SusanJ's 75 Books Challenge - Thread 8

Hello, and welcome to my eighth thread for 2017. At this rate, I don't think I'm going to catch up with Amber, but never mind.

I'm Susan, a Kiwi living in London for the past 22 years. During the working week I'm a lawyer so I love nerdy legal stuff, which crops up in more books than you might expect.

Over the past few years I've started to read a lot more non-fiction, so my reading is now more balanced between F and NF than it typically has been. I typically aim for 150 books, with a 100 NF/50 F split, although this year isn't working out quite like that. While I read mostly from the library, I do have a fair few books that I've bought (mostly for the Kindle) and I need to keep my eye on those so that I actually read them instead of just accumulating them. This year I want to read at least 50 books from Mount TBR (which counts as anything I own) so I'm adding a ticker for that too.

Books read during 2017



By Dick Mudde - Own work, Public Domain, Link

January

1. The Trials of the King of Hampshire by Elizabeth Foyster
2. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
3. Make Me by Lee Child
4. The Bible: The Biography by Karen Armstrong
5. Before We Kiss by Susan Mallery
6. Until We Touch by Susan Mallery
7. Night School by Lee Child
8. Under Another Sky by Charlotte Higgins
9. Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
10. The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf
11. Defiance: The Life and Choices of Lady Anne Barnard by Stephen Taylor
12. The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby
13. The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild
14. Hold Me by Susan Mallery
15. Kiss Me by Susan Mallery
16. Thrill Me by Susan Mallery
17. Toast by Nigel Slater
18. The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan
19. The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
20. Hell's Bottom, Colorado by Laura Pritchett
21. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
22. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
23. Looking for Alaska by John Green



February

24. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
25. The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss
26. The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown
27. The Riviera Set by Mary S Lovell
28. Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw
29. The Dinosaur Hunters by Deborah Cadbury
30. Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
31. Evicted by Matthew Desmond
32. China's Disruptors by Edward Tse
33. Oil on Water by Helon Habila
34. Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
35. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
36. The Unwinding by George Packer



March

37. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
38. The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker
39. The Templar Legacy
40. Waves of Prosperity: Indian, China and the West: How Global Trade Transformed the World
41. Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
42. The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
43. How to Survive a Plague by David France
44. Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf
45. The Mighty Dead by Adam Nicolson
46. The House At Sea's End by Elly Griffiths
47. A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths
48. The Life Project by Helen Pearson
49. You May Also Like by Tom Vanderbilt
50. Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge



April

51. The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner
52. The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt
53. The Wangs vs the World by Jade Chang
54. Hit Makers by Derek Thompson
55. The Epigenetics Revolution by Nessa Carey
56. The Windflower by Laura London
57. An African in Greenland by Tete-Michel Kpomassie
58. The Leveller Revolution by John Rees
59. The Death of an Owl by Paul Torday
60. Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
61. Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham
62. Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara
63. Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart
64. The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso
65. Vicious Circle by C J Box



May

66. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
67. Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths
68. The Plague Charmer by Karen Maitland
68.5 Midnight at Tiffany's by Sarah Morgan
69. The Doctor's Engagement by Sarah Morgan
70. Mail Men by Adrian Addison
71. Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson
72. Good As You by Paul Flynn
73. Fully Connected by Julia Hobsbawm
74. Irresistible by Adam Alter
75. The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu by Charlie English
76. Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon
77. Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag
78. The House of Hidden Mothers by Meera Syal
79. About Last Night by Catherine Alliott



June

80. Barbara the Slut and Other People
81. Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
82. All This Will Be Lost by Brian Payton
83. Queer City by Peter Ackroyd
84. Heat and Light by Jennifer Haigh
85. On Intelligence by John Hughes-Wilson
86. The Husband Hunters by Anne de Courcy



July

87. A Necessary Evil by Abir Mukherjee
88. Koh-i-Noor by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand
89. See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt
90. The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson
91. The Outcasts of Time by Ian Mortimer
92. Collecting the World by James Delbourgo
93. The Anatomy of a Traitor by Michael Smith
94. He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope
95. A Very British Coup by Chris Mullin
96. Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy by Tim Harford
97. House of Spies by Daniel Silva



August

98. A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders
99. Emigrants: Why the English Sailed to the New World by James Evans
100. Caesar's Last Breath by Sam Kean
101. Ulverton by Adam Thorpe
102. Pale Rider by Laura Spinney
103. When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
104. History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund
105. The King's City by Don Jordan
106. One Hot Summer by Rosemary Ashton
107. Crusoe's Island by Andrew Lambert
108. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths
109. Do I Make Myself Clear? by Harold Evans
110. Lovers and Strangers by Clair Wills
111. The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths
112. Hidden Figures by Margo Lee Shetterly



September

113. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths
114. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
115. Dragon's Lair by Sharon Penman
116. Pirates by Helen Hollick
117. Medicus by Ruth Downie
118. A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
119. The Sanctuary Seeker by Bernard Knight
120. Wine of Violence by Priscilla Royal



October

121. Roman Blood by Steven Saylor
122. Prince of Darkness by Sharon Penman
123. The Strangest Family by Janice Hadham
124. The Norfolk Mystery by Ian Sansom
125. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
126. Best of My Love by Susan Mallery
127. The Terror by Dan Simmons
128. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Last year I started a new NF challenge, which is to read the non-fiction winners of the Pulitzer prize. I stole this idea from Reba, who was doing a fiction challenge (and has now finished it. Hi Reba!) This is a long-term project, rather than something to be completed in a year or two. If I can't find the relevant non-fiction winner easily in the UK, I propose to substitute the winner of the history category.

Last year I read about eight books from the list. This year I'd like to do the same, but I have five already and I'll focus on those.



Here's the full list:



2017 Evicted by Matthew Desmond
2016 Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick
2015 The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
2014 Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin
2013 Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King
2012 The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
2011 The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
2010 The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy by David E. Hoffman



2009 Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A Blackmon
2008 The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945 by Saul Friedländer
2007 The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright
2006 Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya by Caroline Elkins
2005 Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
2004 Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum
2003 A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power
2002 Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution by Diane McWhorter
2001 Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan by Herbert P Bix
2000 Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John W. Dower



1999 Annals of the Former World by John McPhee
1998 Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
1997 Ashes To Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, The Public Health, And The Unabashed Triumph Of Philip Morris by Richard Kluger
1996 The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism by Tina Rosenberg
1995 The Beak Of The Finch: A Story Of Evolution In Our Time by Jonathan Weiner
1994 Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days Of The Soviet Empire by David Remnick
1993 Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America by Garry Wills
1992 The Prize: The Epic Quest For Oil, Money & Power by Daniel Yergin
1991 The Ants by Bert Holldobler and Edward O Wilson
1990 And Their Children After Them by Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson



1989 A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil Sheehan
1988 The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
1987 Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land by David K Shipler
1986 Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families by J Anthony Lukas
1986 Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and White by Joseph Lelyveld
1985 The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two by Studs Terkel
1984 The Social Transformation Of American Medicine by Paul Starr
1983 Is There No Place On Earth For Me? by Susan Sheehan
1982 The Soul of A New Machine by Tracy Kidder
1981 Fin-De Siecle Vienna: Politics And Culture by Carl E Schorske
1980 Godel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R Hofstadter



1979 On Human Nature by Edward O Wilson
1978 The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan
1977 Beautiful Swimmers by William W Warner
1976 Why Survive? Being Old In America by Robert N Butler
1975 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
1974 The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
1973 Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam by Frances Fitzgerald
1973 Children of Crisis, Vols. II and III by Robert Coles
1972 Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945 by Barbara W Tuchman
1971 The Rising Sun by John Toland
1970 Gandhi's Truth by Erik H Erikson



1969 The Armies Of The Night by Norman Mailer
1969 So Human An Animal by Rene Jules Dubos
1968 Rousseau And Revolution, The Tenth And Concluding Volume Of The Story Of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant
1967 The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture by David Brion Davis
1966 Wandering Through Winter by Edwin Way Teale
1965 O Strange New World by Howard Mumford Jones
1964 Anti-Intellectualism in American Life by Richard Hofstadter
1963 The Guns of August by Barbara W Tuchman
1962 The Making of the President 1960 by Theodore H White

There are all sorts of reading challenges around (quite apart from LT) and I thought I'd have a go at the Better World Books challenge, which is as follows (with some thoughts for books in each category where I have thoughts. Or books):



A food memoir Toast by Nigel Slater COMPLETED
A young adult novel Looking for Alaska by John Green COMPLETED
A National Book Award Winner The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead COMPLETED
A book under 200 pages Hell's Bottom, Colorado by Laura Pritchett COMPLETED
A non-fiction book about nature The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf COMPLETED
A book set in Asia China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan COMPLETED
A book translated from another language Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg COMPLETED
A fantasy novel Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb COMPLETED
A book that’s more than 100 years old Bleak House COMPLETED
A book about immigrants The Wangs vs the World COMPLETED
A romance that takes place during travel The Windflower by Laura London COMPLETED
A book set in a place you want to visit An African in Greenland by Tete-Michel Kpomassie COMPLETED
A book you picked based on its cover The Leveller Revolution by John Rees COMPLETED
A collection of short stories Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes COMPLETED
A book with a color in the title The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson COMPLETED
A book about a historical event Pale Rider by Laura Spinney COMPLETED
A book over 400 pages The King's City by Don Jordan COMPLETED
A book by a person of color Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly COMPLETED
A book by a female writer The Strangest Family by Janice Hadham COMPLETED
A book that’s been adapted into a movie The Life of Pi by Yann Martel COMPLETED

Still to go:

A book based on a fairytale
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

A book that takes place in a forest
Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller

A banned book
1984 by George Orwell

A book of poetry
The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin

A book with a child narrator
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Other projects for 2017

The Pulitzer challenge has no end date, but for 2017 I want to read Boswell's Life of Johnson which I have in a slightly different (i.e. cheaper) version than this handsome Penguin Classic. But it's the unabridged version, so yay.



I'm also starting to listen to podcasts, as they seem to be The Thing, so I'll record them here:

Podcasts

1. BBC 3: Breaking Free: Martin Luther's Revolution. Reformation 500 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p052bmk9
2. BBC Radio 4: The Battle of Lincoln 1217 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08njv60
3. BBC Radio 4: 1816, The Year Without a Summer http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b077j4yv
4. BBC Radio 4: Le Morte d'Arthur http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pp989
5. BBC Radio 4: The Epic of Gilgamesh http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080wbrq
6. BBC Radio 4: Purgatory http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08qxfrb#play
7. BBC Radio 4: The Gin Craze http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b084zk6z
8. BBC Radio 4: Enzymes http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08rp369
9. BBC Radio 4: Christine de Pizan http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08sksb4
10. BBC Radio 4: The Day is for the Living (Hilary Mantel Reith lecture) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08tcbrp
11. BBC Radio 4: Making History - The English Pearl Harbour http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08sn96v
12. BBC Radio 4: The Field of the Cloth of Gold http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003k9dl
13. BBC Radio 4: Making History - Zombies in Yorkshire? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08tcg6f
14. BBC Radio 4 Extra: Suburbia http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05n3yjq
15. BBC Radio 4: The American Populists http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08tbf4g
16. BBC Radio 4: Costing the Earth - The World's Toughest Plants http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08rq6dx
17. BBC Radio 4: Common Sense Philosophy http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qhbn#play
18. History of Pirates podcast - Introduction http://www.historyofpiratespodcast.com/?p=19
19. History of Pirates podcast - What is a Pirate? http://www.historyofpiratespodcast.com/?p=23
20. History of Pirates podcast - Ancient Pirates and the Quest for Stuff http://www.historyofpiratespodcast.com/?p=111
21. History of Pirates podcast - The Phoenecians and Greek Pirates http://www.historyofpiratespodcast.com/?p=121
22. BBC Radio 4 - Eugene Onegin http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08tvjjq

Hey Susan. Am I first? Taking a breather from the dust. Would rather be reading than cleaning, naturally!

>6 susanj67: On a (possibly) related note, why do I keep so much stuff? Contemplating running away to live in a tent with No Things.

Happy new thread. Hoping the Strange People are not bothering you too much.

Happy new thread!

>7 charl08: Charlotte, you are first! Sorry to hear about the dust. I think the secret to not much stuff is living in small spaces. Move to London - you'll have no room at all :-)

>8 Helenliz: Helen, they are *right there* on the kitchen balcony, which is disconcerting. I thought they only worked Saturday mornings but it seems not. I am trying to rustle up some lunch, *and* hide. Not easy.

>9 drneutron: Thanks Jim!

108. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths

This is the sixth book in the Ruth Galloway series, and an excellent instalment. I particularly liked having something to whiz through after so long stuck on book 107. I think I have two or three more of these, so now I'm torn between wanting to read right to the end immediately and saving at least one for some future time when I need it.

Hi Susan! Happy new thread!!

On the topic of living with less "stuff". I've been wondering lately if one reason I like being in our Chautauqua place is because, as a "vacation" home, it has only the bare necessities and, so, lots less "stuff". I think I've concluded that is only part of the reason but still...

Happy new thread, Susan. I'm happy to see another Ruth fan. That is a dilemma, isn't it?

>13 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba :-) I think "stuff" does bring responsibility with it, so a house with the bare necessities would make you feel quite free.

>14 BLBera: Thanks Beth. The library had the next two on the shelf when I got this one, so I am tempted...Have you read her other series, starting with The Zig Zag Girl?



109. Do I Make Myself Clear?: Why Writing Well Matters by Harold Evans

This is a great read for anyone who writes anything. I've been reading it for the last couple of weeks while struggling through 107 and it was something very different, and perhaps best read bit by bit and not all at once. Very highly recommended.

Next I have Lovers and Strangers by Clair Wills, and I'm about half-way through Hidden Figures on the Kindle. Then there is all the stuff on Mount TBR.

I discovered that the Zinio e-magazine app *is* available for the Fire, so I got that set up yesterday and although it seemed to be a bit buggy this morning it is working again now. The interface isn't as good as Readly, which displays mags by "newest", giving me something to check every morning when I wake up, but Zinio emails notifications of new issues of things if you tick them in a list. Readly is paid up until mid-September so I'll have both of them for a few weeks. If any of y'all like magazines, do check your library's electronic resources, because it's a really good add-on to the books :-)

Happy new thread, Susan.

>15 susanj67: A genealogical writing book is in my stash to read soon.

>108 charl08: Happy new one, Susan!! Congrats on breaking 100. That's another series I want to get to....Sigh. I need more hours in the day.

Happy new thread, Susan!
>10 susanj67: Indeed, moving to a smaller house made us get rid of a lot.

>16 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul.

>17 thornton37814: Lori, I find it so easy to get into bad habits. Lawyers love the passive voice, and I have to guard against that. (I nearly said "be on guard" there, but that would involve additional pointless words :-) ) There was a good section on pointless buzzwordery, which reminded me of certain phrases that I have banned in the office (sometimes I like to pretend that I am in charge instead of the roomie). She said she corrected a business cliche her husband used recently, and he asked "Is that also on Susan's list?" And I believe it was.

>18 Berly: Thanks Kim! I need a couple of days in between Saturday and Sunday. I think I could really make a dent in the TBR pile and the Netflix list and all the magazines in that time.

>19 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. I helped my father and stepmother downsize a couple of years ago. They move a lot, but there was *still* heaps of stuff!

Today is another lovely day, which is suspicious for a Bank Holiday weekend. Maybe the thunder and lightning will come tomorrow. A funny thing happened the other day when I was doing a crossword, although I'm embarrassed to admit it at my advanced age. The clue was "noise of lightning" and I was stumped. A crack? A smack? I studied the grid, and then it dawned on me. T-H-U-N-D-E-R. I'd sort of always assumed that they were two separate things that just went together. You get lightning, you get thunder. But it turns out that actually you just get the lightning, in pictures and sound :-)

I've finally got the kitchen balcony door open, so it's a bit cooler. I don't think I'll spend the afternoon reading under the scaffolding, but a breeze is nice.

>15 susanj67: The Evans sounds good, Susan.

I have The Zig-Zag Girl on my e-reader, and I started it, but put it down. I've heard mixed reactions. I will probably pick it up at some point, but it doesn't draw me in like the Ruth series. I love Ruth. I want to hang out with her.

:) passive voice - wonderful for avoiding any responsibility.

Happy new one, Susan. You remind me to go on with the Elly Griffiths series.

Happy new thread, Susan!

Catch up with me?! Heck, I'm never going to catch up with Mark and Paul!

Also, love the lightning/thunder story - I think I would have had trouble with that one, too.

>21 BLBera: Yup, I wasn't bowled over by this one either. Ok, but I wasn't rushing out to see if there was another.

Susan your English language guidance deserves a blog or a Twitter feed. Is "Strict Legal Lady Rules..." taken?(!)

>20 susanj67: scientists do a lot of passive voice too. Reports are always written in the past tense and in the impersonal; so we'd never say, "I increased the temperature to 300C", it would always be, "The temperature was increased to 300C". Trouble is, I've been using this voice for so long that it has become almost the default writing style. It's not very friendly or engaging.

I ought to try the Evans, I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about quality of writing, as so much of what we do it written instructions or reports and time after time they are gibberish. I think it does matter that you've used the correct their/they're/there. To the extent that I'll reject reports for poor grammar and have a reputation for being picky. No, I just have and expect high standards.

Will he leave me vindicated or tip me off my high horse, I wonder.

>21 BLBera: Beth, the Evans is well worth a look. He edited the Sunday Times for a while but he now lives in the US, and a lot of his examples are from US publications and government reports. (Oh, I see he is married to Tina Brown, which would explain why he lives in the US. I don't know how well known he is over there, though). A few years ago I was working on a case with an ace communications guy at the client. I would write the legal stuff and he would turn it into magic. I learned so much from him. It was particularly interesting how we would both watch or read the same thing and take totally different things from it - both right in our way, but what different ways!

>22 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara. I got the next one from the library today :-)

>23 scaifea: Thanks Amber :-) You are doing very well with the threads! I always check in for the pictures of Charlie and the girls at the top. Tuppence makes me smile every time - there's just something about that expression :-)

>24 charl08: Charlotte, maybe I can cross those three books off my list? OMG. I noticed the library had them all today still, in hardback...If I started complaining about all the cliches and stupidity in office-speak I would never stop. "Issues around" has been at the top of my list for a while. There's also "reach out to" and "put our arms around", which I sometimes combine for the roomie's entertainment when I'm quoting people. There's the gruesome "hard stop" ("I have a hard stop at 3pm so I'll have to leave the call then" for those lucky enough never to have encountered it). And "piece", which is newer - "We did a whole piece around issue x". See, I'm doing it already. Someone make me stop.

>25 Helenliz: Helen, it is really hard to break out of the passive after years of doing it. But how terrible that people say you're picky for insisting on the right their/there/they're etc! Do they call you a "grammar Nazi"? That's another peeve of mine - suggesting that people who value clear communication are evil, like someone who killed millions.

I took some books back to the library earlier, and picked up Pirates: Truth and Tales by Helen Hollick. I saw it reviewed somewhere and reserved it. I also got the next Ruth Galloway, and noticed that the books had moved along by a whole bay. But instead of more crime, they'd put in a "New biographies" section at the beginning of the crime fiction, which is about as far from the NF books as you can get. I wondered what had gone in where the biographies used to be, but it is still biographies - the "New biographies" is a whole new thing, far away from the biographies. When I got to the desk with my card, the young man smiled and said "Oh, this is an old Watney Market card! You don't see many of those now." I said I would get a new one except for the giant wishlist and he said "No, you should keep it!" I may quote him next time someone tries to peddle me a new one. The weird thing is that Idea Store brand has been around since 2002, so he would have grown up with those cards as he was only in his late teens. My card just says "Tower Hamlets Libraries", so I have been wondering all day how he knew it was issued at Watney Market. I still remember going up to get it, one drizzly weekday afternoon in 1998.

Question of the evening: If a book is described as a "formidable history", is that code for "very hard"? I fear it might be, but the book, Bread For All: The Origins of the Welfare State by Chris Renwick, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bread-All-Origins-Welfare-State-ebook/dp/B06Y6494C3/ref... does look good. The tiny review notes that it was the Tories and Liberals who began the welfare state, which surprised me until I remembered that I was reading the Sunday Times :-)

There's also a new book on Viking Britain https://www.amazon.co.uk/Viking-Britain-Exploration-Thomas-Williams-ebook/dp/B01... ("There have been several good books on the Vikings in recent years...Williams does not disgrace that company." Is that damning with faint praise?

And The London Cage: The Secret History of Britain's World War II Interrogation Centre looks good although the reviewer says it is "occasionally exasperating" for failing to conclude whether torture went on or not.

All these are just from the middle pages of today's Sunday Times Culture magazine. So. Many. Books. (No links as the website is paywalled).

"The tiny review notes that it was the Tories and Liberals who began the welfare state, which surprised me until I remembered that I was reading the Sunday Times :-) "

Snigger.

Although the liberals did invent the pension and sickness insurance from the state according to my (cough) infallible A level British history. I used to be able to recite the penny contribution ratios but I fear this useful info was replaced in the late nineties by useless info on 'slebs lifestyles.

ETA found it! GCSE level now apparently. Standards eh...

Health insurance
In the early twentieth century a free National Health Service did not yet exist and the poor could not usually afford medical services. To help address this, the Liberal Government introduced the National Insurance Act in 1911.

For the first time, compulsory health insurance was provided for workers earning less than £160 per year. The scheme was contributory. The worker paid fourpence a week, employers paid threepence and the state paid twopence. The scheme provided sickness benefit entitlement of nine shillings (45 pence), free medical treatment and maternity benefit of 30 shillings (£1.50).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/history/liberal/impact_lib/revision/1/

>27 charl08: Charlotte, that's a good link :-) I had read something about the scheme years ago, but I remember learning at school that New Zealand was the first country (or ahead of the UK, anyway) to have a proper welfare state and I had in mind the 1930s, which seems to be supported by a quick Google. (Education in New Zealand always involved lots of pride for the things at which NZ was first - votes for women, Edmund Hillary climbing Mount Everest - it's not a long list. In the '80s, national pride was given quite a boost by Lorraine Downes winning Miss Universe and Kiri Te Kanawa singing at the royal wedding, although her outfit didn't go down at all well)



110. Lovers and Strangers: An Immigrant History of Post-War Britain by Clair Wills

I started this a couple of days ago and thought I might read a couple more chapters today, but I ended up finishing it. I have just read and read, all day :-) This is a fascinating read, and a must for anyone interested in modern British history. I've read a fair amount about the time, but Wills manages to include a lot that's new, and, as the child of (Irish) immigrants herself, has some interesting things to say about immigration generally, wherever it's to or from.

It starts with the labour shortages in the UK that prompted recruitment in the Caribbean, and there are a couple of passages that are too good not to share:

"According to some early post-war reports, Britain's post-war recovery was being put at risk by attitude - there were workers but they weren't sufficiently willing. Women who had got used to higher wages and better working conditions in munitions factories during the war had no intention of returning to the old mills, without canteens or appropriate toilets, to work for less money. Men living in the Midlands weren't about to move to Wales or Yorkshire for the privilege of working in the mines. The government made various attempts to persuade and cajole people into work, including the gloriously nicknamed 'Spivs and Drones Order', intended to deal with 'parasites', 'idlers', 'slackers' and 'social limpets' (street-traders, buskers, bookmakers, people who worked in nightclubs or didn't work at all) and get them into productive employment."

Then, on the campaigns to get more women back to work:

"Women were disgusted, and judging by the patronizing tone of much of the publicity they were right to be. For a start, it was annoying to be asked to work at the same time as men were campaigning for shorter house. They were not being offered equal jobs or pay but were being directed to 'women's jobs' that men do not 'take to', and paid less. The policy makers argued that this needed to be explained 'gently' in order to 'cause women to see things in a proper light and search their consciences more.'

Being a legal geek, I tried to find the 'Spivs and Drones Order', which is actually the Registration for Employment Order 1947, but it is elusive. I did find a Hansard debate which said that it was aimed at "spivs, drones, eels and butterflies" but there was no explanation of what those additional terms meant. Now I want to know.

ETA: Aha! A paragraph from The New Ordeal by Planning gives some more information:

"...perhaps the most sinister manifestation of this defensive head-hunting was the hysterical drive that was made in the middle of 1947 against 'spivs and drones'. The Government declared that increasing war was to be waged upon these enemies of society. No one quite knew who or what they were except that they frequented the Riviera, Ascot or Soho, and got their pictures in the Tatler and Bystander. So elusive, indeed, was the concept that Mr Isaacs described them as 'eels and butterflies'. This was a hunt in which the quarry was unidentifiable and the crime undefinable. But the trial was good enough to divert attention from the real architects of the economic chaos."

j

111. The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths

This is book 7 in the series, and set in a very wet Norfolk, with the never-ending rain and flooding lending an urgency to the story. I'll get book 8 tomorrow :-)

>28 susanj67: That sounds interesting but I was puzzled by on the campaigns to get more women back to work. How did that coexist with making women quit work when they got married? That happened to my Mum when she could married in the late '40s.

Interesting discussion up thread about writing clearly. I took courses in creative writing. The workshop process was a real eye opener for finding out what people get out of your words. I also recently finished a program in professional writing which covered things like writing clearly and editing. Two of the best take-aways I got from this were to let your words sit and come back to them with fresh eyes later and to write for your audience.

I was way behind in the threads (still am) and enjoyed the speculation as to why family emigrated. There was no mention of health/disease as a reason to immigrate. That turned out to be a big one for my maternal grandfather. I covered that story at the start of my history/genealogy blog at http://genihistorypath.blogspot.ca/2016/04/why-immigrate.html

I love the Ruth Galloway series but have only got to book three. It is good to know that it continues to be strong.

>30 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! I think that the jobs women were expected to do were the sort of menial ones that weren't subject to the marriage bar, but I also found this blog post which says that in the UK Civil Service it was abolished in 1947, so it seemed to be on the way out at the time that the government was trying to get more women into work https://history.blog.gov.uk/2015/05/26/a-perfect-nuisance-the-history-of-women-i... On the writing point, I am a fan of writing cross letters three times - the first time to say what you really want to say, the second to tone it down a bit and the third as the version that you would be happy to hear read out in court. One of my neighbours said that she found this very useful :-) Your blog is really interesting on the subject of TB. Australia, NZ and Canada would certainly have had less cramped conditions, assuming that the emigrant had a bit of money. My great-grandparents bought the largest house they could afford and took in boarders (they were in a mining town, so there were lots of young men looking for accommodation. It did mean, however, that my grandmother had to leave school at 13 and help with the running of the house, including washing and darning the miners' socks. She was not impressed by this).

>31 susanj67: Interesting article about the women in the civil service, Susan. I suppose like any major shift in thinking, it took a while for the removal of the marriage bar to trickle down to all jobs. My parents married in 1949 so it would have been during that transition period. I have no idea what job my Mum had before the marriage, the certificate is blank, no surprise there. I do know that she had work as a saleswoman at the Hudson's Bay store in Victoria, BC prior to going back to the UK to marry. I wonder if those kinds of jobs were only for single women at the time?

I can see why you would give writing a going over three times. I have rarely had to think about my writing going to court, though I suppose some of it has, now that I think about it. No fun sitting on the stand being questioned about what you meant by what you wrote two years ago.

No wonder your grandmother was not impressed by having to leave school if that is what she got to do instead. Did she marry at a young age and leave that behind? My grandfather immigrated alone and found himself in the middle of the Canadian Prairies. He soon hied it off to the nearest town, Regina, and was there just in time for a major part of the town to be flattened by a tornado. He hooked up with my grandmother there and I have to wonder if part of the attraction was that she was part of a large family. Grandad probably missed having a family.

>32 Familyhistorian: Meg, I think there was still an expectation in society that women didn't work after marriage if their husbands could support them, even if the prohibition had gone. We have the reference from my grandmother's last job, which notes that "She leaves us to marry", but that was in the 1920s :-) She did not, in fact, marry young, but when she was 15 and her parents had gone up to Auckland to visit family, she went out and got a job at the local draper's, so that by the time they got home she was employed full-time :-) And the ability to do fiendish mental arithmetic at speed never left her. When the family later moved up to Auckland she worked in the art needlework department of the fanciest department store, where apparently the shop assistants would stand in line and be called forward by their supervisor if a customer needed help. Quite different from today :-)

112. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

This was a great read, and about a subject I knew nothing about - the role of African-American women in the space race. It looks at a group of talented "computers" who worked at the Langley base of what became NASA, from the 1940s onwards. I didn't go to see the film, but I bought the book when it showed up as an Amazon special, and I'm so glad I did. Very highly recommended.

I saw the film, and so want to read the book. Thank you for the reminder!

>35 charl08: Charlotte, it's just £3.99 for Kindle...I hope the film comes onto Netflix, although the actress playing Katherine Johnson is best known as Cookie Lyons from Empire, and they are very different :-)

>36 susanj67: I've not watched Empire, but from the stills that does look like a Very Different role...

It's a great film, not informative and entertaining. I didn't know anything at all about the role of women, not just African-American women, in NASA and am so glad to have that somewhat corrected.

>33 susanj67: Ah, just as I thought, she figured out how to get out of the drudgery at home. That does sound a different way of working but, when you think about it, things are changing all the time and how we work now is a lot different from when I first started working as well. When I first started working men were paid more than women for doing the same job and women were required to wear skirts.

>37 charl08: Charlotte, Very Different Indeed! I love Cookie :-)

>38 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I'm going to assume you meant "most informative and entertaining" there :-) And yes, while it focused on the African-American women, there was nothing that suggested that white women got much more of a chance to advance. All the women were pretty much just assisting the men, and "girls" in general were banned from the engineering meetings that one of the women in the book lobbied to get into.

>39 Familyhistorian: Meg, I've always assumed I was paid the same, but when I started work in the early 90s, I wore skirt suits. There was no ban on trousers - we just didn't wear them because women wore skirts. (My grandmother disapproved of trousers on women, and NEVER wore them in all her 94 years. Even my mother (who was her daughter-in-law) only wore them at home, and would always change into a skirt or dress to go out)

History of Royals magazine downloaded this morning, and it focuses on the Jacobites and is guest-edited by Diana Gabaldon. Needless to say, I started it on the bus :-) I started Helen Hollick's book about pirates last night, and discovered that she has written FIVE pirate-themed "adventure-fantasy" novels as well as her Arthurian trilogy (which I loved) and the books set around 1066. http://www.helenhollick.net/bookshelf_seawitch.html I want to read them all, immediately.

>40 susanj67: Comment re trousers amused me - reminded me of my (great) aunt who was considered (possibly only in her own mind) a 'rebel' for wearing trousers to the sheltered / nursing home accommodation in the '90s. Except she called them 'slacks', I'm not sure why.

>41 charl08: Charlotte, yes, "slacks" was common in NZ as well. I'm trying to think back now to the retirement home my grandmother reluctantly moved into in her very late 80s (having moved in some time before and left, because "it's just full of old people waiting to die, and it's getting me down"), and I don't remember any slacks, although it is fair to say that my grandmother's disapproval was really focused on women who ate the man-sized porridge for breakfast. Even now, if I have a "large" version of something, I think of it as man-sized and feel slightly wicked.

>38 RebaRelishesReading: >40 susanj67: Yes, I did mean "most" informative and entertaining. Don't know what I typed to cause that auto correct.

When I started working job ads were separated into groupings for "men" and for "women". When I got my B.A. and started looking for permanent work I was always asked if I could type (men never were) and was offered secretarial work. The same continued after graduate school. I decided to answer "no" and finally was offered a non-clerical job. In fact I was an excellent typist and got caught out one day when I was using a typewriter on my lunch-break but by then I was accepted enough not to be asked to type anything for anyone else.

Years and another graduate degree later, I was working as a city planner and was fairly often asked if "one of the guys is in" if I was standing near the front counter the assumption being I must be a receptionist because clearly a woman couldn't be a planner. Even in the 90's, by which time I was the director of the department, I would overhear my assistant on the phone patiently trying to get the person calling to understand that the director really was a woman.

I wore skirts most of the time at work but now I wear "pants" all of the time. "Trousers" is a more British word I believe.

>43 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, that's amazing about the job ads being split by gender! I was in an academic stream at high school so typing wasn't an option, but my mother and I went to a nightclass and learned, and then bought a typewriter on which I typed up my university essays until the last year or so, I think, when I bought a computer (with a whole 256KB of memory :-) ) A few years ago I was on the phone to a potential client, pro bono, I think, and he said it was a case about machinery, and was a man available because he thought that a man might find it easier to understand. And this was the first call - I hadn't failed to understand anything when he said it. (p.s. "pants" are underwear here, so if you say that you are wearing pants to an event, they might look at you funny :-) )

Happy first day of autumn, everyone! I celebrated by wearing a light coat, but in my defence they said it might rain later.

And somehow, without my having seen the flat online for sale or rent, new people are moving in next door. I met the lady this morning and she seems nice, although we only spoke briefly as she was on her way up the stairs with armfuls of stuff. There were removal men too, and possibly a husband, although I can't be sure. I don't envy them all those stairs, even on the first day of autumn.

Uniqlo fans should check the site for the new Ines de la Fressange collection (I do not need the duffle coat, I do not need it, or the velvet trousers...) https://www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/women/featured/ines-de-la-fressange and I found this warm thing (not by Ines) which I am tempted to get for the office but all the colours are horrible. Apparently it can also be worn as a skirt, but by someone decades younger than I am:

#44 The pattern reminds me of my old school uniform - our skirts were black watch tartan. Though one school year I had a pair of trousers in the same pattern - is that more or less sexist since I was allowed to wear trousers but they had to be in the plaid, whereas the boys wore black trousers. I lose track ;)

>45 BekkaJo: Bekka, I have also lost track. It must have been annoying as I bet black trousers were cheaper, so that might mean it was sexist in that it was treating women differently to their (or their parents') disadvantage, if that's sexist. It is so hard to know what things are these days. Recently I read of someone accused of "virtue-signalling" and found myself saying "But that's not even a thing!" out loud to an empty room.

I do, however, agree with the mother who complained that Clarks put all the decent hard-wearing shoes in the boys' section, leaving the girls with flimsy things they couldn't run around in, and also the person who objected to the "Genius" t-shirts being only in the boys' section somewhere (I assume girls had unicorns). I don't think I'd go to the papers about it, though...

<44 I was academic track in high school too but I had learned to type much earlier. When I was six or so I was fascinated by my father's (manual) typewriter and he said I could "play" with it but I had to use regular touch-typing fingering. He had a book with typing lessons in it so I used that and learned to type. My "little" fingers (the ones farthest from the thumb) weren't strong enough to depress a key, though, so he let me cheat and use my ring fingers instead. It took me a little while to break that habit when my hands got bigger and stronger. By the time I was in university I earned money typing graduate students' thesis papers -- a nice plus besides the money was that they were often interesting. I also had some part-time jobs during undergrad years as a secretary and did that full time for a year between undergrad and grad school. It's really a handy skill I'm glad I have but I did very much object to being pushed that way after I had degrees just because I was a woman. It still isn't perfect but we have come a long way.

>47 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, it's so funny that these days typing is pretty much essential for so many jobs, including the really top ones. I used to work with partners who couldn't type and would dictate everything to their secretaries, but now there are only a few who can't type. Some don't get involved in complex documents with lots of formatting, but they mostly all do their own emails.

Things it is wise to do: Look at the slides for talks you are giving in place of people who are on holiday, instead of just sending them for inclusion in the material. How I wish I knew why my boss had ordered the slides in the way he has, and what some of the points mean...Maybe I can make a joke of it. At the very least I can include some celebrity anecdotes, because there is no talk, on any topic (even Statements of Case) that cannot be improved by the addition of a celebrity anecdote. Also, apparently the trainees (to whom I am giving these talks) are scared of me, so I have to work on that. I helped out with some training for the junior qualified lawyers recently, and one of the people "interviewing me" (as a difficult witness) sits a couple of offices along. I commented to the roomie afterwards that he'd been the best one. "Oh," she said, looking up from her fruit salad, "he's terrified of you." "WHAT?" I said. "Yeah," she said, "I've tried telling him no, she's really nice, but he's still terrified." Humph.

Ha Susan! Good luck with your slides. I'd hide the ones you can't use and threaten a test at the end on which ones were
missing...

I was so glad I learned to type before uni. My roommate used the hunt and pick method, and it was painful watching her.

>48 susanj67: Nice job terrifying the young associates! That is pretty funny though I am afraid a lot of people here start out afraid of me.

some men just can't help being frightened by strong, competent women -- revel in it :)

>48 susanj67: ha! I regularly have feedback that I'm considered "scary". I'm not, I'm a pussy cat. Albeit one with quite an expressive face, a low tolerance for fools and wide range of eyerolling abilities. >;-)

>43 RebaRelishesReading: I should hope Reba wears pants. To not do so means an entirely different thing over here! >:-o
Family story time. My great granny went shopping for a hat to wear for a wedding. My Grandma found a hat that was nice, and showed it. How about this one. It was red and my great granny, in a loud voince (as only the quite old can manage) announced to the whole shop, "Red hat, no drawers". I own a red hat, it goes lovely with thepoppies on a dress. My husband spent all of that wedding saying "She has, I checked". >;-)

Hi Susan - The Wills books goes onto the list. It sounds fascinating.

You are lucky to still have Ruth books unread. I have to wait for her to write another. :(

I loved the film Hidden Figures and want to read the book.

Language fascinates me, and I loved editing. It is amazing what a few changes can do to a piece. I may save the Evans for summer; it might dishearten me to read it amidst student writing.

>49 charl08: Charlotte, I've managed to write up some notes, so I'll cobble something together. I would have done it totally differently, but I'm supposed to be filling in just this time, so I didn't want to change his slides. I suspect, however, that once I've done it I may inherit it, so next time will be better.

>50 Oberon: Erik, it's funny in a way, but my job includes answering queries and helping people, so I'm a bit alarmed that they don't feel they can come and ask me. Even the roomie confessed that when she was a trainee, it had taken her three tries to get up the courage to come in and ask me a question. "But you know I'm not scary now, right?" I said. "Well," she said. "Yes. Now." The trainees all change groups over the weekend, and the one working on a big matter with me came in to say goodbye yesterday. I wanted to ask her to do a bit of PR for me with her pals, but in the end I didn't :-)

>51 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I might have to try :-)

>52 Helenliz: Helen, ha! Maybe there's a badge you could get to go with the hat :-)

>53 BLBera: Beth, I'm going to recommend the Evans to the trainees on Monday, as it's really useful. I have a Ruth Galloway which I might read this weekend, and then just one more. Oh noes :-(

I went out this morning to get away from the Strange Men, who are around somewhere (I know this because their Portaloo cabin is unlocked) but so far they haven't shown up outside my flat. They painted the balcony railings yesterday, so those are now an awful dark grey instead of blue. It looks like a prison. But the managing agents say that grey is the "in" thing and it will update the look of the building etc etc. I went to Westfield, where there was a big brawl last night and someone was stabbed, but that's normal for east London so everything was open. I bought a gorgeous navy cardigan at The White Company and got 10% off just by joining up to their mailing list! I thought I'd misheard when the chap asked me. But I like getting emails. I must try and watch some Netflix today, because they are bombarding me with suggestions, which may be related to my not having watched anything for a couple of weeks. The iPlayer app on the TV isn't working at the moment, so that does give me more time for Netflix. A silver lining :-)

And, I see you got some steps in, too. Double silver lining.

I've been having work done as well, and while the guys are nice, it is weird to have people hanging around the house.

>55 BLBera: Beth, yes there were some steps :-) Having strangers around rattles me, because they're on the front of the building, where normally there is no-one at all. No-one can see into the flat unless they spy on me from across the river (I have visions of a skeleton found slumped over a telescope, literally bored to death) and suddenly there are people looking in, and it's obvious that there is just one middle-aged female living here, which is less than ideal from a security point of view.

I kept waking up in the night thinking it was Monday morning, so I am quite relieved to have a whole "extra" day. I've done the hand-washing already, and may tackle the ironing at any minute (or realistically at 4pm when there is a Kipling hour on QVC). But, in the meantime, to the books!

>20 susanj67: Most use the passive too much. I don't worry about it in "chit-chat" types of things, but I'm doing a better job of self-editing in other writing now.

>57 thornton37814: Lori, I find that just as I correct one thing, I discover another one :-)



113. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths

This is book 8 in the Ruth Galloway series, and I read it last night when I realised that, instead of being bedtime, it was actually only 6.30. The crime part of this was a bit silly, but it moved the continuing story of Ruth and Nelson along. The library has book 9, although I think it's out at the moment. I'll check at lunchtime. The series page on LT lists book 10 for release next year. Yay!

I have my first talk to the trainees shortly. Sadly, fancy new blow-dry cream is no match for the weather, which is drizzly and humid or, as the roomie says sometimes when she arrives, pointing at her hair, "Hello - have you met my friend Simba?" Thank goodness I can tie it back, even if that makes me look scary.

>44 susanj67: I have been looking on British clothing websites for some tweed trousers lately, my op-shop ones are giving up the ghost :(
But the *proper* tweed ones are so expensive! I might just have to wait for another miracle op-shop find...but back to you, that poncho looks lovely. So it is abele to be reworked as a skirt! Good for when the apocalypse hits ;)

Morning Susan. Not sure what's up with the weather. I had nice hair upstairs, and by the time I made it downstairs it was frizzy. Harumph. On the plus side, the raspberry canes / bush appears to have survived the night...

>59 LovingLit: Hi Megan! Yes, the traditional tweed places will be expensive (and the very traditional ones don't seem to do trousers for women at all!) I tried a google search to see what would come up from the UK, and Boden seems to feature in the results: http://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/womens-trousers-jeans/trousers/t0025/womens-british... . And remember, the NZ$ is worth more against the £ now that the £ is so weak :-)

>60 charl08: Charlotte, excellent re the raspberry canes :-)

I went to the library to see if the hardback of The Chalk Pit had been returned yet, and found a brand new paperback version in the new books display. Even better. They seem to have a lot of crime and thriller stock in the new books recently - lots of reissued Dorothy Sayers and John Le Carre. I managed to get out with just the one book *proud*.

Morning, Susan! Chiming in to say that I *love* Boden!

Happy new thread, Susan! Great discussion here.

>54 susanj67: - "the managing agents say that grey is the "in" thing and it will update the look of the building etc etc."

Sounds familiar. The building I live in has just recently had a "grey" update in the common areas with grey carpet, grey slate tile flooring and even the elevator doors have now been painted grey (they were light blue before). Apparently, grey is "in", even over here. ;-)

Grey is definitely "in" here, too. It's the new favorite neutral for rentals and homes for sale. I like it lots better than cream or beige. My whole downstairs is painted grey with nice white moulding :)

>60 charl08: LOL! Sorry about the hair.

>58 susanj67: Yay for more Ruth Galloway!

>62 scaifea: Hi Amber! Boden do have some lovely things.

>63 lkernagh: Lori, I'm sorry to hear you are also suffering from the grey :-( Our blue was a bit '80s (although it had been repainted since then) but the grey doesn't really "go" with London, which is quite grey enough for much of the time. A bit of colour cheers things up.

>64 katiekrug: Katie, I am not going to come over and stand in the grey corner with you :-) But hi!

>65 Berly: Hi Kim :-) I've finished Ruth now - sob.



114. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths

This is book nine in the Ruth Galloway series, so now I'm up to date until the next one, due in March next year. But OMG! The ending! What does it all mean? I can't say any more without spoilers, but fellow Ruth fans will know what I'm talking about. I liked this one better than book 8, although once again the crime was a bit Midsomer Murders.

I only have one library book out now (the Helen Hollick one about pirates, which is a decent read). I checked the reserves shelf this morning to see if anything had come in overnight, and was amused to see that the reserve for someone before me in the alphabet and the one for a person after me were separated by a gap about four books in width. It's almost like I have my own reserved reserve slot :-)

I think I need a new series. Maybe crime (or thriller), not Scandi, or Montalbano, or the Louise Penney ones, not Golden Age of crime, not horrifically gruesome. I keep seeing the Susannah Gregory series, but there are so many that it would involve a lot of reserving as they are not available in e format (but searching "plague", which is in the title of the first one, does bring up a number of other possibilities :-) ) I also have the books 3 and 4 in that Plantagenet series, the name of which escapes me (Beth! Help! You liked them).

ETA: The Queen's Man series, by Sharon Penman.

Susan, have you ever tried Deborah Crombie's Kincaid/James series? She sets them all over London and other parts of Great Britain, and includes interesting history and other tidbits. Not sure how well they read to a "native," but they are nice quick reads. I'm up to number 9, I think.

>67 katiekrug: I'll second Katie's recommendation for the Crombie books, Susan!

Tra la la, fingers in my ears because I really don't need another crime series...

Although, I listened to a Susanna Gregory set in Cambridge and that was fun.

>69 charl08: hahaha.
>69 charl08: they're quite good as a read. Although, as with any series, they get a little repetitive iif you read too many in quick succession.

>66 susanj67: Susan, have you ever read Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen series? Wonderful Italian setting, complex crimes, interesting detective with interesting relationships, and a touch of humor.

Crombie is good. I also like Martha Grimes, another American writing crime set in Britain.
What about P.D. James? I loved her. I think there are about 15 in total, and they should all be in print.

>67 katiekrug: Katie, I seem to have read the first one, but not gone further. I wonder whether I was over-booked or it just didn't appeal...

>68 Crazymamie: Mamie, I might have to try again!

>69 charl08: Now Charlotte, I was hoping you would suggest some! Then again, my requirements up there do look a bit picky...

>70 Helenliz: Helen, there do seem to be a lot of them.

>71 majleavy: Michael, I haven't, but I see the elibrary has three of them. Hmmm...

>72 BLBera: Beth, no Grimes in the elibrary, sadly (although she's the first suggestion when you start typing g-r-i-, and then there aren't any). I will look for the P D James ones.

Meanwhile, I checked out Dragon's Lair (The Queen's Man #3), Medicus (Medicus Investigation Series, #1) and A Morbid Taste for Bones (Cadfael #1) and put a hold on The Sanctuary Seeker (Crowner John #1) and The Norfolk Mystery (The County Guides #1 (this was a Charlotte recommendation)).

Yesterday I was felled by a terrible headache + nausea, and confined to the bedroom because of the Strange Men, but it is raining today so there is no sign of them. I'm feeling a bit better, but I stayed home because work is quiet. And fortunately the iPlayer app on the TV has fixed itself, so I've caught up with episode 2 of Mountain: Life at the Extreme from Wednesday (which was the Himalayas) and World's Busiest Cities - Mexico City. And I've discovered "Timeless" on Netflix - OMG :-)) LOVE it. LOVE.

ETA: Things Fall Apart is one of the UK Kindle Daily Deals today, so I snapped it up. I've been wanting to read it for ages, but the library copy is gruesomely grubby.

Sorry you haven't been feeling well, Susan. I am glad the Strange Men have left you to recover in peace!

Re: the Crombie series - The first two are pretty weak, but it really gets better. It sounds, though, as if you have enough new series to explore at the moment!

I hope the head clears up in time for you to have a nice weekend :)

>74 katiekrug: Thanks Katie. I was glad of the wet day. Today is sunshiny again, but I am up and dressed and going out soon to the supermarket. I'll keep that in mind about the Crombie series. The elibrary has the first three, so I'm not sure what's happened to the others.



115. Dragon's Lair by Sharon Penman

This is book 3 in a series that I started last year or maybe the year before. Justin de Quincy is still a Mary Sue, but I like the rest of the story, about the Plantagenets. That makes me think that I should read Penman's series about them, which would certainly keep me going for a while. And Amazon has them for a decent price for the Kindle. Particularly decent as the library hard copies seem to date from 1991 *shudder*. I remember loving the Jean Plaidy series on the Plantagenets when I was a teenager (they were in the rental fiction section at the library, so Not Suitable for serious readers, which made them all the more alluring) but it's probably best not to go back. But Plaidy's are bundled by series on Amazon, which is a great idea when there are so many. More authors (or their publishers/estates) should do that.

Rental fiction? That's a new one on me.

Pleased to see you got a bargain on Things Fall Apart. I'm also in Nigeria with What it means when a man falls from the sky. Pretty good, early days yet though.

>75 susanj67: I am a big fan of Sharon K. Penman and especially her book on Richard III - The Sunne in Splendour which I reckon near the very peak of historical fiction.

Have a great weekend, Susan.

>75 susanj67:, >77 PaulCranswick: I have enjoyed a lot of Penman's fiction, my particular favourites being the Welsh trilogy, starting with Here be Dragons.

>76 charl08: Charlotte, I was surprised to see it so cheap - those famous ones usually hold their value. But I've never been one to turn down a bargain...The rental fiction was 25 cents per book, and applied to all the popular fiction, basically. The librarian made the choice, and no-one dared to cross her. (I had an after school job there during high school, and once went to tell her that a woman was enquiring about x, and she said "A *lady*..." )

>77 PaulCranswick: Good to know, Paul!

>78 Helenliz: Helen, those also look good. I wonder why I've never got to them before.

Readly has added the TLS, just as I was about to cancel it, dangnabbit. And all the mags have filled up the Kindle so I've had to buy it a memory card.

116. Pirates: Truth and Tales by Helen Hollick

With 50-something short, interesting chapters and lots of references to pirates in modern fiction and film as well as Ye Olden Days, this is a popular history of pirates rather than an academic one, and an entertaining read, although it could have done with better copy-editing. It's published by Amberley, which seems to be a small outfit, and it shows. But Hollick has an amusing style, and there are lots of author comments on the narrative. It's part pirate miscellany and part companion to her five pirate novels, which I must read. She says at the beginning that her previous publisher said grown-ups weren't interested in reading pirate stories (which rather overlooks the bodice-ripper genre, but perhaps that's just me) so she went another way with them, which seems to mean self-publishing. Recommended if you have a soft spot for pirates of the fictional type, which include Captain Jack Sparrow :-)

117. Medicus by Ruth Downie

This is the first in a series about a doctor stationed with the Roman army in Deva (Chester) just at Emperor Trajan dies and Hadrian takes over. The LT review page seems to be a bit grumpy, but I enjoyed it. It has quite a modern feel, which people think is wrong, but I think it shows that human concerns are much the same whenever and wherever people are, and even before Charlotte shared an article this morning about the Vindolanda tablets, I was strongly reminded of those and their gifts of socks, invitations to dinner parties and news about the minutiae of life. I think we think of "The Romans" as being very grand, very military and all schemey and poisonous, which some certainly were, but far more were just ordinary people. Ruso, the protagonist of the series, has emigrated to Britannia after a posting in Africa, for reasons that are not entirely clear to start with, but finds himself sharing a condemned house with an old friend (the messiest man in the Empire) and the dog of the previous owner...and a litter of puppies. And the mice. And then he finds himself stopping to help an injured woman, and somehow becomes the new owner of a slave. I'm definitely going to continue with this series.

Yikes. Renting out the popular books would not go down well with the pensioners here.

What's the title of the Roman British crime book? On tenterhooks now...

ETA ah, cross posted.

>82 charl08: Charlotte, I'm not sure whether the renting was confined to our library or was more widespread, as we really only used to go to that one. And there was no internet to compare notes :-) I think you'd like the writing style of Medicus. It actually reminded me of you :-)

Now I have the Cadfael one, but also the Netflix. Decisions, decisions. At least the iPlayer is on the blink again. It's something to do with the TV rather than the app itself as it works fine on a tiny screen. Humph. What a strange world we live in where TVs are getting bigger and bigger, when people spend so much time watching stuff on tiny screens. Fortunately I can wait for the rest of the programmes on Partition, which the BBC sent me in one convenient email.

Although I always say I don't need more series, I'll be watching for your comments on The Norfolk Mystery and The Sanctuary Seeker. I have had Medicus on the shelf for a while -- I NEED MORE READING TIME!

Our library recently started to rent popular books. You pay $1 and get it for a week. That is great if you are anxious to read a new books with a gazillion holds and don't want to wait.

I need to finish the Penman series as well.

"Timeless," ? Hmm, I'll have to give it a try.

I hope your head is better.

>84 BLBera: Beth, I'm up to date with my favourite series, which is why I was looking for more (instead of tackling Mt TBR). The Jack Reacher book this year is a short story collection, which I will get when I see it, but didn't rush to reserve as short stories are just too short. I like lots of story, hence my love for series :-) My library hasn't yet started a rental scheme like yours, but there would probably be an uproar if they did, as it would exclude people. Timeless is deliciously silly - it's about a historian, a soldier and a geek chasing a baddy through time, to try and stop him changing history. The best thing is that the historian doesn't just know about one period - she knows All The History - Lincoln's assassination, 1937 and the Hindenberg disaster, Nazi Germany, the Alamo...you name it, she knows all about it. But I've just watched The Circle, which I liked although the Guardian reviewer didn't. I didn't see that till afterwards, however. Plus, there are other reviewers...

It seems very windy here, which I'm sure it's not really. I think it's watching too much news. I can't believe I have only one library book left, although I did pick up tons of suggestions reading the book about pirates. I could pick up one of my Pulitzer winners, which I left part-read. Maybe that's the answer.

Heh. Two library reserves have come in for me, so I'll go over at lunchtime to pick them up. I thought I'd see where the new Jack Reacher book was, and the catalogue says there is a copy *right on the shelf*. Or, more accurately, *somewhere in the building*, given the many display shelves they have.

Yesterday while I was googling the Ruth Downie book I saw lots of references to the Lindsey Davis "Falco" series, but there's no luck with that one in the borough. However, I did find a mistake on the author's website. She says, of the series:

"Each novel is written so it can be read individually, but many people like to read the whole series in order to follow the background plot."

Now, clearly this should read "...many people like to read the whole series in order because that's how it should be done." Shall I write and tell her?

In other news, Wednesday's diary appointment for the Surface Pro training + rollout was mysteriously cancelled over the weekend, and now it turns out we're not getting them till next year. I will have to start my countdown of excitement all over again. But our tech person tells me that the new phones have arrived in the building, so there is still hope for something new to play with.

Well, there was no sign of the Lee Child, and I didn't have a chance to ask FLA about it because a giant queue was building up. Plus the two reserves were enormous - The Terror, a novel about the Franklin expedition (900+ pages) and Stamped from the Beginning (500+ pages). I also got Home Fire, which was sitting on the new books shelf. "I wondered how long that would take to go out!" said FLA, which made me feel worthy, and even less inclined to confess to being a Reacher Creature. But I did put The Good Earth back, even though it was in a fetching display of red and orange books in the window. (Autumn colours! See what they did there?) The Terror is not in the sort of condition that I would normally take home, but it had come in from Far, so I thought I had to. It's definitely one for a plastic bag on my lap, and the washing-up gloves. At least I'll be motivated to finish it quickly.

A couple of links: Back to School with the BBC's Podcast University: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3yS86ZSlD92bx0TND2y633D/back-to-school-...

And a quiz to show Which Famous Book from History is Right for You? (Dorling Kindersley) https://www.dk.com/uk/explore/reference/which-famous-book-is-best-for-you/?utm_m... I got A Dictionary of the English Language, by Samuel Johnson :-) (OMG, that appears as the first touchstone. That NEVER happens!)

Bummer about the Surface Pros being delayed. I think I am due a new work laptop soon, but we just get boring Dells, so it's not really anything to look forward to (other than, presumably, better performance)...

You are going to read The Terror? I understand it's got a bit of horror to it, so don't leave it for late at night!

Hope you have a good week, Susan :)

>89 katiekrug: Katie, it will be going nowhere near the bedroom, so I'm safe from the horror! And I'm getting my new phone tomorrow - yay! I will have to post here on it once I've worked out how to use it. I've had to create a Google ID for it, so I should be able to start downloading apps pretty quickly :-) Thank goodness I am lecturing twice tomorrow, or I might be tempted to pace up and down waiting for it.

When good algorithms go bad: An email from the Objects That Define America course (via the Smithsonian/edX) suggests that I might also like Bipedalism: The Science of Walking Upright (Smithsonian/Dartmouth/edX) Probably...not, but here's the link if anyone fancies it: https://www.edx.org/course/bipedalism-science-upright-walking-dartmouthx-dart-an...

My mother required me to take a personal typing class during summer school in high school (it didn't fit into my academic curriculum during the year either) and, while I was lousy at it, I have blessed her ever since because it taught me to touch type, internalized the keyboard, and has been a lifesaver ever since we got computers and had to type our own reports!

Catching up after being away from home and LT for a few weeks!

A new phone eh? Maybe the young people in your lectures will be willing to share their mad skillz.

I was queuing in the library and overheard someone complaining that he has requested books two and three in a series and only book three had turned up. He seemed shocked there wasn't some way to stop That Sort of Thing.

>91 ronincats: Roni, I think typing has become a lot more respectable now that men have to do it (e.g. programmers). Now it's just like learning to use cutlery, really - kids will start from the get-go. In fact, there was an article in the paper a couple of days ago saying that Cambridge University was thinking about allowing exams to be done on computers because students just couldn't write for sustained periods of time any more, and the markers couldn't read their writing anyway.

>92 charl08: Charlotte, I suspect the young people will have something to contribute, if not in the lectures then afterwards. This morning is "Staying out of Trouble on Social Media" for high school students. I always ask if there are any new platforms I should mention and say "Check me out!" when the Snapchat logo comes up. That gets some giggles. Giggles of embarrassment for me, but I have to take what I can get. The phone has gone in for changing, but Yahoo mail won't work on my computer, so now I have no personal email until I get the new phone. Gaaargh. And, trying a fix over the phone, IT deleted all my cookies, so I have to log back in to all my sites. This is where using a very small number of passwords comes in handy :-) It seems that all the webmail has gone down, so something must have marked it as dangerous. Or possibly TIME WASTING. I hope someone sympathised with the man in the library. I would have. There should be a way of reserving that says e.g. IF book x THEN book x+1 so that random volumes don't show up out of order. I never reserve multiple things in a series for that very reason.

I started The Terror last night, but my neck was very sore so I went to bed early and read my nice clean Kindle instead. The Terror looks promising, though.

The new phone is gorgeous :-) I spent last night fiddling with the settings so that e.g. emails didn't display in threads, and this morning's bus trip loading apps onto it. So many apps! There is Overdrive, but on the Overdrive website they are advertising a new platform called Libby, so I downloaded that, to see how it was different. I'm not sure how it is different, but it had my books loaded and read to read :-) I've put the Kindle app on it too, and the display is beautiful - plenty good enough for my short trips to and from work, even if I wouldn't read War and Peace on it. There's a bus tracker app, which means no more waiting for the website to load, and I've also got Forest, where you plant a tree and it grows during all the time you don't use your phone, but dies if you start phubbing, which I think means leaving whatever you're doing and wasting time on the phone. So pretty! IT didn't have a case for it, but I'll have a look at lunchtime. I might see if I can lure the roomie out, as she is good at finding cool things where I wouldn't think of looking. Nor was there a tipsheet, although there are rumours of one somewhere on the intranet. It uses a USB-C connection, rather than the micro-USB, so micro-USB cables, chargers etc won't work without an adapter. There are two adapters in the box, and USB-C is supposed to be the "new thing", so I suppose it's only a matter of time till everyone has USB-C cables etc, but in the meantime it's a bit annoying to have to use different cables for different devices or remember the tiny adapter and hope that you don't mislay it. Wow, I've never been an early adopter before :-) But overall I am thrilled with it.



118. A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters

This is the first book in the Cadfael series, about a monk who solves crimes, and overall it was a good read. I'm going to continue with the series, which has 20 books in it, and I think the elibrary has all or most of them.

I read a bit of Stamped from the Beginning last night, but I got home quite late and had to watch Doctor Foster (is it too ridiculous now, or is that just me?) so I didn't have much reading time. Plus there was the phone...Two more reserves have come in, though, so I'd better do better tonight.

119. The Sanctuary Seeker by Bernard Knight

This is the first in the "Crowner John" series. A crowner turns out to be a coroner, and the protagonist in this series is Sir John de Wolfe, newly appointed one of the coroners for Exeter and the surrounding area, after the office was resurrected in the time of Richard II. It was originally a Saxon concept. This isn't a perfect read - the author's voice is a bit stilted, there is a fair amount of cliche and Sir John is not the nicest of people, but I *loved* all the legal nerdery in it, and I'm going to continue with the series for that alone. Even today coroner's courts are different, despite procedures having changed to haul them into line with the European Convention on Human Rights. Their olden-days origins are fascinating, and I learned a lot, but it's not heavily done - the fact that coroner's office is a new one at the start of the series means that the characters themselves don't know a lot about it, making the perfect opportunity for Sir John to explain, and to ponder some of the questions that would later be settled by case law.

More reserves have arrived at the library. Oh dears. Yesterday I picked up Escape to an Autumn Pavement, which is one of a long list I got from Lovers and Strangers, and We That Are Young, from a Guardian review page (Charlotte!). Today Strange the Dreamer has come in (Charlotte again!). Still, they're all novels. That's what I tell myself when I look at the giant stack of them. I'm about 100 pages in to The Terror now and I love it.

>94 susanj67: >95 susanj67: I've been wanting to read more things set in a medieval time period. I'd already decided to re-read or read some of the Cadfael mysteries. I honestly don't remember which ones I read way back when and which I didn't, so my plan is to just start with the first and go forward. Looks like Knight's series fits the bill too. I can at least give the first a try.

>94 susanj67: I like Cadfael (although there is no way he is Derek Jacobi!). I especially like the way he has a past and is understanding of human failings. His heart is in the right place and the stories are inventive.

>95 susanj67: the description sounded familiar, but the name was wrong. So I checked and I read something that sounds quite similar, but set in London. The book I read was The house of the red slayer by Paul Doherty with his coroner in London, Sir John Cranston and his priest friend. My review suggests it wasn't so good that I was going to rush out and read the rest of the series. (I also now discover I started at book 2. oops!)

>96 thornton37814: Lori, I thoroughly approve of your plan to start with the first one :-) And if you don't love the Knight book at first, keep going because overall I thought it was worth it.

>97 Helenliz: Helen, goodness, the elibrary seems to have that series too. And from the very beginning :-) I agree about Derek Jacobi - totally wrong for Cadfael. John Nettles would be better, and he has a background in detective acting (bonus points for anyone who recognises where that came from). Someone with a twinkle in his eye, anyway.

Now I'm reading Wine of Violence (Charlotte again!) which looks promising, but the weekend is going to be hard copy, due to the mahoosive pile of library books. Actually the pile isn't that huge, it's the books themselves which are loooong. Except for two short ones.

Yikes, there is news of some sort of of explosion on a train at Parson's Green on the District Line. It seems like something exploded in a plastic bucket, which someone has obligingly photographed. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/parsons-green-explosion-on-board-tube-...

Terrorist incident. COBRA meeting. Again. But Parson's Green? Really? If it had been Whitechapel, sure. If it had been Stratford, I'd only be surprised it had taken this long. But Parson's Green? It's so middle class and respectable out there. It's also FOR's backup route to work if there are problems at Waterloo, although thankfully he is always in early, so wasn't caught up in it. And Super-Fit Friend is on holiday. Our New York secondee, who sits with FOR, must be ruing the day he agreed to come over. It has been non-stop crazy since he got here.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2017/sep/15/parsons-green-tube-explosio...

News that greeted me this morning says no one seriously injured. I hope that's correct. Still would be awfully unsettling to have this sort of thing going on in one's city -- I'm sure that's the goal. My heart goes out to UK.

>100 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, 22 taken to hospital, but no critical injuries or deaths. Mostly trampling, it seems, as everyone rushed to get away. It seems that it didn't ignite properly, and the Guardian comments that "The incompetence of terrorists has been one of the key factors that has spared hundreds of lives in recent years". So true. Even their suicide vests have been fakes in the recent attacks here, because they're too stupid to understand how to make real ones. Still, science isn't valued in their 7th century mindset, so maybe that will save us.

I just got an email from Booky Work Friend, who told me that she'd reserved two books from the library and picked them up today (she is new to the library here at the Wharf). "By the way, there is one waiting for you" she added. LOL. Of course there is. I might leave it there for the weekend, but then again...

I'm still gobsmacked someone stood and filmed a burning object on the tube. Nowt as weird as folk.

I like the sound of Booky Work friend...

>103 susanj67: Charlotte, I know! Very strange. But no doubt helpful to the police, along with all the CCTV. Booky Work Friend is lovely. She reads tons of politics, so we don't have that many books in common, but she is always reading something. I persuaded her to join the library when her flat reached Peak Book.



120. Wine of Violence by Priscilla Royal

I downloaded this one from the library after Charlotte mentioned it, and am now worried that I might seem to be one of those creepy people who copy others until it drives them mad. However, that aside, this was a good read, and I'll continue with the series.

I took my life in my hands this morning and got the tube to Westfield, even though the terror threat level has been raised to critical. And I lived to tell the tale, so yay for that. I did, however, discover a downside to the new phone - taking it out of my bag there would pretty much be like lighting up a sign saying "Mug me!" so I could only sneak a peep when I was in Pret and John Lewis, where the lawlessness doesn't usually reach. I had to try and remember all the stuff I wanted at Boots, but I think I did. I also bought a pair of black weekend trousers at M&S but OMG, they had no bootcut styles. Bootcut must be totally and completely out of fashion if even M&S doesn't do them. I went for a straight cut instead, as the skinny style is the work of the devil. I even dared to venture into Urban Decay, in search of something I'd seen on YouTube, and was ignored until eventually one of the young people said "yallright hun?" and looked for the product, which wasn't in stock. Humph. So all in all it was a pretty cheap trip :-)

>86 susanj67: Yes, I think you should correct the error. I dare you!

>88 susanj67: My book is Alice in Wonderland, which is bizarre because I always thought it was kind of creepy.

Wine of Violence sounds good. Mind if I copy you?

Sorry to hear about more attacks. Poor citizens of London.

Bummer -- braving a trip on the tube with elevated threat level only to not find what you want when you get to the other end. And, taking an expensive phone out in public is likely to get you mugged -- really!! We're thinking about spending 3 weeks in London next fall -- maybe we need to rethink?

>104 BLBera: >86 susanj67: Beth, don't encourage me! I've never read Alice in Wonderland #shamefulbookyconfession but it has never appealed. Please join me in copying Charlotte, and then it will look more normal than if it's just me.

>105 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I can shop online for what I was looking for, but it's always nice to carry it away on the day I want it. And you do need to be careful with expensive things out in public - there have been lots of thefts here of mobile phones from people who are just standing talking on them - thieves ride up on bikes or mopeds and swipe them right out of the owners' hands, and now they have started throwing acid at people as part of their muggings. There's no way I would have a £700 phone on display, although the old BlackBerry was safe enough as it was so useless :-) But I doubt it's any worse than other large cities. You just have to be careful.

I had all sorts of read-y plans for this afternoon but felt a little bit poisoned, so I haven't made much progress. I'm feeling better now, so maybe it's not too late. I've read a bit of Stamped from the Beginning, but I might start Home Fire as it is quite short :-)

>106 susanj67: Isn't LT meant to be an encouraging sort of place? :)

Little bit poisoned? Um, little bit concerned.

And >107 BLBera: Definitely.

>107 BLBera: Beth, well, there is that :-)

>108 charl08: Charlotte, I mean that I thought I might have food poisoning, but I don't - I just felt like I perhaps could have. Nothing horrible - just feeling unwell. But I'm improving, not getting worse, so I'm going in the right direction :-) I've started Home Fire, but really I'm just in the mood for Border Patrol, in which NZ airport staff are dealing with a planeload of passengers who were all handed bagged lunches on their flight. Bags with apples in them...which most passengers forgot to declare. Oops. $200 each, thanks.

I'm at Heathrow, waiting to go to NZ as fast as possible. My Dad isn't well, but apparently it's far worse than he and my stepmother have let on. My brother went down to see them and rang me this morning, so I headed straight for Trailfinders. Flying in about 2.5 hours, via Hong Kong. I've downloaded books but I think my grand plan to re-read A Suitable Boy on my next long flight may go by the wayside in favour of some mysteries or mindless telly. I'll check in when I can and I *will* find out if y'all are reading out of order in my absence.

Oh no Susan. So sorry to read this. Wishing you a safe flight and plenty of mindless stuff to distract you on the way.
(Read out of order? What me?! )

ETA Some flowers. Just because...

Thanks Charlotte. I've remembered the mags on Readly and downloaded a few more on Heathrow's WiFi. I was a bit freaked out when it recognised me and welcomed me back, but then remembered that I logged in earlier in the year when I was meeting my friend's flight.

There are some young people out here who are up past their bedtime but no actual meltdowns yet.

So sorry, Susan. Sending hugs and good wishes and qishing you a safe, uneventful flight.

Safe travels, Susan, and I'm sorry to hear about your Dad not being well. Take care.

Safe travels, Susan. I hope your Dad improves by the time you get there.

Keeping you in my thoughts, Susan, and wishing you safe travels.

Best wishes from these tropical climes too, Susan. Pray that all will be well.

Travel safely & look after yourself.

So sorry to hear about your Dad Susan - safe journey and sending many 'well' thoughts.

Thanks everyone. I've reached Hong Kong, where the WiFi is much faster than Heathrow's. My brother says things are "going OK" but then asked when my flight to Auckland was leaving. And apparently Auckland Airport is having a fuel crisis because of damage to a pipeline, so flights are being cancelled all over the place. Crossing my fingers that the plane up to HK gets here so it can go back again. I slept all the way from Heathrow, so now I must get up and do lots of steps before another long sit down.

Thinking of you, Susan.

Gosh well done on the sleeping. Hope the airport has some good shops (e.g. puffer jackets?) as well as good wifi.

Hope the next bit goes smoothly despite the Auckland issues.

Thanks Amber and Charlotte. Charlotte, there is a Moncler shop, but I didn't want to risk offence by shopping whilst wearing Uniqlo and cheap jeans from Debenhams. Plus I had to get into the queue for McDonalds. I kept reminding myself that standing is good for me. Now at the gate. I discovered a TRAIN between the food court part of the terminal and some of the gates. This is my third time here and I've never noticed it before. Usually I just walk for thousands of steps. My sister in law is meeting me in Auckland as I have quite a wait for the connecting flight, so we might go for lunch or something. I have a window seat again, thanks to the sweet man at Heathrow checkin who asked if he could move me from the middle of a row as I was travelling on my own. And it's dark now, and I feel sleepy all over again...

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41303112

Look, the fuel issue has made the BBC!

Sorry about your Dad, Susan, safe further travels.

Hope everything goes OK Susan

Hope you made is safely - fingers crossed re fuel.

Thanks Anita, Rhian and Bekka. Made it fine but past Dad's bedtime so I will see him tomorrow. He is overall very poorly, but only diagnosed a week ago. We should know more tomorrow when there is an appointment with a specialist but really it's just a matter of time.

So sorry to hear this Susan. Will be thinking of you and the family.

Oh, Susan. Glad that you made it there safe and sound, but so very sorry about the news. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

Glad you're there but so sorry about the reason. Hugs to you as you go through this.

Glad you made it safely, Susan, but I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I hope you can enjoy some time with him while you're there.

>61 susanj67: oooh, they are nice! The tweed trousers I have are made by Supreme Being, a mens street fashion label (I think) and my trou are elasticated at the calf, so I guess the are 3/4s. They are quite distinctive and Ive had people stop me and ask where I got them! My kids kindergarten teacher studies them up close and made herself a pair, I almost asked her to make me some more too :) (cheeky!)

>110 susanj67: Oh no. That is bad news. Glad you made it here in spite of fuel issues- I hope you get to see your dad improve and can spend some QT with him!

Thanks ladies. I have just got my stepmother to leave the house on her own for the first time in days. She has gone to pick up a prescription but I suggested (ordered) that she take some time to have a coffee while she was out. She is 24/7 looking after Dad, and she's not that well herself. He is napping, so I am internetting for a bit while being In Charge. ("I'll be all right on my own", he said, but we explained that he needed to be bossed around at all times). I'm still on the same book I was reading when I left London but maybe I'll get a couple of chapters in now.

Glad you are safely there and with your Dad, Susan.

>134 susanj67: Glad you've been able to help out your stepmum as well Susan. Hope that you will get that reading time: from watching my mum caring it is exhausting.(the caring, not the watching!!)

I am reading The Curious World of Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn and thinking you would approve of the book (and the shiny new library copy).

Glad your step-mom is able to get out for a bit and that you're able to be there for them both.

>134 susanj67: Thinking of you Susan and what a comfort I am sure you will be both to your Dad and your Stepmother.
Glad to see that you arrived safely and that the fuel problems didn't have the temerity to keep you from home. xx

Thinking of you Susan, and the family.

Thanks for the good wishes, everyone. I am back in the UK now, having helped my stepmother to organise some personal care for Dad (he gets an hour for washing/dressing in the mornings), meet the hospice people (who get involved earlier than I think they do in the UK to support the patients and families) and go to various appointments with doctors/tests, meet with lawyers/accountants etc to check all his paperwork is in order and generally sort things out. It has come as a huge shock to them (well, to everyone) and I'm not much good with the nursing side of things so I did organising, errand-running and door and phone answering. They live in a lovely retirement community with great neighbours who took us to appointments because it takes at least three people by the time someone drives, someone jumps out to organise a wheelchair and so on. Lots of family visited while I was there so it was a busy time. Dad is currently in hospital for some radiation as he has back pain where the tumour has escaped from his lung, but they think they can ease that pain, which would mean he could cut back on the pain meds. He's his usual droll self under the drugs, and it frustrates him that he has to spend so much time napping. We're not sure how much time he has left and the radiation won't extend it, but it should make him more comfortable.

I was too distracted to read much while I was there, but managed a fair bit on the trip home, and I have one finish to report and another couple that are close.



121. Roman Blood by Steven Saylor

This is the first in yet another crime series, set in ancient Rome. It's a bit gruesome, so if you like your mysteries cosy, this one isn't for you.

I cancelled all my library reserves before I left, and renewed all my current books, but I'm not sure how far I'll get with them given that I could fall asleep at any time. So far they all seem renewable again...

I'm back in the office tomorrow, and even though I am delighted to have a proper keyboard again, I don't actually seem to be able to type on it very well. I hope that improves quickly. I'm getting pretty good with predictive text on the new phone, though. Thank goodness I got it. I had to do a bit of work while I was in NZ, which involved reviewing a long court document and commenting on it. I went through the document with some paper beside me, and wrote two pages of notes. "And isn't it great how you can just take a picture of the notes and send it to the office," said my friend the university lecturer, who knows the ways of Young People. "Um," I said, as that hadn't occurred to me. I typed up the notes on my phone and emailed them the old-fashioned way. But she says that not only do they do that, they also take pictures of their hotel room doors so they don't have to take the little card with them that has the room number on it (so if they lose the keycard the person who finds it doesn't also have the room number) and they take pictures of their parking spaces so they don't have to remember the number. "Yeah," said Oldest Nephew, with whom I was having a conversation on this subject, "I do that for Dad all the time." It's like a whole new world.

Takes note of the things young people do.... I do remember bring amazed the first time a student took a photo of a book rather than writing down the reference. V smart though.

Must be good to feel constructive whilst you were with your dad, and how wonderful that the community is able to help with all the lifts. The shock side of things is familiar. Sending sympathy and virtual hugs (or very British pats on the upper arm, if you prefer).

>140 susanj67: Glad you're safely home and that you got to spend time with your dad and other family. How nice for them that you were able to help with all of the organizational/paperwork details. It's right up your alley and so wonderful for them to have it taken care of.

As to "modern" uses for phones. I've learned to take photos of the information/price info on products I'm considering in stores so I have details like dimensions and so I can compare them with similar things or other sources. I'd never thought of parking stall or hotel room numbers though.

Welcome home. It's nice to see you on LT again.

Glad your dad is getting so much support and that you are safely home, Susan, even though I know it's hard to be so far away.

Glad you're home safe and sound.

I'm glad you are home safely. I'm sorry to hear about your dad. It sounds like he has good support.

>140 susanj67: I like the historical mysteries, but I don't like gore, so I may have to pass on this one.

>141 charl08: Charlotte, yes, the young people taking photographs of my slides was amusing the first time I saw it. Now I just want to tell them that writing things down helps commit them to memory. Thank you for that pat on the upper arm - even that is a bit much for me! I can't do the hugging thing. Onlookers at the airport on Sunday would have been bemused to see me just say goodbye to my brother and s-i-l and the nephews - not a hug in sight.

>142 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba. I did what I could, and my stepmother found it useful to have one place to look for everything, so it worked in that respect. At one point she commented to someone that I was very organised, and a voice said "And where do you think she gets that from?" from Dad's chair :-) My nephews were sweethearts, too. My stepmother has let my Dad do all the techy stuff so she didn't even have her own email account. Oldest Nephew helped her set one up on the iPad over the first weekend I was there, and gave her a little tutorial. They were sitting with their backs to us at the kitchen island. "Look at that!" my sister-in-law murmured to my brother. "If we ask him the same question twice he complains that we NEVER LISTEN. Take a picture, quick." So my brother did :-)

>143 ronincats: Thanks Roni.

>144 Helenliz: Thanks Helen. I decided it was cold enough for a puffa coat this morning. Heh.

>145 BLBera: Beth, as I was reading it I did think that it wouldn't be one for you :-)



122. Prince of Darkness by Sharon Penman

This is book 4 (and the final one) in the Queen's Man series. I found the plot very hard to follow, which may be because I read it while travelling home and I wasn't at my sharpest, but it's finished now. Wow, a whole series done! :-)

>146 susanj67: I'm glad your Dad and Step-mom have tech-savvy young's around. They can be very helpful.

>146 susanj67: I need to get back to that series. One of these days. And it is nice to be up-to-date in one.

Hi Susan. Just getting back to the point where I have the time and opportunity to read some threads. So sorry about your father. A tough time for all, I'm sure. Also very impressed that you traveled so far on a moment's notice. (I have at least a medium-sized fit about going anywhere outside of my itty-bitty county.) Wishing you the best.

>147 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, Oldest Nephew managed to get my phone texting on the very first day, so that was another win. I'd tried but just kept getting "Failed" so I was at a loss. I'm sure he did nothing different, but magically it worked :-) We loaded some apps onto the iPad for my stepmother too. She finds it almost impossible to sit still for more than 30 seconds at a time (because there is always something that "needs" dusting or tidying up) but we hit the jackpot with a jigsaw app, which got her totally addicted. By that I mean that she stayed in one place for maybe two whole minutes. I know it's her way of coping, but I really hope she gets some rest while Dad is in hospital.

>148 BLBera: Beth, yes, I'm amazed to be finished one :-)

>149 Fourpawz2: Hi Charlotte! Oddly, booking and flying on the same day worked well. I had no time to catastrophise about the tube being down/strikes/snow/another ash cloud etc - I just went home, packed what was clean, and made do with that. I found it less stressful (from that point of view, anyway) than any other trip I've taken.

I'm still waking up at odd times and last night went to bed at 6.30 as soon as I got home, so I think I have a way to go before I'm back on UK time. And so does my Fitbit. I think it's reset itself to NZ time somehow, because this morning when I picked it up it told me I'd done 2,700 steps already. It doesn't matter on a weekly basis, but I'll have to try and sync it to get my daily steps correct again. This morning I woke up at 5, so I read a bit of Home Fire, which I like, although I'm not sure that the author intended the Home Secretary character to be the one that people identified with...

Glad you are starting to re-synch - and that everyone in NZ seems a little more stable.

I was in London Sunday-Tuesday but I'll admit i chickened out of contacting you - partly because I wasn't sure you were back/up to meet ups. But I'll admit mostly because I'm scared of people!

>151 BekkaJo: Bekka! I am not that scary! Charlotte, Katie and Reba have all survived. Maybe "survived" isn't the best choice of words...ANYway, I probably wouldn't have made much sense on Tuesday night, so never mind. Next time!

>151 BekkaJo: >152 susanj67: Bekka, I will testify that Susan is not only not scary, she's friendly, fun, helpful and great company to be with!

>153 RebaRelishesReading: Ha! Thanks Reba :-)



123. The Strangest Family by Janice Hadham

This seems to be called "A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III" on LT, which I assume is the US title. I think I prefer the UK one. This was an excellent look at George III and Queen Charlotte and their family, with a bit at the beginning about the beginning of the Hanovers, and a short explanation at the end of how we got to Victoria. I thought it was really well done, although it's a chunkster at over 600 pages in hard copy. I had an e copy from Amazon and read most of it coming back to the UK last weekend. Recommended for UK history fans. Although regency romances are popular and numerous, I think the Hanovers are generally less well known than the Tudors and the Victorians, so if you're perennially confused by the all the Charlottes and Sophias, this will explain who they all were :-)



124. The Norfolk Mystery by Ian Sansom

I got this from the e library after seeing the series on Charlotte's thread, but I'm not sure I'll continue with it. I liked the protagonist, a slightly hapless young man who finds himself working for a famous writer, but the writer himself was massively annoying and the dialogue was full of Latin and Greek and obscure references to things that I din't understand. Unless there's more to the series than that, I'll give it up. It would be better if he played a lesser role in the next book and the narrator and the writer's daughter had bigger roles.

I renewed all my hard copy books before I went away, although I hadn't had some out of them out for long. I've just got a pre-overdue notice from the library for them all, and I'm in a bit of a quandary. On the one hand, I want to read them all. On the other, I'm not doing very well although I have to finish Home Fire today or tomorrow as it can't be renewed. I'm thinking of keeping The Terror and Stamped from the Beginning because I've started both of those, and taking the rest back. That would give me a cleanish slate, but it fees like admitting defeat.

In other news, I went for a walk this morning and bought a couple of new scarves.





And now, to the books. And possibly a client conference call with half a dozen parties in different time zones, because that's always fun on the weekend.

Beautiful scarves.

Your comments on The Strangest Family tempt me but the length of the book does not. I'll keep it in mind for sometime when I'm feeling less behind on my reading. I was overly optimistic about how much reading I would get done this summer when I packed books to bring so right now a huge book sounds somewhat overwhelming.

Hope your conference call went well (since it's nearly 10 a.m. here I assume it has already happened).

Oh no! I didn't mean that you were scary - or rather, I didn't mean you are scarier than anyone else. I'm just people phobic in general at the moment. Sitting in a class room full of people and answering questions/explaining who I was, took all my brain power :/ I need to man up somewhat :(

Oh and weekend multi party client calls? URRRRGH. Hope all done and you can relax.

>155 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, yes, The Strangest Family is a big time commitment, so definitely not one if you already feel behind. No conference call yet, but emails are circulating. I'll wait for a dial-in :-)

>156 BekkaJo: Bekka, your conference sounds like it was quite busy, and no doubt people were trying to lobby you to disclose everything/nothing depending on who they were : -)



125. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Ooh, this is excellent :-) Very topical and beautifully written. I found the first section a bit slow, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I'd read a bit before I went away, but I've read the rest since I got back, including one section after I woke up at 5am one morning. Maybe that's the secret to reading All The Books...

>157 susanj67: I have started this one too, Susan and agree with you that it is very good. I was irritated by accidentally leaving it behind in my partner's office the other day and I suffered a two day reading hiatus with it as a result.

Have a lovely weekend.

>154 susanj67: I think I had a similar reaction to The Norfolk Mystery as you. I simply couldn't stomach any more of the professor being quite so unbearably smug. I decided to give it up as a bad job at that.

(Hides, having recommended the Norfolk Mystery) ... I thought the professor was a kind of love/hate character.

You know, like Jack Reacher...
*ducks*

I really liked the local and period setting, but maybe a marmite book?

Love that second scarf. Are they a particular brand?

Love the scarves. Another recommendation for Home Fire - I must move this up...

>158 PaulCranswick: Paul, I hope you can pick it up again soon.

>159 Helenliz: Helen, I decided to look on the bright side - it's a series that I don't have to finish :-)

>160 charl08: Charlotte, yes, he was a bit marmite :-) But *Jack Reacher*?! Jack is awesome. And he never killed anyone who didn't need killing. It's important to remember that. The scarves are from East, which is in Covent Garden, but also at House of Fraser and John Lewis, I think. I'd love one of their blanket coats but they're heavy and I couldn't pretend they were cardigans (or even coatigans) and wear them round the office, which I was secretly hoping when I saw them on the website. But Look How Pretty:



>161 BLBera: Beth, Home Fire is definitely worth moving up.

I took all but two of my library books back this morning. I was going to keep the one about the welfare state, but it did look awfully dull, so I took it back as well, and FLA renewed the two I have out as I had to take one of the returns to the desk to be checked back in. They've done the stock move and it's all different. New NF now has a big display, the same as the new fiction. "I thought you'd like that", said FLA when I commented on it. Reserves are where the crime (and latterly new biographies) used to be. Crime is now at the beginning of the adult fiction and biographies (new and old) are where crime was. There are other changes but I didn't have time to explore properly. Weirdly, though, I have no reserves to check obsessively, and I've decided not to reserve anything else for the rest of the year but really make an effort with Mount TBR. And maybe some ebooks from the library, including the romance I checked out yesterday. It's the final one in the Fool's Gold series, which is one of my faves.

I do love those scarves, Susan!

>154 susanj67: My library has A Royal Experiment and I've requested it--sounds good even if long.

Indeed, a really pretty coat. I wish I lived where I could wear coats. I do have one but never wear it in San Diego. I don't wear it even on the odd evening where it is actually cool enough because when you get where you are going there's never any place to put it -- no hooks by the restaurant booth, or coat rack by the door, or coat check at the theater. You're just stuck holding it on your lap all evening so my coat waits quietly in the closet for a trip to cooler climes. :(

>164 RebaRelishesReading: I also bemoan the loss of the coat room in public places. I even thought I could go into business in clubby areas, setting up a mobile caravan and offering a safe place for coats so that young things don't have to freeze in their teeny but oh so fadhionable outfits on the way home.

>162 susanj67: Ooh! East! No wonder they're lovely. That coat is rather splendid. I don't really understand why lawyers aren't allowed to wear interesting colours. Is the theory that you might distract someone from Serious Matters?

Jack Reacher point duly noted.

>163 ronincats: Roni, I hope you like it!

>164 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, one of the things I like about the UK is the opportunity to wear proper coats :-) I used to look at the UK fashion magazines as a teenager and marvel at all the things that were available.

>165 charl08: Charlotte, that could be an idea! I would have bought the coat if it was less coaty and more cardigan-y, weight-wise. The colour was fine - I would wear it over black, maybe not to a client meeting but around the office it would work. But it was too heavy. It was a coat weight, and yet if I'm wearing a coat for the cold, it has feathers in it :-)

I am having a Most Vexing Day, but it is nearly over and I can escape to the sanity of home, where I may finish the final lot of ironing and feel incredibly smug. I also hope to read a bit - last night I went to bed and read romance, but I need to make more progress on my library books.

Hope things are getting less Vexing :/

>167 BekkaJo: Bekka, sadly not, but at least it's Thursday. And I no longer have a pile of library books stressing me out, so the evenings are calm :-)

I'm making progress with The Terror, which is very good. Scary, but good. I'm aiming to finish it by the end of the weekend, along with a romance, and I want to make more progress on Stamped from the Beginning. And then...no library books. I'm going to try taking one out at a time, and see how that works.

*I'm going to try taking one out at a time, and see how that works. *

If you manage this, can you pass on the secret please?!

I'm going to try taking one out at a time, and see how that works.

Is such a thing even possible?

>169 charl08: Charlotte, will do :-) I feel a bit bad because of the newly-expanded New NF section, which I know that they didn't do just for me, except FLA said he knew I would like it and "Your feedback is always welcome", which I realise means customers in general, and yet... However, I do tend to get a bit stressed with a giant stack of books that have due dates. And the library is about 500 yards away.

>170 Helenliz: Helen, I might write it up as a scientific experiment with a hypothesis. Hmmm, I wonder whether I can remember how to do that. My first one (OMG I am making plans and I still have about 700 pages of library books to read) might be the new Deborah Cadbury one - Queen Victoria's Matchmaking, which was sitting on the shelf all new and lovely on Monday.



Netflix just emailed me to say that series 2 of Riverdale is now available (a guilty pleasure, but one that I have got the roomie watching as well) and episode 1 of Dynasty. A busy weekend looms...

Old lady tales #457:

I just told the roomie about series 2 of Riverdale. Then I mentioned the Netflix remake of Dynasty. She said "Dynasty? What's that?" I had to explain the 80s. Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest...nope. She thinks she might give it a go.

Hope your Friday is less vexing so you have a nice intro to the weekend where I hope you will have lots of lovely hours to read.

>173 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba - I hope that too! I didn't get home yesterday until 7.30 *frown* and couldn't really concentrate after that, so ended up just watching TV.

>172 susanj67: Kyran, my son is an avid fan of the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films which surprised me yesterday and we have a plan to watch a few of them together over the weekend. He must be unusual for a 17 year old to be so into such vintage silver screen entertainment.

He would probably say the same as your roomie on the 80s soaps.

Hope you have a lovely weekend Susan, and that today isn't too long. 30 here today. Too hot for me!

>172 susanj67: Deary deary me. Youngsters today, they have no idea what they've missed, do they?

There was recently a 3 part series on the 80s on the TV. I tried to find it on iplayer - it was categorised as History! Now I know what my Grandma meant when we visited a museum and she saw a widget (have no idea what it was) that she'd used as a young woman. She was quite put out that something she remembered could be classed as history. I feel much the same!

>175 PaulCranswick: Paul, that is pretty surprising for a 17-year-old, but everything is on YouTube these days so I suppose there is no limit to what they can find.

>176 charl08: Thanks Charlotte. Yes, 30 would be too hot for me too. I hope you can find a shady spot and read lots :-)

>177 Helenliz: Helen, they really don't. I still think that, even though I'm rapidly approaching old age, I will always be glad I was a teen in the 80s. The music! The TV shows! The blue and purple eye shadow! I caught the third part of a Dominic Sandbrook documentary on the 80s on BBC Four last night (except don't tell Charlotte I hadn't seen the first two parts) so that might be the one you mean. I totally agree with you about the "History" classification - history should be like "antique" - 100 years old, minimum.

I was just at Pret, waiting for my eggs Florentine tortilla to be toasted, when I noticed that they are doing pumpkin spice flat whites now. Heh. Starbucks has always done those US drinks (not sure about PS but definitely the gingerbread one at Christmas, which is typically written up in the papers as containing more fat and calories than a hog roast) but this is Pret's first time. And there are three vegan options for it too. I'm going to try one tomorrow and see why it's so famous as a flavour.

Blue and purple eye shadow? Photos please.

I refuse to believe you watched the third part first. Surely you merely forgot those first two episodes...?!

>179 charl08: Charlotte, that was another good thing about the 80s - no selfies :-) There are no photos of the make up looks, as far as I know, but I loved the little L'Oreal set that a friend brought back from the US (her father was a pilot with Air NZ so they were the only people I knew who took foreign holidays). All those brands advertised in Glamour magazine were the Last Word in cool (and of course not available in NZ). I believe there may even have been purple eyebrows at one point. Certainly there was coloured mascara. I don't know what I thought I looked like, but even now, when I see palettes like the current "Mermaids vs Unicorns" one by Makeup Revolution I feel nostalgic.



I would have sold my soul for that aged 14. Really.

I think I missed the first two parts of the documentary when I was away (or too tired to stay up last week). Part 3 was good, though :-)

I did blue mascara with green eye shadow. Thought I looked like the bee's knees.
Fortunately pictures are few and far between...

>181 Helenliz: Helen, but we *were* the bees' knees :-) I'm dismayed these days when I see young women obsessing about every tiny thing - I just want to say "You're gorgeous - stop it". I can see how the internet has multiplied insecurities by about a million percent. I've started watching some of the make-up vloggers on YouTube and, while they're entertaining, they spend so much time worrying about things that other people wouldn't even see out and about in the world, and it's just time wasted. I know many of them make a living from it, but still...When their audiences do the same obsessing, it can't end well.

Mid-way through my first pumpkin spice coffee and it's fine, but I don't really get the mania for it. I chose ordinary milk because I thought asking for PS with oat milk might mean I had to slap myself for being That Person. My assessment is "Ehhh". And flat whites are tiny.

Yay, home, with no unexpected purchases. OK, there might have been a Revlon Colorstay foundation, but I was in Superdrug and...At least I resisted Urban Decay.

My most important purchase was a Diwali card for the roomie, as it is Diwali on Thursday, and I have looked in vain at the Wharf in previous years. This befuddles me as there are tons of Indian people working there, so you would think Diwali cards would be easy to find, but no. I was amused to see that John Lewis had its Christmas cards displayed under "Special occasions", like they don't dare say the C word despite having a huge Christmas shop a couple of floors up.

I also bought the World History magazine, a Lego ornament for my office tree (this year I've got the log cabin, to go with last year's reindeer https://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Christmas-Snow-Hut-Ornament-850949 ) and a pair of corduroy trousers from M&S. I bought them in black and wore them in NZ and loved them, so I got them again in grey.



126. Best of My Love by Susan Mallery

This is the final book in the Fool's Gold series, set in a small town in California which is famous for its festivals. Adventure tour guide Aidan and baker Shelby decide to be friends so that they can grow as people and overcome their past problems before moving on with their lives. But just friends. No falling in love or anything like that...There's also a cute dog :-)

I started Life of Pi during my rambling around this morning, as it's one of the books I picked for my Better World Books challenge and I still have a few to go. But this afternoon is going to be The Terror, and maybe building the Lego bauble while watching the first episode of Riverdale.

"I've decided not to reserve anything else for the rest of the year." Really? There are still two and a half months to go, Susan. If you do manage this, you'll have to share how you did it.

I've still got three or four for my challenge to read too before the end of the year. I guess I better get on with that!

>185 BLBera: Beth, I'm already a month in :-) I cancelled all my reserves before I went away, and just haven't clicked that button since. I've been filling in the missing books for my Better World Books challenge this morning and made myself pick from what the elibrary had available.

>186 charl08: Charlotte, I reviewed my choices, re-categorised one of them and added another recent finish, so I've completed one more category without reading anything else :-)

Now I have these ones to go:

A book based on a fairytale
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

A book that takes place in a forest
Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller

A banned book
1984 by George Orwell

A book of poetry
I'll get something by Philip Larkin for this category

A book with a child narrator
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

A book that’s been adapted into a movie
The Life of Pi

But back to The Terror, which I should will finish today.

127. The Terror by Dan Simmons

This is excellent! It's a fictionalised story of the Franklin expedition, and I saw the exhibition at the National Maritime Museum recently, so when Charlotte (Fourpawz2) recommend this, I reserved it. I started it before I went away, but I've read most of it since I returned (it's 930 pages long), and most of *that* over this weekend. It's perfect for reading in large chunks, as there's a real sense of "What next?" which keeps it rattling along. Thanks for a great recommendation, Charlotte!

I remember reading that one in the summertime and feeling colder than I've felt in a long time! Sympathetic frostbite? 😀

>189 drneutron: Jim, quite possibly! I thought the "cold" aspect was really well done. I'm not one to search out cold places, but I really felt for the men in their heavy, filthy always-wet clothes.

Susan, I had fun catching up with your thread. I laughed out loud about you having to explain the 80s to your roomie, then I had to explain it to Birdy who asked what was so funny. I also loved being a teenager in the 80s - the music that I listened to then still takes me right back there.

Sadly, Netflix here does not yet have season two of Riverdale. *sob* Abby and I are patiently waiting.

I was sorry to hear that you were not impressed with the pumpkin spice drink - Abby and I love the pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks, but I have to get mine with half the syrup because otherwise it is way too sweet for me. "...typically written up in the papers as containing more fat and calories than a hog roast" This made me laugh! And it is probably completely accurate.

Adding The Terror to my list and thinking it would make a great summer read here in the Deep South, especially if it does for me what it did for Jim. Heh. I could read it poolside on my new waterproof Kindle, which will be arriving on Halloween. I truly don't need a new Kindle, but the waterproof part sold me along with the fact that once again you can listen to audiobooks on it.

Ooh waterproof? Audiobooks? I guess I can wait until Xmas.

Hi Susan! Wishing you a good week. Rain here, such a shame as I was going to swim the bay today (!!)

>191 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Yes, the roomie always does make me realise how time has moved on, although this morning she got back from a hen weekend in Lisbon and declared that she was TOO OLD for all this nonsense. There was, apparently clubbing till 6am on Sunday and the flight was delayed until 5am this morning. But, on the bright side, she ran into her husband at the airport when she landed, on his way back from the stag weekend in Budapest, which at least meant they could get a taxi home. So odd about Riverdale! I thought all y'all got everything before we did. Only the first episode of series 2 is available so far, and the first one of Dynasty, which is Truly Ridiculous, and therefore has a firm place in my viewing calendar. I should try a Starbucks PS drink, as they probably have a more authentic version of it. I'll have to get on that :-) And Dan Simmons has written The Abominable, which is about cold in the Himalayas if you want another cold-themed book...

>192 charl08: Charlotte, boo for the rain. But I was just on a call with the Isle of Man and they said they were closing soon because of Hurricane Ophelia, so it could be worse...There is no rain here yet - I think it is mostly supposed to be Ireland and the west of England/Scotland.

I just took The Terror back to the library, and was glad to be rid of such a grubby book. Great story - shame about having to read it opened out on a newspaper. I saw the Deborah Cadbury book about Queen Victoria again, but I also saw Logical Family, which is the new Armistead Maupin memoir, so I got that instead as I suspect it will be a lot more popular and the Cadbury might be patiently waiting for a while. I also borrowed The Whitsun Weddings, for my Better World Books challenge, so only two books this time! Oooh :-)

Love The Whitsun Weddings. I had to memorise vast portions of it for a closed text A-Level exam - actually it's amazing I do still love it!

>193 susanj67: I am definitely too old for clubbing till 6am. And what a happy coincidence that she and her husband met at the airport when she landed - I love when stuff like that happens.

I wonder if the episodes are available there after they have aired on tv here. Episode two airs tomorrow. I love your Dynasty comments! I never followed the original, but I did use to love watching Knot's Landing, which was a spinoff of Dallas.

Adding The Abominable to the list because I can never get too much cold down here.

Happy Tuesday to you!

>194 BekkaJo: Bekka, I studied Larkin a lot at the same age :-) Whitsun Weddings has my favourite in it - An Arundel Tomb.

>195 Crazymamie: Mamie, I was surprised at the airport meeting in London. That's the sort of thing that happens in NZ :-) You're probably right about the slight delay post-airing - we get the new episode here on a Friday, I think. I will try and think of some other "cold" books for you to counteract that Georgia weather.

I'm still plodding on with Stamped From the Beginning, about which I won't be able to express an opinion because white people are what is wrong with the world, apparently (a view shared by a 75er right here on LT) but I'll finish it. I'm about half-way through The Life of Pi, which is a strange book. I have some other ebooks to get to so I can finish off the Better World Books challenge and that will be one thing I have achieved during 2017, at least.

128. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

I read this for the Better World Books challenge, so it's another one to cross off that list *and* it was from Mount TBR. But I didn't really get it - it seemed to be about something other than a boy in a lifeboat with a tiger, but I wasn't sure what. Literary fiction is wasted on me.

>197 susanj67: I concur. It passed me by entirely. Felt double crossed at the end.
But crossing a book off a list is good.

>198 Helenliz: That was my reaction to the film.

>198 Helenliz: Helen, I'm glad I'm not alone! And I crossed off two lists - the reading challenge *and* Mount TBR. I have read exactly half the number of books I planned from Mount TBR, with about ten weeks to go in the year. Yikes.

>199 charl08: Charlotte, I assume the film was CGI and there wasn't a real tiger :-)

Just lectured some Young People. I tried a Young Person phrase and it didn't quite work. Now I get to burrow through boxes of documents for the afternoon. Yay.

I'm intrigued - what was the Young Person phrase?

>201 BekkaJo: Bekka, I described a book as "made of awesome". A couple of the girls giggled but one young man didn't hear me properly and then couldn't understand what I meant.

Lol Susan. Points for effort there, I think...

>203 charl08: Charlotte, at least points for something...

I heard from my brother a little while ago, and my Dad passed away early Friday morning (NZ time) - a couple of hours ago. I was talking to my brother this morning (UK time) and knew it was likely to be today, but still. I can't believe how quick it all was - my brother rang me on 17 September and he'd just been diagnosed then. I'm so glad I could go back and see him when I did.

Susan, I'm so sorry about your dad. I'm glad you got to spend some time with him before he passed. Thinking of you and sending you virtual hand pats, because I know you're not a hugger :) Take care.

So sorry about loosing your dad, Susan, my condolences to you and your family.

So sorry to hear about your father. That really was a short time between diagnosis and his passing. I imagine that makes it difficult to adjust to the idea. I'm so glad you got to spend some time with his and help the family get the practical things in order before hand. Be kind to yourself.

My deepest sympathy on the loss of your father. Been there, done that, wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. We're here if you need anything.

Susan, I am so sorry for the loss of your Dad. I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. It's so good that you got to spend time with him so recently. As Reba said, remember to be kind to yourself.

So sorry to read this Susan. Glad you were able to see him and help your stepmother.

So sorry for your loss - will be praying for you and your family.

Oh Susan - I am so sorry to hear about your dad. You are lucky that you got to see him. Sending peaceful thoughts your way.

Thinking of you and your family Susan. So sorry it was so fast but really glad you managed to get over to see him.

I am so sorry to hear about your father, Susan. Even when you know it is coming it is always very difficult. Wishing you all the best...

So sorry to hear about your father Susan. Glad that you managed to get over there to see him ...

Oh, I'm sorry about your loss, Susan, and am also glad you were able to get to see him when you did. {{{{hugs}}}}

Thanks everyone. Work has kept me busy and today I sense a nap on the horizon, rather than the conference call that a client is trying to schedule for 5pm. I'll let the people who earn seven figures deal with that one.

I'm going to start a new thread, in which I will explain the mystery of the random library ebook reserve and review another finish for the Better World Books challenge.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/271401