A Room of Charl08's Own: Feminist Penguins #11

Surprising moment when I walked past this and found there is a local exhibition going on to celebrate / commemorate 1918.

I met some of my mum's old classmates recently: one of them told me about this new statue of Emily Wilding Davison in her home town:

BBC image: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-45482172

I love penguins, both this kind

My photo: Boulders Beach, Cape Town

And the book kind.


(this one's actually a Puffin, but shhh)

I'm working my way through the others here, (*hopefully* mostly on my TBR shelf already) through the year. I've finally got my copy of Hearts and Minds back, but waiting for the paperback to come out of Helen Pankhurst"s new book about the history of UK progress on gender equality (the original copy had to go back to the library).

Books read in 2018 : 246
For January Feb and March see https://www.librarything.com/topic/289897#6443853
For April see https://www.librarything.com/topic/291122
For May see https://www.librarything.com/topic/292701
For June see https://www.librarything.com/topic/293727
For July/ August see https://www.librarything.com/topic/294828

November 6
I am, I am, I am (F, UK, memoir)
Belonging: a German... (F, Germany, graphic memoir)
Bibliophile (F, US, books about books)
What You Want to See (F, US, fiction)
The Overstory (M, US, fiction)
Holmes Entangled (M, US, fiction)

October 23
The unforgotten coat (M, UK, fiction)
11 Scandals to start... (F, US, fiction)
My Name is Asher Lev (M, US, fiction)
When they call you a terrorist (F, US, memoir)
Medicus (F, UK, fiction - audio)
The Muse of Nightmares (F, US, fiction)
The Lightkeeper's Daughters (F, Canada, fiction)
I Let You Go (F, UK, fiction)
Codec 1962 (M, Iceland, fiction)
A Foolish Virgin (F, The Netherlands, fiction)

Bee Quest (M, UK, Nature)
Queenpin (F, US, fiction)
The Lost Man (F, Australia, fiction) Netgalley
Boy Toy (Multiple authors, US, fiction)
How to Love a Jamaican (F, Caribbean, short stories)
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving (M, US, fiction)
The Other Miss Bridgerton (F, US, fiction)
The Great Believers (F, US, fiction)
Running Upon the Wires (F, UK, poetry)
The Last Place You Look (F, US fiction)

Not Quite Crazy (F, US, fiction)
Lethal White (F, UK, fiction)
Hope Never Dies (M, US, fiction)

September 22
The Way of All Flesh (Joint, UK, fiction)
No Place to Lay One's Head (F, Poland/France, Memoir)
Walking Through Fire (F, Egypt, Memoir)
Police at the station and they don't look friendly (M, UK/US, fiction)
Brave New World (M, US, fiction)
How to be Famous (F, UK, fiction)
Invisible City (F, US, fiction)
Lead me on (F, US, fiction)
So tough to Tame (F, US, fiction)

An Unholy Alliance (F, UK, fiction - audio)
Love the one you're with (F, US, fiction)
Transcription (F, UK, fiction)
The Shadow District (M, Iceland, fiction)
Still Life With Breadcrumbs (F, US, fiction)
Sabrina (M, US, GN)
Incognegro (Multiple, US, GN)
Now we shall be entirely free (M, UK, fiction)
The Redemption of Galen Pike (F, UK, short stories)
Deception (F, UK, fiction)

Maigret and the Headless Corpse (M, Belgium, fiction)
The Spirit catches you and you fall down (F, US, politics/ anthropology)

Overall stats

Gender This Month F4 M 2 Joint 0 Running Total F178 M 62 Joint 4
Fiction/Non? This Month Fiction 3 Non-fiction 3 Poetry 0 Running Total Fiction 191 Non-fiction 47 Poetry 6
Source This Month Library 0 Mine 6 Running Total Library 100 Mine 145
Author home
This Month: Africa 0, Asia 0, Australasia 0, Europe 2 (UK 1), Middle East 0, US & Canada 4, Other 0 Multiples 0.
Running Total: Africa 2, Asia 6, Australasia 8, Europe 131 (UK 99), Middle East 3, US & Canada 91, Other 4 Multiples 1

2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge -47 down!
http://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Reading-Challenge-2018-44138581

1. A book made into a movie you've already seen Hidden Figures
2. True crime The Killers of the Flower Moon
3. The next book in a series you started Dead Lions
4. A book involving a heist
5. Nordic noir 20853434::The Darkness
6. A novel based on a real person Girl in Disguise
7. A book set in a country that fascinates you Miss Burma
8. A book with a time of day in the title Quite Ugly One Morning
9. A book about a villain or antiheroThe Blood Miracles
10. A book about death or grief Claire of the Sea Light
11. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym Lethal White
12. A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist My Brother's Husband
13. A book that is also a stage play or musical The Habit of Art
14. A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you Persepolis
15. A book about feminism 20699530::Women and Power
16. A book about mental health Psychoanalysis: the impossible profession
17. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift Frogkisser
18. A book by two authors Working Stiff
19. A book about or involving a sport The 1908 London Olympics
20. A book by a local author Sirens
21. A book with your favorite colour in the title The Green Hollow
22. A book with alliteration in the title Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
23. A book about time travel One Damned thing after another
24. A book with a weather element in the title Death in the Clouds
25. A book set at sea Dead Wake
26. A book with an animal in the title Magpie Murders
27. A book set on a different planet A Closed and Common Orbit
28. A book with song lyrics in the title . Suspicion
29. A book about or set on Halloween The Bookseller
30. A book with characters who are twins The Grass Dancer
31. A book mentioned in another book reading Christ Stopped at Eboli
32. A book from a celebrity book club You think it I'll Say it
33. A childhood classic you've never read A Wrinkle in Time
34. A book that's published in 2018 The Wedding Date
35. A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner A Thousand Mornings
36. A book set in the decade you were born Lady with a Cool Eye
37. A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn't get to
Broad Strokes: 15 women who made art
38. A book with an ugly cover The Madness of George III
39. A book that involves a bookstore or library Bookworm: a memoir of childhood reading
40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges - a book set in a hotel Hotel Silence

Advanced Reading Challenge

1. A bestseller from the year you graduated high school
2. A cyberpunk book Warcross
3. A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
4. A book tied to your ancestry Now we shall be entirely free
5. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title Chicken with Plums
6. An allegory Brave New World
7. A book by an author with the same first or last name as you MI5 and Me
8. A microhistory Bad Girls: a history of rebels and renegades
9. A book about a problem facing society today When I Hit You
10. A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Hell's Bottom, Colorado

Happy new one, Charlotte.

Aw! Thanks Barbara.

So much for me not reading any more reserves before my holiday. Three just turned up at the library:
Tangerine, Kit's wilderness and A foolish virgin.

Happy new one, Charlotte.

I've had my eye on Tangerine so please read that one and let us know what you think :)

>9 charl08: I can't decide whether to just take all my library books on holiday. If I do that, the review will be sooner!

Happy new thread, Charlotte! When does your holiday begin?

happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Charlotte. I love the toppers. How many days before you leave for your vacation?

Happy new thread! How many librabry books have you got to get to before you go on holiday?? >;-)

Happy new thread!

>10 Carmenere: Not for three weeks...

>11 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda.

>12 BLBera: Too many! And at the same time, I have so much to do before then, so not enough...

>13 Helenliz: I'm back up to 19 now. Although I'll do my best over the weekend to make a dent in one or two.

>14 drneutron: Almost missed you, thanks Jim.

Happy New Thread, Charlotte.

Nice to see Hidden Figures up there. I thought the book was even better than the very good movie. Thank goodness she shared this little known story with all of us.

Happy new thread, Charlotte.

>7 charl08: Nice to see Kit's wilderness up there, I have planned a re-read it this month. :-)

Happy new thread!

At least I can get in on the good wishes for a new thread, Charlotte! I wish you good living and good reading!!!

>16 jnwelch: Hi Joe, I was really pleased to finally get to this book!

>17 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita - and thanks for the advice on David Almond. Looking forward to reading it!

>18 figsfromthistle: Thank you!

>19 LizzieD: Always nice to see you Peggy.

Guardian reviews - non-fiction this week
(always more reviews www.guardian.co.uk/books )


Life on Earth by David Attenborough reviewed by Adam Rutherford
'I approached the 40th anniversary edition with a cautious awe. It does not disappoint. The new Life on Earth is as glorious as the first, if not more so for the sole reason that it has been considerably updated. Science never rests, and while the overarching Darwinian ideas in the 1979 edition are correct, many of the details have moved onwards significantly."
(worth having a look at the amazing photos: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/12/life-on-earth-david-attenborough-r... )

The Life and Times of a Very British Man by Kamal Ahmed reviewed by Colin Grant
"Early in the book, Ahmed, who was raised in London in the 1970s, gives us a schoolboy’s perspective on racism as a thing, like acne, to be ignored: maybe it would just go away. Yet his recollections confidently refer to “us” and “we”, meaning the British people..."

Have You Eaten Grandma? by Gyles Brandreth reviewed by Steven Poole
"The book is also very funny, and often outright silly. He insists that beginning a letter “Hi, Gyles”, with a comma between salutation and name, is “sinister”, and translates the phrase “Your call is important to us” quite directly as “Fuck off”....Anyone who uses the word “whilst”, meanwhile, he insists is “subliterate”."

Whilst I might buy this for my Dad...

Palaces for the People: How to Build a More Equal and United Society by Eric Klinenberg reviewed by Rowan Moore
"he spends time in public libraries, seeing how people of differing ages, status and ethnicities cohabit their spaces, how conflicts are negotiated and collaborations start, and how these institutions give refuge to people who feel excluded or diminished elsewhere. He describes an initiative in Brooklyn libraries where older people can play in virtual bowling leagues as a way of getting them out of their homes and meeting people. He talks about the importance of school gates... He looks at what happens in catastrophes, as when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston...
All these themes play out against a background of new forces making division, conflict and simple misery more likely... "

A Massacre in Mexico by Anabel Hernández reviewed by Angus Macqueen
"On 26 September 2014, a group of students from a teacher-training college set out on their annual trip to Mexico City to attend a demonstration commemorating another government atrocity: the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre, in which soldiers and police gunned down hundreds of innocent protesters. Just like every other year, these students from some of the poorest regions of Mexico set out to “commandeer” buses from local towns to get themselves there. These annual hijackings were disruptive but in the past rarely ended up in serious violence.... In 2014, this annual rite of passage turned into a nightmare....Six people died, dozens were injured – and 43 students simply vanished."

The Book of Humans by Adam Rutherford reviewed by Robin Mckie
"An entertaining and blessedly succinct read."

Love the cover.

The Spy and the Traitor by
Ben Macintyre reviewed by
Oliver Bullough
"“The pantheon of world-changing spies is small and select and Oleg Gordievsky is in it,” writes Macintyre. He was exposed thanks to another spy – Aldrich Ames, a CIA analyst who betrayed his country for money – and summoned back to Moscow. .... MI6’s improbably complex plan to rescue him, codenamed Operation Pimlico. The plan was almost derailed at the last minute: permission could not be obtained from Margaret Thatcher at Balmoral because the security guard was trying to sort out the Queen Mother’s video machine. "

I love this anecdote. Ha!

The Red and the Blue by
Steve Kornacki reviewed by Ben Jacobs
"Although Kornacki provides a sterling study guide for those millennials who spent the decade more absorbed by Super Mario than Sister Souljah, he merely grazes the surface."

How the World Thinks by Julian Baggini reviewed by
Tim Whitmarsh
"In his view, people everywhere grapple with the same moral questions, which are fundamentally about balancing contradictory imperatives: individual autonomy versus collective good; the social need for impartial arbiters of truth versus awareness of subjective experience; adherence to rules versus commonsense flexibility; and so forth. The differences between people lie not in the issues they face, but in the positions they end up adopting on the scale between the extremes..."

Love this cover.

Untrue by Wednesday Martin reviewed by Kathryn Hughes
"....quite counts as the “new science” that is trumpeted by the publicity. Some of this work, including that by the pioneering biologist Hrdy, dates back to the 1980s. The tone and structure are awkward...the problem with these mostly pseudonymised case histories, in which, Martin tells us, “I have changed many specifics”, is that they sit uncomfortably alongside reports of scholarly work where to change a “specific” would be to invalidate the whole process."

Ouch.

Gandhi 1914-1948 by Ramachandra Guha reviewed by Faisal Devji
"...aim seems not to be to open up Gandhi’s life story, but rather to summarise it as a battle against imperialism on the one hand and religious fanaticism on the other. Yet given the Mahatma’s very public life, the only serious question it raises is whether a genuinely new biography of the man is even possible. The story of Gandhi’s life has taken on almost a ritual form in India..."

The Real Lolita by Sarah Weinman reviewed by P D Smith
"...her compassionate account reveals the “darkness of real life” behind the novel. "

>22 charl08: We’re going to hear Kamal Ahmed talk at the Cambridge Literary Festival next month.

>33 SandDune: Sounds good: I would think he's got a really interesting story to tell.

I Let You Go
This was the crime novel recommended by one of the local librarians. Relieved, I don't have to find a response if she asks, because it was a good read. Centred around the a hit and run death, with a strong police procedural element. The afterword says that the author was in the police, and it certainly felt authentic, with officers worried about families, and the tension between politics and their desire to get a result for the families.

Oh, I enjoyed I Let You Go last year. Glad you enjoyed it too. Thanks for the guardian reviews above. I went into your link and found a review for a book I recently purchased , Dear Evelyn by Kathy Page. It looks a little grim, and it's on the The Canadian book prize , The 2018 Rogers Literary prize finalists.
I just finished Washington Black , from the booker shortlist and really enjoyed it. I began it with some trepidation, as the " adventure story " and slight bit of " magical realism " was a bit off putting for me , in the abstract. But once I got into it, I really enjoyed it.

I'm afraid on my own thread. I have to buckle down and list the 12 books I've read since I was last on my thread and then I can start visiting more threads. If you want another sort of offbeat fun crime novel , a bit on the gothic side, try Mrs Westaway. I had a lot of fun with that, and it was not police procedural. Just a bit of good spooky fun.

Enjoy your holiday to the USA. The weather has been lovely here lately! Nice and sunny and warm too.

Happy new thread, Charlotte!

>35 charl08: Srsly how have you read that *already*?!! I've just started it. Good to know it's a decent read, quite apart from having to find something to say to the librarian :-)

Thanks for the Guardian reviews. I spent some time yesterday during the wedding going through endless newspaper supplements and cutting out the reviews for the books I want to get. There are quite a lot. However, some of the supplements were getting on a bit, and there were reviews for books I have already read :-) I feel I need some sort of system to record them all, as the wishlist at the library is completely random. It doesn't list things by date added, or title, or author, or anything that I can work out. Just...random.

I've finished the second of the three books included in Codex 1962 and really I'm none the wiser.

>36 vancouverdeb: Thanks for the update Deborah. Now I am intrigued as to which other books you've read. I will hop over to your thread to have a look.

>37 susanj67: I woke at 5 with a headache and have been reading most of the morning! I add books I want to the wishlist on LT At least, that's the theory.

Happy new thread!

>40 ChelleBearss: Thanks Chelle.

Trying to work out what to do about sunscreen for my trip. This is the one thing I am prepared to spend more than standard high st prices on (er, usually). But I was really disappointed with the clinique face sunscreen I bought to go to Cape Town: it just seemed to run and not really protect as I would expect. I feel like I've been reading reviews for ages and I'm none the wiser about what to get. I usually avoid Nivea as it makes me itch, and for the same reason look for options that are (or claim to be) hypoallergenic. I would really like something that can cope with a bit of "perspiring".* But I don't want it on a stick, like most of the sport options seem to be.

I've looked at Ultrasun, clinique again, laughed at an £82 quid option (visions of saying to a mugger: please don't take my sunscreen!) And looked at lots of brands I've never heard of in this list from the Independent. Murad? Coola? Dr Dennis Gross?
https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/fashion-beauty/skincare/best-facia...

Long story short: do you have a sunscreen you swear by?

*Where "a bit" is actually "a lot".

I always use Boots Soltan. Comes in handy packs, and a range of UV ratings. On the shelf at the moment I have 15, 30 & 50.
Like you, I sometimes come up against even hypoallergenic creams and moisturisers, but I've never *touch wood* had a bad reaction to the Boots stuff. He's the perspiring type and it seems to protect him OK, the only burning incidents we've had in the last few years have been when someone has forgotten to apply it or missed a bit...

>42 Helenliz: Ah yes. I rather unfairly judge sultan on their product of 20 years ago, which went on like zinc ointment cream. Should try again. Thanks Helen.

Hi Charlotte - thanks for the reviews. >23 charl08: sounds like one I would enjoy...>25 charl08: sounds interesting as well.

I'm glad I Let You Go is a good one; I just got it from the library.

Sighs of relief all round Beth.

Codex 1962
Well, I finished this. In Iceland it was printed as three separate books, and frankly I wish this had been. At the heart of three stories, supposedly told in three different genres (but really, strongly similar) is the story of the birth of one man, the story his father (May have) told him about how that happened (with nods to the golem myth). Around that one story Sjón increasingly over elaborately and with paragraph-length sentences that, not unlike this one, appear to go on and on without any prospect of rescue, or end. In the final story chapters are interspersed with lists of children born, identified only by gender and date in the named year, their date of death, and weird almost children's play type statements about waiting for the death of the others born on the same year.

I thought the first book I read by Sjón (about the flu epidemic arriving in Iceland) was quirky and worth the read, but this one although I liked it in parts, I just found self-indulgent by the end. And what a mad ending?!

I read a student essay recently with unending sentences, Charlotte. I told said student to lay off the colons and semicolons (misused, anyway) and to use a few periods. We'll see.

What was the one about the flu epidemic? I might want to try that one.

Charlotte, personally I swear by Clinque City Sunblock - the one in the green package. Here is a link to the various clinique skin products. I've not tried the mineral based products and probably would try them, worried about a white chalky substance appearing on my face. I too have sensitive skin. How about a foundation that includes a sunblock, like https://www.clinique.ca/product/1599/5276/makeup/foundations/even-bettertm-makeu... I'm quite sure that is the type I use, with a layer of clinque moisturizer underneath and does not come off without me using a clinique make- up remover. It really sticks !

https://www.clinique.ca/sun-protection-skin-care-clinique

Other than that, I can be of little help. I avoid all of the cheap brands, as they irritate my skin. Is it San Francisco that you are going too? The sun won't be that high in UV rays at this time of year. Capetown would be mush warmer and higher in UV rays. Best of luck, Charlotte.

I've yet to update my thread. I'm afraid of my own thread! Off to walk the dog.

Moonstone - it's nice and short, so if you don't find you get on together, at least it's not been such a commitment.

Fingers crossed for more full stops...

>47 vancouverdeb: Deborah, I'm pretty useless in anything that isn't inside, to be honest. I think I'm going to have to brave the make up counters in Liverpool again. (And practice saying I'll think about it! )

Happy Sunday, Happy New Thread and belated Happy 3x75! :))

From the last thread and the guardian reviews: I really should read some Saviano, but Italian politics is frustrating enough already (and very shallowly covered in international papers who it seems don't get the complexity at all).

>29 charl08: this one sounds interesting and the cover is really beautiful
>23 charl08: I might get this as in-between brain candy, I could do with some laughs :)

Charlotte, I've just finished I Let You Go and loved it! So that's two thank-yous for your librarian :-)

>41 charl08: I asked my surgeon earlier in the year whether there was one super-good sunscreen and he said no - the best thing to do is just to re-apply regularly. I've mostly been staying out of the sun this year, but I have a Murad moisturiser with an SPF 30 and it's lovely, but ridiculously expensive (needless to say I got it as part of a kit, in a sale :-)). If I am out on a sunny day I've been using the Soltan Face Advanced SPF 50+, which is fine. But my very favourite of all time is the Neutrogena Ultra-Sheer Dry-Touch, which isn't available here but should be easy to find in the US (in New Zealand it's available in supermarkets, and not just the fancy ones). Here's the range, from the US website: https://www.neutrogena.com/search?q=Ultra%20Sheer%20Dry%20Touch

It's available at Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/browse/1085666_1007039_9744113?povid=1007039+%7C+2018-04...

and Target: https://intl.target.com/s?searchTerm=neutrogena+sunscreen&category=0%7CAll%7...

so if you're staying with a friend you could order yourself some and get it sent to her address :-)

>50 Deern: Netgalley has the Brandreth, but I am attempting a policy of restraint (Ha!) as would like to deal with the library books.

>51 susanj67: I am relieved Susan. I started to worry quite what I'd say to her (I shall have to try and remember Julia's advice for future use though). I've asked my friend about a visit to Target. $11 sounds an awful lot better than £80.

A Foolish Virgin
This is another one of those books that had been 'rediscovered' after falling out of print in th 1950s. Written by a Dutch survivor of Theresienstadt, it evokes a pre-holocaust world in which a relatively wealthy young girl lives in a bubble of school and family. Her grandmothers and aunts fall out, the adults complain about things she doesn't fully understand, and she is used as a go between by an older woman and an 'unsuitable' partner. It's all rather wry and gently done, and a nice contrast to the overblown Sjón.

Rosalba's snore consisted of a thin whistle that seemed to come out of her nose... Grandmother, less of a virtuoso, merely deepened her breathing and gave a soft moan from time to time. I had learned that few misdeeds are counted against a person to such a degree on earth or in the afterlife as the disturbing of elderly people in their sleep.

Bee Quest
The author is a university professor of bees (or rather, the study of bees) and this book looks at short reports from his travels around the world (Ecuador, US) and across the UK looking at unusual habitats and rare bees. I enjoyed most of it: fascinating to hear about trips to unusual places, about attempts to reintroduce, understand and in some cases preserve rare habitats. The whole thing is done in quite a light tone.
A small thing, but it did bother me.
I was amused at his comments about students moving slowly (I've noticed the same thing myself) but then got really bothered by his comments about the obesity of some: it just struck me as unnecessary, and seemed jarring when so much else in the book seemed about working for positive change. He went on to point out how a team of students managed to make it up some high climb on a remote expedition and he was practically left behind, but it still seemed unnecessary.

>53 charl08: This one sounds good, Charlotte.

>54 charl08: The fat shaming would bother me as well. I might pass on this one.

>55 BLBera: It made me wonder what his students made of the book. Also if no-one reading the drafts had challenged him on it.

Now reading How to Love a Jamaican. The first first story really packs a punch: a young woman from Brooklyn meeting a Californian girl, both of Jamaican heritage but with very different understandings of race.

Glad you got the sunscreen sorted out. Susan is a big help. Other than walking that dog of mine every day for an hour or so, I'm not much of a sun person. My grandma warned me against the sun and I took it straight to heart . Of course I do enjoy outdoor activities, more so in my younger years, but I've never laid about the beach hoping for a tan.

Thanks Deborah. I just have to remember to be careful, too!

I was feeling like reading something different last night, and picked up my kindle.

Mamie (ETA and Kay!) recommended Queenpin which I am enjoying.

By the time I reached the newsstand four blocks away, the owner dragging open the rusty shutters, I knew I was going to do it. And it wasn’t the promise of bullion. It wasn’t even, or not just, Vic. Vic and the things he could do to me and the things I wanted to save him from. There was something else at the bottom of it. Something dark and swampy I couldn’t look at, couldn’t face. But it had to do with her. It had to do with her. What would it mean to try to take her on, beat her? What would it be like to smoke-and-mirror the queenpin herself?

I raced through Queenpin: rather gory but very good.

All caught up with you, Charlotte, and just in time to see that you enjoyed Queenpin!! Happy new one - your thread, as always, is delightful.

Happy new thread, Charlotte, and a belated congrats on your 3 x 75. Amazing! Good to know that the librarian's recommendation of clare mackintosh worked out. I tried to get I Let You Go when I was at the library last time but, although it said it was on the shelf, I couldn't find it. I put a hold on it as they have more than one copy so it will probably come in at the same time as a bunch of other books.

Hi Charlotte, just dropping by to register my interest in your thread (in spite of my absence from it of late....).

>43 charl08: I remember zinc cream, in the 80s it came in fluro colours which we loved to apply in stripes on our cheeks. Matching our clothes, of course :)

>26 charl08: looks good!

>60 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie! I'm guessing from the way it ended there are plenty more to come...

>61 Familyhistorian: I should get the book back, thanks for the reminder!

>62 LovingLit: I think there was a resurgence in the 90s, as I seem to remember my brother having some blue stuff. I could never work out what you were supposed to do about the bits that weren't covered...

>63 The_Hibernator: I do love the way almost everyone has a different reaction to the book reviews.

My brain was fried last night, so after best efforts with How to love a Jamaican I comfort read a Megan Cabot which probably wasn't the best idea, as on the nth go round I thought: this plot makes no sense. (Something most readers will no doubt have spotted on the first go round!)

Reading the new Jane Harper (The Lost Man) courtesy of Netgalley. Very tense!

And in the news...
Anna Burns has been named the winner of this year's Man Booker Prize - becoming the first author from Northern Ireland to triumph.

Milkman, set in an unnamed city in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, is a coming-of-age story about a young girl's affair with a married man.

Burns, who told the BBC she was "stunned" to win, will receive £50,000 in prize money.

The judges said Milkman was "simply marvellous".
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-45881852

>66 charl08: Charlotte, have you read it? The description of the writing style sounds too hard for me.

>67 susanj67: I started. It came up at bookgroup, and the one person who read it wasn't overwhelmed, and she's a good judge of stuff.

But I'll give it another go on holiday, as it's on the kindle.
Probably.

The Lost Man
This was exactly what the doctor ordered as a compelling, creepy murder mystery that was brilliantly set in a powerfully conjured Australian outback. Two brothers discover a third read, in inexplicable circumstances. Why did he leave his car in conditions that meant death from exposure?
I loved The Dry and this book similarly had a strong sense of an otherworldly place, along with the people who have adapted to live in it.

It looks like I am late to the penguin party over here. Somehow, your thread got lost in the shuffle.

Happy New Thread, Charlotte. I hope those books are treating you fine.

Nice to see you!
No worries Mark. I have been very poor at visiting other threads lately so please don't worry.

Audible are having a 3 for 2 sale in the UK. I bought SQPR (Mary Beard), Colin Firth reading The End of the Affair (because Colin Firth), and The Existentialist Cafe in the hope that listening to it will work better than the hardcopy.

Well, Charlotte, I'm still waiting for my library to acquire Milkman. I was kind of pulling for Washington Black since I had read it.

>73 vancouverdeb: Me too, Deborah. I was going to recommend it to my bookgroup yesterday, but then remembered my resolution to Try and Keep Quiet A Bit More...

>74 charl08: It was on the new fiction shelf at the library yesterday but I wasn't tempted. I wonder whether it will still be there today!

Hi Charlotte - Not sure when I'll get to Milkman...

I'm reading The Dry on my e-reader now -- very strong sense of place, very atmospheric as you say.

Hello, Charlotte! That Colin Firth narrated audio is full of fabulous - I loved it.

>75 susanj67: Not even a little bit?

>76 BLBera: I was a bit worried by the second book, thought it was not quite so good. But this one was as good as the first. Maybe even better?

>77 Crazymamie: I thought it was familiar, it must have been from your review. I love the film with Ralph Fiennes also.

Now reading Ponti by Sharlene Teo

Hi, Charlotte - Just wanted to stop by to say hi. Of course, there is no "just stopping by" your thread without coming away with some new-to-me titles to check out. >54 charl08: It's interesting that a professor who might be considered intelligent would equate obesity with sloth. Aside from the whole ignorant fat-shaming aspect, I know quite a few overweight women who have a lot of energy and get a whole heck of a lot done in a day. Lazy thinking on his part.

Friday!

>81 charl08: lol!
People love Fridays! Today was lovely and warm for us and it was so so so wonderful to feel that heat of the sun on me. I hope yours was fab too.

>81 charl08: LOL! That's just how I feel. It's been a long time coming this week.

>80 Storeetllr: Thanks Mary. In my excitement about Friday I missed your post! I didn't understand the author of Bee Quest either.

>82 LovingLit: No warmth of the sun here, Megan, but I'm hoping for a little warmth when I get off the plane...

>83 susanj67: Yes, I am looking forward to a long weekend of doing nothing packing.

>83 susanj67: What Susan said.

>81 charl08: I wish. My friday started with me banging me head on the desk, then loosing of an (e-mail) bomb under a recalcitrant supplier. They have not yet responded... If they had done what I'd asked, when I asked nicely, instead of waiting until I have to get cross, we'd all get on a lot better.
and breathe, it is almost the weekend.

Just finished this cross stitch, which I thought you might appreciate. >;-)

>85 Crazymamie: I sat down on the couch at home and almost fell asleep!

>86 Helenliz: Love that! Where did you find it?

It's a designer online, here: https://www.mariadiazdesigns.com/mddv2/shop.php?showid=457

I like the one reading, even if it does look like the one skating is trying to kick it!

>89 Helenliz: Gosh, that site is a bit of a black hole. Far too tempting.

How to Love a Jamaican
These short stories are very strong, explorations of life across the migrant experience. In some ways reminiscent of The Thing Around Your Neck and Drown, sharp on the different sexual mores in Jamaica and the US, the difficulties of navigating relationships and what it's like to try to go back 'home'. I particularly loved the stories about grandmothers taking care of grandchildren, reflections on love expressed in different ways across the generations in the absence of mum.

I'm trying to think of a good graphic novel to take to an 8 year old. Help! He's going to get Ms Marvel, but I'd like to take him something else too.

Still thinking about some new bookshelves...

(I can't find the artist - just a pinterest linktolink)

Happy Saturday, Charlotte! I am loving The Overstory. It could be a book of the year for me. I am picking up Washington Black today from the library. How do we keep up??

Thanks Mark. I'm ruefully looking at the hardback and wondering if it will fit in my travel bag...

Guardian Fiction Reviews
Loads more at www.guardian.co.uk/books

I'm kicking myself- I got a discount voucher for the Saturday Guardian in the LRB yesterday, and it's still sitting in the packet unused...


Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami reviewed by Xan Brooks
"...makes no great distinction between the high road of literary fiction and the low road of pop culture. He knows both are worth exploring."

The Penguin Book of the Contemporary Short Story edited by Philip Hensher reviewed by Alex Clark
"Many...featured in this volume come with fearsome reputations and track records..."

The Way Past Winter by Kiran Millwood Hargrave reviewed by Linda Buckley Archer
"...young readers will stay with her every step of the way. "

Berta Isla by Javier Marías reviewed by Marcel Theroux
"...characters tend to be preoccupied by philosophical questions about the nature of reality, rather than their emotions or jobs."

What We're Teaching Our Sons by Owen Booth reviewed by Ian Sansom
"...a nice little comedy squib, with just enough heft and bite."

Metamorphica by Zachary Mason reviewed by Natalie Hayes
"...a collection of missed opportunities..."

Ouch!

Square Eyes by Anna Mill and Luke Jones reviewed by Rachel Cooke (Graphic Novel)
"...What precisely happens in its last pages? Even now, I’m not sure I’d be able to tell you. Perhaps, though, that’s half of the point. Mill, a professional illustrator, and Jones, an architect ... are dealing in their book in confusion and half-truths, their landscape a desolate near future in which the boundaries between memory, dreams and data have begun dangerously to blur."

Dear Evelyn by Kathy Page reviewed by Elizabeth Lowry
"...a love story, a coming-of-age story, and a brilliantly evocative sketch of Britain in the 20th century. There are shocking reminders of the casual daily humiliations women endured before the wake-up call of feminism"

>96 charl08: I love this cover.

Thanks for posting the reviews, Charlotte. This is the highlight of my Saturday morning. :)

>102 BLBera: Yes, it looks rather lovely. I've been very productive this morning: so much so that I am tempted to go back to bed. Haircut, US usb charger plug bought, second hand books at bargain price and some M and S "halloween spider" sweets for small(ish) person being visited.

>101 charl08: I have Dear Evelyn in my TBR pile. It's up for an award in Canada. Your cover is so much nicer than mine. Thanks for posting the reviews. Oh, I'm angry with amazon. My book order , just two books, was supposed to arrive within one day. Then 2 days and it did not arrive yesterday and so I called them and it should arrive by Tuesday. Late books from amazon make my blood boil . Oh, watch out amazon. But really, what can you do? They are such a huge company.
Oh and earlier this week, I went to the library and got a book I had put on hold, plus I found several good "finds" at the library. I was so pleased, but my husband did thought that pile of books in the foyer thought they were books to be returned to the library, so he returned them all. It's been quite a week! Argh! First world problems, I know.

Look forward to hearing more about Dear Evelyn Deborah. It sounds really good.

Dave returning the books reminded me of some family incidents here. I quite often come home with books I want to read but I think they will want to read too - and then they go back to the library and I've not read them yet! Funny.

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
I picked this up on a whim in the library yesterday and read it when I got home. Ben is recovering from a disastrous family accident when he takes over as carer for Trev, who has a life-limiting condition. They come up with a plan to visit the strange and unusual places across the US, from the biggest pit to George, Washington. This was very black humour, alongside despair, but reminded me of John Green.

Now reading The Great Believers.

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday, Charlotte.

>107 charl08: Oh, I'll watch for your comments, Charlotte. I have that one from the library and am looking forward to it.

>108 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara. You too! I'm looking forward to a Sunday roast.

>109 BLBera: Loving it so far Beth.

>110 charl08: Sounds wonderful. Marina is making a spinach-pumpkin lasagna.

>87 Helenliz: Love the cross stitch!

>91 charl08: Love the cat with those bookshelves!

I hope you enjoyed your Sunday roast and I know you are following Meghan Markles adventures down under with great interest ;-) My husband more or less redeemed himself as I found the list of books I had taken out from the library . I had emailed it my phone, and fortunately I did not delete it. At least I know what he took back , now!

>111 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara. It was lovely! I managed to sneak a new spice mix past my dad and it was v tasty (he agreed! ).

>112 thornton37814: Somebody very creative there, for sure.

>113 vancouverdeb: Hard to avoid them on the tv at the moment Deborah. I had a look at the wedding on a gadget and now my cookies are convinced I want All the Royal News...
Glad you found your list.

I think The Great Believers is going to be a book I buy for other people: having recently read How to Survive a Plague it feels to me impressive in its authenticity. Here Fiona remembers the 1980s height of the epidemic after her brother died

There was this competitive grieving thing that could happen. People would crowd into the hospital....
...you always want to believe you are important in someone's life. And sometimes, in the end, it turns out you aren't.

The Other Miss Bridgerton
Netgalley
Gentle Julia Quinn novel setting up more of the Bridgerton backstory. The usual Shakespearean references and strong female characters with a bit of piracy thrown in.

A ship surviving intact from the classical world, lying in over 2km of water, is something I would never have believed possible,” said Professor Jon Adams, the principal investigator with the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (MAP), the team that made the find. “This will change our understanding of shipbuilding and seafaring in the ancient world.”

The ship is believed to have been a trading vessel of a type that researchers say has only previously been seen “on the side of ancient Greek pottery..."

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/23/oldest-intact-shipwreck-thought-...

Hopefully there will be a book about this soon!

>116 charl08: That was an interesting find, Chalotte. It is great that a ship was preserved for so long in the deep.

Tim (LT's mastermind) tweeted last night that the Black Sea has so little oxygen in the water that it creates an ideal environment for preservation. Who knew?! Well, obviously Tim knew, but I certainly didn't. :-)

>117 FAMeulstee: >118 rosalita: It seems like it's not going to be raised, so hopefully there will be film or summat (a book?) to explain what they've found in more detail?

I finished The Great Believers. Wow. What a book. If you haven't already added this to your wishlist, please do so now. Powerful, tragic and compelling. Also something in my eye.
Moving on..

>119 charl08: The article mentions a documentary "The documentary team made a two-hour film that is due to be shown at the British Museum on Tuesday." I hope it will find its way to TV.

Hi, Charlotte. I am so glad to hear that you loved The Great Believers. I have been waiting for some warbling, on the LT front and you supplied it.

>118 rosalita: As I understand it it's not that the Black sea has little dissolved oxygen, it's the depth of water (over 2 km down) that means there is little dissolved oxygen, thus the state of preservation is so good.
>120 FAMeulstee: agreed.

>120 FAMeulstee: Me too, Anita! I had a short google around and couldn't find it, must try harder.

>121 msf59: I would love to know what you make of it Mark - I loved it, but I don't know Chicago, and it is a book about Chicago, I think, as much as about the characters.

>122 Helenliz: I can't believe it survived Helen (I know nothing about the science!)

The Great Believers


I loved this novel.
Centred around the AIDS crisis in 1980s Chicago, and a parallel story in Paris twenty years later, I came to the book having read How to Survive a Plague, the story of the protest movement for HIV/AIDS last year, and of course to those who lived through these years the sweep of the story will be familiar. What I really liked about Makkai's story was how she went past the narrative of victims or heroes (as France does in his non-fiction book), to show deeply human people: (e.g.) an effective campaigner but a shitty boyfriend. The story's heart (for me) was Yale. In 1985 he is living with the editor of a gay newspaper in Chicago, recently tested negative, and going to funerals. He is put in touch with an elderly woman looking to donate her collection of 1920s French art against the wishes of her family. Yale's friends are his family, and Makkai draws you in to a community teetering on the brink of the devastating 'plague'. By 1990 everything is different. France's book described the exhaustion of some campaigners, the conflicts, the splits. Makkai looks at what it might have been like to have been at the heart of the crisis, as the sister of one of Yale's friends, Fiona. In 2015 she is in Paris for a photography show exhibiting the work of the Chicago group. But as the narrative unspools, it's clear that whilst she never had to live with the fear of the disease, she has lived with the tragedy. Supporting dying friends, in some cases acting as power of attorney to protect friends against homophobic family members, has required more than she has been able to recover from, even twenty years later.

He said, "The whole play is about Hamlet trying to avenge his father's death, trying to tell the truth, right? And then when he dies, he hands it all to Horatio. In this harsh world draw they breath in pain, to tell my story. See, I'd have made a great Hamlet! But what a burden. To be Horatio. To be the one with the memory. And what's Horatio supposed to do with it? What the hell does Horatio do in act six?

If that makes the book sound mawkish, or bleak, it's really not. There is a strong theme about survival and hope, of unexpected allies and second chances. I can't do it justice: please read it!

>122 Helenliz: Thank you for correcting my mistake, Helen. I should have clicked on the link instead of spouting off about something I don't understand,

>125 rosalita: I'm still not really sure why no oxygen means no decomposition. But I am reasonably happy in my ignorance.

Radio silence (may) occur over the next few days. And then travel! Woo!

Have a great trip, Charlotte!

Great comments on The Great Believers, Charlotte. I just had to return it to the library because there is quite a wait list. I have not been able to finish very many books this month. So, I'll just wait my turn. With luck it will be available during break.

Bon voyage, Charlotte! I wish I could meet you while you're here, but I'll look forward to your tales of California dreamin'.

Have a fabulous trip Charlotte. I look forward to reading tales of. Will there be both kinds of penguins...?

And on penguins, did you see this

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/newsbeat-45989813/baby-penguin-with-two-gay-dads-h...

>101 charl08: where do I sign up? ;) (meaning, that one is destined for the WL)

Work thing done! (And breathe...)

>127 RidgewayGirl: Thanks Kay. I'm still pinching myself that I'm going!

>128 BLBera: It's one of my books of the year, I think. Hope things calm down a bit, Beth.

>129 rosalita: Ooh, you've made me think I need a holiday playlist, def featuring some Mama Cass. I wish we could have an annual LT conference. (But I might let someone else ( Katie?) fictionally organise it)

>130 Caroline_McElwee: Tbh, I am sadly uninformed about Californian penguins.

>131 LovingLit: Hope you manage to find a copy Megan.

Katie will take a pass on organizing an LT conference as it will feel too much like work :) But she'd happily attend one!

>133 katiekrug: It's ok Katie - it's a fictional one!

>124 charl08: great review!

and happy travels!

Thanks Rhonda!

Guardian Reviews Non-fiction
Loads of reviews at www.guardian.co.uk/books


Murder by The Book by Claire Harman reviewed by Blake Morrison
"In May 1840, Lord William Russell was found dead in bed at his house in Mayfair, London: his throat had been cut so deeply that his head was almost severed. News of the murder ... set off panic among the well-to-do: that an inoffensive, elderly widower could be murdered in bed seemed evidence of an “unfortunate spirit of insubordination” in a London destabilised by immigrants, criminal gangs and an increasingly vocal working class. While police searched for the culprit, contemporary authors came under fire for writing “Newgate novels” that glamorised crime and violence..."

Blueprint by Robert Plomin reviewed by Steven Mithen
"...Plomin’s seems to be more laissez-faire: let your child go with his or her genes, taking up those opportunities to which they are genetically suited (which might be a delight in listening to stories).
I am happy to bow to Plomin as a psychologist and a geneticist, but I found his sociology rather lacking, in fact quite baffling. He describes how instead of genetics being antithetical to equal opportunity “heritability can be seen as an index of opportunity and meritocracy”. How can that be?"

Full Disclosure by Stormy Daniels reviewed by Peter Conrad
"Stormy belongs in the same pantheon as the goddess Kali, whose neckwear was a string of human skulls; she has taken at least one scalp, which has an orange comb-over."

Bloody Brilliant Women by Cathy Newman reviewed by Hannah Jane Parkinson
"The portrayals of the women in this book are not hagiographic: Marie Curie visits a field hospital run by women during the war, but doesn’t lift a finger to help; Emmeline Pankhurst is a neglectful and sometimes cruel mother. The topic of motherhood itself is looked at thoroughly, including particular prejudices: Clare Short feared her career as an MP “would be over” when it became public in 1993 that she had put up for adoption the son she had as a 17-year-old.There are enjoyable anecdotes aplenty. But it’s not all a comfortable read...."

Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know: The Fathers of Wilde, Yeats and Joyce by Colm Tóibín reviewed by Rachel Cooke
"...began its life as a series of Richard Ellmann Lectures, given at Emory University, Georgia, in the biographer’s memory – and each of the essays in it comes with the mild but confounding sense of lifelessness and disorganisation one often finds when reading words that were written originally to be spoken aloud (I do not know how to account for the gap between these two things, but I will say this: I hope there is an audio book, read by the author, who has one of the most marvellously suggestive voices I’ve ever heard)"

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib reviewed by Nikesh Shukla
"Each piece on a band, an album, a concert, a lyric, tells the story of modern America and what it is to be black. Small moments acquire the weight of history in Abdurraqib’s mind. There is a breathlessness to his writing, as if each essay exists in one rush, a thought that builds and builds before bursting with compassion..."

Nine Pints by Rose George reviewed by Sarah Ditum
"She is furious about the UK’s infected blood scandal, in which products from paid donors led to recipients contracting HIV/Aids and hepatitis C in the 1970s and 80s. It is impossible to read this chapter without becoming furious, too – about the haemophilia patients who were used as “guinea pigs” for a new and unsafe blood product because they were cheaper than animal testing.... George is angry on her own behalf, too. As someone with endometriosis (in which uterus lining tissue develops outside the womb, growing and shedding to the hormonal rhythm of the female body but with nowhere to escape), she is painfully aware of the price of ignorance about blood, especially women’s blood. But this is an anger embedded in everything she knows about a world where Nepalese girls must huddle in huts during their periods because the taint of their menses would supposedly bring ruin on their families, and where the safety of tampons relies not on compulsory standards but on what George wryly calls the “gentlemanly agreement” of manufacturers."

Enjoy your trip to California, Charlotte! Thanks for posting the Guardian Reviews. What would Saturday be without that?

Thanks Deborah :-) Lovely to see you around the threads again.

Running Upon the Wires
I took Kate Tempest's newest book of poetry with me on the tram as I went from one work event to another, and it was a lovely oasis of poetry. It did amuse me as I looked around and saw everyone staring at their phones. I much preferred it when I could see what books other people were reading too ("in the old days..."!)
I think this is the third book I've read by Tempest, and the first solely aimed in print (rather than first in spoken word formats then published). The earlier ones hooked me more. They were more focused on the political, the experiences of her local urban community. This is a love affair told backwards - from breakup to meet up. It's lovely verse, with humour and pathos, but it just didn't speak to me as strongly as her earlier books, which were (and are) unlike any other poet I had read before.

The Last Place You Look
American crime fiction, although I'm not sure if the location is deliberately vague or I'm just not aware of it (ETA: it's Ohio from the other reviews, so clearly I skim read this information!) Roxane's father was shot in the line of duty, and she is not dealing well with grief. She takes on the first new client for her PI business since her father's death: a woman believes she has seen a missing person who could absolve her brother of murder. He is sitting on death row, due to be executed in two months. Despite the best efforts of the local police force, and her own struggles, Roxane keeps digging in the interest of her client. I really liked this novel, despite the recurrence of the kidnapped woman thing AGAIN - see previous rants. Roxane's dry sense of humour was great, I hope for more of this in the next in the series (and hope that it's also on my library's borrowbox ebook scheme).

Hi, Charlotte.

I enjoyed Kate Tempest's Brand New Ancients, which I'm pretty sure you steered me to. I need to read more of hers.

Have a great trip!

Thanks Joe. I heard her speaking on the radio about this new book, and I do think she's great. Hope she keeps writing!

Your thread is so full of riches! How to Love a Jamaican sounds really good. It's going on the wish list. And you're prompting me to read How to Survive a Plague which a dear friend gave me as a going-away gift when I left Seattle. And I'm adding The Great Believers to my wish list as per your suggestion. :-)

>138 charl08: I don't know that I want to read the book but that quote from the review is hilarious.

Have a great vacation in the US, Charlotte. Nine Pints sounds interesting to me, as well as the Kate Tempest poems. I've been meaning to give her a try.

Have fun on your trip! Hope you’re having a wonderful time!

Safe travels and have fun on your trip, Charlotte. The top two nonfiction books look interesting but not out here yet and they don't appear to be on my library's radar.

>148 EBT1002: Thanks for the lovely comments Ellen. I have been following your comments about the new job - despite knowing technically I don't have to be perfect in a new role, practically I usually feel like I ought to be. Nice to see you acknowledge the learning even when coming from (as well as to) such a senior post.

I was impressed by the thoughtful acknowledgements of the author of The Great Believers: I should have taken notes, as I have forgotten the names recommended. I plan to buy my own copy when it comes our in paperback though, so won't panic.

>149 BLBera: Thanks Beth. I'm still adjusting to not having to worry about a work event: to be able to sit and read in the daytime is definitely helping!

>151 Copperskye: Thank you. It's a bit hard to get my head round being away: it was -1 degrees C when I left home!

>152 Familyhistorian: Thanks! I am never sure how the Guardian chooses the books (and when to print the reviews). Sometimes my library will not have the book for months after the review.

Well, I didn't manage all The Overstory (note to self: pack mini booklight) but did manage to get my book swabbed for drugs. Huh.

Ooh, you're away already! Should I look for you on Border Security: USA? When I was in NZ last year there was a sign in baggage reclaim that they were filming for Dog Squad, but I didn't see Watchman the beagle who is the star of that show.

Have a great time!

Happy holidays.
A book? Wierdo, who carries a book???!
I once had my teddy bear eyed very suspiciously by a US border guard. If they'd have tried to open him up I think I may have lost the plot entirely.

>156 susanj67: I toyed with the idea of pointing out that my book had been on the floor of an aeroplane, so...

I really wish I had been able to take a photo of the automated border ticket. I looked like the kind of comic photo of someone surprised you see in a film. No sign of policemen. Just very nice airport staff and some unbelievably well behaved kids on the transatlantic flight (vs a 3-4 year old on the short hop at the end, who spent the half hour demanding things "now, daddy". I amused myself with thoughts of what my parents would have said in response to that kind of language / tone.

>157 Helenliz: She did look very suspicious, I thought, as she stabbed, shook and flicked it. I wondered if it was going to be confiscated (and if so, where I'd get a fresh copy from, as I've not finished it!)

Lol. SWABBED. Not stabbed.

You're here! You're here!

>158 charl08: I did a double take at the idea of the security officer stabbing, shaking and flicking your book! It wouldn't dare misbehave after that sort of treatment. :-)

>158 charl08: So she shook it and flicked it and behaved as though she really had no idea what it was supposed to be? I am *sure* she used to work for the Tower Hamlets library system.

>160 rosalita: Yup, she drew the line at the stabbing. Phew.

>161 susanj67: Ha! I did feel a bit miffed that she didn't just look at me and take for granted that I was a reader...

>142 charl08: Nine Pints sounds like an infuriating read!

>155 charl08: The Overstory is winging its way to me courtesy of the Book Depository! :):):)

>163 LovingLit: It does sound infuriating, but also would fill some holes in my education!

Not Quite Crazy
Gentle contemporary romance that tries to square the circle of power imbalanced relationships in the workplace- and doesn't manage it for my money. But then incisive gender readings is not really what I was expecting.

Lethal White
This was very long - but good. Now just have to wait for the next one!?

Hope Never Dies


The concept of this - Biden and Obama reunite to fight crime - makes me laugh, and the book lived up to that gag, I thought. The idea that Biden would be like a jilted girlfriend as Obama hung out with celebrities was an amusing one to start a fairly gentle mystery. 'Amtrak Joe' is contacted by security forces when a train conductor he knew was found dead. Why did the dead man have a map with Biden's address in his possession?

Happy holiday Charlotte. Glad your book wasn't stabbed, that really would have been a sign of every American I know needing to leave the US building!

Just popping in to report that my second attempt to order Now We Shall Be Entirely Free was successful. My copy arrived a couple of days ago, but I haven't started it yet: too busy staring at the pretty cover.

>165 Caroline_McElwee: Yup, important clarification there!

>166 libraryperilous: Ooh yes, I totally agree. It's a marvellous cover.

Monthly stat summary

I don't always remember to do this, but here are the stats for October. Despite distracting work stuff, not too bad. I've now read 100 books from the library this year.
(If they did a badge, I'd be proudly wearing it!)

Gender This Month F16 M 6 Joint 1 Running Total F175 M 60 Joint 4
Fiction/Non? This Month Fiction 20 Non-fiction 2 Poetry 1 Running Total Fiction 188 Non-fiction 44 Poetry 6
Source This Month Library 9 Mine 14 Running Total Library 100 Mine 139
Author home
This Month: Africa 0, Asia 0, Australasia 1, Europe 8 (UK 6), Middle East 0, US & Canada 13, Other 1 Multiples 0.
Running Total: Africa 2, Asia 6, Australasia 8, Europe 129 (UK 98), Middle East 3, US & Canada 87, Other 4 Multiples 1

I am, I am, I am
Fascinating approach to memoir: O'Farrell describes her own near death experiences, from medical emergencies to the dangerous man who she encounters on a lonely road. Suzanne wrote a great review of this book, I'm not sure that there is much to add. I was struck by how she emphasises the role others played in helping her, and her willingness to admit she didn't always know what she was doing (or how she got out of a particular situation). Her description of her daughter's allergies should be used to educate people about supporting families living with this, I think.

There is nothing unique or special in a near-death experience. They are not rare; everyone, I would venture, has had them, at one time or another, perhaps without even realising it. The brush of a van too close to your bicycle, the tired medic who realises that a dosage ought to be checked one final time, the driver who has drunk too much and is reluctantly persuaded to relinquish the car keys, the train missed after sleeping through an alarm, the aeroplane not caught, the virus never inhaled, the assailant never encountered, the path not taken. We are, all of us, wandering about in a state of oblivion, borrowing our time, seizing our days, escaping our fates, slipping through loopholes, unaware of when the axe may fall. As Thomas Hardy writes of Tess Durbeyfield, ‘There was another date . . . that of her own death; a day which lay sly and unseen among all the other days of the year, giving no sign or sound when she annually passed over it; but not the less surely there. When was it?’

One of my hosts invited me to visit the campus of UCSD. They have a great bookshop. As you can see. The lovely lady who helped me carry them to the till said they looked like most of her wishlist, and I was even more impressed.

Very nice, Charlotte! And the weather (unsurprisingly for SD) looks great too :)

>164 charl08: Oh good, Charlotte. I was thinking about reading Hope Never Dies, but wasn't sure whether the book itself lives up to the clever idea. I'll add it to the WL.

>169 charl08: Great haul Charlotte. Michelle Obama's Becoming heads my way mid-month.

>170 katiekrug: It is a bit too nice for me, Katie! I brought a large hat, fortunately.

>171 jnwelch: I don't think it will win any prizes as great lot Joe, but it certainly made me giggle.

>172 Caroline_McElwee: I want to read that as well. Should probably wait for the paperback though, given my recent purchases.

Ha, I read your 'Belonging' for Becoming.

Belonging: a German Reckons with History and Home
I was half hoping this would be rubbish so that I could give it away and not want to carry it home. I really liked it- but might still give it away as one of my hosts is building a library at the charter school she works at, and is in need of more books for the older children who have not yet caught the habit of reading.

Nora Krug grew up in Germany, and has always wondered about her family's past during WW2, and their knowledge of, and participation in the Holocaust. She describes how as part of her own education, her class visited concentration camps and were educated about Germany's Nazi past. Her father is estranged from his sister, so finding out more involved a reconciliation, as well as archival research. She also found old photos in German flea markets and uses them to create a collage effect. It's a fascinating book, and a beautiful object. I think would be particularly good for young people, given the acknowledgement of guilt, but also the difficulty of retrieving what anyone 'really' thought in the past.
With thanks to Kerry (avatiakh) for putting this on my radar.

>158 charl08: I've been chuckling about your "stabbed" book, Charlotte.

I'm glad your trip went smoothly.

>169 charl08: Nice haul.

I'll look for the O'Farrell memoir; she's one of my favorites.

Enjoy the vac.

>176 BLBera: Thanks Beth!

Now reading Meddling Kids (it seemed appropriate for the season).

>169 charl08: Nice book haul there! Glad it was supposed to be swabbed and not stabbed. LOL

Thanks Kim.

Argh. Jet lag.

Break out the shorts and tank top for today, Charlotte!

Thanks Roni!
(I'm hiding in the shade with my impressively anti-greasy factor 50, purchased yesterday at Target - thanks Susan).
It's probably for the best I didn't find their book section.

Remember, the coolest spot is at the beach. And Target hasn't got much of a book section.

ETA Saw your comment about Halloween on Beth's thread. Did you go out, or did you do trick or treaters at your friend's? What area does she live in?

>182 ronincats: Thanks for the tip: I'm so not meant for warm temperatures, but lovely to see my friends so settled.

I just followed my friends, so not sure where we went! Friends have small children so they were absolutely delighted with it all.

>169 charl08: Nice haul, Charlotte!
I hope you have enough space in your suitcase ;-)

Bibliophile
This was such an amazing, beautiful book. The author drew pictures of ideal shelves for her previous book, and here she pulls together genre shelves, with cute portraits of authors, quizzes and fun facts. There are also pictures of bookshops!
Expect your reading list to be expanded.

Happy Friday, Charlotte. I really liked your review of The Great Believers. Not sure, I will get it in, by the end of the year but it is firmly on my list.

Bibliophile sounds great too. Another BB...

>185 charl08: Bibliophile looks wonderful AND my library has it. Yeah! Thanks for the review. Hope you are having a wonderful time in California.

Great haul, Charlotte! I'm glad you are enjoying your holiday. Bibliophile looks great.

>185 charl08: I want one of those vending machines!!

>186 msf59: I think you will enjoy it Mark! Hope you can squeeze it in.

>187 mdoris: Warning: you may want your own copy!

>188 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deborah. I am enjoying it. However, I've also picked up a bug. Argh. Poor timing. (It's just a cold, but I am feeling weapon grade levels of self pity).

>189 Berly: Me too. Ideally outside my door: and maybe one that does matching bookshelves also...

Guardian Reviews Fiction
www.guardian.co.uk/books


Tombland by CJ Sansom reviewed by Stephanie Merritt
"Shardlake is a superb creation, who gains more substance with each new book; he questions and challenges the political shifts of his age while remaining entirely plausibly shaped by them. In many ways he fits the profile of the classic detective hero..."

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver (reviewer unnamed?)
"Kingsolver has always been a bossy writer, ever prone to adding an adverb to a verb to ram home her meaning, and free with her use of one-dimensional characters. In earlier books, though, the solid colours and caricatures were used to heighten the drama: here, they are so often illustrations rather than story that it becomes tempting to read the two narratives separately, if only to keep on top of the names."

The Flame by Leonard Cohen reviewed by Kate Kellaway
"...posthumously published by Canongate, includes lyrics of last-gasp beauty from You Want It Darker – his final album with its against-the-odds satisfactions (to do partly with the octogenarian unlikeliness of its existing at all). The Flame is also a selection of the Canadian singer-songwriter’s unpublished work. "

Varina by Charles Frazier reviewed by
Alfred Hickling
"As statues of Davis and other Confederate leaders come down across the south, Frazier has chosen to focus on the president’s second wife, Varina Howell: bluestocking, opium addict, friend of Oscar Wilde and surely the most obscure woman to have borne the title first lady in America."

Night Train by Thom Jones reviewed by Jane Smiley
"The first story in the collection might be Jones’s most famous. “The Pugilist at Rest”, from 1993, is about a US marine’s experience, first at bootcamp, then in Vietnam, then with PTSD. The events assault the reader, but so does the vernacular, taking us straight back to 1968 and putting us not only into the soldier’s mind, but also into the culture he navigates. In her elegy to Jones in the New Yorker, Joyce Carol Oates declared it “a small masterpiece".

An American Story by Christopher Priest reviewed by James Smythe
"His novels have always revelled in letting the reader uncover hidden truths, and An American Story is no different; except that the narrative is one that felt like fact, until Priest got his hands on it. By drawing on the reader’s own memories, Priest somehow makes us complicit in the story. "

How Aladdin's story was forged in Aleppo and Versailles
Evidence that its first teller was a Syrian dazzled by the court of Louis XIV inspires a new translation of this magical tale

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/02/aladdin-story-forged-in-aleppo-and...

>197 charl08: Thanks for the link, Charlotte. How intriguing! I had no idea.

>198 jnwelch: I had no idea either. I thought the illustrations they used in the article are really beautiful.

>185 charl08: This looks like one we all NEED. Onto the list it goes.

You are so dedicated, posting reviews while on holiday. Impressive, Charlotte.

I have Unsheltered waiting for me next, and Varina also looks tempting.

Hi Charlotte, can you see me waiving across at you? We got home Thursday afternoon and I'm just about unpacked and settled in. I agree with you, this weather is far too "nice". It was 40 F (about 4 C) when we left New York which is far more to my liking for this time of year. Good news is that it's supposed to be cooler this coming week.

Ah, sorry about the cold. Travel can do that. Thanks for your dedication in posting the Guardian Reviews, Charlotte. I'm in the queue at the library for Unsheltered . The UK cover is so much nicer than the North American one ( or at least the Canadian cover ) .

>200 BLBera: Oh, it's a wonderful book. Hope you can find a copy.

>201 RebaRelishesReading: Maybe if I squint a little bit? Somewhere in between the temperature when I left the UK (-1C) and today would be great. We went to the SD library today. It was a bit odd, when I emailed they said they didn't have a regular tour. When I got there, we'd just missed the tour by half an hour... But a nice member of staff found us a leaflet and we had a wander. What a beautiful place.

>202 vancouverdeb: I'm in the queue too: I can't quite believe it, but my library system (who are normally pretty quick with the big name authors) has only ordered one copy! As a result, I'm number 33, so maybe I'll get the book next year.

>185 charl08: That looks delightful. I love the drawing of the bookshop with the cat on the counter. I have met so many bookshop cats in my life and have always said that if I ever opened a bookshop of my own (a fantasy I know I share with many and which I will absolutely not fulfill), it would have two cats.

I need to return to the Shardlake series. And it seems that Kingsolver's latest novel is not living up to her usual praise. I quite liked Cold Mountain so I will probably give Varina a try.

>169 charl08: Nice book haul. Enjoy your holiday.

>204 EBT1002: It's really lovely: I was in the SD library shop yesterday and they had bags made up from one of the illustrated shelves. I was very tempted (less so when I saw the price).

>205 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara. Hope you are having a good weekend.

I found one, Charlotte. ;)

That was quick work!

Well, I think I'm giving up on Meddling Kids: I love the idea (Scooby doo kids return to the scene of the crime as adults) but the practice is just not working for me. I am enjoying The Overstory, but could have done with 100 less pages. I told my friend's little boy I still had over 150 pages to go and he looked suitably impressed...

I found a book called Dream Country about Liberian migrants, and am enjoying that, as well as Holmes Entangled, which is a fun look at what might have happened to Holmes if he didn't retire.

>181 charl08: Charlotte, I'm so glad you found the sunscreen!

Thanks for the Guardian reviews. I hope your library buys some extra copies of the Kingsolver pretty quickly! The book about libraries that I just read had an interesting bit on how books are bought these days - it seems that libraries are increasingly getting rid of qualified staff who actually know about books, in favour of bundles from book wholesalers, who have commercial incentives to push particular titles. Maybe your library is waiting to see how popular it is in terms of reserves, and they will then get some more. That's happened to me a couple of times - waaaay down the list and then it comes pretty quickly.

>210 susanj67: Well, I've just checked, and they've not clicked yet! Funny.
I found three different kinds of block, so am all set for the next year or so of walking to work. Thank you.

In case you're ever in SD....

Checking out the historic ships on the quayside (I also saw a rather dramatic dolphin rescue).

Fascinating desert plants

Gorgeous sunrise

View across the beautiful Japanese Peace Garden, Balboa Park

Art from the SD Museum of art.

Hi Charlotte! I love the photos. It's nice to see my hometown through a visitor's eyes. Also glad you're getting around to so many highlights.

Hi Charlotte! It looks like you are having lots of fun. Next time, you should come to Portland!

Lovely holiday photos Charlotte. Must be time for another book haul soon too...

How much longer are you state-side, Charlotte? Fun (?) that you get to witness an Election Day up close and personal. Or horrifying. Guess it depends on how it turns out... :)

>192 charl08: That was my BOTM club choice. It's not getting great reviews, though.

Lovely picture, Charlotte, thanks for sharing!

>216 charl08: Looked up the museum, they have a nice collection of modern art :-)

>217 RebaRelishesReading: After what felt like days stuck inside with a cold feeling rubbish (temptation to phone work and say: I know I'm on leave and in California, but this totally ought to be a sick day....) it was really lovely to get out and about yesterday. The Old Town trolley tour was good, the drivers were beyond cheesy. Highly recommended.

>218 banjo123: I just watched the first episode of Portlandia, Rhonda, so it's on the list (!)

>219 Caroline_McElwee: Um, yes, I may be spreading them out a bit for the thread. SD library bookstall were selling paperbacks for $1 each, so it seemed rude not to.

>220 katiekrug: Not much longer. Sigh.
I have enjoyed seeing the work to get out the vote. Campaigners on the UCSD campus with some great slogan t shirts (the only midterm that matters is...), a plane with a banner a couple of days and lots of signs for the various propositions.

>221 The_Hibernator: I am hoping it's better than the reviews Rachel. Hope you are feeling better. Couple of friends have managed MH conditions with pregnancy and it's not easy. Kudos.

>222 FAMeulstee: It was a lovely gallery. I was disappointed they didn't have a book or poster linked to the American prints exhibit they are currently running(or at least, nothing the staff could point out). I really like the black and white simplicity of these images, and they own some stunning ones. Lovely to see them though.

I was also a bit gobsmacked to see Kathe Kollwitz pieces only a few months after seeing her work for the first time in London.

I finally finished some books!

What You Want to See
2nd in crime series set in Ohio, featuring sarcastic Roxane Weary. In the aftermath of her previous case, a simple infidelity case turns out to be not so simple after all...

I leaned against my hand, closed my eyes for just a second, and fell into a flat, dreamless sleep immediately. I woke up when a nurse bustled into the room and checked Catherine’s vitals.
“Your blood pressure is staying up, hon, which is great news. Can you tell me where you are?”
“The hospital,” Catherine mumbled, her voice hoarse.
“And do you know who the president of the United States is?” “Unfortunately.” The nurse laughed.
“Okay, sister, back in a couple hours, okay?”

The Overstory

This one rather overstayed its welcome for me. I think that might have something to do with having read Barkskins, which made the same point (trees: good) without all the (for me) hubristic nonsense of voices, psychic powers and eco-AI tech. I got muddled up with the alter egos of the eco-terrorists and didn't care enough to go back and reread. But I think it all comes back to being too long: the first 100 pages whizzed by and then it felt boggy. I wondered if a less well known writer might have had a more stringent editor. Sorry to all those who loved it!

Holmes Entangled
Is it me, or has poor Borges become the go to reference of choice when you want to show you know your literary credentials? Here, he finds a lost text from the supposedly retired (and now long dead) Sherlock Holmes. A mysterious apparition appeared to Conan Doyle, and the psychic who was leading the seance is as confused as everyone else... A slight diversion of a book which was too knowing for its own good (at one point, Holmes writes that his style is, of course, completely different to Watson's, including the late stories which claimed to have been direct from Holmes own pen...

Glad you’re enjoying your holiday, too bad about the cold.

>228 RidgewayGirl: Amazing how often it happens once the adrenalin of a big stresser is lifted!

Now reading Milkman. Or rather, just starting, again. It already makes much more sense to me now I can picture it as set in Northern Ireland. I had missed this before reading the articles around the book winning the prize.

Sorry to hear about your cold. Feel better soon. Thanks for sharing all the photos.

Thanks for sharing your holiday pics with us, Charlotte. It looks like you're having a great time. And getting to read, too!

>231 Ameise1: It was just so irritating Barbara: dreadful timing.

>232 BLBera: Very much enjoying the time to sit still and read without feeling zonked from work when I get home at the end of the day!

Interesting news (this can't all be Susan, surely...)
Scary new world': political book sales explode as UK readers seek answers
Year-to-date sales are up 50% according to Waterstones, with Trump exposés and Brexit dissections leading the pack

"Political book sales have exploded in politics publishing this year, according to Britain’s largest bookseller, Waterstones. The company attributed the growth to writers and readers “urgently seeking to understand this scary new world”."

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/07/scary-new-world-political-book-sal...

>233 charl08: I've read a couple of those myself for just that reason!

C---Love the VK photos!! Thanks for sharing.

I echo Banjo--when are you coming to Portland? : )

>234 RebaRelishesReading: I feel I should be reading more of these, but so far just biographies.

>235 Berly: It's a beautiful place to visit. I think I want to go to somewhere more challenging/ mind opening next, if I can, India.

More publishing news:
Virago signs Carrie Gracie book on equality in the workplace following BBC pay row

"Virago is publishing an "inspiring, personal and campaigning" book on equality in the workplace from journalist Carrie Gracie, one of the number of high-profile BBC women who challenged the national broadcaster over equal pay after enforced disclosures revealed huge gaps between top men and women."
https://www.thebookseller.com/news/virago-signs-carrie-gracie-equality-workplace...

>236 charl08: Fine, fine, fine. Have fun in India. I'll just keep white water rafting, Mt Hood, the Shakespeare Festival and Powell's to myself. ; )

>237 Berly: Sponsored by tourism Portland? Lol. I wish I had more time to travel everywhere. I've been reading about Greenland and Iceland recently and would like to add that to the list too.

hope you're having a great holiday. I know all about the first days cold - I always do that as well. It is most annoying.
This campaign might be right up your street >:-) https://www.1mwis.com/

Brilliant Helen! (Women in STEM, not the cold). I will share it.

Yesterday was full of adventure, and not all in a good way, either. I was supposed to be going on a wine tour, but the company emailed me that morning to say that the tour wouldn't run. (A bit more notice would have been nice, but they did warn that this might happen on the site).

Seeing as the tour agency was in Santa Fe depot, I got on the train to LA. I was hoping to make it to the Getty, but reckoned without a cargo train derailment that had happened between LA and Anaheim. So a rail replacement bus and a long wait at the station with one poor security guard looking rather harassed later, I got home way past my bedtime.

What a shame Charlotte. I'm sure you had a book to keep you company though.

>242 Caroline_McElwee: Yes, I think I would have been ambitious with the LA traffic anyhow (I am consoling myself!).

Someone behind me said he'd been travelling the route as a commuter for five years and this was his first problem on the line.
(I tried not to compare my own commuting experience and failed miserably)

Stunning beach views (less stunning pictures, sadly!)

I also went to The Last Bookshop, which I can highly recommend, if like me you have a fairly relaxed approach to airline baggage allowances...

Books shown:
This Mournable Body because I had heard nothing about this book, yet it seems to be newly published- by the author of Nervous Conditions.
Age of Iron (Because I don't think I've read this Coetzee yet, and it's an orange penguin)
Binti to give to my friend for her school library, because so many here have raved about it.
The Painted Drum because I want to read more by Erdrich.
Spending because I had never heard of this author, and the blurb sounded bonkers.
The Lazarus Project - ditto, but crime.
RL's Dream because I couldn't buy their whole Mosley shelf and a Tana French because it had a lovely floppy American binding and I couldn't help myself.

Charlotte, the rails in this country are terrible due to freight always has precedence over passengers, and the rails are not well kept up (infrastructure here is a joke.) Sorry about your messed up day, but glad that at least you found a bookshop.

Glad to read you ended up in a bookshop instead of a winery ;-)
Do you need an extra suitcase for all the acquired books?

>246 banjo123: It's a beautiful coastline, it's such a shame! I would definitely take the train again.

>247 FAMeulstee: I would have preferred visiting a vineyard here, but never mind. Maybe if I come back!?

>248 charl08: Oh, and we have LOTS of wineries. : )

>249 Berly: Good to know...

Finished Milkman: what a great read.Time for a new thread I think.

>211 charl08: Ooh, thanks for that! I will definitely remember. More cities should have pirate events.

>233 charl08: Ha! No, they're not all me. I haven't read any Brexit ones, but I will put my hand up to most of the Trump ones :-)

It sounds like you're seeing a lot - sorry to hear about the train issues, though. But that bookshop looks amazing!