bookshop looks so welcoming. The only bookshop I really remember was a large one near Sydney university which just had stacks and stacks of second hand books - I could have easily spent a fortune (fortunately I was limited by my baggage allowance).

Yes, it was quite delightful and I was extremely tempted by Elaine Mitchell's family memoir but the size decided me, as I also was catching a flight.
I've been in a big used bookstore in Melbourne years ago, I don't think I could find it again but remember it was in the CBD and downstairs. Probably the aptly named City Basement Books which seems to be in a new location.
This time I visited Books for Cooks which has an amazing selection of old and new cookbooks all mixed together on the shelves. We only had one full day in Melbourne so time was short.

Also at Adelaide Central Market which is mostly for food I found a used book shop, Adelaide's Popup Bookstore. I got the John Wyndham paperback there, but most noteworthy were the black & white book jackets that they'd designed for hardback books missing their covers, I first thought it was a new publishing imprint and then realised that they were just a cool idea with a big play on the letter 'A'.
Unfortunately my photo is slightly blurred.

144) The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (1952)
fiction
I love everything about this novella, it is a little bit of perfect. I read and loved Roman Philbrick's The Young Man and the Sea which is based on Hemingway's book and knew I'd eventually get round to reading the original.

Hiya,

Not sure if you use Audible.com, but some hard to get titles (due to geography restrictions) have recently turned up (due out Sept ) The reality dysfunction & Others .... thought you might be interested.

Hi Alex, I've read all the Confederation and Greg Mandel ones. I've lined up the two Chronicle of the Fallers books to see out the year, the second book comes out soon so I just need to finish up The Evolutionary Void this month, then I'm also done with the Commonwealth Saga. All from audible and all narrated by John Lee - scifi heaven.

I've also got The Aeronaut's Windlass from audible and need to get to that one as well.

>152 avatiakh: I Have also lined up the two Chronicle of the Fallers books ( second one is due out In the next week, hence why all the blog reviews are turning up) ...

Lee is very good, I do like Toby Longworthas well, but others seem to quite dislike him ....

Lee is excellent. My first by him was Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson, really sold me on the whole books by audio thing. I'm a total Peter F. Hamilton fan too, love his storytelling. Really enjoying the Void books, the story is a bit different from the other Commonwealth books, I've really grown to love the Eduard dream stories.

A few photos from Melbourne, we only had one full day here, though I've been a few times before -

This cafe hidden behind wooden doors was a short walk from our hotel
_
semolina chips for breakfast went down well / interior of Krimper Cafe

There was a student protest outside the State Library while we were there - free study, no loans seemed to be what they wanted

The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek statue outside the State Library

Victoria State Library

Victoria State Library - saw a painting exhibition downstairs and then came up to see Ned Kelly's armour. I read Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang a couple of years ago so really wanted a chance to see this.

We travelled to South Australia via the Great Ocean Road, taking a 3 day drive though I'd recommend making it a 4 day one, that last day was quite a haul.

last one from Melbourne - Hosier Lane known for the graffitti and famous Movida Tapas Bar.

leaving Apollo Bay

Cape Ottway lighthouse

reconstruction of an aboriginal meeting house - talked for ages to an interesting guide here

Twelve Apostles - lots of walks and places to stop along the coastline, lots of shipwrecks along this coast as well

Whale watching platform at Warrnambool

Drove through the Coorong National Park to the Fleurieu Peninsula just south of Adelaide




pelicans in Gowla

Victor Harbour

Didn't end up spending too much time in central Adelaide. We were visiting old friends here, hadn't seen them for over 25 years and yet it felt like just yesterday since we last talked. I also caught up with my nephew and his partner and daughter. I spent an afternoon at the South Australia State Library archives, didn't really help that much, but at least I know what is on file there.

Adelaide Pop Up Books - cute little used bookshop in the Central Market - mostly food here.

State Library

Art Gallery

street sculptures, each one has a name!

Mortlock Library - much better photos online (see below), we were too late in the day to go upstairs and see this in all its glory, had to make do with downstairs exhibition area.

(not my photo)

Adelaide Hills is wine country as much as Barossa Valley is and so is the Fleurieu Peninsula. While BArossa is more big business, the other areas offer smaller family owned enterprises. My Scottish family came out here in 1839 and it was just wonderful to discover all the small towns in the Adelaide Hills that I've been reading in all those birth, death & marriage records.

Adelaide Hills - Avalon Cafe, Woodside
_
Hahnsdorf - settled by persecuted German peasants in 1839, now a tourist mecca
__
Lunch at Maggie Beer's Farm Shop in Barossa Valley

Chateau Yaldarra in the Barossa Valley

Beautiful photos, avatiakh! I especially like the Mortlock Library.

Great photos, Kerry! Thanks for sharing them with us.

Those pigs look so real that I did a double take when I first saw them.

Enjoyed the photo's, Kerry, especially the libraries & bookshops :-)

Beautiful Pictures. The Ocean Road brings back lovely memories too. The Adelaide Hills ones make me want to visit and explore that area. Dangerous visiting your thread for the travel wishlist (as well as the books of course).

>160 brodiew2: It was beautiful, we missed taking the lift up by 30 mins. Still another reason to return to Adelaide.

>161 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl - yes, there were several more of those pigs and children were really enjoying them.


>162 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita - I went into many more bookshops than I took photos of. I was fairly restrained and just browsed mostly. In Ballarat there was another interesting bookshop which had a big educational section, I took photos of several picturebooks on autism & aspergers that I hadn't come across before and will be checking my library for them. My all time favourite is still All cats have Asperger Syndrome which they had on display. There's also All Dogs Have ADHD.


>163 charl08: Hi Charlotte - I could have spent another week exploring the wine areas of McClaren Vale in the Fleurieu Peninsula and the Adelaide Hills. Another small highlight was a quick visit to the Prancing Pony pub/brewery in Mt Barker. I'm definitely considering another road trip around Victoria and South Australia. I would love to visit the Mornington Peninsula near Melbourne as well.


Prancing Pony pub/brewery in Mt Barker, Adelaide Hills.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sas-prancing-pony-brewery-win...

145) The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones
children's fantasy
Last in the Chrestomanci series and a delightful read. The story is about the misuse of magic in the small villages around Chrestomanci Castle.

A child of books by Oliver Jeffers & Sam Winston (2016)
picturebook

This is rather delightful, the illustrations include lots of text from favourite childhood stories. It's a collaboration project of both Jeffers & Winston and will appeal to both adults and children.


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146) The Road to Winter by Mark Smith (2016)
YA, fiction
A debut novel and the first in a trilogy. I really like this type of read, it's for older teens and also adults. It's being marketed as a new version of Tomorrow when the war began, though the storyline is more dystopian in that a virus knocks out most people in Australia. Finn, a 16 yr old boy has survived on his own for the past two years and now a girl turns up. She's being pursued by Wilders. The story is set on the western Victorian coastline.
I'm now looking forward to the next book.

>166 avatiakh: That looks wonderful - beautiful illustrations.

The classics are cool again: Here’s what to read - well for us LTers they've always been cool, but ok article from Australian news site
http://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/books/2016/09/24/classic-books-to-read/

Not sure I'd count the Night Manager as a classic...

I'm a fan of the Text Classics range, can't believe they're up to 100 books. Here in New Zealand our lousy bookshops don't carry the range which is a shame as they retail at an affordable price, I just see a couple from time to time. I can buy them online though and most are available as e-books through my library.

I've got a very abused ex-library copy of The Night Manager which I'm keen to read as I watched the mini-series starring Laurie & Hiddleston.

>167 avatiakh: Hello avatiakh! This one sounds interesting. Colors on the cover are tropical-ish. The below image is more desolate. Quite a contrast. I'm glad you liked it.

>172 brodiew2: Yes, the cover is quite arresting and doesn't have the usual YA look.

On another note I watched the first six episodes (season 1) of Tomorrow when the war began, it's set in current times, so mobile phones etc, the plot has been rewritten to give the parents a bigger role. Overall I enjoyed it, much better than the film that was made a while back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu0mNFyzeHs

147) The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton
scifi / audio
And so the Void trilogy comes to an end. I've loved all the books Hamilton has set in the Commonwealth universe and I'm also happy that I have two new ones set at an earlier time to the Void books to read, starting with The Abyss Beyond Dreams.
The Void trilogy is brilliant though I think you'll get more from it by reading the earlier books Pandora's Star & Judas Unchained as several characters come into play again even though the Void books are set about 1000 years later.

148) Battlesaurus: Clash of Empires by Brian Falkner (2016)
YA
This is a continuation of the alternate history about Napoleon. Here we are in the aftermath of Waterloo, Napoleon is considering invading England and his ultimate weapons - battle ready dinosaurs are still a great threat. Great adventurous story telling, the pace is fast here. I'm pretty sure this one ties up the story as William and his military friends fight to protect England and rescue family and friends from the French using a touch of magical illusion.

147) Logan's Run by William F. Nolan & George Clayton Johnson (1967)
scifi
I was always quite taken with the film so when I saw this new edition of Logan's Run at the library I thought it would be interesting to read and see if the film differs from the book. It does.
While in the film all the action takes place in the underground city, in the book the action seems to crisscross the USA. Quite a good read and now I'll have to hunt down the movie for another look.
In 2116 there is no place for old people, once you reach 21 yrs your life is over and you go to the Sleeproom. Some can't handle this and become runners, trying to escape their fate. Logan is a hunter, his job is to find the runners and terminate them, but now he's about to turn 21.

>176 avatiakh:. It's been years since I saw the movie and have been meaning to read the book. Directly to the 2017 TBR, if not sooner.

Hi Brodie - it's only 165pgs so can be done in a lazy weekend afternoon.

I've been away from home for the last few weeks, so I'm catching up here. The Patricia Wrightson trilogy is wonderful (The Ice is Coming, The Dark Bright Water, and Journey Behind the Wind)--I've owned the paperbacks since the 80s, but I've only read a few of the others as they haven't been very available around here. Even now, on Amazon US, there's only a limited selection and they are always used.

All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome is hilarious and SO apt, and I've worked extensively with children with AS.

Isn't The Pinhoe Egg a worthy culmination of the Chrestomanci books? I loved it too.

>180 avatiakh: Hi Roni - we all seem to be quieter this year on the threads. Hope your trip was enjoyable, I'll have to visit your thread for an update.
Yes, Patricia Wrightson has long been on my radar but still to read one of hers. The paperbacks turn up regularly at used bookshops here and I've slowly built up a small collection. A book friend from over in Australia has started her PhD on representations of Australia in children’s and YA fantasy fiction (with a special interest in Aboriginal story and representation) and blogged a little about Wrightson and others in the past year which caught my interest.

Fyi - she's just edited The book that made me which you would probably love and announced that there will be a American edition to come. http://booknotes-unbound.org.nz/book-of-the-month-the-book-that-made-me/

Oh yes, I love love love All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome. Have to put the pic in my post!!

Yes, The Pinhoe Egg is a really good final book. Sigh...

I love that cover for The Book that Made Me. Really sweet.

Are you still reviewing cafes? Any good finds?

Yes, lately I'm finding it easier to find cafes than read a book. I've come across a few local ones that are worth returning to and a couple in the city that I like.
I've walked past Remedy Cafe a couple of times but now after seeing some online pics I'm going to have to go there, though it's possibly a little too hipster for me. You can do book swaps there.
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Remedy Cafe

Current fave is from this weekend, I finally got to Scarecrow, an organic, local produce cafe / grocer/ florist, it's always full though this time I was in the city early doing a dropoff and it was raining so I had my chance. Coffee was perfect. I used to work around the corner from this location when it was a hairdresser. I love the windows behind the counter looking out to Albert Park.

Nice café photos, Kerry. I need to do the same, as I do my best reading in cafés and there are several new ones in Midtown Atlanta that I've heard about but not visited yet.

The cafe's of South Australia look inviting, Kerry.

>180 avatiakh: Actually and surprisingly that is not actually the case. The top 66 threads this year have collectively 13% more posts than this time last year. You have 640 posts so far this year whereas you had 524 at the beginning of October 2015.

I love the look of the cafe at the bottom - reminds me of a Swedish cafe in Edinburgh. Gorgeous place. I love the light (and the lovely coffee).

>183 kidzdoc: I've been reviewing cafes etc this year on zomato.com which started up in India. I got started because I wanted to rant in public at the terrible coffee I started to get at one of my favoured spots, then thought that I'd better review a few other cafes so people could see that I was a reasonable sort of person...it took off and I've discovered quite a few new spots across the city and near home that are worth the extra drive, also visiting old favourites from when I lived in the central city. I'm slowing down on the reviews now.
I did a few reviews on tripadvisor for places in Spain but gave up eventually, that site is too big and people usually only review when they've had a bad time so I visit it less and less.

Another bonus while using the site has been discovering many budget Asian eateries as I've gotten to follow a few Asian reviewers. We often go out for pho, dumplings or yum cha so it's fun to discover more of these places. Last week we went to 'Smile Dessert' for Chinese sweets.


>184 PaulCranswick: I'm surprised as I've been a lot quieter (I thought) this year. Having been in the group since 2009 many of the people I interacted with back then have moved on, though I think it's hard to keep up the prolific posting just like it's hard to read for every challenge/theme read etc.

>185 charl08: It's one of the better places I've been to, pity that everyone else likes it too. Swedish style sounds good.

148) The abyss beyond dreams by Peter F. Hamilton (2014)
scifi / audio
Commonwealth: Chronicle of the Fallers #1. This is the last of two books set in the Commonwealth universe and should be read after the Void trilogy even though this book is set before the events in the trilogy.
Wow, I loved this one. The Void is a black hole where technology stops working but humans have telepathy and telekinesis instead. Nigel Sheldon, one of the founders of the Commonwealth, goes into the Void to discover its secrets.
I had to start the sequel Night without stars right after finishing this. Luckily it was published last week.

>186 avatiakh: Oh yes. A favourite place in Edinburgh all my students suddenly discovered and it became pointless as a relaxation venue until term ended.

The pudding looks beautiful - what were the flavours?

Hi Charlotte - We didn't try that one, black sesame & walnut paste but it's typical of the menu and presentation.

>189 avatiakh: Sounds like a good excuse to go back again!

Hi Kerry! I loved your idea of an ANZAC Bingo challenge for next year. I think it would be fun. There are quite a few authors I'd like to revisit.

Hi Jenn,thanks for the feedback. I just thought that all the planning and choosing authors for the year was a bit much for the number of people doing the challenge, and this way we can continue with more flexibility. I'll keep drawing attention to certain writers.
Are you able to sneakily remain a member and continue to borrow digitally from Wellington Libraries?

Recently I bought a couple of books direct from Text Publishing (Australia) and also added a box of postcards of the covers of the 100 classic Australian & New Zealand books they've published since starting the series. So I've got lots of ideas!

>192 avatiakh: Kerry, I am always keen to add to my antipodean reading so I would follow whatever challenge you decide to put up!

Have a lovely weekend.

Hi Paul - I haven't done a bingo challenge but want to free up the ANZAC format a little more especially as we've now all got a few writers we'd like to revisit.

Weekend's been good apart from the rain and the Trump.

149) The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas (1996)
crime
Commissaire Adamsberg #1. New police procedural series for me. This is set in Paris and introduces Adamsberg whose just moved to Paris from a rural police station. He's famous for solving crimes a little differently , relying on his own instincts. The rest of the cast of characters will hopefully become regulars. I'll be following up with book two sometime soon.

>195 avatiakh: I remember reading that one some time ago and thinking it ok and a little leftfield. Not sure why I haven't managed to read any further in the series.

Hi, Kerry. Just checking in. I have been wanting to return to the Adamsberg series for years now. The only one I read and I really liked it, was Have Mercy on Us All.

Hope life is treating you well.

Hi Mark - I liked it and from what others say I think that the series gets better & better.

From the library today & thanks to @paulstalder's TIOLI challenge to read a Dutch or Flemish writer -
Wolf and Dog & What dog knows by Sylvia Vanden Heede - Flemish, children's
In the shadow of the Ark by Anne Provoost - Flemish, adult
Children on the Oregon Trail by Anna Rutgers van der Loeff - Dutch, children's
The King of the Copper Mountains by Paul Biegel - Dutch, children's
Mister Orange by Truus Matti - Dutch, YA, been meaning to read her Departure TIme for ages but the cover of this one sold me
also
Moonstone: the boy who never was by Sjon - Icelandic fiction, like his work and noticed this new one at the bookshop

from charity bookshop:
The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding - Ketty Jay #3 - steampunk scifi series in style of Firefly
Balinese Food: the traditional Cuisine & Food Culture of Bali by Vivienne Kruger - foodie book rather than recipes
Caravan to Vaccares by Alastair MacLean - bought for the dramatic cover, set in Provence
Body of Lies by David Ignatius - spy fiction, book to film
The Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird - YA set in Ethiopia
Raven Black by Ann Cleeves - not read her crime fiction as yet
Lunch with Mussolini by Derek Hansen - Lunch with... series #2 - ANZAC Nov/Dec writer, I already own a battered copy but this is a much better more readable one.
Agincourt by Bernard Cornwall - historical fiction

150) A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer (1961)
fiction
Thanks to Heather for reading this and writing such positive comments on her thread.....so I had to pick it up fairly quickly after that. This was a delightful read, Adam returns from the Peninsular War to find that his late father has left the family facing ruin. All Adam has is his title and property that must be sold to clear debts. To save the family home he enters a marriage of convenience. Jenny is far from a beauty, but she is sensible, shrewd and kind.

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I read Wolf and Dog by Sylvia Vanden Heede only to find that I already read it 3 years ago.
The followup What dog knows lost me on the first page or so, it's not fiction more like dog teaching wolf what he knows about lots of things, so while it looks like an interesting nonfiction-like read for children, isn't something I want to spend time with. The illustrations look good.

Glad you enjoyed A Civil Contract so much Kerry. My husband loves Peter F. Hamilton and especially enjoyed The Abyss Beyond Dreams - you've reminded me the sequel has just been released and I'll look out for it for him. I want to try Hamilton myself but this year I seem to keep bouncing off hard sf for some reason.

>201 souloftherose: I'm enjoying this last Commonwealth book a lot. I've done Hamilton's Commonwealth books by audio as John Lee narrates and it's just pure pleasure, though each one is around 24 hrs. I'll pick up Fallen Dragon in book form before the year is out and then I've read all his work.

Always good to pick up a Heyer. i've been meaning to read one of her mystery novels as I have an 'anything Hemingway' category over in the category challenge.