PAUL C INTO THE ROARING 20S - Part 19
This is a continuation of the topic PAUL C INTO THE ROARING 20S - Part 18.
This topic was continued by PAUL C INTO THE ROARING 20S - Part 20.
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2020
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2PaulCranswick
Poem
I am currently reading Sharon Olds sophomore collection The Dead and the Living (well reading it through for the second and third times) and remain convinced that she is America's premier poetic voice.
This poem is called THE END
We decided to have the abortion, became
killers together. The period that came
changed nothing. They were dead, that young couple
who had been for life.
As we talked of it in bed, the crash
was not a surprise. We went to the window,
looked at the crushed cars and the gleaming
curved shears of glass as if we had
done it. Cops pulled the bodies out
Bloody as births from the small, smoking
aperture of the door, laid them
on the hill, covered them with blankets that soaked
through. Blood
began to pour
down my legs into my slippers. I stood
where I was until they shot the bound
form into the black hole
of the ambulance and stood the other one
up, a bandage covering its head,
stained where the eyes had been.
The next morning I had to kneel
an hour on that floor, to clean up my blood,
rubbing with wet cloths at those glittering
translucent spots, as one has to soak
a long time to deglaze the pan
when the feast is over.
I am currently reading Sharon Olds sophomore collection The Dead and the Living (well reading it through for the second and third times) and remain convinced that she is America's premier poetic voice.
This poem is called THE END
We decided to have the abortion, became
killers together. The period that came
changed nothing. They were dead, that young couple
who had been for life.
As we talked of it in bed, the crash
was not a surprise. We went to the window,
looked at the crushed cars and the gleaming
curved shears of glass as if we had
done it. Cops pulled the bodies out
Bloody as births from the small, smoking
aperture of the door, laid them
on the hill, covered them with blankets that soaked
through. Blood
began to pour
down my legs into my slippers. I stood
where I was until they shot the bound
form into the black hole
of the ambulance and stood the other one
up, a bandage covering its head,
stained where the eyes had been.
The next morning I had to kneel
an hour on that floor, to clean up my blood,
rubbing with wet cloths at those glittering
translucent spots, as one has to soak
a long time to deglaze the pan
when the feast is over.
3PaulCranswick
BOOKS READ FIRST QUARTER OF 2020
January
1. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (2016) 149 pp - BAC Challenge
2. Paper Aeroplane by Simon Armitage (2014) 232 pp
3. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (1985) 171 pp - BAC Challenge
4. The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick by Peter Handke (1970) 133 pp - Nobel winner
5. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (2006) 312 pp
6. Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn (1972) 93 pp BAC Challenge
7. I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti (2001) 225 pp
8. Death Walks in Eastrepps by Francis Beeding (1931) 252 pp
9. Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminski (2019) 78 pp
10. Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham (2012) 377 pp
11. James II : The Last Catholic King by David Womersley (2015) 99 pp
12. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911) 313 pp
13. The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot (1922) 41 pp
14. England and the Aeroplane by David Edgerton (1991) 172 pp
February
15. Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan (2018) 182 pp
16. The World's Two Smallest Humans by Julia Copus (2012) 52 pp
17. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1991) 110 pp
18. The History Boys by Alan Bennett (2004) 200 pp BAC Challenge
19. Dregs by Jan Lier Horst (2010) 310 pp
20. On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis (2018) 313 pp
21. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (1993) 280 pp
22. The Roominghouse Madrigals by Charles Bukowski (1988) 256 pp
23. Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane (1996) 233 pp BAC Challenge
24. As it Was by Fred Trueman (2004) 397 pp
25. The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (1973) 314 pp BOOKER WINNER
26. Varina by Charles Frazier (2018) 353 pp AAC
27. A Timbered Choir by Wendell Berry (1998) 216 pp AAC
March
28. Past Tense by Lee Child (2018) 461 pp
29. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (2009) 266 pp NOBEL
30. Over the Moon by Imtiaz Dharkar (2014) 155 pp
31. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) 287 pp PULITZER
32. Witness : Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger (2018) 255 pp
33. Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara (1957) 52 pp
34. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli (2013) 183 pp
35. Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1887) 58 pp
36. Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson (2010) 252 pp
37. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (1811) 374 pp
38. The English Civil War by David Clark (2008) 154 pp
39. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1996) 280 pp
40. The Librarian by Salley Vickers (2018) 385 pp
41. The Holy Fox by Andrew Roberts (1991) 414 pp
January
1. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (2016) 149 pp - BAC Challenge
2. Paper Aeroplane by Simon Armitage (2014) 232 pp
3. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (1985) 171 pp - BAC Challenge
4. The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick by Peter Handke (1970) 133 pp - Nobel winner
5. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (2006) 312 pp
6. Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn (1972) 93 pp BAC Challenge
7. I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti (2001) 225 pp
8. Death Walks in Eastrepps by Francis Beeding (1931) 252 pp
9. Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminski (2019) 78 pp
10. Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham (2012) 377 pp
11. James II : The Last Catholic King by David Womersley (2015) 99 pp
12. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911) 313 pp
13. The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot (1922) 41 pp
14. England and the Aeroplane by David Edgerton (1991) 172 pp
February
15. Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan (2018) 182 pp
16. The World's Two Smallest Humans by Julia Copus (2012) 52 pp
17. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1991) 110 pp
18. The History Boys by Alan Bennett (2004) 200 pp BAC Challenge
19. Dregs by Jan Lier Horst (2010) 310 pp
20. On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis (2018) 313 pp
21. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (1993) 280 pp
22. The Roominghouse Madrigals by Charles Bukowski (1988) 256 pp
23. Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane (1996) 233 pp BAC Challenge
24. As it Was by Fred Trueman (2004) 397 pp
25. The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (1973) 314 pp BOOKER WINNER
26. Varina by Charles Frazier (2018) 353 pp AAC
27. A Timbered Choir by Wendell Berry (1998) 216 pp AAC
March
28. Past Tense by Lee Child (2018) 461 pp
29. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (2009) 266 pp NOBEL
30. Over the Moon by Imtiaz Dharkar (2014) 155 pp
31. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) 287 pp PULITZER
32. Witness : Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger (2018) 255 pp
33. Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara (1957) 52 pp
34. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli (2013) 183 pp
35. Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1887) 58 pp
36. Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson (2010) 252 pp
37. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (1811) 374 pp
38. The English Civil War by David Clark (2008) 154 pp
39. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1996) 280 pp
40. The Librarian by Salley Vickers (2018) 385 pp
41. The Holy Fox by Andrew Roberts (1991) 414 pp
4PaulCranswick
BOOKS READ SECOND QUARTER OF 2020
April
42. The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig (2010) 129 pp
43. Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill (1956) 110 pp
44. Look We Have Coming to Dover! by Daljit Nagra (2007) 55 pp
45. Icarus by Deon Meyer (2015) 360 pp
46. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (2019) 452 pp
47. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (1972) 172 pp
48. Behind the Sofa : Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who by Steve Berry (2013) 216 pp
49. Please Sir! by Jack Sheffield (2011) 336 pp
50. American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes (2018) 82 pp
51. The Sea Gull by Anton Checkhov (1896) 68 pp
52. The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz (1961) 70 pp
53. Divided : Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall (2018) 288 pp
54. Frozen Moment by Camilla Ceder (2009) 378 pp
55. North by Seamus Heaney (1975) 68 pp
56. Cambridge by Caryl Phillips (1991) 184 pp
57. Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott (2017) 456 pp
58. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (2017) 363 pp
May
59. The Drought by J.G. Ballard (1965) 233 pp
60. A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt (1960) 163 pp
61. The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola (1990) 115 pp
62. Tales of Long Ago by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1922) 186 pp
63. Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley (2008) 87 pp
64. Atlantic Fury by Hammond Innes (1962) 308 pp
65. The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West (1963) 375 pp
66. The War Hound and the World's Pain by Michael Moorcock (1981) 208 pp
67. Boomerang by Michael Lewis (2011) 212pp
68. Field Work by Seamus Heaney (1979) 56 pp
69. The Citadel by A.J. Cronin (1937) 401 pp
70. Unstoppable: My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova (2017) 289 pp
71. Selected Poems by Marianne Moore (1935) 109 pp
72. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis (2005) 266 pp
June
73. Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot (1935) 88 pp
74. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (1978) 156 pp
75. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (2016) 340 pp
76. The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim (1920) 221 pp
77. Selected Poems of Odysseus Elytis by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 115 pp
78. Zonal by Don Paterson (2020) 68 pp
79. Staying On by Paul Scott (1977) 255 pp
April
42. The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig (2010) 129 pp
43. Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill (1956) 110 pp
44. Look We Have Coming to Dover! by Daljit Nagra (2007) 55 pp
45. Icarus by Deon Meyer (2015) 360 pp
46. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (2019) 452 pp
47. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (1972) 172 pp
48. Behind the Sofa : Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who by Steve Berry (2013) 216 pp
49. Please Sir! by Jack Sheffield (2011) 336 pp
50. American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes (2018) 82 pp
51. The Sea Gull by Anton Checkhov (1896) 68 pp
52. The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz (1961) 70 pp
53. Divided : Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall (2018) 288 pp
54. Frozen Moment by Camilla Ceder (2009) 378 pp
55. North by Seamus Heaney (1975) 68 pp
56. Cambridge by Caryl Phillips (1991) 184 pp
57. Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott (2017) 456 pp
58. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (2017) 363 pp
May
59. The Drought by J.G. Ballard (1965) 233 pp
60. A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt (1960) 163 pp
61. The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola (1990) 115 pp
62. Tales of Long Ago by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1922) 186 pp
63. Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley (2008) 87 pp
64. Atlantic Fury by Hammond Innes (1962) 308 pp
65. The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West (1963) 375 pp
66. The War Hound and the World's Pain by Michael Moorcock (1981) 208 pp
67. Boomerang by Michael Lewis (2011) 212pp
68. Field Work by Seamus Heaney (1979) 56 pp
69. The Citadel by A.J. Cronin (1937) 401 pp
70. Unstoppable: My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova (2017) 289 pp
71. Selected Poems by Marianne Moore (1935) 109 pp
72. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis (2005) 266 pp
June
73. Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot (1935) 88 pp
74. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (1978) 156 pp
75. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (2016) 340 pp
76. The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim (1920) 221 pp
77. Selected Poems of Odysseus Elytis by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 115 pp
78. Zonal by Don Paterson (2020) 68 pp
79. Staying On by Paul Scott (1977) 255 pp
5PaulCranswick
BOOKS READ THIRD QUARTER OF 2020
July
80. Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (1999) 296 pp
81. Serve the People! by Yan Lianke (2007) 228 pp
82. The Expedition of Cyrus by Xenophon (c370 BC) 225 pp
83. Morvern Callar by Alan Warner (1995) 204 pp
84. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (1953) 91 pp
85. The Seeker and Other Poems by Nelly Sacks (1970) 399 pp
86. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (2003) 208 pp
87. Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente (2011) 349 pp
88. Castle Richmond by Anthony Trollope (1861) 757 pp
89. Winnie-the-Pooh by AA Milne (1926) 161 pp
90. The Dark Film by Paul Farley (2012) 55 pp
91. Eight Hours from England by Anthony Quayle (1945) 228 pp
August
92. Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert M Utley (1993) 314 pp
93. The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths (2010) 327 pp
94. The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds (1983) 80 pp
95. Dominicana by Angie Cruz (2019) 319 pp
July
80. Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (1999) 296 pp
81. Serve the People! by Yan Lianke (2007) 228 pp
82. The Expedition of Cyrus by Xenophon (c370 BC) 225 pp
83. Morvern Callar by Alan Warner (1995) 204 pp
84. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (1953) 91 pp
85. The Seeker and Other Poems by Nelly Sacks (1970) 399 pp
86. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (2003) 208 pp
87. Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente (2011) 349 pp
88. Castle Richmond by Anthony Trollope (1861) 757 pp
89. Winnie-the-Pooh by AA Milne (1926) 161 pp
90. The Dark Film by Paul Farley (2012) 55 pp
91. Eight Hours from England by Anthony Quayle (1945) 228 pp
August
92. Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert M Utley (1993) 314 pp
93. The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths (2010) 327 pp
94. The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds (1983) 80 pp
95. Dominicana by Angie Cruz (2019) 319 pp
6PaulCranswick
Currently Reading
7PaulCranswick
READING PLAN FOR 2020
I always start out ambitiously but not having made 100 books in the last two years I am going all out to read 20 books a month next year and go well past 200 for the first time since my University days.
20 Categories for 2020 which will also give a nod to my other challenges and longer term projects.
The twenty categories are :
1. British Author Challenge
2. British Poetry
3. Contemporary British Fiction
4. World Poetry
5. 1001 Books
6. Plays
7. American Author Challenge
8. Non-Fiction
9. History
10. Current Affairs
11. Booker Nominees
12. Nobel Winners
13. Scandi
14. Series Books
15. Thrillers/Mystery
16. Classic Fiction
17. 21st Century Fiction
18. World Literature
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy
20. Pot Luck
I always start out ambitiously but not having made 100 books in the last two years I am going all out to read 20 books a month next year and go well past 200 for the first time since my University days.
20 Categories for 2020 which will also give a nod to my other challenges and longer term projects.
The twenty categories are :
1. British Author Challenge
2. British Poetry
3. Contemporary British Fiction
4. World Poetry
5. 1001 Books
6. Plays
7. American Author Challenge
8. Non-Fiction
9. History
10. Current Affairs
11. Booker Nominees
12. Nobel Winners
13. Scandi
14. Series Books
15. Thrillers/Mystery
16. Classic Fiction
17. 21st Century Fiction
18. World Literature
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy
20. Pot Luck
8PaulCranswick
BRITISH ISLES AUTHOR CHALLENGE 2020
The general thread can be found here : https://www.librarything.com/topic/315141
January: Jeanette Winterson & Graham Swift
February: The 1990s - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6991758
March: Jane Austen & Walter Scott
April: Bernardine Evaristo & Caryl Phillips
May: New Wave Sci-Fi : Michael Moorcock, J. G. Ballard, & Brian Aldiss
June: Penelope Fitzgerald & Patrick Gale
July: Elly Griffiths & Winston Graham
August: The Brontë Sisters : Charlotte Bronte, Anne Bronte & Emily Bronte
September: World War II - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6999459
October: Joanne Harris & George Orwell
November: Fay Weldon & John le Carré
December: The 2010s : https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6999620
Wildcard: Playwrights - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#7000002
The general thread can be found here : https://www.librarything.com/topic/315141
January: Jeanette Winterson & Graham Swift
February: The 1990s - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6991758
March: Jane Austen & Walter Scott
April: Bernardine Evaristo & Caryl Phillips
May: New Wave Sci-Fi : Michael Moorcock, J. G. Ballard, & Brian Aldiss
June: Penelope Fitzgerald & Patrick Gale
July: Elly Griffiths & Winston Graham
August: The Brontë Sisters : Charlotte Bronte, Anne Bronte & Emily Bronte
September: World War II - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6999459
October: Joanne Harris & George Orwell
November: Fay Weldon & John le Carré
December: The 2010s : https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6999620
Wildcard: Playwrights - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#7000002
9PaulCranswick
AMERICAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE
January Charles Frazier - Varina
February Grace Paley - Fidelity : Poems
March David McCullough
April Francine Prose
May E. Lynn Harris
June Jean Stafford
July Wendell Berry - A Timbered Choir
August Robert Penn Warren
September Dawn Powell
October Ward Just
November Ann Petry
December Tony Hillerman
January Charles Frazier - Varina
February Grace Paley - Fidelity : Poems
March David McCullough
April Francine Prose
May E. Lynn Harris
June Jean Stafford
July Wendell Berry - A Timbered Choir
August Robert Penn Warren
September Dawn Powell
October Ward Just
November Ann Petry
December Tony Hillerman
10PaulCranswick
My last decade of reading (probably my worst since I started reading).
Total Books Read : 1,145 books
1 book every 3.2 days
Best Reading Year : 2013 with 157 books
Worst Reading Year : 2019 with 76 books
My Books of the Year on LT:
2011 : Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2012 : The Road Home by Rose Tremain
2013 : Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
2014 : Plainsong by Kent Haruf
2015 : Winter King by Thomas Penn
2016 : The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
2017 : The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
2018 : Country Girls by Edna O'Brien
2019 : The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
Total Books Read : 1,145 books
1 book every 3.2 days
Best Reading Year : 2013 with 157 books
Worst Reading Year : 2019 with 76 books
My Books of the Year on LT:
2011 : Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2012 : The Road Home by Rose Tremain
2013 : Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
2014 : Plainsong by Kent Haruf
2015 : Winter King by Thomas Penn
2016 : The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
2017 : The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
2018 : Country Girls by Edna O'Brien
2019 : The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
11PaulCranswick
Personal Reading Challenge: Every winner of the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969
1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For - READ
1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member
1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize) - READ
1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
1972: John Berger, G.
1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur - READ
1974: Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist ... and Stanley Middleton, Holiday - READ
1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust - READ
1976: David Storey, Saville - READ
1977: Paul Scott, Staying On - READ
1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea
1979: Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore - READ
1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage - READ
1981: Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children - READ
1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark - READ
1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K
1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac - READ
1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People
1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils - READ
1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger - READ
1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda
1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance - READ
1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient ... and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger - READ
1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late
1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders - READ
1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things READ
1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam - READ
1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace - READ
2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang - READ
2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi
2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty
2005: John Banville, The Sea - READ
2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss
2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering - READ
2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger - READ
2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall - READ
2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question
2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending - READ
2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies - READ
2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North - READ
2015: Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings - READ
2016: Paul Beatty, The Sellout - READ
2017: George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo
2018: Anna Burns, Milkman
2019: Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, and Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other
READ 31 of 55 WINNERS
1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For - READ
1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member
1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize) - READ
1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
1972: John Berger, G.
1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur - READ
1974: Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist ... and Stanley Middleton, Holiday - READ
1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust - READ
1976: David Storey, Saville - READ
1977: Paul Scott, Staying On - READ
1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea
1979: Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore - READ
1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage - READ
1981: Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children - READ
1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark - READ
1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K
1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac - READ
1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People
1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils - READ
1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger - READ
1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda
1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance - READ
1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient ... and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger - READ
1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late
1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders - READ
1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things READ
1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam - READ
1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace - READ
2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang - READ
2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi
2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty
2005: John Banville, The Sea - READ
2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss
2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering - READ
2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger - READ
2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall - READ
2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question
2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending - READ
2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies - READ
2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North - READ
2015: Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings - READ
2016: Paul Beatty, The Sellout - READ
2017: George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo
2018: Anna Burns, Milkman
2019: Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, and Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other
READ 31 of 55 WINNERS
12PaulCranswick
Pulitzer Winners
As with the Bookers, I want to eventually read all the Pulitzer winners (for fiction at least) and have most of the recent ones on the shelves at least. Current status.
Fiction
1918 HIS FAMILY - Ernest Poole
1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington
1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton
1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington
1923 ONE OF OURS - Willa Cather
1924 THE ABLE MCLAUGHLINS - Margaret Wilson
1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber
1926 ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined)
1927 EARLY AUTUMN - Louis Bromfield
1928 THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder
1929 SCARLET SISTER MARY - Julia Peterkin
1930 LAUGHING BOY - Oliver Lafarge ON SHELVES
1931 YEARS OF GRACE - Margaret Ayer Barnes
1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck
1933 THE STORE - Thomas Sigismund Stribling
1934 LAMB IN HIS BOSOM - Caroline Miller
1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson
1936 HONEY IN THE HORN - Harold L Davis
1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell ON SHELVES
1938 THE LATE GEORGE APLEY - John Phillips Marquand
1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck
1942 IN THIS OUR LIFE - Ellen Glasgow
1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
1944 JOURNEY IN THE DARK - Martin Flavin
1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey ON SHELVES
1947 ALL THE KING'S MEN - Robert Penn Warren ON SHELVES
1948 TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC - James Michener
1949 GUARD OF HONOR - James Gould Cozzens
1950 THE WAY WEST - A.B. Guthrie
1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
1952 THE CAINE MUTINY - Herman Wouk
1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway
1955 A FABLE - William Faulkner
1956 ANDERSONVILLE - McKinlay Kantor
1958 A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee ON SHELVES
1959 THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE McPHEETERS - Robert Lewis Taylor
1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury
1961 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee
1962 THE EDGE OF SADNESS - Edwin O'Connor
1963 THE REIVERS - William Faulkner
1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau
1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter
1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
1968 THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER - William Styron
1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday ON SHELVES
1970 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEAN STAFFORD - Jean Stafford
1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner ON SHELVES
1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty ON SHELVES
1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara ON SHELVES
1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow
1978 ELBOW ROOM - James Alan McPherson
1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever ON SHELVES
1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer ON SHELVES
1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole ON SHELVES
1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike
1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker ON SHELVES
1984 IRONWEED - William Kennedy ON SHELVES
1985 FOREIGN AFFAIRS - Alison Lurie ON SHELVES
1986 LONESOME DOVE - Larry McMurtry ON SHELVES
1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison - ON SHELVES
1989 BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler
1990 THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE - Oscar Hijuelos
1991 RABBIT AT REST - John Updike
1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley
1993 A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN - Robert Olen Butler
1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx
1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields ON SHELVES
1996 INDEPENDENCE DAY - Richard Ford ON SHELVES
1997 MARTIN DRESSLER - Steven Millhauser ON SHELVES
1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth ON SHELVES
1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham ON SHELVES
2000 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES - Jumpha Lahiri
2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon ON SHELVES
2002 EMPIRE FALLS - Richard Russo ON SHELVES
2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides ON SHELVES
2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones ON SHELVES
2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson ON SHELVES
2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz ON SHELVES
2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout ON SHELVES
2010 TINKERS - Paul Harding
2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan ON SHELVES
2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson ON SHELVES
2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt ON SHELVES
2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr ON SHELVES
2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen ON SHELVES
2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead ON SHELVES
2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer ON SHELVES
2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers ON SHELVES
2020 THE NICKEL BOYS - Colson Whitehead ON SHELVES
16 READ
38 ON SHELVES
39 NOT OWNED OR READ
93 TOTAL
As with the Bookers, I want to eventually read all the Pulitzer winners (for fiction at least) and have most of the recent ones on the shelves at least. Current status.
Fiction
1918 HIS FAMILY - Ernest Poole
1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington
1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton
1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington
1923 ONE OF OURS - Willa Cather
1924 THE ABLE MCLAUGHLINS - Margaret Wilson
1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber
1926 ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined)
1927 EARLY AUTUMN - Louis Bromfield
1928 THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder
1929 SCARLET SISTER MARY - Julia Peterkin
1930 LAUGHING BOY - Oliver Lafarge ON SHELVES
1931 YEARS OF GRACE - Margaret Ayer Barnes
1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck
1933 THE STORE - Thomas Sigismund Stribling
1934 LAMB IN HIS BOSOM - Caroline Miller
1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson
1936 HONEY IN THE HORN - Harold L Davis
1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell ON SHELVES
1938 THE LATE GEORGE APLEY - John Phillips Marquand
1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck
1942 IN THIS OUR LIFE - Ellen Glasgow
1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
1944 JOURNEY IN THE DARK - Martin Flavin
1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey ON SHELVES
1947 ALL THE KING'S MEN - Robert Penn Warren ON SHELVES
1948 TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC - James Michener
1949 GUARD OF HONOR - James Gould Cozzens
1950 THE WAY WEST - A.B. Guthrie
1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
1952 THE CAINE MUTINY - Herman Wouk
1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway
1955 A FABLE - William Faulkner
1956 ANDERSONVILLE - McKinlay Kantor
1958 A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee ON SHELVES
1959 THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE McPHEETERS - Robert Lewis Taylor
1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury
1961 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee
1962 THE EDGE OF SADNESS - Edwin O'Connor
1963 THE REIVERS - William Faulkner
1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau
1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter
1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
1968 THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER - William Styron
1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday ON SHELVES
1970 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEAN STAFFORD - Jean Stafford
1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner ON SHELVES
1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty ON SHELVES
1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara ON SHELVES
1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow
1978 ELBOW ROOM - James Alan McPherson
1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever ON SHELVES
1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer ON SHELVES
1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole ON SHELVES
1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike
1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker ON SHELVES
1984 IRONWEED - William Kennedy ON SHELVES
1985 FOREIGN AFFAIRS - Alison Lurie ON SHELVES
1986 LONESOME DOVE - Larry McMurtry ON SHELVES
1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison - ON SHELVES
1989 BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler
1990 THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE - Oscar Hijuelos
1991 RABBIT AT REST - John Updike
1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley
1993 A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN - Robert Olen Butler
1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx
1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields ON SHELVES
1996 INDEPENDENCE DAY - Richard Ford ON SHELVES
1997 MARTIN DRESSLER - Steven Millhauser ON SHELVES
1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth ON SHELVES
1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham ON SHELVES
2000 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES - Jumpha Lahiri
2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon ON SHELVES
2002 EMPIRE FALLS - Richard Russo ON SHELVES
2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides ON SHELVES
2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones ON SHELVES
2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson ON SHELVES
2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz ON SHELVES
2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout ON SHELVES
2010 TINKERS - Paul Harding
2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan ON SHELVES
2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson ON SHELVES
2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt ON SHELVES
2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr ON SHELVES
2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen ON SHELVES
2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead ON SHELVES
2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer ON SHELVES
2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers ON SHELVES
2020 THE NICKEL BOYS - Colson Whitehead ON SHELVES
16 READ
38 ON SHELVES
39 NOT OWNED OR READ
93 TOTAL
13PaulCranswick
NOBELS
Update on my Nobel Prize Winning Reading:
1901 Sully Prudhomme
1902 Theodor Mommsen
1903 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
1904 Frédéric Mistral and José Echegaray y Eizaquirre
1905 Henryk Sienkiewicz
1906 Giosuè Carducci
1907 Rudyard Kipling - READ
1908 Rudolf Christoph Eucken
1909 Selma Lagerlöf
1910 Paul Heyse --
1911 Count Maurice Maeterlinck
1912 Gerhart Hauptmann
1913 Rabindranath Tagore - READ
1915 Romain Rolland
1916 Verner von Heidenstam
1917 Karl Adolph Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan
1919 Carl Spitteler
1920 Knut Hamsun - READ
1921 Anatole France - READ
1922 Jacinto Benavente
1923 William Butler Yeats - READ
1924 Wladyslaw Reymont
1925 George Bernard Shaw
1926 Grazia Deledda - READ
1927 Henri Bergson
1928 Sigrid Undset
1929 Thomas Mann - READ
1930 Sinclair Lewis - READ
1931 Erik Axel Karlfeldt
1932 John Galsworthy - READ
1933 Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin - READ
1934 Luigi Pirandello - READ
1936 Eugene O'Neill - READ
1937 Roger Martin du Gard
1938 Pearl S. Buck - READ
1939 Frans Eemil Sillanpää
1944 Johannes Vilhelm Jensen
1945 Gabriela Mistral
1946 Hermann Hesse - READ
1947 André Gide - READ
1948 T.S. Elliot - READ
1949 William Faulkner - READ
1950 Bertrand Russell - READ
1951 Pär Lagerkvist - READ
1952 François Mauriac - READ
1953 Sir Winston Churchill - READ
1954 Ernest Hemingway - READ
1955 Halldór Laxness - READ
1956 Juan Ramón Jiménez
1957 Albert Camus - READ
1958 Boris Pasternak (declined the prize) - READ
1959 Salvatore Quasimodo
1960 Saint-John Perse
1961 Ivo Andric - READ
1962 John Steinbeck - READ
1963 Giorgos Seferis
1964 Jean-Paul Sartre (declined the prize) - READ
1965 Michail Sholokhov
1966 Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs - READ
1967 Miguel Ángel Asturias
1968 Yasunari Kawabata - READ
1969 Samuel Beckett - READ
1970 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - READ
1971 Pablo Neruda - READ
1972 Heinrich Böll - READ
1973 Patrick White
1974 Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson
1975 Eugenio Montale
1976 Saul Bellow - READ
1977 Vincente Aleixandre
1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer - READ
1979 Odysseas Elytis - READ
1980 Czeslaw Milosz
1981 Elias Canetti
1982 Gabriel Garciá Márquez - READ
1983 William Golding - READ
1984 Jaroslav Seifert - READ
1985 Claude Simon - READ
1986 Akinwande Ouwoe Soyinka
1987 Joseph Brodsky - READ
1988 Naguib Mahfouz - READ
1989 Camilo José Cela - READ
1990 Octavio Paz
1991 Nadine Gordimer - READ
1992 Derek Walcott - READ
1993 Toni Morrison - READ
1994 Kenzaburo Oe - READ
1995 Seamus Heaney - READ
1996 Wislawa Szymborska - READ
1997 Dario Fo - READ
1998 José Saramago - READ
1999 Günter Grass
2000 Gao Xingjian
2001 Vidiadhar Surjprasad Naipaul - READ
2002 Imre Kertész - READ
2003 John Maxwell Coetzee - READ
2004 Elfriede Jelinek - READ
2005 Harold Pinter - READ
2006 Orhan Pamuk - READ
2007 Doris Lessing - READ
2008 J.M.G. Le Clézio
2009 Herta Müller - READ
2010 Mario Vargas Llosa - READ
2011 Tomas Tranströmer - READ
2012 Mo Yan
2013 Alice Munro - READ
2014 Patrick Modiano - READ
2015 Svetlana Alexievich - READ
2016 Bob Dylan - READ
2017 Kazuo Ishiguro - READ
2018 Olga Tokarczuk - READ
2019 Peter Handke - READ
READ 69 OF
116 LAUREATES
Update on my Nobel Prize Winning Reading:
1901 Sully Prudhomme
1902 Theodor Mommsen
1903 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
1904 Frédéric Mistral and José Echegaray y Eizaquirre
1905 Henryk Sienkiewicz
1906 Giosuè Carducci
1907 Rudyard Kipling - READ
1908 Rudolf Christoph Eucken
1909 Selma Lagerlöf
1910 Paul Heyse --
1911 Count Maurice Maeterlinck
1912 Gerhart Hauptmann
1913 Rabindranath Tagore - READ
1915 Romain Rolland
1916 Verner von Heidenstam
1917 Karl Adolph Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan
1919 Carl Spitteler
1920 Knut Hamsun - READ
1921 Anatole France - READ
1922 Jacinto Benavente
1923 William Butler Yeats - READ
1924 Wladyslaw Reymont
1925 George Bernard Shaw
1926 Grazia Deledda - READ
1927 Henri Bergson
1928 Sigrid Undset
1929 Thomas Mann - READ
1930 Sinclair Lewis - READ
1931 Erik Axel Karlfeldt
1932 John Galsworthy - READ
1933 Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin - READ
1934 Luigi Pirandello - READ
1936 Eugene O'Neill - READ
1937 Roger Martin du Gard
1938 Pearl S. Buck - READ
1939 Frans Eemil Sillanpää
1944 Johannes Vilhelm Jensen
1945 Gabriela Mistral
1946 Hermann Hesse - READ
1947 André Gide - READ
1948 T.S. Elliot - READ
1949 William Faulkner - READ
1950 Bertrand Russell - READ
1951 Pär Lagerkvist - READ
1952 François Mauriac - READ
1953 Sir Winston Churchill - READ
1954 Ernest Hemingway - READ
1955 Halldór Laxness - READ
1956 Juan Ramón Jiménez
1957 Albert Camus - READ
1958 Boris Pasternak (declined the prize) - READ
1959 Salvatore Quasimodo
1960 Saint-John Perse
1961 Ivo Andric - READ
1962 John Steinbeck - READ
1963 Giorgos Seferis
1964 Jean-Paul Sartre (declined the prize) - READ
1965 Michail Sholokhov
1966 Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs - READ
1967 Miguel Ángel Asturias
1968 Yasunari Kawabata - READ
1969 Samuel Beckett - READ
1970 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - READ
1971 Pablo Neruda - READ
1972 Heinrich Böll - READ
1973 Patrick White
1974 Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson
1975 Eugenio Montale
1976 Saul Bellow - READ
1977 Vincente Aleixandre
1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer - READ
1979 Odysseas Elytis - READ
1980 Czeslaw Milosz
1981 Elias Canetti
1982 Gabriel Garciá Márquez - READ
1983 William Golding - READ
1984 Jaroslav Seifert - READ
1985 Claude Simon - READ
1986 Akinwande Ouwoe Soyinka
1987 Joseph Brodsky - READ
1988 Naguib Mahfouz - READ
1989 Camilo José Cela - READ
1990 Octavio Paz
1991 Nadine Gordimer - READ
1992 Derek Walcott - READ
1993 Toni Morrison - READ
1994 Kenzaburo Oe - READ
1995 Seamus Heaney - READ
1996 Wislawa Szymborska - READ
1997 Dario Fo - READ
1998 José Saramago - READ
1999 Günter Grass
2000 Gao Xingjian
2001 Vidiadhar Surjprasad Naipaul - READ
2002 Imre Kertész - READ
2003 John Maxwell Coetzee - READ
2004 Elfriede Jelinek - READ
2005 Harold Pinter - READ
2006 Orhan Pamuk - READ
2007 Doris Lessing - READ
2008 J.M.G. Le Clézio
2009 Herta Müller - READ
2010 Mario Vargas Llosa - READ
2011 Tomas Tranströmer - READ
2012 Mo Yan
2013 Alice Munro - READ
2014 Patrick Modiano - READ
2015 Svetlana Alexievich - READ
2016 Bob Dylan - READ
2017 Kazuo Ishiguro - READ
2018 Olga Tokarczuk - READ
2019 Peter Handke - READ
READ 69 OF
116 LAUREATES
14PaulCranswick
LIT HUB'S 50 CHUNKSTERS & MY 20 ALTERNATIVES
These are the 50 Literary Hub Must Read Chunksters:
1. The Overstory by Richard Powers OWNED
2. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
3. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco OWNED
4. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee OWNED
5. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell OWNED
6. The Witch Elm by Tana French OWNED
7. The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood OWNED
8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr OWNED
9. Little, Big by John Crowley
10. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides OWNED
11. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
12. Possession by A.S. Byatt READ
13. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel READ
14. The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
15. The Secret History by Donna Tartt READ
16. The Parisian : A Novel
17. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie OWNED
18. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters READ
19. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami OWNED
20. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson OWNED
21. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie READ
22. American Gods by Neil Gaiman READ
23. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon OWNED
24. The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu OWNED
25. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen OWNED
26. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray OWNED
27. A Naked Singularity by Sergio de la Pava
28. An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
29. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James READ
30. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson OWNED
31. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe OWNED
32. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara OWNED
33. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin OWNED
34. JR by William Gaddis OWNED
35. Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
36. Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon OWNED
37. Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
38. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett OWNED
39. The Stand by Stephen King OWNED
40. Underworld by Don DeLillo READ
41. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton OWNED
42. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke READ
43. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry OWNED
44. 2666 by Roberto Bolano OWNED
45. Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra OWNED
46. Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann OWNED
47. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace OWNED
48. Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas
49. Women and Men by Joseph McElroy
50. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth OWNED
& My Alternative 20
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (1995) 624 pp
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2001) 544 pp
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (2005) 720 pp
The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye (1978) 960 pp
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess (1980) 656 pp
White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000) 560 pp
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman (1982) 896 pp
Saville by David Storey (1976) 560 pp
To Serve Them All My Days by RF Delderfield (1972) 672 pp
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (1994) 533 pp
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (1992) 640 pp
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (1993) 528 pp
Sophie's Choice by William Styron (1979) 656 pp
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (2008) 544 pp
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998) 626 pp
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (1989) 656 pp
The Singapore Grip by JG Farrell (1978) 704 pp
Magician by Raymond E Feist (1982) 864 pp
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (1986) 672 pp
A Chain of Voices by Andre Brink (1982) 512 pp
These are the 50 Literary Hub Must Read Chunksters:
1. The Overstory by Richard Powers OWNED
2. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
3. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco OWNED
4. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee OWNED
5. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell OWNED
6. The Witch Elm by Tana French OWNED
7. The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood OWNED
8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr OWNED
9. Little, Big by John Crowley
10. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides OWNED
11. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
12. Possession by A.S. Byatt READ
13. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel READ
14. The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
15. The Secret History by Donna Tartt READ
16. The Parisian : A Novel
17. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie OWNED
18. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters READ
19. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami OWNED
20. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson OWNED
21. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie READ
22. American Gods by Neil Gaiman READ
23. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon OWNED
24. The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu OWNED
25. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen OWNED
26. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray OWNED
27. A Naked Singularity by Sergio de la Pava
28. An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
29. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James READ
30. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson OWNED
31. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe OWNED
32. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara OWNED
33. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin OWNED
34. JR by William Gaddis OWNED
35. Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
36. Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon OWNED
37. Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
38. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett OWNED
39. The Stand by Stephen King OWNED
40. Underworld by Don DeLillo READ
41. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton OWNED
42. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke READ
43. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry OWNED
44. 2666 by Roberto Bolano OWNED
45. Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra OWNED
46. Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann OWNED
47. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace OWNED
48. Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas
49. Women and Men by Joseph McElroy
50. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth OWNED
& My Alternative 20
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (1995) 624 pp
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2001) 544 pp
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (2005) 720 pp
The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye (1978) 960 pp
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess (1980) 656 pp
White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000) 560 pp
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman (1982) 896 pp
Saville by David Storey (1976) 560 pp
To Serve Them All My Days by RF Delderfield (1972) 672 pp
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (1994) 533 pp
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (1992) 640 pp
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (1993) 528 pp
Sophie's Choice by William Styron (1979) 656 pp
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (2008) 544 pp
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998) 626 pp
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (1989) 656 pp
The Singapore Grip by JG Farrell (1978) 704 pp
Magician by Raymond E Feist (1982) 864 pp
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (1986) 672 pp
A Chain of Voices by Andre Brink (1982) 512 pp
15PaulCranswick
2020 ADDITIONS
These are the books that I have added this year. My new rule is that any book I buy I should read before the end of the following year!
1. Submarine by Joe Dunthorne (2008) 290 pp
2. I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven (1967) 158 pp
3. The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman (1956) 171 pp
4. The Spare Room by Helen Garner (2008) 195 pp
5. Look We have Coming to Dover! by Dajit Nagra (2007) 53 pp READ APR 20
6. Hame by Annalina McAfee (2017) 577 pp
7. The Holy Fox by Andrew Roberts (1991) 414 pp READ MAR 20
8. The History Boys by Alan Bennett (2004) 200 pp READ FEB 20
9. Himself by Jess Kidd (2016) 358 pp
10. Lazarus by Morris West (1990) 375 pp
11. Judith Paris by Hugh Walpole (1931) 757 pp
12. The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope (1864) 665 pp
13. The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers (1942) 398 pp
14. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (2017) 363 pp READ APR 20
15. The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich (1985) 331 pp
16. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (1990) 578 pp
17. Eight Hours from England by Anthony Quayle (1945) 228 pp READ JULY 20
18. Dregs by Jorn Lier Horst (2010) 310 pp READ FEB 20
19. Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan READ FEB 20
20. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli READ MAR 20
21. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (1993) 280 pp READ FEB 20
22. War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans (2013) 293 pp
23. Deviation by Luce D'Eramo (1979) 344 pp
24. Caging Skies by Christine Leunens (2019) 294 pp
25. The Hunters by James Salter (1956) 233 pp
26. The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya (2012) 310 pp
27. The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz (1961) 70 pp READ APR 20
28. Darius the Great is not Okay by Adib Khorram (2018) 312 pp
29. The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo (2019) 466 pp
30. Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham (2013) 441 pp
31. Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen by Fay Weldon
32. Selected Poems: 1950-2012 by Adrienne Rich
33. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
34. Divided : Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall READ APR 20
35. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis READ MAY 20
36. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
37. Witness : Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger READ MAR 20
38. Lucy Church, Amiably by Gertrude Stein
39. Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
40. The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola READ May 20
41. After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
42. The Librarian by Salley Vickers READ MAR 20
43. Temple of a Thousand Faces by John Shors
44. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993) 311 pp
45. The Drought by J.G. Ballard (1965) 233 pp READ MAY 20
46. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (2012) 391 pp
47. Clade by James Bradley (2017) 297 pp
48. Far North by Marcel Theroux (2009) 288 pp
49. The River by Peter Heller (2019) 253 pp
50. Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1887) 58 pp READ MAR 20
51. The Sea-Gull by Anton Chekhov (1896) 68 pp READ APR 20
52. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (1900) 44 pp
53. The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (1901) 58 pp
54. The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (1904) 50 pp
55. The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig (2010) 129 pp READ APR 20
56. The Other Americans by Laila Lalami (2019) 301 pp
57. Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli (2019) 350 pp
58. Lanny by Max Porter (2019) 210 pp
59. Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley (2019) 280 pp
60. Murder in the Cathedral by TS Eliot (1935) 88 pp READ JUNE 20
61. The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West (1963) READ MAY 20
62. Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley (2008) READ MAY 20
63. The Citadel by A.J. Cronin (1937) READ MAY 20
64. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (2016) READ JUNE 20
65. American War by Omar El Akkad (2017)
66. Saltwater by Jessica Andrews (2019)
67. Unstoppable : My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova (2017) 289 pp READ MAY 20
68. The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim (1920) 288 pp READ JUNE 20
69. The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford (1969) 488 pp
70. Odysseus Elytis :Selected Poems 1940-1979 by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 112 pp READ JUNE 20
71. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926) 203 pp
72. Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou (2015) 199 pp
73. Zonal by Don Paterson (2020) 68 pp READ JUNE 20
74. The Porpoise by Mark Haddon (2019) 304 pp
75. Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 210 pp
76. 1934 by Alberto Moravia (1982)
77. Blue Moon by Lee Child (2019)
78. A Burning by Megha Majumdar (2020)
79. Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (2017)
80. Henry, Himself by Stewart O'Nan (2019)
81. Woods etc by Alice Oswald (2005)
82. The Death of Murat Idrissi by Tommy Wieringa (2017)
83. The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezon Camara (2017)
84. The Last Man by Mary Shelley (1826)
85. Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton (2019)
86. Castle Richmond by Anthony Trollope (1860) READ JULY 20
87. The Seeker and Other Poems by Nelly Sachs (1970) READ JULY 20
88. Not a Day Goes By by E Lynn Harris (2000)
89. Potiki by Patricia Grace (1986)
90. Cane River by Lalitha Tademy (2001)
91. Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
92. Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha (2013)
93. Girl by Edna O'Brien (2019)
94. The Princesse de Cleves by Madame de La Fayette (1678)
95. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (2019)
96. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (2003) READ JULY 20
97. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
98. The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri
99. The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells
100. At the Jerusalem by Paul Bailey
101. The Emperor's Babe by Bernadine Evaristo
102. Sincerity by Carol Ann Duffy
103. Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne READ JULY 20
104. The Body Lies by Jo Baker
105. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer
106. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
107. Death is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa
108. Nightblind by Ragnar Jonasson
109. Black Out by Ragnar Jonasson (2011)
110. The Street by Ann Petry (1946)
111. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak (2019)
112. Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (2019)
113. Weather by Jenny Offill (2020)
114. How to be an AntiRacist by Ibram X Kendi (2019)
115. Dominicana by Angie Cruz (2019) READ AUG 20
116. This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga (2018)
117. Blue Horses by Mary Oliver (2014)
118. Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw (1914)
119. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris (2014)
120. Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds (2012)
120 books added
33 already finished
These are the books that I have added this year. My new rule is that any book I buy I should read before the end of the following year!
1. Submarine by Joe Dunthorne (2008) 290 pp
2. I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven (1967) 158 pp
3. The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman (1956) 171 pp
4. The Spare Room by Helen Garner (2008) 195 pp
5. Look We have Coming to Dover! by Dajit Nagra (2007) 53 pp READ APR 20
6. Hame by Annalina McAfee (2017) 577 pp
7. The Holy Fox by Andrew Roberts (1991) 414 pp READ MAR 20
8. The History Boys by Alan Bennett (2004) 200 pp READ FEB 20
9. Himself by Jess Kidd (2016) 358 pp
10. Lazarus by Morris West (1990) 375 pp
11. Judith Paris by Hugh Walpole (1931) 757 pp
12. The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope (1864) 665 pp
13. The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers (1942) 398 pp
14. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (2017) 363 pp READ APR 20
15. The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich (1985) 331 pp
16. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (1990) 578 pp
17. Eight Hours from England by Anthony Quayle (1945) 228 pp READ JULY 20
18. Dregs by Jorn Lier Horst (2010) 310 pp READ FEB 20
19. Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan READ FEB 20
20. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli READ MAR 20
21. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (1993) 280 pp READ FEB 20
22. War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans (2013) 293 pp
23. Deviation by Luce D'Eramo (1979) 344 pp
24. Caging Skies by Christine Leunens (2019) 294 pp
25. The Hunters by James Salter (1956) 233 pp
26. The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya (2012) 310 pp
27. The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz (1961) 70 pp READ APR 20
28. Darius the Great is not Okay by Adib Khorram (2018) 312 pp
29. The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo (2019) 466 pp
30. Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham (2013) 441 pp
31. Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen by Fay Weldon
32. Selected Poems: 1950-2012 by Adrienne Rich
33. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
34. Divided : Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall READ APR 20
35. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis READ MAY 20
36. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
37. Witness : Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger READ MAR 20
38. Lucy Church, Amiably by Gertrude Stein
39. Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
40. The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola READ May 20
41. After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
42. The Librarian by Salley Vickers READ MAR 20
43. Temple of a Thousand Faces by John Shors
44. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993) 311 pp
45. The Drought by J.G. Ballard (1965) 233 pp READ MAY 20
46. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (2012) 391 pp
47. Clade by James Bradley (2017) 297 pp
48. Far North by Marcel Theroux (2009) 288 pp
49. The River by Peter Heller (2019) 253 pp
50. Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1887) 58 pp READ MAR 20
51. The Sea-Gull by Anton Chekhov (1896) 68 pp READ APR 20
52. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (1900) 44 pp
53. The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (1901) 58 pp
54. The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (1904) 50 pp
55. The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig (2010) 129 pp READ APR 20
56. The Other Americans by Laila Lalami (2019) 301 pp
57. Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli (2019) 350 pp
58. Lanny by Max Porter (2019) 210 pp
59. Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley (2019) 280 pp
60. Murder in the Cathedral by TS Eliot (1935) 88 pp READ JUNE 20
61. The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West (1963) READ MAY 20
62. Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley (2008) READ MAY 20
63. The Citadel by A.J. Cronin (1937) READ MAY 20
64. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (2016) READ JUNE 20
65. American War by Omar El Akkad (2017)
66. Saltwater by Jessica Andrews (2019)
67. Unstoppable : My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova (2017) 289 pp READ MAY 20
68. The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim (1920) 288 pp READ JUNE 20
69. The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford (1969) 488 pp
70. Odysseus Elytis :Selected Poems 1940-1979 by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 112 pp READ JUNE 20
71. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926) 203 pp
72. Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou (2015) 199 pp
73. Zonal by Don Paterson (2020) 68 pp READ JUNE 20
74. The Porpoise by Mark Haddon (2019) 304 pp
75. Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 210 pp
76. 1934 by Alberto Moravia (1982)
77. Blue Moon by Lee Child (2019)
78. A Burning by Megha Majumdar (2020)
79. Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (2017)
80. Henry, Himself by Stewart O'Nan (2019)
81. Woods etc by Alice Oswald (2005)
82. The Death of Murat Idrissi by Tommy Wieringa (2017)
83. The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezon Camara (2017)
84. The Last Man by Mary Shelley (1826)
85. Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton (2019)
86. Castle Richmond by Anthony Trollope (1860) READ JULY 20
87. The Seeker and Other Poems by Nelly Sachs (1970) READ JULY 20
88. Not a Day Goes By by E Lynn Harris (2000)
89. Potiki by Patricia Grace (1986)
90. Cane River by Lalitha Tademy (2001)
91. Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
92. Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha (2013)
93. Girl by Edna O'Brien (2019)
94. The Princesse de Cleves by Madame de La Fayette (1678)
95. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (2019)
96. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (2003) READ JULY 20
97. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
98. The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri
99. The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells
100. At the Jerusalem by Paul Bailey
101. The Emperor's Babe by Bernadine Evaristo
102. Sincerity by Carol Ann Duffy
103. Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne READ JULY 20
104. The Body Lies by Jo Baker
105. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer
106. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
107. Death is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa
108. Nightblind by Ragnar Jonasson
109. Black Out by Ragnar Jonasson (2011)
110. The Street by Ann Petry (1946)
111. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak (2019)
112. Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (2019)
113. Weather by Jenny Offill (2020)
114. How to be an AntiRacist by Ibram X Kendi (2019)
115. Dominicana by Angie Cruz (2019) READ AUG 20
116. This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga (2018)
117. Blue Horses by Mary Oliver (2014)
118. Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw (1914)
119. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris (2014)
120. Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds (2012)
120 books added
33 already finished
16PaulCranswick
Another resolution is to keep up in 2020 with all my friends on LT.
17PaulCranswick
Next is yours
18figsfromthistle
Happy new one!
20PaulCranswick
>18 figsfromthistle: That is quick, Anita!
>19 jessibud2: And almost as quick Shelley.
Thanks to both of you xx
>19 jessibud2: And almost as quick Shelley.
Thanks to both of you xx
22PaulCranswick
>21 quondame: Thank you, Susan.
24aspirit
I'm impressed by your organizational skills, Paul. My threads always feel like a mess.
Happy new thread.
Happy new thread.
25PaulCranswick
>23 drneutron: Thanks Jim. Friday is D Day. Seems an age since we have been together!
>24 aspirit: Thank you. I suppose I have had quite a bit of practice. x
>24 aspirit: Thank you. I suppose I have had quite a bit of practice. x
27PaulCranswick
Book #93
The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
Date of Publication : 2010
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 327 pp
British Author Challenge July 2020
Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway series is very popular here in the group and it isn't difficult to see why. Good non-standard locale, good non-standard main protagonist, interesting characters.
The plotting isn't half bad but I suspect, given the circumstances of Ruth's character the series may become formulaic over time as there are only so many variations on the same theme. Still I should enjoy it whilst I can and I did.
The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
Date of Publication : 2010
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 327 pp
British Author Challenge July 2020
Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway series is very popular here in the group and it isn't difficult to see why. Good non-standard locale, good non-standard main protagonist, interesting characters.
The plotting isn't half bad but I suspect, given the circumstances of Ruth's character the series may become formulaic over time as there are only so many variations on the same theme. Still I should enjoy it whilst I can and I did.
28PaulCranswick
>26 bell7: Thank you, Mary. Four more nights!
31PaulCranswick
>29 banjo123: Thank you, Rhonda.
>30 EllaTim: Thanks Ella.
I started Dominicana on my way to work and was thankful for the fact of the usual Monday morning traffic snarl. I think that I will enjoy it very much.
>30 EllaTim: Thanks Ella.
I started Dominicana on my way to work and was thankful for the fact of the usual Monday morning traffic snarl. I think that I will enjoy it very much.
32PaulCranswick
Book #94
The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds
Date of Publication : 1983
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 80 pp
I read her first collection Satan Says a few years ago and thought it excellent but this is better. Mature, visceral, immediate and direct. There is an anger and an honesty in her writing that is palpable.
The collection is divided into sections and sub-sections with the first part being poems for the dead and the second those for the living. Often the latter section are just as antagonistic and raw as the first section!
I prefer the first section which deals with famous injustices and then personal loss. Her difficult relationship with her parents and particularly her father appear here and are very powerful as are several poems about the loss of a child - particularly via miscarriage or abortion.
I could quote many of these poems but this one - on the death of Marilyn Monroe - will suffice and shows her effectiveness to communicate. I make no apology of my view that she is America's greatest living poet.
The Death of Marilyn Monroe
The ambulance men touched her cold
body, lifted it, heavy as iron,
onto the stretcher, tried to close the
mouth, closed the eyes, tied the
arms to the sides, moved a caught
strand of hair, as if it mattered,
saw the shape of her breasts, flattened by
gravity, under the sheet
carried her, as if it were she,
down the steps.
These men were never the same. They went out
afterwards, as they always did,
for a drink or two, but they could not meet
each other's eyes.
Their lives took
a turn-one had nightmares, strange
pains, impotence, depression. One did not
like his work, his wife looked
different, his kids. Even death
seemed different to him-a place where she
would be waiting,
and one found himself standing at night
in the doorway to a room of sleep, listening to a
woman breathing, just an ordinary
woman
breathing.
Of course recommended.
The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds
Date of Publication : 1983
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 80 pp
I read her first collection Satan Says a few years ago and thought it excellent but this is better. Mature, visceral, immediate and direct. There is an anger and an honesty in her writing that is palpable.
The collection is divided into sections and sub-sections with the first part being poems for the dead and the second those for the living. Often the latter section are just as antagonistic and raw as the first section!
I prefer the first section which deals with famous injustices and then personal loss. Her difficult relationship with her parents and particularly her father appear here and are very powerful as are several poems about the loss of a child - particularly via miscarriage or abortion.
I could quote many of these poems but this one - on the death of Marilyn Monroe - will suffice and shows her effectiveness to communicate. I make no apology of my view that she is America's greatest living poet.
The Death of Marilyn Monroe
The ambulance men touched her cold
body, lifted it, heavy as iron,
onto the stretcher, tried to close the
mouth, closed the eyes, tied the
arms to the sides, moved a caught
strand of hair, as if it mattered,
saw the shape of her breasts, flattened by
gravity, under the sheet
carried her, as if it were she,
down the steps.
These men were never the same. They went out
afterwards, as they always did,
for a drink or two, but they could not meet
each other's eyes.
Their lives took
a turn-one had nightmares, strange
pains, impotence, depression. One did not
like his work, his wife looked
different, his kids. Even death
seemed different to him-a place where she
would be waiting,
and one found himself standing at night
in the doorway to a room of sleep, listening to a
woman breathing, just an ordinary
woman
breathing.
Of course recommended.
33PaulCranswick
READING UPDATE
.
1. British Author Challenge - 5/12 -
2. British Poetry - 7/12 -
3. Contemporary British Fiction - 2/12 -
4. World Poetry - 6/12 - The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds
5. 1001 Books - 4/12 -
6. Plays - 7/12 -
7. American Author Challenge 3/12 -
8. Non-Fiction - 5/12 -
9. History - 5/12 - Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert M. Utley
10. Current Affairs - 5/12 -
11. Booker Winners - 3/12
12. Nobel Winners - 5/12 -
13. Scandi - 3/12 -
14. Series Books - 5/12 - The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
15. Thrillers/Mystery - 4/12 -
16. Classic Fiction - 4/12 -
17. 21st Century Fiction - 4/12 -
18. World Literature - 6/12 -
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy - 6/12 -
20. Pot Luck - 5/12 -
Books Completed Aug - 3 Year to Date - 94
Pages Read Aug - 721 Year to Date - 21,053
1001 Books Aug - 0 Year to Date - 8
Bookers Aug - 0 Year to Date - 3
New Nobel Aug - 0 Year to Date - 6
BAC Books Aug - 1 Year to Date - 12
AAC Books Aug - 0 Year to Date - 2
Pulitzer Winners Aug - 0 Year to Date - 1
Daily Reading Ave Aug - 80.11 Year to Date - 94.83
Gender of Authors 22 Female / 72 male
.
1. British Author Challenge - 5/12 -
2. British Poetry - 7/12 -
3. Contemporary British Fiction - 2/12 -
4. World Poetry - 6/12 - The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds
5. 1001 Books - 4/12 -
6. Plays - 7/12 -
7. American Author Challenge 3/12 -
8. Non-Fiction - 5/12 -
9. History - 5/12 - Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert M. Utley
10. Current Affairs - 5/12 -
11. Booker Winners - 3/12
12. Nobel Winners - 5/12 -
13. Scandi - 3/12 -
14. Series Books - 5/12 - The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
15. Thrillers/Mystery - 4/12 -
16. Classic Fiction - 4/12 -
17. 21st Century Fiction - 4/12 -
18. World Literature - 6/12 -
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy - 6/12 -
20. Pot Luck - 5/12 -
Books Completed Aug - 3 Year to Date - 94
Pages Read Aug - 721 Year to Date - 21,053
1001 Books Aug - 0 Year to Date - 8
Bookers Aug - 0 Year to Date - 3
New Nobel Aug - 0 Year to Date - 6
BAC Books Aug - 1 Year to Date - 12
AAC Books Aug - 0 Year to Date - 2
Pulitzer Winners Aug - 0 Year to Date - 1
Daily Reading Ave Aug - 80.11 Year to Date - 94.83
Gender of Authors 22 Female / 72 male
35PaulCranswick
July/August Reading Challenge Z - A Authors:
Z - Marina by Carlos Ruiz ZAFON
Y - Serve the People! by YAN Lianke
X - The Expedition of Cyrus by XENOPHON
W - Morvern Callar by Alan WARNER
V - Deathless by Catherynne M VALENTE
U - Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert M. UTLEY
T - Castle Richmond by Anthony TROLLOPE
S - The Seeker and Other Poems by Nelly SACHS
R - The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths pen name of Domenica de ROSA
Q - Eight Hours from England by Anthony QUAYLE
P
O - The Dead and the Living by Sharon OLDS
N
M - Winnie-the-Pooh by AA MILNE
L
K
J
I
H
G
F - The Dark Film by Paul FARLEY
E
D
C
B - Waiting for Godot by Samuel BECKETT
A - The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch ALBOM
Z - Marina by Carlos Ruiz ZAFON
Y - Serve the People! by YAN Lianke
X - The Expedition of Cyrus by XENOPHON
W - Morvern Callar by Alan WARNER
V - Deathless by Catherynne M VALENTE
U - Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert M. UTLEY
T - Castle Richmond by Anthony TROLLOPE
S - The Seeker and Other Poems by Nelly SACHS
R - The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths pen name of Domenica de ROSA
Q - Eight Hours from England by Anthony QUAYLE
P
O - The Dead and the Living by Sharon OLDS
N
M - Winnie-the-Pooh by AA MILNE
L
K
J
I
H
G
F - The Dark Film by Paul FARLEY
E
D
C
B - Waiting for Godot by Samuel BECKETT
A - The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch ALBOM
36PaulCranswick
>34 msf59: Thanks Mark. Lovely to see you as always. I know you have managed to catch the poetry bug over the last few years and I would strongly recommend Olds as one of the best, if not the very best American poet writing today.
37vancouverdeb
Happy New Thread, Paul! It looks like Hani and Kyran are living in the lap of luxury while they quarantine.
38PaulCranswick
>37 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deb. I think that they are too, but they do have plenty of complaints over food!
40PaulCranswick
>39 SandDune: SWMBO you may recall doesn't do "roughing it" too well, Rhian!
41Caroline_McElwee
>32 PaulCranswick: I'm a Sharon Olds fan too Paul. Don't think I've read that volume though.
42PaulCranswick
>41 Caroline_McElwee: It is really good, Caroline. Very inventive but she has the ability to deliver an image that is as powerful as it is not obtuse.
43karenmarie
Happy new thread, Paul!
2 days and 56 messages behind. Sigh. From your last thread, I notice that you bought Shafak’s 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World. I read it last October and thought it was a real contender for the Booker.
>27 PaulCranswick: For me the Ruth Galloway series has been intellectual comfort reading.
2 days and 56 messages behind. Sigh. From your last thread, I notice that you bought Shafak’s 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World. I read it last October and thought it was a real contender for the Booker.
>27 PaulCranswick: For me the Ruth Galloway series has been intellectual comfort reading.
44LizzieD
Infrequent visitor / Constant friend!
Hi, Paul! Looking forward to hearing that Hani is really home and that all is good with you.
Hi, Paul! Looking forward to hearing that Hani is really home and that all is good with you.
45PaulCranswick
>43 karenmarie: Almost all the posts in the last 15 hours, Karen. Shafak's book does look interesting.
>44 LizzieD: I like that, Peggy. Constant friend makes me very happy!
>44 LizzieD: I like that, Peggy. Constant friend makes me very happy!
46Ameise1
>27 PaulCranswick: Happy new one, Paul. I love this series.
48Donna828
Hi Paul, I'm glad that Hani and Kyran are back in Malaysia and almost home. Too bad about the quarantine, but it's good to be cautious I guess. Here's hoping that family members in England will pick up the slack with caring for your mother. It is a difficult situation especially with Coronavirus concerns.
You and I are in the same place in the Ruth Galloway mysteries. I'd like to read them close together, but I too have concerns that they may become formulaic so I am spacing them out a bit. As Karen said, they are good comfort reading, and we need plenty of that.
You and I are in the same place in the Ruth Galloway mysteries. I'd like to read them close together, but I too have concerns that they may become formulaic so I am spacing them out a bit. As Karen said, they are good comfort reading, and we need plenty of that.
49charl08
Happy new one Paul. I have not read as much of Sharon Olds as I would like to. You've given me a nudge to look for her books.
50richardderus
Closing in on that hundredth read! I hope they keep coming at top quality.
And I see you have Ann Petry's The Street now waiting for you. I don't know how you're keeping your hands off it!
And I see you have Ann Petry's The Street now waiting for you. I don't know how you're keeping your hands off it!
51RebaRelishesReading
Happy new thread, Paul. How many days of quarantine left?
52johnsimpson
Happy new thread Paul.
53PaulCranswick
>46 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara. Just my second instalment but I do like it although I think that the scope for storylines is limited.
>47 ronincats: Thank you, Roni. Indeed!!
>47 ronincats: Thank you, Roni. Indeed!!
54PaulCranswick
>48 Donna828: Nice to see you, Donna. The other reason is of course that there are simply so many other books also to read!
>49 charl08: I dunno, Charlotte, but I get the impression that she is not as well known in the UK as other less gifted poets.
>49 charl08: I dunno, Charlotte, but I get the impression that she is not as well known in the UK as other less gifted poets.
55PaulCranswick
>50 richardderus: I would be hugely disappointed if I didn't reach 100 this month, RD, especially as I expected to do so already last month!
I am not sure that I will wait for November (Linda's chosen Petry month) to read The Street.
>51 RebaRelishesReading: She has three full days/nighs left of quarantine, Reba.
I am not sure that I will wait for November (Linda's chosen Petry month) to read The Street.
>51 RebaRelishesReading: She has three full days/nighs left of quarantine, Reba.
56PaulCranswick
>52 johnsimpson: Thanks John.
See Stokes will miss the next two tests. They need to add some batsmen but I fear that Sam Curran will replace him and we will be left with a very fragile looking batting lineup.
See Stokes will miss the next two tests. They need to add some batsmen but I fear that Sam Curran will replace him and we will be left with a very fragile looking batting lineup.
57Familyhistorian
Happy new thread, Paul. I'm glad to see that your wanderers are home, or nearly. Too bad about the food in that wonderful looking hotel but I'm sure the meals would be a highlight of my day if I was locked in a room no matter how luxurious.
58amanda4242
Happy new thread!
59avatiakh
Enjoying your new thread. I also was a fan of Shafak's book and intend to read more from her. I haven't read Ruth Galloway as yet but intend to try one eventually.
60PaulCranswick
>57 Familyhistorian: I suppose that it is a little bit surreal when the highlight of your day, Meg, is to receive food that is barely edible! I doubt very much that it will be quite as bad as I am currently informed.
>58 amanda4242: Thank you, Amanda. It is rare that I am almost 60 posts in before seeing you! xx
>58 amanda4242: Thank you, Amanda. It is rare that I am almost 60 posts in before seeing you! xx
61PaulCranswick
>59 avatiakh: Thanks Kerry. Always a pleasure to see you grace these pastures.
63PaulCranswick
>62 Caroline_McElwee: My mum is still struggling, Caroline, but it is interestingly her 75th birthday on the day that Hani finishes quarantine.
64Caroline_McElwee
>63 PaulCranswick: Well maybe you can celebrate both things, does she FaceTime or Zoom Paul?
65PaulCranswick
>64 Caroline_McElwee: No she doesn't, Caroline, but we can arrange for my sister to visit and call her via WhatsApp.
66jnwelch
Happy New Thread, Paul.
I'm glad you're near the end of Hani's quarantine, and your mum's 75th.
Lovely to see your comment that Sharon Olds is, IYO, America's premier poet. I agree. Strong picks on her two poems up above. Although they're all so good, my favorite collection of hers is Gold Cell.
I think I mentioned that we got to see her perform here. So good! Debbi is now a fan, too. If you get a chance to see her, it's worth it.
I'm glad you're near the end of Hani's quarantine, and your mum's 75th.
Lovely to see your comment that Sharon Olds is, IYO, America's premier poet. I agree. Strong picks on her two poems up above. Although they're all so good, my favorite collection of hers is Gold Cell.
I think I mentioned that we got to see her perform here. So good! Debbi is now a fan, too. If you get a chance to see her, it's worth it.
67laytonwoman3rd
I'm sorry to have been so scarce around here lately, Paul. Mother troubles of my own, and then she passed away in mid-June. I'm sure you will be delighted to have Hani and Kyran back with you, but "seeing" your Mom long-distance will continue to be difficult, especially without SWMBO on the scene to keep you best informed, and provide a caring presence for her.
68johnsimpson
>56 PaulCranswick:, Especially as Dan Lawrence has left the bubble due to a family bereavement. Good win for Yorkshire against Notts and what a partnership for Kent's second wicket, 19 year old Jordan Cox 238* and Jack Leaning 220*, 423 breaking the previous record of 382.
69PaulCranswick
>66 jnwelch: Thank you, Joe. I almost bought that collection yesterday but chose Stag's Leap instead.
>67 laytonwoman3rd: Yes, Linda, I saw your sad news too (pretty sure I posted over at your place) - these have been difficult times for so many of us. xx
>67 laytonwoman3rd: Yes, Linda, I saw your sad news too (pretty sure I posted over at your place) - these have been difficult times for so many of us. xx
70PaulCranswick
>68 johnsimpson: John, it may surprise you but I do like this new format. Everybody playing on the same day and the three groups of six works well.
71PaulCranswick
I am pleased to see that Biden has finally made his pick for Running Mate and I think he chose well. Kamala Harris will, I predict, be splendid.
72PaulCranswick
More additions in a frenetic month
117. Blue Horses by Mary Oliver (2014)
118. Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw (1914)
119. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris (2014)
120. Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds (2012)
Loved both of the other collections by Mary Oliver I have read so I am on safe ground here. The GBS is for my Nobel reading and the Joshua Ferris was basically because I want to eventually read everything that has ever been longlisted/shortlisted or has won the Booker Prize. The final selection was of course in the aftermath of my enthusiasm for The Dead and the Living.
117. Blue Horses by Mary Oliver (2014)
118. Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw (1914)
119. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris (2014)
120. Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds (2012)
Loved both of the other collections by Mary Oliver I have read so I am on safe ground here. The GBS is for my Nobel reading and the Joshua Ferris was basically because I want to eventually read everything that has ever been longlisted/shortlisted or has won the Booker Prize. The final selection was of course in the aftermath of my enthusiasm for The Dead and the Living.
74RebaRelishesReading
>55 PaulCranswick: So she'll be home tomorrow, right? I hope you have a lovely home-coming planned.
75PaulCranswick
>74 RebaRelishesReading: Yes just one more night, Reba. She is planning which places to eat, I think! Her mum is coming up from Johor Bahru which will be nice for both of them.
76RebaRelishesReading
>75 PaulCranswick: Have a fun reunion (I'm sue you will)
78PaulCranswick
>76 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba. I hope so; I am a bit nervous actually because we didn't see each other for so long!
>77 LizzieD: Thank you dear Peggy.
>77 LizzieD: Thank you dear Peggy.
79vancouverdeb
Such happy news! Kyran and Hani home at last!
80PaulCranswick
>79 vancouverdeb: I hope they are in a good mood tomorrow because there are books literally everywhere in our room!
81thornton37814
I'm certain you are excited to see Hani.
84figsfromthistle
Have a wonderful reunion.
85PaulCranswick
>81 thornton37814: I will go and fetch them from the hotel (it is about 1 hour drive away) in about 4 hours time.
>82 Matke: Thank you, Gail.
>82 Matke: Thank you, Gail.
86PaulCranswick
>83 bell7: Thanks Mary. Most of her family will be coming too today. Her parents, Yabo her sister and a couple of cousins too. I would have preferred that they waited a day or two but I guess I shouldn't be selfish.
>84 figsfromthistle: Thank you Anita x
>84 figsfromthistle: Thank you Anita x
87vancouverdeb
Well, any tension will be dissolved by giving Hani a book by Ruth Ware, judging by Hani's keenness on her books.;-) I've read one and very much enjoyed it. But yes, they have been away for quite a while. I'm sure you are enjoying a great reunion.
89m.belljackson
Paul - so good your Family is finally reunited -
and bet they appreciate ALL that you have done -
and all their escapes from the virus.
How's your Mum doing?
and bet they appreciate ALL that you have done -
and all their escapes from the virus.
How's your Mum doing?
90PaulCranswick
>87 vancouverdeb: She managed to read five books in two weeks, Deb, which she was quite pleased with. Safely home and I have a house full. In laws en masse.
>88 quondame: Thanks Susan.xx
>88 quondame: Thanks Susan.xx
91PaulCranswick
>89 m.belljackson: Thank you, Marianne.
We just called my mum who turned 75 today. She sounded in fairly good spirits all things considered.
We just called my mum who turned 75 today. She sounded in fairly good spirits all things considered.
92Caroline_McElwee
Enjoy, we look forward to the celebratory photos.
93PaulCranswick
>92 Caroline_McElwee: Coming, Caroline. xx
94richardderus
>93 PaulCranswick: what >92 Caroline_McElwee: said
I was almost ready to log on to FB to get them but I just can't bear that place and the idea of enriching Zuck the Scum Emperox thereby.
I was almost ready to log on to FB to get them but I just can't bear that place and the idea of enriching Zuck the Scum Emperox thereby.
95benitastrnad
>94 richardderus:
Exactly why I don't do FB either. Well said. I have Last Emperox on my TBR list.
Exactly why I don't do FB either. Well said. I have Last Emperox on my TBR list.
96FAMeulstee
Belated happy new thread, Paul!
So glad to read Hani and Kyran came home. Congratulations on your mothers 75th birthday.
So glad to read Hani and Kyran came home. Congratulations on your mothers 75th birthday.
97PaulCranswick
>94 richardderus: I don't like FB much myself, RD. I will keep a place there because it is so difficult to cancel it and also because it is the easiest to garner, copy and post photos.
>95 benitastrnad: It is too intrusive for my liking, Benita.
>95 benitastrnad: It is too intrusive for my liking, Benita.
98PaulCranswick
>96 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. It was nice to fall asleep and wake up and not be alone!
99DeltaQueen50
Hi Paul, I'm glad to hear that your family is reunited under one roof - in these times we need the support and closeness that only family can give us.
100PaulCranswick
>99 DeltaQueen50: Lovely to see you dear Guru. Only Yasmyne is missing (still in Norway) from the original crew. It was lovely to see how animated was Ysabelle yesterday with her brother back with her.
101PaulCranswick
My mum somehow made it to her 75th birthday yesterday:
This was her a few years ago enjoying a night out with my girls:
I am so grateful she is still with us.
This was her a few years ago enjoying a night out with my girls:
I am so grateful she is still with us.
102LizzieD
JOY!!!
>101 PaulCranswick: You lucky man! Gorgeous women!!!! Hani deserves a picture all her own. Happy Birthday to your mother with wishes for an increasingly healthy year for her!
>101 PaulCranswick: You lucky man! Gorgeous women!!!! Hani deserves a picture all her own. Happy Birthday to your mother with wishes for an increasingly healthy year for her!
103PaulCranswick
>102 LizzieD: I'm sure that she will put up a picture with the two of us soon and I'll share it here, Peggy. xx
Lovely to see you and we seem to have crossed because I was just over at your thread and posting.
Lovely to see you and we seem to have crossed because I was just over at your thread and posting.
104Caroline_McElwee
Happy birthday to Mum.
It is my sister's birthday today.
It is my sister's birthday today.
105PaulCranswick
Thanks Caroline and happy birthday to your sister.
106EllaTim
>101 PaulCranswick: Congratulations, Paul. That's a lovely picture.
107PaulCranswick
Thank you Ella. I remember the meal too and that was nowhere near as good.
108SirThomas
A belated happy new thread, Paul and the best wishes for you and your family.
I'm glad to see you united.
I wish you and yours a wonderful weekend.
I'm glad to see you united.
I wish you and yours a wonderful weekend.
109PaulCranswick
>108 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas. The best wishes and always good intentions of this group has kept me going some of these difficult days.
110richardderus
>101 PaulCranswick: Congratulations to Mum, and so glad for you that she's still among us.
111Familyhistorian
A belated happy 75th to your Mum, Paul. That is quite a milestone. It sounds like you have a full house helping you to celebrate that most of your family is back with you.
112banjo123
>101 PaulCranswick: sweet picture!
113PaulCranswick
>110 richardderus: Thank you, RD. SWMBO's parents and sisters and cousins have left us and driven back to Johor Bahru so the four of us (Erni is an early bird sleep wise) had a nice evening together chatting and watching netflix. My first task yesterday was to go out and buy a 55 inch new TV (to be fair I had been instructed to do so seven months ago but Belle and I don't really watch it and we also bought some sort of "box" that allows us to access on line something like a thousand channels from around the world! The TV of course was a Samsung as I am entitled to 20% staff discount.
>111 Familyhistorian: I do love my in-laws but I was a little relieved when they left us alone last night, Meg!
>111 Familyhistorian: I do love my in-laws but I was a little relieved when they left us alone last night, Meg!
114PaulCranswick
>112 banjo123: Thanks Meg. I do miss Yasmyne a lot and even more so when all the rest of us are together.
115PaulCranswick
Book # 95
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Date of Publication : 2019
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 319 pp
I have seen mixed reviews for this book and whilst it has some flaws perhaps it is, I believe, on the whole a very good novel.
We follow 15 year old Ana from the Dominican Republic to New York City in the heady, tumultuous days of the mid 1960s via a marriage to Juan who is more than double her age.
It centres on familial obligations, dislocation, looking for love but eventually finding one's self. There is criticism that her pregnancy is interminable but I don't think it spoils the fiction unduly. There is an honesty and a genuineness in the writing that is immediate and the characters are drawn in a manner that presents there flaws, foibles but essential goodness in a way that is believable.
Recommended.
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Date of Publication : 2019
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 319 pp
I have seen mixed reviews for this book and whilst it has some flaws perhaps it is, I believe, on the whole a very good novel.
We follow 15 year old Ana from the Dominican Republic to New York City in the heady, tumultuous days of the mid 1960s via a marriage to Juan who is more than double her age.
It centres on familial obligations, dislocation, looking for love but eventually finding one's self. There is criticism that her pregnancy is interminable but I don't think it spoils the fiction unduly. There is an honesty and a genuineness in the writing that is immediate and the characters are drawn in a manner that presents there flaws, foibles but essential goodness in a way that is believable.
Recommended.
116PaulCranswick
READING UPDATE
.
1. British Author Challenge - 5/12 -
2. British Poetry - 7/12 -
3. Contemporary British Fiction - 2/12 -
4. World Poetry - 6/12 - The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds
5. 1001 Books - 4/12 -
6. Plays - 7/12 -
7. American Author Challenge 3/12 -
8. Non-Fiction - 5/12 -
9. History - 5/12 - Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert M. Utley
10. Current Affairs - 5/12 -
11. Booker Winners - 3/12
12. Nobel Winners - 5/12 -
13. Scandi - 3/12 -
14. Series Books - 5/12 - The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
15. Thrillers/Mystery - 4/12 -
16. Classic Fiction - 4/12 -
17. 21st Century Fiction - 5/12 - Dominicana by Angie Cruz
18. World Literature - 6/12 -
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy - 6/12 -
20. Pot Luck - 5/12 -
Books Completed Aug - 4 Year to Date - 95
Pages Read Aug - 1,040 Year to Date - 21,372
1001 Books Aug - 0 Year to Date - 8
Bookers Aug - 0 Year to Date - 3
New Nobel Aug - 0 Year to Date - 6
BAC Books Aug - 1 Year to Date - 12
AAC Books Aug - 0 Year to Date - 2
Pulitzer Winners Aug - 0 Year to Date - 1
Daily Reading Ave Aug - 69.33 Year to Date - 93.74
Gender of Authors 23 Female / 72 male
.
1. British Author Challenge - 5/12 -
2. British Poetry - 7/12 -
3. Contemporary British Fiction - 2/12 -
4. World Poetry - 6/12 - The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds
5. 1001 Books - 4/12 -
6. Plays - 7/12 -
7. American Author Challenge 3/12 -
8. Non-Fiction - 5/12 -
9. History - 5/12 - Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert M. Utley
10. Current Affairs - 5/12 -
11. Booker Winners - 3/12
12. Nobel Winners - 5/12 -
13. Scandi - 3/12 -
14. Series Books - 5/12 - The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
15. Thrillers/Mystery - 4/12 -
16. Classic Fiction - 4/12 -
17. 21st Century Fiction - 5/12 - Dominicana by Angie Cruz
18. World Literature - 6/12 -
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy - 6/12 -
20. Pot Luck - 5/12 -
Books Completed Aug - 4 Year to Date - 95
Pages Read Aug - 1,040 Year to Date - 21,372
1001 Books Aug - 0 Year to Date - 8
Bookers Aug - 0 Year to Date - 3
New Nobel Aug - 0 Year to Date - 6
BAC Books Aug - 1 Year to Date - 12
AAC Books Aug - 0 Year to Date - 2
Pulitzer Winners Aug - 0 Year to Date - 1
Daily Reading Ave Aug - 69.33 Year to Date - 93.74
Gender of Authors 23 Female / 72 male
117PaulCranswick
July/August Reading Challenge Z - A Authors:
Z - Marina by Carlos Ruiz ZAFON
Y - Serve the People! by YAN Lianke
X - The Expedition of Cyrus by XENOPHON
W - Morvern Callar by Alan WARNER
V - Deathless by Catherynne M VALENTE
U - Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert M. UTLEY
T - Castle Richmond by Anthony TROLLOPE
S - The Seeker and Other Poems by Nelly SACHS
R - The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths pen name of Domenica de ROSA
Q - Eight Hours from England by Anthony QUAYLE
P
O - The Dead and the Living by Sharon OLDS
N
M - Winnie-the-Pooh by AA MILNE
L
K
J
I
H
G
F - The Dark Film by Paul FARLEY
E
D
C - Dominicana by Angie CRUZ
B - Waiting for Godot by Samuel BECKETT
A - The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch ALBOM
Z - Marina by Carlos Ruiz ZAFON
Y - Serve the People! by YAN Lianke
X - The Expedition of Cyrus by XENOPHON
W - Morvern Callar by Alan WARNER
V - Deathless by Catherynne M VALENTE
U - Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert M. UTLEY
T - Castle Richmond by Anthony TROLLOPE
S - The Seeker and Other Poems by Nelly SACHS
R - The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths pen name of Domenica de ROSA
Q - Eight Hours from England by Anthony QUAYLE
P
O - The Dead and the Living by Sharon OLDS
N
M - Winnie-the-Pooh by AA MILNE
L
K
J
I
H
G
F - The Dark Film by Paul FARLEY
E
D
C - Dominicana by Angie CRUZ
B - Waiting for Godot by Samuel BECKETT
A - The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch ALBOM
118charl08
>115 PaulCranswick: I stalled on this one about half way through, I must pick it up again.
Lovely to read of the family reunion. I am glad the quarantine is over!
Lovely to read of the family reunion. I am glad the quarantine is over!
119PaulCranswick
>118 charl08: Yes, Charlotte, a few of our friends loved it and others thought it a bit tedious. I was closer to the former camp than the latter. Angie Cruz had been quite vocal as to the difficulties she had had getting recognition from publishers for her work and I am sure that the furore over American Dirt both correctly highlighted the injustices suffered by authors because of publishers formulaic view of what is marketable as well as she obviously had her profile heightened in the aftermath. A good thing, I think, since I enjoyed her book and it would never have made it to Malaysia without that controversy, I feel.
We are all like zombies today as it is 9 pm and SWMBO has been asleep since 5!
We are all like zombies today as it is 9 pm and SWMBO has been asleep since 5!
120richardderus
A 55" TV with a Sling/Chromecast/Roku/Fire box should keep the TV-oriented members of the clan entertained most satisfactorily. I watch streaming shows on my 15" laptop with perfect equanimity, so that level of immersion seems excessive to me.
You liked Dominicana a sight more than I did, I see, but there's always room for variation in a healthy world.
You liked Dominicana a sight more than I did, I see, but there's always room for variation in a healthy world.
121PaulCranswick
>120 richardderus: I will take it over for certain sporting events, RD, but I don't really watch regular TV otherwise. Netflix occasionally manages to draw me in though but on my laptop.
I can see why Dominicana got marked down by a number of my pals but overall I probably read it at the right time.
I can see why Dominicana got marked down by a number of my pals but overall I probably read it at the right time.
122karenmarie
Hi Paul!
Good news that Hani and Kyran are safely home. Belated birthday wishes to your mother, glad the influx of family to celebrate H&K's return have come and gone, and that you can start getting back to 'normal', whatever 'normal' is these days for any of us. I know having Yasmyne home would be the icing on the cake, but hope she's doing well.
Congrats on your excellent reading year so far, too.
Good news that Hani and Kyran are safely home. Belated birthday wishes to your mother, glad the influx of family to celebrate H&K's return have come and gone, and that you can start getting back to 'normal', whatever 'normal' is these days for any of us. I know having Yasmyne home would be the icing on the cake, but hope she's doing well.
Congrats on your excellent reading year so far, too.
123PaulCranswick
>122 karenmarie: Thanks Karen. Normalcy is a difficult thing to gauge, but sleepy seems to be the watchword in the household today!
124LizzieD
Hope your Sunday stays relaxed and restorative, Paul and Co.
Meanwhile, here's a typical picture from my neck of the woods - er - swamp.
Meanwhile, here's a typical picture from my neck of the woods - er - swamp.
125PaulCranswick
>124 LizzieD: Sorry to say I cannot see your photo, Peggy. Sure that it is not too swamp like though.
126PaulCranswick
Sad to read of the passing of guitar virtuoso Julian Bream.
This is him in his elegant pomp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWwk2_eOers
This is him in his elegant pomp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWwk2_eOers
127Caroline_McElwee
>126 PaulCranswick: I've spent many a happy hour listening to Julian Bream over the past 40 years Paul, along with his friend and fellow guitarist John Williams.
128richardderus
His virtuosity on the 12-string instrument is still, after all these listenings, jaw-droppingly heart-hurtingly beautiful. Thank goodness we live in the era of recorded music.
129quondame
>124 LizzieD: That is beautiful. Then I imagine heat and bugs and well, no, I'm a desert rat.
>125 PaulCranswick: It looks the very definition of a swamp to me.
>125 PaulCranswick: It looks the very definition of a swamp to me.
130PaulCranswick
>127 Caroline_McElwee: Yes both were superb guitar players, Caroline. John Williams is one of Australia's finest exports and is still going strong at 79.
>128 richardderus: Yes, RD. A guitar is a beautiful thing when played like that, isn't it? As Caroline said Bream and Williams were simply magical to listen to.
>128 richardderus: Yes, RD. A guitar is a beautiful thing when played like that, isn't it? As Caroline said Bream and Williams were simply magical to listen to.
131PaulCranswick
>129 quondame: I wish I could see the picture!
133PaulCranswick
>132 drneutron: Rewarding certainly, Jim
134LizzieD
I'm sorry to hear about Julian Bream too. I guess I thought he was eternal. I first met him on lute, so here's another link: Lute.
Paul, I don't quite know why you can't see my swamp pic - it loaded at LT just fine. I'm sorry. Green, cypress trees and knees, black water. (also heat, humidity, and bugs, Susan).
Paul, I don't quite know why you can't see my swamp pic - it loaded at LT just fine. I'm sorry. Green, cypress trees and knees, black water. (also heat, humidity, and bugs, Susan).
135jnwelch
Nice review of Dominicana. I liked that one a lot, too.
136PaulCranswick
>134 LizzieD: Marvellous rendition of Dowland's "A Fancy".
I don't know why I can't see your swampland, Peggy and I am disappointed as you are!
>135 jnwelch: I do recall you liking it too, Joe. There is a notable difference between the academic system and the publishing world. Cruz has received numerous grants and residencies to support her in her writing and recognising her talent but she struggled to interest publishers. I hope that the increased sales for LatinX writers in the wake of the furore earlier in the year will not be a flash in the pan as it will encourage more publishers to take risks with "non-mainstream" works of fiction.
I don't know why I can't see your swampland, Peggy and I am disappointed as you are!
>135 jnwelch: I do recall you liking it too, Joe. There is a notable difference between the academic system and the publishing world. Cruz has received numerous grants and residencies to support her in her writing and recognising her talent but she struggled to interest publishers. I hope that the increased sales for LatinX writers in the wake of the furore earlier in the year will not be a flash in the pan as it will encourage more publishers to take risks with "non-mainstream" works of fiction.
137Familyhistorian
You must be happy to get back to just your almost regular household, Paul. Was anything said about your books or did the TV sufficiently distract?
138PaulCranswick
>137 Familyhistorian: It still seems strange, Meg! SWMBO recorded me snoring last night so she has also some adjusting to do!
139PaulCranswick
>124 LizzieD: I accessed my account and viewed your picture on another PC (not a MacBook Air) and could see it just fine. Looks a magical place to be. xx
141Caroline_McElwee
Now what happened to those family reunion celebration photos...?
142PaulCranswick
>140 charl08: I am more au fait with the latter than the former apparently, Charlotte, but I hope to not to be able to report too much on the topic either.
>141 Caroline_McElwee: I will go and she what pictures have been put up, Caroline and revert.
>141 Caroline_McElwee: I will go and she what pictures have been put up, Caroline and revert.
143LizzieD
>139 PaulCranswick: Yay! Thanks for taking the trouble, Paul.
145PaulCranswick
>143 LizzieD: Worth doing so, Peggy. After all you went to the trouble of sending it to me.
>144 m.belljackson: Hahaha I probably should read that one, Marianne.
>144 m.belljackson: Hahaha I probably should read that one, Marianne.
146Carmenere
Hi Paul, So glad to see the Cranswick family reunited! What superior accommodations for quarantine yet I’m sure not as lovely as being with family.
147PaulCranswick
>146 Carmenere: I am really, really pleased to see you back in the fold, Lynda. My heart went out to you and yours during this really tragic time for all of you and, I must say, extra kudos to your son for his achievements despite everything.
Five star rooms and one star food apparently but we have had nearly a week of getting back to normal. xx
Five star rooms and one star food apparently but we have had nearly a week of getting back to normal. xx
148richardderus
I'm sure y'all have a lot to talk about, hash over, and plan...explaining your relative silence here...and goodness knows there's no end to the world's noise, but your time away is notable in case you thought otherwise.
149Carmenere
>147 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! It's nice to be back and have a little normalcy in my life.
Yeah, Will knows his dad would want him to carry on with the path he's worked so hard to achieve. Since all his classes are online, he has the freedom to come home whenever he likes. I like that but also happy he's back on campus and reunited with his friends. Certainly, important for him to have some normalcy too.
Yeah, Will knows his dad would want him to carry on with the path he's worked so hard to achieve. Since all his classes are online, he has the freedom to come home whenever he likes. I like that but also happy he's back on campus and reunited with his friends. Certainly, important for him to have some normalcy too.
150PaulCranswick
>148 richardderus: The woman is slowing my reading down too! I will be slowing down a lot more if she keeps cooking all my favourites!
I am sure RD that I will soon be adding to the world's noise again soon, but I must say that I so much appreciate all my friends here that I have been able to share the highs and lows with over the last few years. I remember that the group felt more than a little bereft when you had your sort-of hiatus a couple of years ago.
>149 Carmenere: He has done both his mum and his dad proud, anyway, Lynda. xx
I am sure RD that I will soon be adding to the world's noise again soon, but I must say that I so much appreciate all my friends here that I have been able to share the highs and lows with over the last few years. I remember that the group felt more than a little bereft when you had your sort-of hiatus a couple of years ago.
>149 Carmenere: He has done both his mum and his dad proud, anyway, Lynda. xx
151figsfromthistle
Dropping in to say hi!
Glad to hear everyone is back together again!
Glad to hear everyone is back together again!
152PaulCranswick
>151 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita. Always great to see you here. xx
153paulstalder
wish you a quiet weekend
154PaulCranswick
>153 paulstalder: Thanks Paul. I think that is a safe bet!
155msf59
Happy Weekend, Paul. I hope you get in plenty of time with the books. I am sure that will be your objective.
156PaulCranswick
>155 msf59: Thanks Mark. Hope to get at least a couple done this weekend.
157karenmarie
Hi Paul!
>126 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the link. Classical guitar speaks to me. Another excellent classical guitarist is Christopher Parkening.
>126 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the link. Classical guitar speaks to me. Another excellent classical guitarist is Christopher Parkening.
160PaulCranswick
>157 karenmarie: You are welcome, Karen. I will go and look for Christopher Parkening as I am not too familiar with him.
>158 TiaAnderson: Mmmm really.
>158 TiaAnderson: Mmmm really.
161PaulCranswick
>159 bell7: Same to you, Mary.
162lkernagh
Hi Paul! I am soooooooo far behind, so playing a bit of catch up. I am continuing to dodge the political talk on the threads (which is a lot easier than dodging it with my co-workers!). Congratulations on getting the contract extension! Very sorry to learn that your mum has been stressed at the thought of Hani's return to Malaysia. {{{hugs}}} That is hard. I know I am relieved that while I do not live near my dad, my siblings do and they are able to make those in person visits while I need to rely on phone calls and emails. Glad to see Hani and Kyran are safely home.
>101 PaulCranswick:- What a beautiful picture of your mom and your daughters! Happy belated birthday wishes for your mom.
>101 PaulCranswick:- What a beautiful picture of your mom and your daughters! Happy belated birthday wishes for your mom.
163PaulCranswick
>162 lkernagh: Lovely to see you as always, Lori. My mum is coping reasonably well this last week or so and my brother has helped considerably by employing a nurse to visit her daily.
I have backed away from political discourse too, Lori. There is an elemental tension when you attract vituperation for not necessarily agreeing with everybody on every subject. Seems to me that gone are the days when we are able to respect each other our differences of opinion. Better sometimes to just keep quiet. xx
I have backed away from political discourse too, Lori. There is an elemental tension when you attract vituperation for not necessarily agreeing with everybody on every subject. Seems to me that gone are the days when we are able to respect each other our differences of opinion. Better sometimes to just keep quiet. xx
164richardderus
This seems uniquely appropriate just now.
165PaulCranswick
>164 richardderus: Nice one, RD
166mahsdad
>164 richardderus:. Actually, I’d like to read the one that’s both. ;)
167PaulCranswick
>166 mahsdad: At the moment I would just like to read, Jeff!
168m.belljackson
Your Malaysian Jazz Friend will LOVE this:
You Tube has just put up Thursday's NEA (National Endowment for the Arts)
JAZZ MASTERS 2020 Awards presentations!
There's a nice variety, with Dee Dee Bridgewater's Introduction of RM
a highlight that leads into a great interwoven performance - just skip the Q & A part at the end - the tech was awful.
You Tube has just put up Thursday's NEA (National Endowment for the Arts)
JAZZ MASTERS 2020 Awards presentations!
There's a nice variety, with Dee Dee Bridgewater's Introduction of RM
a highlight that leads into a great interwoven performance - just skip the Q & A part at the end - the tech was awful.
169PaulCranswick
>168 m.belljackson: Thanks Marianne. I will pass this onto my pal. Have a lovely Sunday.
171Caroline_McElwee
I hope you are still enjoying having the family together Paul.
172PaulCranswick
>170 banjo123: It was fair to middling, Rhonda. We went for a Thai meal in the evening but somehow the four of us were in a mood to squabble. Saw some Netflix earlier with the third series of The Sinner starring the excellent Bill Pullman and did manage a little reading from three books.
>171 Caroline_McElwee: We are, Caroline, but in an argumentative way. Kyran likes to debate almost anything that comes along, Belle is an expert at rolling her eyes, I tend to make witticisms that can irritate and of course SWMBO does get irritated by all three!
>171 Caroline_McElwee: We are, Caroline, but in an argumentative way. Kyran likes to debate almost anything that comes along, Belle is an expert at rolling her eyes, I tend to make witticisms that can irritate and of course SWMBO does get irritated by all three!
173aspirit
>164 richardderus: oh, hahaha. I feel that's true for new books.
However, Japanese animated shows have long excelled at ignoring the comfortably adult middle ground to smash the two together for cutesy, political dystopias. Maybe the graphic novels of Beastar is much like the anime?
>172 PaulCranswick: I'm trying to imagine calmly going anywhere, but I live somewhere currently with one of the highest coronavirus infection rates along with high rates of denial. Nowhere feels safe.
Still, I am glad the situation is better where you are.
However, Japanese animated shows have long excelled at ignoring the comfortably adult middle ground to smash the two together for cutesy, political dystopias. Maybe the graphic novels of Beastar is much like the anime?
>172 PaulCranswick: I'm trying to imagine calmly going anywhere, but I live somewhere currently with one of the highest coronavirus infection rates along with high rates of denial. Nowhere feels safe.
Still, I am glad the situation is better where you are.
174PaulCranswick
>173 aspirit: Lovely to see you here but a little sad too to notice that this terrible pandemic is so afflicting your life at the moment. As a family unit we seem to thrive on healthy conflict - animated discourse anyway - and it keeps things bubbling along and interesting, I suppose.
Stay safe. xx
Stay safe. xx
175LizzieD
>172 PaulCranswick:, >174 PaulCranswick: Sounds normal to me, Paul. Teenagers do grow out of it.
I do wish you a safe, sane, productive work week with some good reading and some touches of family joy!
I do wish you a safe, sane, productive work week with some good reading and some touches of family joy!
176PaulCranswick
>175 LizzieD: Yes indeed, Peggy. Teenagers do but it is Mother and Father in need of some maturity sometimes!
177PaulCranswick
Here are the four in a line for food!
178PaulCranswick
I am making steady progress with my reading goals for the month:
I am still hoping to have 10 more books finished by the end of the month but have only a week to do it in! A little bit misleading because i have many of them ongoing. These are the 10 I am aiming to complete:
The Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Warleggan by Winston Graham
Seeing Things by Seamus Heaney
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Black Out by Ragnar Jonasson
How To Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
The Princesse de Cleves by Madame de La Fayette
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
I am still hoping to have 10 more books finished by the end of the month but have only a week to do it in! A little bit misleading because i have many of them ongoing. These are the 10 I am aiming to complete:
The Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Warleggan by Winston Graham
Seeing Things by Seamus Heaney
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Black Out by Ragnar Jonasson
How To Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
The Princesse de Cleves by Madame de La Fayette
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
180PaulCranswick
A few additions this lunchtime:
121. Trafalgar by Angelica Gorodischer (1979)
122. The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach (1995)
123. Man's Search for Meaning by Victor E Frankel (1946)
First two are from a delightful new issue of Penguin Science Fiction Classics with striking white and purple covers and the third is a book I have long looked for.
121. Trafalgar by Angelica Gorodischer (1979)
122. The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach (1995)
123. Man's Search for Meaning by Victor E Frankel (1946)
First two are from a delightful new issue of Penguin Science Fiction Classics with striking white and purple covers and the third is a book I have long looked for.
181m.belljackson
>177 PaulCranswick:
Bet Kyran would enjoy animating your thread with some political debate!
And hope he never grows out of seeking many conflicting viewpoints.
Bet Kyran would enjoy animating your thread with some political debate!
And hope he never grows out of seeking many conflicting viewpoints.
182jnwelch
>136 PaulCranswick: Agreed re LatinX authors.
I just read a new poetry collection by Native American/LatinX author Natalie Diaz, called Postcolonial Love Poem, and was very impressed by it. She's young, but she already is climbing into an elite class, IMO. Her first collection, My Brother Was an Aztec, won the American Book Award last year.
I just read a new poetry collection by Native American/LatinX author Natalie Diaz, called Postcolonial Love Poem, and was very impressed by it. She's young, but she already is climbing into an elite class, IMO. Her first collection, My Brother Was an Aztec, won the American Book Award last year.
183karenmarie
Hi Paul!
>177 PaulCranswick: Very nice pic of the four of you. Thanks for posting!
Good luck on the 10-books-by-the-31st goal. Are any of them audiobooks? The Trevor Noah book, as read by the author, is especially pleasing.
>177 PaulCranswick: Very nice pic of the four of you. Thanks for posting!
Good luck on the 10-books-by-the-31st goal. Are any of them audiobooks? The Trevor Noah book, as read by the author, is especially pleasing.
184PaulCranswick
>181 m.belljackson: He would certainly like to animate my thread with animation, Marianne. He has considered a career as a cartoonist and is tremendous at drawing. He does like to debate the issues of the day too!
>182 jnwelch: My feeling is that, slowly, the tide is turning, Joe. It may be a demographics as well as an economics thing too as publishers will invariably take interest in what they believe will sell. Poets are normally published more on merit as nobody expects them to sell anyway!
>182 jnwelch: My feeling is that, slowly, the tide is turning, Joe. It may be a demographics as well as an economics thing too as publishers will invariably take interest in what they believe will sell. Poets are normally published more on merit as nobody expects them to sell anyway!
185PaulCranswick
>183 karenmarie: Thanks Karen. None of them are audio books - it is a media I very rarely get much use of.
186richardderus
>177 PaulCranswick: All smiles! Lovely.
>184 PaulCranswick: Poets are normally published more on merit as nobody expects them to sell anyway!
Whose definition of merit are we using?
Anyway, your Humpday is started, so I hope it's a good one.
>184 PaulCranswick: Poets are normally published more on merit as nobody expects them to sell anyway!
Whose definition of merit are we using?
Anyway, your Humpday is started, so I hope it's a good one.
187PaulCranswick
>186 richardderus: Thanks RD, smiles are easy when food is imminent.
"Merit" in poetry is still in the gift of the publisher but because sales are not the primary drive the poets likely audience is less a factor.
Happy humpday to you too eventually dear fellow.
"Merit" in poetry is still in the gift of the publisher but because sales are not the primary drive the poets likely audience is less a factor.
Happy humpday to you too eventually dear fellow.
188PaulCranswick
On LT on my phone for a change since I left my MacAir charger in the site office overnight and couldn't sleep.
My mum has been in hospital after having an operation to "clean up" some of her cancer issues. Remarkable fighter as we just spoke to her and she was in good form.
My mum has been in hospital after having an operation to "clean up" some of her cancer issues. Remarkable fighter as we just spoke to her and she was in good form.
190PaulCranswick
>189 lkernagh: She was surprisingly chipper this morning, Lori. I was very relieved.
191LizzieD
Best wishes to your mother, Paul! We may not be as tough as our parents, but our generation has plenty of pluck too! Hope she gets home quickly.
192PaulCranswick
>191 LizzieD: Hahaha you are right, Peggy!
193SandDune
>188 PaulCranswick: Glad to hear that your mother’s keeping cheerful, Paul. We’ve had a bit of a scare re Mr SandDune’s health over the last couple of days and he spent last night in hospital, but thank goodness it doesn’t seem to be anything too serious, and he has been let out again. He’s now had to go to A&E twice in three days for two completely unconnected problems.
194Familyhistorian
Good to see that your Mum keeps on being chipper in spite of it all, Paul. How are your reading plans going as the end of the month looms?
195PaulCranswick
>193 SandDune: I'm sorry to hear that, Rhian. Please give Mr SandDune my very best wishes.
>194 Familyhistorian: Frankly I am struggling with my reading this month, Meg and will be glad to see the back of August in that respect.
>194 Familyhistorian: Frankly I am struggling with my reading this month, Meg and will be glad to see the back of August in that respect.
196PaulCranswick
This is from the Guardian. The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Yeah I know we are only 20% in but it is an interesting list anyhow.
Being always a few years behind I have only managed 22 of them so far but it is a list I will look at regularly.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/21/best-books-of-the-21st-century
Being always a few years behind I have only managed 22 of them so far but it is a list I will look at regularly.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/21/best-books-of-the-21st-century
197PaulCranswick
Also congratulations to The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld for winning the International Booker Prize.
Anybody read it yet?
Anybody read it yet?
198EllaTim
>179 PaulCranswick: Nice mixed reading, Paul!
>188 PaulCranswick: Glad your mother is doing well. Wishing her a speedy recovery.
>197 PaulCranswick: She was on national TV. Maybe Anita has read her book, I haven't. (But I will try to find it now)
>188 PaulCranswick: Glad your mother is doing well. Wishing her a speedy recovery.
>197 PaulCranswick: She was on national TV. Maybe Anita has read her book, I haven't. (But I will try to find it now)
199PaulCranswick
>198 EllaTim: Not helped by leaving Black Out which I was half-way through and enjoying in the Grab/Uber who of course swear blind it was never there!
Spoke to mum again yesterday and she continues to do well and sounds stronger every day.
My experience of Dutch authors is fairly positive, Ella, with Gerbrand Bakker and Harry Mulisch being particular favourites.
Spoke to mum again yesterday and she continues to do well and sounds stronger every day.
My experience of Dutch authors is fairly positive, Ella, with Gerbrand Bakker and Harry Mulisch being particular favourites.
200Caroline_McElwee
>197 PaulCranswick: it's in the tbr mountain Paul. I have a feeling Darryl might have read it.
>198 EllaTim: I too love Gerbrand Baker and Harry Mulisch, I was lucky enough to hear Harry's reading/talk, a few years before he died. I also love Louis Couperus and Marcel Möring.
>198 EllaTim: I too love Gerbrand Baker and Harry Mulisch, I was lucky enough to hear Harry's reading/talk, a few years before he died. I also love Louis Couperus and Marcel Möring.
201PaulCranswick
>197 PaulCranswick: I will check on Darryl's page in the Club Read group, Caroline.
>198 EllaTim: Have you read anything by Cees Noteboom?
>198 EllaTim: Have you read anything by Cees Noteboom?
202LizzieD
>196 PaulCranswick: Glad things are calming down for you, Paul - at least, I think they are.
Thanks for the Guardian list. I'm surprised to see that I've read 21 of them. I don't think of myself as being a keeper-up at all, but it has been nearly 20 years, hasn't it?
Thanks for the Guardian list. I'm surprised to see that I've read 21 of them. I don't think of myself as being a keeper-up at all, but it has been nearly 20 years, hasn't it?
203FAMeulstee
>197 PaulCranswick: I have read The discomfort of Evening last March.
My thoughts back then: When the son of very religious farmers dies, no one in the family can cope. The parents grow apart, the oldest son abreacts with worsening cruelty, the youngest daugter tries to keep everything together, and the middle daughter (main character) hides permanently in her red coat. Very well written dark and depressing story. 3.5 stars
ETA: I know Darryl liked it much better than I did.
My thoughts back then: When the son of very religious farmers dies, no one in the family can cope. The parents grow apart, the oldest son abreacts with worsening cruelty, the youngest daugter tries to keep everything together, and the middle daughter (main character) hides permanently in her red coat. Very well written dark and depressing story. 3.5 stars
ETA: I know Darryl liked it much better than I did.
204PaulCranswick
>202 LizzieD: Yes, Peggy, 20 years already - where did it go?
I am sure that some of our friends have read the majority of them.
I am sure that some of our friends have read the majority of them.
205PaulCranswick
>203 FAMeulstee: So, Anita, at least two of the group have read it! It isn't yet in the shops here.
206EllaTim
>199 PaulCranswick: >200 Caroline_McElwee: Dutch writers were of course a school obligation and I certainly didn't like all of them (I still shudder thinking of The Evenings by Gerard Reve, one relentlessly bleak hopelessly depressing book). But I love Couperus.
>203 FAMeulstee: Another dark and depressing book, don't know if I want that.
>201 PaulCranswick: I read one of his books last year Paul. Roads to Santiago. I really liked it, though it did take me a lot of time to finish it. He writes about his travels through Spain.
>203 FAMeulstee: Another dark and depressing book, don't know if I want that.
>201 PaulCranswick: I read one of his books last year Paul. Roads to Santiago. I really liked it, though it did take me a lot of time to finish it. He writes about his travels through Spain.
207PaulCranswick
>206 EllaTim: I would be happy to finish any book now, Ella. I am getting back into bad habits and SWMBO has read more books than me this month for the first time in 25 years together.
208aspirit
>196 PaulCranswick: interesting list. I've read four of the 100, gave up reading another, and saw several books (some I'd heard of and others I hadn't) that I would like to read.
That you're continuing to look at the list after reading 22 of the books on it must mean you enjoyed most of those 22. Nice.
>207 PaulCranswick: we all need occassional breaks from other people's worlds. I'm sure you'll be reading books again soon.
That you're continuing to look at the list after reading 22 of the books on it must mean you enjoyed most of those 22. Nice.
>207 PaulCranswick: we all need occassional breaks from other people's worlds. I'm sure you'll be reading books again soon.
209PaulCranswick
>208 aspirit: I did enjoy most of the 22 in the list that I have read so far. Half of a Yellow Sun would be my favourite.
we all need occasional breaks from other people's worlds.
Indeed. xx
we all need occasional breaks from other people's worlds.
Indeed. xx
210avatiakh
Thanks for posting the Guardian list, I've read 24, lucky that they included so many children's books. I'm having a lousy reading month, just not getting into any of my reads.
211PaulCranswick
>210 avatiakh: At least I am in the best of company then, Kerry!
There is a long weekend here so that might let me read a few more.
There is a long weekend here so that might let me read a few more.
213PaulCranswick
>213 PaulCranswick: Hello anyway
214PaulCranswick
More additions - at least I can still add "em!
124. The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
125. Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
126. The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
127. Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley
128. Felicity by Mary Oliver
129. Real Life by Brandon Taylor
3 from the Booker Longlist surprisingly already in the shops here
The winner of the Man International Booker
More poems by a favourite and another in the Penguin Classics Science Fiction series.
124. The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
125. Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
126. The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
127. Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley
128. Felicity by Mary Oliver
129. Real Life by Brandon Taylor
3 from the Booker Longlist surprisingly already in the shops here
The winner of the Man International Booker
More poems by a favourite and another in the Penguin Classics Science Fiction series.
215karenmarie
Hi Paul! I hope you have a very good weekend.
>195 PaulCranswick: With 2/3 of your globe-trotting family back home after 6 months I can understand why your reading is taking a hit.
>196 PaulCranswick: Ooh, another list! I’ve read 15 and have 8 more on my shelves tbr.
>195 PaulCranswick: With 2/3 of your globe-trotting family back home after 6 months I can understand why your reading is taking a hit.
>196 PaulCranswick: Ooh, another list! I’ve read 15 and have 8 more on my shelves tbr.
216PaulCranswick
>215 karenmarie: I miss the third one loads too!
217Oregonreader
Hi Paul, I am so behind on your thread, as usual. I enjoyed the pictures of your lovely family and I hope your mother continues to do well.
I always enjoy lists so I read the 100 best. Sadly, I have only read 8 of them but I've added some to by TBR list.
Enjoy your family!
I always enjoy lists so I read the 100 best. Sadly, I have only read 8 of them but I've added some to by TBR list.
Enjoy your family!
218FAMeulstee
>196 PaulCranswick: I have read 22 books of this list, 24 books are on mount TBR.
219PaulCranswick
>217 Oregonreader: Lovely to see you here, Jan. My thread is merely chugging along steadily at the moment so it is probably a good time to visit!
>218 FAMeulstee: I am doing ok then, Anita, if I have read the same number as you!
>218 FAMeulstee: I am doing ok then, Anita, if I have read the same number as you!
220amanda4242
Stopping by to wish you a happy weekend.
221PaulCranswick
>220 amanda4242: Much appreciated, Amanda. Will have four hours of work and then a long weekend. I hope to get a few books completed but I am quite disappointed with my August efforts.
222richardderus
August bit you hard, PC, so don't get a down on your performance. You made herculean efforts to right the ship of state and deserve acknowledgment (not least from yourself) for that feat...and books, qua books, never go bad or lose their bookness. Consume at leisure and pleasure not at the tip of a poniard.
223PaulCranswick
>222 richardderus: Thank you dear fellow. I did at least make a significant book related purchase today. 10 bookcases with an anticipated book capacity (in my normal double stacked manner) 4,900 books.
224Caroline_McElwee
>223 PaulCranswick: Oh my, wonderful news. I look forward to seeing them in place and suitably dressed Paul.
225richardderus
>223 PaulCranswick: *views milk-crate shelves*
*vibrates with jealous loathing*
*vibrates with jealous loathing*
226PaulCranswick
>224 Caroline_McElwee: I am sure my photographer-in-chief will do the necessary, Caroline.
Will be delivered on 1 September.
>225 richardderus: Well so many of my books are in piles on the floor at the moment, RD.
Will be delivered on 1 September.
>225 richardderus: Well so many of my books are in piles on the floor at the moment, RD.
227banjo123
>196 PaulCranswick: I have read 36, so feeling pretty positive about my reading for the century.
Hope you are having a good weekend, Paul!
Hope you are having a good weekend, Paul!
228PaulCranswick
>227 banjo123: Surprisingly, Rhonda, that is the highest number I have seen so far so you should be positive.
Weekend is fine so far.
Weekend is fine so far.
229quondame
>196 PaulCranswick: Well I got to 17, but very few of those would be on my top 20 books for this century. At least one is on my worst list for any century.
230PaulCranswick
>229 quondame: Ha! Isn't that the beauty of such lists, Susan, that we can frown and tut as much as we nod in agreement. Some of the 22 I read were certainly not on my favourites list either.
Any alternatives?
Any alternatives?
231quondame
>230 PaulCranswick: I've only been rating books for the last 3 years, and while most of the non-genre reading for this century has been in those 3 years, I still wouldn't add to the list except in the F/SF genre titles - which would pretty much not include any that are on the list though they are pretty good.
The titles I did love were:
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Coraline
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Night Watch
Persepolis
Wolf Hall
Ones I hated:
Atonement
Cloud Atlas
The titles I did love were:
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Coraline
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Night Watch
Persepolis
Wolf Hall
Ones I hated:
Atonement
Cloud Atlas
232bell7
>196 PaulCranswick: I've read 22, several more are on my TBR list and a few more I have no interest in reading. the Fifth Season is one of my favorites of the "read", Normal People hands down the one I disliked the most.
Edited to fix touchstone
Edited to fix touchstone
233PaulCranswick
>231 quondame: Read five of the seven that you lauded and agree with each pick. Haven't read the two you disliked but have liked work by the same authors.
>232 bell7: It really is spooky sometimes - reading figures between the two of us - both read 22!
>232 bell7: It really is spooky sometimes - reading figures between the two of us - both read 22!
234quondame
>233 PaulCranswick: I went through my LT catalog for books published in the last two decades, and of the ones I have rated, 57 at 4.5 or 5, only Night Watch on my short list and The Fifth Season which I didn't include are on the Guardian's list. Of course some of the books I read in the last 4 years and rated are bound to be reprints of 20th century books, but I did weed out the obvious ones.
235EllaTim
>196 PaulCranswick: I've read 17, but I hadn't expected it to be so many. Saving that list, I saw a number I would like to read in the future.
Happy Sunday, Paul!
Happy Sunday, Paul!
236PaulCranswick
>234 quondame: I will have to go back through my own catalogue of books too and come up with an alternative list.
237PaulCranswick
>235 EllaTim: Thanks Ella. I will look to knock a few more off that list soon too. I thought I had posted my message to Susan earlier but somehow it seems that it only posted when reconnected.
238PaulCranswick
Since I have bookcases arriving in a few days that will add around 5,000 book capacity to my bookspace, I thought I would go and see who else needs so many shelves.
In the zeitgeist section there is the 5,000 largest libraries and those in our group or who have been associated with us figure fairly prominently. When you consider that we are a few hundred amongst a website membership in excess of 2 million that isn't bad. I wanted to see who had more or close to 5,000 books amongst our number and this is what I came up with.
1 lyzard 28,868 (45)
2 elkidee 19,438 (110)
3 paulstadler 15,864 (169)
4 alcottacre 15,757 (171)
5 chatterbox 14,133 (224)
6 harrybutler 14,058 (227)
7 paulcranswick 12,355 (308)
8 Whisper1 11,151 (378)
9 jjmcgaffey 11,113 (383)
10 Caroline_McElwee 9,651 (528)
11 amanda4242 9,564 (543)
12 benitastrnad 9,492 (547)
13 someguyinvirginia 8,955 (630)
14 avatiakh 8,391 (718)
15 goddesspt2 8,369 (721)
16 bruce_kraftt 7,715 (864)
17 kmartin802 7,586 (898)
18 MDGentlereader 7,502 (918)
19 LizzieD 7,375 (951)
20 KatieKrug 7,342 (961)
21 sakerfalcon 7,282 (976)
22 DeltaQueen50 7,197 (1002)
23 smiler69 7,135 (1029)
24 lycomayflower 6,970 (1076)
25 marieke54 6,899 (1098)
26 CDVicarage 6,653 (1186)
27 richardderus 6,635 (1193)
28 Beserene 6,502 (1237)
29 arubabookwoman 6,274 (1329)
30 Charl08 6,125 (1382)
31 thornton37814 6,064 (1406)
32 cerievans1 5,846 (1504)
33 yoyogod 5,649 (1599)
34 brewbooks 5,335 (1803)
35 sibyline 5,223 (1894)
36 alsvidur 5,180 (1928)
37 FAMeulstee 5,146 (1951)
38 countrylife 5,112 (1981)
39 rretzler 5,109 (1982)
40 ronincats 4,997 (2080)
41 karenmarie 4,962 (2113)
Figure in brackets is position overall on the website.
If I have missed anyone let me know.
In the zeitgeist section there is the 5,000 largest libraries and those in our group or who have been associated with us figure fairly prominently. When you consider that we are a few hundred amongst a website membership in excess of 2 million that isn't bad. I wanted to see who had more or close to 5,000 books amongst our number and this is what I came up with.
1 lyzard 28,868 (45)
2 elkidee 19,438 (110)
3 paulstadler 15,864 (169)
4 alcottacre 15,757 (171)
5 chatterbox 14,133 (224)
6 harrybutler 14,058 (227)
7 paulcranswick 12,355 (308)
8 Whisper1 11,151 (378)
9 jjmcgaffey 11,113 (383)
10 Caroline_McElwee 9,651 (528)
11 amanda4242 9,564 (543)
12 benitastrnad 9,492 (547)
13 someguyinvirginia 8,955 (630)
14 avatiakh 8,391 (718)
15 goddesspt2 8,369 (721)
16 bruce_kraftt 7,715 (864)
17 kmartin802 7,586 (898)
18 MDGentlereader 7,502 (918)
19 LizzieD 7,375 (951)
20 KatieKrug 7,342 (961)
21 sakerfalcon 7,282 (976)
22 DeltaQueen50 7,197 (1002)
23 smiler69 7,135 (1029)
24 lycomayflower 6,970 (1076)
25 marieke54 6,899 (1098)
26 CDVicarage 6,653 (1186)
27 richardderus 6,635 (1193)
28 Beserene 6,502 (1237)
29 arubabookwoman 6,274 (1329)
30 Charl08 6,125 (1382)
31 thornton37814 6,064 (1406)
32 cerievans1 5,846 (1504)
33 yoyogod 5,649 (1599)
34 brewbooks 5,335 (1803)
35 sibyline 5,223 (1894)
36 alsvidur 5,180 (1928)
37 FAMeulstee 5,146 (1951)
38 countrylife 5,112 (1981)
39 rretzler 5,109 (1982)
40 ronincats 4,997 (2080)
41 karenmarie 4,962 (2113)
Figure in brackets is position overall on the website.
If I have missed anyone let me know.
239richardderus
>196 PaulCranswick: Blew right past that, I did. I read sixty-eight of them and ***LOATHED*** eleven.
>238 PaulCranswick: Wow. I've read and stockpiled a lot of books!
>238 PaulCranswick: Wow. I've read and stockpiled a lot of books!
240amanda4242
>238 PaulCranswick: Yep, I'm definitely in need of more shelves. My six crappy particle board cases overflowed long ago, even though I double and triple stack.
241quondame
>238 PaulCranswick: Must get busy cataloging shelves. Not likely.
242bell7
>233 PaulCranswick: That is funny, Paul, and isn't that the second list of the year that we've had the same number on? I'd wager we overlapped on some but otherwise have very different titles we read on them, too.
I hope you had a lovely weekend and that your work week goes well.
I hope you had a lovely weekend and that your work week goes well.
243m.belljackson
PAUL = as Johnny Cash once famously sang "Time's a wastin'..." on your famous BAC book,
yet you can still show your true Scarlet and Gold colors by joining Quidditch Malaysia!
yet you can still show your true Scarlet and Gold colors by joining Quidditch Malaysia!
244PaulCranswick
>239 richardderus: Sixty-Eight! That will take some beating, RD. Loathed 11 - so adored 56? I am not in the least bit surprised that your library is amongst the top 5,000 on LT.
>240 amanda4242: Wow Amanda, I haven't tried triple stacking! Double stacking with books above the stack is a regular and I may be able to do away with some of the cramping now!
>240 amanda4242: Wow Amanda, I haven't tried triple stacking! Double stacking with books above the stack is a regular and I may be able to do away with some of the cramping now!
245PaulCranswick
>241 quondame: With 3,857 books catalogued you do make the list Susan in 3,403rd place overall. With the rate you read at never mind accumulate books at you will climb that list quickly.
>242 bell7: Work week hasn't started yet, Mary. The country here is celebrating its Independence Day today for the 63rd time.
>242 bell7: Work week hasn't started yet, Mary. The country here is celebrating its Independence Day today for the 63rd time.
246PaulCranswick
>243 m.belljackson: I would have to start reading Potty Harry for that though wouldn't I, Marianne? xx
247amanda4242
>244 PaulCranswick: Mass market paperbacks: not very pretty, but you can get a lot of them on a shelf.
248bell7
>245 PaulCranswick: oops, well in that case, enjoy the long weekend! I can say that sincerely without jealousy because next Monday I'll be off for our Labor Day 😀
249richardderus
>244 PaulCranswick: Oh no, adored maybe four, five at most. The rest were pretty good or decent. Like every other group!
ETA
Fingersmith
The Fifth Season
Moneyball
The Emperor of All Maladies
Stories of Your Life and Others
So, five adores, a lot of ~meh~ and a few hmmmmmm.
ETA
Fingersmith
The Fifth Season
Moneyball
The Emperor of All Maladies
Stories of Your Life and Others
So, five adores, a lot of ~meh~ and a few hmmmmmm.
250PaulCranswick
>247 amanda4242: I may be forced at some stage in desperation to try that!
>248 bell7: Hahaha well we do get 17 public holidays a year here!
>248 bell7: Hahaha well we do get 17 public holidays a year here!
251PaulCranswick
>249 richardderus: Still not bad, RD. I loved Fingersmith.
252FAMeulstee
>238 PaulCranswick: If memory serves me well, I wasn't in the top 2000 the last time you made this list, Paul. Ever since I check the Zeitgeist once in a while.
253PaulCranswick
>252 FAMeulstee: I on the other hand have been in the top 200 and have fallen down a little.
254m.belljackson
>246 PaulCranswick:
Ah, well, maybe you are still holding off on good old Privet street for political reasons related to
Rowling's looney postings...?
Ah, well, maybe you are still holding off on good old Privet street for political reasons related to
Rowling's looney postings...?
255PaulCranswick
>254 m.belljackson: No Marianne - my non-reading predated her ramblings on transgender.
256mahsdad
>238 PaulCranswick: Top Libraries. Until you posted this, I would never have thought to look for my name in this list in the Zeitgeist. I'm 4704, I would have never thought that was possible. Now granted a lot of those are my WL, and my CD collection and my SIL's CD collection so, its bit of a padded number, but I'll take it. :)
257Berly
Paul--Well, if I ever finishing cataloging my book shelves, I might even make the list!!! Don't hold your breath though. ; )
Hi BTW! I am hoping to be back again on LT. Here's to September and a new start. I've missed everyone.
Hi BTW! I am hoping to be back again on LT. Here's to September and a new start. I've missed everyone.
258PaulCranswick
>256 mahsdad: Safely in the top 5,000, Jeff. That is the top 0.25% of the website by the way. With 2,554,486 members to rank 4,704 puts you in the top 0.18%.
>257 Berly: Im sure you'll get round to it Kimmers - hope you don't demolish all the shelves with your TKD!
Lovely to see you back. Here is another one wanting to make September a better reading month than August.
>257 Berly: Im sure you'll get round to it Kimmers - hope you don't demolish all the shelves with your TKD!
Lovely to see you back. Here is another one wanting to make September a better reading month than August.
259karenmarie
Hi Paul!
>223 PaulCranswick: How exciting. New book cases. They should have arrived by now, right? Have fun filling them. I’m looking forward to pics.
>238 PaulCranswick: Very interesting stats. Thank you for including me with my not-quite 5000 books. 41, 4962, 2113. 41 = 4*1 = ½ of my lucky number 8. 4962 = 49*62 = 3038 = abs value(30-38) = 8. 2113 = 21-13=8. 4962 took a while...
>244 PaulCranswick: I’ve got some shelves upstairs in the Retreat (which is mostly books that I’ve read) that are stacked 4 deep, but those are mass market paperbacks and the shelves are 18” deep. Never fear, though, location tags are here! I can still find 98.89% of my books – only 53 are tagged ‘misshelved’.
>254 m.belljackson: Rowling’s looney postings… Sigh. She should just stick to writing books, plays, screenplays.
Best wishes for a fantastic September reading month.
>223 PaulCranswick: How exciting. New book cases. They should have arrived by now, right? Have fun filling them. I’m looking forward to pics.
>238 PaulCranswick: Very interesting stats. Thank you for including me with my not-quite 5000 books. 41, 4962, 2113. 41 = 4*1 = ½ of my lucky number 8. 4962 = 49*62 = 3038 = abs value(30-38) = 8. 2113 = 21-13=8. 4962 took a while...
>244 PaulCranswick: I’ve got some shelves upstairs in the Retreat (which is mostly books that I’ve read) that are stacked 4 deep, but those are mass market paperbacks and the shelves are 18” deep. Never fear, though, location tags are here! I can still find 98.89% of my books – only 53 are tagged ‘misshelved’.
>254 m.belljackson: Rowling’s looney postings… Sigh. She should just stick to writing books, plays, screenplays.
Best wishes for a fantastic September reading month.
260PaulCranswick
>259 karenmarie: I am on a break already - about a quarter of the way to filling up the shelves. Approximate first with shelved alphabetically by author's last name. I roughly calculated where on the shelves the various letters would be and we will put them in approximate locations first and then I will tidy up later.
I sort of understand what Rowling was trying to say but she would have been better off not saying it.
I sort of understand what Rowling was trying to say but she would have been better off not saying it.
261Caroline_McElwee
>254 m.belljackson: >260 PaulCranswick: Having read the whole 8 pages of what she had to say, less than a paragraph or two of which was reported, I think there are things worth explorng and thinking about fully, before discounting out of hand, if discounting we ultimately do. She is a deeply caring person, and her concerns are especially for children. She doesn't seem to be someone who would say things she hadn't extensively researched. We live in such a tripwire environment now due to the digital world, that things can get out of hand so quickly. I don't believe she deserved to be as ravaged as she has been.
Just saying, not putting it here for debate especially - I'd need to do my own research before I took that route anyway.
Just saying, not putting it here for debate especially - I'd need to do my own research before I took that route anyway.
262m.belljackson
Paul = How many candles for this next Birthday?!
263PaulCranswick
>261 Caroline_McElwee: I wouldn't disagree with you necessarily, Caroline, as it is a complex issue. It does scare me a little these days that almost everyone looks at things in absolutes and when someone voices a concern the reaction is rarely proportionate.
>262 m.belljackson: 54 candles today for me, Marianne. xx
>262 m.belljackson: 54 candles today for me, Marianne. xx
264richardderus
Many many many (more) happy returns, whippersnapper!
265PaulCranswick
>264 richardderus: I am aching all over, RD, from lifting and placing around 5,000 books, so a whippersnapper I fear not!
Thank you dear fellow.
Thank you dear fellow.
266Caroline_McElwee
Happy Birthday Paul. Hope the shelf filling has been enjoyable!
267amanda4242
Happy birthday!
268FAMeulstee
Happy birthday to you, Paul!
269johnsimpson
Happy birthday Paul my dear friend.
270avatiakh
Looking forward to seeing your filled bookshelves. Even if you don't get everything on them you will have made Hani very happy.
271mahsdad
Happy Birthday to you Paul! Here's hoping that 54 (mine too couple weeks ago), will be a good year for us all.
275richardderus
>265 PaulCranswick: The best ache of all: Accomplishment!
278karenmarie
Happy Birthday, Paul, and I wish you all good things for the coming year.
279PaulCranswick
>266 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks Caroline. It was and I got it done even though it was nearly 4 am when we slept!
>267 amanda4242: Thank you Amanda. Your constancy these last few years has helped light up my thread and is one of the reasons probably that I am still here.
>267 amanda4242: Thank you Amanda. Your constancy these last few years has helped light up my thread and is one of the reasons probably that I am still here.
280PaulCranswick
>268 FAMeulstee: Thank you dear Anita.
>269 johnsimpson: Thanks John. Love to you and Karen and I hope to see you both when these travel restrictions are finally raised.
>269 johnsimpson: Thanks John. Love to you and Karen and I hope to see you both when these travel restrictions are finally raised.
281PaulCranswick
>270 avatiakh: Hahaha yes, Kerry, she was happy yesterday being able to see the floor of her bedroom!
>271 mahsdad: We do have a lot in common mate, don't we?! Always a pleasure to have you stop by, Jeff.
>271 mahsdad: We do have a lot in common mate, don't we?! Always a pleasure to have you stop by, Jeff.
282PaulCranswick
>272 ronincats: Thank you dear Roni.
>273 EllaTim: Thanks Ella and by no means belated dear lady! I am still less than half way through my birthday here and it has only just started in the UK!
>273 EllaTim: Thanks Ella and by no means belated dear lady! I am still less than half way through my birthday here and it has only just started in the UK!
284quondame
Well, I do hope it was a happy birthday for you and that the coming 12 months see you reach your goals in a world that's heading in a saner direction!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
285PaulCranswick
>276 m.belljackson: And knowing my luck, Voldemort would be waiting to greet me. xx
>277 bell7: Thank you, Mary. It is almost surprising that our birthday's also don't coincide!
>277 bell7: Thank you, Mary. It is almost surprising that our birthday's also don't coincide!
286PaulCranswick
>278 karenmarie: Thank you Karen. You are always a salve to the pains of the day. xx
>284 quondame: Nice things to wish for Susan. Thank you. xx
>284 quondame: Nice things to wish for Susan. Thank you. xx
287Oregonreader
Happy Birthday, Paul. Looking back from my advanced age, you are in the prime of life. Enjoy!
289charl08
Happy birthday Paul. Hope that the aches and pains of stacking the bookcase ease off soon.
292bell7
>285 PaulCranswick: I know right? Mine's in late March, so almost six months :)
294Donna828
Birthday Greetings, Paul. And congratulations on shelving the books in your bedroom. I imagine you slept soundly after completing that task in the wee hours of the morning.
295PaulCranswick
>287 Oregonreader: That makes me feel better Jan. Lovely to see you.
>288 SirThomas: Thank you Thomas.
>288 SirThomas: Thank you Thomas.
296PaulCranswick
>289 charl08: I am still a bit achey but happy looking at my books. I will slowly refine their positions on the shelves.xx
>290 scaifea: Thanks Amber. It was a nice day with some of my colleagues coming home with me from the Sapura project. SWMBO cooked a lovely meal for all of us.
>290 scaifea: Thanks Amber. It was a nice day with some of my colleagues coming home with me from the Sapura project. SWMBO cooked a lovely meal for all of us.
297PaulCranswick
>291 msf59: Thanks Mark. Saw plenty of pictures on FB recently of someone about to enjoy a well earned rest.
>292 bell7: Would have been a bit unnerving if your birthday was September!
>292 bell7: Would have been a bit unnerving if your birthday was September!
298PaulCranswick
>293 Carmenere: Thank you dear Lynda xx
>294 Donna828: Thanks Donna. The majority of the books are now in the living area which meant of course bringing them all from the bedroom. Quite a task, I can tell you. Still have books A to D in the bedroom plus some of my favourite reads.
>294 Donna828: Thanks Donna. The majority of the books are now in the living area which meant of course bringing them all from the bedroom. Quite a task, I can tell you. Still have books A to D in the bedroom plus some of my favourite reads.
299lkernagh
Very sorry to see that I missed your birthday, Paul. Sending you belated Happy Birthday wishes! How lovely to be getting new bookshelves!
300PaulCranswick
>299 lkernagh: Thanks Lori. I wish I had slightly more wall space!
301figsfromthistle
Sorry I missed your birthday however, belated wishes!
This topic was continued by PAUL C INTO THE ROARING 20S - Part 20.
