Helenliz Houses the Hoard

It seems I'm back for another year.

I'm Helen, and I'm a Quality Manager for a small company making medical devices (asthma inhalers). I enjoy reading, cross stitch embroidery, growing edible things in my garden (and then eating the results!) and watching documentaries (usually to relieve the boredom of ironing).

As for last year, I don't want to set too many targets. I can get a bit obsessed or very put off by targets, it's a chalk and cheese thing with me. So there will be no particular numbers in each category. That's not to say I don't want to stretch my reading, as ever. To achieve that, I have changed up some of last year's categories and introduced a few new ones that will make me think a bit harder about what I am going to read.

My theme is historic buildings and houes. I like visiting sites of this kind, they are usually interesting, with questions around who built it, who later made changes, what they kept and what got removed. They come in all shapes and sizes and histories. They're fun to clamber around, they look interesting in the landscape and they tell us something of who we are. It's fun to imagine being at the top of the social structure, but I know that in reality I'd have more likely been stuck slaving away in the scullery or other equally unglamerous corner of the building. I've tried to pair the buildings with the themes I've picked.

And with that, I'm all set up and ready for 2019. Bring it on!

Currently Reading:


Circe (which is soooo pretty)
For your Eyes only and other stories (audio)

Library books on loan
The Absentee
A Modern Comedy
Le Morte D'Arthur
Glorious Heresies

Plan for the month (sort of).
AlphaKit: U&L: The Glorious Heresies
Random CAT:
TBR CAT: Trip or Special occasion book: (not sure)
Heyer Series read: The Convenient Marriage (completed)
1001 Challenge or Group Read: (not sure)

Adding book bullets
The Stranger Diaries (Charlotte & Susan)
Transcription (Stacy, amongst others)
Why We Sleep (Jackie_K)
The Great Typo Hunt (Cindy)
The Silence of the Girls (Susan) (I'm a sucker for retellings of the ancient Greeks)
Rain: Four Walks in English Weather (Carrie) (Walking in rain is sometimes the best thing ever)
The Crossing PLaces (Elkiedee) (Norfolk setting).
The Century Girls: The Final Word From The Women Who've Lived The Past Hundred Years of British History (Susan)

The list: 2019

January
1. The Man who Loved Children, Christina Stead, ***
2. How to be Both, Ali Smith, ****
3. Wrote for Luck, DJ Taylor, *** (audio)
4. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, ***
5. Atonement, Ian McEwan, ****1/2
6. The Saga of the Volsungs, Anon, ***
7. Emsworth's Plum, Linda Newell, ***
8. Devil's Cub, Georgette Heyer, ****

February
9. Murder by Matchlight, ECR Lorac, ****
10. Distant Voices, Barbara Erskine, * (Abandoned) (audio)
11. Belinda, Maria Edgeworth, ***

March
12. Lady Susan, Jane Austen, ***
13. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, AC Doyle, **** (audio)
14. Munmun, Jesse Andrews, ***
15. The Convenient Marriage, Georgette Heyer, ****1/2
16. The Italian Teacher, Tom Rachman, ***
17. The Lemon Table Julian Barnes, ****, Audio
18. The Glorious Heresies, Lisa McInerney, **

Challenge Category 1: Women Authors



This impressive house is Hardwick Hall. It was built in the Elizabethan period and was renown in its time for its use of glass and the size of its windows. A rhyme of the time went "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall".

At the top of each bay you can just make out there is an E and S. These are the initials of the builder, Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, known to her time and to history as Bess of Hardwick. She was born in a now demolished house on this site. It is this house she is most associated with, despite actually being influential in Chatsworth, as well as the Old Hall on the Hardwick site. Married 4 times, she founded a dynasty; the Cavendish family (the Dukes of Devonshire) were the offspring of her first marriage. She died in her 80s, having lived a life extrordinary by any standards.

In 2017 two thirds of the books I read were by women authors. In 2018, so far, I've achieve parity. I want to maintain that parity into 2019.

Hardwick Hall is now in the hands of the National Trust

1. The Man who Loved Children, Christina Stead
2. How to be Both, Ali Smith
3. Emsworth's Plum, Linda Newell
4. Devil's Cub, Georgette Heyer
5. Murder by Matchlight, ECR Lorac
6. Distant Voices, Barbara Erskine
7. Belinda, Maria Edgeworth
8. Lady Susan, Jane Austen
9. The Convenient Marriage, Georgette Heyer
10. The Glorious Heresies, Lisa McInernery

Challenge Category 2: Classics



The country cottage, with a thatched roof and roses growing round the door has to the be classic, chocolate box, impression of English houses. I hate to disappoint, but it ain't necessarily so. That doesn't stop us hankering after the classic cottage experience, right until reality hits your head on low beams, windows that rattle in the wind and a chimney that can't be persuaded to draw. However, let's ignore reality and imagine oursleves in a better place.

This category is for housing those books that have achieved classic status, at times, in spite of their failings. I'd like to read at least 6 of these this year.

1. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, AC Doyle

Category Challenge 3: Non-Fiction



The Mill has to be the most down to earth building. At one time they were essential to the survival of every village. They come in a variety of forms, depending on the local resources; this is a post mill, a typically East Anglian design of wind powered mill. It is built around a central post that runs the height of the mill and everything you can see with the exception of the circular roofed lower storey rotates to ensure that the sails face the wind.

This example is Saxtead Post Mill and it is in the hands of English Heritage

This matter of factness makes the mill the place I will house my selections of non-fiction. I aim to read one per month, but that's not always met, so I'll aim for 10 over the course of the year.

1. Emsworth's Plum, Linda Newell

Category Challenge 4: Heyer Series Read



The terraced house is a product of its time, the need to get more houses in a smaller space. They're not the maximum occupancy of the back-to-backs, but they get a bad rap. There was a tendency in the 20th century to build rows and rows of terraces, all looking the same, just one after another. But it is people that make a house a home, and this example of a terraced house is not just any terrace, it is the childhood home of Paul McCartney.

This, along with John Lennon's childhood home, are both open to visitors on pre-booked tours, as they are in the hands of The National Trust

As terraces come one house after another, I'm using the terraced house as my place to read all of Gerogette Heyer's romances in publicaiton order. This is a work in progress, as shown below. I have read 7 this year, and that was stalled by not owning 2 of them, so I will aim to read 8 of these in the year.

Heyer romances:
(r) Set in Regency Period
(g) Set in Georgian Period
(h) Set in prior historical Periods.

Finished
✔️ The Black Moth (g) 1921 Finished 01Jan18, ****1/2
✔️ Powder and Patch (g) 1923 Finished 05Feb18, ***
✔️ The Great Roxhythe (h) 1923 Finished 30Apr18, ***
✔️ Simon the Coldheart (h) 1925 Finished 7May18, ***
✔️ These Old Shades (g) 1926 Finished 31May18, ***
✔️ The Masqueraders (g) 1928 Finished 17Jul18, ****
✔️ Beauvallet (h) 1929 Finished 08Sep2018, ****
✔️ The Conqueror (h) 1931 Finished 25Dec2018, ****
✔️ Devil's Cub (g) 1932 Finished 31Jan2019, ****
✔️ The Convenient Marriage (g) 1934 Finished 12Mar2019, ****1/2

To be Read
Regency Buck (r) 1935
The Talisman Ring (g) 1936
An Infamous Army (r) 1937
Royal Escape (h) 1938
The Spanish Bride (r) 1940
The Corinthian (r) 1940
Faro's Daughter (g) 1941
Friday's Child (r) 1944
The Reluctant Widow (r) 1946
The Foundling (r) 1948
Arabella (r) 1949
The Grand Sophy (r) 1950
The Quiet Gentleman (r) 1951
Cotillion (r) 1953
The Toll Gate (r) 1954
Bath Tangle (r) 1955
Sprig Muslin (r) 1956
April Lady (r) 1957
Sylvester, or The Wicked Uncle (r) 1957
Venetia (r) 1958
The Unknown Ajax (r) 1959
Pistols for Two (short stories) 1960
A Civil Contract (r) 1961
The Nonesuch (r) 1962
False Colours (r) 1963
Frederica (r) 1965
Black Sheep (r) 1966
Cousin Kate (r) 1968
Charity Girl (r) 1970
Lady of Quality (r) 1972
My Lord John (h) 1975

Category Challenge 5: Orange Prize



The building above is an Orangery. In the 18th century, having one of these showed you'd made it to the top of the social tree. They were a glorified greenhouse, for the growing of exotic plants in the miserable English climate. They were positioned to take advantage of what sun was available, often on the edges of walled kitchen gardens. The gardeners of the day alos used to make use of tricks like having the compost heap on the back wall, to provide warmth to the fruit trained on the other side of the wall.

these days they are often converted to make attractive tea rooms or resturants with a garden view.

The example above is at Belton House, which is in the hands of The National Trust

The books to accompany the Orangery are those that have won or been shortlisted for the Orange Prize in any year. I know it has changed its name now, but it'll always be Orange to me. I'd like to taarget reading 6 in the course of the year.

1. How to be Both, Ali Smith
2. The Glorious Heresies Lisa McInerney

Category Challenge 6: Short Stories



This building, which is both small and slightly short on sides, is Rushton Triangular Lodge. It is an intricately decorated building, the original use of which is not entirely clear. It is generally accepted as having been used by a warrener, overseeing the safety and health of the local warren. Yes, it could be the most highly decorated bunny keeper's house. It is the decoration that makes this special though. It was built in the Elizabethan by a catholic who was less than secretive about his faith. He was imprisioned more than once, died in the tower and left the family in poverty when the estates were confiscated. Relatives of the family were involved in the Gunpowder plot. The decoration is in multiple of 3 (the holy trinity) and gets a lot more complicated from there. There are inscriptions that run around the walls and the windows make cross patterns when viewed from inside. If you knew what you were looking for, this building would have been a dangerous statement of faith.

The lodge is now in the hands of English Heritage

The size (and shortage of walls) makes this the perfect choice for short stories. Since my commuting time has reduced, I've taken to listening to short stories on audiobook in the car, on the grounds that I can stop between short stories without too much difficulty, or recap from the beginning as I set off next time. No numbers here, as it's a bit of a varibale feast!

1. Wrote for Luck, DJ Taylor
2. Distant Voices, Barbara Erskine
3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, AC Doyle
4. The Lemon Table, Julian Barnes

Category Challenge 7: 1001 List



This imposing building is Apsley House, most famous for being the London residence of the Duke of Wellington.

Apsley House is maintained by English Heritage

Apsley House also bears the fabulous address of No 1, London. And when you number a list, you start with number 1, so this is the place for that monster list, the 1001 books you should read before you die. As I'm a sucker for a good list, and the combined 1001 list (comming in at ~ 1300 books) is too good to pass up. I may not finish them, but it certainly gives me a good stock of titles to work my way through. I'm currently at 114 titles read. I would like to read at least 6 in the year, 10 would be excellent.

1. The Man who Loved Children, Christina Stead
2. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
3. Atonement, Ian McEwan
4. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, AC Doyle

Category Challenge 8: Translation



The attra ctive courtyard and house above is Chiswich House, an estate that was once in the countryside surrounding London, but is now an oasis of green in the sprawling metropolis. It is built in the neo Palladian style.

Chiswick House is now in the hands of English Heritage

As the palladian style was first used by Palladio in the villas in the vicinity of Venice and then across italty, this is an imported style. Like all foreign ideas, it doesn't always travel well; loggia and the like are all very well in a warm Italy, but less suited to a cold wet climate. Having said that, it does work well for my aim to read more books that have been translated into English from foreign languages. This is a new category, so I will aim at 4 for the year.

1. The Saga of the Volsungs, Anon

Category Challenge 9: New Authors



This is an image of a most unusual building, it is a Jacobean riding house. William Cavendish was a man on the move, trained in France, he introduced the young Prince Charles (the future Charles II) to horsemanship. After the restoration of the monarchy, he returned to his family's estate and built Bolsover castle as a family retreat. It was sibsequently extended to include a large wing to impress the hoped for royal guests. The final buildings on the site were his riding house. He was the author of a book on horsemanship that we would recognise as the origins of dressage. The book is not entirely outmoded now, with his insistence on working with the horse than against it.

Bolsover Castle is maintained by English Heritage

As this is the last historic house/castle/building I visited (last weekend) I am using this to house those authors who are new to me. This is another new category, but it is one I have done before. Target is 12 new authors in the year, averageing one a month.

1. The Man who Loved Children, Christina Stead
2. How to be Both, Ali Smith
3. Wrote for Luck, DJ Taylor
4. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
5. Atonement, Ian McEwan
6. Distant Voices, Barbara Erskine
7. Belinda, Maria Edgeworth
8. Munmun, Jesse Andrews
9. The Italian Teacher, Tom Rachman
10. The Glorious Heresies Lisa McInerney

Category Challenge 10: Miscellaneous



This is Souter Lighthouse, set on the Northeast coast, just south of Sunderland, midway between the Tyne and the Wear. Opened in 1871 Souter is an archetypal lighthouse, hooped in red and white. Souter was the first lighthouse in the world designed and built to be powered by electricity. I didnl;t realise that each lighthouse not only casts a rotating beam, but that for each lighhouse the frequency and number of flashes is unique. They're not all just one light going round. It's to help with identifying the lighthouse when at sea. Well I never.

Souter Lighthouse is not longer a working house, and is now in the hands of
The National Trust

As Lighthouses come in all shapes, forms and ages, I'm going to use this category to record any books that don't want to fit anywhere else, it's the miscellaneous pile. No target numbers here - too many and I will have to rethink the categories for next year!

Category Challenge 11: BingoDog (and any other challenge lists)



Ightham Mote (said Ing-am, before you put your teeth out trying to get that out) contains a real rarity, a grade 1 listed dog kennel. yes, really. Built by the owner in the Victorian period, it is some size and fits in with the much older buildings that surround it. It is in the courtyard of the beautiful 14th century moated manor house. It is incredibly pretty, but the practical side of my brain is screaming "but think of the damp". Maybe not for me then.

The dog kennel and the rest of the estate at Ightham Mote are in the care of The National Trust

A victorian dog kennel makes this the ideal house for storing the BingoDog card. I will also include any other list type challenges that appeal to me during the year.



BingoDOG 2019 Squares: The Official List
1. Book made into a movie The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
2. Main title has 6 or more words in it
3. Title contains a homophone word (such as hair/hare, slay/sleigh, there/their/they’re)
4. Weather (title contains a weather word, or book involves/centers around a weather event)
5. Book has an LT rating of 4.0 or more Munmun, Jesse Andrews
6. Book in translation
7. Prize-winning book Atonement, Ian McEwan
8. Children’s/YA book, or reread a childhood favorite
9. Graphic novel
10. Food-related title or topic Emsworth's Plum, Linda Newell
11. Read a book bullet (meaning another LT member inspired you to read it)
12. Book mentioned in another book you have read
13. Animal on cover/in title/plays a significant role Belinda, Maria Edgeworth
14. Short stories or essays Wrote for Luck, DJ Taylor
15. Debut novel Lady Susan, Jane Austen
16. Book about/featuring siblings The Man who Loved Children, Christina Stead
17. Book with an artistic character How to be Both, Ali Smith
18. Fairy tale (classic or reworked) The Saga of the Volsungs, Anon
19. Author uses middle name or middle initial The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, AC Doyle
20. Cover has at least two human figures Devil's Cub, Georgette Heyer
21. Part of a series
22. Alliterative title Murder by Matchlight, ECR Lorac
23. Topic or character related to medicine/health
24. Eastern European author or setting
25. Read a CAT

Goodreads Around the Year in 52 Books
1. A book that was nominated for or won an award in a genre you enjoy
2. A book with one of the 5 W's in the title (Who, What, Where, When, Why) The Man who Loved Children, Christina Stead
3. A book where the author’s name contains A, T, and Y Wrote for Luck, DJ Taylor
4. A book with a criminal character (i.e. assassin, pirate, thief, robber, scoundrel etc) Murder by Matchlight, ECR Lorac
5. A book by Shakespeare or inspired by Shakespeare
6. A book with a dual timeline How to be Both, Ali Smith
7. 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme: Book #1
8. 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme: Book #2
9. A book from one of the top 5 money making genres (romance/erotica, crime/mystery, religious/inspirational, science fiction/fantasy or horror) Devil's Cub (g) 1932
10. A book featuring an historical figure
11. A book related to one of the 12 Zodiac Chinese Animals (title, cover, subject)
12. A book about reading, books or an author/writer Emsworth's Plum, Linda Newell
13. A book that is included on a New York Public Library Staff Picks list
14. A book with a title, subtitle or cover relating to an astronomical term
15. A book by an author from a Mediterranean country or set in a Mediterranean country The Italian Teacher
16. A book told from multiple perspectives The Glorious Heresies Lisa McInerney
17. A speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy, scifi, horror, dystopia) Munmun, Jesse Andrews
18. A book related to one of the elements on the periodic table of elements
19. A book by an author who has more than one book on your TBR
20. A book featuring indigenous people of a country
21. A book from one of the polarizing or close call votes
22. A book with a number in the title or on the cover
23. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #1 Something Old
24. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #2 Something New
25. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #3 Something Borrowed
26. 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #4 Something Blue
27. A book off of the 1001 books to read before you die list The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, AC Doyle
28. A book related to something cold (i.e. theme, title, author, cover, etc.)
29. A book published before 1950 The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
30. A book featuring an elderly character The Lemon Table, Julian Barnes
31. A children’s classic you’ve never read
32. A book with more than 500 pages
33. A book you have owned for at least a year, but have not read yet
34. A book with a person's name in the title Belinda, Maria Edgeworth
35. A psychological thriller
36. A book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list
37. A book set in a school or university
38. A book not written in traditional novel format (poetry, essay, epistolary, graphic novel, etc)
39. A book with a strong sense of place or where the author brings the location/setting to life
40. A book you stumbled upon Distant Voices, Barbara Erskine
41. A book from the 2018 GR Choice Awards
42. A book with a monster or "monstrous" character The Saga of the Volsungs, Anon.
43. A book related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) (fiction or nonfiction)
44. A book related in some way to a tv show/series or movie you enjoyed (same topic, same era, book appeared in the show/movie, etc.)
45. A multi-generational saga
46. A book with a (mostly) black cover
47. A book related to food (i.e. title, cover, plot, etc.)
48. A book that was a finalist or winner for the National Book Award for any year Atonement, Ian McEwan
49. A book written by a Far East Asian author or set in a Far East Asian country
50. A book that includes a journey (physical, health, or spiritual)
51. A book published in 2019
52. A book with a weird or intriguing title

PopSugar reading challenge 2019
01 - A book becoming a movie in 2019
02 - A book that makes you nostalgic Emsworth's Plum, Linda Newell
03 - A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction)
04 - A book you think should be turned into a movie
05 - A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads
06 - A book with a plant in the title or on the cover
07 - A reread of a favorite book The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
08 - A book about a hobby The Italian Teacher
09 - A book you meant to read in 2018 Belinda, Maria Edgeworth
10 - A book with "pop", "sugar" or "challenge" in the title
11 - A book with an item of clothing or acceessory on the cover
12 - a book inspired by mythology, legend or folklore The Saga of the Volsungs, Anon
13 - A book published posthumously
14 - a book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie
15 - A retelling of a classic
16 - A book with a question in the title
17 - A book set on a college or university campus Wrote for Luck DJ Taylor
18 - a book about someone with a super power
19 - a book told from multiple POVs How to be Both, Ali Smith
20 - a book set in space
21 - a book by two female authors
22 - A book with a title that contains "salty", "sweet", "bitter" or "spicy"
23 - A book set in Scandinavia
24 - a book that takes place in a single day
25 - a debut novel Lady Susan, Jane Austen
26 - a book that's published in 2019
27 - a book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature
28 - a book recommended by a celebrity you admire
29 - a book with "love" in the title
30 - a book featuring an amateur detective
31 - A book about a family The Man who Loved Children, Christina Stead
32 - A book written by an author from Asia, Africa or South America
33 - A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in the title
34 - a book that includes a wedding Atonement, Ian McEwan
35 - A book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter
36 - A ghost story
37 - a book with a two-word title Devil's Cub, Georgette Heyer
38 - A novel based on a true story
39 - A book revolving around a puzzle or game Murder by Matchlight, ECR Lorac
40 - Your favorite prompt from a past Popsugar Reading Challenge
Advanced:
41 - A "cli fi" book
42 - A "choose-your-own-adventure" book
43 - An "own voices" book
44 - Read a book during the season it is set in
45 - A LitRPG book
46 - A book with no chapters / unusual chapter headings / unconventionally numbered chapters
47 & 48 - Two books that share the same title
49 - A book that has inspired a common phrase or idiom
50 - A book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent

Category Challenge 12: CATs



This gorgeous structure is the Wellington Arch. Built in 1825–7, it was originally intended as an outer entrance to Buckingham Palace. At first it stood facing the Hyde Park Screen, but it was moved to its present position in the 1880s. Its original design was never completed, and a controversial giant statue of the Duke of Wellington was erected on top of it in 1846. The quadriga sculpture that crowns the arch today was placed there in 1912. Since then the roads have moved and it sits in the middle of a roundabout, and was London's smallest police station for a time. I love this and the statue that crowns it.

Wellington Arch is naintained by English Heritage

This is a bit of a stretch but as the Wellington Arch is an arch (duh!) and cats are known to arching their back, this is the house I am going to shoehorn my CATs and KITs into. Not sure which one's I'll be participating as yet, this will be updated as they are established.

AlphaKit
January: Q, A - How to be Both Ali Smith
February: K, O
March: U, L - The Glorious Heresies Lisa McInerney
April: B, M
May: H, V
June: J, D
July: C, P
August: N, I
September: F, W
October: G, T
November: S, Y
December: E, R

TBR CAT
January: dudes22 -- First in, last out - read one of the oldest members of your tbr - Atonement, Ian McEwan
February: Helenliz -- A book you borrowed to read and still haven't got to Belinda, Maria Edgeworth
March: sallylou61 -- Book acquired on/for trips or for a special occasion
April: mathgirl40 -- Book originally acquired for an LT group read or challenge
May: LibraryCin -- Book that I keep looking at, but never manage to open
June: donan -- Book bullet (i.e. book suggested by someone else, not necessarily on LT)
July: LittleTaiko -- Book by an author with more than one book on your TBR shelf
August: The_Hibernator -- Book purchased with great excitement and with plans to read right away that is somehow still on my tbr a year later
September: Robertgreaves -- Classics I feel I should read
October: DeltaQueen50 -- Book purchased because of its visual appeal (striking cover or colors, beautiful edition, etc.)
November: MissWatson -- Book given to me as a gift
December: RidgewayGirl -- A book I bought because it was so cheap (library sale, remainder table, etc)

Random CAT
January: Your name in print Emsworth's Plum, Linda Newell
February: We need a break The Italian Teacher
March: European Country
April: Tournament of books winner (claiming The Italian Teacher)
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

>9 Helenliz: That brings back some memories! Coming from Northamptonshire, Triangular Lodge was a very frequent school trip!

>16 Jackie_K: oh really? It's pretty close to my current home now. I've been a couple of times and it is strange and fascinating.

>17 Helenliz: Funnily enough I don't remember much about the place itself (despite it being so distinctive), but just the name 'Triangular Lodge' brought school memories back! The other place which was a school trip staple was Rockingham Castle.

>9 Helenliz: Wow, the story behind the Rushton Triangular Lodge is fascinating!

I am looking forward to following along for another year of great reading!

Great categories and I love the way you matched them to these wonderful houses and buildings. They're wonderful to visit, but like you said, practicality curbs the enthusiasm to actually live in them. Happy reading!

Thank you for visiting. I had fun putting the theme together, deciding which categories fitted best with which buildings. I'm looking forward to starting.

>7 Helenliz: Yay, 20 Forthlin Road! :) Excellent theme -- I shall have to send the list of categories to my mum so she can add them to the hopper of "places we'd like to visit on the next UK trip" (whatever form that trip ends up taking...I think we have about three trips' worth of itineraries in mind).

>23 rabbitprincess: that's one I've not visited yet either. The only other house on the list I've not been to (with the exception of the generic thatched cottage) is Apsley House. Which I've walked past a number of times, as I've visited the Wellington Arch, which is opposite it, on at least 3 occasions!
Always happy to help with the overload on the visiting list >;-) I think I added some castles to your list last year! hmm, what can I invent for next year's theme to keep that record up...

The buildings you listed are just beautiful. Thank you for the great info! Great idea!

>25 Tess_W: thanks! In 2018 I used castles, so this year was just a tweak to allow all sorts of buildings. Might be running out of structures to do the same next year!

>26 Helenliz: What about bridges? Or museums?

>27 Jackie_K: hmmm. May be built structures, rather than buildings. I could include statues, dams, bridges, tunnels, hmmm. maybe it's a little early to be planning 2020... >;-)

>28 Helenliz: It will give you time to find gorgeous pictures.

Stop it, the lot of you! I have the remainder of 2018 and most of 2019 before I can start thinking of 2020!!

You don't want to know how many theme ideas I have listed in a text file... :D

>31 rabbitprincess: hahaha! no. >;-)

I am a sucker for historical buildings so I really enjoyed your category theme and pictures. I also learned a lot from the descriptions. I love that you are going to be reading Gerogette Heyer's romances in publication order!

>33 lkernagh: Thankyou! I could ask, in all innocence in what other order should one read them? The scatter gun approach wasn't working for me, something systematic is far more my style.

Another beautiful theme, Helen! Looking forward to following your reading.

Thank you! Almost ready to go with 2019...

What a fabulous theme, Helen! 2019 is getting closer....

Great theme, Helen, and really lovely pictures. I hope you enjoy another challenge year. :)

Hi Helen! I like your categories too :-)

I love your categories, Helen!

Looking forward to following along in the new year...

Just to say Hi!

Great pics illustrating your categories.

>37 Dejah_Thoris:, >38 Chrischi_HH:, >39 susanj67:, >40 katiekrug: why thankyou all for visiting. Book 1 will surely be along fairly shortly. I doubt I'm going to sneak it under the 2018 wire.

Great setup! Happy New Year!

Wishing you and yours a happy and joyous 2019, filled with peace, love, and great books.

Thank you all for the best wishes, much appreciated. Bring on 2019 >:-D

What a fantastic theme for your challenge! I especially like the explanations for each structure.

Ha! - found you.

Hi, Helen! Thanks for all your support last year, hope I can do the same for you. :)

>48 RidgewayGirl: thankyou, I like nothing more than sharing information (I can be a bit of a nerd and a bore!)
>49 lyzard: I've been here all the time *whistles innocently*. No sloths here, but I do enjoy seeing what you get up to reading. Some of it if only to remind me never to pick it up!

Hello Helenliz! Looking forward to following your lovely pictures and reading themes. I love how you put them all together.

>50 Helenliz:

I know, mea culpa! I do wander through the Club Read lists but so often I forget about the Category Challengers. :(

Good to know I'm providing a public service...

Hi Helen, love the theme. I don't think I've been to any of those impressive homes (assuming someone once lived in the lighthouse?). The triangular one in particular is fascinating.

>51 threadnsong:, >53 charl08: thank both for popping in and for the compliments.
>52 lyzard: it's a valuable public service you provide!

Book 1 completed, just mulling it over a bit.

I liked reading about history with the great pictures.

I love your theme and your categories, Helen! Looking forward to following another year of your reading.

Book: 1
Title: The Man Who Loved Children
Author: Christina Stead
Rating: ***
Where: Library
Why: 1001 december group read
Categories: 1001, woman author, new author
TIOLI:Challenge #11: Read a Book where a word in the title starts with the same letter as one of the author's initials

At first I thought this was going to annoy me very much - and, in places, it did. Sam, the father of the family, is very annoying. He loves his children, he thinks he is great with them, but, in reality, he is self centred, foolish and stifles them. He is the child who has never grown up and so has never learnt to cope with the adult world, and so never shoulders his parental responsibilities. This is reflected in the several conversations he has with Louie, the oldest child, on the cusp of womanhood, he contirnues to call her by her childhood nickname, to belittle her and to make feel worthless in comparison to him. Every conversation they have seems to come round to Sam and what he needs, it is never about meeting Louie's needs. His behaviour is clearly designed to show how much he is in tune with children, but it doesn;t work. The diminutives for the children work to some extent, but they ought to change as they grow older, and these don't. The private language that each family develops itself, immortalising mispronunciations and so on, again OK, that happens in any family, it's the way that the family language that only Sam uses is a mock baby talk that I found grating, it infantalises the children, probably as Sam is unable to deal with them as individuals that have their own needs and wishes - he sees them as an adjunct to him.

Sam's wife if Henny and she is, in some ways, his opposite. Not just dark to his blond, she has an opposite personality, very much more earthbound, practical, more despondant than optomistic. She, however, is the one that gets the family into money troubles and can't get oiut of them, partly as Sam just declines to be involved in any serious conversation about their issues.

It is the children that I felt for the most. The oldest two are the most finely drawn, Louie (Louise) and Ernest. They are of different character and temprament Louie looks destined for the stage or literature, Ernest to be an accountant or financial whizz of some description. Both are subdued by their father and torn between the behaviour of the two parents. Not that Henny is entirely innocent either. The scene when Ernest finfs his money box has been emptied is a dreadful betrayal.

I can;t say I enjoyed this, the two main characters are far to unpleasant for that to be entirely true. However, it was well written. I felt it got into its stride more at ~ page 200, after Sam had returned from his voyage. The final chapters are a rollercoaster of emotion, although you do finsih feeling that at least Louie will be OK.

>55 mnleona: thankyou for visiting. I enjoyed putting it together.
>56 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie, hope your reading is just as good. I will , again, try and keep up with your fast moving thread!

Book: 2
Title: How to be Both
Author: Ali Smith
Rating: ****
Where: Library
Why: Orange list
Categories: woman author, new author, Orange prize, AlphaCAT
TIOLI:Challenge #7. Read a book by a female author, in Rolling Alphabetical order

This was the book that had, as its USP the fact that it was two stories, half of which were presented with Francesco first, the other half with Georgia first. Francesco is an artist from the middle ages and appears in conciousness as a watching spirit (for want of a better word) that comes into being with a girl looking at one of his paintings that hangs in the National Gallery. He tries to put his current existence into perspective, while relating his past life and the painting of a particular fresco in Ferrara. In the present, Georgia is dealing with the death of her mother and in her recent past is a trip to Ferrara to see the fresco painted by Francesco.
There's a lot going on in here, in each story there is a case of uncertain gender and/or sexuality. It is integral to both stories. In Francesco's case, so little is known that the possibility that this was a woman in a man's world may be fiction, but cannot be disounted. The evocation of grief as a teenager is haunting, as is the gradual emergence back into life.
The book is very visual, with Francesco's paintings and Georgia's photomontages both being essential components. The image on the fornt cover of the 2 french singers is described on more than occasion. The visual descriptions are not incidental to the story and this meshing of the visual description within the written story is very effective.
I enjoyed the first half slightly more than the second. There are a great many links between the two sections, which made this a whole book, when it could easily have appeared as two disparate halves.

Book: 3
Title: Wrote for Luck
Author: DJ Taylor
Rating: ***
Where: Library
Why: Audio
Categories: short stories
TIOLI:Challenge #12: Read a book which features a new beginning/fresh start

A short colleciton of short stories, written over about 20 years. They are all quite subtle, and there is a slight hint of melancholoy in all of them. He has a way of summoning up an atmosphere with a few words. The several stories set in Norfolk certainly rang true to me - that's an area I know quite well. I recognised the places and scenery he was describing and it was brought into life with just a few well chosen words.
An enjoyable collection, although nothing really stood out as superb, there were no real stinkers either. The title comes from one of the stories, where one character is explaining that different authors write for different reasons and that Beckett wrote for luck. It's an odd phrase and I'm not sure it helps describe the colleciton terribly well.

>59 Helenliz: Oh I loved this one. You make me want to reread it! (When I have another million hours to read All the Books).

>61 charl08: It was a most intriguing book. I'm not sure how it would have worked the other way round, and, I guess, now I'll never know. I had Francecso as the first story.
I know what you mean about the re-reading thing. I've just pulled out all my physical TBR books and they stack up taller than I am! I'm never going to get to re-reading when that's still sitting there waiting to be read!!

I always have good intentions about re-reading, but I rarely actually do.

>59 Helenliz: I loved that one too!

Happy Sunday, Helen! You got me with How to be Both - lovely review, and if you posted that I shall add my thumb.

I love to reread - that's usually where I go when I am needing a comfort read and if I am trying to get out of a reading funk.

>63 katiekrug: I do re-read, usually for comfort, or because it has been such a long time since I read it first time. There are some I can return to again and againa and still love.

>64 LisaMorr: Good to hear it.
>65 Crazymamie: already added. And nice to get you back with a book... >;-) I know the re-read comfort thing. That I am not drawn to re-reading much at present is, for me, a good thing in terms of my mental state.

I'm Helen and I have a book problem. I was looking for Atonement which I know I own but have not yet read, to get it out for January's TBR CAT challenge. So I got out all of the unread books that lurk on the bottom shelf. Oh dear me. They form a pile significantly taller than I am. I figured it might be an idea to catalogue them, so I know what I've got, and my "To Read" shelf now just contains books I own and have not read and is at 119. ouch! And I'd be fairly sure the total will be higher than that, as there are some books that are on shelves that I know I haven't read yet.

I did find the book I was looking for, so there is something in that, at least. (she says, trying to find a silver lining...)

>66 Helenliz: I just finished Atonement, my 1st McEwan and also it's on the 1001 book list. Hope you enjoy!

>67 Tess_W: It will be my first McEwan as well. That it is on the 1001 list is, of course, a bonus. I'm looking forward to it. I'm travelling this week, so should get some solid reading time in.

I have had Atonement in the stacks forever...

>69 Crazymamie: me too. It was catalogued when I first joined LT in 2012, so I've certainly owned it for longer than that.

Oooh, I loved Atonement!

>68 Helenliz: Hope you have a good trip! I love travelling for the built-in reading time :)

>66 Helenliz: Well done you for counting them! I'm in denial...

>72 rabbitprincess: Travelling is sooooo very tedious, what with all the hurry up and hang about that you have to take something to keep you occupied. 16 hours travelling for 8 hours visit to a supplier is not my favourite way to spend 2 days. Hence looking out a couple of books.

>73 charl08: I did better than that, I took an image of shame... They all fit on that empty shelf. Well just about all fit on that empty shelf. Jammed packed and double stacked


Picture taken on my noo smart phone - never had one of them before. Get me, finally arriving in the 21st Century! Can't work out how to rotate the image, before or after uploading it, but let's celebrate sucess, the old lady manged that all by herself. Always known I'm a bit of a Luddite, this has proven it to me in spades.

>66 Helenliz: If it makes you feel any better, I am dreaming of only having that many TBRs! My current hot-off-the-press figure is 442! (and I know there are people in the ROOTs group with more than me!).

You know what they say - it's not hoarding if it's books.

>75 Jackie_K: I suspect my number ois higher, as that was just the one shelf where I've been putting the unreads. I know there are unreads on the other books shelves already. But 442 is quite a lot...

You know what they say - it's not hoarding if it's books. I can think of far worse bad habits I could take up... Being a bookaholic is quite tame compared to some past times >;-)

Not to worry, Helen! When I started on LT I had 1000+ unreads. Now, I'm down to 500+ and hope to be under 500 by the end of this year. Book dieting is very very very hard, but now instead of my library having 1000+ unreads, my wish list is over 1000; but it is so much more manageable!

>76 Helenliz: It is quite a lot, but this year I am trying to only buy 1 book for every 2 TBR books read (with a few caveats - most importantly that gifts don't count!). I've a list of the books on my wishlist that I want most, and I'm going to reward myself from there, rather than buying every bargain going (which has got me in this position in the first place!). We'll see how it goes!

And yeah - if buying more books than I can read is my worst vice, I don't think anyone can really complain too much!

>77 Tess_W: goodness! I feel a whole load better now!!

>78 Jackie_K: well I'm likely to fail on that one. I treated myself to a monthly book box, starting in January. The aim is to not let that increase the TBR pile too much...

It's all relative, Helen. My physical TBR is about 2300 strong. This does not include the TBRs on my Kindle (about another 2000). So, really, you have nothing to feel bad about :D

>:-0

>76 Helenliz:, >80 katiekrug: Just looked at my TBRs and I have 732. I do catalog all my books (both completed and TBR) on LibraryThing, and add a TBR tag so that I can keep track of them. Now if only I could get that number DOWN, instead of inching UP, I'll be all set!

>80 katiekrug: Crumbs. I didn't even think about counting my kindle TBR. Yikes.

OK, gang, instead of feeling guilty, I'm now feeling inadequate!
I don't own a kindle, so at least there's that... I do enough reading on a screen at work to not want to do any more after hours.

My TBR pile is sitting at about 2300 or so (physical books plus Kindle). You are in good company around here!

>84 Helenliz: Sorry to make you feel bad; just letting you know that you are not alone! I just feel so behind in not reading what I have brought into the house. At least they're mostly from used book stores, charity shops and library sales, so I rarely spend more than a $1 on a book, so I guess that's something. But I am determined this year to read more books from the shelves than I bring into the house.

Although I have a tablet, it's only for reading when I occasionally borrow an ebook title from the public library. I totally agree with you about reading on a screen; I feel EXACTLY the same way, and I am still a Smart phone hold-out (still have a little flip-phone). Can't imagine carrying a mini-computer screen around with me all day, when I spend most of it on a regular computer anyway.

>86 kac522: it's OK, that was a joke! I am feeling much less guilty though. Still a bit guilty for having books I've not read, but in the grand scheme of things, I've barely any! Still planning on trying to whittle that pile down a bit. Especially as I know I have books arriving, having signed uo for a monthly book through the post. Can't resist a new book...

I've just joined the smartphone set. I'm travelling this week on my own and the means of accessing information has a value to it that outweighs my Luddite tendancies.

>85 Yells:, >80 katiekrug: I'm not sure this is a competition, you know >;-)

I do have a smartphone, but got it mainly for the camera, and hardly use any of the features on it (I don't have a swanky all-singing all-dancing contract, and have kept the same handset for the whole 7 years I've had the phone, I can't be doing with this constant upgrading of perfectly good stuff). I couldn't read on it though, my poor eyes aren't up to that! I'm a pretty enthusiastic ereader convert though - I have RSI and had previous wrist surgery, so I find holding paper books (especially hardbacks) for long periods of time really difficult. I'm also increasingly finding the type on paper books too small. There are some books that I'd only ever have in paper copy though - mainly travel and nature books with lots of photos. They're so much more than books, they're multi-sensory experiences!

>88 Jackie_K: I'm with you Jackie, I mainly read on my ereader as the print/font size in many books,especially the older ones are just too small for me to read. But like you, there are some must tree books for the pictures and art work. I can't read off the phone, because it is also too small, so have tablet with travel!

>87 Helenliz:, >88 Jackie_K:, >89 Tess_W:

I would never read on my phone, but my reality is that a number of the books I read are only available as ebooks or online. It's never my first choice but my eReaders have become a valuable tool.

I'm enjoying all the conversation here about the to-read shelves, e-readers and phones. I never thought I'd ever have a mobile phone and only got one because a few years ago I had a medical appointment 5 hours drive away, in winter. So I got a phone not realizing there is no service in the mountains here. I still don't use it much as a phone, but it was invaluable when I was in hospital in October as I had a "Helen-sized" collection of books on it. I don't have an e-reader because it would mean carrying around two devices.

I'm now heading off on the trip that caused the phone to be bought in the first place. Snow last night was NOT what I wanted, but seems to be what I got. 6 am departure, I should get home by midnight tomorrow. Flight, train, night in hotel, visit to a supplier, train, flight, taxi home in 42 hours. Whoever thinks travelling for work is glamorous has got something very very wrong. Oh, and I'm terrified of flying, just to make this even more fun. 4 books packed (proper ones) and I'm wondering if that's enough...

Finished The Scarlet Letter last night, but that will have to wait until later for a review.

I am rapidly approaching working my way through the county library's entire collection of short stories in CD, so I am wondering if noo phone can do audible or something similar. It may have its uses... Currently it is checking flight updates and weather forecasts!

Have a safe trip!

Hope the trip goes well Helen. The first time I ever stayed in a hotel was for work - but the excitement wore off quickly after that!
I found the phone really good for using my library's free digital collections - they use borrowbox - audio and text. Mine had the Wahloo crime series and several Maigrets which kept me happy!

The ebooks aren't so great on a smallish screen of course but if you can't get it any other way, I become less fussy. Also handy if stuck somewhere and have (horrors!) run out of books.

Safe travels!

>92 Helenliz: I hate flying as well but I bought Cockpit Confidential and it really helped. It explains everything that goes on during a flight (and I mean everything) . Once the plane hits the right altitude, the air is so thick that it's flying through Jello so the engines don't keep it up, they keep it moving forward. Just a thought!

>94 charl08: I have the kindle app on my phone but really only for doctors visits etc. When on vacation, I bring a tablet and one paper book just in case. I figure if I have 57 ways to read a book, I will never experience the horror of not having something :)

Outward leg completed. Snowy everywhere, apparently.

Hope your books are lasting and the rest of the trip goes well. :)

>96 Yells: Ooh I have a hold on Cockpit Confidential and am really looking forward to it! I love all things aviation (and weirdly, accident investigation -- it's reassuring to know that if something DOES go wrong, there's an opportunity to find out why and how it can be prevented in future).

>92 Helenliz: My phone can play audible; however the sound is tinny and not enjoyable.

Wishing you safe travels, Helen. I will be awaiting your thoughts on The Scarlet Letter.

>99 rabbitprincess: If you love all things aviation, then this is the right book for you!

Home OK. Slow trip home, for a variety of reasons, so I foresee a nap in my afternoon.

I got on the plane and the chap in the seat next to me made some derogatory remark as I got 2 books out of my bag. So I settled down to read and ignore the philistine. As were were then delayed on the stand by over an hour, I got lots of lovely reading time in, he and his partner sat there getting more and more bored & fidgety.
I may have laughed internally. >;-)

Reviews later.

>100 Tess_W: I was thinking of connecting phone to the car, as listening through the car stereo, that's where I listen to audiobooks.

>103 Helenliz: that would probably work better!

>103 Helenliz: I laughed *externally* at your story! ;) Glad to hear you got home OK.

Finally a few reviews:

Book: 4
Title: The Scarlet Letter
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Rating: ***
Where: Library
Why: Group read
Categories: Classics, 1001, new author
TIOLI:Challenge #9. Read a paper book thicker than your two smallest fingers

I came to this with very few ideas of what it would be. The first section is a framing device that felt slightly clumsy, distancing the author and his time from the story by claming to find evidence of Hestor's story in the attic of his Customs House. I'm not sure it works terribly well. It gets rather sidetracked in describing his colleagues in the Customs House which doesn't do anything to advance the story itself.
Once the story begins, the reader is thrown right into the middle of the action, with the scene starting at the gates of the prison, as Hester is released to the pillory, wearing the scarlet A of the title. The story centres around 4 characters, the remainder of the townsfolk are largely cardboard cutouts.
I don't understand the Puritan mind, it is simply something I can't get my head around. Neither of the two male characters is terribly attractive, and Hester herself has nothing much more than her dignity to make her admirable, but not exactly likeable. The ending struck me as almost out of keeping with the rest of the books, almost melodramatic in a book in which much is said and enacted in a very clam and opressive atmosphere. The thing I found hardest to grasp was what exactly it was in Mt Dimmesdale that led him and Hester to commit the crime in the first place. He seemed to have insufficient spunk about him to have ventured so much, she seems to be a cut above him.
If a classic is a book that continues to have relevance after it's time has passed, I'm not sure that, for me, this counts.

Book: 5
Title: Atonement
Author: Ian McEwan
Rating: ****1/2
Where: My Shelves
Why: TBR CAT
Categories: 1001, CAT, new author
TIOLI:Challenge #10. Read a Book about sisters

This is exceptionally good and has a sting in the tale that leaves you entirely uncertain of what to make of what you've just been reading. Starting in an idylic 1935 this is full of mixed messages and confusions about what is seen and what is the truth of that seeing. We see this through the eyes of Briony, the youngest of the three Tallis children. She is 13 in 1935 and just at that difficult juntcure between childish enthusiam and the adult world. She has written a play for her three cousins from the North to perform with her in celebration of her brother Leon's return home. What she sees over the course of the next day and how she badly misinterprets what she sees will mark the lives of the family for the rest of their lives. She observes interactions between her older sister Cecelia and the charlady's son, Robbie and is entirely out of her depth. She also completely puts the wrong impression on how her cousin Lola gets to be in a particular state. What she then thinks she knows has happened (putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with a bushel of potatoes) is not what happened, and yet once it is said there is no drawing back. There are estrangements and marriages formed this day that persist for much longer.
The main part of the book was excelllent, the sting in the tail takes palce in the epilogue. Here we discover that Briony has taken that talent for the inventive and become a novellist and what you have been reading is her novel of the events. And the way this is written makes you doubt a lot of what you've just read, particularly with respect to the relaitonship status of Cecelia and Robbie. Is Briony as unreliable now as she was then? Despite the passing of time? Has she made the relationship one way in the novel but did it end differently in real life? nd did she follow through on the novels seeming offer of retraction (and atonement) for the mistake that led to the rupture in family life? We're not to know, but that seed of doubt has been planted, most particularly by the seeming absence of certain people in the birthday party of the epilogue. It is really very well done, this undermining of everything that has been built up over the last 350 pages. I read this almost in one go, while travelling, and it was engrossing.

Book: 6
Title: The Saga of the Volsungs
Author: Anonymous
Rating: ***
Where: My shelves
Why: why not?
Categories: Classic
TIOLI:Challenge #??

If you ever want to rebut the idea that in the past people were nice, read a saga. There's an awful lot of violence in here, all described in a bvery matter of fact manner. The saga is in esence the family lineage of the Volsungs, the deeds of great daring that one of their number commits and how the family line comes to an end. The saga finishes when everyone is dead (pretty much!). This is a modern translation of the surviving manuscript that was recorded in the 13th Century. It is almost certainly based on a much older oral tradition. The introduction spends time discussing the transition in the saga between myth and relative fact, such that there is a folk memory at work here. Once we move from myth there is less incest and child killing, but not a lot less violence. The number of times someone is killed by the in-laws makes you wonder why get married at all!
It's fun, it's fast and it is fascinating. The short poetic sections were the best elements of this.

>105 rabbitprincess: Thank you.

Happy Saturday, Helen! Welcome home. I loved the airplane story. *grin*

I liked The Scarlet Letter more than you did, but I agree that all of the characters are unlikable and that the Counting House bit should be ditched.

I think I should have skipped your review of Atonement until after I read it - oops.

I really loved Atonement when I read it ages ago. I think it might be due for a re-read...

I also liked The Scarlet Letter when I read it in high school (around age 16) and keep meaning to do a re-read. You and Mamie may have inspired me to get to it this year.

I am just flipped on my reading assessments of The Scarlet Letter and Atonement. I loved the Scarlet Letter and find it the quintessential period piece of the Puritans. Atonement had elements of magical realism, which I don't particularly care for; but I found it an average read, nonetheless.

>108 Crazymamie: sorry, I do write spolier-ish reviews. It's so I remember what on earth I've just read! I'm not sure The Scarlet Letter worked for me. I describe myself as agnostic with high church leanings (it's the aesthetic that appeals) so Puritanism is not really going to be my bag. Not a fan of religion, that's what going to a church school does to you...

>109 katiekrug: go on go on go on. There, enough encouragement?

>110 Tess_W: I'm not sure I spotted any magical elements in Atonement. The epilogue flips everything you thought you knew on it's head, and is very clever and somewhat unsettling. But not magical.

>111 Helenliz: No worries, Helen. Oh, the Puritan stuff is completely over the top. I am also not a fan of religion. I do not understand why she just didn't take her daughter and leave in the first place. And that is the intriguing bit for me - people are so twisty, and so it is how it plays out that got me this time. The first time I read it, I absolutely hated it, but this time around I could appreciate the descriptive language and way the story plays out. The characters are still completely unlikable, and I myself would never survive in that type of society.

>106 Helenliz: - Fabulous review of Atonement! I really loved that story. I quibbled with the sudden shift between Part 1 and Part 2 (I absolutely loved Part 1!) but McEwan has a way with bringing this jarred reader back to his story.

Another fan of Atonement here. I loved the frocks in the film: all very classy. I should go back and read the book and try and work out what I've mixed together between the book and film: I didn't remember what you noticed about the epilogue' s guestlist at all I thought they were both dead in the war? Or did you mean her parents? anyhow, I should reread, because I don't remember!

>113 lkernagh:, >114 charl08: I did enjoy it, glad you did too. I've not seen the film. The thing I noted was that there were no offspring of Cecelia & Robbie. If Briony did make amends, as the previous section suggests, then surely they should at least have been mentioned. Which left me doubting if Briony had ever carried through on the recanting she was promising. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

>112 Crazymamie:, I can understand the pull of place, but I think I'd have understood her leaving and starting again somewhere else.

>115 Helenliz: I don't understand the pull of the place except that it is a known commodity. I would not stay where I would never fully fit again and where judgement is so harsh and unforgiving. It it were me, I would have left for my daughter's sake alone.

>115 Helenliz: and >116 Crazymamie: - It's been ages since I read it, so maybe I'm forgetting something, but where would she go?

Back to where she came from - she would have to save up, but she could do it. She was the one who made the arrangements when she and the minister were going to leave.

I knew I was forgetting something :)

*grin*

>108 Crazymamie: I agree! When I used The Scarlet Letter in teaching high school I did not require students to read The Counting House.

>111 Helenliz: You are probably right about not being magical, but it's not reality--or at least for me. I can't seem to put it in the appropriate words!

>121 Tess_W: I agree with you about the uncertainty about what is real, that I certainly got. It's narrated by a doubly unrelaible narrator, leaving you entirely uncertain as to what in fact took place.

>116 Crazymamie: The pull of place is probably most well represented by the fact that she returned later, when she did have other options. If I'd been in her shoes would I have done the same? Probably not, but we inhabit such different worlds, I think it very hard to know.

>121 Tess_W: I think that's interesting, skipping the introit. I'm not sure it added a great deal and the lack of a final framing to match the beginning struck me as leaving it all rather open. I wonder what the motivation for the Counting House section was, was it a bit short otherwise?

Jumping in here and catching up with your earlier posts . . . I just got my very own Smartphone a year ago and am still getting used to it. I've taken some photos with it, though I still prefer a camera from which I upload photos.

And I liken my not having eBooks to what Helenliz said earlier "My name is Helen and I have a book problem." I figure if all I had to do was look on a handheld device or on a computer screen (which I read all day, too) to read another book, I'd never leave the house. As it is, I have to get my butt out of a chair or off a couch and go look at my shelves so the effort does provide limits? parameters? to my reading habit. And reciting that all-important first step!

Did you find, Helenliz, that you had an easier time traveling, viz. flight schedules, maps, weather, and messages with your smartphone? Just curious.

Oh, and TBRR's - I added them to my reading list on this group last year. I found some that stood the test of time, and others that kind of cleared out a few shelves so that I could shelve more books from their bags onto my reading shelves. And re-reads are definitely a comfort!

>123 threadnsong: that is true, I have to go to the library most weeks, which is a good reason to leave the house and go for a walk.
I did use the smartphone for messages and the like. I'd printed my boarding card and written down the train times, so didn't need it for that, but it was nice knowing I could access the information if I needed it. I'm not sure I will be wedded to it, but I can see the advantages of having it, especially when travelling on my own.

Had a mail today about my book subscription I treated myself to for Christmas. They've got plenty of ideas, have I read any Jesse Andrews? Nope, never heard of him/her. Trying not to search for them and ruin the surprise...

Catching up...

Helen, when the zombie apocalypse happens, you're going to be very sorry that you only have 119 books on your tbr. Luckily, you should have time to stock up. Mine is ten times yours.

And I always have more than one book in my carry-on bag. I had one flight next to a woman who spent the entire flight in a rage because her in-flight entertainment unit wasn't working. On top of that, there was a two hour delay where we just sat on the runway. I hadn't noticed we hadn't taken off because I was reading. A better person than myself would have traded seats with her, but I prefer a window seat and didn't want to spend nine hours trapped between rage-woman and her husband with whom she was not getting along.

I'm so glad you liked Atonement.

Book subscriptions are so lovely. I'd have a dozen going if, well, refer to my first paragraph.

Book: 7
Title: Emsworth's Plum
Author: Linda Newell
Rating: ***
Where: My shelves
Why: RandomCAT - your name in print.
Categories: Women authgor, non-fiction
TIOLI:Challenge #18. Read a book where the author has a set of double letters in their name

In the interests of full disclosure, this was written by my mum. We thought similarly and it is form her have my love of reading and language. I can hear her saying this, which is an odd sensation, as she's no longer with us.
It's a bit of a stretch this one, PG Wodehouse lived in Emsworth for a few years prior to the first world war. He took on the elase of a house, which now has a blue plaque to adorn it. He made use of a number of names in the vicinity to populate his later books, the most obvious being Emsworth, the name of the village I grew up in.
There's a secion on PG's early life, his time in Emsworth, his later life and Emsworth the village as he would have known it. The time he spent in Emsworth is the shortest section, hence the material has been stretched just a little!
If one is being critical, a few too many uses of the exclamation mark and I spotted a few typos. But it is informative and unlikely to go out of date.

>126 RidgewayGirl: oh. So I'm going to run out of reading material come the zombie apocalypse? That's not good news, not good news at all...

I knew I wasn't the only person who went prepared with a book (or more) for a flight. And very sensible it is too. I think I'd have stayed put as well, if only to avoid being in the middle of a domestic! Although I prefer an aisle to a window, I'd rather not know what's going on out there.

Ever since I read The Child in Time by Ian McEwan I have been avoiding this author. Your review and the following discussions now has me interested in reading Atonement at some point in the future. I read The Scarlet Letter a long time ago and have to admit that I don't remember all that much about it, but I have no desire to reread it.

>129 DeltaQueen50: I've not read any of his other books yet, but I understand that they are all quite different. This, I don't think, has the difficult subject matter of your first attempt.

>106 Helenliz: I really hated the ending of Atonement! I thought it was such a cheat! As you say, it undermines everything that went before, and I had really been enjoying the book up until then. But I'm glad it didn't bother you...and obviously a ton of people love this one!

Glad you enjoyed Atonement. I'm a big fan of Ian McEwan.

>131 christina_reads: I did knock half a star off, I was at 5 until that last chapter. It didn't ruin it, but it did leave an air of uncertainty that I wasn't expecting. I can admire the cleverness of the ending, but not the effect of ending, if that makes any kind of sense at all!

>132 VivienneR: It was my first reading of him and I am looking forward to more if that is a representative example of his work.

>122 Helenliz: I don't think anybody is 100% sure as to why The Counting House was included in The Scarlet Letter. However, most literature professors note three things: 1) It takes place in Salem, the setting of the story 2) Hawthorne did work there, but was fired from his job 3) While working there he claims to have went through a trunk in the attic and found a red scarlet letter. Hawthorne treats it as a modern day prequel. However, IMHO, it's such a turn off that I think it ruins the book, especially for 16 year olds, that I just skip it.

>134 Tess_W: thankyou for that. The introduciotn of the edition I read went into his working in the locaiton it had been set. The tone and style of it was quite different from the rest of the book. It seemed quite disconnected. Hence wondering if he'd be set a page count (yes, I remember writing essays and having to "pad it out" a bit!)

Book: 8
Title: Devil's Cub
Author: Georgette Heyer
Rating: ****
Where: My shelves
Why: Heyer series read
Categories: Women author, Heyer series read
TIOLI:Challenge #3. Read a book with an animal in the title that isn't a real animal

This is both ridiculous and utterly enchanting, as only a good Heyer romance can be. The family at this centre is the Alastairs, the head of the family being the current Duke of Avon, who had his own disreputable past and romance told in an earlier book, These Old Shades. In this edition, Avon's son, Vidal, is a young man, much given to being reckless and with a reputation as a rake. Enroute, he gets involved in more than one inpromptu duel and is trying to run off with a very pretty (and very stupid) young lady who expects to be able to force him into marriage, he has no such plan. In order to protect the silly Sophia, Sensible Mary takes her place and so begins a riotous romp. Mary is not at all inclined to sucumb to a fit of the vapours and has few illusions about the position she finds herself in. There are some great set pieces between the two of them,, as they spar. It gets very silly and there is much trying to escape, and the wider Alastair family get involved and there is much misunderstanding and a whole comedy of errors ensues.
It all works out in the end, which is great fun, although I find myself somewhat uneasy at the willingness with which the aristocracy think they can just re-write what has happened. But I'm happy to set aside those qualms to follow on the somewhat unconventional courting contained herein.

Lovely review, Helen! I have come over to steal your Heyer list so I can follow in your footsteps. Thanks for mentioning it on my thread!

Hoping that your Sunday is full of fabulous!

>137 Crazymamie: thankyou and no worries. I know that *some people* would find reading out of order unforgivable.
Sunday consisted of roast dinner followed by stewed blackberry & apple with custard for the husband's birthday. His choice, have to humour the birthday boy.

The husband's choice of dessert sounds like one I'd like. And what was roasted for dinner? In my continuing campaign to get my The Husband to come to the UK with me next summer, I've promised him a military history and food-focused tour :)

>139 katiekrug: oh, I'd be happy to help there, you may have noticed from the theme I'm a bit of a history buff. >;-)
Roast was beef, piece of topside, served with roast spuds, roast parsnip, carrots, cauli, brocoli, peas & gravy. What time you popping round for dinner?

*checks flight schedule*

Soooooooon!

I've promised him he can romp around the Imperial War Museum for as long as he likes, and an overnight trip to Portsmouth because ships.

And lots of curries and roast dinners.

He's a simple man with simple desires :)

I grew up near Portsmouth, must have been round Victory more times than I can count. It was a classic school trip destination. >:-)
I will think up some less obvious destinations for you for ideas. While you're in that neck of the woods, a trip to one of the Solent forts might be a good option, and Portchester castle has the most complete Roman walls north of the Alps, as well as a Medieval castle within it.

>142 Helenliz: - I'd love some recs, thanks! We'll have 5 days, max, I think, and that's only if I can really sell the idea to him. He says he wants to do it, but there has been zero progress on the acuiring a passport front, so..... *eye roll*

>143 katiekrug: thinking cap on...

I had my first book subscription delivery today. I love the way it arrived, once I'd taken the cardboard wrapping off, it was tied up like an oldfashioned parcel, with string and sealing wax. Someone is really good at wrapping parcels, it was very neat!

And this is what I have. Munmun by Jesse Andrews. Never heard of him before. Not sure it is something I would have picked up myself, but let's give it a go.


Yes, I am aware that's just increased the TBR by one... I'm working on it, always working on it.

Book parcels, roast dinners and historical tours. Helen, you are spoiling us. Please take lots of photos if you do meet up.

>144 Helenliz: Yay, Mr B's! :D

>145 charl08: Happy to oblige, it pleases me. I think the ball is in The Wayne's court.
>146 rabbitprincess: yup, thanks for the suggestion. I love the effort that goes into the packaging. Let's see how well my bibliotherapist (as they describe themselves) does with the contents.

>147 Helenliz: - Well, *I* at least will be in the UK the end of June so I hope we can meet-up?! Are you far from London? Susan and I always have a great meal together when I'm in town and it would be great if you could join us! (I wonder if Susan knows I expect her to be free?)

>148 katiekrug: Squeeee! I'm not all that far from London. Although I may be a jinx. I've *almost* met Susan twice. Once things got too complicated and we cancelled arrangements, the second time we were at the same exhibition, at the same time, but didn't know the other one was there. (Yes, probably, why would she not be? Not when Katie comes to town!)

Very exciting! Pencil it in for the weekend of 28 June :)

>150 katiekrug: you're pencilled in!

Book: 9
Title: Murder by Matchlight
Author: ECR Lorac
Rating: ****
Where: My shelves
Why: It fitted a TIOLI challenge
Categories: Women author
TIOLI:Challenge #6. Read a book whose title includes at least two 4+ letter words starting with the same letter

This is terribly inventive murder, there are witnesses, for a start, an unusual occourence, and they see someone quite distinctive who appears having made no sound. How was the man on the bridge coshed on the head without making any noice of approach and who did he cosh? A whole series of quesitons that it is left to MacDonald to try and wheedle out of people. His task is complicated by the fact that the coshed man lives in a boarding house full of theatrical types and the air raid that intervenes at one point. It gets rather convoluted, with different people covering up their identity in various ways. But what was this, a crime of passion or blackmail? opportunistic or planned? The result was one I was getting towards when the fnal curtain falls, but it took the explanation reveal at the end for all th epieces to fall into place.
I like MacDonald, he has a nice solid way about him, but is clearly not stupid.

>151 Helenliz: Ooh, I saw this was a British Library Crime Classic! Hope my library gets it :)

>151 Helenliz:

That is one of way too many Golden Age series where the first book is effectively missing nowadays, so I haven't been able to force myself to make a start on it. I keep hoping hoping someone will resurrect it! I'm glad that some of the later ones have been, but still...

>151 Helenliz: This one does sound good. Her Bats in the Belfry disappointed me; it seemed obvious to me who had done it and how. But I really liked Crook o' Lune a lot. It has an interesting setting in rural Lancashire. I also thought The Late Miss Trimming was pretty good.
>153 lyzard: I have never noticed that reading in order makes any difference with Lorac. And I usually do try to be orderly.

>152 rabbitprincess: I so like the look of that series, something in the appearance just appeals to me.
>153 lyzard: sorry. I can imagine that would be a hurdle to you. I'm not sure I'm prepared to launch on a series of 45 books (of which my most recent is not list on LT). I'll just dip in and out. (sorry)
>154 NinieB: I've only read this and Bats in the Belfry which I only picked up due to the title! Some people read in order out of principle, I'm not quite in that camp (shh, don't tell them).

>154 NinieB:, >155 Helenliz:

Oh, you Out-Of-Order-ers! {*shakes head more in sorrow than in anger*}

I do accept that sometimes skipping books is unavoidable, but at the moment I have enough to do plugging my gaps in John Rhode's 72-book-long (!!) Dr Priestley series. :D

>156 lyzard: Whenever I find a John Rhode I just say yay! and read it.

However... I have read most of the Hercule Poirot series in order (after multiple reads over the years out of order). When I accidentally read a 1940 short story at 1930, the difference in Christie's writing style and even characterization of M. Porot was glaringly obvious.

>156 lyzard: I'm sorry *hangs head in shame*. I did read the Wimsey books in series order and am reading all the Heyer romances in publication order, so I'm not a complete disaster. >;-)
>157 NinieB: Reading Agatha in order may be a future long term challenge. Can't decide if it should be all of them in publication order, or pick Poirot/Marple and read one of them in order. hmmm...

>158 Helenliz: That is a tough choice. One other wrinkle is the short stories. Many were published in magazines long before they were collected in books, such as The Underdog and Witness for the Prosecution. Both were originally published in the mid 1920s, but not collected until the late 40s.

>159 NinieB: well I've got a bit of time yet, I think I'll finish the Heyers before picking another author to read in order.

Book: 10
Title: Distant Voices
Author: Barbara Erskine
Rating: *
Where: Library
Why: Audio
Categories: Women author
TIOLI:Challenge #4. Read A Book That Was Published At Least 10 Years Ago

Oh Dear this was bad! I stuck it out for as long as I could, but I got to the stage where if I had to listen to one more story with a woman unable to function without a man in her life I was going to scream.
Individually, each story was OK, there were some inventive ideas in here. But cumulatively the effect was entirely depressing. It is a bit like trying to eat an entire packet of marshmallows. One or two are OK, but after a while you start to feel a little bit ick. Don't bother yourselves with this one. I made it through ~ 3/4 before deciding to quit before I lost the will to live.

>161 Helenliz: - Oof, no thanks.

>162 katiekrug: Instead of a book bullet, think of me as providing a shield, protecting you from having to experience the same.

I rarely abandon books; I'm stubborn like that.

I appreciate your stepping into the line of fire for me, Helen.

>158 Helenliz:, >159 NinieB:

For my chronological read, I'm using the date of publication in book form; if there are any stray short stories over when I'm finished, I'll hunt them up individually.

>161 Helenliz:

Phew! When I saw your 'abandoned book' post over at TIOLI, I was worried that you meant Belinda! :D

>165 lyzard:, nope, you're safe there. >:-) Belinda going OK, actually. Volume 1 completed, I intend to start volume 2 and read my 2 chapters tonight.

>165 lyzard: >158 Helenliz: At one point I was reading the short stories by date of original publication, which I found somewhere online. It's a bit of a pain as they were scattered through a variety of books.

>161 Helenliz: So, no then. Thanks, Helen!

Hoping your weekend is full of fabulous!

>168 Crazymamie: it is indeed! Weekend going well too, so it's all good here >:-)

>161 Helenliz: Yikes! Will give that one a miss. Thank you!

>170 charl08: I can't recommend it, if I'm honest. Maybe one or two, but not the entire set.

Book: 11
Title: Belinda
Author: Maria Edgeworth
Rating: ***
Where: Library
Why: Group Read
Categories: Women author
TIOLI:Challenge #5. Read a turn-of-the-century book

This was a group read, helped along with informative commentary by Liz. Belinda is our titular heroine, but she doesn't exactly fit the mould of the time. She's a niece of the matchmaking Selina Stanhope, who has thus far launched the society careers of a number of nieces and amrried them all off sucessfully. Not always happily, but happiness and social success are in no way the same thing, as this book makes plain. Belinda is duly lodged with Lady Delacour, who might be seen as the antithesis of how BBelinda should behave. She was once a society heiress and made a splash in society, with numerous offers for her hand. She herself had lost her heart to one Mr Peveril, and while he returned her love, he declined to put her on a pedestall and be blind to her faults, so she spurned him. In a fit of pique (or on the rebound, maybe) she marries Lord Delacour and they are now somewhat unhappy. Always at cross purposes, with a child being cared for by relatives, they really have no point of contact. Another example to Belinda of what making a good match but poor marriage might entail.
Of Belinda's own prospects, there are several. Sir Phillip Baddesley is a bore and a cad and deserves the comeuppance he gets. Clarence Hervey is another and he is more promising, only he is not the marrying type, is engaged in a flirtation that is rumoutred to be an affair with Lady Delacour and is believed to have a mistress. All of which are black marks against his name. But he also comes with that society gallantry that makes it hard to know if he's telling the truth at any point and appears a little hypocritical. And has a superiority complex that, to be frack, he does not deserve. He's not exactly hero material. Our final suitor is Mt Vincent, from the West Indies, he has a fortune to his name and comes with the benefit of being the mentor of Mr Peveril (who is taken as a model round these parts). All is not as it appears here either, and that which looks good form one angle can be flawed from another.
Having had all these different examples and lessons (there is something to learn from each incident - but it isn't all that didactical) Belinda uses her head to make rational decisions. These can appear cold, and she is accused of being cold hearted by not being swept away on a tide of feeling. I liked her, but can see that she was not necessarily a creature of her time. Like Mary Wollstencraft in the Vinicaiton of the Richts of Women, I feel that Maria Edgeworth is pushing for women to be educated and use their heads more, as being a creature of nothing but emotion gets very wearing and is not necessarily goood for anyone. It took a bit of time to read, it is quite dense and the style of writing takes a little getting used to (as with anything of this vintage). I enjoyed it.

Well wish me luck. The company I work for has been nominated for the Mayor's business awards and tonight is the ball and presentation. If you can all cross everything to hope that we win it might make the gods decide in our favour. We've had a rough couple of weeks, this would be just the upper we need.
I'm just hoping I remembered to pack everything I need to change into to go. Black tie do, turning up in my current jeans, jumper & boots would probably not go down too well...

>173 Helenliz: Congratulations, and have fun at the gala!

Good luck! Everything crossed!

Crossables crossed!

Everything crossable is crossed! Have a good time :)

Best of luck and enjoy the event!

Have fun!

Good luck and enjoy the ball!

We won! Never have I been more proud to work with this small group of exceptional people. Even if I did have to stay sober so I could drive home at the end of the evening.
We all scrubbed up remarkably well!

Congratulations! And have a drink in private, you deserve it.

Awesome! Congrats.

Book: 12
Title: Lady Susan
Author: Jane Austen
Rating: ***
Where: Library
Why: Group Read
Categories: Women author
TIOLI:Challenge #12. Read a book where the title refers to a woman

I'm both a completist and not a huge fan of Jane Austen, so it was with mixed feelings I approached this book of unpublished works. 2 were incomplete, the third completed, but much shorter and less polished than her published works. The Watsons and Sanditon were just so-so, so much Jane Austen. The one I enjoyed the most was the once most unlike her later style. Lady Susan is written as a series of letters and she can;t ;pull it off effectively for the entire story. It also features a character who is quite ungenteel, in the titual anti-heroine. Lady Susan is a gold digger and is out for force her daughter Frederica into a mariage with a very stupid man, while Lady Susan embarks on affairs and generally breaking up happy familes. It is not an effective piece of writing, in that there is nothing to balance Lady Susan, no light and shade, it dominated by Susan and there's no clear contrast to be found. But I found it so different from the usual tale of manners and repression that i quite enjoyed it.

>182 MissWatson:, >183 katiekrug: thankyou very much. We were all thrilled. >:-D

>181 Helenliz: Congratulations! I hope you enjoyed dressing up and going out, even if you couldn't enjoy a glass of wine.

>181 Helenliz: Woo hoo, congrats! :D

Excellent result! :)

>181 Helenliz: Congratulations! Very rewarding to be acknowledged formally in full dress-up mode!

Congratulations on the win and happy to see that you were pleasantly surprised by Lady Susan. I really enjoyed that one, but I am also a big fan of the epistolary novel format.

Thank you all! It was a good night - and I'm now caught up on sleep again. I can't do staying up late!
>190 lkernagh: It was so very different from the usual that I did enjoy it. I'm not sure she was able to pull it off sucessfully, there's that coda at the end. I've read a few novels like that, it's an interesting method of telling a story, it is always at second hand.

I missed all the excitement! Congrats Helen.

>192 charl08: thanks! Congratulations are always acceptable at any time. >:-)

>184 Helenliz: There's a fun film adaptation of Lady Susan called "Love and Friendship," directed by Whit Stillman, in case you're interested!

I agree with Christina's assessment -- that was a fun movie!

>181 Helenliz: Congratulations! Glad to hear you had a good time at the ball.

>194 christina_reads:, >195 rabbitprincess: thankyou for that information.
>196 mathgirl40: thanks! >:-D

Oh happy day! I collected by book subscription from the Post Office today and it is another parcel of fabulousness.



I've had this on my wish list since it came out, I loved Song of Achilles and I'm a sucker for retellings of myths, so this is right up my street. And it is such a beautiful edition. The orange is a warm gold and is a metallic effect; it shimmers.

Squeeeee!

Oooh, pretty.....

>198 Helenliz: Oh that looks beautiful!

I know, it really is a thing of beauty that the picture doesn't do justice to.

Book: 13
Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Rating: ****
Where: Library
Why: Audio
Categories: Short stories
TIOLI:Challenge #10: Read a book that completes this sentence: (Title of Book) is/are complete madness!

I've read this multiple times, having first come to Holmes as a teenager. This was the first time I've listened to them, and having Stephen Fry narrate is a stroke of genius. He has that patrician voice that seems to match nicely with the tone I can hear in Watson as he narrates the stories. The short stories make it easy to listen while commuting. That and the fact that as I listened to them I could remember what the puzzle or siltuation involved meant this was a bit like revisiting an old friend and finding them both changed and reliably the same.

Book: 14
Title: Munmun
Author: Jesse Andrews
Rating: ***
Where: Mr B's Emporium book subscription
Why: See above!
Categories: New author
TIOLI:Challenge #6. Read a book somebody else picked for you

This is set in a future where how much money you have (munmun) dictates how big you are. Average people are normal scale, those richer are bigger, those poorer are smaller. half scale are middle poor, the poorest of them all are the littlepoors. They're small enough that the perils of being a cat's plaything are a serious concern. Narrated in the first person by a teenage Warner, who is a littlepoor, it tells of his and his sister's lives as they leave home and attempt to scale up.
The book feels as if it is aimed at the teen market. The way that it touches on but then seems to shy away from the few political points that are raised make me think that's the target market. I think I'd have found it more meaningful had the philosophy been expanded a little more.

There are several things that this book does very well. The first is that while it asks you to take one leap of faith (that your size can scale with your bank account) everything else in the book remains self consistent. This is my major bugbear with some lazy science fiction, that it requires multiple leaps of scientific faith for the universe that is imagined to hold true. This doesn't fall into that trap. Along the way it manages to make you think about what would the perils of being small or large actually be? What would the world look and feel like if you were small? Very different, that is forsure.
It also invents a language that is not entirely unlike yoofspeak, which I will admit, it took me a while to get my head around in some cases. But as I'm not now and never have been down wiv da kids, I think I'm excused having to think this through a few times! US has mutated into Yewess. I couldn't work out where Lossy Indica was supposed to be though.

This is not a book I would have picked up myself, it was a book subscription, so I like to think it was picked with some confidence that I might enjoy it. I did enjoy it, although I thought the ending quite disappointing, in a way. My hesitations over science fiction (for the reasons outlined above) remain. However this is a good example of the genre and one that I'm pleased was picked for me.

Book: 15
Title: The Convenient Marriage
Author: Georgette Heyer
Rating: ****1/2
Where: Mum's collection
Why: I've got a thick head and needed something light to counterbalance it.
Categories: Women author, Heyer series read.
TIOLI:Challenge #8. Read a book by a woman who is born in the 20th century

The great joy in Heyer's novels is not necessarily the means by which the principle characters contrive to misunderstand each other until they finally end up on the same wavelength. No, the deligh in these is as much the supporting characters and the set pieces that scatter the book. In this case, the principles are Marcus, Earl of Rule and his very bold young wife, Horatia Winwood. The deligh, however, rests in the passage where Horatia's brother, Pelham, hher brother in law Edward Heron and pelham's friend Roland Pommeroy try and save her from herself. This culminates in an attempt the hold up a coach as highway men. the humour with which this scene is presented is positively brilliant. When Sir Roland tries to enquire of their victim where he got his fine horses, you have to laugh at his bafflement when the man doesn't want to deal. Priceless.
As usual, the entire book could have been avoided had the two principles actually had an honest conversation at the end of chapter 1, but that would have been to miss the fun.

>204 Helenliz: I'll always have a soft spot for The Convenient Marriage, as it was my first Heyer.

>204 Helenliz: - This is one of the unread Heyers sitting on my Kindle...

>205 christina_reads: I can see why. Mine was The Foundling and it made me wonder why I'd turned my nose up at them for years.
>206 katiekrug: It's a good one.

>204 Helenliz: I feel like I've read this one but I can't remember anything about it, so hurrah! a kind-of new Heyer to read.

Love the picture of your copy of Circe. Really does look beautiful.

>208 charl08: are those not the best kind? The ones you can rediscover as you re-read it?
I know it's really very pwetty.

Are you reading it, or just stroking it occasionally?
(Not that I ever do that...)

>210 charl08: ha! At present neither, it is sitting on the shelf awaiting its turn... which will come very soon. I might have to take the dust cover off so I don't crease it.

>210 charl08: Haha, I mentioned stroking book pages on a facebook thread recently, and it turned out nobody else in that particular group did that at all, and then I felt like a freak. But sometimes books are just so *beautiful*, they are just asking to be stroked!

>212 Jackie_K: it's OK, you're amongst like minded weirdos friends here.

>213 Helenliz: Definitely :-)

>204 Helenliz: I have not yet had the pleasure of reading a Heyer, but this one goes on my wish list!

>215 Tess_W: Excellent, another convert to the cause. I think everyone should try Heyer at least once. Glad you're going to give her a go.

Book: 16
Title: The Italian Teacher
Author: Tom Rachman
Rating: ***
Where: Library
Why: Book bullet (ages ago)
Categories: New Authors
TIOLI:Challenge #9. Read a book with a job/occupation in the title or author's name

Told in segments of events over a series of years, this tells of Charles (pinch) Bavinsky and his life. It also concentrates attention on the character and interaction of his father, Bear Bavinsky, an artist. Bear is a womaniser Pinch's mother, Natalie, is his third wife. He treats her quite badly and she is not sufficiently robust to survive his treatment, nor that of Pinch, for whom is father is the one he wants to please, his mother's more constant support is viewed more as of right and valued less accordingly.
Pinch is a difficult person to get to know and to like. He is bad at reading people, and manages to mess up most of his relaitonships over the years. Those that persist are with his college friend, Marsden and his older sister, Birdie. There is a later, more uscessful relationship with Jing, that seems to provide some sort of later life comfort. Maybe Pinh was just born middle aged.
He tries to be an artist until his father pours scorn on his efforts, in fact, his father does very little positive at any point, except coerce Pinch into being the luardian of his legacy. And that leads to the twist that you see comming along the way, but doesn't really turn the knife until the end. I can't say I felt much for Pinch, he was too difficult and socially diffident to be a character that you can empathise with, but I did stongly dislike his father, and maybe that explains a lot about Pinch.

>204 Helenliz: I downloaded The Convenient Marriage from the library after reading your review, was hoping for the audiobook but my library only has the ebook. Downloaded and listened to Venetia first. Am now wondering why I've never read any of Heyer's books before. Thank you for the BB.

>218 fairywings: Excellent! Another convert to the cause. So glad you enjoyed it. I had the same reaction when I finished my first Heyer - how come I've shunned these my whole life? And where can I find more?!

>219 Helenliz: I have my local library to thank for finding Heyer - they were pretty limited in lots of ways, but they did have a full set. And no worrying about getting them in the right order! (mostly)

>220 charl08: I borrowed my first from the library on CD. Mum had an almost complete collection on the shelves that I had shunned for years. I now have all of hers - most of which are editions older than I am! She shelved hers alphabetically, I have learnt the ways of LT better and have them by initial publication date (before someone has mild palpitations at the thought of reading out of order). I'm basically working my way along the shelf. >:-)

>221 Helenliz: Well, now I'm jealous. I have one early edition hardback, which I like very much.

Book: 17
Title: The Lemon Table
Author: Julian Barnes
Rating: ****
Where: Library
Why: Audio
Categories: Short Stories
TIOLI:Challenge #12: Read a book you had to wait for

Listened to by the magic of downloading to my phone and connecting the phone to the car to play it through the speakers while driving. And I managed that all by myself. Very proud!
And it was worth the effort.
If there is a theme, this is remembrance and loss. Most of the stories have a air of sadness about them with the characters either remembering times past, or pondering the end of life and the complications that brings. Whgich doesn;t sound very cheery, but I would not say that this is a sad colleciton. Wistful, maybe. In a couple of stories there are several segments that are told at diifferent times, with a common theme. The first takes this form, with the key being the trip to the barber's for a haircut. It's all very understated, but nonetheless enjoyable for that.

>223 Helenliz: - Well done on the tech triumph! My car is so old, it doesn't have blue tooth, but it does have an audio jack so I can plug my phone in and listen over the sound system. I used to listen to audios with one ear bud in while driving... Back in the olden days.

The Barnes sounds good. I've only read two by him but I liked them both.

>223 Helenliz: - I enjoyed that collection quite a bit. It was a nice mixture of bittersweet and amusing.

>224 katiekrug: This is my second collection of Barnes short stories and I've enjoyed both. I'm amazed I got the thing to actually connect, seems you can teach an old dog a new trick >:-)

>225 LittleTaiko: That's a good description, there is lightness in the poignancy.

Book: 18
Title: The Glorious Heresies
Author: Lisa McInerney
Rating: **
Where: Library
Why: AlphaKit
Categories: Women Author, Orange, New Author, AlphaKit.
TIOLI:Challenge #5: ROLLING CHALLENGE: Read a book with a significant connection to the countries of the United Kingdom (Ireland)

I can sort of see the appeal of this - it was just not really my thing. Written in an Irish dialect, this is the tale of various ne'erdowells and their trials and tribulations. About which I just didn't really care. It's sassy and is trying to be edgy. There's lots of dissing of religion and the arguement about children born out of wedlock which gets a tad repetitive. It felt a bit like a polemic, rather than a novel about people you'd actually care about.
Not going to bother with any more of these.

Oh I note it was my 6th thingaversary yesterday. My, how time flies when you're having fun.
I'm too ill disciplined when it comes to new books to go on a book acquisition spree, I've probably already bought more than that this year, which is doing nothing for the TBR...

>228 Helenliz: Happy Thingaversary! I don't go on a spree for mine, like you I think I have already bought more books than the number of years by the time it comes around (my 7th is in August, although I always forget it at the time).

>227 Helenliz: I think the claim was the author lived on a similar council estate to the one she set the books in, and they grew out of a blog. But if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work!

>230 charl08: I'm sure people like this exist, In fact I'm pretty sure I went to school with some who had promise of turning into this type of character. I just didn't feel any connection to them. I don't necessarily need to like a character to want to know what happens to them, but in this case the author didn't make them sufficiently interesting/attractive to make me really care one way or the other.