||--LovingLit--|| #2

A picture to start with, I think :)



Pic#209528. From this website.

2019 READS

January
1. Among the Living and the Dead by Inara Verzemnieks NF 277p
2. Restart by Gordon Korman YA 243p (tally 520p)
3. Skating to Antarctica by Jenny Diski NF 250p (tally 770p)
4. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout 191p (tally 961p)
5. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick GN, YA 634p (tally 1,595)
6. Escape from Sarau by Leonie Morris- Bensemann YA 188p (tally 1,783p)
7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte 353p (tally 2,136p)

February
8. Normal People by Sally Rooney 266p (tally 2,402p)
9. Lenny's Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee YA 320p (tally 2,722p)
10. Outskirts: Living Life on the Edge of the Green Belt by John Grindrod NF 386p (tally 3,108p)

March
11. Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout 254p (tally 3,362p)
12. A Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbie Tung GN
13. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher 288p YA

April
14. On Offence: The Politics of Indignation by Richard King 246p NF
15. Riot Days by Maria Alyokhina 196p NF
16 A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit 206p NF
17. Indignation by Philip Roth 233p (reread)
18. Fup by Jim Dodge 63p

May
19. Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
20. Lulu Anew GN by Etienne Davodeau
21. The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide 64/140p DNF

Second half of 2019 reading:

June
22. Don't Skip Out on Me by Willy Vlautin
23. HHhH by Laurent Binet
24. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

July
25. Wellbeing and Aspirational Culture by Kevin Moore NF 228p
26. Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams

August
27. The Relief of Poverty, 1834-1914 by Michael E. Rose NF 58p
(oh August...really??!?! Just the ONE book!??!??!)

September
28. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 864p
29. Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland (281p)
30. Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson (290p)

October
31. Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan
32. Gotham by Nick Earles (novella) 122p
33. Still Counting: Wellbeing, Women's Work and Policy-Making by Marilyn Waring NF 117p
34. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell 387p

November
35. The Three Dimensions of Freedom by Billy Bragg NF
36. Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson YA 251p
37. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanthi NF 228p
38. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (verse, illustrated) 111p

December
39. Beastings by Benjamin Myers 222p
40. I am the Cheese by Robert Cormier YA 232p

1. Author uses middle name or middle initial The Relief of Poverty, 1834-1914
2. Debut novel A Quiet Girl in a Noisy World
3. Book about/featuring siblings Lenny's Book of Everything
4. Read a book bullet Anything is Possible
5. Book mentioned in another book you have read
6. Topic or character related to medicine/health My Name is Lucy Barton
7. Animal on cover/in title/plays a significant role The Guest Cat
8. Book with an artistic character Skating to Antarctica
9. Eastern European author or setting Among the Living and the Dead
10. Children’s/YA book Escape from Sarau
11. Alliterative title HHhH
12. Part of a series Still Counting: Wellbeing, Women's Work and Policy-Making
13. Read a CAT
14. Prize-winning book Thirteen Reasons Why
15. Weather (title contains a weather word, or book involves/centers around a weather event) The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
16. Short stories or essays A Field Guide to Getting Lost
17. Book made into a movie Wuthering Heights
18. Fairy tale (classic or reworked) Fup (well, a fable really)
19. Graphic novel Wonderstruck
20. Main title has 6+ words Outskirts: Living Life on the Edge of the Green Belt
21. Cover has at least two human figures Normal People
22. Book in translation Riot Days
23. Food-related title or topic Down and Out in Paris and London
24. Book has an LT rating of 4+ Restart
25. Title contains a homophone word Shout

Currently reading:


Don't Skip out on Me by Willy Vlautin, The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin, Dopesick by Beth Macy (although, my dad has had this book since 6 weeks ago he *needed* to read it *now*)

Hi, Megan! I hope that you weren't needing this message for your housekeeping!
Anyway, I feel a bit cheesy..... I can't keep up with your thread, but I can get in on the beginning of a new one. May it be full of good thinking and reporting about good books, boys, and successful school!

Hi Megan! The cover image of the Vlautin is great. I lurve the photo up top, too, so am quietly reveling in the visual milieu to date.

>6 LizzieD: thanks for visiting!!! As a bona fide part time LTer these days, I can empathise with your difficulty in keeping up. I used to read each post of every thread I was a visitor to, now I scan, look out for cool pics of books and comment as necessary :)

>7 richardderus: Hey RD. The Vlautin was a publisher's copy, I think. A friend hilariously gave it to me on my birthday, after being reminded it was my birthday that day, and having just told me about receiving this free book that he didn't like all that much. I loved the gift, (as I love the author), but it was so funny how much of a crappy gift he made it out to be.
PS glad the visual milieu to date suits!!!

Happy new one! Have a great weekend

Happy new thread!
I admit I’ve also become a skimmer this year as I can’t keep up.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread Megan my dear.

Happy new thread, Megan!

Thanks everyone for the new thread best wishes!

Sunday.....cool but sunny. Walked for coffee, planning afternoon playgroup activities, kids' birthday parties this evening...all go as usual :)

Happy new thread, Megan.

>15 PaulCranswick: thanks Paul. Managed to fit in three hours work this evening as well. Had some time to make up from last week when W was off sick 4/5 school days.
Am now lying by the fire contemplating hitting the sack with my Willy Vlautin in tow :)

Happy new one Megan. Feeling a bit exhausted by all the activity here. Might have to pick up a book to recover :-)

Happy new thread Megan!

>17 charl08: Here you go, relax in this!


>18 humouress: thanks! Now, some baking methinks. Just in tome to get a batch of biscuits on before school pick up and after school scooter park activity, and rugby league training.

Megan, methinks I am just finding you for 2019! That is a bit scary. Ah well, I've found you now.

I looked for something by Willy Vlautin at a couple of bookstores back in Seattle and came up empty. How are you liking Don't Skip Out on Me?

Happy New Thread!

>20 EBT1002: noooo, we have visited this year.
Don't Skip Out on Me was a slow started for me. I paused on it for a few months before deciding the time was right. And now the time is right. It is classic Vlautin. Spare, calm, deceptively simple. Reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy (really, so reminiscent!!!), and just lovely.

Happy new thread, Megan!

I'm sorry that your May reads are not up to par and indeed even abandoned... it sure does go that way sometimes. I hope you've got something good going.

Happy New Thread, Megan!

That topper looks like a good way to travel to another world, or universe . . .

>21 LovingLit: Hmm, well, I'm glad to hear it. I knew you had visited my digs and I thought I had been over here.... must have just dropped your star somehow. Anyhow, here I am and happily so.

Your description of Vlautin makes his work sound right up my alley. I will look for him in The Tattered Cover when I visit Denver later this month.

Happy new thread, Megan!

Intriguing picture at the top, it made me browse that website for a while.

Happy new thread, Megan!

>22 karenmarie: It's a goodie, no? I love abstract art, and expressionist art.

>23 jnwelch: Do look out for him. If you like McCarthy or John Steinbeck, I think you will like him.

>24 EBT1002: I love that pic. It calls to me :)

>25 FAMeulstee: thanks Lori!

In a bit of a reading funk at the moment. Probably because I have been out and about in the evenings, doing such cool things as listed below:
- attending a story telling evening at a local art gallery, wherein a few story-tellers told a story, and members of the audience were invited to too
- attending the boys' rugby league club day, wherein games, sausage sizzle selling, and a general carnival atmosphere was experienced
- hosting my dad who stand for the last 3 nights
- working and tending to 2x on/off sick kids, necessitating reorganisation of both me and the lovely other's work schedules.
-and, the most exciting one, following my brother who is currently walking in the the Himalayas with US singer/actor, Mandy Moore!!! He is part of the entourage, employed to photograph and video proceedings.



https://www.instagram.com/p/BxqUVGcFAcd/?utm_source=ig_embed

How cool for Bruv! I'm less enthusiastic about the sick-kid thing, but I suspect you are as well.

I hope your reading mojo comes roaring back soon. And hi to Pops, that wonderful photographer!

>29 richardderus: pretty exciting huh? Maybe not for him though, as he's pretty chill about these things. :)

Hope the kids feel better soon (and give you both a bit of a break). Sounds as busy as usual in your neck of the woods!

>28 LovingLit: Phew! Woman, you ain't got no time for reading!! And how cool that your brother is on that trip--I am jealous! Although walking through the Himalayas with my bum knee might not be the best thing right now. LOL

Hope the kids feel better soon. : ) Congrats on the new thread.

>8 LovingLit: I love the bona fide part-time LTer designation. I am not sure I even qualify as part-time, but I will make an effort. :)

I am sure the reading funk will pass. Meanwhile, you are doing some cool stuff. Not the sick kids. That's not cool.

Oh! And I forgot another cool one, becoming the reigning champion at the local quiz night.
Our participation was all an accident....me and a friend stumbled upon it a month or so ago and decided to participate rather than be drowned out by its noise, we ended up prize-winners!!! (footnote- second to LAST gets a prize too ;):):))

So, naturally we had to go back to spend our winnings, only this time we brought with us my lovely other and his bandmate. And that time we *cleaned up*. Rinse, repeat and now we can't stop going for fear of losing out on spending the $50 bar tab!

>31 charl08: Busy, but manageable. I am loving not having a large piece of writing hanging over my head, that one is clear :)

>32 Berly: When he went it was a secret as to who he was going with/for. But as soon as he was pictured with the group I figured the cat was out of the bag.

>33 nittnut: Hey, us dipper-ins-and-outs form a select and special part of the LT crew :) I am so glad the lovely other has a flexible job, as he was off today so I could work. AND he took Len to the doctor who diagnosed an ear infection. SO he is now suitably medicated and on the up .

>34 LovingLit: If LT is going to lose out to something, quiz night with a $50 bar-tab thrown in is the right thing. Happy Tuesday.

I'm beginning to think of myself as an adjunct LTer. The reading is the core.

>35 richardderus: good point RD ;) Nevertheless, we are staying home tonight, you know, to give the others a chance (lol).

>36 weird_O: The best thing about LT is that it is always here for us, and someone is always at the other end :)

I love my dad :)

He just emailed me an update on his reading. How cool is that??

Just to let you know that lately I have had a rush of blood to the head and I now have 13 partially read books scattered between the bedroom, bathroom, lounge and office. Things have got so complicated that I am no longer certain what my 13th book is, nor can I locate it.

It seems that lately, whenever I pass a bookshelf, I pick up an interesting looking book and start to read it, totally forgetting why I went past the book case originally and 1 hour later vaguely recalling that I was supposed to be doing something important somewhere about an ago.

Love
GDAA

My Family and Other Animals. Gerald Durrell
Lord Jim. Josef Conrad
The Tribes Triumphant. Charles Glass
Jerusalem. Simon Seabag Montefiore
White Noise. Don DeLillo
Path Between the Seas. David McCullough
The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck
Dopesick. Beth Macy
Beyond Manapouri. Catherine Knight
The Hidden Life of Trees. Peter Wohlleben
The Drunken Forest. Gerald Durrell
Unsheltered. Barbara Kingsolver

Also, just adding here that 3 of those books listed are ones he has *stolen* from my house :)

>38 LovingLit: I'm bettin' the Durrells are his own, and the Kingsolver, the DeLillo, and the Macy are yours.

How'd I do?

The best thing about LT is that it is always here for us, and someone is always at the other end . So true, and I am so grateful. Also glad to have a label (part-time LTer) and company.

best regards from Switzerland

Hi Megan my dear, just stopping by to say hello, sending love and hugs dear friend.

I swear I had stopped by here all ready. Bad Mark!!

Happy New Thread, Megan. I love the email from your Dear Dad. Thankfully, I do not have that problem. I start something, I usually finish it, but I love his enthusiasm.

>39 richardderus: Ha! The Durrell's are definitely his own! The drug one (Dopesick), the satirical old one (White Noise), and the classic one (The Grapes of Wrath) are mine. Nice!

>40 AMQS: Me too, Anne. Love the idea that there are bookish people a keyboard stroke away :)

>41 paulstalder: Thanks Paul, lovely to see you here.

>42 johnsimpson: Thanks JS, thanks for stopping by!

>43 msf59: I though you had already too! Probably we are so familiar with each other we just assume we have visited each other!
I have the same issue my dad has. It must be heritable...especially if I am in a fickle frame of mind. I will see something that grabs my attention, and start it regardless of what I am already reading.

>38 LovingLit: How sweet of your dad. Sometimes when I can't settle in a book I do start others until one grabs me and is read right away, usually the others are finished as well. But I have never managed to have more than 6 books going at the same time. I hope your dad finds out which book was book 13 ;-)

>44 LovingLit: I got 2/3 right. I'd've bet money that the classic would belong to your classic of a dad.

Happy Sunday.

>45 FAMeulstee: I am terrible like that :)
But I usually get them all finished in the end.

>46 richardderus: I had never heard of him before dad brought him up, and I can't say I am tempted to go there now either!!!

JS stopping by to say I hope you have had a good weekend my dear and send love and hugs to you and your family from both of us dear friend.

>48 johnsimpson: thanks JS, a chilly one here! Down to freezing level at night, and a polar blast with rain rain rain almost the whole weekend!!! So lucky to have our log-burner to keep us cosy night and day :)

Happy newish thread, Megan. I love the topper.

Happy newish thread, Megan! When will your father join LT? I'll bet that he would fit right in.

BOOK 22
Don't Skip Out on Me by Willy Vlautin

I think this was a publisher's edition that the shop sold cheaply (or gave away) to a friend of mine. He then gave it to me for my birthday, saying he had started it but that it didn't grab him. It didn't really grab me at first either. It took me a while to get to know the characters, but once I did, I really, really liked them. The main three are such a lovely trio, all damaged in their own ways, but such a team.

Dint expect this to be a frolic through the daisies though, it is classic Vlautin, with just a touch more depressing realism than usual. I love how he writes about the un-remarkable amongst us, reminding us that we are all just human beings, with the usual human needs.

>50 BLBera: Thanks! I was drawn to that image too, something about it being so abstract, yet kind of not as well.

>51 kidzdoc: He has enough trouble with Facebook and instagram :) I can't see him launching into LT. He would have a lot to say though, I am sure...which reminds me, I must email him and hurry him along with Dopesick, which I was half way through before he *had* to borrow it.

Happy wintertime weather, Megan! It's been a mix of depressingly-like-late-summer humid and sparkling-early-summer-breezy here. I loathe the deep-summer humids. I'd happily globe-trot to experience nothing but fall-early winter-late spring every year.

>54 richardderus: you'd like NZ then, our neither-summer-nor-winter periods are long and fresh. Very fresh today! (and looking at 3 below 0 deg C overnight tonight. Got my hot water bottle and book ready :)

>55 LovingLit: ::broken sobbing::

I've never been there, and always wanted to go! I saw Australia when I was too young to really Get It, but have never been to Christchurch or Wellington and those are the two places on Earth I've always wanted to live.

>56 richardderus: don't weep! I have never been to Mongolia, and will probably never leave NZ's shores again, if the last decade is anything to go by. Thank G for the internet :)
Wgtn and Chch are awesome choices btw. Welly is the coolest little city in the world I reckon, apart from it being on a fault line that is. I can see myself living in a top floor apartment one day....wandering the streets looking for coffee with my lovely other....

>57 LovingLit: And Wellington's the windiest world capital! Sounds like heaven to me.

I spent my impressionable years in San Francisco, Los Gatos, and Palo Alto. Scare me with fault lines, pshaw.

I finally got to the library copy of Comradely Greetings which you recommended - and thank you. I did enjoy it. I don't know how anyone survives the Russian prison system - grim.

>58 richardderus: You are a fault line pro! I'm still a little jumpy there on account of the old facades and what they achieved here in Chch a few years back!
Wellington is cool though, I love going there.

>59 charl08: It was shocking though, wasn't it, how recent this book was. It felt like all that stuff shouldn't still be happening. I loved the documentary I saw on Pussy Riot recently, it so clearly explained their intentions and what they were/are trying to achieve. They are amazing to persevere in the face of some pretty big consequences for activism in modern-day Russia!

I agree Megan: I was really shocked to find they are still in effect sending people to Siberia, I assumed that they would have been dismantled with glasnost.

I would like to read more Willy Vlautin. I really enjoyed the film version of Lean on Pete, but never did get to the book.

>61 charl08: That Putin guy really is one to be wary of, I would say.....

>62 msf59: I was worried I'd be turned off by some cruel to animals in that film, do you recall? If you are in to gritty and grim, then Don't Skip out on Me will be right up your alley. It was right up there with the best gritty and grim reading I have had :)

Currently reading:


Wellbeing and Aspirational Culture and HhHH (remember that one? It was an old favourite around here a while ago).

This first book is written by my academic supervisor, he was writing it last year while I was doing my masters. I had no luck in getting him to let me read any of the chapters, so was glad to be first on the holds list at the library for this one. I had promised to buy it, but at $80+, decided to visit the university library instead :)

Yikes, $80. I have seen some academic publishers let you 'rent' books, but it doesn't seem to have gone much past textbooks. Thank goodness for the library.

>65 charl08: Oh yea, I take $80 back and replace it with $174. That is 174NZD.....yep, that's the reason I am not buying it :)

In other news.....having had everyone in the house sick over the last 3 weeks (Lenny twice), I have now succumbed. Dang it!!! I was hoping to get in an 8-hour work day today, which is a mega-treat for me, but it looks like instead I will be laying low and dreading the weekend (in which the kids will require me to move, I presume).

$115 US!!!!!!!!!

Oh HELL no.

I liked HHhH.

Oh no. Hope you are feeling more yourself soon. And that your SO is able to distract the munchkins.

Sorry to see you all have been sick and that you have been brought down now!
My household is just recovering now and I'm waiting for the next germs to show up!

>67 richardderus: I know! I wont be reading *that* particular library book in the bath....

>68 charl08: >69 ChelleBearss: Today much improved....went to work, and managed OK. I am currently on meagre rations for a fundraising challenge I am doing, so the reduced appetite from being sick has actually helped in that regard. See below!

This week I am eating light.

I decided a few weeks ago that I would partake in the Rations Challenge, organised by aid organisation Act for Peace. It involves me limiting my diet to what a refugee in a refugee camp in Jordan is allocated, and seeking sponsorship to raise money along the way. I am currently on Day 3 (of 7) and am handling it OK so far.

This is what I am allocated for the week:

rice 1.92kg
flour 400g
lentils 170g
dried chickpeas 85g
tinned sardines 125g
tinned kidney beans 400g and
vegetable oil 250ml.

Because of reaching several sponsorship goals (including sponsoring myself), I also have salt, one spice (I chose chilli powder), 170g of vegetable (I chose spinach), and 120g protein (I chose cheese).



In addition to that, I get one teabag for every 5 people I ask to sponsor me, and I got 9 tea bags for calling on my Facebook friends one by one (cheeky, huh!??). Now that I am actually doing the challenge, I will just place the sponsorship link here, in case anyone else is interested :) As little or as much as you like!

Eta: some of my lovely LT friend have already generously donated, so many thanks to them!!!

Wow, put together in a pile that really does not look like a lot of food. Which I suppose is the point. Good luck!

>71 LovingLit: Meager rations indeed. Go you!

That's a great cause, Megan. Thanks for letting us know about it, and for posting a link to your donation page.

>72 charl08: it sure doesn't does it! Day 4 is looking a little less fun, to tell you the truth. I guess my appetite is returning after being sick...I *cannot wait* to have my first coffee after this!!!

>73 richardderus: Thanks RD, I was really nervous before the challenge started about actually being able to do it! Thanks to the miracle that is the common cold, however, I was able to ease into it ;)

>74 kidzdoc: Thanks to you for your interest :) I gues at lunchtime on Day 4 I am officially half way. I just celebrated with brunch- 3x rice/lentil cakes (fried in oil last night for dinner and eaten cold just now) and 2 mini 'pancakes' (flour/water/oil) sandwich pressed around 4 spinach leaves.
I'll just repeat that.....4 spinach leaves.
LOL!

Currently reading:


Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.
Love it so far.

Currently eating:

Had a slap up feed of rice milk pancakes and refried red kidney beans and spinach. Am actually full this evening! Two days left of the rations challenge and have about 1/2 cup flour left, some chick peas (currently soaking to become tomorrow's falafel), some lentils, some spinach, 1/4 cup of rice and a tin of sardines. I think I can do it!!!

Keep up the great work, Megan!

Keep up the great work, Megan!

ETA: I also loved Down and Out in Paris and London.

Hooray for "rice milk pancakes and refried red kidney beans"! You go girl! You are doing a fine job, my friend.

>78 kidzdoc: >79 kidzdoc: >80 msf59:
Thanks Darry and Mark! Last day today, and yes, I am getting tired of it. Although I have rice left, there is barely a thing else! Just wilted spinach leaves and some sardines :) More rice pancakes for lunch today, then it's over for me and a coffee and a kiwi fruit here I come.

>71 LovingLit: Well done for doing this challenge. I saw it a little while ago and did think about doing it, but I decided to do plastic free July (I am going through a very environmental phase at the moment).

BRAVA for completing the challenge! It's an awful, awful sensation, being truly hungry and having no food at all.

Good job on completing your challenge! What a hard one!
Hope you enjoyed that first coffee!

Good for you, Megan! I'm impressed.

And yay for coffee and a kiwi fruit.

I looked for something by Vlautin while at the Tattered Cover in Denver last month and they had nothing. I was disappointed. This contributed to my evaluation that the Tattered Cover falls far short of both Powell's and Elliott Bay Books. It's a lovely space but the selection was less eclectic than I had hoped.

Hang in there with your Rations Challenge! I'm very impressed!

I can't get the link to the donation page to work....

>83 richardderus: It's an awful, awful sensation, being truly hungry and having no food at all
Yes, it is! Although I am lucky in that I have never really had that feeling. My realisation during the challenge was that we confuse not being full, with hunger.

>84 ChelleBearss: That first coffee was magic....Like alcohol though, after the third the benefits successively decrease :)

>85 karenmarie: I *needed* the kiwifruit :) It has taken me a while to get back into rhythm, as it were!!!

>86 EBT1002: >87 EBT1002: You have already donated...at least, I think you have, as I don't know that many Ellens. It was a tough challenge but I was so pleased to have raised $1066 to go towards food, medicine and education in Syrian refugee camps in Jordan.

Tickled by my answer to the BINGO clue #11....Alliterative title.
HHhH
Talk about pure alliterative!!!

Congratulations on meeting your personal and fundraising challenges, Megan!

>89 LovingLit: Ha! Perfection.

Wow, I am very impressed by your Rations Challenge! Thank you for sharing your journey here.

>89 LovingLit: - That is brilliant!

I wish you a good start into July with a wave of a popcorn

>90 kidzdoc: thanks Darryl :) To think I only aimed for $300 and got 3x that!??! The memories of wanting more food linger on as I continue to indulge in whatever I fancy now. I am sure a happy medium should be able to be reached!

>91 richardderus: Good huh!!?

>92 lkernagh: Ditto! I have probably put on all the little weight I lost during that week, but my digestive system is taking longer to recover- indigestion be gone!

>93 paulstalder: Thanks! A jaunty looking piece of popped corn if ever there was one :)

I imagine you and yours might be watching the cricket? Hope you have had a good weekend.

>95 charl08: I am watching the cricket and the tennis flicking between channels avidly and nervously. Both are supreme nailbiters.

The NZ bowlers have done really well but it is such a shame that we got lumbered with such a slow wicket. Only England could prepare a pitch that legislates against themselves.

>95 charl08: I stayed up extremely late to watch the first innings, and little did I know that while I slept all hell was breaking loose! It an incredible game, coming down to the tie-breaker, and then the next one, and then luck/absence of luck (depending on whose team you supported)!

>96 PaulCranswick: Luckily for us, one week after the horrible bad luck that caused us a loss in cricket, we beat Australia in the netball and can feel great about that one :)

Reading....yes, I remember that!



I am currently reading Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams. It is lovely, and informative, but I am not racing through it.

I did *love*, however, that in the opening pages he talks about walking on the railway lines to Machu Picchu, to save the tourist train fare (US$20). We did the same thing!!! I am surprised he devoted so little to it though, as it was a hairy walk. The Rio Bamba River was raging to one side of the tracks and it was impossible to hear trains as they burst upon the scene...at least once me and my walking pals jumped off the train tracks quick smart to avoid one!!! It brought back some cool memories for me.

I sat my fat Murrikin hiney on the train and let it take me to Aguas Calientes. I loved that our snazzmatazz hotel had no-two-rooms-alike, and a back gate into the thermal baths. We had a glass-roofed shower with a great view of the parrots winging around the trees.

>99 richardderus: We would have too, if we weren't such penny-pinches. The US$20 fare (per person!) was so steep compared to the rest of what Peru had for sale. But, walking those railway sleepers though....very inconveniently spaced so as to ensure that one step is far too short, and two is impossible! It was a loooong few kms on an arthritic hip that day.

>98 LovingLit: I do like reading about places I've been- would you ever go back?

Congrats to your netballers.

>101 charl08: I don't think I will ever go back to to the Inca Trail. I feel so fortunate to have been already, and that we managed to get in before the regulations changed. We were able to walk it ourselves, not attached to a tour group. (Meaning we carried all our own gear and had no one to make us a cuppa in the morning!)

One of the coolest things about Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time is that it looks like he walked the Inca Trail the same year I did!!! 1999. I have been able to get some context around the stuff that we saw happening there- such as strikes and protests- that at the time we had no idea about. He did it in July and we did it in November. Pretty cool!

Hi Megan!

Yes, congrats to your netballers. I don't watch or understand cricket or netball, but enjoyed what most of the world calls football and we call soccer when our US women won the World Cup.

Hurrah and Huzzah for the netballers!

Hope you are having a great week, Megan.

>103 karenmarie: Thanks for stopping by! Cricket and netball are to some as baseball and gridiron are to others- that is, a foreign language! :)

>104 PaulCranswick: T'was about time one went our way :) Rugby league is pretty much mocked here for our national team being crap, but in a recent game the ref's decisions went so far wrong we really were justified in feeling ripped off. Even the betting agency refused to pay out on those whose bets were robbed! Sometimes you just can't catch a break, so, long story short- the netball was a win we'll relish.

Megan--I am here!! It has been a while. Glad you have the netball win to relish. Sorry your rugby team is no good; I played that in college and can at least speak that language!! LOL

>106 Berly: well now. Rugby and rugby *league* are two very different beasts ;) Rugby is our national game and we are great at it, the league version is (apart from being the topic of my masters thesis) very different in culture and player profile. And our ability to win at it!
I never played rugby at all so I admire you immensely! (tackling? really??)

>107 LovingLit: I played scrumhalf and I didn't like getting tackled--my nickname was wheels!! : )

>108 Berly: Hey Kimmers, I was a scumhalf too!

>108 Berly: I am so useless at rugby knowledge that I don't even know what that is. But I just asked my lovely other, and he said it's the British version of the position known here as halfback.

>109 PaulCranswick: Hey now Paul, don't be so hard on yourself ;) ;) ;)
(don't worry, I know what you meant)

Currently reading Milkman- had to buy it as an obligatory purchase at the airport a month ago. Heading into a 40 minute flight can really leave you wanting reading material ) ;)

A book club friend gave it up- the plot vs volume of words ratio was too one-sided for her. I have to concentrate reading it but am liking it so far.

>110 LovingLit: Hah! Didn’t see that >109 PaulCranswick: on my first lurk-through. :0)

>111 LovingLit: Oh my, I was enthralled by Milkman! I found the read to be unstoppable, I was swept into the mindlife of a woman whose maybeboyfriend could cause a STASI-like fog of paranoid terror to envelop them by the simple act of coveting a piece of automotive history!

That takes a rare gift of storytelling.

Happy, um, lemme think a minnit, Friday!

>112 humouress: he he, it's a good one, huh?

>113 richardderus: oooh, that makes me feel good. I have found in the past that stories written in stream of consciousness (it that's what it is) can take a while to get into, but the pay off can be incredible.
*points for knowing it's Friday in NZ*
:)

P has been trying to get me to Peru for a while now. We thought about a guided hike to Michu Pichu but haven't booked yet.

Nicely done on the challenge, by the way!

Oh, and I thought Milkman was rather brilliant.

>115 EBT1002: >116 EBT1002: Hi Ellen! Milkman is on a hiatus for now, as I am neck deep in The Goldfinch- which I am *loving*. I hear it is being turned into a movie, out next month or so, and I am planning on seeing it with a couple of friends on our street. I hope it is a loooong and goooood film!

*life update*
Working to fast-approaching deadlines...doing household stuff...trying to get out and do the odd thing for myself too...
Hence, not much LT time. And, pre-The Goldfinch not all that much reading time either! tsk tsk. But, I am still here from time ti time and appreciate your dropping by :)

>117 LovingLit: Still not sure if I'm going to see the film - will be interesting to see how they compress all of that into a few hours!

>119 charl08: It could be a disaster, but I am keen to see it if merely for analysis on how it compares to the book!

>118 LovingLit: I think most of us are in the same boat with lack of LT time. I've been terrible with making visits this summer :(

In the age of Peak TV, I'm surprised The Goldfinch wasn't an "event series" as the young people call miniseries today, since it's got more than enough plot and story to fill a weeks-long set of films.

Happy Spring, dear, and a delightful season of good reading.

>121 ChelleBearss: real life huh? It can sometimes busy a person.

>122 richardderus: Yea, it would make a good 6-parter...or something similar! I have been watching Gentleman Jack lately, and loving it! I got to the last episode and was gutted there wasn't yet a series 2.

If y'all can get it, Prime's series Carnival Row is a good, solid mystery story set in a wildly fun alternate reality. I'm hoping a series 2 will happen there as well.

>117 LovingLit: I'm glad to see the love for The Goldfinch. I haven't read it because it clearly involves a big commitment, but I keep thinking I would like to give it a try.

>124 richardderus: I think I'm going to watch the first episode on my trip back to the west coast.

>124 richardderus: I will say what I always say to someone who recommends me a series...I'm not looking for anything new to watch! I can't possible fit that in as it would be too detrimental to my reading time. *fingers in ears* I can't hear you. :)

>125 EBT1002: I just this minute finished it! The Goldfinch, that is. Phew, 864 pages all up. Hot tip- read it on a kindle, or do what my mum did and slice the book into three sections. I was shocked at her doing that initially, but when reading it, it really creates achievable chunks!

>126 LovingLit: I think that's a smart choice: definitely a brick to read!

>126 LovingLit:, That brick is on my shelf to read and will probably be part of another Chunkster year of reading.

I'm now out of the scum erm scrum and here to wish you a splendid weekend. I do miss you not being as busy here as before. xx

Oh my goodness! I haven't spoken since MAY???? That's unconscionable! HELLO, MEGAN!!!!
I was thrilled to see you reading HHhH, and I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Oh dear. I didn't love The Goldfinch because of Tartt's lazy writing. Soon after, I read St. Aubyn's *Melrose* novels and saw how Tartt should have written.
I trust that you're meeting your deadlines. You always do.

*Wave* Hope you're all well and having springtime. We are ready for fall. It's hot. The nice thing about Dorian, is our only affect was several days of the best weather we've had in months. Also that it mostly missed the east coast. Leaves us in good shape to try and help The Bahamas.
I'm with Peggy ^ on The Goldfinch. Such lazy writing and so vague. I doubt I'd have even managed it in 3 chunks, as I abandoned it well within the first chunk. Maybe I should add St. Aubyn to the TBR pile...

Hope all is well, Megan. We miss seeing you around. What was your final take on The Goldfinch?

Hi Megan my dear, hope you and the family have had a really good weekend, sending love and hugs to you all from both of us dear friend.

I have not been logging book purchases this year (somehow I forgot to start and then couldn't keep track!). But today (and the other day) I got:
Haynes Explains The British, a faux car manual
Shakespeare and his Contemporaries by Charles Nicholl
Gotham by Nick Earles (a novella, first of six)

Also, I have been reading Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland, which I am *loving*. Even though it has got a little weird near the end....will seesaw I appraise it once it's all done!

Thanks for the messages, I admit to being a little awol this year. Life etc, and series' on the laptop have stymied my reading capacity a little!!! Back later to say hi individually.

>127 charl08: I was aghast, as I said, but it ended up to be a lot easier to read in manageable chinks!

>128 johnsimpson: >133 johnsimpson: I so rarely tackle chunksters...they are so intimidating! Especially given that I feel I ought to finish books I start.

>129 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the weekend wishes, I believe I had a glut of kids birthday parties to take the kids to last (and this) weekend! Oh, and I spent 2 hours on the street collecting for a charity, and hosted my dad (who was staying).

>130 LizzieD: I was actually shocked to her you refer to Tartt's writing as lazy! I had to reread it, but I checked, and sure enough, there are others like you too. I found it dragged a little at the end, but I even surprised myself at how much I wanted to keep reading it.

>131 nittnut: *cry cry* for no Tartt love. Have you read others of hers? I am keen to after this one. Oh, and in advance of forgetting (again!) to post you Fup, I gave it to my dad with a 24-hor deadline to start and finish it. So he did. Tomorrow I post!!!!

>132 msf59: Hey Mark :) I am patchy around here! only 2 threads this year...its not my usual form, I know.

Last three books:

Book 28. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 864p Had trouble putting it down, but as it petered out in the final quarter, I finished it with little enthusiasm.

Book 29. Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland Loved the first 3/4 of this one too!!! Then it felt preachy and a tad finger-waggy.

Book 30. Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson (290p) Oh wow, this was wonderful. A whole book written in verse, not pushing messages at the reader, but using inference and gentle suggestion to make thwacking point. Loved it.

Hi Megan!

Congrats on some good reading.

I loved The Goldfinch and am sad that I didn't write a review so I could go back and see what I liked and disliked about it. Lazy me in 2015.

>135 LovingLit: LOL. Now we know that your dad works well with a deadline? I am looking forward to Fup! I have not read anything else by Tartt. I suppose it's because Goldfinch was my first, and I didn't feel compelled to try anything else. Too many other books I am wanting to read. Laurie Halse Anderson, on the other hand, I love. Have you also read Speak? She's fantastic.

>136 LovingLit: The last ~200pp of The Goldfinch are a bit...extra. Boris loves Theo and wants to help...okay...but c'mon now! Sainthood bid much?

*smooch*

>137 karenmarie: I might go see the film, in spite of poor reviews. A few of us in the neighbourhood have read it and want to go together.

>138 nittnut: I want to read Speak- which reminds me, I really must head down to the library.

>139 richardderus: Extra is right. Like, really? I was talking to a neighbour today (same one we will see the film with hopefully) and we agreed that the book could have actually ended at the point where Theo escapes LA and gets back to the NYC antiques dealer's house.

>140 LovingLit: ...and would've been better for it.

Enjoy the film! It really is a good, solid tale.

Finished Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan and Gotham by Nick Earle (a wee novella). Now reading Still Counting : Wellbeing, Women's Work and Policy-making by Marilyn Waring, an ex-politician, current scholar, total feminist and incredibly amazing NZer :) The latter a birthday present from my clever lovely other, he also got me a philosophical book by Billy Bragg!

>136 LovingLit: All books petering out? I'm glad my mum named me Paul and my brother got the other name so I'll never Peter out.

>142 LovingLit: Sounds like great gift giving.

What did you make of the McEwan? It was interesting to read alongside/ close to Frankissstein for me.

>143 PaulCranswick: maybe if there'd been a third, they would have been called Mary!!!???
;)

>144 charl08: And, I am reading My Family and other Animals right now; a cracking read, so genteel and escapist. Just the holiday read. I loved the McEwan! Even if there were parts that I questioned, I was carried away by the book. It raised so many good questions about AI, the self, identity and technology.

>143 PaulCranswick: So bad, so bad....lol

>145 LovingLit: Hi Megan!! Long time no visit. Sorry about that. RL has been very time consuming lately and I ditched everyone so don't take it personally.

I was a fan of The Goldfinch and I am looking forward to the film adaptation.

Hi Megan! I have a copy of My Family and Other Animals on the shelves. Perhaps I'll take it to Kauai with me at Christmas time.

>146 Berly: so bad it was grid, right? That kind of humour I can relate to ;)
Currently trying to coordinate schedules with neighbourhood people to get to a showing of The Goldfinch.

>147 EBT1002: I can thoroughly recommend it as a holiday read. It does make me a little sad that my kids don't get the freedom that Gerry did in this biography!

>148 LovingLit: & >146 Berly:

I was actually disappointed when we got stuck with a younger sister called..........(drumroll)...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................JULIE.

Peter, Paul and, erm, Julie to be precise.

Have a great weekend, Megan.

Hi Megan!

I’m echoing Ellen – I have a copy of My Family and Other Animals on the shelves.. But I’m not going to Kauai for Christmas, so will see if I can fit it in here at home. *smile*

Good luck with the neighborhood coordination to see The Goldfinch.

>149 PaulCranswick: ha ha! Poor Julie, she could have been called Mary and made the whole thing a lot more comedic.
Spent yesterday at the hot pools and water slide place, it was super fun, and very relaxing now that little Len is old enough to roam freely with his brother :)

>150 karenmarie: I worried it would make me have regrets about the way I am parenting my own children, but it is quite old-fashioned and that distances the life he portrays from mine sufficiently to excuse me from that particular regret (silly sentence, but you get the gist).
No Goldfinching yet! Dangit.

>149 PaulCranswick: Your mom was so close...but yet so far. LOL.

>151 LovingLit: I haven't made it to the movies and The Goldfinch yet either. Race ya!!

>152 Berly: ha ha, I might have missed its showings here. We decided that, based on poor reviews, we would watch it at home. Personally i like to see films with bad reviews too (actually, I never look at a review) as just like to see films (full stop!).

Now though, I want to see Judy, and Jojo Rabbit, and I want to see the 1978 (?) film 1900, as heard a woman on the radio today saying she was so moved by it that she went back the next day (as 16 year old) and saw it again at the movies!!! It has Gerard Depardieu and Robert DeNiro in it, and is apparently very long.

>153 LovingLit: 1900 (or Novecento, premiered in 1976) was one of the best movies I have ever seen. Depending on the version it is 5 hours and 17 minutes or 4 hours and 5 minutes. I saw the long version in a movie theatre on two nights on a row, back in 1983 I think. And watched it again on VCR somewhere in the 1990s.

>154 FAMeulstee: see??!?! I knew I wanted to see it :) I can't wait to get it out, our local video store (a vintage, niche DVD rental place) has a copy and I am excited.

>155 LovingLit: Enjoy! As far as this dark story can be called enjoyable ;-)
Donald Sutherland excels in playing a very mean character.

I love your father's 13 book list! I've read most of them and want to read almost all the rest of them. I hope he's caught up by now!

Love Orwell!

I keep up (try) by only read book reviews on threads but I glean you've been up to many things, traveling and doing good deeds. Brava.

Happy Sunday, Megan! Hope your books are treating you well.

>156 FAMeulstee: I still haven't watched it! But I am reading A Language Older than Words, another recommendation from the woman I heard talking on the radio about her favourite books, music, art and film.

>157 sibylline: Hi Lucy, thanks for visiting. I have been mostly absent this year :( But still reading, even if not up to my previous numbers.

>158 richardderus: Hey and would ya look at that, here is Sunday! 801am...kids are breakfasted and awaiting impatiently the time at which they are allowed to do on devices. I have finished reading Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson, and am about to drink my strong coffee and enjoy some online scrabble or some more reading! Sundays rule.

>159 LovingLit: That sounds like a demanding read, Megan, look forward to reading your review of it. Hope you had a fun Sunday.

>160 charl08: A Language Older than Words is rather demanding, but I broke it up with a book about a yellow Fever epidemic. I know, that sounds odd, but it was a rest-read!! lol

Read this book yesterday.....stayed up til 1130pm, and today- got an unexpected day off!! YES. #bookwin

>162 LovingLit: A whole Monday off by surprise?! Wow. Good fortune indeed.

*smooch*

>163 richardderus: I know! I used it ultra-wisely. Yoga in the am, a movie at the movies, and the obligatory dishes....
PS Movie was 'Last Christmas', an unashamedly Christmassy feel-good (sort of) film. I loved it.

>164 LovingLit: Ideal! Happy back-to-work time.

I got Monday morning off too, but I did it by way of a stomach bug so it wasn't all good news.

Just did a quick purchase and reread a small cloth-bound edition of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner- love that work!

Water, water everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

>167 LovingLit: Sounds good! My grandfather (who I never met) apparently could recite the whole thing from memory as a party trick. (I guess the days before TVs in pubs!)

>165 richardderus: I attempted to do that, yes.

>166 PaulCranswick: Not nearly as fun....hope you are feeling better!

>168 charl08: What? Really! That is amazing. I could barely remember those lines and I was copying from the book!!!

>169 LovingLit: Apparently it got him free beer. Although even with that to motivate me I don't think I could learn it all!

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was one of the poetry reads that made me feel as I do about the artform. I had never before in my fifteen years of life HATED a read. It still gives me a queasy feeling to see it!

>170 charl08: wow, that is worth it :) I used to have have a fab memory, but age, and probably beer, have put a stop to that!

>171 richardderus: Whaaaat? This is good, no? It has provoked an emotional reaction of epic proportions :)

>172 LovingLit: Yep, it's official: You, madam, are An Academic. And a Mom. Way to spin it!

Happy Thursday to you.

>173 richardderus: he he. (devious laughter)
Thursday was pretty good, all up. And you?

It's just turned Thursday, I'm whupped (0130 now), and can honestly say I'll be dead under a ditch before I move all my books again.

>175 richardderus: Oh yea....Thursday comes late to you all in the north :) Must have been some work out- I know about you and books!!

Wow, hard to believe it has been June since I last visited your thread. Quickly stopping by to get caught up. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead, Megan.

>172 LovingLit: Me too. I could reel off stats for history like no one's business. Happy days. Hope you had a good weekend.

Megan--Hey there! I have been largely MIA on LT lately, but I am attempting to get caught up. I have missed you! Happy Sunday. I am hoping to get a few Christmas decorations up tomorrow, but no promises. Maybe some reading, too. Now that would be a concept! LOL. Hugs.

>177 lkernagh: I am sure my week was fab, way back then. This week is too. I am away in Queenstown on a conference and am loving it.

>178 charl08: Boo hoo, my brain is old. I envy those with recall memory.

>179 Berly: Me too Kimmers! :)
My dad thoughtfully delivered me one when he came to stay last week...so I have a beautiful real tree, smelling lovely.

Ooo conferences in Queenstown with its weird Z-shaped lake in the middle of the summer! Y'all academicals know how to live.

Have a lovely time!

>180 LovingLit: Good job, Dad!! We cut our own tree down this year and it didn't look that big out in the fields, but when we got it home it was HUGE!!!! LOL. I think we have enough ornaments though. : ) Hope to get it decorated soon.

>181 richardderus: Ikr!! And with all roads south closed last weekend due to flooding, we had to fly. It wasn't very good considering we were a party of 4....and the z-shaped lake thing. That is quite disorienting, as it is so hard to get a scale of how large (and deep) the lake actually is. It is quite the luxury holiday for me actually. I am loving it :)

>182 Berly: the whole conference thing has thrown me off - no Christmas tree here in my accommodation!

Summer Christmas is the oddest of all the things the Southern Hemisphere has to offer humanity...from the Northern perspective...as the idea of the Jolly Old Elf in his red velvet fur-trimmed suit dashing through the snow, popping down a chimney, really should be a beardy studmuffin in a red Speedo dashing through the surf before squirming through the a/c ductwork.

...come to think of it...*checks NZ flights*

>184 richardderus: LOL!

>184 richardderus: Ha! Beardy stud muffin santas sounds fab! Not sure I want one squirming through my ductwork though (lol).

>185 jnwelch: Always, right?

Bought a book!


Beastings by Benjamin Myers.

>187 LovingLit: That sounds very interesting. I gather it's an historical novel about Scotland(ish) area(like) places?

Studly Yule!

>188 richardderus: Northern England (Cumbria?), set in the quite distant past, I think. Described as brilliant and brutal- right up my alley!

>189 LovingLit: Northwestern England, apparently; administered from Carlisle, the former seat of Cumberland. Apparently the place has never forgiven the South for William Rufus forcing "colonists" on it in 1092.

::eyeroll::

>190 richardderus: well, 1092 isn't *that* far back...oh, hang on. It is.

Soviet Santa says "Happy Yule!" Solstice Greetings to all. Read more here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/soviet-santa

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Or in other words, Happy Christmas! And have a great New Year as well.

Hi Megan!

Merry Christmas Megan and family from both of us dear friend.

Happy Holidays, Megan!

Merry Christmas from North Carolina!

Thank you for keeping me company in 2019.......onward to 2020.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Best wishes this holiday season!! See you in 2020!

So lovely to see all the Christmas greetings here for me :) Thank you all.
We have ben holidaying...that is, getting out and about (pool/river swimming, outings and eatings) and trying to cram in some work hours too.

Gearing up to send W south to his uncle's house for a few days...and settling in for some chill times with *just one kid*. Happy holidays everyone!

Sounds marvellous! Hope you continue to enjoy your summer break :-)

Completing two books on the last day of the year! An two which oddly go together, as welll.


BOOK 39
Beastings by Benjamin Myers (222p)

The story: amazing. The writing: incredible.
What's not to like?
Well, some may be turned off by the destitution and despair faced by the protagonist. Some may be offended by the portrayal of the church and of those in certain leadership position within. Some may find the whole thing depressing and sad. But not me. I loved it. If you like noir, or literary fiction, and even better, if you like both, read this book.



BOOK 40
I am the Cheese by Robert Cormier YA (232p)

This one was published in the late 1970s but stands today as a fantastic example of storytelling. And the cover! It totally drew me in. Unfortunately I read a spoiler so the unfolding of the plot was without the suspense that would have made it brilliant.

Another resolution is to keep up in 2020 with all my friends on LT. Happy New Year!

Wishing you 12 months of success
52 weeks of laughter
366 days of fun (leap year!)
8,784 hours of joy
527,040 minutes of good luck
and 31,622,400 seconds of happiness!!

Hi Megan my dear, wishing you and the family a very Happy New Year from both of us dear friend.

Thanks for the New Years wishes!!!

Me and Little Len and the lovely other stayed up til midnight; we slept in the lounge and watched Gulliver's Travels on DVD! Today was around 30 deg C and we went to the pool and then to the local quarry where the council had set up a slip'n'slide (bio hose, dishwashing liquid and wrench to get tap on).