PAUL C'S SECOND HOME - PART 5

Scenes from my Books

The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass

POEM

Douglas Dunn has written many sad poems on grief. This is his touching poem "Kaleidoscope"

Reading Record

JANUARY

1. Plague 99 by Jean Ure (1989) 218 pp
2. Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes (1857) 309 pp
3. A Lear of the Steppes by Ivan Turgenev (1870) 117 pp
4. A Fall from the Sky by Ian Serraillier (1966) 78 pp
5. The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri (2015) 262 pp
6. Dove on the Waters by Maurice Shadbolt (1996) 198 pp
7. A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson (2019) 81 pp
8. The Other End of the Line by Andrea Camilleri (2016) 293 pp
9. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (2019) 208 pp
10. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (1930) 501 pp
11. Carrie's War by Nina Bawden (1973) 211 pp
12. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (2020) 430 pp
13. Judge Savage by Tim Parks (2003) 442 pp
14. The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie (1962) 280 pp
15. Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer (1969) 227 pp
16. Jazz by Toni Morrison (1992) 229 pp
17. A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell (1951) 230 pp

FEBRUARY

18. Junk by Melvyn Burgess (1996) 278 pp
19. The Great Fire by Monica Dickens (1970) 64 pp
20. At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie (1965) 265 pp

CURRENTLY READING

READING PLAN
Reading Plan

1 British Author Challenge - set this year by Amanda in the 75er Group

2 1001 Book First Edition - Ongoing

3 Booker Challenge - Read all the Booker winners; I may get close to completing that in 2021

4 Nobel Winners - Read all the Nobel Winners

5 Pulitzer Winners - Read all the Pulitzer fiction winners

6 Around the World Challenge - Read a book from an author born in or with parents from all countries - I reset this challenge in October 2020.

7 Queen Victoria Challenge - Read a book from every year of Queen Victoria's reign (1837-1901) with no repeat authors. Started December 2020

8 Queen Betty Challenge - Read a book from every year of Queen Elizabeth II reign (1952-2021) - British authors only and no repeats.

9 Dance to the Music of Time - One a month all year.

10. The 52 Book Club Challenge - A book a week from these selected categories https://www.the52book.club/challenges/2021-reading-challenge/

11. A Dent in the TBR - I have approaching 5,000 books in my TBR so I must read some of the 250 books I have bought in 2020 that end the current year unread.

12. Poetry - My first love in many ways and I am still something of a scribbler of lines to this day.

13. American Author Challenge - Linda came up trumps.

14. Series Pairs - I will choose one favourite series and read the next two books in that particular series I have slightly fallen behind with.

BAC



January: Children's Classics https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7317610

February: LGBT+ History Month https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7317871

March: Vaseem Khan & Eleanor Hibbert https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7318561

April: Love is in the Air https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7319432

May: V. S. Naipaul & Na'ima B. Robert https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7320231

June: The Victorian Era (1837-1901) https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7320541

July: Don't judge a book by its movie https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7321220

August: Bernard Cornwell & Helen Oyeyemi https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7321374

September: She Blinded Me with Science https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7321899

October: Narrative Poetry https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7322840

November: Tade Thompson & Elizabeth Taylor https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7323772

December: Awards & Honors https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7325017

Wildcard: Books off your shelves https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7325595

AMERICAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE



Please see:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/327669#7354831

January : Keep it in the Family : F. Scott Fitzgerald

BOOKERS
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
2020: Douglas Stuart, Shuggie Bain READ JAN 21

READ 32 of 56 WINNERS

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


17 READ
37 ON SHELVES
39 NOT OWNED OR READ

93 TOTAL

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 - READ
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
2020 Louise Gluck - READ

READ 71 OF
117 LAUREATES

AROUND THE WORLD CHALLENGE
Around the world in books challenge. I want to see how many countries I can cover without limiting myself to a specific deadline.

From 1 October 2020

1. United Kingdom - The Ways of the World by Robert Goddard EUROPE
2. Ireland - The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde EUROPE
3. Lithuania - Selected and Last Poems by Czeslaw Milosz EUROPE
4. Netherlands - The Ditch by Herman Koch EUROPE
5. Armenia - The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian ASIA PACIFIC
6. Zimbabwe - This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga AFRICA
7. United States - Averno by Louise Gluck AMERICA
8. Australia - Taller When Prone by Les Murray ASIA PACIFIC
9. France - Class Trip by Emmanuel Carrere EUROPE
10. Russia - The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov EUROPE
11. Denmark - Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard EUROPE
12. Democratic Republic of Congo - Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanze Mujila AFRICA
13. Canada - I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven AMERICA
14. Italy - The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri EUROPE
15. New Zealand - Dove on the Waters by Maurice Shadbolt ASIA PACIFIC


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

QUEEN VIC CHALLENGE
Regarding my Victorian Era Challenge which I started this month with the aim of completing it by the end of 2021. 64 years. 64 books. 64 authors.

From Dec 2020

1843 FEAR AND TREMBLING by Kierkegaard
1850 PENDENNIS by Thackeray
1857 TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS by Hughes
1870 A LEAR OF THE STEPPES by Turgenev
1881 PRINCE AND THE PAUPER by Twain
1900 THREE SISTERS by Chekhov

6/64

QUEEN BETTY CHALLENGE

From December 2020 70 Years 70 Books 70 Different British Authors

1962 The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side by Agatha Christie
1966 A Fall from the Sky by Ian Serraillier
1969 Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Framer
1970 The Great Fire by Monica Dickens
1973 Carrie's War by Nina Bawden
1989 Plague 99 by Jean Ure
1996 Junk by Melvyn Burgess
2003 Judge Savage by Tim Parks
2013 A Delicate Truth by John Le Carre
2019 A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson
2020 Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

11/70

52 BOOK CLUB CHALLENGE

Based on this challenge suggested by Katie & Chelle

https://www.the52book.club/challenges/2021-reading-challenge/

January
Week 1 : Set in a school : Tom Brown's Schooldays by Hughes Read 2 Jan 2021
Week 2 : Legal profession : Judge Savage by Tim Parks Read 28 Jan 2021
Week 3 : Dual timeline : Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer Read 29 Jan 2021
Week 4 : Deceased author : Jazz by Toni Morrison READ 30 Jan 2021
Week 5 : Published by Penguin : Junk by Melvyn Burgess READ 3 Feb 2021
Week 6 : Male Family Member :
Week 7 : 1 Published Work :
Week 8 : Dewey 900 Class :

SERIES PAIR CHALLENGE

January First Half : Andrea Camilleri - MONTALBANO DONE
January Second Half : Agatha Christie - MISS MARPLE DONE
February First Half : Ben Aaronovitch - PETER GRANT

READ MORE THAN ACQUIRED

Last year I added 300 books but read 50 of them. In addition I have another 4,500 plus on the TBR.
The challenge is not to make the situation of my TBR worse.
So I must read or remove from my wider TBR more than I acquire this year and I will gauge this against last years "new" TBR and any future incomings. Therefore the older TBRs don't count against this challenge.

The figure at the start of the year is 250 books and this number must be smaller by December 31. These are the 250 books:

1 Stay with Me Adebayo
2 American War Akkad
3 The Catholic School Albinati
4 The Unwomanly Face of War Alexievich
5 Saltwater Andrews
6 Big Sky Atkinson
7 At the Jerusalem Bailey
8 The Body Lies Baker
9 The Lost Memory of Skin Banks
10 Remembered Battle-Felton
11 Springtime in a Broken Mirror Benedetti
12 A Crime in the Neighborhood Berne
13 Stand By Me Berry
14 Love Story, With Murders Bingham
15 This Thing of Darkness Bingham
16 The Sandcastle Girls Bohjalian
17 The Ascent of Rum Doodle Bowman
18 Clade Bradley
19 The Snow Ball Brophy
20 Paladin of Souls Bujold
21 Parable of the Sower Butler
22 The Adventures of China Iron Camara
23 The Overnight Kidnapper Camilleri READ JAN 21
24 The Other End of the Line Camilleri READ JAN 21
25 Lord of all the Dead Cercas
26 Uncle Vanya Checkov
27 The Cherry Orchard Checkov
28 Blue Moon Child
29 Trust Exercise Choi
30 The Night Tiger Choo
31 The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side Christie READ JAN 21
32 At Bertram's Hotel Christie READ FEB 21
33 The Water Dancer Coates
34 The New Wilderness Cook
35 Hopscotch Cortazar
36 The Illumination of Ursula Flight Crowhurst
37 Deviation D'Eramo
38 Boy Swallows Universe Dalton
39 The Girl with the Louding Voice Dare
40 The Rose of Tibet Davidson
41 Dhalgren Delany
42 The Butterfly Girl Denfeld
43 Vernon Subutex 1 Despentes
44 Postcolonial Love Poem Diaz
45 Childhood Ditlevsen
46 Youth Ditlevsen
47 Dependency Ditlevsen
48 Burnt Sugar Doshi
49 Frenchman's Creek Du Maurier D
50 Trilby Du Maurier G
51 Sincerity Duffy
52 Sumarine Dunthorne
53 The Narrow Land Dwyer-Hickey
54 Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race Eddo-Lodge
55 Axiom's End Ellis
56 Figures in a Landscape England
57 kaddish.com Englander
58 Shadow Tag Erdrich
59 The Carpet Makers Eschbach
60 The Emperor's Babe Evaristo
61 Small Country Faye
62 To Rise Again at a Decent Hour Ferris
63 At Freddie's Fitzgerald
64 The Guest List Foley
65 Man's Search for Meaning Frankel
66 Love in No Man's Land Ga
67 Norse Mythology Gaiman
68 The Spare Room Garner
69 The Kites Gary
70 Gun Island Ghosh
71 Vita Nova Gluck
72 Trafalgar Gorodischer
73 Potiki Grace
74 Killers of the Flower Moon Grann
75 The Last Banquet Grimwood
76 Guapa Haddad
77 The Porpoise Haddon
78 Late in the Day Hadley
79 The Final Bet Hamdouchi
80 The Parisian Hammad
81 Nightingale Hannah
82 Coastliners Harris J
83 The Truths We Hold Harris K
84 Conclave Harris R
85 The Second Sleep Harris R
86 Tales of the Tikongs Hau'ofa
87 A Thousand Ships Haynes
88 The River Heller
89 Dead Lions Herron
90 Real Tigers Herron
91 War and Turpentine Hertmans
92 A Political History of the World Holslag
93 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Honeyman
94 The Light Years Howard
95 Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself Huber
96 A High Wind in Jamaica Hughes
97 Ape and Essence Huxley
98 Me John
99 Nightblind Jonasson
100 Black Out Jonasson
101 How to be an Anti-Rascist Kendi
102 Death is Hard Work Khalifa
103 Darius the Great is Not Okay Khorram
104 Himself Kidd
105 Diary of a Murderer Kim
106 Dance of the Jacakranda Kimani
107 The Bridge Konigsberg
108 Who They Was Krauze
109 The Mars Room Kushner
110 The Princesse de Cleves La Fayette
111 The Other Americans Lalami
112 The Curious Case of Dassoukine's Trousers Laroui
113 Fish Can Sing Laxness
114 Agent Running in the Field Le Carre
115 Pachinko Lee
116 The Turncoat Lenz
117 The Topeka School Lerner
118 Caging Skies Leunens
119 The Fifth Risk Lewis
120 The Three-Body Problem Liu
121 Lost Children Archive Luiselli
122 Black Moses Mabanckou
123 Blue Ticket Mackintosh
124 A Burning Majumdar
125 The Mirror and the Light Mantel
126 Original Spin Marks
127 Deep River Marlantes
128 The Return Matar
129 The Island Matute
130 Hame McAfee
131 Apeirogon McCann
132 Underland McFarlane
133 Hurricane Season Melchor
134 The Shadow King Mengiste
135 The Human Swarm Moffett
136 She Would Be King Moore
137 The Starless Sea Morgenstern
138 Poetry by Heart Motion
139 A Fairly Honourable Defeat Murdoch
140 The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov Nabokov
141 The Warlow Experiment Nathan
142 The Left-Handed Booksellers of London Nix
143 Born a Crime Noah
144 The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney Nzelu
145 Girl O'Brien
146 After You'd Gone O'Farrell
147 Henry, Himself O'Nan
148 Inland Obreht
149 Weather Offill
150 Dept. of Speculation Offill
151 Stag's Leap Olds
152 Blue Horses Oliver
153 Felicity Oliver
154 Will Olyslaegers
155 Woods, etc Oswald
156 Night Theatre Paralkar
157 The Damascus Road Parini
158 Empress of the East Peirce
159 The Street Petry
160 Disappearing Earth Phillips
161 Arid Dreams Pimwana
162 Peterloo : Witness to a Massacre Polyp
163 Lanny Porter
164 The Women at Hitler's Table Postorino
165 A Question of Upbringing Powell A READ JAN 21
166 A Buyer's Market Powell A
167 The Acceptance World Powell A
168 The Interrogative Mood Powell P
169 Rough Magic Prior-Palmer
170 The Alice Network Quinn
171 Where the Red Fern Grows Rawls
172 Such a Fun Age Reid
173 Selected Poems 1950-2012 Rich
174 The Discomfort of Evening Rijneveld
175 Jack Robinson
176 The Years of Rice and Salt Robinson K
177 A Portable Paradise Robinson R READ JAN 21
178 The Fall of the Ottomans Rogan
179 Normal People Rooney
180 Conversations with Friends Rooney
181 Alone Time Rosenbloom
182 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Rowling
183 The Watch Roy-Bhattacharya
184 The Five Rubenhold
185 Contact Sagan
186 The Hunters Salter
187 The Seventh Cross Seghers
188 Will Self
189 Moses Ascending Selvon
190 The Dove on the Water Shadbolt READ JAN 21
191 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World Shafak
192 In Arabian Nights Shah
193 The Caliph's House Shah
194 Mrs Warren's Profession Shaw
195 Arms and the Man Shaw
196 Candida Shaw
197 Man and Superman Shaw
198 Dimension of Miracles Sheckley
199 The Last Man Shelley
200 Temple of a Thousand Faces Shors
201 Year of the Monkey Smith P
202 Eternity Smith T
203 Crossing Statovci
204 Lucy Church, Amiably Stein
205 Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead Stoppard
206 Blood Cruise Strandberg
207 Shuggie Bain Stuart READ JAN 21
208 Three Poems Sullivan
209 Rules for Perfect Murders Swanson
210 Cane River Tademy
211 Real Life Taylor
212 The Queen's Gambit Tevis
213 Far North Therous
214 Walden Thoreau
215 Civil Disobedience Thoreau
216 Survivor Song Tremblay
217 The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee Treuer
218 The Small House at Allingham Trollope
219 A Nest of Gentlefolk Turgenev
220 A Quiet Backwater Turgenev
221 A Lear of the Steppes Turgenev READ JAN 21
222 The Queen of Attolia Turner
223 The King of Attolia Turner
224 Redhead by the Side of the Road Tyler
225 Outlaw Ocean Urbina
226 Plague 99 Ure READ JAN 2021
227 The Age of Miracles Walker
228 The Uninhabitable Earth Wallace-Wells
229 Judith Paris Walpole
230 Love and Other Thought Experiments Ward
231 The Death of Mrs. Westaway Ware
232 Lolly Willows Warner
233 Second Life Watson
234 Final Cut Watson
235 Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen Weldon
236 Before the War Weldon
237 Lazarus West
238 Educated Westover
239 The Nickel Boys Whitehead READ JAN 21
240 The Death of Murat Idrissi Wieringa
241 Salome Wilde
242 An Ideal Husband Wilde
243 Lady Windemere's Fan Wilde
244 A Woman of No Importance Wilde
245 The Salt Path Winn
246 The Natural Way of Things Wood C
247 East Lynne Wood E
248 A Room of One's Own Woolf
249 Interior Chinatown Yu
250 How Much of These Hills is Gold Zhang

BEGIN : 250
READ : 11
ADDED : 8 (Nett after deducting those already read)
CULLED : 0 (AGED TBR)

PRESENT TOTAL : 247

THIS YEAR'S ACQUISITIONS

1. Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. by Somerville & Ross
2. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome READ JAN 21
3. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
4. The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle
5. The Black Corsair by Emilio Salgari
6. The Prime Ministers : Reflections on Leadership from Wilson to Johnson by Steve Richards
7. The God Child by Nana Oforiatta Ayim
8. Arturo's Island by Elsa Morante
9. Coningsby by Benjamin Disraeli

9 added
1 read
8 nett additions

RESOLUTIONS

BOOK STATS :

Books Read : 20
Books Added : 9
Nett TBR Reduction : 11

Number of Pages in completed books : 4,911
Avergae per day : 136.42
Projected Page Total : 49,792

Number of days per book : 1.80
Projected Number : 202
LT Best : 157

Longest Book read : 501 pages
Shortest Book read : 64 pages
Mean Average Book Length : 245.55 pages

Male Authors : 13
Female Authors : 7

UK Authors : 14
Italy : 2
USA : 2
NZ : 1
Russia : 1

1001 Books First Edition : 2 (306)
New Nobel Winners :
Pulitzer Fiction Winners : 1 (17)
Booker Winners : 1 (32)
Around the World Challenge : New countries : 2 (15)
BAC Books : 8
AAC Books :
Queen Vic Books : 3 (6/64)
Queen Betty Books : 10 (11/70)
52 Book Challenge : 5 (5/52)

NEXT IS YOURS

Happy new thread, Paul!

>1 PaulCranswick: I loved The Tin Drum, both the book and the movie.

>21 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. I am looking forward to my first Gunter Grass.

Happy (yet another!) new one, Paul! I was too far behind in your last thread so just skimmed. Excellent news re your return home and fingers crossed that it all goes smoothly this time. Also, re the playlists, I am (was) a fan of Janis Ian and have a biography of her somewhere among the piles. Does she still perform? Haven't heard anything in eons, in feels like.

>23 jessibud2: I believe that she still does, Shelley. According to Rhian she went to a concert of hers fairly recently and loved it.

First time for a long while I am starting a new thread at this time. May make it move a little slower than the late evening rush!

Duplicate post because the LT gremlins are out and it took me six attempts to reply to Shelley.

Another duplicate post.

Happy new thread, Paul, and congrats on your future move back to the motherland!

Happy new thread!

>26 PaulCranswick: The same here, Paul. I just tried to make a bug report, and that didn't show either.
Your three messages are visible now. Maybe my posts show up later.

>27 scaifea: Thanks Amber. You beat me to number five by a couple of days. I am looking forward to a return to the UK but a bit apprehensive too.

>28 drneutron: Thanks Jim.

>29 FAMeulstee: I was more than a little non-plussed, Anita. I don't remember it doing that before.

Happy new one, Paul. I am blaming the thread shenanigans on Monday.

>32 Crazymamie: Hahaha you could well be right Mamie but my Monday has be a decent one because it was a Public Holiday and no work here.

Happy new thread, Paul!
The The Tin Drum is really worth reading - I should do that too...
I wish you a wonderful start to the week and the best wishes fo your further plans.

Happy New thread, Paul! Congrats on #5! It is going to be tough keeping up with you guys this year, and I am completely fine with it. I love the fact that the 75 is still going strong.

I loved the film, The Tin Drum but I have never read the novel.

>34 SirThomas: More than welcome to join me on it, Thomas! Thanks for stopping by as always. x

>35 msf59: You haven't been out of the top two since 2014 which is quite remarkable consistency, Mark.

I have lead the way more than anyone else but have had years when my numbers have dipped substantially.

Thread with most posts
2012 Paul
2013 Paul
2014 Amber
2015 Amber
2016 Mark
2017 Paul
2018 Mark
2019 Mark
2020 Paul

Happy new one!

>1 PaulCranswick: I have quite a few books on my shelf by Günter Grass however, I never seem to be able to get into his novels. I must have started the tin drum four times. Even for my German literature classes I avoided it. I shall have to try again.

>38 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita.

I have quite a few too, but The Tin Drum is his most famous work.

>37 PaulCranswick: I guess that is pretty consistent, Paul. LOL. I am over due for a quieter year, but then again...

So much love The Tin Drum on threads at the mo, I may have to push it up the list.

Oh and Happy New Thread :)

>40 msf59: Your steady accumulation will see you post your normal numbers, I'm sure. Amber is on fire at the moment and I usually start the year like this but whether we can keep it going or not remains to be seen.

>41 BekkaJo: Read it with me, Bekka, as I know that you also go for the 1001 Books completism.

I just read your life update, Paul, that's wonderful news!! xx

And happy new thread :-)

Happy new thread, Paul!

>43 DianaNL: I will make sure that a trip to the Netherlands will be prioritised, Diana. xx

>44 harrygbutler: Thanks Harry

Excellent news on your much-anticipated move, Paul. Glad to know it is finally getting ever-closer to becoming a reality for you and your family.

>46 kac522: It doesn't seem completely real yet, Kathy. I have a lot to do in the next six months.

>45 PaulCranswick: I'd love to meet you and Hani, Paul.

>48 DianaNL: Oh she would definitely come along too, Diana. She loves the Netherlands just as much as I do and one of her best friends lives somewhere near Utrecht.

>42 PaulCranswick: ooooh cease your siren song!

>50 BekkaJo: Well pretty-please would have been a more pathetic way of seeking book company! xx

>51 PaulCranswick: I just opened it up on my e-reader...

Happy new thread!

>52 BekkaJo: You are a chum!

>53 quondame: Thanks Susan.

Happy new thread!

>55 amanda4242: Thank you, Amanda

Congratulations on the upcoming move, Paul! It'll be a little bit weird to have you in such a different time zone.

Happy New Thread, Paul. Man, that last thread zipped by fast!

From it, Charlotte Sometimes looks like my kind of book. Thanks for reading it and posting about it.

Hercules Poirot: I'm with the David Suchet appreciators. He comes closest to Poirot as I imagine him. Our Agatha-phile daughter cannot stand the huge mustache Kenneth Branagh has; not at all like the books, says she. She also thinks he screwed up the two movies.

It's been a part of my life for so long I haven't really thought about it, but I think I've re-read more Agatha novels than any other author. And she almost always fools me all over again - particularly when I believe I remember the solution. (Some solutions are completely unforgettable, of course - e.g., The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express.

Debbi and I are excited about your (fingers crossed) permanent move to the UK in July; seems like we'll be able to see you more often! We hope to get back to London next Fall; we miss being there.

Happy new thread Paul. I missed the news of your impending return to the UK but I will go back and catch up.

Happy new thread, Paul!

Hi Paul, Happy new thread mate.

Happy new thread!!

>57 Fourpawz2: Thank you, Charlotte.

>58 jnwelch: It would appear from the comments Joe that Branagh playing Hercule is akin to Cruise playing Jack Reacher.

It is fascinating that Christie's books which are, by necessity plot driven, seem to lend themselves so nicely to re-reads.

Say hi to Debbi too and I look forward to the advantage of being able to meet up with LT pals more often.

>59 AnneDC: Thanks Anne. It is more than a definitely maybe this time!

>60 bell7: Thank you, Mary

>61 johnsimpson: Thank you, John. First test in India coming up and England rest Bairstow who played so well in Sri Lanka (extraordinary). Top three are likely to be Burns, Sibley and Crawley - heaven help us!

>62 ChelleBearss: Thanks Chelle.

No, No, just no! I just wished you a happy 4th thread and here you are again with your 5th. You're making my head spin, Paul ;)

I am getting ready to start reading Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell. I should get it started this week.

>66 Carmenere: That isn't a bad thing, Lynda, right?!

>67 benitastrnad: I enjoyed it, Benita. Nothing much happens but I still enjoyed it.

>1 PaulCranswick: I started The Tin Drum long ago, didn't finish it, and have meant to go back to it for years. Sadly, I let my copy of it go at some point, feeling I probably wouldn't get back to it. But now I regret that. My library probably has it, so I may yet remedy the indiscretion.

Happy New Thread, Sir Paul!

Here we go again with the converging hive mind of books we have around here. I've had Tin Drum on my bedside book pile for years. I too tried it once and along with my ongoing love/hate relationship with Gravity's Rainbow couldn't finish it. Maybe this year..

Best to you and the fam...

Your thread just keeps proliferating! I'm glad I got a chance to chime in before you create another. Hoping to find time to read in a little bit. At the moment, I'm still answering reference questions for the library so I don't want to get into something and be distracted.

>69 laytonwoman3rd: Given your Faulknerian predilections, you are obviously no stranger to difficult books, Linda, so I am surprised you didn't see this one through. I have previously started it and didn't get very far but then again I have finished both The Sound and the Fury and Ulysses so how tough can it be.

>70 mahsdad: It does seem to be one which a few of us have not managed to digest previously. You also identified in Pynchon a classically tough read. Nice to see you, Jeff.

>71 thornton37814: I am not the keeper of the fastest moving thread these days as Katie and Amber are both whizzing away at the moment and will soon doubtlessly leave me behind. It is great to have you stop by at all and any junctures, Lori. xx

Thread Posting Update.

Update as at 1 February.
Will promise to put up the final 2020 figures this week.
Will promise to put up the reading stats too.

1 PaulCranswick 1199
2 scaifea 1159
3 KatieKrug 1017
4 richardderus 808
5 crazymamie 755
6 msf59 686
7 jnwelch 568
8 karenmarie 448
9 Berly 375
10 EBT1002 331
11 MickyFine 330
12 ronincats 321
13 FAMeulstee 310
14 drneutron 286
15 laurelkeet 242
16 ChelleBearss 240
17 thornton37814 240
18 lyzard 230
19 BBLBera 224
20 PersephonesLibrary 205
21 FamilyHistorian 202
22 SandDune 197
23 mstrust 190
24 jessibud2 188
25 Whisper1 181
26 brenzi 166
27 johnsimpson 153
28 harrybutler 152
29 Carmenere 146
30 quondame 145
31 loving-lit 142
32 AMQS 137
33 figsfromthistle 137
34 Streamsong 137
35 bell7 135
36 cbl_tn 129
37 laytonwoman3rd 127
38 mahsdad 124
39 DianaNL 121
40 Sir Thomas 120
41 justchris 118
42 EllaTim 117
43 Ameise1 116
44 LizzieD 115
45 rebarelishesreading 114
46 foggidawn 113
47 coppers 111
48 Humouress 102
49 Caroline_McElwee 99
50 curioussquared 93
51 Swynn 93
52 connie53 91
53 PawsForThought 88
54 Weird_O 88
55 fuzzi 86
56 sibyline 82
57 sirfurboy 81
58 jayde1599 80
59 London 79
60 norabelle414 79
61 Bekkajo 77
62 ffortsa 76
63 avatiakh 72
64 BBGirl55 72
65 Rbeffa 68
66 genealogy_nana 65
67 souloftherose 65
68 lindapanzo 63
69 aktakukac 61
70 false-knight 61
71 majkia 61
72 The_Hibernator 61
73 banjo 58
74 CDVicarage 58
75 lycomayflower 58
76 oberon 58
77 tiffin 55
78 amanda4242 53
79 witchyrichy 53
80 archerygirl 52
81 fairywings 51
82 sandymc 50
83 SqueakyChu 50
84 tymfos 50
85 AnneDC 48
86 Chatterbox 48
87 vikzen 48
88 bluesalamanders 47
89 MichiganTrumpet 47
90 paulstadler 47
91 dk_phoenix 46
92 magicians_nephew 45
93 arubabookwoman 43
94 ikernagh 43
95 esquiress 40
96 goosecap 40
97 mdoris 40
98 _zoe_ 39
99 jennyifer24 39
100 alcottacre 37
101 SuziQOregon 37
102 silverwolf28 36
103 CassieBash 34
104 HanGerg 34
105 hredwards 34
106 iluvvideo 33
107 Oregonreader 33
108 RandyMetcalfe 33
109 klobrien2 32
110 LoisB 32
111 torontoc 32
112 tututhefirst 32
113 vivians 32
114 Fourpawz2 31
115 lunacat 31
116 smilez4u1390 31
117 calm 29
118 Only2yrs 29
119 cyderry 28
120 ape 26
121 crazy4reading 25
122 javman 25
123 takenby05 25
124 NeilsenGW 24
125 GerryBookshelf 23
126 BerlinBibliophile 22
127 elkidee 22
128 foreigncircus 21
129 ocgreg34 21
130 BBleil 20
131 coffee.cat 20
132 ctpress 20
133 sjgoins 20
134 walklover 20
135 allthesedarnbooks 19
136 dmulvee 19
137 wearylibrarian 19
138 Cee 18
139 Deedledee 18
140 kristelh 18

Will you SLOW DOWN?!? Except for the stats. Keep them coming.

Janis Ian has an active account on Facebook that I follow. She's the one who posted that Tom Gauld cartoon I posted at the end of my last thread. And this is what she posted today...

Lonely Planet releases their new travel guides

The group is still dominated by the US with 95 of the top 140 threads being resident in the US. The British Isles comes up second with 15 and Canada (whose numbers have dwindled over the last few years) at 12. Netherlands 4 Switzerland 2 Germany 2, Austria, Sweden and Denmark are Europe's contribution. NZ and Australia have 2 each and Morrocco, Malaysia and Singapore have 1 each.

>75 ronincats: I'm posh Roni so where is the library?! I really like Janis Ian and she has obviously maintained her sense of humour.

>74 PaulCranswick: I'm always amazed when I break the top 100 posters since I am not the chattiest person around.

>78 amanda4242: Almost in the top 75 no less! If you did what I and so many others did and ventured a mini review for each book in a post per book your numbers would be even more impressive.

>78 amanda4242: I just checked in fact and you would have made 15 more posts this way and lifted you to 65th in the list!

>75 ronincats: Hee! Great photo!

>79 PaulCranswick: & >80 PaulCranswick: Eh, sounds like too much work. I don't want to cut into my reading time. ;)

>81 justchris: Indeed Chris; that Janis Ian is a clever clogs.

>82 amanda4242: Somehow thought you may say that. You did do just that for your first 7 or 8 books.

>74 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul, you always make me happy with the group statistics.
And I am very happy I moved up from 15 to my lucky number 13. Started my new thread just in time :-)

>84 FAMeulstee: You are leading the way for Europe this time, Anita.

Hi Paul! Happy new thread.

From your previous thread, I’ve already got A Question of Upbringing scheduled for this year. Congrats on 17 books read, too.

And big congrats on the projected move to the UK in July. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that it works out for you and your family.

>74 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the stats. 8 and 448. Perfect timing, to capture all these lovely 4s and 8s for me. 8, 4+4 = 8, and another 8. Also, (4+4)*8 = 64, 8 squared.

>86 karenmarie: I always do have a quick look at your numbers to see if I can see the 8 and this time it was obvious even to me!

Thanks Karen.

Just checking in and adding to the stats ;)

Only a chapter or so into The Tin Drum but good so far. I had to stop and sleep last night as my eyes refused to read another line coherantly.

>88 BekkaJo: I will make some proper progress with it tomorrow, Bekka. I have been exhausted today for some reason.

>74 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the stats Paul, glad to be in it again.
>75 ronincats: LOL
>89 PaulCranswick: Have a good rest!

>74 PaulCranswick: - Oh my word - I'm on a list! It's been literally years.

I gotta sit down cuz I think I'm going to faint from excitement and surprise.

>91 Fourpawz2: Inorite? Like, my numbers this year exceed the last 3 years combined. Congratulations!

Considering that I barely post how exciting to be in the Top 100! I like your suggestion to post each book review in a separate post--I'm working on some.

Happy new one, Paul! (bookmark set)

>65 PaulCranswick:, Not a comforting first three but they may surprise us and it may be better for me as it looks like Channel Four have secured the TV rights and with the day/night test it could be like old times with a full days Cricket on Terrestrial TV for the first time since the famous 2005 Ashes win.

>3 PaulCranswick: That's a lot of books for January! Good job!

>90 SirThomas: You have become a very welcome fixture here already Thomas!

>91 Fourpawz2: Hahaha it's not such a surprise surely? You will feature in last year's list too when I get round to finalising it.

>92 justchris: It has been great to see you and Kathe - old pals - posting so much this year, Chris.

>93 AnneDC: The very fact of posting the mini reviews will encourage you to post Anne - for me it turned out to be addictive!

>94 PersephonesLibrary: Lovely to see you, Kathe.

>95 johnsimpson: I hope they do surprise us, John. At least India has a decent pace attack lead by Bumrah that Sibley and Burns will need to stand up to.

>96 ocgreg34: Thank you, Greg. Lovely to see you here.

The Tin Drum. I can join the group, having started it once, and put it aside.
Maybe try again?

>101 EllaTim: I have started it last night Ella but I was like a zombie and only got 11 pages in. Will read more of it today.

>102 PaulCranswick: Zombies don't read Paul. Better luck today?

Happy new thread, Paul!

>74 PaulCranswick: Always fun to see our stats, Paul. Despite being a little quieter than the end of last year, I'm pretty close to this time last year (Feb 10 is when I started my new thread, with 202 on the old one) and kinda proud that I'm still in the top 40 steady as ever. Lookit Micky go, though!

Is it that typical for the top 3 or so to be so far ahead of everyone else, followed by the top 8ish? It's so funny to see the very chattiest threads, dramatic number drop offs, and then a bunch of us in the "100-200 something" club.

>103 EllaTim: Let's see, Ella. So far a break in work for posting not for reading.

>104 leperdbunny: Thank you, Tamara. I am enjoying seeing you around the threads this year.

Happy new thread Paul! Wait - didn't I just say that a few days ago?

I meant to join you for the January TIOLI with Swallows and Amazons but it's our bedtime reading book and, apart from the fact that we don't manage it every night and we had a lo-o-ong break from bedtime reading over the holidays, my audience tends to conk out on me. I'm lucky if we manage a chapter a night.

>75 ronincats: I suspect you'd go for 'The Rough Guide to Exploring the Inner Wardrobe' at the moment, Roni?

>105 bell7: I think that the split in the numbers is fairly consistent year on year, Mary, but this year Amber and Katie are posting more than before (in Amber's case since 2015 anyway)

Last year I got to 1,000 posts by end of January and 2,000 posts in early March. There is already 3 threads over 1,000 posts this time around but with less depth to the figures overall. I think the numbers are down a little on last year but not by much and this is because of declining membership. Charlotte, Susan, Donna, Darryl, Caro and Deb would have added enough posts between them to be beyond last years figures, but alas they have not joined us this time around.

>107 humouress: Hahaha I am not going quite that fast, Nina!

Part FIVE…happy new thread and good luck on the move this year!

>110 false-knight: Thanks Emery. It is going to be a hectic year!

Paul, I went back and had a look at your list. I'm at 107 so at least I'm not last. I did read a hint up above to list my book mini reviews separately and I'll see if that helps! I do love a challenge!

>112 Oregonreader: Jan, I am sure that the more active participation of Kathe, Chris and hopefully yourself will show that the 75ers are still going strong posts wise. Yours has always, as you know, been a thread that I have followed and I will be as pleased as punch if it whizzes along faster than this one. x

I think I have two copies of The Tin Drum and have never started it. I’ll be keen to know your thoughts, fingers crossed they are positive!

>114 DMulvee: I can tell as dense as the first eleven pages were that the fellow could write and the book is very vivid in the images it creates. I think I shall get swept away.

BOOK #18



Junk by Melvyn Burgess
Date Published : 1996
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 278 pp

Challenges:
British Author Challenge : 7 books
52 Book Challenge : Published by Penguin (5/52)
Queen Betty Challenge : 10/70

Winner of Carnegie Medal for Children's Fiction and a view of runaway children in Bristol, living in squats, taking heroin, cottaging, prostitution, shoplifting and the failure to reach maturity with increasing years.

Don't want to be hyper critical because the tale is a powerful one but his drawing of the main female character was utterly unsympathetic and I am sorry to say her perspectives are obviously written by a man.

Certainly not my favourite read of the year and I will not be recommending this to others and most especially not to Kyran and Ysabelle.

Suddenly quiet over here. Have had a bad stomach for the last day or so which has left me spending more time on the toilet than sitting by my keyboard.

I don't know how many of you have eaten this. Petai aka stinky beans are an acquired taste but an unforgettable one. I fancied eating them with prawns and a sambal (spicy) sauce and the good lady made sure that I got what I wanted. She is a gem (but don't tell her}

BOOK #19



The Great Fire by Monica Dickens
Date of Publication : 1970
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 64 pp

Challenges :
BAC - 8 books
Queen Betty Challenge (11/70)

Monica Dickens was the great-granddaughter of Chuckles and one of my favourite authors when I was a young boy borrowing books from the school library. This is a much re-read story of how a young boatman, his dog and his master's daughter survive the Great Fire of London in 1666.

As I recall I won the book at school as a prize for history or english (I cannot remember which) as the book was given to me 44 years ago.

Sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. {{hugs}}

>120 amanda4242: Yesterday was awful, Amanda, but today at least I have fancied food again and managed to keep it down.

I also managed a couple more BAC books.

>117 PaulCranswick: >118 PaulCranswick: Going from ill to stinky beans sort of blew my mind. Not sure how much effort I would feel like expending to acquire another strange taste. Lime Pickle Chutney/Anchar and Nori have enhanced my life, but I'm winding down.

>122 quondame: It is a bit like durian, Susan, which some people adore but I won't eat as a fruit. The smell and taste don't bother me so much but the texture sets my teeth on edge. I don't mind tempoyak which uses durian flavour in savoury dishes and is very much a malay delicacy. Hani uses it together with fried anchovies (ikan bilis) - another Malay staple and petai to form an extremely potent side dish. I love it but I know very few Western friends who would take it on!

>123 PaulCranswick: This is the offending dish as prepared by SWMBO yesterday:

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/329485

I believe you when you say that they are an acquired taste, Paul and will make no judgement without actually tasting them. Limburger cheese is likewise something that takes a lot of getting used to; Granny would not allow it in the house, although she did make a gift of it to my mother almost every Christmas when I was a kid. Granny kept it in the back entrance, where it sat in the freezing cold, radiating a hideous smell that offended everyone coming into the house. I grew to love Limburger, though and I would have some of it in my refrigerator right now if it weren't so pricey.

Branagh playing Hercule is akin to Cruise playing Jack Reacher. Ha! Good comparison, Paul. I'm going to mention that one to Becca.

Thank goodness they're doing a Reacher tv production that has a more right-sized guy, Alan Ritchson, playing Reacher. https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/jack-reacher-series-amazon-alan-ritchson-123476... He's not 6'5'', but he is 6'2", which is a lot better than mini Tom Cruise doing Mission Impossible under a different title. Now let's hope this guy can act.

>125 SilverWolf28: I will be in again, Silver.

>126 Fourpawz2: Aaah Limburger. I buy you a wheel of the stuff if and when we get stateside. No proce on your favourite food.

>127 jnwelch: I will be interested to see that, Joe. Cruise playing him really annoyed me to be honest.

>126 Fourpawz2: Did I hear someone say Limburger? You might enjoy this reportage: https://www.wortfm.org/limburgers-last-stand/. It won a 2015 Excellence In Journalism award from the Milwaukee Press Club.

>123 PaulCranswick: I would love a trip to your place just to sample the food and have a look around the markets. So much that we don't get here.
Indonesian kitchen has a very smelly ingrediënt as well, trassi. It's a kind of fermented shrimp paste. Smells awful, tastes very good.

Glad your stomach is better, Paul.

>123 PaulCranswick: and >131 EllaTim: It all sounds lovely! I love trying new flavors! And I can't understand why my friends aren't as enthusiastic about my new loves, tea eggs, for example. Just about time for me to make another batch with 2.5 dozen eggs in the fridge. Though I gotta say, turns out I don't like thousand-year eggs because of texture. Now I need to figure out what to do with the remaining 5 in my fridge.

>131 EllaTim: For cranberry chutney I have to cook garlic and ginger in vinegar - none overly offensive on its own, the combination produces a pungent order. But boy is the resultant chutney the best use of cranberries ever.

Hej Paul, just wanted to say hello

I hope you have recovered now Paul.

>130 justchris: I enjoyed reading that, Chris.

My absolute favourite cheese is Shropshire Blue which is pungent too but not on Limburger scale. My runners-up would be Camembert and Cambazola.

>131 EllaTim: The Malay version of trassi is called sambal belacan and is usually in a paste or dried form. As you say flavourful but smelly! I would love you both to pay a visit and we would give you a culinary tour of the city. Let us hope that the lockdowns are soon over with.

>132 justchris: My mother used to visit frequently and, of course, preferred eating in the hotels and good restaurants whilst a lot of the really good food can be bought from the roadside or the night markets or less salubrious eateries. Hani would buy her fried rice from the roadside occasionally and eat it at home and she would always say that Hani's cooking was wonderful!

>133 quondame: Garlic, ginger and vinegar are three wonderfully versatile foodstuffs aren't they, Susan? In the combination described, I can imagine salivation abounding.

>134 paulstalder: Great to see you, Paul.

>135 Caroline_McElwee: My stomach is much better, Caroline, thanks. Now on with more reading.

WHAT ARE THE BEST NOVELS OF THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY SO FAR?

We can only select of course from what we have read and my own recent reading has plenty of gaps. I had fun though putting together my 100 Favourite Fictions of the Twenty-First Century. To avoid a list full of the same names I have limited my choice to 1 book only per author.

This is what I came up with ordered alphabetically by author:

1 HALF OF A YELLOW SUN ADICHIE, CHIMAMANDA NGOZIE 2007 NIGERIA
2 MERCY ADLER-OLSEN, JUSSI 2007 DENMARK
3 BRICK LANE ALI, MONICA 2003 UK
4 I'M NOT SCARED AMMANITI, NICCOLO 2001 ITALY
5 CASE HISTORIES ATKINSON, KATE 2004 UK
6 THE TWIN BAKKER, GERBRAND 2006 NETHERLANDS
7 THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS BARKER, PAT 2018 UK
8 ARTHUR AND GEORGE BARNES, JULIAN 2005 UK
9 BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS BERNIERES, LOUIS DE 2004 UK
10 SLEEPYHEAD BILLINGHAM, MARK 2001 UK
11 THE DOUBLE BIND BOHJALIAN, CHRIS 2007 USA
12 THE ORENDA BOYDEN, JOSEPH 2013 CANADA
13 THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS BOYNE, JOHN 2006 IRELAND
14 THE RIGHTS OF DESIRE BRINK, ANDRE 2000 SOUTH AFRICA
15 MARCH BROOKS, GERALDINE 2005 AUSTRALIA
16 THE GUARDS BRUEN, KEN 2001 IRELAND
17 THE PATIENCE OF THE SPIDER CAMILLERI, ANDREA 2004 ITALY
18 THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG CAREY, PETER 2000 AUSTRALIA
19 JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL CLARKE, SUSANNAH 2004 UK
20 THE LAST KINGDOM CORNWELL, BERNARD 2004 UK
21 HARVEST CRACE, JIM 2013 UK
22 ROOM DONOGHUE, EMMA 2010 CANADA
23 ZOO STATION DOWNING, DAVID 2007 UK
24 THE SIEGE DUNMORE, HELEN 2001 UK
25 THE GREEN ROAD ENRIGHT, ANNE 2015 IRELAND
26 THE ROUND HOUSE ERDRICH, LOUISE 2012 USA
27 GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER EVARISTO, BERNARDINE 2019 UK
28 WANTING FLANAGAN, RICHARD 2008 AUSTRALIA
29 THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE GAIMAN, NEIL 2013 UK
30 THE GOOD DOCTOR GALGUT, DAMON 2003 SOUTH AFRICA
31 OLD FILTH GARDAM, JANE 2004 UK
32 THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE GERHARDSEN, CARIN 2008 SWEDEN
33 SEA OF POPPIES GHOSH, AMITAV 2008 INDIA
34 THEN GLEITZMAN,MORRIS 2008 AUSTRALIA
35 DYING TO TELL GODDARD, ROBERT 2001 UK
36 THE CROSSING PLACES GRIFFITHS, ELLY 2009 UK
37 HOMEGOING GYASI, YAA 2016 GHANA
38 EXIT WEST HAMID, MOHSIN 2017 PAKISTAN
39 THE DRY HARPER, JANE 2016 AUSTRALIA
40 EVENTIDE HARUF, KENT 2004 USA
41 THE RAINBOW TROOPS HIRATA, ANDREA 2005 INDONESIA
42 THE KITE RUNNER HOSSEINI, KHALED 2003 AFGHANISTAN
43 WOLF OF THE PLAINS IGGULDEN, CONN 2007 UK
44 THE DRAINING LAKE INDRIDASON, ARNALDUR 2004 ICELAND
45 A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS JAMES, MARLON 2014 JAMAICA
46 THE BLINDING ABSENCE OF LIGHT JELLOUN, TAHAR BEN 2002 MOROCCO
47 THE DIG JONES, CYNAN 2014 UK
48 MASTER PIP JONES, LLOYD 2007 NEW ZEALAND
49 UNSEEN JUNGSTEDT, MARI 2003 SWEDEN
50 SPRING FLOWERS, SPRING FROST KADARE, ISMAIL 2000 ALBANIA
51 THE DICTATOR'S LAST NIGHT KHADRA, YASMINA 2015 ALGERIA
52 THE DINNER KOCH, HERMAN 2009 NETHERLANDS
53 THE HISTORIAN KOSTOVA, ELIZABETH 2005 USA
54 THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO LARSSON, STIEG 2005 SWEDEN
55 SMALL ISLAND LEVY, ANDREA 2004 UK
56 LOVELY GREEN EYES LUSTIG, ARNOST 2000 CZECHIA
57 THE RETURN OF THE DANCING MASTER MANKELL, HENNING 2000 SWEDEN
58 WOLF HALL MANTEL, HILARY 2009 UK
59 IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN MATAR, HISHAM 2006 UK
60 COLD GRANITE McBRIDE, STUART 2005 UK
61 THE ROAD McCARTHY, CORMAC 2006 USA
62 THE NORTH WATER McGUIRE, IAN 2016 UK
63 DEVIL'S PEAK MEYER, DEON 2004 SOUTH AFRICA
64 SNOWDROPS MILLER, AD 2011 UK
65 SONG OF ACHILLES MILLER, MADELINE 2011 USA
66 FAMILY MATTERS MISTRY, ROHINTON 2002 CANADA
67 THE BONE CLOCKS MITCHELL, DAVID 2014 UK
68 PRIVATE PEACEFUL MORPURGO, MICHAEL 2003 UK
69 KAFKA ON THE SHORE MURAKAMI, HARUKI 2002 JAPAN
70 THE SNOWMAN NESBO, JO 2007 NORWAY
71 THE YELLOW BIRDS POWERS, KEVIN 2012 USA
72 THE RESCUE MAN QUINN, ANTHONY 2009 UK
73 GOD'S OWN COUNTRY RAISIN, ROSS 2008 UK
74 LENNOX RUSSELL, CRAIG 2009 UK
75 DOMINION SANSOM, CJ 2012 UK
76 HELIOPOLIS SCUDAMORE, JAMES 2009 UK
77 A BOY IN WINTER SEIFFERT, RACHEL 2017 UK
78 THE THIRTEENTH TALE SETTERFIELD, DIANA 2006 UK
79 CHILD 44 SMITH, TOM ROB 2008 UK
80 WHITE TEETH SMITH, ZADIE 2000 UK
81 NORTE SOLDAN, EDMUNDO PAZ 2011 BOLIVIA
82 GOLDEN HILL SPUFFORD, FRANCIS 2016 UK
83 SHUGGIE BAIN STUART, DOUGLAS 2020 UK
84 MOTHERING SUNDAY SWIFT, GRAHAM 2016 UK
85 THE TESTAMENT OF MARY TOIBIN, COLM 2012 IRELAND
86 DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD TOKARCZUK, OLGA 2009 POLAND
87 THE ROAD HOME TREMAIN, ROSE 2008 UK
88 LOVE AND SUMMER TREVOR, WILLIAM 2009 IRELAND
89 THE GIFT OF RAIN TWAN TAN ENG 2007 MALAYSIA
90 BACK WHEN WE WERE GROWN-UPS TYLER, ANNE 2001 USA
91 THE QUALITY OF MERCY UNSWORTH, BARRY 2011 UK
92 THE IN-BETWEEN WORLD OF VIKRAM LALL VASSANJI, MG 2003 CANADA
93 LOOK WHO'S BACK VERNES, TIMUR 2012 GERMANY
94 DEATH IN AUGUST VICHI, MARCO 2002 ITALY
95 TOOTH AND CLAW WALTON, JO 2003 UK
96 SING, UNBURIED, SING WARD, JESMYN 2017 USA
97 THE LITTLE STRANGER WATERS, SARAH 2009 UK
98 THE NICKEL BOYS WHITEHEAD, COLSON 2019 USA
99 SHADOW OF THE WIND ZAFON, CARLOS RUIZ 2001 SPAIN
100 THE BOOK THIEF ZUSAK, MARCUS 2005 AUSTRALIA

>139 PaulCranswick: Some good picks? Some lousy picks?

Which would you include that isn't there (meaning probably that I haven't read it yet)?

My first thought was: 'It's much too soon to make such a list' forgetting that we're over twenty years into the 21st century!

I have read twelve of your list, have twenty nine on my TBR pile, and six I don't intend to read, which means that there are forty nine I have never heard of, and I consider myself well-informed!

>139 PaulCranswick: Just reminding me that I need to read more recent literature ;)

I picked up a shiny brand new never read copy of Shuggie Bain at the library on Wednesday. But when I got to the self service desk it wouldn't issue. They tried to fix it, it still wouldn't issue. In the end I had to leave it as I was running late :( Next time!

>139 PaulCranswick: Interesting list and definitely worth a discussion. :)

>141 CDVicarage: That probably only means that I would be similarly dumbfounded by some of your list, Kerry.

12 read plus 29 on the TBR plus 6 no-nos totals 47 books so that leaves 53 question marked not 49 - just to make you feel worse still!

>142 BekkaJo: That must be frustrating, Bekka! It is a book that rewards the patience of a slow read so I am glad that I own my copy.

>143 PersephonesLibrary: I think that some of our peers are much more versed in "modern" fiction/literature but I did surprise myself by having plenty of options to choose from.

>139 PaulCranswick: My list does reveal my obvious reading biases. Very Brit-centric despite 30 countries being represented in my list, little in the way of Sci-Fi with a smattering of crime especially Scandi. Does reveal though that I am trying to read more female authors since joining LT. I never consciously chose a book because of the gender of the writer but I was running at 80/20 male to female authors but my 21st century picks reveal that that is narrowing.

I think that this is because it used to be the case that many more men than women were published authors. That imbalance has definitely reduced in this century thus far and the reading public is better served as a result. I also believe that the Women's Prize has done much to elevate female authorship to a wider public amongst those that like "serious" fiction anyway.

Origin of Authors on my list:

Afghanistan 1
Albania 1
Algeria 1
Australia 6
Bolivia 1
Canada 4
Czechia 1
Denmark 1
Germany 1
Ghana 1
Iceland 1
India 1
Indonesia 1
Ireland 5
Italy 3
Jamaica 1
Japan 1
Malaysia 1
Morocco 1
Netherlands 2
New Zealand 1
Nigeria 1
Norway 1
Pakistan 1
Poland 1
South Africa 3
Spain 1
Sweden 4
UK 42
USA 10

30 Female authors
70 Male authors (still have work to do!)

Most popular year for me reading - 10 books in my list from 2004
Least popular years : 2010, 2018 and 2020 only one book each chosen.

2010 is interesting but 2018, 2019 and 2020 are underrepresented because I haven't read that many books from those years yet.

Nice list Paul. And 2 Dutch books on that list too.

>147 connie53: I remember particularly enjoying The Twin, Connie and that one would survive if I had picked a top 50. I will have a look again and see if I can pick a top twenty for each decade.

Something wrong with the touchstone there Paul? I don't think you've read a Nancy Drew book.

>149 connie53: - LOL! Paul reads everything, though, so you never know! ;-)

>149 connie53: Yikes, I hadn't noticed that, Connie. Changed already.

>150 jessibud2: Shelley - Connie is, in this instance, correct. I have never and will never read any Nancy Drew mysteries. They have passed me by unfortunately!

>140 PaulCranswick:

Well, I guess you know my answer to that.

Have you read anything by Benjamin Alire Saenz?

(Alphabetical order would help us seniors find any missing books.)

Sympathy on the out-of-control heap of books in your to-be-read list. Mine has its own bookcase, which it's overflowed.

I eventually staged an intervention on myself - I'm no longer allowed to buy a book that's available from any local library, without first reading the library copy - with an exception for reference works and textbooks.

That's come close to keeping the literal heap from growing. (The list, in the other hand, adds 2-5 for every one I read. Any good non-fiction has a bibliography, and I can't resist mining them - and then there are LibraryThing recommendations, and books people mention here and elsewhere. I could spend the next 40 years reading, and never catch up.)

>149 connie53: Interesting, will revisit this list over the weekend Paul.

>145 PaulCranswick: Oh, I somehow overread that those are your choices... I thought it was a kind of 1001-books list. Sorry. :)

Between books read, books to be read and wishlisted books I seem to have about 33 on your list. Of the ones I've read, I think that I liked The Orenda the best.

A wheel of Limburger, mmmmm. I've only ever seen the little blocks from the supermarket. Wonder what a wheel of Limburger would smell like. Would the authorities come a-calling looking for the corpse on the premises that must account for the smell?

>130 justchris: - Going to check that article out now.

>153 ArlieS: I try to use my library as much as I can also.

>139 PaulCranswick: Interesting list, Paul. I've only read a few of these (I guess I'm a 19th century gal), but I would add these couple that I have read:

The Noise of Time, Julian Barnes
Hag-Seed, Margaret Atwood -- not Atwood's best, but was brilliant (and very Shakespearean) in what it set out to do--a modern re-telling of The Tempest.
Also perhaps one of Anita Brookner's last novels: Leaving Home or Strangers.

I agree that Mister Pip would make my list. I would quibble on The Crossing Places--good, but wouldn't make a top-100 for me, except for the fact that I haven't read 100 books from the 21st century yet ;)

Probably Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, should be added, but I haven't read it either.

Looking through my 21st century reads, it looks like I have read much more nonfiction than fiction. Sign of the times, I think, for me--I feel like 21st c. fiction is as stressful as our times, and I feel like I get enough of it in real-life, sorry to say.

>152 m.belljackson: Don't quite get your comment, Marianne. The list is ordered alphabetically by author. First is Adichie and last is Zusak.

>153 ArlieS: We have the same TBR problem relatively only mine has 14 bookcases overflowing! This year I have read more than I have acquired and in this respect I am taking advantage of the bookstores being closed due to COVID lockdown here!

>154 Caroline_McElwee: I would certainly be interested to see which books you think I should have there, Caroline.

>155 PersephonesLibrary: No you were right Kathe! The list is my choice of my 100 favourite fiction reads of the 21st century - limited to one choice per author - and obviously I must have read the book to be able to include it in the list.

>156 Fourpawz2: The Orenda would make my list too, Charlotte, if I was to reduce it to only ten books.

I could certainly see complaints from the neighbours growing in direct relation to the size of Limburger kept at the family home!

>157 thornton37814: I would happily do so too, Lori, if I had a local library to go to.

>158 kac522: I haven't read any of the three you suggested Kathy but I did include Arthur and George by Barnes.

I did hesitate over a couple of the choices, especially some of the thrillers but pure enjoyment did sway me occasionally. I don't see the Griffiths being on my list in another two or three years time.

The acclaim for Hamnet means that it would be likely to be on my list when I get around to reading it.

I have read 24 books from your list. I think that I would choose some other authors as well...now I have to go back to my own lists of books read and see what other books I would select.

>163 torontoc: That is a decent number I think. I'm interested to see which authors would merit a place on your list, Cyrel.

Five threads! Incredible. You are a very special person! You are caring, kind, sensitive and of course, well read.

>162 PaulCranswick: A few more favorites to add, after checking some of my older reading:
A Mercy, Toni Morrison (2008)--a shorter, accessible Morrison
A Whole Life, Robert Seethaler (2014)--Man Book International shortlist, a quiet book about a quiet life
Brooklyn, Colm Toibin (2009)

>165 Whisper1: And I also have a countenance prone to blushing, Linda! Thanks you dear lady. xx

>166 kac522: I have only read two books by Morrison, Kathy, enjoyed both of them but neither was from this present century. I have both of the other books on the shelves but not yet read. I did include a book by Toibin and do very much admire his work.

BOOK # 20



At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie
Date of Publication : 1965
Origin of Author : UK
Number of Pages : 265 pp

Challenges
Series Pair Challenge : Miss Marple 2/2 (2/26)

Implausible but entertaining.

Miss Marple by now as old as the hills takes something of a back seat in this one as she visits Bertram's Hotel for a holiday that does not provide the R&R she expected. Chief Inspector Davy is to the fore in this one and is a good creation to be fair.

Not prime Dame Agatha but worth reading.

>139 PaulCranswick: Snow by Pamuk would be very high up my list. Have you read this?

>159 PaulCranswick:

ABC by title might work easier...

And, what novel inspired Kids All Over The World to read MORE? and More?

>159 PaulCranswick: No fantasy? Nor SF, OK. Not your choice. But my list would have Tolkien.
And I would add Primo Levi. But choosing 100 books for a whole century, it's not enough.

I started Die Blechtrommel. Talking of dense. Don't know if I can keep it up!

Have a good weekend Paul.

>169 DMulvee: Yes I have read it. That is what makes taste and opinions a wonderful thing. Doesn't make my list but I didn't hate it.

>170 m.belljackson: Never considered to sort alphabetically by title, Marianne to be honest although I did consider sorting by year of publication.
I cannot include any of the Potty Harry books because - as you know - I haven't read any of 'em! I will read the first one this year being obliged by a promise to a certain friend of mine.

>171 EllaTim: No Ella, I didn't say fantasy and I have included some there if you look - Walton and Gaiman spring to mind without me looking at the list again.

Cannot select either Tolkien or Levi as they were long in their graves before this Century began!

Just to keep the lists coming along nicely.

Here are my 20 favourite novels of the 1990s. (My usual rule of one book only per author)
Ordered alphabetically by author which I still maintain is the most logical way to order!

Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (1994)
Jack Maggs by Peter Carey (1997)
The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus (1999)
Crime Story by Maurice Gee (1992)
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson (1994)
Plainsong by Kent Haruf (1999)
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel (1992)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (1995)
The Redundancy of Courage by Timothy Mo (1991)
In the Memory of the Forest by Charles T Powers (1997)
The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx (1993)
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink (1995)
The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve (1997)
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (1991)
Last Orders by Graham Swift (1996)
The Secret History by Donna Tartt (1992)
The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin (1992)
Felicia's Journey by William Trevor (1994)
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (1992)

5 chosen from 1992 (and I almost included Jazz from that stellar year) but nothing at all from 1990.

>172 PaulCranswick: Absolutely different opinions makes things interesting! I would have Disgrace by Coetzee in any list from the 90s, but I know my wife wouldn’t agree!

>175 DMulvee: Well I am closer to you perhaps on the matter as it probably missed my list by a single book - if I was choosing 21 books then it would have been included.

I think I shall bail on Gunter and his Tin Drum for a while as my levels of concentration are insufficient to cope with it for now.

A little bit of bad news in that mum is hospitalised again today with breathing difficulties. Poor lady is struggling.

Hi Paul!

>127 jnwelch: and >129 PaulCranswick: Major miscasting, Cruise as Reacher. As I said at the time, Reacher does NOT have dimples. This new guy looks almost too pretty, but we’ll see.

>139 PaulCranswick: Ooh, another list. An impressive list. I have read 17, have 5 on my shelves to read, and abandoned 3.

>174 PaulCranswick: Read 5, own 2, abandoned 2.

>177 PaulCranswick: Ah, your poor mother! I hope some breathing treatments help and she can get home soon.

Best wishes to you and your mum, Paul.
Thinking on you and sending hugs.

>178 karenmarie: The fact that Cruise effectively cast himself as Reacher speaks to the gall of the man. He is almost a foot shorter than the imposing fictional character.

I would be interested to see what would emerge as the leading books if we all got to vote for our favourite five from the 21st Century:

My favourite five:

1. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi
2. The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
3. Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
4. Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres
5. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Mantel, Tremain, Barker, Stuart and McGuire all came close to making my list.

>179 SirThomas: Thank you Thomas. Difficult days indeed these.

I’m sorry to hear the news about your mum. Fingers crossed everything goes ok.

I’m sure I’ll be missing some true highlights but my thoughts on a top 5:

1. Sense of an ending - Barnes
2. Sapiens - Harari
3. Snow - Pamuk
4. The Black Swan - Taleb
5. The Little Friend - Tartt

I thought about including Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club, but am unsure if I enjoyed it so much partially because my expectations were so low

>172 PaulCranswick: > Yeah... but... I thought you said February, 2021, after bailing on 2020...

..staring at the legendary(no, not genius)book cover=a great way to celebrate my 77th Birthday on the 13th!

Sorry to hear about your mother's slight reversal. Hope she does a quick about face and gets home very soon.

Sorry to hear about your mom. She certainly has had her fair share of difficulties. I am sure, as your mom has proved that she is a strong woman, that she will bounce back!

>173 PaulCranswick: I was completely mistaken, must have been tired.

Hope your mother improves in hospital with some breathing help!

Paul - just read about your Mum - hope she is out of pain and resting comfortably with people who care.

Cruise as Reacher annoyed me, too, Paul, which is a shame because I love that character.

I have a soft spot for At Bertram's Hotel. Part of it is the hotel itself - I can see myself walking around in it. It's always a fun re-read.

Good list of 90s favorites in >174 PaulCranswick:. I wish I remembered when books were first published better; I don't know whether there are any I'd add. What a decade for literature. A Fine Balance remains one of the best books I've read, and one of the saddest.

>177 PaulCranswick: Oh, how distressing. We are all hoping she comes back out of the hospital breathing easily.

Sorry to hear about your mum, Paul. I hope she feels better soon.

Missed you in Singers again! ;0)

Sorry about your mother, Paul. It seems she has been through a lot.

Your top 100 books of the century list completely derailed my reading plans as I set off to compile my own list! Talk about a rabbit hole. It will take me even more time to actually finish a list, however. Many overlapping titles, but also, many more books that I haven't read (yet).

>182 DMulvee: Good list. I thought that Sense of an Ending was pretty good but I liked his Arthur and George better. Sapiens is a brilliant book but - depending upon your point of view - a work of non-fiction so I didn't consider it in my list. I didn't like Snow as much as you did and I haven't read the other two.

>183 m.belljackson: Haha, did I say February 2021? OK let me see if I can fit it in just for you!

>184 Fourpawz2: Thanks Charlotte. As usual the outlook appears fairly gloomy at the moment. She was telling that she feels like someone is sitting on her chest.

>185 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita. She is a fighter but she is also so distressed most of the time.

>186 EllaTim: Thank you Ella. I have discovered that I do like fantasy and therefore I must split Sci-fi as a genre. All the science gobbledy-gook can turn me off.

>187 m.belljackson: Thanks Marianne. My sister thinks it is a COVID relapse. I'll wait for the doctors.

>188 jnwelch: The book has a charm, Joe, doesn't it? The first part is overly slow but the way Christie makes the hotel almost a character in the book is well done.

A Fine Balance will always be in my best of lists. Certainly in my top ten novels written in my lifetime.

>189 quondame: Thank you, Susan. Her lung capacity is very poor at the best of times and, being asthmatic myself, I can appreciate how uncomfortable and frankly frightening breathing troubles are.

>190 humouress: Actually, Nina, I think that there would have been ructions in the site team if it was proposed that I go to Singapore for the duration of the arbitration hearing (8 days) - given as it was also two weeks quarantine now either side. The site would have lost my services for approaching 6 weeks and I don't see them ever having tolerated that.

>191 AnneDC: I think I have given away, more than once, that I like making lists, Anne! Have fun with your own and I will be really interested to see what is on it.

Thanks to both of you ladies for the kind wishes re my mum.

Not a good morning for me.

I received a PM from a now ex-group member who informed me that I was a egotistical narcissist and the cause of her leaving the group. On top of trying to sort out my finances to get back to the UK and my mum's continued illness woes, I guess the timing of this is not ideal.

Since joining the group in 2011 I have made a conscious effort to visit everyone's threads and welcome them to the group. I am not alone in doing this. It has always been my intention to try to make whoever has taken the time to make a thread feel welcome - the same as happened to me when people here first came to my own threads and made me feel welcome. I like making friends pure and simple.

I don't think that there are any "rules" to follow and I certainly didn't expect a new member to be making return thread visits any time soon, but there was a remark in a PM to me that since my post was unsolicited there was no obligation to respond. This is certainly true but it is also discourteous.

It so happens that I have been naive thinking that people universally like visits to their threads and I will henceforward start the practice to star threads and pick and choose where I go in future as does seem the norm in the group.

I am very saddened to be the cause of someone leaving the group.

I do think that as a result of this and one or two other things that have happened recently I will be very careful in creeping out from my shell. I will only visit a few threads for the time being where I feel safe and know I can post without fear of causing unintentional distress.

If I don't post too much outside of this thread for the time being please don't think too badly of me, but I am not in the best of places right now.

On a happier note I found out that Kinokuniya has reopened since 1 February (they sent me a reminder by text!!) and I will go and spend a happy hour or two there this afternoon.

>198 PaulCranswick: I cannot imagine what expectations the lost member had, but the cannot be widely shared. Most people seem fine with visits to their threads and many reply quite quickly so I think your expectations are much more common. Please feel welcome to visit my thread, even though it may harbor nettles from time to time!
May you have as many happy hours at Kinokuniya as you desire!

>200 quondame: Hahaha Susan. I don't mind the nettles at all - keeps me on my toes and is something, after all, to grasp!

The group's top 140 threads collectively passed 20,000 posts this evening. A few days (2 days) slower than last year but not too shabby.

>197 PaulCranswick: YOU are not the reason she (whoever) left the group, Paul. SHE is the reason she left the group.

>107 humouress: Nina, I think more on the lines of "Expeditions to the Attic".

>174 PaulCranswick: and >180 PaulCranswick: Not going to even try to sort something like that out. I exist outside of time, and so does my reading! So there!

>177 PaulCranswick: Oh no! We will all keep rooting for your mum.

>197 PaulCranswick: and >198 PaulCranswick: When one is dealing with personal troubles, all it takes is one unkind comment to really knock one down. I am sorry to hear that someone has a bad opinion and has chosen to take it out on you. Just remember that aphorism about 10% of your audience and try not to take it personally, even though it was launched very much as a personal attack. Such attacks say far more about the source than the target.

I have appreciated your visits to my often dormant personal threads--you've kept me engaged in LT even at my nadir. You have definitely contributed a great deal to community building in this group. The group would not be successful without exactly those community-building efforts by drneutron and you and others.

>203 ronincats: Thanks for that Roni. In truth I did originally make a bit of a churlish comment on her thread but after a short reflection, I deleted it and replaced it with a much nicer comment. The person involved confirmed that she hadn't in fact seen my earlier comment so I am a bit at a loss as to how I became a egotistical narcissist?

I do feel a little raw about it though given that I have obviously spoiled someone's experience of the group when my intention was definitely otherwise.

>204 justchris: Haha ok - top five of all time, then?!

I am more than a little upset about the thread issue, Chris and it will temper my involvement in future. Yours is certainly a thread I shall always visit - I do pick up on where I am wanted! xx

>198 PaulCranswick: Pfft! Paul, if you have a shell it's made of your overstock of books. You know perfectly well that you're a more than welcome visitor to (most of) our threads and I know it's a blow to one's self esteem to get a knock back like that but I don't think it warrants a change to your thread-visiting behaviour.

Anyway, having still not met you in person, I can't tell whether you are an egotistical narcissist ;0)

Hopefully, your afternoon or two in the hallowed sanctuary of Books K has restored your equilibrium.

>203 ronincats: I think, Roni, that you're making good use of the whole pile. Will they make the transfer to Kansas?

>206 humouress: Hahaha touche! Self-love in short supply over here; self pity abounds. Asked Belle and then Kyran to follow me to KLCC so I could go to the bookshop and both of them declined brusquely. SWMBO is now showering to accompany after assuring me there was nothing she would less like to do. Still the only one I can always rely upon!

>207 PaulCranswick: Yup, I find that too; there's rather a short supply of people willing to accompany me to bookshops. Even my youngest, who still reads a little even after acquiring a smart phone and laptop (required for schoolwork), shows reluctance. Possibly because I require a 'book report' for books he reads in my attempt to encourage an educational frame of mind.

ETA: and while we're on the subject, I need to issue a blanket apology to anyone who's visited my thread and I haven't returned the visit. I'll usually reply on my thread and intend to visit but I've been dreadfully slow off the mark this year. I think I'm resting on my laurels, having finally managed to read 75 books in a year (don't laugh, y'all) in my eleventh year with the 75ers. I seem to be lurking more than usual this year.

>197 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, I enjoy every comment from you in my thread. I don't think you are an egotistical narcissist at all.
And I totally agree with >203 ronincats: and think the person who left the group is the egotistical narcissist.
If I don't want people to visit me, then I must not open a gallery, but hole up at home.
I can also keep my book lists privately on my computer and I don't have to open a public thread. When I do this - visitors are welcome!
I think you are a great addition to the group and enjoy visiting your thread as much as I look forward to your visits - though I often lose touch, but that's my own problem ;-).
Best wishes for you and your family - and enjoy your trip to new books.

>177 PaulCranswick: Sorry to read that your mother is back in hospital, Paul, I hope she feels better soon.

>197 PaulCranswick: I saw the last message on her thread, and your reply.
I agree with Roni, please don't stop being you around here!

>208 humouress: Well I have been there and back and managed some of the best therapy I know! More soon to report. SWMBO's presence in the bookstore did rather chivvy me along at a pace I wasn't overly comfortable with but never mind she was kind enough to follow me.

75 books a year is not to be sniffed at, Nina. I don't have any friends here in Malaysia that reads anywhere near 75 books a year. Hani reads probably about 20 or so but last year did more as she was cocooned at home.

>209 SirThomas: Thanks for that, Thomas. To be fair, I don't think the person concerned is either an egotist or a narcissist - I think she was just a little upset. My intentions were misinterpreted is all. I like very much your visits, Thomas and dropping by your place and long may it continue.

>210 FAMeulstee: I am more worried than usual about my mum, Anita, because it seems that she was more than a little confused as well. It is hell not being able to be there.

As with Roni. your thread will continue to be a source of friendship, enjoyment and oftentimes inspiration for me, Anita. xx

I can only echo what has been written above: best wishes for your mother's continued improvement and I think you make a very valuable contribution to this group in that you keep it going! We all - surely - like visits to our threads, otherwise why would we make them, and I am conscious that I am less chatty online than many people. Your earlier comment, that I am assuming prompted the unpleasant rejoinder, struck me too but only because it was the truth (in my case) and I was glad for the reminder that we should all make the effort to respond to comments, greeting etc if we wish them to continue.

I found out that Kino was open today and after three weeks without it and in light of a pretty upsetting last twenty-four hours, a Cranswickian haul of sorts was called for:

12. The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
13. The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron
14. Death's Mistress by Terry Goodkind
15. The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
16. Small Days and Nights by Tishani Doshi
17. Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai
18. Desert by JMG Le Clezio
19. For the Record by David Cameron
20. The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

>139 PaulCranswick: An excellent list to explore, already grabbed some. Thanks!

Very sad about your mum. Our thoughts here (mine and my girlfriend's) are with her.

>215 trandism: Lovely to see you here. Thanks to you and your girlfriend for the good wishes.

>214 PaulCranswick: I bought the Prescott and the Sharon Cameron books because historical fiction of the era of those two always interests me. The Terry Goodkind was inspired by reading a review in the group. Le Clezio was bought because I wanted to substitute Grass this month and didn't fancy the three other books of his I already have! Anita Desai I want to re-read because I remember loving this book 35 years ago.
Tishani Doshi is a poet I have been following and this book was up for the Ondaatje Prize.
Likewise the Monique Roffey just won the Costa Book Awards this month.
All here know well I am not a Conservative but I do find political biography/autobiography fascinating and I will look forward to his thinking on the Brexit Referendum he never expected to lose.
Mark's enthusiasm for "Indians" was infectious.

>217 PaulCranswick: Nice book haul, Paul.
I am sorry to hear about the troubles that you are experiencing. As an infrequent poster, I still enjoy when people stop by my slow moving thread to help keep it chugging along.
Best wishes for your mother’s recovery

>218 jayde1599: Don't worry Jess your thread will always be on my "rounds"!

It felt good being able to look at bookshelves and stacks again and come away with some new ones.

>217 PaulCranswick: I was slightly perplexed buying the Terry Goodkind book earlier as the two main series starters didn't ring any bells with me when I was choosing what to buy.

I now realise that the recommendation or book bullet that hit me was at Adrienne's thread and was for David Eddings not Terry Goodkind. Man am I getting old!

>192 PaulCranswick: sorry to read about this Paul.

As someone who does't visit or contribute on all threads, I always welcome visitors to mine, and try to reciprocate a visit, but don't always achieve it.

My suspicion is that the person concerned couldn't have been getting sufficient pleasure in participating if she was prepared to leave, surely one doesn't leave because you are bothered by one person's posts, especially if they are not being repeatedly offensive.

>180 PaulCranswick: >182 DMulvee:

Well, today my list (Fiction only) would be:

Homegoing (Yaa Gyasi)
Half of a Yellow Sun (Chimamanda Ngosi Adichi)
Overstory (Richard Powers)
The Great Believers (Rebecca Makkai)
Lila (Marilynne Robinson)

And, of course, as soon as I post, so many others will come to mind.

>221 Caroline_McElwee: I think you get around the threads well enough, Caroline.

I will try not to take to heart tiffs on the threads, especially with everything else going on in my life. I am blessed by so many good friends because of this group.

I'm not surprised that our top fives have a shared read!

{{Paul}}
So sorry to hear that someone has caused you such distress. Easy for me to say, but seriously, anyone who would do that, a) doesn't know you at all and b) isn't worth the time of day to fret over it. Close that door and know that so many other doors are always open and welcoming.

I am also so sorry to hear about your mother. I am in the same boat, at the moment, with my own mother back in hospital and me so far away and covid restrictions both here where I live and in Montreal, where she lives, preventing a visit at the moment. These are precarious times, aren't they...

Hang in there, my friend. The book haul is, for the moment, the best medicine. I know that whenever I go to Montreal, there are 2 very small independent bookstores that I frequent and I never leave empty-handed! For me, they are like a reward for all the other ills I have to contend with. Enjoy!

>223 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley. The thing that probably upsets me the most is that the incident was really quite a minor thing and the person involved is friends with a couple of other group members whose relationships I hope I haven't strained.

>223 jessibud2: Book therapy always helps though doesn't it?

>217 PaulCranswick: Great book haul!

Sorry to hear about the awful and quite frankly totally out of the line message you received. I have not known you for a long time however, I have never thought you as a narcissist. Paul, you are a nice person and you try to be inclusive with everyone here in the group. If that person had a problem with your posts, then they could have asked you to stop posting in a polite way.

Sending hugs your way. You are always welcome at my thread :)

>217 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Anita.

Our group numbers were dwindling a little as it is without me chasing new members away! :(

I will certainly always visit your threads. xx

>217 PaulCranswick: if Cameron gives an explanation for his Brexit decision, I’d appreciate it if you could explain it to me. I’m still puzzled by it.

>220 PaulCranswick: I thought as much. (I’ve just managed to catch up on Adrienne’s thread today.)

>228 humouress: I'll let you know but don't hold your breath as it is a real doorstopper and unlikely to figure for a few months.

Gives me an excuse though to go back to the store and pick up David Eddings! There were a couple of poetry books that caught my eye too.........

>74 PaulCranswick: Number 6? It feels like I am traveling in steerage. Grins...

Hey, Paul. I hope you had a good weekend. Extremely cold here, so I am very pleased to be sitting this one out at home.
Glad I inspired you to pick up The Only Good Indians. Be forewarned, it is very dark and violent, so be in the right mood before starting it.

>230 msf59: You have never finished as low as that Mark and I am sure that your consistency will see you climb and climb.

You did indeed inspire the grab of The Only Good Indians but I won't blame you if I hate it!

Sorry about the person who blamed you - I saw hints even before that message that she was getting overwhelmed by the volume of the group.

And if you stop visiting me, I’ll be mightily disappointed. 😀

>229 PaulCranswick: So it was intentional a fortuitous oversight.

The Malloreon, which Adrienne reviewed the first book of, is a follow on series to The Belgariad. It could be that the covers to the books I read influenced me or just that I read it first but I think I prefer the first series. I suspect that you could read the second series without having read the first (but it's been a while, so I can't be sure) but a lot of the world building and establishing the characters is done in the first series so I'd probably start there.

>232 drneutron: How could I ever not visit you, Jim. You are the reason we all got together in the first place!

It is a shame though because I didn't want to be the cause of anybody leaving the group.

>233 humouress: It was fortuity indeed but an unintentional fortuity!

I do like to start at the beginning so I will see if they have the first book.

Your Cranswickian mini-haul was nice. Hope you enjoy reading them--or admiring their book jackets.

>235 thornton37814: Thanks Lori. Plenty of admiring of covers going on believe me:

And here is proof that:

1) My hair is still short;
2) I need a shave;
3) SWMBO is generous in placing a cushion to hide my stomach; and
4) I do occasionally find time to read.

>237 PaulCranswick: These days when I have anything approaching a book haul I will sit with SWMBO and have her pick which would be her choice to read (I really do try her patience) and this involves:

a) looking at the cover blurb;
b) checking the font and type face of the writing; and
c) me reading the first section of the book so she can make an informed opinion.

She chose the book I am caught reading.

>237 PaulCranswick: You look great there Paul!

>239 trandism: Not my normal reading spot, actually. I was venturing into the female terrain of the house!

>198 PaulCranswick: - Add me to the long list of members who appreciate that you do the effort to visit each and every thread and make us feel welcome (again). I'm always impressed with how you keep up with everyone's threads and even add personal comments as if you know us personally (which in some cases you actually do). So I do hope you're not put off by one sour comment (or member) because there are many more, including me, who like your presence here and on my thread. I may be overwhelmed because I'm a quiet person and cannot keep up, but I'm never put off.

>241 Trifolia: Thank you for that lovely post, Monica. My friends here mean so much to me.

>198 PaulCranswick: Paul, your posts are always welcome on my thread and I am grateful for your diligence in making the rounds even when I am not so diligent myself and often can't even make it to my own thread! I'm sorry that one person chose to react negatively to something and I understand why that would be painful to you, but please don't take it too much to heart.

And continued well-wished for your mother's health.

>243 AnneDC: Thank you, Anne.

>197 PaulCranswick: Hi - Wouldn't it be "an" egotistical narcissist" that she meant?

Hey - Maybe you should be proud = she could have written:

"egotistical MANIAC!"

And okay, most LT contributors do appear, in words, to think highly of themselves,
which is "egotistical," no.

And "narcissist," we all dance to that tune, at times, more than less...

>180 PaulCranswick: He’s aged out, but Liam Neeson would have made a perfect Reacher. Favorite five from the 21st century. Hmm. I need to take that under advisement because although I only started keeping track of books read starting in 2008, that spreadsheet does not have the original publication year of a book. Perhaps I’ll play around with it sometime soon.

>194 PaulCranswick: I have science fiction as a separate category from fantasy.

>197 PaulCranswick: How sad, Paul. I hope you didn’t take it to heart, because her blaming you for leaving the group is a stunning example of egotistical narcissism. You are not the cause of her leaving the group. She is the cause of her leaving the group.

There was a woman on the ROOTs group who didn’t like reading political chatter on our threads, NOT hers, and chose to leave the group a couple of years ago. I felt bad and did a bit of soul searching and realized that it was her problem not mine.

>198 PaulCranswick: You’re always welcome on my thread.

>211 PaulCranswick: You are much kinder to this mysterious group-leaver than I would be.

>222 PaulCranswick: Tiffs on the threads. *smile*

>237 PaulCranswick: Nice pic! Thanks to Hani.

>245 m.belljackson: Ok Marianne, so I guess I am guilty as charged then. xx

>246 karenmarie: Agree about Neeson - a younger Neeson anyway.

Looking forward to what you come up with after advisement.

I guess if someone wants to join or leave or stay it will always be their own decision.

You would not succeed in keeping me from your threads, Karen.

I do feel a little bit sad that I made someone feel bad enough to leave.

She has done a good job keeping me "up" today.

>247 PaulCranswick: Nah, Paul - if you are, we (mostly) ALL are.

(online "egotistical" yields "self-centered" = just ask one of our kids!

"narcissistic" yields "doesn't care about others' viewpoints" = kids, again, then maybe a partner...?!)

>240 PaulCranswick: So a photo of you in your usual reading spot is now required....

Sending many get well wishes and prayers for your Mom. She sounds like such a lovely lady and a real fighter.

All the good parts of this group (talking books with so many wonderful and varied people!) far outweigh the ocassional tiffs. Remember that people project the parts they dislike about themselves to see in others ...

I love your book haul! Eventually I'll get to The Only Good Indians, also because of Mark's enthusiasm.

>248 m.belljackson: Well I do care about the views of others for sure, Marianne.

>249 Caroline_McElwee: OK, I will ask the boss to arrange one!

>252 PaulCranswick: Thanks for those wise words, Janet and the kind ones for my mum too.

Pay no attention to that person, Paul. (Not exactly sure who it is - I think I missed that kerfuffle during one of my AWOL periods - but I don't care much, either.) You are one of the main tent poles in our little group and I can't imagine that you have a narcissistic bone in your body.

You are always welcome to visit my thread- I don't make the rounds of many threads and sometimes I don't respond but... you are amazing the way you do keep up. I am astonished at some people's actions- don't we all have enough to deal with now!
Sending good wishes to you and all of your family!

>253 Fourpawz2: Thanks Charlotte. I have never been as pleased to be a tent pole.

>254 torontoc: Thank you, Cyrel. Maybe she was also dealing with a few things that got the better of her. Never mind I do wish her well and hope she finds a place in a group that is to her liking.

>139 PaulCranswick: Way behind here but I found this interesting:
18 THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG CAREY, PETER 2000 AUSTRALIA

I've been working my way through a Summer 2000 Granta issue on Australia and the place I am in right now is this one, only it is called "THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG, First part" and now I really want to read the whole thing. I have another unread book by Carey on my TBR this year shelf: Oscar and Lucinda.

Hi, Paul - Yes, it's me. Don't faint.

>139 PaulCranswick: Quite an interesting list! I've read ten of them, which is pretty good considering we have such different taste in literature. Of those ten, I'd agree that The Road and Jonathan Strange belong on the list for sure.

>174 PaulCranswick: Only one from this list, but I also enjoyed Felicia's Journey.

>177 PaulCranswick: So sorry to hear your mom's back in hospital. Holding her and you close in my thoughts and hoping for a fast recovery.

>211 PaulCranswick: You may be right about the complaining member, but I've never encountered anyone who makes those sorts of accusations not to have major issues of their own. It has become an unfortunately well known manipulative strategy to attack with accusations of manipulation at the first sign of friction. It is kind of you to leave it open to kinder possibilities, but if it was her basic response to a less than entirely positive comment, that's a real red flag.

>256 RBeffa: First part? I also didn't realise there was more than one part to it.

My favourite book of his is Jack Maggs but I did like Kelly. I haven't yet read Oscar and Lucinda

Thanks for stopping by, Ron.

>257 Storeetllr: What a lovely surprise, Mary.

The numbers are not too much of a surprise though, I guess. x

>258 quondame: Since I am fairly sure that most of the group will not get to know the person involved then I believe that we will never know what prompted what was something of an overreaction.

I do usually try to see the best in people but it is occasionally not terribly easy to do so, Susan.

Paul, I always look forward to your visits to my thread. If you take credit for one member leaving, you can also take credit for one member staying. There have been times when I have been MIA here but when I have come back, a message from you reminds me how much I value this group. So thanks!

I would add The Orphan Master's Son to a best list. That book stayed with me for days after reading.

I hope your mother improves. It must be so difficult for her as well as family.

Hey, have you read Sutton? Mark turned on to it - fictional memoir of Willie Sutton, whomwhen asked why he robbed banks, didn’t answer “Because that’s where the money is.”

Seriously, if you haven’t read it, you’ll love it.

>197 PaulCranswick: Just adding my two cents, Paul. I like Chris's idea that if you put yourself out there, 10% will hate you no matter what. But one of the worst feelings in the world, for me anyway, is when you try to do someone a good turn, and they get mad at you for it. You were trying to do that LTer a good turn, and that reaction says way more about the ex-group member than it does about you. I like that you and Jim, in particular (and there may be others) try to get around to everyone. That's a lot of work, but it's a nice thing to do. Anyway, you've got so many of us that appreciate you, don't let that sourpuss dim your spirits.

>259 PaulCranswick: Paul, my guess is that the Granta publication preceded (or maybe was coincident with) the novel on Ned Kelly and just included the first part of the whole story. It is a short piece of only about 30 pages but it whet my appetite.

>262 drneutron: Sutton is a great book.

Hi Paul, sorry to hear that your mum has had to go back into hospital but hopefully it is only for a couple of days or so and then she will be back in her own domain. Thoughts with you all at this anxious time mate.

Both Karen and i cannot believe that you have been called a narcissist as you are far far removed from a narcissist, we are both in shock at this.

I see that you have made a small Cranswickian haul as Kinokuniya is back open, oh for when we can get back to bookshops instead of relying on supermarkets and online.

The Test is finely poised at the end of day three and we have been surprised with the performances of Sibley and Bess. Root ought to buy a lottery ticket at the moment, he is in magnificent form and rising up the ranks of England run scorers and will pass Gooch by the end of he summer with only Sir Alistair infront of him. What a welcome return by Stokes with the bat.

Bess must have taken so much confidence from getting Kohli out cheaply and i admire Root's decision to keep Leach on when Pant was mauling him.

Have a good week mate, love and hugs from both of us to all of you.

p.s Do not stop visiting my thread, lol.

Backstories can be great fun = until you get to a cringe-worthy part!
then,
even the fabled 60s can't account for some choices.

It works when The Good Memories jump up to outweigh the rest, as with
the support rallying around the The Ego-Narcis Club.

>256 RBeffa: I went through a Peter Carrey spell last summer and read both of the aforementioned novels but also my favourite from him so far, The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith.

Hey Paul, Keep posting Hani's amazing dishes! They all look delectable.
Keeping your mum in my thoughts. xo

>261 Oregonreader: That is so nice of you to say so, Jan.

>262 drneutron: I think I have it on the shelves somewhere but I haven't read it yet, Jim.

ETA Confirmed on the shelves.

>263 jnwelch: Yes, Joe, I am coming to terms with the reality that some people won't like you irrespective of how hard you try to encourage them to do so.

>264 RBeffa: I looked up my used copy of the book and it is certainly in one volume, Ron, so it must have been some sort of sampler you read.

>265 johnsimpson: It seems funny that in the same discussion of not being thought of as a narcissist you refer to "Cranswickian hauls"! To be fair, it was a termed coined by another but I can't remember who!

The test will be determined by the first session today. If England skittle the first innings and then make inroads into their second innings this morning it is done and dusted. Pujara, Rahane, Pant and of course Kohli have the ability to stay there for a good while. If they set England more than 150 to win with this pitch deteriorating then Ashwin could still win them the game.

>266 m.belljackson: Marianne, I do hope that the Ego-Narcis Club tag fails to stick! xx

>267 trandism: I have Tristan Smith on the shelves and must now get to it sooner!

>268 Carmenere: I will encourage her to keep posting pictures if it encourages her to keep cooking!

If it is any comfort, I had trouble with one person here on LT as well. I don't have a thread here on the 75'ers group and this person didn't like it that I would post my reading on multiple threads. I was told that I shouldn't junk up several threads with the same mini-review. I confess. It bothered me for awhile, but I figure that this is a public forum. If you put up a thread you should expect that people are going to post things that you don't like. For me it is easy to ignore them - for the most part. However, when they post their views on my personal profile that makes it a bit more immediate. I figure that if I am going to be on a public forum I had better gets used to slings and arrows and learn to ignore the rocks.

I think you do a remarkable job of keeping up with everybody and I appreciate that.

>273 benitastrnad: I have gotten used to a few of my friends - you included Benita - not wishing to have threads and there is absolutely no reason why not. People can be so self absorbed. Dump whatever you like here and whenever you want to - I'd love to keep you in my reading stats for a start!

>267 trandism: >272 PaulCranswick: Tristan Smith looks like a delight. I clearly need to read more of Peter Carey.

BTW, there is a very recent film made of the Ned Kelly book, starring Russell Crowe

Speaking as someone who was actually blocked last year by someone who used to be in this group because I expressed an opinion about a book, I would just take that insult you got Paul with a grain of salt. There are lots of petty people in the world and a few are bound to wind up in this group once in awhile. Narcissist? Really? That's fairly astounding. Incredible really. Ignore it and forge ahead. I appreciate all you do. And now I have to go look and see what my favorite books of this century are. I'm sure we've got some overlap.

>275 RBeffa: I would be up for a group read of that one sometime, Ron, just saying....

I don't really picture Russell Crowe as Ned Kelly but then again if Mick Jagger could play the role then definitely Crowe can!

>276 brenzi: The incident affecting you last year also upset me very much, Bonnie. I certainly don't want to rehash or fan the flames of that one again but the reaction to you, Janet, Mark and a few others enjoying a particular work of fiction saddened me greatly.

Since our reading tastes so often coincide, I am sure that there would be a few shared reads there!

>277 PaulCranswick:

I missed the whole event and now wonder what was the title of the book?

>278 m.belljackson: Aaaargh I wouldn't dare re-kindle that one, Marianne.

>273 benitastrnad: Having a thread make it ever so much easy to submit offerings from time to time. Mostly mine are just octopods on @richardderus's thread, but once I associate something with someone, it's hard to resist. Of course, not having a thread saves you from a lot of werepenguins, or food shaped books or whatever.

>280 quondame: The group needs threads to work properly but not everyone having threads is cool. Seems funny coming from me after yesterday's misunderstanding but I do think everyone is here on their own terms so long as there is basic decency in proceedings. There are a few in the group who studiously avoid communication on their thread which they largely use for keeping records of what they have read and they are not comfortable with the social side of things. Perfectly fine for me but it is the treads that respond to most people but ignore a few. That is when it starts to be discourteous.