PAUL C'S SECOND HOME - PART 20

SCENES FROM MY BOOKS - The Wreck of the Mary Deare by Hammond Innes

POETRY

Jo Shapcott is a poet I do look out for as she has always something interesting to say.

Reading Record First Quarter

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

4,313 pages.

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
21. A Room of Own's Own by Virginia Woolf (1929) 153 pp
22. Bury the Dead by Peter Carter (1987) 374 pp
23. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (2011) 390 pp
24. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (1873) 242 pp
25. Woods, etc. by Alice Oswald (2005) 56 pp
26. Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg (2015) 293 pp
27. A Burning by Megha Majumdar (2020) 289 pp
28. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (2011) 373 pp
29. What is History? by Edward Hallett Carr (1961) 156 pp
30. A Buyer's Market by Anthony Powell (1951) 278 pp

3,211 pages

MARCH

31. The Return : Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar (2016) 239 pp
32. The Hammer of the Scots by Jean Plaidy (1978) 417 pp
33. Bright Dead Things by Ada Limon (2015) 101 pp
34. Some Experiences of an Irish RM by Somerville & Ross (1899) 223 pp
35. The Age of Improvement 1783-1867 by Asa Briggs (1959) 523 pp
36. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (1853) 203 pp

1,706 pages

Reading Record Second Quarter

APRIL

37. Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham (2013) 439 pp
38. Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid (2000) 270 pp
39. Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha (2013) 200 pp
40. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2001) 428 pp
41. Blue Horses by Mary Oliver (2014) 79 pp
42. Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1864) 160 pp
43. The Curious Case of Dassoukine's Trousers by Fouad Laroui (2012) 134 pp
44. The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham (2014) 457 pp
45. Arid Dreams by Duanwad Pimwana (2019) 244 pp
46. Figures in a Landscape by Barry England (1968) 208 pp
47. Echoland by Per Petterson (1989) 132 pp
48. Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith (2019) 205 pp

2,956 pages

MAY

49. The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley (1984) 330 pp
50. I Choose to Live by Sabine Dardenne (2004) 210 pp
51. Three Poems by Hannah Sullivan (2018) 71 pp

611 pages (maybe my worst ever performance!)

JUNE

52. Still Waters by Viveca Sten (2008) 434 pp
53. Half a Life by VS Naipaul (2001) 211 pp
54. Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih (1969) 169 pp
55. A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (1944) 269 pp
56. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (2020) 370 pp
57. Springtime in a Broken Mirror by Mario Benedetti (1982) 181 pp
58. My Country : A Syrian Memoir by Kassim Eid (2018) 194 pp
59. Vita Nova by Louise Gluck (1999) 51 pp
60. The God Child by Nana Oforiatta Ayim (2019) 241 pp
61. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (1946) 154 pp
62. Mr Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood (1935) 230 pp
63. Mr Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons (2010) 355 pp
64. Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge (1977) 212 pp
65. In Paradise by Peter Matthiessen (2014) 244 pp
66. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (2015) 438 pp
67. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1851) 1,179 pp
68. Cat and Mouse by Gunter Grass (1961) 191 pp
69. No Turning Back by Beverley Naidoo (1995) 191 pp
70. Look at Me by Anita Brookner (1983) 192 pp
71. Vice Versa by F. Anstey (1882) 219 pp
72. The Age of Revolution by Eric Hobsbawm (1975) 308 pp
73. Mrs Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw (1893) 98 pp

6,131 pages (best for a while)

Reading Record 3rd Quarter

JULY

74. Bernard Hinault and the Fall and Rise of French Cycling by William Fotheringham (2015) 345 pp
75. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling (1997) 332 pp
76. Rendang by Will Harris (2020) 85 pp
77. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (2016) 383 pp
78. Corridors of Power by C.P. Snow (1964) 352 pp
79. Arab Jazz by Karim Miske (2012) 242 pp
80. The Kingdom of This World by Alejo Carpentier (1949) 136 pp
81. The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (2000) 395 pp
82. The Quality of Madness by Tim Rich (2020) 417 pp
83. The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (2006) 404 pp
84. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe (1838) 162 pp
85. The Devil's Pool by George Sand (1846) 119 pp

3,372 pages

AUGUST

86. Poetry Please! edited by Charles Causley (1985) 113 pp
87. The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (2020) 448 pp
88. Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Edward Shepherd Creasy (1851) 380 pp
89. Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell (2011) 380 pp
90. Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2021) 85 pp
91. The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell (2013) 345 pp
92. The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso (2011) 267 pp
93. Here and Now by Stephen Dunn (2011) 103 pp
94. I am, I am, I am by Maggie O'Farrell (2017) 285 pp
95. Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburo Oe (1958) 189 pp
96. The Flint Anchor by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1954) 322 pp
97. At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop (2018) 145 pp
98. A Kind of Loving by Stan Barstow (1960) 345 pp
99. The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi (2000) 282 pp

3,689 pages

SEPTEMBER

100. Pew by Catherine Lacey (2020) 207 pp
101. Northlight by Douglas Dunn (1988) 81 pp
102. A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende (2019) 349 pp
103. The First Century After Beatrice by Amin Maalouf (1992) 192 pp
104. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard (1967) 118 pp
105. Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz (2020) 107 pp

Reading Record 4th Quarter

OCTOBER

106. Everyman's Poetry : Alfred, Lord Tennyson by Alfred Lord Tennyson 1996 103 pp
107. The Watcher in the Shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (1995) 247 pp
108. The Face of Battle by John Keegan (1976) 336 pp
109. Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead (2021) 589 pp
110. The Wreck of the Mary Deare by Hammond Innes (1956) 272 pp
111. The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed (2021) 372 pp

CURRENTLY READING

BAC



January: Children's Classics https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7317610 9 READ

February: LGBT+ History Month https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7317871 2 READ

March: Vaseem Khan & Eleanor Hibbert https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7318561 1 READ

April: Love is in the Air https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7319432 2 READ

May: V. S. Naipaul & Na'ima B. Robert https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7320231 1 READ

June: The Victorian Era (1837-1901) https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7320541 3 READ

July: Don't judge a book by its movie https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7321220 10 READ

August: Bernard Cornwell & Helen Oyeyemi https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7321374 2 READ

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

October: Narrative Poetry https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7322840 3 read

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

December: Awards & Honors https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7325017 2 READ

Wildcard: Books off your shelves https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7325595 17 READ

52 BOOKS READ TO DATE

AMERICAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE



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

January : Keep it in the Family :
February : Ethan Canin
March : Roxane Gay
April : Makers of Music : Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith
May : Mary McCarthy
June : Ken Kesey
July : Native American Themes : The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
August : Connie Willis
September : Howard Norman
October : Attica Locke
November : Albert Murray
December : YA Fiction

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 READ
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 33 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
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 ON SHELVES
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
2021 THE NIGHT WATCHMAN - Louise Erdrich


19 READ
37 ON SHELVES
38 NOT OWNED OR READ

94 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 - READ
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 - READ
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
2021 Abdulrazak Gurnah - READ

READ 74 OF
118 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
16. India - A Burning by Megha Majumdar ASIA PACIFIC
17. Libya - The Return by Hisham Matar AFRICA
18. Pakistan - Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid ASIA PACIFIC
19. South Korea - Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha ASIA PACIFIC
20. Morocco - The Curious Case of Dassoukine's Trousers by Fouad Laroui AFRICA
21. Thailand - Arid Dreams by Duanwad Pimwana ASIA PACIFIC
22. Norway - Echoland by Per Petterson EUROPE
23. Belgium - I Choose to Live by Sabine Dardenne EUROPE
24. Sweden - Still Waters by Viveca Sten EUROPE
25. Trinidad - Half a Life by VS Naipaul AMERICAS
26. Sudan - Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih AFRICA
27. Uruguay - Springtime in a Broken Mirror by Mario Benedetti AMERICAS
28. Syria - My Country : A Syrian Memoir by Kassem Eid ASIA PACIFIC
29. Ghana - The God Child by Nana Oforiatta Ayim AFRICA
30. Austria - Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl EUROPE
31. Germany - Cat and Mouse by Gunter Grass EUROPE
32. South Africa - No Turning Back by Beverley Naidoo AFRICA
33. Mauritania - Arab Jazz by Karim Miske AFRICA
34. Cuba - The Kingdom of This World by Alejo Carpentier AMERICAS
35. Nigeria - Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie AFRICA
36. Portugal - The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso EUROPE
37. Japan - Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburo Oe ASIA PACIFIC
38. Senegal - At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop AFRICA
39. Malta - The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi EUROPE
40. Chile - A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende AMERICAS
41. Lebanon - The First Century After Beatrice by Amin Maalouf ASIA PACIFIC
42. Spain - The Watcher in the Shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafon EUROPE
43. Somalia - The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed


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

1838 NARRATIVE OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM OF NANTUCKET by Poe
1843 FEAR AND TREMBLING by Kierkegaard
1845 THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Dumas
1846 THE DEVIL'S POOL by Sand
1850 PENDENNIS by Thackeray
1851 FIFTEEN DECISIVE OF THE WORLD by Creasy
1853 CRANFORD by GASKELL
1854 CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE by Tennyson
1857 TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS by Hughes
1864 NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND by Dostoevsky
1870 A LEAR OF THE STEPPES by Turgenev
1873 AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS by Verne
1881 PRINCE AND THE PAUPER by Twain
1882 VICE VERSA by Anstey
1893 MRS WARREN'S PROFESSION by Shaw
1899 SOME EXPERIENCES OF AN IRISH RM by Somerville & Ross
1900 THREE SISTERS by Chekhov

17/64

QUEEN BETTY CHALLENGE

From December 2020 70 Years 70 Books 70 Different British Authors

1952 A Buyer's Market by Anthony Powell
1954 The Flint Anchor by Sylvia Townsend Warner
1956 The Wreck of the Mary Deare by Hammond Innes
1959 The Age of Improvement by Asa Briggs
1960 A Kind of Loving by Stan Barstow
1961 What is History? by EH Carr
1962 The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side by Agatha Christie
1964 Corridors of Power by CP Snow
1966 A Fall from the Sky by Ian Serraillier
1967 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
1968 Figures in a Landscape by Barry England
1969 Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Framer
1970 The Great Fire by Monica Dickens
1973 Carrie's War by Nina Bawden
1975 The Age of Capital by Eric Hobsbawm
1976 The Face of Battle by John Keegan
1977 Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge
1978 The Hammer of the Scots by Jean Plaidy
1983 Look at Me by Anita Brookner
1984 The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley
1985 Poetry Please! edited by Charles Causley
1987 Bury the Dead by Peter Carter
1988 Northlight by Douglas Dunn
1989 Plague 99 by Jean Ure
1996 Junk by Melvyn Burgess
1997 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling
2000 The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi
2001 Half a Life by VS Naipaul
2003 Judge Savage by Tim Parks
2005 Woods, etc. by Alice Oswald
2010 Mr Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons
2011 Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
2013 A Delicate Truth by John Le Carre
2014 The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham
2015 Bernard Hinault and the Fall and Rise of French Cycling by William Fotheringham
2017 I am, I am, I am by Maggie O'Farrell
2018 Three Poems by Hannah Sullivan
2019 A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson
2020 Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
2021 The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed

40/70

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 : Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch READ 12 Feb 2021
Week 7 : 1 Published Work : A Burning by Megha Majumdar READ 19 Feb 2021
Week 8 : Dewey 900 Class : What is History? by EH Carr READ 28 February
Week 9 : Set in a Mediterranean Country : The Return by Hisham Matar READ 5 MAR 2021
Week 10 : Book with discussion questions : Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham READ 2 APR
Week 11 : Relating to fire : Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid READ 4 APR
Week 12 : Title Starting with D : Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha READ 6 APR
Week 13 : Includes an Exotic Animal : Life of Pi by Yann Martel READ 11 April
Week 14 : Written by an author over 65 : Blue Horses by Mary Oliver READ 14 April
Week 15 : Book Mentioned in a book : Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky READ 15 April
Week 16 : Set before 17th Century : Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell READ 5 June
Week 17 : Character on the run : Figures in a Landscape by Barry England READ 26 April
Week 18 : Author with 9 letter surname : Springtime in a Broken Mirror by Mario Benedetti READ 6 JUNE
Week 19 : Book with a deckled edge : In Paradise by Peter Matthiessen READ 21 JUNE
Week 20 : Became a TV series : Corridors of Power by CP Snow READ 12 JUL
Week 21 : Book by Kristin Hannah : The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah READ 22 JUNE
Week 22 : A Family Saga : Mr Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons READ 14 JUN
Week 23 : Surprising Ending : Still Waters by Viveca Sten READ 2 JUN
Week 24 : Book to be read in schools : Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl READ
Week 25 : Multiple POVs : Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys READ 11 JUL
Week 26 : Author of Colour : The God Child by Nana Oforiatta Ayim READ 8 JUN
Week 27 : 1st Chapter Odd Page : The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner READ 25 JUL
Week 28 : Little known historical event : The Kingdom of This World by Alejo Carpentier READ 20 JUL
Week 29 : The Environment : The First Century After Beatrice by Amin Maalouf READ 16 SEP
Week 30 : Dragons : Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling READ 8 JUL
Week 31 : Similar Title : The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso READ 9 AUG
Week 32 : Selfish Character : The Flint Anchor by Sylvia Townsend Warner READ 24 AUG
Week 33 : Adoption : The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi READ 31 AUG
Week 34 : Five Star Read : Poetry Please! by Charles Causley READ 1 AUG
Week 35 :
Week 36 : Nameless Narrator : Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburo Oe READ 22 AUG
Week 37 :
Week 38 :
Week 39 :
Week 40 :
Week 41 : Endorsement by Author : At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop READ 28 AUG
Week 42 :
Week 43 :
Week 44 :
Week 45 :
Week 46 :
Week 47 :
Week 48 : Woman Facing Away : A Kind of Loving by Stan Barstow READ 30 AUG
Week 49 :
Week 50 :
Week 51 : Published in 2021 : Notes on Grief by Adichie READ 7 AUG
Week 52 :

SERIES PAIR CHALLENGE

January : Andrea Camilleri - MONTALBANO DONE
February : Agatha Christie - MISS MARPLE DONE
March : Ben Aaronovitch - PETER GRANT DONE
April : Harry Bingham - FIONA GRIFFITHS DONE
May : Megan Whalen Turner - EUGENIDES DONE
June : Bernard Cornwell - UHTRED DONE

BRITISH HISTORIANS

As if I don't have enough challenges! I want to polish up on my reading and re-reading of the British historians who either inspired me as a student or who I have since come to greatly admire

The French Revolution by Thomas CARLYLE 1837
The Age of Improvement by Asa BRIGGS 1959 READ MAR 21
The History of England by Thomas Babington MACAULAY 1848
The Making of the English Working Class by EP THOMPSON 1963
Fifteen Decisive Battles by EDWARD CREASEY 1851 READ AUG 21
What is History? by EH CARR 1961 READ FEB 21
The Course of German History by AJP TAYLOR 1945
The American Future by Simon SCHAMA 2009
The Face of Battle by John KEEGAN 1976 READ OCT 21
The King's Peace by CV WEDGWOOD 1955
The Age of Capital by ERIC HOBSBAWM 1975 READ JUN 21

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 READ JUN 21
12 A Crime in the Neighborhood Berne
13 Stand By Me Berry
14 Love Story, With Murders Bingham READ APR 21
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 READ SEP 21
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 READ APR 21
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 Frankl READ JUN 21
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 READ JUN 21
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 READ APR 21
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 READ APR 21
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 READ FEB 21
125 The Mirror and the Light Mantel
126 Original Spin Marks
127 Deep River Marlantes
128 The Return Matar READ MAR 21
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 READ APR 21
153 Felicity Oliver
154 Will Olyslaegers
155 Woods, etc Oswald READ FEB 21
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 READ APR 21
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 READ FEB 21
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 READ JUL 21
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 READ JUN 21
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 READ APR 21
202 Eternity Smith T
203 Crossing Statovci
204 Lucy Church, Amiably Stein
205 Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead Stoppard READ SEP 21
206 Blood Cruise Strandberg
207 Shuggie Bain Stuart READ JAN 21
208 Three Poems Sullivan READ MAY 21
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 READ JUL 21
223 The King of Attolia Turner READ JUL 21
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 READ FEB 21
249 Interior Chinatown Yu
250 How Much of These Hills is Gold Zhang

BEGIN : 250
READ : 33
LEFT : 217

THIS YEAR'S ACQUISITIONS

1. Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. by Somerville & Ross READ MAR 21
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 READ JUN 21
8. Arturo's Island by Elsa Morante
9. Coningsby by Benjamin Disraeli
10. The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
11. The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron
12. Death's Mistress by Terry Goodkind
13. The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
14. Small Days and Nights by Tishani Doshi
15. Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai
16. Desert by JMG Le Clezio
17. For the Record by David Cameron
18. The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
19. The Guardians of the West by David Eddings
20. Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
21. The Council of Egypt by Leonardo Sciascia
22. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
23. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin
24. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
25. Rupture by Ragnar Jonasson
26. White Out by Ragnar Jonasson
27. The Age of Capital by Eric Hobsbawm READ JUN 21
28. The World Turned Upside Down by Christopher Hill
29. The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
30. Modern Times by Paul Johnson
31. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy
32. The Warehouse by Rob Hart
33. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
34. Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings
35. Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings
36. Magician's Gambit by David Eddings
37. Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan
38. In Ashes Lie by Marie Brennan
39. The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
40. The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
41. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
42. At Lady Molly's by Anthony Powell
43. Casanova's Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell
44. The Kindly Ones by Anthony Powell
45. The Financier by Theodore Dreiser
46. Still Waters by Viveca Sten READ JUN 21
47. Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo
48. The Europeans by Henry James
49. Vice Versa by F. Anstey READ JUN 21
50. A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry
51. The Scarred Woman by Jussi Adler Olsen
52. Closed for Winter Jorn Lier Horst
53. News of the World by Juliette Jiles
54. Bright Dead Things by Ada Limon READ MAR 21
55. A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea by Dina Nayeri
56. Death in the Tuscan Hills by Marco Vichi
57. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
58. Good Morning Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton
59. Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud
60. The Enchanted by Rene Denefeld
61. The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
62. The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Machado de Assis
63. The Innocents by Michael Crummey
64. Night Waking by Sarah Moss
65. Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
66. Throw me to the Wolves by Patrick McGuinness
67. Consent by Annabel Lyon
68. Selling Manhattan by Carole Ann Duffy
69. Rendang by Will Harris READ JUL 21
70. The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
71. No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
72. Amnesty by Aravind Adiga
73. The Awkward Squad by Sophie Henaff
74. The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan
75. Afternoon Raag by Amit Chaudhuri
76. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
77. The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson
78. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
79. Bricks and Mortar by Clemens Meyer
80. The Eastern Shore by Ward Just
81. The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
82. The Wild Iris by Louise Gluck
83. Vertigo& Ghost by Fiona Benson
84. Salt Slow by Julia Armfield
85. Soot by Dan Vyleta
86. Deacon King Kong by James McBride
87. Abigail by Magda Szabo
88. Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugresic
89. Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger
90. Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
91. Selection Day by Aravind Adiga
92. The Voyage by Murray Bail
93. Peace : A Novel by Richard Bausch
94. The Third Reich by Roberto Bolano
95. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
96. The Kingdom of this World by Alejo Carpentier READ JUL 21
97. My Life as a Russian Novel by Emmanuel Carrere
98. Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau
99. Man V. Nature by Diane Cook
100. The Melody by Jim Crace
101. SS-GB by Len Deighton
102. Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald
103. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
104. The Beautiful Indifference by Sarah Hall
105. Munich by Robert Harris
106. Bodies Electric by Colin Harrison
107. The Punch by Noah Hawley
108. Spook Street by Mick Herron
109. London Rules by Mick Herron
110. The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst
111. The Land of Green Ginger by Winifred Holtby
112. The Wreck of the Mary Deare by Hammond Innes READ OCT 21
113. The Cider House Rules by John Irving
114. Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just
115. Duffy by Dan Kavanagh
116. The Good People by Hannah Kent
117. The Life to Come by Michelle de Krester
118. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin
119. 10:04 by Ben Lerner
120. Home is the Hunter by Helen MacInnes
121. Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan
122. The Blood Miracles by Lisa McInerney
123. The Girl in Green by Derek B. Miller
124. Arab Jazz by Karim Miske READ JUL 21
125. Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss
126. Carthage by Joyce Carol Oates
127. The Changeling by Kenzaburo Oe
128. The Horseman by Tim Pears
129. Echoland by Per Petterson READ APR 21
130. Last Stand by Michael Punke
131. The Waiting Time by Gerald Seymour
132. Home Run by Gerald Seymour
133. Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith
134. To the Back of Beyond by Peter Stamm
135. They Know Not What They Do by Jussi Valtonen
136. The Tulip Eaters by Antoinette Van Heugten
137. Smoke by Dan Vyleta
138. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
139. That Eye, The Sky by Tim Winton
140. Fear : Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward
141. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell READ JUN 21
142. Gerta by Katerina Tuckova
143. My Country: A Syrian Memoir by Kassem Eid READ JUN 21
144. Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann
145. The Hotel Tito by Ivana Bodrozic
146. Strange Hotel by Eimear McBride
147. Blame by Paul Read
148. House of Lords and Commons by Ishion Hutchinson
149. To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek
150. Your Story, My Story by Connie Palmen
151. Wake Up : Why the World Has Gone Nuts by Piers Morgan
152. Death of a Coast Watcher by Anthony English
153. Limitless by Ala Glynn
154. Toddler Hunting and Other Stories by Taeko Kono
155. Daughter of the Tigris by Muhsin al-Ramli
156. Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith
157. Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
158. Incomparable World by S.L. Martin
159. The Dancing Face by Mike Phillips
160. Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors
161. Sharks in the Time of Saviours by Kawai Strong Washburn
162. The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
163. Rest and Be Thankful by Emma Glass
164. Minty Alley by CLR James
165. The Fat Lady Sings by Jacqueline Roy
166. Actress by Anne Enright
167. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
168. The Living Sea of Waking Dreams by Richard Flanagan
169. Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas
170. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov *Replacement*
171. Summer by Ali Smith
172. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor *Replacement*
173. Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
174. The Temple of Dawn by Yukio Mishima
175. The Girls by Emma Cline
176. The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich READ AUG 21
177. The Flint Anchor by Sylvia Townsend Warner READ AUG 21
178. The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
179. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
180. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
181. Just Like You by Nick Hornby
182. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
183. Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih READ JUNE 21
184. The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa
185. The Dig by Roger Preston
186. The Historians by Eavan Boland
187. Selected Poems by Elizabeth Jennings
188. The Deemster by Hall Caine
189. When Rainclouds Gather by Bessie Head
190. Maru by Bessie Head
191. Derek Mahon: New Selected Poems by Derek Mahon
192. A Move in the Weather by Anthony Thwaite
193. Door into the Dark by Seamus Heaney
194. Driftless by David Rhodes
195. Independence Square by AD Miller
196. Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga
197. Lot by Bryan Washington
198. A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende READ SEP 21
199. The Wandering by Intan Paramaditha
200. Fire and Ice by Dana Stabenow
201. Aria by Nazanine Hozar
202. Waking Lions by Ayelet Gudar-Goshen
203. Victim 2117 by Jussi Adler-Olsen
204. The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell READ AUG 21
205. The Quality of Madness by Tim Rich READ JULY 21
206. Ghosts of the Past by Marco Vichi
207. The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray
208. Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie READ AUG 21
209. Here We Are by Graham Swift
210. Deaths of the Poets by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts
211. I am, I am, I am by Maggie O'Farrell READ AUG 21
212. The Whale at the End of the World by John Iremonger
213. Precious Bane by Mary Webb
214. Bina by Anakana Schofield
215. Little Siberia by Antti Tuomainen
216. At Night the Blood is Black by David Diop READ AUG 21
217. Muscle by Alan Trotter
218. The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
219. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
220. Missionaries by Phil Klay
221. Pew by Catherine Lacey READ SEP 21
222. Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
223. Selected Poems by Anna Akhmatova
224. The Safety Net by Andrea Camilleri
225. Corpus by Rory Clements
226. Nucleus by Rory Clements
227. The Rain in Portugal by Billy Collins
228. The Hill Station by JG Farrell
229. Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut
230. The Abstainer by Ian McGuire
231. The Strange Death of Europe by Douglas Murray
232. Mating by Norman Rush
233. One by One by Ruth Ware
234. The Yield by Tara June Winch
235. The Sicilian Method by Andrea Camilleri
236. Rotten Days in Late Summer by Ralf Webb
237. Tracks by Louise Erdrich
238. The First Century After Beatrice by Amin Maalouf READ SEP 21
239. Dances With Wolves by Michael Blake
240. The Holy Road by Michael Blake
241. Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn by Brett Anderson
242. A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam
243. A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
244. Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
245. The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed READ OCT 21
246. The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld
247. E.E.G. by Dasa Drndic
248. English Monsters by James Scudamore
249. The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
250. The Matter of Desire by Edmundo Paz Soldan
251. The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
252. A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
253. Monogamy by Sue Miller
254. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
255. Bewilderment by Richard Powers
256. Evangeline and Other Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
257. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
258. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
259. The Watcher in the Shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. READ OCT 21
260. Cavalleria Rusticana by Giovanni Strega
261. A Girl's Story by Annie Ernaux
262. Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead READ OCT 21
263. The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia
264. Tribes by David Lammy
265. Crossing the Mangrove by Maryse Conde
266. Hot Stew by Fiona Mozley
267. Girl A by Abigail Dean
268. The Promise by Damon Galgut
269. The Crime Writer by Jill Dawson

269 added
28 read
238 nett additions

BOOKS OF THE MONTH

January : The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
February : Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
March : The Return by Hashim Matar
April : Life of Pi by Yann Martel
May : The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley
June : Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
July : The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
August : I am I am I am by Maggie O'Farrell

A book for the book bullet that made the biggest mark on me that month. Only one win per person each year.

January 2021 MARK (msf59) for THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones
February 2021 ADRIENNE (fairywings) for THE BELGARIAD by David Eddings
March 2021 BONNIE (brenzi) for DRIFTLESS by David Rhodes
April 2021 KERRY (avatiakh) for THE DIG by John Preston
May 2021 DEBORAH (Cariola) for I AM, I AM, I AM by Maggie O'Farrell
June 2021 ES (Esquiress) for not failing any challenge
July 2021 CAROLINE (Caroline_McElwee) for Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford
August 2021 DEBORAH (arubabookwoman) for Skylark by Dezso Kosztolanyi

BOOK STATS :

Books Read : 111
Books Added : 266
Nett TBR Addition : 155

Number of Pages in completed books : 28,981
Average per day : 99.26
Projected Page Total : 36,229

Number of days per book : 2.63
Projected Number : 138
LT Best : 157

Longest Book read : 1,179 pages
Shortest Book read : 51 pages
Mean Average Book Length : 261.11 pages

Male Authors : 66
Female Authors : 45

UK Authors : 55
USA : 19
France : 3
Italy, Russia : 2
NZ, India, Libya, Pakistan, South Korea, Canada, Morocco, Thailand, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Trinidad, Sudan, Uruguay, Syria, Ghana, Austria, Germany, South Africa, Mauritania, Cuba, Nigeria, Portugal, Japan, Senegal, Malta, Chile, Lebanon, Spain, Somalia : 1

1001 Books First Edition : 13 (317)
New Nobel Winners : 1 (73)
Pulitzer Fiction Winners : 3 (19)
Booker Winners : 2 (33)
Around the World Challenge : New countries : 30 (43)
BAC Books : 52
AAC Books : 2
Queen Vic Books : 16/64
Queen Betty Books : 40/70
52 Book Challenge : 38/52
British Historians : 5/12

OVERALL TBR RECORD/UPDATE

TBR at Midnight 31 May 2021

Books Unread : 4,425
Pages Unread : 1,555,749
Average Book Length : 351.58 pages

Books Read : 60
Pages Read : 16,163 pages

Books Added : 79
Pages Added : 23,187 pages

Books Culled : 180
Pages Culled : 77,262

Revised TBR
Books Unread : 4,264
Pages Unread : 1,485,511
Ave Book Length : 348.38 pages

Next is yours

Happy new one!

>26 figsfromthistle: Thank you Anita.

I'll take second place. Happy New Thread!

>28 mahsdad: Anita was superfast, Jeff, but you did well too! Let's see who else makes the podium.

Thanks buddy.

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, Paul!

>30 thornton37814: Thank you Lori!

>31 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia - you almost deadheated with Lori because you both got listed as post #30 initially. x

Started Great Circle but only read the first 20 pages or so as I got back late last night after going out with a work colleague.

>32 PaulCranswick: It is OK, Paul. I am trying to finish a book tonight to allow for more time for Great Circle, so I will catch up to you tomorrow.

Happy new one, Paul!

>33 alcottacre: Okie dokie, Stasia.

>34 jessibud2: Thanks Shelley. Nice to see you here as always. x

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

>36 amanda4242: Thank you Amanda.

>37 quondame: Thanks Susan.

I hope I can litter this thread with book reviews!

Happy new thread Paul!

>38 PaulCranswick: It isn't litter if you mean to put it there.

>39 humouress: Thank you neighbour! Inter state travel has just been allowed here and many of my staff are heading off back to their Kampungs. KL will be nice and quiet this weekend.

>40 quondame: Hahaha nicely pointed out, Susan. I hope to decorate my thread with book reviews!

>41 PaulCranswick: We were expecting restrictions here to lighten up but instead, with the delta variant claiming higher numbers and fatalities well into double digits despite all the precautions, they were tightened as of a couple of weeks ago (or is it three now?) to home based learning for 12 years and under and two people allowed to visit another house or sit together at a table if eating out - which meant, for my birthday dinner, that we had to sit at a separate table from the kids which was (due to previous bad experiences by the restaurant) quite a few tables away from us. Well, they enjoyed themselves without parental supervision, although we kept an eye on them from afar and the staff were very good about looking after them, and we could enjoy a 'date night' of sorts.

Enjoy your peaceful weekend!

>43 humouress: The situation shows no obvious signs of easing up too much in the near future, Nina. Malaysia has been pretty effective at getting out the vaccines but infection rates remain high.

New thread orisons, PC.

Hi Paul - the book of the month, for both your Canadian and Bird friends could be Border Songs by Jim Lynch. A 5 star read.

>45 richardderus: Thank you dear fellow.

>46 m.belljackson: It is a good pick, Marianne, but I have it recorded as being on my Kindle. It is not in fact there anymore as Kyran accidentally wiped off all my books.

Happy new thread, Paul!
>47 PaulCranswick: That is a nightmare - I don't have a Kindle, but as far as I know you should be able to recover the books from your Amazon account.

>7 PaulCranswick: your current reads all have awesome covers, and they happen to look great in combination too.

The Delta variant is in NZ too now and while Auckland has been very restricted in its movements for the pervious 2 months, we in the south have been free of it. Still, we are wearing masks, scanning in everywhere we visit, and not having large gatherings or events. There is a massive drive to get people vaccinated and we are aiming for 90% of the eligible population - but even then, there will be hospitalisations the likes of which we have escaped so far, once Delta spreads. Boo hoo- our South Pacific haven is no more.

>48 SirThomas: No such luck for me, Thomas. I managed to snaffle a couple of thousand books from a pal by - shall we say - unorthodox means. No comebacks, I'm afraid.

Oh shit.
It doesn't help you right now, but maybe for the future.
I have all my ebooks stored on the PC in Calibre (and in backup). From there I then copy them to the ebook reader. Calibre, as far as I know, can also manage Kindle.

>49 LovingLit: I am a sucker for a nice cover, Megan.

Oh that is disappointing that NZ is also not free of the Delta variant. 90% should give herd immunity, I guess and I just cannot understand the reluctance of so many to vaccinate - I get that the health officials and big pharma and the Chinese Government/Military with their US dollar research funds all give cause for anger and repugnance but I do think the evidence is clear that the jab has saved & protected lives. There will always be some whose physician advises that the vaccine may not be good for them to take and there are arguments on acquired immunity from those who already contracted the virus (should they get some sort of booster shot or a single dose?), but in the main it is surely a no-brainer.

>51 SirThomas: Kyran, has my kindle for now, Thomas, but I will get myself one again sometime in the near future. Thanks for the tips.

Happy New Thread, Paul. I hope you have an R & R weekend in your sights.

>54 msf59: I hope so too, Mark, as it has been a tough week so far.

Good wishes for a less tough rest of the week and for a happier new thread!

Happy New Thread Paul!

>2 PaulCranswick: Another Jo Shapcott fan here.

>20 PaulCranswick: We are running about even with acquisitions this year Paul.

I received my copy of The Nakano Thrift Shop today, Paul, so I am ready to read along with you and Caroline in November.

Update me on Great Circle when you are finished for today. Thanks!

>56 drneutron: Thanks Jim - as the song went THE ONLY WAY IS UP!

>57 SandDune: Thank you, Rhian.

>58 Caroline_McElwee: I enjoyed her collection Of Mutability, Caroline.
I am trying to behave myself, Caroline, but I am still close to a book a day added.

>59 alcottacre: I am 140 pages in, Stasia. I am reading it together with The Wreck of the Mary Deare which I promised Fuzzi to read together and I managed about the same for both.

Ha ha! Look at me! Congrats on #20. Such a nice round number!

>2 PaulCranswick: Such an interesting poem! Thanks for sharing!

>62 justchris: Thank you, Chris. Lovely to see you here and for being ever present in the threads this year - it has been great to have you along.

I think some of our present poets don't quite get the coverage they deserve which is why I was so pleased with the Nobel recognition for Louise Gluck last year.

New York Times Bestseller List @ 15 October 2021

Fiction (Combined Hardback & Ebook Sales)

1 The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (New) - Good to see and for the wishlist
2 The Wish by Nicholas Sparks (2 weeks) - not my thing
3 Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (2 weeks) - Also for the wishlist
4 Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (4 weeks) - Hani is likely to pick this up
5 The Butler by Danielle Steel (New) - not my thing
6 Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen (New) - Also for the wishlist
7 Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (4 weeks) - Also for the wishlist
8 2 Sisters Detective Agency by James Patterson (New) - No way I'll add this factory produced crap
9 Foul Play by Stuart Woods (New) - An author I have not yet tried
10 It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover (17 weeks) - Another likely Hani target
11 All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (82 weeks) - on the shelves
12 The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave (23 weeks) - I can see Hani picking this one up too

>64 PaulCranswick: I thought All the Light We Cannot See grossly overrated, and I have zero interest in the rest.

And on the other side of the pond here are Waterstones (UKs biggest bookstore chain) books of the month for October:

FICTION : The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz
NON-FICTION : The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall
THRILLER : Girl A by Abigail Dean
YA FICTION : The Monsters of Rookhaven by Padraig Kenny
SCOTTISH BOOK: O' Caledonia by Elspeth Barker
WELSH BOOK : Dead Relatives by Lucie McKnight Hardy
IRISH BOOK : Walking with Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne

Everyone of those appeal to me to be honest. The fiction pick looks tremendous, Tim Marshall is a writer I have previously enjoyed on geo-politics, a new thriller voice, Kenny's book looks fun and the three picks for Scotland, Wales and Ireland will be added as soon as I can.

>65 amanda4242: I haven't read it, Amanda, but your uncertainty made me gulp! I did really like The Nickel Boys by Whitehead and I have heard good things about Towles' books. I haven't braved anything by Frantzen yet but I might.

The rest not quite so much, I agree.

>61 PaulCranswick: Catching up tonight! Thanks for letting me know.

>64 PaulCranswick: I own The Lincoln Highway and hope to get it read soon. I am currently reading the Jonathan Frantzen book. A couple of the others are in the BlackHole.

>66 PaulCranswick: I have not heard of a single one of those! Yikes!

>68 alcottacre: I'll be surprised if I keep up but I have got aspirations to finish both the Shipstead and the Innes by the end of the weekend.

I had not heard about any of the books on the Waterstones list.

I will make the Bestseller & Waterstone Recommendations regular features because it will be interesting to see what books emerge as keepers.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/335987

Thanks Silver and for doing this every week. x

>69 PaulCranswick: Paul, I am happy to proceed at your pace so please do not feel obliged to "keep up." Actually, I picked up The Wreck of the Mary Deare from the library today so I could just add it to the stack I am currently reading.

Happy new one, Paul.

>72 alcottacre: I thought it was a lovely alignment you picking up the Hammond Innes too, Stasia. I don't want to hold you back by being a slow coach!

>73 Ameise1: Thank you dear Barbara. x

>64 PaulCranswick: Whitehead's Harlem Shuffle and Towles Lincoln Highway look very interesting.

I have about 90 pages of Great Circle to finish, and 45 of another book, The Night Always Comes by Willie Vlautin, that I'm going to try to finish first. I've read over 80% of The Lincoln Highway via Netgalley, so may finish that quite soon as well, and am really enjoying it.

I've only read one Jonathan Franzen and have others TBR. Crossroads sounds like something I wouldn't rule out reading but it's not something I'm rushing after.

>75 figsfromthistle: They are two books I will definitely add at some stage, Anita.

>76 elkiedee: You are certainly getting your reading mojo back, Luci. Which of the books you are reading grabbed you the most?

Happy #20, Paul!
I don't recall coming this late to your new thread ;-)

I read Gabriel Byrne's memoir earlier this year and loved it Paul. I actually listened to the audio, which he narrated in his Irish brogue and it was wonderful.

>78 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. It is not every thread you have gone off on a walking tour!

>79 brenzi: He does have a great voice, Bonnie. I will pick that one up when I come across it.

Hoping your weekend is going well, PC.

>81 richardderus: Not quite yet started, RD. Working (now) on Saturday morning - I have just pitched up at the office and it is 7.47 am and I have 15 minutes or so before I have to start work in earnest. Four hours and home.

Hani and I will go to a newly reopened restaurant tonight - the delightfully named Tamarind Hills whose Indo-Chinese flavours are calling to us both.

>82 PaulCranswick: Have a great meal. Old favorites have real power to increase our comforts.

>83 quondame: Hani was quite excited when she sent me details of the re-opening. Even I am able to pick up the "subtle" signals and book a table!

This gives a good feel of what the place is like. It is in the Ampang area just on the outskirts of the capital.

Friday additions

264. Tribes by David Lammy
265. Crossing the Mangrove by Maryse Conde
266. Hot Stew by Fiona Mozley

Tribes I have seen on a number of threads from our British colleagues and is a book by British labour politician tracing his genetic roots in Africa and elsewhere. Fiona Mozley is one of the most promising Yorkshire born writers of the moment and I will hereby tip Conde to be the next Nobel Laureate.

>85 PaulCranswick: The scene is so beautiful it must be nourishing.

>66 PaulCranswick: I got a copy of The Passenger when it first came out and hope to read it before the year's end.

>88 avatiakh: I am on the look out for it certainly, Kerry.

>87 quondame: Almost missed you, Susan, somehow. It is a romantic setting and the food is good although, if I remember, not overly generous.

My recent additions

>85 PaulCranswick: Gorgeous! I am not sure I would get any eating done there. I would be too busy looking out at nature.

>92 alcottacre: The odours from your plate would keep dragging your attention back, Stasia!

>64 PaulCranswick: I picked up an ebook of the Lincoln Highway, although I don't know when I will get to it. The western end of the Lincoln Highway runs close to my house and I cross it or drive a bit on it almost every week. I can even see part of it in the distance over my fence. There are a few historic markers here and there. The route was realigned several times. So, the title alone caught my interest immediately.

>94 RBeffa: Thanks for that Ron. Those sorts of anecdotes bring life to books don't you think?

Listened to Harry Chapin's "On the Road to Kingdom Come" this morning whilst driving to work and in particular to the great sone "The Mayor of Candor Lied". Great chap, Harry Chapin and his early death was truly tragic and on another of your American expressways - The Long Island Expressway.

His dedication to ecology and sustainability was a great example:

Oh if a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
I wonder what would happen
to this world

worthy actual epitaph.

>95 PaulCranswick: One of my good buddies on the east coast went to all of Harry and Tom Chapin's shows when he was young. He was a big fan. He told me this story about a year ago:

"When I was attending Pratt Institue in the early 70s, I commuted from my home in Northern New Jersey. I would come over the Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn and, often on Wednesday nights, I’d stop at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village. One of my favorite local bands back then at the Bitter End was a group called the Chapins with Tom and Steve Chapin. They were kind of an East Coast version of the Youngbloods. Lots of fun. One night, circa 1971, I was sitting in one of the back booths watching the Chapins when a guy came in and sat in the next booth. We started talking music and had a nice conversation. At one point he mentioned that two guys in the band were his brothers and he was writing songs for them. About a year later, I was blown away when I heard “Taxi” by Harry Chapin. When I saw the album cover, I recognized my buddy from that night a year earlier at the Bitter End. I saw Harry at least a dozen times over the years. Probably more. “Remember When the Music” is a song from his last album. It was written about the folk era and singers like Pete Seeger. But now, when I hear it, I think of Harry. I remember when his music was the most important music in my life."

How's that for a memory keeper? Harry's been gone 40 years now. Unbelievable.

ETA: I became a big fan of Harry the first time I heard Taxi on the radio in San Francisco. This must have been before the album because it was actually a different version of the song from the album version that became the big hit.

>96 RBeffa: That is a great story, Ron. I of course never met Harry Chapin as I was not quite an adult when he passed. I came to his music in the last decade or so and really enjoy his story songs - I do think some of the albums are much stronger than others but, at his peak, he was really tremendous.

>97 PaulCranswick: I like some of his music more than others but he was really good at story songs.

I don't know if youtube will let you watch/hear this, but here is the original Taxi (I wasn't misremembering!) It was supposedly from a promo preview lp per the youtube comments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vor0mlXvpoc

>98 RBeffa: I was able to watch it, Ron. Not my absolute favourite of his but impressive nonetheless.

Happy newish thread, Paul. I like the look of that restaurant. Have a great evening out!

>100 Familyhistorian: Thank you, Meg. I am sure that I will enjoy it although I won't welcome the interruption to my reading time!

When is Hanni going to appear as a contestant on The Great British Baking Show? She and Caroline (@cameling) would make a formidable duo.

>102 kidzdoc: Both Singapore born, Darryl and I think it no coincidence. I have heard several extol the virtues of Caro's culinary skills and having seen at close hand her epicurean fancy which is definitely shared by both me andmy good lady, I am sure that a menu concocted by the duo would be a feast for the ages.

>103 PaulCranswick: Agreed. I can personally vouch for Caroline's amazing cooking skills, having had at least three fabulous dinners in her home.

>104 kidzdoc: I remember the tales of them too, Darryl. Sometimes you can tell just by how much someone appreciates food that they will be a dab hand at producing it! Hani has a skill that never ceases to amaze me in that she can pretty much tell you the ingredients in any dish she tries. It is uncanny actually.

Happy Saturday (Sunday?), Paul!

Hi Paul, Happy new thread mate. After the usual squad picks for the Test tour and Lions tour, i am glad that we are going back to two division cricket next year but i do hope they keep the Bob Willis Trophy final.

Have a great weekend mate and sending love and hugs to you all from both of us dear friend.

>106 alcottacre: Eight A.M. on Sunday morning, Stasia. A long sleep after a long delightful dinner which I can still taste! Almost no reading done though so today will be a busy day!

>107 johnsimpson: Buttler, Sibley, Crawley, Lawrence get their rewards for being awful by a place in the test team or Lions squad. Interestingly the two openers Haines and Libby were picked by the public in the team of the season but neither feature in either squad. Awful.
I do not agree with most that we play too much domestic cricket. I am not in favour of two or three leagues, John. Eighteen counties play each other once all season and throughout the summer. I like the Bob Willis trophy and that could be the top four playing off for it at the year end. Scrap the 100 cause it is rubbish. T20 to be on a Sunday league basis with the same 4 team end of season "blast play-off". One 50 over knock out competition.

Wishing the same best wishes to you and Karen.

BOOK #109



Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Date of Publication : 2021
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 589 pp

Booker Shortlist 1/6
Shared Read with Stasia

If the length of this was halved it would have doubled my enjoyment.

An old-fashioned rollicking good read but with two main stories - one being the life and death of a pioneer female aviator and the other the actress called upon to play her decades later. I could have done with only the first story in truth and I think there were obvious benefits from sticking with just that as, at times, the novel felt unwieldy and overly long.

Having said that this was excellently written and I must give the author enormous kudos for her ability to create characters - I read in Bonnie's review that she had to go and google in order to check whether the story was actually true, it was that well drawn. The cast of minor characters in particular is a lesson to lesser writers in how to create.

I don't know whether this will win the Booker (I think the length of it and the dual narrative will see it edged out) but it is certainly a novel that will be remembered years into the future and for praiseworthy reasons too.

I finished reading Great Circle this afternoon too, though I think I liked it better than you did. I'm not predicting Booker winners - I didn't do well even predicting the shortlist, though I don't think I wrote down my predictions anywhere!

Hurray for fine dining and more books! Wishing you a wonderful day. : )

>110 elkiedee: Oh I liked it well enough, Luci, but I did think it overly long. I'm hopeless at predicting winners too.

>111 Berly: Thanks Kimmers! xx

BOOK #110



The Wreck of the Mary Deare by Hammond Innes
Date of Publication : 1956
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 272 pp

Challenges :
BAC : 52nd book
Queen Betty : 39/70
Shared read with Fuzzi

Possibly Hammond Innes' most famous book but certainly not my favourite of his. A re-read and I always get a little bit more each time with his books and this one is fairly typical fayre from the master storyteller of aquatic adventure.

There are elements of Lord Jim and the Marie Celeste here as the action bookends a pretty effective courtroom drama in between.

The Strange Land, Maddon's Rock and The Land God Gave to Cain are all books of his I much prefer to Mary Deare but it is still a worthwhile and worthy thriller.

Got some bad news in that my brother has told me that they won't be doing any live streaming as apparently the church doesn't approve of it?! My guess is that my brother (an ardent anti-vax'er and against my remaining in Malaysia full stop - he thinks I should come back and help him with his business) didn't put up much a fight for it and doesn't realise how much it meant for me.

Hani needs a dental appointment but will be travelling off to the UK by the end of the week. I am going to be really sad by the end of this week.

Belle started exams today and I will hopefully nurse her over the line with those and then she also wants to go to England. My present contract here is until April 2022 but the project will not be finished by then and it is highly likely Samsung will seek me to extend. It will be a tough choice - I want to go back and miss the UK more each day, my family will be there anyway but on the flipside I like to see assignments through and will not easily leave Samsung in the lurch, if many issues are unresolved by April.

>114 PaulCranswick: So sorry there will not be a live streaming, Paul. This makes it a lot harder for you, not to being able to attend :'(
Hani and Belle leaving, that is though (((hugs)))

I am very sorry that you are struggling on so many fronts. Couldn't your son make a live stream with his mobile phone during the funeral service? It is certainly not easy when the whole family is in England without you, on the other hand I understand you well that you want to close everything. Cheer up, there are always better times and then everything bad takes a back seat.
Sending lots of positive vibes.

>115 FAMeulstee: Yes, I am a bit down, Anita to be honest.

>116 Ameise1: Kyran cannot go either, Barbara as he is still familiarising himself with his surroundings and it would be just too much in the way of logistics for him to travel up from London get connections to the church and travel back again without missing too much of his degree course. :{

Thank you for the positive vibes.

Our thoughts are with you, Paul.
It's hard not to be able to say goodbye.
Maybe some advice from grief counseling will help you.
Write a letter to your mother about how you feel and burn it afterwards.
I wish you all the best for the next time and good decisions.

>118 SirThomas: Thanks for that, Thomas. Very thoughtful.

>114 PaulCranswick: - Paul, what about your sister? Or Yasmine? Could they organize a live stream from their phones or however it's done? Seems rather insensitive of your brother, frankly, and it's hard to imagine the church would be that insensitive, too. For sure, your mother would have wanted all her children to participate, in any way possible. Here, most, if not all, funeral services have been live-streamed since the pandemic began precisely because friends and family who aren't local would not be allowed to attend.

{{hugs}}

I also think Samsung needs to get their act together and find someone NOW who can step up to the plate. You will be there forever if you don't give them a firm deadline. I don't imagine it's a one-man show and it shouldn't have to fall on your shoulders alone. More than ever, you need to be with your family. Period. Sorry, but it pains me to see you in such a frustrating situation every way you turn.

>120 jessibud2: Yasmyne is stuck in Norway unfortunately Shelley. I am quite upset that neither of them (brother or sister) seem in the least bit interested in my request nor do they appreciate how much it would mean to me and to my mum. I am getting in touch with my Mum's best friend my "Auntie" Heather and I am sure that she will help us. It is not as if I don't want to be there.

I will make my own mind up about the project at the year end, Shelley. It is about time I put myself and my family first really.

Sad to hear this morning that Colin Powell passed away today of COVID related issues. Always struck me as a decent and principled man. Four star General and first African-American Secretary of State.

RIP Sir.

I am sorry that you and your family members can't be at the funeral. Hopefully your mother's best friend will record the funeral for you.

Hi Paul!

>82 PaulCranswick: My dad worked Saturday half days as an engineer when I was young. Is this a normal routine for you or just as needed project-by-project?

>85 PaulCranswick: Beautiful setting and lovely ambiance!

>95 PaulCranswick: I saw Harry Chapin perform solo at a very small venue in New London Connecticut in 1978 or so. He came out into the foyer after the show and signed programs. He was charismatic and larger-than-life in in person.

>109 PaulCranswick: I seem to hear this more and more in recent years – overlong books. One wishes for more helpful editors and almost rues the day that authors started composing on word processors and computers.

>114 PaulCranswick: I’m so sorry about you not getting to see your mother’s funeral. Ridiculous restriction. Don’t believe in it? Stuffy rule instead of providing comfort to family members. I am also sorry that your brother is an ardent (rabid) anti-vax’er. Even fully vaccinated folks can die of Covid, witness Colin Powell here in the US today.

I do hope you can see your way to firmly saying Thanks but no Thanks to Samsung next April.

>123 torontoc: Thank you Cyrel. I have known Auntie Heather all my life and I am sure that it will be ok.

Sorry to read of the streaming woes. I hope a resolution is found.

>124 karenmarie: I have done Saturday mornings most of my working life, Karen, and I am used to it really.

The restaurant is lovely - hopefully we'll clink glasses my friend....

Nice story about Harry Chapin and I would have loved to have met him.

I don't really understand my brother's position on COVID generally whilst I am accepting that he has a right to his opinion.

If I was making a decision tomorrow I would be in England as soon as possible.

>126 thornton37814: Thank you dear Lori. I am hopeful.

I always enjoy visiting here and looking at your lists of books read! You are a marvel!

I am saddened by all the events happening in your life. Thinking of you and sending lots of love.

>114 PaulCranswick: Sorry to hear about the live streaming problem. I don't think there is a blanket issue with the church, as they let all sorts of recording and televising, and have for years. Unless your brother has a hardliner.

Very hard decision re getting home yourself sooner rather than later Paul. I hope you can work it out.

Hi Paul - Are there any people you can trust to video the Church Service on their phones?

(Trust both in the sense of keeping it unobtrusive
and in having the tech knowledge not to run out of space on the phones, with backup phones...)

Given how much work had to be done on ZOOM due to COVID,
maybe more of your SAMSUNG work could be expertly handled that way from the UK.

>114 PaulCranswick: Sorry to hear about your troubles, Paul. Have you considered contacting the church directly? There may have been some miscommunication between them and your brother regarding live streaming that you could clear up yourself.

>114 PaulCranswick: {{{PC}}}

>129 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda. It is lovely when you are appreciated by people you esteem. xx

>130 Caroline_McElwee: I was very touched overnight as one of my cousin's daughters contacted Hani through FB and offered to facetime with us during the funeral so that we could "be there". So heartwarming when you realise that there are people who actually do think about you at this time.

I will make the decision as soon as I am able to, Caroline. I am, of course, not irreplaceable on the project but currently do have an important role in communicating our position effectively and it is difficult for Korean companies to trust "outsiders" enough to have them in that sort of role. I have built up my credit with Korean firms over 25 years.

>131 m.belljackson: See above, Marianne, I think we have a solution thanks to my cousin's daughter, Nicola.

The distance assistance option has been considered and, though there are tax implications to consider, I do think that it is something to think about.

>132 amanda4242: You know Amanda I wouldn't want to contact the church - the same church I was a choir-boy in and was confirmed in - only to find out that my brother had never even bothered to ask them. I don't want to fall-out with any of them at this time but it is rather selfish.

>133 richardderus: Thank you, dear fellow. My LT friends' love and best wishes is the antidote to so many things.

>113 PaulCranswick: I have never read anything by Innes as far as I know, but have The Wreck of the Mary Deare home from the library now. If I like it, I will give the others you mentioned a try, assuming that I can get hold of them!

>114 PaulCranswick: I am so sorry to hear that your brother or sister did not make arrangements to have the funeral live streamed, Paul. Please know that your LT friends will be here to make the difficult days ahead for you easier if we can.

>134 PaulCranswick: I hope the cousin's daughter is able to come through for you!

>137 alcottacre: I have read all his books at least once and most of them at least twice, Stasia. I grew up with Innes, MacLean, Ambler, Dame Agatha, the Edge westerns by George G Gilman and the Doctor Who books.

Interestingly it was my Uncle Frank - the father of the same cousin whose daughter came up trumps for us yesterday - who gave me my first Innes and Edge books.

I cherish my LT buddies, especially at tough times like this. xx

>134 PaulCranswick: I'm glad you've recruited an agent, both because it is good to know you are in people's thoughts and because you'll be able to witness.

>138 PaulCranswick: I read Alistair MacLean when I was younger as well as everything by Dame Agatha, but do not recall ever reading the other authors you mentioned back then. I have since read Eric Ambler.

Your LT buddies cherish you too!

>139 quondame: Thanks Susan. I have to say that Nicola recruited us - her FB message to Hani was totally unsolicited and so touching. I had hopes with my Auntie Heather but she has still not read her WhatsApp message and I know she will be suffering as much as any of us right now. Her and my mum saw each other a couple of times a week over the last 60 years, having sat together every day at school before that.

>140 alcottacre: The Westerns are interesting because they were written by a Brit but they are extremely gritty.

((((HUGS))))

>141 PaulCranswick: I have never been a fan of Westerns. My mother is a huge Louis L'Amour fan and has all the books he ever wrote, I think, but I never got into them. I do love his Education of a Wandering Man though. It is not, however, a western.

>141 PaulCranswick: It isn't quite my genre these days either but there is something of a noir quality about these ones.

A car-load of hugs for you and Hani, Paul, and hurrah for the cousin stepping in!

Thinking of you, Paul, and hoping the FaceTime solution works out for you to be able to participate from afar. (((Hugs))) to you and your family.

I'm so glad to hear your cousin stepped up to help you out with the streaming Paul. At least you'll be able to witness from afar.

>144 ronincats: Thank you, dear Roni, lovely to see you here.

>145 bell7: Thanks Mary. All the kind wishes and thoughts mean such a lot to me.

>146 brenzi: Indeed Bonnie. It hit me yesterday how far away we are and to receive that message when I opened my eyes was really uplifting.

Paul--So glad someone has stepped forward to include you on this very important day. Thank goodness!!

And I wish you luck figuring out the whole job vs. family/England thing. It's a biggie. Hugs on both!

>149 Berly: Thank you Kimmers for being such a good pal through difficult times.

Thinking of you and Hani on this difficult day. (((hugs)))

>151 DianaNL: Thank you, Diana. Hani just showed me your message to us on FB also. xx

>134 PaulCranswick: Glad you are able to find a way to be there virtually.

Sending hugs your way.

>153 figsfromthistle: Thank you Anita x

I am in my black mourning clothes and waiting for that call.

BOOK # 111


The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed
Date of Publication: 2021
Origin of author : UK / Somalia
No of Pages : 370 pp

Challenges :
Booker 2021 Shortlist 2/6
Queen Betty : 40/70
Around the World Challenge : 43rd country

Based on the true story and wrongful conviction and execution of a Somalian sailor in Wales in the 1950s, this is a slow burning and very perceptive piece of writing.

Ms. Mohamed gradually fills her subjects - Hattan and his wife - with depth and dignity.

For most of this book I would have placed it behind Maggie Shipstead's book but having finished the emotional last third of the book, I am less sure. Wouldn't be shocked entirely were she to win for this fine novel.

The funeral service at the church is over and I am still a little shaky. Mum loved music and her coffin entered the church to the strains of her beloved Elvis and left it being sent off by Patsy Cline.

Hugs to you and yours, Paul. I am glad the service honored your Mom's favorite music. Wishing you fond memories today and always.

>157 Berly: Thank you, Kimmers. I am ever so grateful to my cousin's daughter.

I am so happy that you were able to connect. Blessings to your cousin's daughter and gentle hugs to you, Paul.

>159 jessibud2: Thanks Shelley. xx

>135 PaulCranswick: That is good news Paul.

>155 PaulCranswick: On my list.

I am glad that you could be there virtually. Blessed be the youth who are professionals in these things. I think of you and yours. Hugs xx

Hi Paul!

>127 PaulCranswick: I don't really understand my brother's position on COVID generally whilst I am accepting that he has a right to his opinion. I do not believe that anti-vaxxers have the right to contravene public health. They have responsibilities as citizens and I think this is one of them. Medical reasons, yes. Religion, no.

I think there are fewer anti-vaxxers in the UK than the US, and most our anti-vax nutjobs were politicized by t**** and radicalized by religion. I was going to say Christianity, but there are groups of Hassidic Jews here who are being told by their leaders to not get vaccinated, too.

>134 PaulCranswick: I’m glad your cousins offered to Facetime.

>135 PaulCranswick: I also understand your not wanting to find out that your brother lied and has some underlying motive for denying you this emotionally necessary task/responsibility/devotion to your Mum.

>154 PaulCranswick: ((hugs))

>156 PaulCranswick: Elvis and Patsy Cline. A wonderful way to celebrate her life.

>161 Caroline_McElwee: I think that you will appreciate the novel, Caroline. It sort of accumulates gravitas.

>162 Ameise1: Fairly primitive really via whatsapp video call, Barbara, but I will be eternally grateful.

>163 karenmarie: I'm not fully with you on that, Karen. I am not in favour of mandates (as Biden supposedly wasn't) as they smack of big state authoritarianism. I think someone who has a genuine religious issue should have their views given a little respect (although I am not aware of which religions are anti-vax - maybe Jehovah's Witnesses, evangelicals?). Just because I don't believe the same as someone else doesn't give me the right to trample all over their beliefs. I also think that we need to consider those who have previously contracted the disease. I am fully vaccinated and see the obvious common sense but we are entering into a dangerous world when we start firing people who have given otherwise exemplary service in public life because they object to being vaccinated. If you have the vaccine - doesn't stop you contracting the virus or its various disparate strains as General Powell's passing proved yesterday and it doesn't stop you passing it on either. You will be safer with a vaccine that's all but you could still end up in hospital. If Biden is so convinced by his mandates perhaps he shouldn't be exiting Washington restaurants without wearing his mask. Do what I say not what I do.

I cannot abide Trump as you know but he is not an anti-vaxxer - he poured money into its quick development. I think you are right though about the UK being more accepting of the vaccine generally but there is no way that the Brits will be mandating anything.

Thank you dear lady for all your kind words and support regarding my mum. "CRAZY" was a song she loved very much and I will admit to tears when its strains came down the phoneline.

>163 karenmarie: I fear there are quite a lot of anti vaxxers here too. My sister's mother in law is one. She's very pleasant to me on family occasions but I'm always nervous that she'll say something silly and I'll fail to bite my tongue. From what my sister says she and her husband (in their early 40s) have been vaccinated and my sister has insisted on taking all her kids (boys aged 6, 4 and 2) to have their childhood immunisations in the end. Her husband is a bit torn between his upbringing and commonsense on this, but he's also in a high-powered job and has taken on a football (soccer) club directorship recently, and I think those responsibilities and fatherhood rather do bring some extra pressure on the side of vaccines etc.

I've also heard people ranting on the bus and seen some silly social media posts. I live in an area with a significant population of casualties of racism, poverty and mental health care which isn't always great, and though I'm very much in favour of vaccines I think people's real experiences and government policies and vacillations have fostered a lot of distrust in the system.

A friend who works in a public library posted the other day that someone wrote and printed out a long anti vaccine rant and attempted to present it to my friend and his colleagues. They told him vaccine rules meant they couldn't accept it!

On a more positive note, I'm really pleased to hear that your cousin's daughter made contact and was able to help you on this. I think this ability to make and maintain better family communications is a really good thing about social media. Mike has kept in contact with one of his dad's cousins, a woman in her 80s who he hadn't seen for many years since we met her at Mike's mum's funeral in 2013. My siblings and I have established and maintained various friendships and Facebook contacts with previously long lost relatives here, and with many of my mum's New Zealand family.

I'm just about to start The Fortune Men, though I'm hoping I can hang on to a library copy long enough to read it. There's nothing on this year's Booker longlist that makes me think I never want to try that but I'm particularly drawn to the story and settings of this one.

>166 elkiedee: Not so many in Malaysia, Luci.

I have always believed in the need to persuade people to my point of view and not force or compel them to it. I think that the arguments in favour of vaccination far outweigh those against them and therefore I decided easily that I would take them.

I am a little bit worried about the obvious and pretty unsubtle attempts to shut down free speech. You tube censoring David Davis being a case in point.

>167 elkiedee: I think our little group is proof positive that social media used sensibly can be a real force for good.

>168 elkiedee: It stood out for me too, Luci. I am struggling with the Lockwood as did a number of the group though a couple of others loved it.

>156 PaulCranswick: {{{PC}}}

A difficult moment. A priceless participation in closing the book on this chapter of Mum's life. She'll be written in all the chapters of yours and Hani's and your children's lives, and what better way to leave than that?

>171 richardderus: Thanks for those wise words, RD.

Thinking about you today Paul!

>173 SandDune: It is funny you should say that, Rhian, because I have been pondering on my fortune today in having so many good hearted friends who are thinking good things about me and mine when I most need them. xxx

How nice that your cousin's daughter took you virtually to your mothers funeral, Paul.
(((hugs)))

I hope your being able to view the funeral and share the moments of remembrance of your mother's choices helps to give you comfort in these difficult weeks.

Paul - peace comes dropping slow...

Hi Paul on this sad day for you and the family, so glad that you could see the funeral service and receive some comfort from this. It seems to have been a convoluted way to get this done for you mate and i really cannot understand your brother. Reading between the lines as my mum used to say, i think he hadn't asked about it being streamlined and wanting you over here is for a selfish motive, i hate to say this especially on this day BUT i think he is a complete dickhead, this is as polite as i can get. If this has offended you mate then i am sorry for that but not the sentiment made.

On the Cricket front i am perplexed by those in charge of our beloved game, i totally agree with your comments fully and really think that we should be in charge as we have the same thoughts on how the season should be run.

Sending love and hugs to you, Hani and the kids wherever you are across the globe, from both of us dear friend and we look forward to seeing you at some point.

>175 FAMeulstee: It was indeed, Anita. Was also in touch with both of my siblings yesterday also so there are no bad feelings between any of us either which is good.

>176 quondame: It did help me a lot, Susan. Had a little weep which, I think, is more than warranted too. x

>177 m.belljackson: Thank you, Marianne - that is true. x

>178 johnsimpson: My siblings have always been a little on the selfish side, John! Thanks for the caring message, mate, and I do think that friends can help us get over most of the tribulations in life.

With the cricket, I just don't understand why they have to make everything so convoluted. We had too much throw-away white ball stuff so they go and add The Hundred and want to play it at exactly the time that is most conducive to the preparation of the first class game.

The counties used to get to see the touring teams play and that has been lost too.

>156 PaulCranswick: That is very sweet Paul. I am sorry that you were not able to be there.

I'm happy you were able to view the service although I'm sorry for the times in which we live making travel impossible for you at this time.

>181 RBeffa: Thank you, Ron.

>182 thornton37814: Thanks Lori. These are truly terrible times aren't they? Times when we have to carefully weigh and balance public health and civil liberties; freedom and responsibility; familial duty and personal sacrifice.

I'm almost finished with this year's Booker shortlist Paul. I loved Great Circle, The Fortune Men (Vivian posted a terrific YouTube video of an interview with his wife Laura) and The Promise. A win for any of those would make me happy. I really hope Bewilderment doesn't win because I hated the ending so much. I'm reading The Passage North right now and the writing is beautiful and incredible. His lengthy sentences remind me of Anita Brookner. I have no intention of reading the Lockwood book, even if it wins. I must say, I've really enjoyed this year's list, much more so than other years.

>184 brenzi: You know that I esteem your opinion on books and usually our views coincide. I have read the first two and struggle to pick a winner from them although they are both very good.

I have all but The Promise on the shelves and hope to finish them shortly. I will read the Lockwood but a quarter of the way in I don't care for it at all and do hope it doesn't win.

>155 PaulCranswick: I have a copy of that one on the way to me.

>156 PaulCranswick: I am so glad you were able to participate in your mother's service. I know it meant a lot to you.

>186 alcottacre: I think that you'll enjoy The Fortune Men, Stasia. It is a book that seems to grow in stature as it moves along.

It is a very strange feeling "participating" in such an event like that but much much better than not "being there" at all.

Firstly, I saw that your mother's funeral service was held, and that you were in attendance digitally. While there's no replacement for actual human contact, I am glad that you and Hani were able to be there for each other, given you are both experiencing the loss of a parent, and both so recently. I really feel for you having to have all those hard feelings minus the comfort of wider family.

>66 PaulCranswick: re: the Waterstones list, I am interested in The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall, mainly for its apparent similarities to Land (Subtitle: how hunger for ownership shaped the modern world) by Simon Winchester that I am reading at the moment. I am getting really into NF at the moment, it seems to feel as exciting to me a fiction these days!

Oh, Paul. I just found out about your mum from Richard's new thread. I am so, so sorry for your loss and your isolation in this painful moment. I am so glad your extended family stepped up to help you watch the service. Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline sound like a great memorial combo. My dad was a huge Presley fan, and that was the soundtrack to my early life.

>188 LovingLit: Yes, Megan, it was slightly surreal and it upset Hani quite a bit but I am so pleased we were able to join.

I am with you on the Non-Fiction as I have several books I am looking forward to which have captured my imagination. I am worried that I am starting to take a liberal position (and liberal in this sense being the British understanding of it rather than the American one) on most issues when it comes to the defence of civil liberties, personal freedoms and rights against the state. In this age of globalisation, I am all for things being settled at a communal level without the Authority of Central Government thinking it knows best in every instance. For me the state's role is to help provide the circumstances for full employment, control the money supply and provide a safety net especially for the sick, the infirm and the aged and to ensure equality of opportunity for all its citizens. I believe in a caring meritocracy.

I read something by Tim Marshall fairly recently and it was very thought provoking.

>189 justchris: Thank you, Chris. We used to listen to 8-Tracks in the car as kids or the radio before I got bought a "music system" for Christmas one year. Elvis (2), the Beatles, the Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash (2), the Big O, James Last and Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood were the 9 cartridges we had and they got a heck of a lot of play.

Just when we have all been lauding the Booker shortlist this year, along comes Philip Hensher to excoriate most of the lot.

He has some praise for A Passage North and for The Promise and less so for Great Circle but he has much to complain about in the other three:

He also states that since Ishiguro and Whitehead have written far more competent novels this year their absence is inexcusable.

He thought that "Lockwood has no interest in characterisation: the narrator’s husband and sister aren’t evoked in any way. I read the novel six months ago, and after rereading it recently realised I’d forgotten every single thing about it."

On Powers he was most critical : "this total stinker came close to defeating me with its air of grindingly uninventive sanctimoniousness."

and with Mohamed : "The novel is a sturdy piece of work, but fails to come to life. One problem is Mohamed’s difficulty with generating incident and leading the reader onwards: there are too many scenes in which characters just talk to each other about what has happened. The story’s rights and wrongs are so clear-cut that somehow there is no entering into it — it would be like arguing with a bust of Tacitus. And the author has been badly let down by her editors, who should have helped her with period accuracy."
Personally, though I am younger than Hensher, I feel that is a bit harsh and I liked the novel.

Here is the full article:

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/another-haphazard-booker-shortlist-lacks-lit...

Regular visitors here will note that my sources are a bit varied:

I presently maintain subscriptions with:

The New York Times
The Spectator
New Statesman
The Literary Review
Tribune (UK quarterly)
Several poetry periodicals

and am a daily visitor to BBC and Guardian sites.

I like to look at things from several perspectives before making up my own mind.

I have drastically reduced the amount of rice/bulk carbs in my diet (four days in) and am trying to cope with reducing portions.

Doing more walking and now have a couple of gym visits to be proud of. Slowly.....Paul.....slowly.

Portion control is hard. I took half of what I wanted, and ate half of what I took. Then put the other half in a container then into the fridge as soon as I was finished. If, after a half hour, I still wanted the other half, I got out a plate and heated it all up.

It worked wonders because I still ate that half if I was hungry but left it if I was thinking about extra dishes, the faff of heating and washing and so on. No deprivation...tell me I May Not x and I will x with the greatest relish and alacrity and tell you how much I enjoyed it...so less resistance to change.

I would *expire* in a riceless world!

>187 PaulCranswick: I have all of the Booker shortlist novels on the way to me - Great Circle being the exception since I have now read it - and The Fortune Men was one of the ones I wanted to read first. I hope that I do like it.

Happy Wednesday/Thursday, Paul!

>194 richardderus: It has always been tough for me RD, because I am basically a greedy git!

>195 alcottacre: The Damon Galgut book is not available here yet which is almost guaranteed to make it the winner!

>192 PaulCranswick: Many in the U.S. start the morning subscriptions with YAHOO,
just to get The World is Ending! & other sensationalism out of the way early,
then move to The New York Times,
Washington Post,
Daily Kos, and Darryl Cagle.

>191 PaulCranswick: Sadly, awards are often made less for merit than other considerations - it could be political, topical, or something of the "lifetime achievement" nature. Needless to say, "best" novel is always going to be subjective anyway.

>196 PaulCranswick: I had to order the Damon Galgut book through Book Depository to get it, Paul.

Just a note to say that I am currently reading The Wreck of the Mary Deare and a hundred pages in, I am enjoying it.

Hi Paul. I was glad to read you could attend your mother’s funeral through the internet. Kudos to the cousin who made it possible for you. Still, the distance must have been hard. {{{hugs}}}

>197 m.belljackson: Not sure that there is a great deal of balance there, Marianne!

>198 ChrisG1: Of course they will be always subjective, Chris and oftentimes either the award or its judging panel has an agenda. It is still fun though to be equally subjective though and pick your own favourites.

>199 alcottacre: I am toying with doing the same thing, Stasia, but I am also hopeful that Kino - my temple of books - will do it for me and they certainly will if it wins.

Mary Deare is a quick read and an enjoyable one.

>200 EllaTim: Thanks Ella. My cousin/neice came up trumps for sure and renewed my faith in the power of wider families.

>201 PaulCranswick: Paul - conservative leaning yahoo is REALLY long!

>203 m.belljackson: I don't read news on Yahoo, Marianne. I am annoyed actually by all my subscriptions as I am increasingly noticing agenda driven into the news by all sides of the political spectrum and their explanation of events is non-factual and opinion based - that opinion of course dictating a particular slant on the news.

A couple of examples :

The NY Times reported the amendments required by the Senate/House to Yellen's IRS proposals as Republicans blocking her attempt to crackdown on tax cheats. Actually what she had proposed was that banks report to the IRS on each and every bank account transactions made by an individual over $600. Think about that? It was amended to the much more sensible $10,000 as that had cross party support. The problem in collection is that so many of your big corporations are getting away with paying virtually nothing.

Fox News and others concentrating on every verbal gaffe and misstep of Joe Biden without ever acknowledging that he in fact has a stutter and has had to struggle with that all his life.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/336136

>205 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver.

Friday Additions

267. Girl A by Abigail Dean
268. The Promise by Damon Galgut
269. The Crime Writer by Jill Dawson

The first book was one of the Waterstones books of the month; see >66 PaulCranswick:
The second book completes my set of the Booker 2021 shortlist and will be read this weekend; and
The third book sold me on its synopsis of Patricia Highsmith holed up in Norfolk to carry on her writing.

>207 PaulCranswick: I might add the Dawson, I've enjoyed a couple of hers before Paul.

>209 Caroline_McElwee: I know that I have The Great Lover on the shelves, Caroline.

Happy Weekend, Paul. Ellen sent me her copy of The Fortune Men, so I am glad to hear you loved it. I will also be starting Bewilderment very soon.

>207 PaulCranswick: I think I have Girl A on my Kindle, and I have The Crime Writer on my TBR somewhere - I enjoyed the 3 other books I think I've read by Jill Dawson and the title would have caught my attention also, even if I didn't actually notice it's about Patricia Highsmith.

>211 msf59: I thought it good, Mark, but I would stop short of claiming love for it as it wasn't perfect either.

>212 elkiedee: Girl A does seem a hot thing judging by how many on LT already have it.

Hi Paul - slowly catching up on threads on LT and I wanted to very belatedly say I am so sorry to hear the news about your mum. Glad you were able to attend the funeral virtually thanks to a friend.

>190 PaulCranswick: Our age is showing! My dad played 8 tracks in his car too! He gave me my first stereo as a hand-me-down, and it had an 8-track player, so he gave me those too. It's what I took to college freshman year in 1988--long obsolete but still being used by those of us who hadn't caught up.

>214 souloftherose: Lovely to see you here, Heather and I am really happy to see you posting. I would have really have been devastated had I not been able to "participate".

>215 justchris: I have hugely fond memories of those 8-Tracks and that opening to Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues live version "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash", must have been repeated by me a million times!

My early cassettes - The Drifters (early 70s version), the James Bond themes and the Beatles 1962-1966 are also etched in my memory as are my first LPs - Bob Dylan (Street Legal & The Times They Are-A Changin'), ELO (Out of the Blue), Georgie Fame and Herman's Hermits OST of Hold On! as well as the Sound of Bread are records I always return to.

>204 PaulCranswick: Hey, if you don't check out Yahoo, which is the only one on the list which continually updates,
you miss all the "How Your Pants Can Kill You" news!

>217 m.belljackson: Which sounds even scarier or funnier on this side of the Atlantic, where "pants" is normally used to refer to underwear, not trousers.

Finally catching up with you, Paul. I'm sorry that you could not attend your mum's funeral service. I know that must have been so hard not to be physically present. At least you figured out a way to attend digitally, which I know is not the same at all. The choice of music made me smile. I also have a thing for Patsy Cline's Crazy.

Hoping you can figure out a solution to the work thing that allows you to return to England sooner rather than later. It's so important to listen to the heart.

>208 PaulCranswick: I have had The Crime Writer in the stacks since it first came out, but I wanted to read some Highsmith first. This year I finally got to The Talented Mr. Ripley, which I thought was well done.

Keeping you in our hearts and sending you all of our love.

>218 elkiedee: GO YAHOO!

Happy weekend-ahead's reads!

Paul, I'm so happy you were able to attend your mother's funeral virtually. Being there in any way is so important.

Thanks for including the Waterstones list. It's interesting to see what's top of the list in the UK.

You tapped a memory for me with the 8 tracks. In my youth, I worked for a company that made 8 tracks, in a department that dealt with engineering the songs from an LP to the tape. It was more complicated than I had imagined when I took the job, figuring out where side 1 would end, etc.

>204 PaulCranswick: I'm a Certified Public Accountant specializing in Income Tax. The $600 reporting requirement would be a nightmare for ordinary non-rich people. No doubt it would catch some who aren't reporting small amounts of income, but it would also entrap people who simply don't bother to document various personal transactions that don't actually involve taxable income, like reimbursements, garage sales, etc.... yet failure to document would allow the IRS to subject it to tax. This has nothing to do with "taxing the rich." If you want to cause ordinary citizens to revolt, this is a good way to go about it.

>217 m.belljackson: I update via the BBC, Marianne, which though not as unbiased as it used to be still gives me most of the initial news I want before I go more in depth.

>218 elkiedee: True Luci! "Pants" also means "bad" or "useless" in parts of the country too!

>219 Crazymamie: It certainly wasn't the same, Mamie, but decidedly better than nothing at all. x

My mum used to have a huge poster of Elvis in his prime on the inside of the toilet door which Hani used to secretly complain to me put her off her business! Slightly ironic given the manner in which "the King" met his end.

Thank you for the kind words and wishes as always xx

>220 m.belljackson: Where do you want it to go, Marianne?!

>221 richardderus: Thank you, RD. I hope as always I hope to get plenty of reading done.

>222 Oregonreader: Lovely to see you, Jan. I wanted also to include the UK Sunday Times bestseller list but I am having trouble with my subscription since I changed debit cards.

That does sound like quite an interesting job.

>223 ChrisG1: 100% correct, Chris. I was disappointed in the specious position of the NY Times in trying to maintain that opposition to statutory reporting on spending of $600 and above was somehow supporting tax evasion. Does the USA really want a Big Brother society? The ramifications on middle income earners and the banking community would have been profound and awful. Go after the profits of the corporation - but of course they are party donors so it isn't a priority. The $10,000 limit is fair enough, I think.

>225 PaulCranswick: Another Good Question, Paul =whither goest YAHOO?

Well, credit for that original "Pants" goes to Stephen Pastis PEARLS BEFORE SWINE,
but with the expanded pants definitions, likely YAHOO would pursue it with scent sniffing dogs -

or, with raptors, once they deliver their weekly update on what new horrors are being DNA cloned.

>228 m.belljackson: Interesting, Marianne. Sounds like I am missing something by not changing my search engine!

Hi Paul; happy weekend. I'm glad to see you could watch the service, thanks to your niece. It sounds like your mum was a country music fan. I just read You'll Be Mine which is a YA romance with a lot of country music references (but does lean towards Cash-Carter).

>225 PaulCranswick: That would be off-putting.

>229 PaulCranswick: I use Safari with Duck-Duck-Go and Firefox with Google (no particular reason) but the algorithms don't change much. They return similar results for my searches but if I do the same search on one of my sons' computers I get different results (and - the last time I was permitted to use their computer - results that were more aligned with what I wanted).

>230 humouress: My mum liked to read too but especially biographies of the people she liked and/or admired. I remember she was a huge fan of the David Niven memoirs and I remember her reading about Coco Chanel and Vivien Leigh and Nathalie Wood and John Wayne amongst others.

I am Chrome or Safari and Google based. Don't really like any of them but I found the google search the most in tune with finding the stuff I like.

I'm glad to see you could watch the service, Paul.
All the best and a wonderfull weekend for you and your family!

>232 SirThomas: Thank you my friend. Have a lovely trip to the North Sea and keep warm!

Just a quick hello and best wishes for a good weekend, Paul.

>234 karenmarie: Thank you dear Karen.

Well, Paul, my husband is a T20 fan and is currently glued to the TV watching the super 12s. Are you at all interested in the format? Scotland is through for the first time and England is currently playing the WIndies. Oman, the hosts, have sadly been knocked out.

ETA: for everyone else, it's all cricket.

>236 humouress: Not my favourite but it is eminently watchable, Nina. I have just watched my football team draw a pulsating game with Wolves but I was switching wherever possible to the England game. It is early days but they do look pretty formidable. Bowled the Windies out for 55!

>237 PaulCranswick: We're doing well; I just watched England bat.

But how about those two caught and bowled from Hosein?!

>238 humouress: The caught and bowled were an entertaining blip but the result was never in doubt.

Just received a lovely card from Benita. Thank you so much for such a thoughtful gesture. x

>239 PaulCranswick: The result should never have been in doubt but I started to get concerned when we were losing wickets for very few runs. I suppose they thought they could increase the net run rate for little risk.

>241 humouress: It is quite striking that we have the world's top ranked batsman in T20, Dawid Malan, and we didn't even need him to bat.

>242 PaulCranswick: The commentators (we have) were expecting him to come in at 3 ... and then at 4 ... and then ...

>243 humouress: He might have had a small knock, Nina.

It seems that Doctor Fauci has been involved in more dubious funding which involved the torture of 44 beagle dogs in Tunisia.

This video is more than a little disturbing and really something needs to be done about this fellow - it seems that the Gain of Function research funding has now been admitted by everyone except this man and whilst I am not a rampant or rabid animal rights activist - public funding of cruel and seemingly unnecessary experiments on such beautiful animals is indefensible.

I know one or two of our group have or have had beagles in their family and I planned to when I return to the UK. I am disgusted by this. Who wants to step forward and defend him on this one? - he should be locked up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEEwImjFxoU

Never mind the mandates, I would guess that if Biden sacked Fauci the numbers taking up vaccinations would increase.

This is from the Hill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36rOtXvHtI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAMXVHiN7jM

>245 PaulCranswick: Right you are!

Fauci at first looked infallible when it was him vs Trump.

From hero to liar in record time.

No accounting for "Why?!?"

>247 m.belljackson: I don't think we will ever know if American dollars contributed unwittingly to the development of a virus that resulted in this pandemic. The fact of his lies and flip flops and obfuscations as well as the politicisation of his position is bad enough but how does anyone defend what is being done to those animals for incremental gains?

Joe Biden needs to put principle before politics and show him the door.

There is NO defense for cruelty.

I cannot bear to look at the videos you have listed - I once saw the start of a PETA animal video
and still have not recovered and refuse to read any book "where the dog dies."

Biden will be contacted, as I wrote to Trudeau about the Baby Seals.

Just dropping by to say Hello, Paul. I am back from out of town :)

>245 PaulCranswick: Our family had three beagles. None worked out well. I'd have given the last one to the experimenters. I still have scars.

>249 m.belljackson: Not Fauci personally doing the experiments but he has to carry the can for the organisation he fronts.

>250 alcottacre: Nice to see you as always, Stasia.

>251 quondame: I have a sense of humour, Susan and admit to having smiled as I shook my head.

>252 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. It is nice to be seen.

>254 alcottacre: I think so many of us are grateful to have you back amongst us, Stasia. xx

No one could defend the torturing of any animals, beagles included. What I would challenge is whether Fauci is actually involved. All this information is coming from Sky News Australia, which like the Washington Post, is a Murdoch publication. Sky News Australia has recently been banned from U Tube for some period of time because of their misinformation regarding Covid. I know it is difficult when reading news to know all the background of issues but please google Trump advisors Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon. They work with Sherri Markson on a regular basis. It is so difficult these days to separate out the truth from falsehood and it takes some background work to even know who we're listening to. Now I'll get off my soapbox!

Thanks, Paul.

>256 Oregonreader: I am aware of the concerns relating to Sky News Australia, Jan, and do note that they had a week ban from You Tube. The issue of censorship to one side, I didn't take this information from Sky Australia but from The Hill which, whilst not a left wing organisation, is not rampantly right wing either. They broke the story not Sky News Australia.

It is my point of view that all the news media are failing all of us by not reporting the news but skewing everything with opinion and agenda. It doesn't take much in the way of intelligence to see the bias of Fox News and Sky New Australia but CNN and MSNBC and the Washington Post are just as guilty on the other side of the aisle. It does worry me that the huge donations by Big Tech to the political parties of their choice is coming laden with its own insidious caveats.

I didn't say that Fauci was personally involved in the experiments as he obviously isn't but it does seem that the organisation he fronts gave money to fund the experiments. In my book that means he has some level of responsibility.

Trump wasn't down at the Capitol Building on 6 January but he clearly bears some responsibility for what happened. On the same basis where should the buck stop for the funding?

>257 PaulCranswick: I trust none of the news outlets. They are all biased. Of course, it's been that way forever--even back in the newspaper days--and probably in the word of mouth that preceded that.

>258 thornton37814: Sad but almost certainly true, Lori.

Just found out about your Mum. ((Hugs))
Glad you were able to stream the service.

Just when you think the trumps can't go any lower, here comes the Baldwin shirt...

Hi, Paul! We survived the deluge yesterday, getting about an inch (about 2.5 centimetres for the rest of the world) of rain here. As the clouds were breaking up we had a breathtaking view of the Sierras; unfortunately, we won't get the same view today because now it's foggy.

>260 SuziQoregon: Thank you, Juli. xx

>261 m.belljackson: That is not nice, certainly, Marianne.

>262 amanda4242: We should always be glad of rain, Amanda, but these days it also can frighten us a little too.

>264 PaulCranswick: We're not prone to flooding here, so heavy rains are more of an inconvenience than a danger. The fog, however, is *very* dangerous, and leads to tons of traffic accidents.

>265 amanda4242: We have heavy rain at least three times a week, Amanda and sometimes almost every day. My main wish is that it isn't raining when I need to walk to the car park from the site office to get the car home at 6.15 every evening.

Good to see you were able to view your Mum’s service even if it was a reminder of family dynamics, Paul.

>267 Familyhistorian: I think I would have been devastated, Meg, had I not have gotten to at least view my Mum's thanksgiving service.

>266 PaulCranswick: Oof! I just looked up the yearly rainfall in Malaysia and discovered that in one year you guys get nearly as much as we get in one decade!

>265 amanda4242: It's been many decades since I've been caught in Central Valley fogs. Those are super scary.

>270 quondame: Truly terrifying stuff. This morning wasn't bad, but last year we had a couple of days where I couldn't even see the tree that's about 15 feet from my front door.

>269 amanda4242: It does rain here RATHER a lot, Amanda!

>270 quondame: Not a huge fan of fog, Susan - it plays havoc with my asthma for starters.

>271 amanda4242: A little bit of mist can be atmospheric but the pea soupers are horrible things.

>272 PaulCranswick: On school bus trips and some family school related outings we had to drive to Fresno or Bakersfield along long straight featureless roads. The fog would start deceptively light and people wouldn't slow down until the crashes were many cars deep. I was never in one of those, but I was driven pass one once. Very slowly.

>274 quondame: The landscape hasn't changed much, and people are still driving like idiots, leading to 100+ car pile-ups.

>274 quondame: Pockets of fog are always the worst, Susan, because they tend to take you unawares - such is a feature of the Yorkshire Dales where you can go from clear skies to dense fog in an instant. Very dangerous. Thankfully I have never witnessed a multi car pile-up.

>275 amanda4242: 100 cars deep is spectacular indeed.

>276 PaulCranswick: And largely avoidable if people wouldn't drive at 70 mph in the fog.

>276 PaulCranswick: There aren't ups or downs along most of the Central Valley routes - just flat and the fog covers mile after mile with almost no where to get off and get clear. It's an old sea bottom that fills with gaseous water to our grief.

>277 amanda4242: My word that is crazy, Amanda. I learnt as a younger man to take the weather conditions very seriously after I totalled a Volvo going too fast in heavy rain in Malaysia about 12 years ago. Aquaplaned on the highway and hit the central reservation then whilst spinning back across the highway I got shunted by a lorry off the highway on the other side altogether.
I always slow down drastically in rain nowadays after that close scrape.

>278 quondame: I guess that would in many ways be much worse as the flat roads would lull you into taking your route for granted if you didn't know better.

Just stopping by to say "Hi," Paul. I got both Bewilderment and The Fortune Men in today. No idea when I am going to get them read, but they are here.

>280 alcottacre: I don't know when I am going to finish Bewilderment, Stasia. Hit a bit of a block so I have jumped onto a thriller by Rory Clements which I am enjoying.

>281 PaulCranswick: Sorry to hear about the block and hope it goes away soon, Paul!

HI Paul, Just stopping by and there is lots to catch up on your thread. Hoping you and your family are doing well. I greatly value your opinions on mandates, free speech, Fauci and news media bias.

>283 mdoris: Thank you for that, Mary, really I do very much appreciate your words of support. I know most people take an opposing view than myself on these issues as has been made very plain to me here and elsewhere in what is now a sadly much more polarised world. I am afraid of big government and very much value civil liberties, living for so long in a land where the Government openly control the news media. I believe somewhat innocently that polite discourse and debate can help bridge misunderstandings and I am always willing to be persuaded by a counter view if it is well made.

I am going to ration my comments elsewhere as often expressing a view out of step with the consensus isn't well received. My friends have a perfect right to modulate the topics they want discussed on their threads and I will always respect that without rancour.

>282 alcottacre: Sorry Stasia, I almost missed you there.
The block is being unclogged by Corpus by Rory Clements which is a darn good read.

Hi Paul!

>272 PaulCranswick: and >273 PaulCranswick: In the 1970s in Southern California we’d get pea-soupers. I remember driving to work one morning with the driver’s door open so I could see the yellow line. Fortunately everybody else was being as smart, especially at intersections – couldn’t see the stop lights.

>281 PaulCranswick: One of the benefits of having more than one book going is the ability to switch back and forth as needed.

>286 karenmarie: Lovely as always to see you, Karen.

Fortunately we don't much fog in Kuala Lumpur although we used to suffer environmental haze due to crop burning in Indonesia which used to blow over the country depending upon the prevailing wind.

I am enjoying my present read and the light relief it is bringing me!

We have fog quite often where I live. It comes off the two TVA lakes in our area--Cherokee and Douglas. I live very close to Cherokee.

>288 thornton37814: What a marvellous name Cherokee Lake, Lori. I really do hope that one day I am able to visit you all down in Tennessee.

>284 PaulCranswick: Again I greatly value what you are saying Paul on this and other threads. I am about to very slowly read Andrew Doyle new book Free Speech and underline with pencil for future reference. He has much of value to say too!.

>290 mdoris: Andrew Doyle has a lot of common sense in my opinion, Mary. It is a book that I will look out for too.

>285 PaulCranswick: Yay! I am glad to know it.

>291 PaulCranswick: I have not read anything written by Doyle yet. I better get on that and add Free Speech to my WL.

>292 alcottacre: Reckon I will finish it today and then back to the Damon Galgut book which is also excellent.

>293 figsfromthistle: I haven't read anything of his (in book form) either yet, Anita.

Hi Paul, The Vale of York is a notorious Fog hotspot along with the Dales, it is along with very heavy rain, the weather conditions i don't like driving in, Snow doesn't bother me, just the idiots that don't take it seriously.

I remember going to Camelot at Charnock Richard with Karen and the kids, the Fog was horrible and i got to the point of saying that if it didn't clear by the next junction, i was turning off and making our way home. Just before the junction it was as if the curtains had opened and the remainder of the journey was in Sunshine. We got to the same spot coming back and it was as if the curtains shut, the Fog had not cleared all day.

>295 johnsimpson: Yes, John, of course I am familiar with the area and was referring up top to a similar experience.